Thunder blasted through the dark sky coated in light blue blankets of storm clouds. Lightning threatened to strike. Rain flushed down Privet Drive as if it had transformed into a river. Another blast of thunder bolted Harry Potter from his nightmares.

He numbly scrambled to find his glasses on the bedside table. He felt the cool metal of the frames beneath his fingertips and snatched them up, throwing them onto his cold, sweaty face. His frowzy black hair clung to his forehead. He shut his eyes and thought back to his dream:

"Speak. What news do you have?" Lord Voldemort hissed.

"T-there is t-talk about Potter having been re-relocated," a cowardly man replied.

"To where?"

"They do not…" the man took a staggering breath, "t-they do not k-know, my Lord."

"If they do not know then you are useless to me." Voldemort placed his hand on the head of a large snake. "Nagini…" The snake raised its head and focused its full attention on the small, nervous man.

"Wait, wait! There is more," the man spoke hurriedly, "We have been betrayed. She was watched by one of us, but then he spoke of our plans to Dumbledore. We have…"

The man paused as footsteps sounded beyond the room.

"Yessss?" Voldemort inquired.

"W-we… we have lost her," the man finished, "Potter is g-gone… again, my Lord."

"Then, get the best of mine to find her, and I will deal with the betrayer. You may leave."

The tiny click of a lock sounded, bringing Harry back to reality. He retrieved his wand from underneath the white, lumpy piece of fabric the Dursleys had given him for a pillow. Harry held it out cautiously in front of him. The doorknob turned slowly. Harry took a small step back. The door opened and a dot of light floated into his bedroom. The light illuminated a dark figure. Harry held his breath as he squinted through the darkness. He tightened his grip around his wand and whispered:

"Who's there?"

Harry's heart pounded against his chest. The figure, still silent, turned away for a moment. Then, Harry saw a small limb reach out and begin to feel along the wall near his wardrobe.

"Who're – " Harry began to say.

"Hold up," the figure replied in a distinctly female voice that was somewhat higher-pitched than normal. Harry narrowed his eyes and watched as the figure felt around, hit her hand on the edge of his wardrobe, muttered "Ow, damn it," and then finally gave up, turning back to face him.

"Where is the fricken light in here?" the figure said to him, blatantly irritated at her own failure.

Harry felt his way over to his bedside table and flicked his lamp on. The high-pitched, irritated voice belonged to a small girl with dark eyes and brown hair that flowed over her shoulders. She was soaking wet from the rain outside and was dripping cold water onto the carpet.

"All you have in here is a lamp?" the girl said bluntly in an accent Harry guessed was American.

"Who are you?" Harry replied, slightly irritated himself.

"Listen, Harry, a lot of shit has gone down. I have a ton of stuff to tell you so just sit down and listen for a sec," said the girl.

Harry didn't move.

"Just sit down," the girl demanded, placing a hand on her hip. Harry gave up and sat down on the edge of his bed obediently.

"Who are you?" Harry said once again.

"Allison… well," the girl sighed impatiently, "Alli, actually. That's what everyone calls me. Anyway, where's your house elf? I need my things unpacked."

"My house elf?" Harry answered in shock, "Do you not know where you are?"

"Wait…" said Alli, her eyes opening a little wider, "Is this not Number 4 Privet Drive?" She walked over to the window and looked out, confused. "I swear this one had the number four on it…"

"It is, but why in the world do you think my aunt and uncle would have a house elf?" Harry said in disbelief.

"Doesn't everyone?" Alli asked, slightly confused. Harry felt annoyance rise up in his chest.

"No," Harry said curtly thinking of his friend Ron Weasley whose family he knew would probably never own a house elf.

"Hmm," Alli replied with a frown. This girl was beginning to remind Harry a lot of his enemy, Draco Malfoy.

"Now, can you tell me who you are exactly?" Harry said, attempting to let his annoyance fade.

"Oh, right, my bad," she said with a roll of her eyes. She held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Allison Potter."

Harry took her hand in shock.

"Wait, did you say your last name is…Potter?" Harry was sure he had been mistaken.

"Yes," said Alli clearly.

Harry pulled his hand away and stared at her. Her dark eyes didn't match his bright green ones. Her hair was decently straight and brown, not black and untidy like his. This girl… she couldn't be related to him. Besides, Harry had no family. If he did, wouldn't Dumbledore have told him?

"I know it's a lot to take in and I'm gonna explain everything. So, just…listen, okay?"

Harry didn't respond.

"My name is Allison Potter. I am the only remaining witch in our family. Harry, I'm your cousin."

"Hold on," Harry interrupted, "you're my cousin?I don't have any family anymore. My only cousin is Dudley."

"I told you to just listen to me!" Alli reminded him impatiently. "Just let me tell you what's going on. Geez!" Alli rolled her eyes. "Okay, so I'm your cousin. My dad is Thomas Potter. My dad is your dad's brother."

"James Potter didn't have a brother," Harry told her plainly.

"You think I don't know where I came from? I mean, you know barely anything about our family at all, Harry. James Potter, your dad, did have a brother. His name was Thomas and your dad's brother is my dad," Allison continued. "So, we're cousins."

"But," Harry started trying to put everything together. "This doesn't make any sense," Harry told her finally.

"Does anything in your life ever make sense, though?" Alli said. Harry eyed her curiously, but didn't object.

"Anyway," she continued, "your parents weren't the only ones in our family that You-Know-Who was after."

Alli looked down at the floor and twisted a piece of her dark brown hair around her finger. Harry stayed silent. Alli took a deep breath and continued, "You may be The Boy Who Lived and all, but you're certainly not the only person who lived." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her left ear, revealing a dark lightning bolt-shaped scar on the side of her forehead completely identical to Harry's own.

"We're closer than you may think, Harry."

Harry lips parted in shock.

"You… you have a scar," Harry said quietly, "and, it's just like mine."

Alli looked up at him through long eyelashes and nodded silently. Harry shook his head slowly and took a deep breath trying to process all this new information that this girl, Allison, his cousin had just forced upon him in the middle of the night. Alli sighed and stood up. She walked over to her trunk, opened it, and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a light-pink t-shirt that looked as if it were two sizes too big for her.

"I'm going to change into my PJs. Where's the bathroom?" Alli asked him. Harry nodded to the door.

"It's just across the hall."

As Alli headed across the hall to the bathroom, thoughts swarmed through Harry's mind. How did Alli get that scar on her head? She had to have been there when I got mine. How did Alli escape Voldemort just as I did? How come Dumbledore never told me about her? If Alli was my cousin, then why did I have to come live with my terrible aunt and uncle? And the biggest question of all, why had she chosen tonight to show up on the Dursley's doorstep?

Alli came back into the room, now dressed in sweatpants that dragged the ground and the pink t-shirt that swallowed her small figure. She stood there for a moment with her arms crossed over her chest, then gave up and sat down beside Harry.

"So, are you staying here?" Harry asked. Alli nodded with a small roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, unfortunately. My home back in North Alabama in the U.S. was a lot nicer than this place," Alli complained, "This house is ugly as hell. I would never want to live here. I mean all the houses look exactly the same. How do you even know which one is yours?"

Harry looked at Alli, completely dumbfounded by her extreme blunt honesty, not knowing exactly how to respond to her comment.

"But, Dumbledore said it's not safe anymore," Alli continued, "Something about my guardians being associated with You-Know-Who."

At the mention of Dumbledore, Harry's attitude immediately switched from annoyance to curiosity.

"You know Dumbledore?" Harry replied, shocked. Alli rolled her eyes.

"Everyone knows Dumbledore, Harry. You're 16 years old and you still don't know stuff about the wizarding world. It's kinda sad."

"So, you've lived in the United States this whole time with some other family while I've been stuck here with the Dursley's…" Harry muttered irritably. "That's brilliant. So, Dumbledore knew this whole time that I had family and he never told me."

Alli shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess," she replied

"So, you said that your guardians were associated with You-Know-Who and Dumbledore sent you here to the Dursleys?" Harry responded.

"Yep," Alli said, nodding her head.

"Why?" Harry asked.

Alli rolled her eyes once again.

"Nobody wants the challenge of trying to hide someone from You-Know-Who," Alli said matter-of-factly.

"Voldemort wants you, too?" Harry asked curiously.

"That's why I'm here, I guess," Alli said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Hmm," Harry paused. "So, we really are that close, aren't we?" he muttered.

"Yes," Alli sighed. "Well, I'm really tired now. I literally like stood out there in the rain forever because I was trying to find the right house and they all look the same. It was really difficult," Alli said in all seriousness.

"I bet," Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as well. Alli's attitude was beginning to annoy.

"So, where am I gonna sleep?" Alli asked.

"In here, I guess," Harry told her.

"Is there no guest room?" Alli replied.

"No," Harry said trying not to sound as irritated as he felt. He pulled an old mattress out from under his bed. It was dusty and covered in mysterious brown stains.

"You can sleep there," Harry told her nodding at the dirty mattress.

Alli wrinkled her nose.

"Why can't you sleep there?" Alli asked him.

"Alli, be reasonable. Go sleep on the floor."

"But, I'm the guest, aren't I?" Alli said, "Shouldn't I get the more comfortable place to sleep?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Plus, I heard the Dursley's treat you like shit so you should be used to sleeping on the floor, right?"

"Right, that's why they gave me a bedroom with a bed," he replied. Alli eyed Harry's twin-sized bed.

"Can I sleep there, instead?" Alli asked nodding to Harry's own bed. Harry thought she had to be joking. But, Alli just crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows waiting for him to answer her.

"No."

Alli scowled.

"Fine," Alli grumbled.

Alli found it rather easy to fall back asleep even on the thin mattress without a pillow. Traveling had exhausted her. Harry wanted to think more about what Alli had told him but he couldn't keep himself awake either. So, they both drifted off to sleep.

Sunlight burst through the cloudy sky the next morning, warming up the cold, damp ground.

"Get up, you insufferable piece of shit, its past ten!" Dudley's deep voice boomed through the walls. Alli jumped and sat up on the mattress. Her back ached and her dark brown hair hung pitifully and limply in her face, covering her shoulders in a wavy mess. She brushed it back and looked over at Harry.

"What the hell?" Alli groaned.

"Duvvley, " Harry muttered into his pillow.

"Oh, your cousin?" Alli asked.

"Yes," Harry groaned.

"Well, he woke me up and I think I'm going to go have a word with him because I was having a particularly wonderful dream."

Alli stumbled off the mattress and marched toward the door. Harry jumped out of his covers and blocked her path.

"You can't do that."

"Why? He woke me up, Harry. You don't expect me to just go with the flow, do you?"

"Well, I'm sorry, Alli, but you're going to have to when you're around the Dursley's."

"Oh, please. They're muggles; they don't know shit." Alli pushed past Harry and headed toward the stairs. Harry followed after her in a hurry.

"Alli, that's not a good idea. Come back here!"

Alli ignored him. She turned right as soon as she was down the stairs and walked straight into the kitchen. Aunt Petunia looked up from a pan of sizzling bacon and shrieked. She jumped back and hid behind Harry's uncle. Uncle Vernon and Dudley suddenly looked up. Uncle Vernon's face turned from white to a deep shade of purple.

"INTRUDER!" Uncle Vernon screamed, "PETUNIA, CALL THE POLICE! HURRY!"

Aunt Petunia was too terrified to move. Alli giggled. Harry burst into the kitchen after Alli.

"Alli, stop!"

"Harry, look," she giggled, "They're all terrified of me!"

"That's not funny, Alli. They're not going to feed me tonight now," Harry snapped.

"GET OUT OF THIS KITCHEN, NOW!" Uncle Vernon yelled.

"Calm down, please! She's just my cousin! I can explain," Harry said.

"I SAID GET OUT!" Uncle Vernon looked on the verge of breaking every blood vessel in his face.

"Come on, Alli. Let's go," Harry told her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. "You can't just do that," Harry growled.

"Do what?" Alli scoffed.

"You walked right into their kitchen, Alli," Harry said plainly.

"How was I supposed to know everyone was gonna be in there?" said Alli.

"Alli, they hate me. Chances are they will hate you too."

"Why?"

"They hate anything that has to do with our World."

"They're probably just jealous," Alli replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

Harry and Alli walked down the street, away from the houses, towards the neighborhood playground where Harry often escaped to when he did not feel like dealing with the Dursley's.

As they walked, Alli felt a wave of happiness overcome her. It was true. Harry Potter was the only family she had left now as well. Alli sighed and Harry looked at her curiously.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"It's just… I don't know," Alli said, "weird, I guess."

"What's weird?"

"Like I keep wondering why Dumbledore would send me here after all this time. I mean I know that your aunt and uncle aren't related to me or anything but like you are. Like, why keep us separated, you know?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, "I dunno."

When they reached the playground, Harry sat down on one of the swings. Alli looked down at the dirty, paint-chipped swing and decided against sitting on it.

"So, you lived in the United States then," Harry said. Alli nodded.

"My dad worked for MACUSA," Alli said.

"MACUSA?" Harry asked, "What's that?"

"Oh, right, I keep forgetting you don't know things," Alli said. Harry rolled his eyes. "It's Magical Congress of the United States of America."

"Oh, so it's the U.S. version of the Ministry of Magic?" Harry said.

"Sure," Alli replied with a shrug.

"What did your dad do there?" asked Harry.

"I don't know. It must have been something important though because You-Know-Who was tracking him, and my mom."

"Why didn't Voldemort kill you, then?" Harry asked curiously.

"He didn't know I existed," said Alli, "At least that's what Dumbledore told me."

Alli leaned against the swing set and crossed her arms.

"I think it should be safe to head back now," Harry said after a while.

"Okay."

When they reached Privet Drive again, Alli spoke.

"So, how much longer do we have to stay here?"

"I'm usually rescued before the end of the summer is up."

"Rescued?" Alli laughed.

"By my friends or really... anyone," Harry answered furrowing his eyebrows.

They entered the house, sneaking past the living room, and went up the stairs back to Harry's bedroom. The rest of the day passed slowly. When dinner time came, Alli felt her stomach growl.

"I'm hungry," she thought aloud.

"If you hadn't burst into their kitchen this morning then they might have actually fed me tonight and I may have given you some," Harry replied.

"Well, I'm going downstairs and getting food," Alli said. "You do what you want." Alli slid off the edge of the bed and walked towards the door. Harry jumped up and blocked her path again. "Harry, come on! I'm starving!"

"No," Harry said, "You can't just walk down there like you own this place."

"Watch me," Alli said pushing him out of the way. She opened the door, walked briskly out of the room, and down the hall. She made her way to the living room where Aunt Petunia was sitting on the couch.

"Listen, I'm like really hungry and you haven't given us any dinner," Alli spoke up. Aunt Petunia looked up.

"Vernon, come quick," Aunt Petunia called.

"I'm serious," Alli said placing her hands on her hips. She glanced into the kitchen where leftover dinner still covered the counter. "Look, there is a ton of food left. I traveled a really long distance last night, I didn't have breakfast or lunch and I'm starving."

Uncle Vernon entered the living room and his eyes narrowed at the sight of Alli.

"Who are you? Get out of my house."

"Um, you met me this morning," Alli said plainly. Aunt Petunia looked at her husband. "Listen, I'm not in the mood to deal with y'all right now. I'm getting some dinner."

Alli walked past them into the kitchen.

"Where are the plates?" Alli called to them opening one of the cupboards.

"What are we going to do with her?" Aunt Petunia whispered to Uncle Vernon.

"We'll make her leave."

"But, Vernon, she's one of them. What if she tries to threaten us, do you-know-what?"

"Never mind, I found them!" Alli yelled. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Alli was scooping some roasted red potatoes onto her plate.

"This is the last time I'm going to take this nonsense from you and your kind, you hear me?"

"I'm not deaf," Alli said rolling her eyes. She helped herself to some pork tenderloin. Alli ate a spoonful of the potatoes and nodded her head in approval. "This is actually really good." She placed the plate in the sink after finishing her meal. "Thanks for dinner. It was delicious."

"But we didn't—"

"Good night," Alli cut him off.

She jogged up the stairs leaving the Dursley's speechless. When she entered Harry's bedroom, Harry looked at her dumbfounded.

"How did you…?" Harry began.

"They didn't really say much," Alli said. "I think they were pretty shocked honestly."

"Yeah, I'm pretty shocked honestly," Harry said angrily.

"Oh, chill, I was just messing with them," Alli laughed. Before Harry had a chance to respond, there was a tap at the window. Harry looked out to see a small barn owl flapping his wings just outside. Harry lifted the window open and the owl flew inside quickly. So quickly, in fact, that he slammed directly into Harry's wardrobe. Alli snickered.

"Pigwedgeon," Harry said as an explanation. Pigwedgeon stood up and ruffled his brown feathers. He swooped into the air once more and dropped a letter on Harry's bed. Harry picked up the letter excitedly. "It's from Ron!"

"Who's Ron?" Alli asked. Harry ignored her and opened the envelope.

"My best friend," Harry said unfolding the letter. Harry read over the letter hurriedly. "We're leaving," Harry said quickly. He dropped the letter back down on his bed and then went to his dresser and began to pull clothes from the drawers. Alli picked up the letter and read it over.

Harry,

We are on our way to your aunt and uncle's house. Be ready to leave when we get there. Hermione just arrived this morning and we plan to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow afternoon.

See you,

Ron

"Is this the part where you get rescued?" Alli laughed.

"Pack up your things and get dressed. They'll be here soon." Harry dragged a large trunk out from under his bed and threw it open. "We're going to the Burrow," Harry told her throwing a pile of clothes into his open trunk.

"The Burrow?" Alli said, "What's the Burrow?"