Thanks for your review, Thalia. And I thank you for your patience. You are
right, Sydney IS too perfect to be true. But I am not trying to make her a
Mary Sue. In fact, there is a reason for her perfection, and I promise you,
it has nothing to do with that. Thank you for reading my story and for your
constructive criticism because it helps me improve as a writer. =)
Chapter 5
Harry ran down to the dungeons, a bit flustered. How could he have gotten so completely distracted as if to forget he had to come EARLY! It was Snape's class after all. And now that there were no house points to be taken, he was liable to simply give him detention.
"Mr. Potter...you know that it is against the rules to be late for class...if there were any points to be taken, you would have had it..." he took a deep breath and looked at Harry directly in the eyes. "Sit down next to Mr. Malfoy, and next time, there will be detention!" he said firmly.
"Yes, Professor..." said Harry sitting down next to Malfoy and immediately opening his books.
"I bet you were late because you went to see your little girlfriend..." whispered Malfoy, trying to annoy Harry.
"My little girlfriend....no. I don't have a girlfriend. Yes, I was visiting my friend, Sydney. But you know damn well she is not my..."
"Sydney? Is she ok?" blurted out Malfoy unable to stop himself.
Harry stopped taking notes and looked over to Malfoy.
"Do you care?" he asked curiously.
Malfoy blushed bright pink and frowned.
"Of course not, why would I care?" he said quickly, looking away and starting to take notes.
Harry's eyes narrowed. Then he simply shook his head and continues taking notes from Snape.
When class was dismissed, Malfoy took a deep breath and turned to Harry.
"Lander...she is in the hospital wing, is she not?" he asked acting non attached.
"Yes, she is. But I warn you, if you go around there to set a curse on her or something....you will be sorry" said Harry angrily taking his wand and walking away.
"What was Malfoy asking you? You seem angry" pointed out Hermione.
"I am...he was asking where Sydney was! He was probably just thinking of a way to harm her or something...but I swear, if he does anything I will kick his..."
"HARRY!!!!" said Hermione opening her eyes very wide and looking at Harry with a half exasperated, half funny expression on her face.
Ron burst out laughing making Harry smile. As they walked to the Dining Room, Harry told them about the strange way Malfoy was acting, and about him caring to ask about Sydney.
"I wonder why he wants to know if she was ok, or where she was...it is not like him to care..." said Ron helping himself to mashed potatoes.
"Well, Malfoy's parents have connections with Voldemort, maybe, well, maybe Sydney's letter of acceptance incident and her being here now has something to do with it" said Hermione taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
Harry took a bite of chicken and chewed throughtfully before shallowing. Then he took a long drink from his goblet and shook his head.
"Though maybe Voldemort did have something to do with the letter and Sydney, I don't think that is the reason why Malfoy seems to care about her. My scar would have warned us or something. Or Dumbledore would be more in the alert or something..." he said.
"Maybe so. But then again, you never knew you were so protected, until Voldemort said you were. Maybe she doesn't know she is being watched over so carefully" pointed out Hermione eating some biscuit.
"Yeah...maybe...Hermione...I wanted to ask you something though...how come you didn't know how to approach a Bulbo? It is not likely for you to remember something..." said Harry curiously.
Hermione looked over at Ron. How could she explain to him that all information had swept away from her brain just as Sydney got close to her and spoke? And was there a connection between her forgetting the information and Sydney?
"I just forgot I guess..." she said sheepishly, looking down at her food, while Ron and Harry exchanged quick glances in silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sydney sat down on her bed. She was feeling a lot better and frankly she didn't understand why Madame Pomfrey didn't allow her to return to her dormitory right away.
As she sipped a bit of her chicken soup, Malfoy made his way to her bed.
"Bonne appetite" he said suddenly, startling her.
She almost spilled her soup from shock.
"What are you doing here?" she asked very surprised.
He looked rather uncomfortable as he looked into her eyes. For the first time she truly noticed how beautiful his eyes were.
"If only he weren't such a piece of filth..." she thought.
"I...well, I ran into you....and you were crying, and...uhmm...well...I am not entirely made out of stone, Lander" he said sounding as nasty as ever.
Sydney smiled honestly. He looked at her curiously. Was she cooking up something? Was she going to give him some strange insult?
"Thank you for worrying, then. That means you actually do have a heart..." she said softly, then she turned her attention to her soup.
Malfoy felt his heart beating very fast. She hadn't insulted him! Maybe she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did...
"Here, have this. And, well, get better soon, or something" he said trying hard to conceal his emotions as he handed her a perfect pink rose. She seemed completely in shock with his gesture and smiled again.
"Thank you...I...well" she said without really knowing what else to say.
"Miss Lander...are you done with your dinner?" asked Madame Pomfrey walking in the room.
"Uhm...yeah" she said frowning a bit at the soup.
Malfoy smiled at her. He had had that soup once, it was pretty horrible tasting.
"Good. I think you are strong enough to go to your dormitory..." she said helping her up.
"Awesome!!!!" she said happily.
She quickly grabbed her cloak and hung it over her hospital robes. She glanced at Malfoy, not sure of what to tell him.
"Well...hmm...I have to go...it's probably late, can't tell here...and I must sleep some more..."
"Yes, of course. Need to be in shape to insult me again" he said grinning.
She giggled softly and started to walk, but her body still seemed weak, for her legs gave away fairly quick.
"Maybe you should help her, Mr. Malfoy" said Madame Pomfrey looking at him sternly.
Malfoy looked at Madame Pomfrey and then at Sydney, who was holding on to the end of her bed, trying hard to stand up by herself. He stood up behind her and placed one arm around her waist and held her close to him, helping her stand up.
"Thanks..." she said, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Don't thank me...just don't insult me on the way or I will be very tempted to let go off you and watch you roll down the stairs..." he said looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
She giggled and held on to him. They made their way to Gryffindor Tower slowly. Malfoy would stop once in awhile to allow Sydney to catch her breath. Once they were in front of the portrait of the fat lady, Sydney turned a bit and faced him without letting go of him.
"It is not my custom to fraternize with the enemy...but...thanks..." she said shyly.
Then without any warning, she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips against his soft cheek, leaving him completely shocked. Then she let go off him, turned around and whispered her password to the fat lady, who allowed her to go in.
"See you tomorrow!" Malfoy managed to say as she walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.
Sydney turned back and smiled at him. He kept looking at her until the portrait had closed the entrance completely.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry turned around just as Sydney walked into the Common Room. Her face was a mix of extreme wonder, happiness and wariness.
"Sydney! I had no idea Madame Pomfrey would allow you to come back today!" said Ron grabbing her arm and helping her to one of the empty couches.
"Me neither, it basically took me by surprise..." she said softly as she sat down.
Hermione, who had been talking to Ginny when Sydney came in, stared at her with wonder. She looked somehow different, excited even.
"Who helped you come?" asked Harry sitting next to her.
She hesitated before answering.
"Draco Malfoy..." she answered very softly.
Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at each other.
"Why would Malfoy help you? You have been nothing but mean towards each other since you met! And for him to have helped you he must have been visting you in the first place..." pointed out Harry looking extremely troubled.
"Yes, well, he did come visit me, I can't understand why, but he did. And just when he was about to leave, Madame Pomfrey let me come, and he helped me..." she said blushing a lot.
"This doesn't add up...first he asks about you in Potions, then he goes to visit you? I don't understand..." blurted out Ron.
Sydney blushed a lot again and shrugged.
"I have no idea why the sudden change. But I mean, who am I to question him?" she said softly.
Harry looked at Sydney's face. For the first time since they met, she avoided his stare. She seemed ashamed to look at him in the eyes. And yet he remembered why he had followed her in the first place...why she had fallen....why she had been in the hospital wing...Professor Trelawney's words...
"Sydney, can we talk?" he said. Then he looked at Hermione and Ron and mouthed "can you leave us alone for a moment?"
They both understood and walked away, deep in discussion about Malfoy's strange way of acting.
"Why do you want to talk with me alone, Harry?" she asked shyly.
"Syd...I don't want to scare you again or make you upset. But I skipped Divination to come after you and comfort you. And yet you ran away from me as if I had been the cause of your pain. That made me feel horrible...can you tell me now why you ran away from me like that? And why do I feel warmth everytime I touch you?" he asked solemnly.
Sydney felt her heart beat faster. He had seen she was fleeing from him. And he had felt the warmth she had felt upon is touch. Denying she had felt the same would be useless, she knew. But how could she tell him the truth?
Harry knew she was fighting an internal battle, right then and there. He looked at her as she closed her beautiful eyes, deep in thought. When she finally opened them, she sighed and looked determined to share with him something...but nothing could have prepared him for her words:
"Harry...the warmth you feel...I feel it too. And it is normal for members of the Potter family to feel it..." she said very softly, looking into his green eyes.
He felt all the air leave his body.
"Members of the Potter family? You mean to say..."
"If my mother would have been allowed to keep her maiden name, my full name would be Sydney Ann Lander...Potter..." she said swallowing hard, her eyes briming with tears.
Harry's eyes were just as watery. His face was entirely flushed as he tried to mutter a question:
"But...how?...why? Who? Voldemort?" was all he could muster as tears fell down his pale cheeks.
"Yes...Voldemort did have to do with my not coming here when I wasn't supposed to..."
Harry remained silent, allowing her to go on.
"Dumbledore told my family it was very likely that upon my arrival and our meeting, we could join forces and become much more powerful than anyone could imagine. Voldemort didn't want that, I believe, and kidnapped the owls who were carrying my letter of acceptance to Hogwarts. How did he do it? No one really knows..." she said looking down at the floor.
"Sydney...you are my..."
"Cousin...that is right...we are family!" she said very softly, looking at him straight in the eyes.
Harry walked to her, kneeled down before her and grabbed her hands, still amazed at what she had just told him. Physically speaking she was completely different from him. But he could see they were related from the way their eyes shone, from the warmth their hands shared...
"Harry...but we cannot tell this to anyone. You must pretend we don't know. There are many spies among us, we don't know who to trust...these are dark times, and even in the most unconspicuous thing, a powerful dark thing can be hidden..." she warned softly, looking straight into his deep green eyes.
"Yes...yes...we cannot tell a soul" he said firmly, kissing her hands and looking back into her eyes.
"Good...now, let's go to sleep..." she said starting to stand up, but failing once again.
"Don't try on your own, I will take you to rest...you need it for tomorrow" he said helping her up, then taking her in his arms.
"Harry...people will notice something is happening if they see us display affection, or even by looks...are you sure this is commendable?" she asked cautiously.
"I don't know...then again, if Malfoy could help you here, why can't I?" he said, a bitter look on his face.
Sydney nodded and allowed Harry to carry her up to her room and carefully place her down on her bed. They both looked at each other in the semi darkness and smiled. Harry leaned forward, softly whispering in her ear:
"I am glad to know I am not alone in the World..."
She smiled, her eyes briming with tears as Harry, a huge smile on his face, walked out of the room.
Chapter 5
Harry ran down to the dungeons, a bit flustered. How could he have gotten so completely distracted as if to forget he had to come EARLY! It was Snape's class after all. And now that there were no house points to be taken, he was liable to simply give him detention.
"Mr. Potter...you know that it is against the rules to be late for class...if there were any points to be taken, you would have had it..." he took a deep breath and looked at Harry directly in the eyes. "Sit down next to Mr. Malfoy, and next time, there will be detention!" he said firmly.
"Yes, Professor..." said Harry sitting down next to Malfoy and immediately opening his books.
"I bet you were late because you went to see your little girlfriend..." whispered Malfoy, trying to annoy Harry.
"My little girlfriend....no. I don't have a girlfriend. Yes, I was visiting my friend, Sydney. But you know damn well she is not my..."
"Sydney? Is she ok?" blurted out Malfoy unable to stop himself.
Harry stopped taking notes and looked over to Malfoy.
"Do you care?" he asked curiously.
Malfoy blushed bright pink and frowned.
"Of course not, why would I care?" he said quickly, looking away and starting to take notes.
Harry's eyes narrowed. Then he simply shook his head and continues taking notes from Snape.
When class was dismissed, Malfoy took a deep breath and turned to Harry.
"Lander...she is in the hospital wing, is she not?" he asked acting non attached.
"Yes, she is. But I warn you, if you go around there to set a curse on her or something....you will be sorry" said Harry angrily taking his wand and walking away.
"What was Malfoy asking you? You seem angry" pointed out Hermione.
"I am...he was asking where Sydney was! He was probably just thinking of a way to harm her or something...but I swear, if he does anything I will kick his..."
"HARRY!!!!" said Hermione opening her eyes very wide and looking at Harry with a half exasperated, half funny expression on her face.
Ron burst out laughing making Harry smile. As they walked to the Dining Room, Harry told them about the strange way Malfoy was acting, and about him caring to ask about Sydney.
"I wonder why he wants to know if she was ok, or where she was...it is not like him to care..." said Ron helping himself to mashed potatoes.
"Well, Malfoy's parents have connections with Voldemort, maybe, well, maybe Sydney's letter of acceptance incident and her being here now has something to do with it" said Hermione taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
Harry took a bite of chicken and chewed throughtfully before shallowing. Then he took a long drink from his goblet and shook his head.
"Though maybe Voldemort did have something to do with the letter and Sydney, I don't think that is the reason why Malfoy seems to care about her. My scar would have warned us or something. Or Dumbledore would be more in the alert or something..." he said.
"Maybe so. But then again, you never knew you were so protected, until Voldemort said you were. Maybe she doesn't know she is being watched over so carefully" pointed out Hermione eating some biscuit.
"Yeah...maybe...Hermione...I wanted to ask you something though...how come you didn't know how to approach a Bulbo? It is not likely for you to remember something..." said Harry curiously.
Hermione looked over at Ron. How could she explain to him that all information had swept away from her brain just as Sydney got close to her and spoke? And was there a connection between her forgetting the information and Sydney?
"I just forgot I guess..." she said sheepishly, looking down at her food, while Ron and Harry exchanged quick glances in silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sydney sat down on her bed. She was feeling a lot better and frankly she didn't understand why Madame Pomfrey didn't allow her to return to her dormitory right away.
As she sipped a bit of her chicken soup, Malfoy made his way to her bed.
"Bonne appetite" he said suddenly, startling her.
She almost spilled her soup from shock.
"What are you doing here?" she asked very surprised.
He looked rather uncomfortable as he looked into her eyes. For the first time she truly noticed how beautiful his eyes were.
"If only he weren't such a piece of filth..." she thought.
"I...well, I ran into you....and you were crying, and...uhmm...well...I am not entirely made out of stone, Lander" he said sounding as nasty as ever.
Sydney smiled honestly. He looked at her curiously. Was she cooking up something? Was she going to give him some strange insult?
"Thank you for worrying, then. That means you actually do have a heart..." she said softly, then she turned her attention to her soup.
Malfoy felt his heart beating very fast. She hadn't insulted him! Maybe she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did...
"Here, have this. And, well, get better soon, or something" he said trying hard to conceal his emotions as he handed her a perfect pink rose. She seemed completely in shock with his gesture and smiled again.
"Thank you...I...well" she said without really knowing what else to say.
"Miss Lander...are you done with your dinner?" asked Madame Pomfrey walking in the room.
"Uhm...yeah" she said frowning a bit at the soup.
Malfoy smiled at her. He had had that soup once, it was pretty horrible tasting.
"Good. I think you are strong enough to go to your dormitory..." she said helping her up.
"Awesome!!!!" she said happily.
She quickly grabbed her cloak and hung it over her hospital robes. She glanced at Malfoy, not sure of what to tell him.
"Well...hmm...I have to go...it's probably late, can't tell here...and I must sleep some more..."
"Yes, of course. Need to be in shape to insult me again" he said grinning.
She giggled softly and started to walk, but her body still seemed weak, for her legs gave away fairly quick.
"Maybe you should help her, Mr. Malfoy" said Madame Pomfrey looking at him sternly.
Malfoy looked at Madame Pomfrey and then at Sydney, who was holding on to the end of her bed, trying hard to stand up by herself. He stood up behind her and placed one arm around her waist and held her close to him, helping her stand up.
"Thanks..." she said, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Don't thank me...just don't insult me on the way or I will be very tempted to let go off you and watch you roll down the stairs..." he said looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
She giggled and held on to him. They made their way to Gryffindor Tower slowly. Malfoy would stop once in awhile to allow Sydney to catch her breath. Once they were in front of the portrait of the fat lady, Sydney turned a bit and faced him without letting go of him.
"It is not my custom to fraternize with the enemy...but...thanks..." she said shyly.
Then without any warning, she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips against his soft cheek, leaving him completely shocked. Then she let go off him, turned around and whispered her password to the fat lady, who allowed her to go in.
"See you tomorrow!" Malfoy managed to say as she walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.
Sydney turned back and smiled at him. He kept looking at her until the portrait had closed the entrance completely.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry turned around just as Sydney walked into the Common Room. Her face was a mix of extreme wonder, happiness and wariness.
"Sydney! I had no idea Madame Pomfrey would allow you to come back today!" said Ron grabbing her arm and helping her to one of the empty couches.
"Me neither, it basically took me by surprise..." she said softly as she sat down.
Hermione, who had been talking to Ginny when Sydney came in, stared at her with wonder. She looked somehow different, excited even.
"Who helped you come?" asked Harry sitting next to her.
She hesitated before answering.
"Draco Malfoy..." she answered very softly.
Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at each other.
"Why would Malfoy help you? You have been nothing but mean towards each other since you met! And for him to have helped you he must have been visting you in the first place..." pointed out Harry looking extremely troubled.
"Yes, well, he did come visit me, I can't understand why, but he did. And just when he was about to leave, Madame Pomfrey let me come, and he helped me..." she said blushing a lot.
"This doesn't add up...first he asks about you in Potions, then he goes to visit you? I don't understand..." blurted out Ron.
Sydney blushed a lot again and shrugged.
"I have no idea why the sudden change. But I mean, who am I to question him?" she said softly.
Harry looked at Sydney's face. For the first time since they met, she avoided his stare. She seemed ashamed to look at him in the eyes. And yet he remembered why he had followed her in the first place...why she had fallen....why she had been in the hospital wing...Professor Trelawney's words...
"Sydney, can we talk?" he said. Then he looked at Hermione and Ron and mouthed "can you leave us alone for a moment?"
They both understood and walked away, deep in discussion about Malfoy's strange way of acting.
"Why do you want to talk with me alone, Harry?" she asked shyly.
"Syd...I don't want to scare you again or make you upset. But I skipped Divination to come after you and comfort you. And yet you ran away from me as if I had been the cause of your pain. That made me feel horrible...can you tell me now why you ran away from me like that? And why do I feel warmth everytime I touch you?" he asked solemnly.
Sydney felt her heart beat faster. He had seen she was fleeing from him. And he had felt the warmth she had felt upon is touch. Denying she had felt the same would be useless, she knew. But how could she tell him the truth?
Harry knew she was fighting an internal battle, right then and there. He looked at her as she closed her beautiful eyes, deep in thought. When she finally opened them, she sighed and looked determined to share with him something...but nothing could have prepared him for her words:
"Harry...the warmth you feel...I feel it too. And it is normal for members of the Potter family to feel it..." she said very softly, looking into his green eyes.
He felt all the air leave his body.
"Members of the Potter family? You mean to say..."
"If my mother would have been allowed to keep her maiden name, my full name would be Sydney Ann Lander...Potter..." she said swallowing hard, her eyes briming with tears.
Harry's eyes were just as watery. His face was entirely flushed as he tried to mutter a question:
"But...how?...why? Who? Voldemort?" was all he could muster as tears fell down his pale cheeks.
"Yes...Voldemort did have to do with my not coming here when I wasn't supposed to..."
Harry remained silent, allowing her to go on.
"Dumbledore told my family it was very likely that upon my arrival and our meeting, we could join forces and become much more powerful than anyone could imagine. Voldemort didn't want that, I believe, and kidnapped the owls who were carrying my letter of acceptance to Hogwarts. How did he do it? No one really knows..." she said looking down at the floor.
"Sydney...you are my..."
"Cousin...that is right...we are family!" she said very softly, looking at him straight in the eyes.
Harry walked to her, kneeled down before her and grabbed her hands, still amazed at what she had just told him. Physically speaking she was completely different from him. But he could see they were related from the way their eyes shone, from the warmth their hands shared...
"Harry...but we cannot tell this to anyone. You must pretend we don't know. There are many spies among us, we don't know who to trust...these are dark times, and even in the most unconspicuous thing, a powerful dark thing can be hidden..." she warned softly, looking straight into his deep green eyes.
"Yes...yes...we cannot tell a soul" he said firmly, kissing her hands and looking back into her eyes.
"Good...now, let's go to sleep..." she said starting to stand up, but failing once again.
"Don't try on your own, I will take you to rest...you need it for tomorrow" he said helping her up, then taking her in his arms.
"Harry...people will notice something is happening if they see us display affection, or even by looks...are you sure this is commendable?" she asked cautiously.
"I don't know...then again, if Malfoy could help you here, why can't I?" he said, a bitter look on his face.
Sydney nodded and allowed Harry to carry her up to her room and carefully place her down on her bed. They both looked at each other in the semi darkness and smiled. Harry leaned forward, softly whispering in her ear:
"I am glad to know I am not alone in the World..."
She smiled, her eyes briming with tears as Harry, a huge smile on his face, walked out of the room.