AN: I don't own the Harry Potter series.

Chapter 3: The Parents

James and Lily were lovely people, they really were, but when you put two twenty-somethings fresh out of magical high school in front of children, especially when one is almost always sick and the other is a celebrity, they will most likely not know what to do. They may feed the children and coo over them, but what about avoiding all the small things that can lead to a poor little baby being traumatized?

So maybe the Potter parents weren't the most perfect of parents, but they certainly tried. Especially when the children were new and the only big differences between them were their health and the color of their onesies. When the children were the same in almost every way, they were doted on, fussed over, stories were read to them every night, and they were treated like they had single handedly accomplished world peace and eradicated poverty.

But, like most good things, that didn't last.

When one of the children was dubbed "The Boy-Who-Lived" for witnessing Voldemort make a foolish corpse of himself and the other was just quiet, pale, constantly sick in one way or another, James' priorities shifted. Not a lot, but there was a change.

The little boy was fussed over just a bit more.

The attempts to heal the little 'girl' became just a bit less fervent.

The first twin to be fed was now always the little boy.

But there really wasn't much to complain about for the little 'girl'. It's not like they weren't being fussed over, or not getting medical attention at all, or being starved. They were just further away from the front of everyone's mind. After all, they were the twin of the Boy-Who-Lived, what else would happen?

So life continued for the Potters.

They moved into a more substantial house with a library, a family tapestry detailing the Potter lineage, more rooms for future Potters, and various things one would only find in a Pureblood's manor. There was probably even a suit of armor somewhere.

The twin boy was given his own nursery. If anyone asked, it was a precaution for the twin 'girl' being contagious.

On their second birthday, the twins got an equal amount of presents.

On their third, the little boy who was starting to not be quite so tiny was given a toy broom. The twin 'girl' didn't get one. Maybe it was explained away by James saying something like, "She's sick, it would be dangerous for her to be on a broom." And, of course, as the Boy-Who-Lived had potential political power his father was in charge of it. And nobody likes to disagree with a war hero, because surely exceptions can be made.

After that, more things began to change.

The little 'girl' was left alone in their nursery more often for longer periods of time. Maybe they were apologized to the first time someone forgot to feed them or nobody was there when they had a nightmare, but even those small reassurances were eventually lost.

When James impulsively went in search of gifts and trinkets to bring home to his wife and child, he started forgetting about getting things for his sickly little 'girl'. He still got 'her' gifts on occasion, but there were still moments when James was coming home from work with a little stuffed animal for the kids, only to realize he didn't get one for the little 'girl'.

While the sickly little Potter twin didn't have much of an opinion for many things, young as they were, they were of the opinion that something wasn't right. They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but it was a general sense of unease and it refused to diminish. It could have been a new manifestation of their mysterious illness, or a stomach bug, maybe they forgot something, but that didn't change what they felt.

When they saw their parents, always so bright and happy around everyone but especially happy with each other and the healthy twin, they seemed just a bit less enthusiastic when they stumbled upon the sickly little child toddling around. There could have been a number of reasons for their lack of cheer, but the child associated their parents being unhappy with their presence.

So, they isolated themself. Because really, what else could be expected of a child who was rapidly approaching the age for forming proper opinions and being tutored who had just found out they might cause their family unhappiness?

Their parents, being caught up in the politics of working in the ministry and having a child celebrity as a son, were slow to notice. Maybe they occasionally heard a sniffle, but they attributed it to whatever new sickness their 'daughter' was displaying. They still sought out the frail, sickly child to bring them meals and small toys, but like the saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind."

And the little 'girl' who had decided that they somehow made people unhappy was slowly put out of mind. In fact, they nearly weren't enrolled in tutoring, and even then it was last minute and nearly all of the tutors were there for a glimpse of the majestic, chubby, cute little "Boy-Who-Lived". The few who were genuinely there to educate the little Potter children were soon chased away from the sickly child because they found the constant sickness to be unnerving.

Maybe that's when the label of 'abuse' started to apply, when Lily and James gave up on finding a tutor for the little 'girl' and left them to their own devices even more than they had prior to the 'tutor incident'. But maybe it had become applicable the second the frail little child became a test subject for James' charm, or even when the sick child wasn't allowed a toy broom when their brother was.

Alas, the only thing that matters is that the label 'abused' definitively applied to the young, sick little child.

And it only got worse from there.