Chapter 4: Only one more week

(Warning: child abuse)

When Harry had finished eating, he went to the kitchen. He sighed as he began to 'clean the kitchen'. He wanted to make it look like Avery had cooked, and they had eaten there, he took out various plates, cutlery, glasses and other things, wet them and put them out to dry. Once the kitchen looked the same as it did every night, he decided to go back to his room. Once he was upstairs, he noticed that everything was very quiet. He checked his siblings' rooms and didn't find them, he went to look for them in the bathroom and saw the door leading to the attic, he had a bad feeling, so he went upstairs and there were his siblings looking inside the boxes. He got a little scared if their parents found them here, they would all be in trouble -"But what are you two doing here?"- He said as he walked towards them.

Avery turned her head in fright, but relaxed when she saw her older brother -"Oh, Harry, it's you, you scared me"-

Harry frowned, -"You guys can't be here, mom and dad will be back soon"-

Alex hid the diary behind him -"Yes, Harry we were just putting things away, we're just leaving"- He said with a trembling voice, he was afraid to Harry would tell their parents.

Harry sighed as he saw the frightened faces of his siblings -"Just pick up quickly"- He said before turning around and leaving the attic. Once he was downstairs, he ran to the stairs and sat on the steps to keep watch in case his parents came back, and he had to distract them.

Avery looked at Alex, -"Let's go quick, get everything and let's get the hell out of here"- She said before pocketing all the stuff and putting the boxes back where they belonged.

Alex nodded as he took a deep breath, he kept the diary with him, he wanted to read it, he might have some clue.

Once everything was in place, they rushed out and got ready for bed.

When Harry saw them go to their rooms, he sighed in relief. He got up and ran to his as well. Just as he closed the door, voices were heard outside the front door, his parents had returned.

Avery pulled her trunk out from under the bed and stuffed the memory book and her mother's diary, she really didn't know what else the diary would be useful for, but she preferred to take it with her, just in case. She closed the trunk and put it back under the bed, she looked towards the door when she heard voices downstairs, her parents had brought more people with them and her father sounded drunk. She didn't know if she should go with Alex or not, he must be scared, but she knew if she went out and someone saw her, she would get in a lot of trouble. She made up her mind to go, but when she heard footsteps outside she stopped and her body tensed, but she relaxed when she didn't recognize the voice, it must be a friend of her parents. -"Sorry Alex"- She mumbled and turned and got into bed, she couldn't risk it, but she made a mental note to make it up to Alex the next day.

Alex sighed when he was in his room, he opened his closet and opened his trunk, he put the gifts and letters inside, he looked at the old diary, he decided not to keep it in the trunk, he wanted to read it as fast as possible. He closed the trunk and the closet and shuddered when he heard his father's voice, he is drunk. His eyes filled with tears as his body trembled, he ran to his bed and crawled under the covers. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to sleep, praying that his father would be happy; the beatings he received when he was drunk were the worst of them all.

The rest of the summer was very normal for the three siblings, full of insults and beatings, comparisons and criticisms, stress and fear. The three were used to all this, it was nothing new in their lives, but they felt more and more anxious, since it was only a week before the new school year at Hogwarts started, and the most excited for the first of September to arrive were the twins, since during the whole summer they couldn't stop thinking about everything they had discovered.

The day was like any other, Avery cooked breakfast for everyone and set about doing the day's chores, but this time she set out to finish quickly to have some free time, now that they were almost leaving for Hogwarts, she wanted to do potions. The fact that James went out to visit Sirius and Remus was a big help to finish all her chores, besides the fact that she hadn't had breakfast. Once she finished everything, she ran to her room to make a potion. She pulled out from under her bed a cauldron and several ingredients, fetched a potion from her book and began. She took the ingredients and began to make the potion, carefully following the instructions very carefully.

By the time Avery had finished her potion, Lily walked in - "But what are you doing?"- She asked, a little annoyed; she had heard the bubbling of the potion.

Avery turned around a bit startled -"I was just making a potion, a love potion"- She had always been reserved about her likes and dislikes in front of everyone, but she was so excited about being able to make a potion with her wand that she forgot to be careful not to let anyone see her.

-"Why are you doing that?"- Lily asked confused, her daughter had never shown any interest in potions, she thought she couldn't make one.

Avery mustered all the courage she had to say. -"I just wanted to! I wanna be a potion master like Snape is!"- She says, just to see Lily's reaction.

Lily's eyes flashed with anger and in turn fear, and she did something she rarely did to Avery, she slapped her hard, but not so hard so as not to leave marks -"Don't ever say that again, and if your father hears you, you just have to be a good girl, you have to be a normal girl, don't ruin all my work!"-

Avery put her hand to her cheek as a couple of tears ran down her face. -'Her work?'- She thought.

-"Don't start crying, it's not like you're Alex, that slap you brought that on yourself, stupid girl and don't hit you so hard!"- Lily said a little calmer. -"Why does everything have to be so complicated"- She said frustrated.

Avery wiped away her tears -"I'm sorry, mom, I won't say it again"- She said trying to sound calm, but by her reaction and her words, her mother really was hiding something from them and had lied to them her whole life. -"Hey, mom, could I go out for a bit? I only have a few days left here, so I want to spend as much time outside as possible! Please?"- She asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Lily looked at her and sighed with annoyance -"Fine, you can go, you've finished your chores and I don't feel like seeing you. Be home before sun down and take your wand with you, okay? And don't take this as a habit, you can't spend all day outside, you have responsibilities"- She answered.

Avery faked a smile -"Yes, mom, thank you, mom"- She grabbed her wand and ran out of her room and ran out the front door. She needed fresh air, her wrists, and thighs were burning, she wanted to hurt herself, but she had done it so many times over the summer and wanted to start her year at Hogwarts without so many cuts on her body. After a while wandering around the neighborhood, she eventually found a place with a bunch of potion ingredients, she needed to distract herself, so she started harvesting. She was like that for a while until she looked up; and she saw Snape also harvesting the ingredient -"Hi, Professor Snape!"- She said happily.

Severus looks up as he hears a little voice. -"Oh, Miss Potter, what are you doing over here?"-

Avery put her hand to her cheek unconsciously. -"I was looking for things I could use in potions"- She said, smiling.

Severus stood up, he decided to ignore her gesture, but it seemed a bit odd to him. -"Yes, this area is very rich in potions ingredients, I usually come here from time to time, but I didn't know the Potters lived here"- He looked the girl up and down. -"What potion are you trying to make?"-

Avery summoned her book with her wand and opened it to a page about The Potion for Dreamless Sleep -"I get nightmares, so I figured this would be useful for me"- She responded.

Severus raises an eyebrow. -"Give me the book, I'll give you some tips on how to make it more effective, I usually have a lot of nightmares, so I can understand"-

-"Okay!"- Avery hands him the book.

Severus summons a quill and begins to write, modifying the instructions in the book and also added some advice. -"Here, now you will sleep without nightmares, and you will feel very rested in the morning"- He hands her the book.

-"Thank you, Professor Snape! Oh, and why do you and my dad hate each other so much, and could you be a little nicer? Please? I already asked my dad...he said he would...I don't want any fighting"- Avery asked looking up at him, lying a little, she didn't want to talk about her situation at home.

Severus took a deep breath and looked the girl straight into her green eyes and sighed, defeated. -"I can't promise I'll be nice to him, but I can avoid fighting with him, and we hate each other because there is a rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor at Hogwarts, it's normal for our attitude to be like that"- He decided not to go into details.

-"Okay, Professor Snape, thank you!"- Avery said happily.

Severus nodded his head. -"You're welcome, well, I'll keep gathering my ingredients, and you should be going home soon"-

-"Okay!"- Avery says as she quickly hugs Snape, then goes back to gathering her ingredients.

Severus raises his eyebrow, but decides not to make a big deal out of it and goes back to gathering his ingredients.

Avery sees the sun go down and pulls out her wand -"Lumos"- She says, and her wand lights up, and she goes back to collecting the ingredients.

Alex hummed softly as he kept reading in his room, he really wanted to try some spells, he was fascinated by being able to cast spells. He spent the whole morning reading and in the afternoon he started casting harmless spells, but then he decided to use a spell that was a bit more difficult. But something went wrong, and he accidentally blew up his bed. -"Oh no"-

Lily heard the explosion and runs to Alex's room -"What did you do?!"- She said angrily.

Alex flinches and hides his wand behind him. -"I practiced some spells and accidentally blew up the bed"- He said quietly and with tears in his eyes.

Lily's anger increased even more -"Why, why did you two...?"- She raised her hand and slapped Alex hard, taking out all her anger and frustration on him -"Are you bloody useless, why are you crying, why can't you act like a man, you can't be bloody normal!"- She yelled at him without stopping slapping him. Lily was very sensitive lately, one of the most important parts of that person's plan would start when the twins went to Hogwarts, but none of them were acting like they should and that had her more stressed than usual.

After the first slap, Alex covered his face and cried loudly -"No, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mum!"-

-"Stop crying!"- Lily slapped him harder, leaving his arms red.

Alex forced himself to stop crying -"I'm sorry, I won't cry, I won't cry, don't hit me anymore!"-

Lily stopped after a while -"Go get your sister, I don't want to see you, make yourself useful and get out"- She said before turning her back on him and fixing Alex's mess.

Alex nodded and ran out of his room and out of the house. He covered his red arms with his sleeves as he looked for Avery. After a while he saw the light of Avery's wand and ran to her -"Avery, there you are, mom sent me to get you"- He was about to collapse right there, but seeing a person next to Avery he swallowed his tears, he had to act and not show his pain.

-"Oh, sorry, I was collecting potions ingredients and talking with Professor Snape"- Avery said happily. She was so happy that she didn't notice her brother's weird attitude and red eyes.

Alex looked at Professor Snape. -"Hello, sir"- He said shyly, keeping his eyes down.

Severus looked at the little boy, he reminded him a lot of someone, he shook his head as he felt a small pain in his head. -"Hello, Mr. Potter"- Being so dark, he didn't notice the tear marks on the boy's face or the abrupt change of expression.

-"You don't need to be shy! He's not gonna bite!"- Avery said confidently.

Alex stepped closer to his sister. -"You know I'm not good with new people!"-

Severus bit his lip to keep from smiling. -"Don't worry, Mr. Potter, as your sister says, I don't bite, unlike what your brother may say"-

Avery laughs and smiles -"Are you trying not to smile Professor Snape?"- She asks knowing the answer.

Severus clears his throat. -"Of course not, Miss Potter, and I think you two should go home, it's almost dark, and it will be dangerous walking like this"-

-"Could you walk us home? Please"- Avery said as she smiled at him and looked him straight in the eyes.

Alex looks at his sister -"Please?"- He looked at Severus with his bright green eyes.

Severus took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. -"Alright, I'll take you home"- He pulled out his wand. -"Lumos. Now in which direction is your house?"-

Avery points to the direction their house is in -"Thank you Professor Snape!"- She said happily.

Severus nods and starts walking, lighting the way.

-"He seems to be weak before our green eyes"- Alex mutters to Avery as they start walking.

Avery smiled and murmured -"I think he feels the connection with us, that I feel with him"-

Alex nodded. -"Looks like you're right"-

They walked for several minutes until they reached the front of the house.

Lily was on the front waiting for them to come back when she saw the light of Snape' wand and walked to them -"Are you two ok?!"- She asked pretending to be scared.

Avery noticed and knew to play along -"Mom, we're fine! Snape was with me the whole time!"- She could see a hint of anger in her mother's eyes.

Lily sighed and looked at Snape -"Thank you for walking them home, I don't know what I would have done if they had gotten hurt!"- She thanked him.

Severus nodded. -"Okay, don't worry, they're fine"-

Lily smiled faintly at Snape, -"Now you two go in the house, your father is waiting for you both inside"-

Avery was about to say something, but she felt Alex hug her arm, she took a good look at him and noticed the marks of tears and terror in his eyes, something had happened, so she just nodded at her mother's words and went inside. She had to be strong and protect Alex.

Once the twins go inside, Lily spoke again -"Once again thank you for taking care of my kids, when they are in Hogwarts, please make sure nothing happens to them, okay?"- She asked, she needed to keep appearing to be a good mother and more so in Severus' eyes.

Severus nods. -"Don't worry, I'll always protect your kids, besides I feel a strong connection with them that I can't explain, but I won't let anything bad happen to any of them"-

Lily panicked a little bit when he mentioned the strong connection, but she kept her smile on her face -"Good"- She hugged him quickly and let go -"Now you should go back home it's extremely late"-

Severus raised an eyebrow. -"Alright, I'll see the kids at Hogwarts then"- He turns around and walks towards the apparition area and appears in his house.

Avery overheard the conversation and smiled faintly at Snape's words -"So, Dad, what did you want to talk to us about?"- She asked.

James sighed. -"Well, now that you're going to Hogwarts I want you to be careful with the Malfoys and Slytherin, they're very mean and very manipulative. So stay away from them"-

Avery sighed; this talk was not new, her father's prejudice for Slytherin and pureblood families. She wanted to say something, but she didn't want to scare Alex anymore, he hugged her arm tighter.

James continued -"They are very selfish and very dangerous people, so you must be careful with them, and don't trust them, understand?"- He said seriously.

Avery sighed and nodded -"Yes, father, we understand"- She hugged Alex trying to calm him down.

James nodded satisfied by the answer -"Now, go to your room and start packing your things in your trunks, don't forget anything"- He said shooing them out of the room.

Avery smiles -"Okay, dad, we will!"- She led Alex upstairs -"Go to your room and do what dad said, then I'll come to your room, and we'll talk"- She whispered.

Alex nodded and let go of her arm. He went to his room and closed the door, taking a deep breath; he wiped the tears running down his cheeks. He grabbed his school supplies, his spell books, his notebooks where he wrote down ideas for new spells and things he would need at Hogwarts, he was careful not to damage the letters and gifts. When he finished, he sat down on the bed to wait for Avery.

When Alex released her, she went to her room and packed all her potions supplies, school stuff and a bunch of everything she will need. When she finishes, she goes to Alex's room. She saw him sitting on the bed and smiled at him -"Hey, did you pack everything you need to go to Hogwarts? I know it's still a few days away, but I can't wait"-

Alex nodded, -"Yeah, I packed the letters and gifts too"-

Avery sat down next to him -"I also packed the memory book, mom's diary and our baby photos, we have everything to help Professor Snape get his memory back"- She looked at him for a moment -"Are you alright? You look really strange since you went to look for me, is it because of Professor Snape or because of mom or dad?"-

Alex's eyes watered, and he showed her his red arms -"Mom beat me for not being normal"-

Avery hugged him tightly -"Don't cry, remember mom is a liar, you are normal, don't cry"- She rubbed his back -"Hey, I overheard mom and Snape's conversation, and he feels that same connection I feel"- She said with a smile. She wanted to talk about their research again, as it seemed to be the only time they were both happy, or excited.

Alex looked at her as he wiped away tears. -"Really?"- He asked with a slight smile.

-"Yes, and look at this"- Avery said as she opened the book to the page where Snape had written -"Isn't it great, he gave me tips on how to make a potion"- She said happily.

Alex looks at the book and recognizes the handwriting -"Hey, it's the same handwriting as the notebook I found"- He pulled the notebook out from under his pillow -"Look, there are several annotations about different potion ingredients, potions and spells, I thought it might belong to mom, but it doesn't look like the handwriting on the letters, but it's the same as Mr. Snape's"-

Avery looked at the notebook and then at her potions book -"It's the same handwriting! It's Snape's handwriting!"-

Alex nodded, -"It has no useful information about Mr. Snape's past, there are only annotations of ingredients of several potions and modification of several potions, although the only weird thing is that there is a potion which has no name and there are also annotations of several spells, but I've never heard of them! They're not even in my spell books"-

Avery thought for a moment -"I'll look for the potion in my book!"- She searches through her book until she stops on a page -"I found it. It's the potion of remembrance, an extremely new potion with extremely rare ingredients that can only be found out of state. Maybe he knew something wasn't right when mom altered his memories and because mom has everything that could make him get his memories back he tried to use a potion to do it, but he couldn't get the ingredients for it"-

-"Mmm, it's very likely, that potion sounds very useful, I wish we could get the ingredients"- Alex looks at the notebook for a moment -"If nothing comes out in my spell book, then, I think the spells in this notebook were created by Mr. Snape, but he never registered them with the ministry, so no one knows the existence of these spells, I will have to analyze them or test them to see what they do"- He smiled he loved testing spells -"But is there any chance of finding the ingredients?"-

-"Not unless we want to get out of the state, I'm afraid"- Avery said in a defeated voice.

Alex shakes his head as he sighs. -"We can't get out of the state alone, I guess we won't be able to make that potion for now"-

-"But we can try the spells"- Avery said with a smile. She got up and ran out of the room, she came back a few minutes later with a stone-"This, try a spell with this"- She set the stone down on the floor.

-"Oh, okay"- Alex looked through the spells and picked one he had wanted to try, he had practiced the movements and pronunciation, but never dared to do it -"Okay, here I go"- He gripped his wand tightly. He pointed to a stone, said the incantation and made the wand movements. After casting the spell, the stone began to crack endlessly until it turned to dust. -"Wow, that spell looks dangerous, I think using it on a living thing is not a good idea"-

-"Oh wow, that's cool and could be useful for self-defense!"- Avery said, excitedly.

Alex nods. -"And I guess the counter spell would be to heal the wounds caused by this spell, but since the stone turned to dust, I don't think we can test it"- He held the notebook in front of her -"Do you want to try a spell?"-

Avery nodded and looked for a spell, reading the instructions, pointing her wand at a glass of water on Alex's nightstand. She says the incantation and mimics the movements of the wand and the water turns into lava -"Maybe this spell turns things into their opposite?"- She said, unable to contain her awe.

Alex nods. -"Yeah, you're right, and it's really cool! I guess the counter spell is to turn things back to normal"- He looked for the counter spell and turned the water back to normal -"But it didn't melt the glass, it's even cooler"-

-"And Professor Snape made these! He's really a genius!"- Avery comes up with an idea -"How about we show him that we know spells!"- She asks.

Alex nods excitedly. -"Yeah, that's a good idea, he might not remember us, but he might remember the spells! And he might even be impressed when he sees that we can cast the spells he created to perfection!"-

-"Let's do that the next time we see him!"- Avery says, excitedly.

Alex nods enthusiastically. -"Well, we'll be going to Hogwarts soon, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to show him"-

-"Oh, yes, we are! This is exciting!"- Avery smiles, she was in such a good mood and happy, she couldn't remember when was the last time she felt like this.

Alex bounced a little in excitement and picked up the notebook. -"I'd better keep it in my trunk, I don't want mom to see it and take it away from me"-

-"Yeah, you're right! Go hide it!"- Avery said excitedly, until Lily's voice brought her back to reality. She sighed -"I have to get dinner ready, but we'll continue later"- She said before leaving Alex's room.

Alex nods and put the notebook away in his trunk, even though he wasn't too excited to go to a new school and meet new people, he was very excited to learn magic and, well, continue this fun adventure with his sister.

The most awaited day for the whole family had arrived, it was August 31st. And like every year since Harry had entered Hogwarts, every August 31st they went to a restaurant to celebrate the new start of classes.

Avery was more excited than the previous years, besides not having to make dinner, and she was going to Hogwarts the next day, and she was going to be able to see Snape every day. What she hated most was that she had to dress up; she hated what she wore, a pink dress with lots of ruffles, plus a white headband.

Alex felt more nervous than previous years, not only about starting a new school year and going to a restaurant with a lot of people, but also having to act in front of everyone, he always did something wrong and was punished when he got back home, and he knew that this year would be the same. He just likes Avery didn't like what he wore, a dark blue suit with a matching tie, it was very uncomfortable.

-"Dad? What was the weirdest thing that happened at Hogwarts when you were there?"- Avery asks feigning curiosity, she knew she should talk, it was the rules, everyone had to ask or give a topic of conversation when they went out to eat.

James thinks for a minute -"When your Uncle Sirius and I were turning into animagi and spending full moon nights with your Uncle Remus. My school year was very quiet, not much happened"- He smiled wistfully.

-"That sounds like fun! And how's Uncle Sirius?"- Harry asked, joining the conversation.

James smiled.-"Well, he's very busy taking care of Black family business now, in addition to his job as an auror, but the last time I spoke to him, he was fine, but he'll be coming to say goodbye to you guys with Uncle Remus before you get on the train tomorrow. Also, Uncle Remus will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts"-

Avery gasps and smiles, this time it was a sincere smile -"Yes!"- She says as she bounces with joy, she really was very happy to see her uncles.

Alex hears it and smiles happily. -"We are going to receive classes from Uncle Remus! Cool!"- He says really excited, having Remus around made him feel more confident with going to Hogwarts. -"Our first year at Hogwarts is going to be the best!"-

-"I know it will be!"- Avery says clapping her hands -"We can barely see Uncle Remus, and now we'll see him every day!"- She smiles even more.

Lily laughs softly -"Our kids are so hyper and happy"- She joins in the conversation.

Dinner continues as normal. Avery was feeling in a very good mood, dinner wasn't going badly at all, until James started talking badly about Snape and the Slytherin, that sent Avery's mood into a tailspin. She had held back on saying anything to Harry or her father when they talked about it, she didn't want to get in trouble before the school year started. But considering it was her last day at home and there was little chance she'd be beaten up today if her father got on her bad side. Avery's little patience ran out when Harry spoke.

-"Why are you such a fan of him anyway? Avery, he's mean, and he's a Slytherin!"- Harry says, he knew it annoyed his sister, but he had to keep up with his father's conversation.

Avery explodes and throws a green bean at him -"He's not mean! I've already seen him twice! And so what if he's a Slytherin? I want to be a Slytherin!"- She yelled at him, causing everyone's gazes to be on them.

James sighs nervously, but the anger was noticeable in his eyes. -"Avery, don't play with the food and don't raise your voice, remember your manners!"-He said sounding like a father scolding his daughter, but to everyone at the table he knew it was a warning tone. -"And, Harry, leave your sister alone, your sister seems to like Snape"- He said quietly. -"You're right, though"- He whispered.

Avery overhears -"Really dad!"- She yells and gets up and leaves the table. She walks out of the restaurant, upset, and sits on a bench next to the restaurant. Once she left, everyone in the restaurant started whispering.

Alex noticed the angry faces of his parents, he started to tremble, he couldn't stay there, let alone without his sister -"I'm going to go get Avery"- He said before getting up and following Avery out of the restaurant. He walked towards her -"Hey, are you okay?"- He sat down next to her.

Avery sighed in annoyance -"What do they have against Slytherins, I hate it! I hate it! Not all of them are bad!"- She yells loud enough for anyone to hear. She looks at Alex -"No, I'm not! I'm mad! I wish I could just hit dad and Harry across the face! Snape isn't bad! I know he isn't! And on top of that, they are being discriminatory towards Slytherins! I want to be in Slytherin! My role models are in Slytherin! It's not a bad house!"-

Alex was a little nervous about Avery's yelling; it was drawing a lot of attention. But he took a deep breath and tried to ignore them, he had to make his sister feel better. -"Ignore them, they're just idiots, don't let them affect you, we also know that Mr. Snape isn't bad"-

-"I know, but I hate this is much!"- Avery said with annoyance, she tried to calm down looking around until she saw Draco Malfoy by himself, walking towards them.

Alex got a little scared when he saw the blond boy in front of them. -"Who are you?"- He said nervously.

Draco looked at the two of them, -"Draco, Draco Malfoy,"- He said politely.

Avery looked at her brother with wide eyes -"Didn't you recognize a MALFOY!"- She yells indignantly -"I'm so disappointed in you!"- She looks at Draco -"Sorry for my yelling Malfoy, we are Avery and Alex Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you"- She said politely -"Our big brother has told us so much about you!"-

-"Yes, I'm sure Potter...Harry has told you a lot about me"- Draco looked the two twins up and down. -"Are you sure you're Potters? You don't look anything like them"-

Alex didn't hear the conversation between Avery and Draco; he was still processing what Avery just told him. Avery's words hurt Alex a lot, she had never said something like that to him, even though he was used to hearing it from their parents, but his sister saying it really upset him and made him feel horrible, as if she thought the same thing their parents thought about him. He frowned, he wanted to show his displeasure to Avery, but he didn't know how, so he said without thinking -"Unlike you, I don't care about pureblood bloodlines, that's why I would never recognize a Malfoy, besides we shouldn't talk to them, you idiot!"- He crossed his arms. He instantly felt bad about what he had said. He knew he shouldn't respond like that, it was very childish, but this was a new feeling, and he didn't know how he should express it or explain how he felt.

Avery sighed before looking at her brother -"Brother, if you're going to be mean, then leave! Now!"- She demanded before looking back at Draco -"And it's very complicated, but yes"- She said without giving an explanation. She didn't understand why her brother was acting like this, she thought that maybe he was having the same prejudices as their father, and she didn't want him to embarrass her in front of a Malfoy, she wanted him to like her.

Alex bites his lip, feeling even worse, she sounded like their parents when they didn't want to see him anymore, because he was a bother or an embarrassment. His eyes watered at the thought, even his sister didn't want him around. -"Fine! I was just worried about you, but if you're just going to make me feel bad, do what you want, and you're just like dad, mom, and Harry"- He turns around and walked back inside the restaurant while holding back the urge to cry. Once he sat down he couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears in the restaurant, he didn't care if people were watching them or if he was making a scene or if his parents got mad and punished him. He felt horrible, and he wasn't loved by anyone, he didn't care about anything now, he just cried wanting that horrible feeling to go away.

Lily and James were extremely nervous watching Alex cry.

Lily got up and went to where he was -"Alex, baby, why are you crying?"- She said sounding sweet, but held Alex's arm tightly as a warning to stop crying.

Alex really couldn't tell who was talking to him, but he felt so sad that he didn't even think about lying or keeping quiet -"Avery yelled at me...she was talking to a Malfoy"- He managed to say between tears.

James sighed -"Oh my poor boy, you must be tired, let's go home"- He stood up and shot a quick glance at Lily before picking up Alex and appearing at home.

Once home, James threw Alex to the floor. -"Do you realize what you've done; you've humiliated us in front of everyone!"- He said with a cold and angry tone.

Alex shivered and crawled into a corner -"I'm sorry, I'm sorry"- He was panicking now realizing what he had done.

James growled -"You're lucky you start school tomorrow, so you won't get such a severe punishment"- He said before kicking Alex's stomach -"Don't worry, I didn't leave any marks"- He kept his voice cold.

Alex cried loudly as he held his stomach -"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please"- He pleaded.

-"Shut up"- James slapped him hard on the head repeatedly. Once he got some of his frustration out he took off his belt, he preferred to hit his kids with his hands, but he knew that if he kept using his hands he would start punching him and leave marks that would take time to heal even with magic, and he wasn't going to make the same mistake again from two years ago. He kicked Alex again and as he held his stomach James put his foot on Alex's back and hit him with the belt on his back, butt and legs, he did it four times before throwing the belt to the floor. He walked away from Alex and sat down on the couch -"Go to your room, your mother will heal you when she gets back, oh, one more thing if you do the same thing you did two years ago at Hogwarts, the beating I will give you will be a thousand times worse and I will take you out of school, do you understand?!"-

Alex was a sea of tears, his body hurt like hell. He used all his strength to get up from the floor -"Yes, sir"- He managed to mumble between tears before going upstairs to his room with a trembling body.

Avery sighed feeling bad now, but decided not to think about it at that moment -"I'm sorry about my brother I'll talk to him, but yeah my family is weird and complicated"- She smiled nervously -'Dad is going to be mad that I made brother said because I was talking to a Malfoy'- She thought to herself.

Draco decided to ignore the fight between the twins, he thought it was something normal between siblings -"Mhm, okay"- He looked up and down at the girl reminding him a lot of his godfather Severus. -"Well, I was just taking a walk, so I'll be on my way my parents must be waiting for me"-

-"Okay, see you at Hogwarts, Malfoy!"-Avery said with a big smile.

Draco nods and keeps walking until he is out of Avery's sight.

Avery gets up and starts walking towards the restaurant and hesitantly walks inside with her head down.

-"We're leaving, Avery"- Lily muttered grumpily.

Avery nodded, but was surprised when she didn't hear Alex, she looked up and her heart skipped a beat when she didn't see Alex or her father, something was wrong. She didn't have much time to think of possible scenarios, as her mother had them appear at home. She looked around for Alex, but only saw her father sitting on the couch with an angry look on his face and a belt on the floor. Before she could do anything, her mother started yelling at her.

Lily looks at her with her arms crossed, -"How can you be such an idiot, not only did you make a scene humiliating us in front of all those people, but you made your brother cry! For what, because you were talking to a MALFOY!"-

Avery shuddered and couldn't help but defend herself -"I didn't mean to make him cry!... And I was only joking around, and he took it seriously... I was going to apologize, but...and yes, I was talking to a Malfoy..."- She looked at James -"I...I'm going to my room..."-

James stands up and walks towards her as he looks at her sternly. He slapped her hard, making her fall to the floor -"Which Malfoy were you talking to?"- He asked with the same cold tone.

-"James"- Lily demanded.

-"Shut up Lily, she has humiliated us, she has to be punished, I won't leave marks on her that won't heal with a spell"- James said angrily.

-"Draco Malfoy..."- Avery put her hand on her cheek -"I was just introducing myself to him..."- She said with a trembling voice.

-"I didn't tell you to stay away from them, and that's why you've made your brother humiliate us more"- James slapped her again, but this time on the head.

Avery sobbed softly -"I didn't mean to. I was joking around, and he took it literally and got mad at me and called me an idiot, so I told him if he was going to be mean, then leave, but it made him upset..."- She explains trying not to cry, but she failed and started crying - "I'm sorry..."- She says with a broken voice.

James slapped her on the head again -"You are just a woman, you should only speak when given permission and stop your brother from crying like that in front of everyone, it's such a simple job, and you can't do it!"- He said without stopping slapping her -"This won't happen again, you won't go near the Malfoys, you won't make your brother cry, you will watch him and make him keep his mouth shut just like you, the same thing that happened two years ago cannot happen!"- He slapped her some more before stopping.

Avery cries loudly -"Yes, dad, I will take better care of Alex, I won't make him cry, and we will keep our mouths shut, I'm so sorry!"- She screamed without stopping crying.

James grabbed her by the arm and threw her to Lily -"Heal her and then send her to her room, I don't want to see her, then heal the other boy"- He walked towards Harry and also slapped him hard making him fall to the floor -"With you the same, you're Harry Potter, you have to make your siblings be on the same level, I don't want any more humiliations"- He said before going upstairs to his room.

Harry nodded and got up, he ran to his room without looking at his sister, he felt useless, he was supposed to be a powerful wizard, and he couldn't protect his siblings from his father, this was horrible, and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't defy him, Albus said this would be over soon, but all this waiting was tearing him up inside.

Lily took out her wand and healed Avery from the wounds that had been caused by James' hits -"Go to your room, and you'd better make up with Alex before you get to Hogwarts, I don't want any more trouble"-

Avery did not answer and ran to her room, threw herself on the bed and cried at the top of her lungs. She felt horrible, because of her his brothers had been punished and Alex must be in a lot of pain, it was all her fault; she was useless, as her father had said her job was so easy, but she had failed -"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"-

Alex after his father sent him to his room; he looked in his closet for the box with his stuffed animal. He hugged it tightly -"Dad hit me so hard, it hurts so much"- He wailed. He had calmed down enough when he heard his sister's screams followed by sounds of slapping. At that moment he remembered what he said in the restaurant, he had betrayed his sister, she was being punished because of him -"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry"- He locked himself in his closet, trying not to listen to the hitting, even if his sister didn't want him to, he didn't want her to be hurt. All this was his fault, it was always his fault, he was a nuisance and a burden it was normal that no one wanted him -"Everything would be better if I were dead"- He murmured to his snake as he slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness from exhaustion.