I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 2 – Deepening Doubts

Angelina felt terrible.

She looked down at Harry and then stared at her hand, as if it had betrayed her. Her mouth dropped open but no sound emerged, she could only stare at the boy.

It was the end of their first team practice. The whole thing went well. Considering it was their first practice for the year and that they were welcoming a new team mate, it had gone very well. The team picked up practically where they left off last year, finding their groove swiftly.

Harry was a natural on the broom. He had plenty of room for improvement of course but he had flown far better than he should have given that he had never knew he could fly on a broom until a few days ago. He learned the general rules of Quidditch swiftly and unlike most new players with developed bad habits, listened well.

Wood had released the Snitch in practice mode and Harry had managed to catch it, looping around Fred to grab the tiny golden winged ball. The team had cheered loudly and sincerely. They were all excited with their new team mate. None of the Seekers from the last two years had shown such skills despite being much older and experienced than Harry.

Even Harry had been caught up in the excitement. He had smiled in a way none of the players had seen before. It was small admittedly, barely showed any teeth, but it was a smile. It was a smile that had no undercurrent of pain. It did not look forced. It looked genuine.

And Angelina had somehow ruined that.

She had bounded up to the boy after they had landed. She had cried out "Good job Potter!" and clapped him on the shoulder with what she thought was a friendly but enthusiastic pat.

It was like she had Cursed him.

He dropped his broom and spun around. His knees buckled and he curled up into a ball, arms over his head. He made himself as small as possible. "I'm sorry!" he screamed.

Angelina was beyond shocked. She was confused. She was horrified. She stood there frozen, as still as a statue. She had never imagined that this would be Harry's reaction. What was worse was the boy's expression. He looked up at her with pure, undiluted fear.

Angelina knew she was a bit of an intimidating figure. She was tall, solidly built with what her mother called "wiry muscles". She had seen other players look at her with apprehension before, when she flew straight at them. It was the fear of someone knowing someone was coming for them, to take the Quaffle, to score. If she was being honest, she liked seeing it on the pitch. She knew people never underestimated her.

To see this boy look up at her with such intense fear made her feel horrible.

The team had stopped when Harry cried out, their eyes flicked from between Harry and Angelina. Most of the looks were confused and questioning. One was the resignation one has when they saw an unfortunate truth.

George bounded up, concern with carefully applied merriment on his face. "Oh Harry! Guess you're really a part of the team now."

Harry looked up, fear still there but it was slowly becoming caution? "I am?"

"Oh yeah, you're not a part of the team until you get a real pat on the back from Angelina." He lowered his voice into an audible conspiratorial whisper. "You have to forgive her, she doesn't know her own strength sometimes. She gets very enthusiastic but she means well. Right Angelina?"

She caught the cue and grinned shakily. "Yeah! I mean, sorry if I alarmed or hurt you Potter. Really didn't mean it."

George winked at Harry. "You should be honored. She hasn't patted the back of any Seekers since my brother left years ago. The others didn't deserve it."

Caution became disbelief. "Really?" Harry asked.

"For sure! And let me just show you that it's not so bad. Here, give it a go Angie." He turned his back to Angelina, making a show of shivering but giving her a broad target.

Normally Angelina hated being called Angie, something George knew, and she resisted the urge to kick George in the bum. Yet she knew what he was doing and was thankful for the deviation. She held back some but gave him a hearty pat.

George threw himself forward as if struck by a Bludgeoning Jinx at point blank range. He flew forward, flailing comically before hitting the ground. "Oof!" George exclaimed, making a show of rolling on his back. "You got off light Harry! Don't feel too bad though. Angelina's known me longer. I'm sure you'll get there with her one day." He winked again. "Angie likes to pretend she's a lot less friendly than she really is."

Harry giggled.

The tall girl scowled at the prostrate boy. She walked up to him and offered him a hand to rise. As she lifted him up off the ground slightly she let go, letting George fall back with a thump and a grunt.

While the others laughed she turned and looked down at Harry. "I'm really sorry Potter, I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just congratulating you for a job well done."

Harry looked a little hesitant still. "Oh, that's okay. It didn't hurt me really, I've been hit harder. I was just startled." He looked at her. "Did…did I really do a good job?"

Her right hand shook harder and she gripped it with her left, a desperate attempt to make it stop shaking. "You really did. Especially if that was your first time catching the Snitch."

His smile should have made her feel better. The fact that it looked like it was the first time he was ever praised for something, that he was reassured that he did nothing wrong, made her feel worse. His words, I've been hit harder, kept repeating in her mind.

The Weasley twins got Harry to help them gather the balls up and carry the crate back into the equipment room. They pretended that they each needed to hold one end of the crate, loudly proclaiming Harry to be strength personified since he could carry one end himself.

"No wonder you can withstand Angelina's pats!" George cried.

"Only the toughest of the tough can do that!" Fred said.

"You're easily as tough as the four of us put together."

"Don't you mean the two of us?"

"No, I mean four. There's Fred and George and then there's George and Fred."

"Don't forget Gred and Forge. And Forge and Gred. They would get rather upset if they're left out."

"By me, you're right. So eight all told. Harry, you're even tougher then!"

By that point Harry was giggling with Wood sighing wearily behind him, a lot more used to Weasley twin banter. Alicia followed the four boys into the locker room but Angelina remained where she was standing on the side of the pitch, staring after them.

Katie walked up to her, noticing how rigid the tall girl was, how her hand still shook. She touched Angelina's right hand, and held tight when Angelina flinched. "Are you okay?" Katie asked softly.

"He looked like I was going to beat him," Angelina whispered. "He was afraid of me."

"I know you didn't hurt him, and that you weren't going to."

"But why did he think that?" Her voice shook a little, just like her hand. "Did you see him? He looked like a rabbit. Shaking…"

The two stood in awkward silence.

"Katie?"

"Yes?"

Angelina's voice dropped lower. "I…think you're right. I think something's wrong with Harry."

Katie usually liked being told she was right. Not this time however. When it was just her thinking what she hoped were inaccurate thoughts, it did not seem real. She could tell herself that she was being too sensitive, that knowing what she did from her mother's work made her paranoid.

Someone else agreeing with her, in this case, made things worse somehow.

"What do we do?" Angelina asked.

Katie shrugged helplessly. "I…don't know. I can owl mum and ask her, but we also can't really do much right now either. There really is a chance that I'm wrong."

"I don't suppose we can just…ask Harry."

Katie shook her head. "He might not tell us, not yet anyways. He barely knows us much less trusts us. I think…we should try to learn more about Harry and his home life. Watch him and go from there."

Harry walked out of the locker room, still dressed in his practice robes. He waved at the girls who waved back, and he slowly walked back towards the castle.

The two watched him walk.

The door opened again and George and Fred walked out, dueling with their Beaters bats.

Angelina squared her shoulders. "Right, I've got an idea." She yelled louder. "Oi! You two, come here."

If they were surprised by the summons, the twins did not show it. They trotted over obediently, tucking their bats under one arm like a swagger stick and walked in step. "What's up?" they asked in unison.

"Your little brother's mates with Harry, right?" Angelina asked.

"Ron? Yeah I'd say so. They hang out together and do work together," George said.

"Glued at the hip since the Express. Which is a relief really. Thought Ron would try to stick around us all the time," Fred continued.

"Has Ron mentioned anything about Harry's…home life?" Katie asked, trying to not look like she was prying too much.

The twins looked at each other and they shrugged. "No not really," Fred said.

"Just that he lives with Muggles. His Aunt from his Mother's side." George's eyes narrowed. "What's with the questions?"

Angelina and Katie shared a look.

"I think, something's not quite right with Harry," Katie said.

"We think," Angelina amended and Katie felt a little warmth that Angelina also felt this strongly about it.

"What's wrong with Harry?" Fred asked, genuinely confused. "You mean what happened earlier when you smacked him? Oh he doesn't hold it against you. You heard him, was just a misunderstanding."

"I didn't smack him," Angelina practically snarled. Her expression made the twins take a step back. Her face was twisted with an anger born from guilt and shame. "I didn't touch him nearly as hard as I hit you two tossers."

"Not saying we don't deserve it here and there, but it was just an accident with Harry right?" George tried to go for a soothing tone. "I'm not saying you hit him or smack him. But sometimes you don't know your own strength."

"It's not that," Angelina insisted. "You weren't right there. You didn't see the way Harry looked at me…" She sniffled.

Fred and George looked alarmed. "Was…was it that bad?" Fred asked. "I thought he just looked really shy. I mean, well, maybe he's kinda…delicate? Not used to being patted on the back?"

"And what does that mean to you," Katie said. She saw the twins think about what she said. She did not enjoy the way the alarm grew on their faces, the source of the alarm switching to Harry instead of Angelina.

"What exactly are you saying?" George asked. His normally bright eyes narrowed and troubled.

"I don't know for sure, but keep an eye on him will you? Maybe ask Ron?" Katie asked softly.

The two boys nodded. "Sure, all four of them."

"Don't you mean eight?" Angelina asked wryly.

"Yeah of course. We'll ask the other four to keep their eyes out too."

"That'll give us sixteen eyes. Plus your four eyes which are far prettier I'm sure you know."

The girls sighed, shaking their heads as Fred and George batted their eyelashes theatrically. Despite their joking tones the girls knew the twins would do as asked, and would be perfectly serious doing it. They could be trusted.