Sue Li tied her hair in a ponytail, double checking her appearance in the mirror in her dorm. Today was the day that she would be in charge of taking care of Holly, the mysterious niece of the great Albus Dumbledore. Truth be told, she had regarded the announcement the Headmaster had made with a grain of salt; a practice she had adopted to not fall for any fallacies or misdirections. But she wasn't about to voice her own thoughts to anybody, as there really wasn't any point in doing so. And whatever the Headmaster's business with the strange child, she wasn't going to pry and be a part of it.

That was until Professor Flitwick had asked for a volunteer to look after said strange child.

Being the eldest of seven siblings, she had thought that she was someone who would be a good fit for the job, and so after speaking with Professor Flitwick and volunteering herself, mentioning the sibling tidbit and skills in taking care of those much younger than her, she had been chosen and subsequently informed of her duties.

And then she met the child and having a close good look at her, the questions just piled on.

After playing hide and seek and witnessing Holly's abilities, she was utterly convinced that she wasn't a normal child.

Exiting the Ravenclaw common room entrance, she made her way to meet Harry and take Holly out of his hands. She had already planned an activity for the day; a trip to the library. She had checked beforehand to make sure they had books suitable for children her age and had catalogued different books that would interest Holly. If that failed and she had no interest in reading, then they would pick flowers off the garden near the greenhouses; she had gotten permission from Professor Sprout beforehand. And if that didn't satisfy her, then they would convene to the Ravenclaw Common Room and have her play with some magical blocks and puzzles, courtesy of Professor McGonagall.

Contingencies within contingencies; a lesson that her parents had drilled into her head.

Walking the steps up to the Gryffindor Common Room Entrance, she was not surprised to see Harry Potter and Holly waiting for her, the young child holding onto the hem of Harry's shirt whilst he in turn had a hand on her head.

"Good day, Harry, Holly." She greeted with a practiced smile. He smiled in return and she saw Holly waving hello to her behind him.

"Good day to you as well, Sue." Harry said, and then looked down to Holly, "Holly, aren't you going to greet her back?"

Holly took a few moments to build up the courage, but she managed to say in a quiet voice, "Go- good morning."

Inside, Sue Li was frowning; it seemed like yesterday's events hadn't warmed her up to Holly. And with an apologetic smile, Harry confirmed this observation of hers.

"Sorry, looks like she's gotten cold feet once she realized she'll need to be without me for today."

"Don't worry. I expected as much, that is why I've come up with a solution." Sue Li reached into her satchel and grabbed the item that she was sure would solve this problem immediately. She produced the item she held in her hands, letting both Harry and Holly take a good look at…

"Wait, is that me?" Harry asked, bemused. The little stuffed doll that Sue Li held was a replica of the Boy-who-lived, complete with glasses and his iconic lightning bolt scar engraved on the stitched doll. Only, this doll had around its neck a blue scarf and the trimming on the robes also held the colour of the Eagles.

"Yes it is. I commissioned a doll made out of your likeness so that Holly would find it easier to be without you by having something that looks like you in her hands. I made you wear Ravenclaw colours to better make her comfortable with me and those in my house." Sue Li stooped down and held out the doll for Holly to take. She reached out and tentatively examined the doll, looking at it from every angle. Then she stepped aside and held it out to compare it to Harry, whose bemused expression hadn't lessened any since Sue Li produced the doll out of her satchel.

She shook her head and gave it back to Sue Li, "No, I want the real Harry."

A momentary expression of surprise was on Sue Li's face, before trying to convince Holly, "Holly, today is supposed to be our day together."

But Holly just shook her head once more and took refuge behind Harry, who again held a small smile towards her, "I don't think that's going to cut it."

Sue Li began to think of another solution; her plans had been counting on Holly being at least comfortable around her, and her backup plan failed. So that only left…

"Then how about Harry comes with us for today?"

Holly brightened up at that. Harry on the other hand held only a raised brow at her statement. Sue Li held her hand out for Holly ro grab onto and gave a smile, "Come on, I've got a ton of fun activities for us to do."

Still glad that Harry could join them, Holly didn't hesitate to clutch onto her hand and let her lead them to their first destination; the library. Both of her hands were occupied, as she had moved the hand grabbing onto Harry's shirt to his hand. And the people lucky enough to pass by the trio were treated to the sight of Holly merrily skipping, swinging both Sue Li and Harry's arms back and forth.

As they arrived to the library, Sue Li immediately darted towards a specific table; free from the stares of others as to not let Holly be uncomfortable, and close enough to the bookshelves that held the books that she had cherry picked earlier, as to let Holly explore for herself and let her choose the book she wanted.

And that was what she had told Holly as they arrived at the table, "You can get any book you want from here and you can read as much as you want. And if you have any trouble you can ask Harry or I for help."

Holly stared at the bookshelves with light in her eyes; this was the first time she was able to read books! And so with a spring in her step, she began to look at all the titles and covers of the books, giving ample time for Sue Li to converse with Harry as to the needs and wants of Holly.

But it was Harry who had beaten her to the punch, as he asked Sue Li "So, is it really alright I tag along with you two? Wouldn't I be in the way?"

"On the contrary, you're helping immensely. Holly wouldn't be as susceptible to my suggestions if you weren't around; a shame since I thought she would be due to the happenings yesterday. Nevertheless, I'm more worried about what this means for you." Sue Li said, a look of concern in her eyes as she remembered the whole point if this exercise; for Harry to be able to keep up with the curriculum.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Hermione's been helping me with everything, making sure that I have a head start on assignments and essays so that Holly wouldn't feel too guilty, not that she should. Right now, I just want to make sure she's happy." He said, taking a quick look at Holly as she began to take books out of the bookshelves. Missing squint of suspicion Sue Li had given Harry.

She has never really understood why Harry treated Holly this way; if she didn't know any better, it was if the rumours that she was Harry's lost child or sibling are true and Holly being Dumbledore's niece was a cover up. Then again, she didn't really know Harry that well, the information she had stemming from a collection of students who had interacted with the boy - which ranged from his best friends and housemates to Cho Chang and that boy from Hufflepuff that presumably got targeted by Harry during their second year - and the Hogwarts rumour mill, both of which she didn't really trust enough to pass judgement on him just yet.

'More and more questions just keep piling up. Maybe today won't just be for Holly. Maybe it'll be for you too, you're a puzzle I want to solve, Harry.'

Sue Li had begun to stare unashamedly at him, lost in her thoughts. Harry, for his part, stared right on ahead, giving slight glances to the Ravenclaw who for some reason decided to just stare at him, a slight blooming blush arising from his cheeks due to her scrutiny.

Fortunately, Holly had returned, a sizable stack of books in her hands which she put on the table with a thud! Breaking Sue Li out of her reverie and saving Harry from having to snap Sue Li out of her daze. When he noticed the dozen or so books Holly had taken, he suggested with a chuckle, "Maybe we can save reading these for later. I bet Sue still has some things she wants to show you, right?"

Sue Li blinked at that. Truth be told, she hadn't thought of doing any of her contingency activites if Holly had liked the library, but the way her eyes lit up and swerved to her, jumping up and down in anticipation reminded her of her siblings back at home and she couldn't help but want to indulge her even more.

"Alright, how about we go the next activity, yeah? I'll shrink these books and keep the safe and give it back to you once were done."

Holly let out a whoop of joy. Madam Pince gave a harsh shush that made Holly hold her mouth, before letting our a softer, more quiter whoop of joy.

And from that, Sue Li began to understand why Harry wanted her happy a bit more.


The evening found the trio exhausted but satisfied. After a long, arduous process of finding the right flowers for Holly's bouquet - Professor Sprout chaperoning them throughout as to make sure they do not touch any dangerous plants or ruin any ones - they finally managed to find the ones Holly was satisfied with; a side which Harry never really knew Hedwig was capable of, she was much more meticulous than he thought, especially when it comes to aesthetics.

Afterwards the strain of her painstaking search had finally made Holly succumb to her grogginess and Harry had to carry her to their room as she slept. Sue Li wasn't far off, her eyes closing more and more as they walked, fighting to stay awake.

Alas, they had finally reached the room Dumbledore had given the two of them and Harry entered inside, inviting Sue Li in. While Harry was busy tucking Holly in, she took stock of the room and put the stack of books Holly had picked earlier and enlarged them back to their regular size. And when he returned, Harry gave a nod of appreciation to Sue Li, "Thanks for today. Holly had a lot of fun today."

"The pleasure was all mine." Sue Li responded, before once again looking around at the room that housed the both of them, "So, do you and Holly usually stay in this room, I would have thought she would stay with Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Harry gave a hum and put away the stack of books, making a mental note to see when would Holly want to read them, "Dumbledore's been really busy lately, he's been out of the castle more nowadays and barring him, I'm the only one she's been comfortable with, so I've been taking care of her in his absence. Well, until now at least."

Either he had come up with that lie a while back or he was telling the truth, Sue Li wasn't sure which one was right. So she decided on another avenue of getting the information she needed.

"Don't you think it's strange though? Holly just appeared out of thin air, I mean, with someone like Dumbledore's caliber, you would expect that it would be public knowledge that he would have a niece."

"Yeah, but most people tend to forget he has a brother, and that it's actually the person that runs the bar in Hogsmeade; Hog's Head Inn I think the name was."

Sue Li once again found herself surprised. She didn't know that, and that kind of information suggested a closer bond between Harry and Dumbledore, making Harry's relationship with Holly that much more believable. And yet she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more; that she had missed something obvious.

Having grown tired of beating around the bush, she decided to just be blunt, "Is Holly actually Dumbledore's niece?"

This time, Harry was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, but my gut is just screaming at me that she can't be his niece. Too many things don't add up; why hasn't anybody heard of her before she got here? Why does it seem like she isn't just a normal kid?" And then she rounded on Harry, an intense stare directed at him by her, "And why are you so adamant in making sure she is happy and content?"

Harry leaned back and met her stare with an incredulous one of his own, "Why? I mean, she's a kid. Last time I checked, it's pretty normal for someone to make sure a child has a good time, especially when they are put in charge for specifically that reason."

"That's the thing. I have siblings; I've taken care of them all my life and I would die before a hair from any of them were touched. You seem to hold the same sentiment, stronger in fact." Sue Li watched his expression and body language, trying to discern what he was hiding and trying to see if she could finally psych him out.

Harry, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with this line of questioning, gathered his Gryffindor courage and stated outright, "That's what you think, which is all fine and dandy, but I don't see why it matters so much. For all intents and purposes, I'm not doing anything wrong and I'm just looking after her."

A tense silence descended upon the both of them, as Sue Li was processing his statement, and he in turn tried his best to not sweat bullets. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she backed off of him, a neutral expression on her face, "I apologize, my curiosity won over my manners. I meant no offense and I believe that you do have Holly's best interest at heart."

Glad that the minor interrogation was finally over, Harry let out a sigh of relief and accepted her apology with a smile, "Don't worry. I expected at least one of you to be curious, truth be told, I have a ton of questions myself."

'Just not in the way you think' Harry added as an afterthought.

Grateful that he accepted her apology, she stood up to take her leave, "I need to go now. Curfew is in a couple of minutes and I must admit, I am dead tired. I will see you in the upcoming days, and I hope she likes the selection of books I procured."

With a smile she waved and exited through the door. She leaned back on it and let out a little sigh. Why must she be like this? Wasn't she not supposed to pry? But the Ravenclaw instincts were strong in her, and the thirst for answers was too overwhelming. Thankfully, Harry had been kind enough to forgive her, but she must not take it for granted. Next time, she will try her best to keep Holly's interest first; nevermind where she came from.

But as she returned to her dorm, her brain had already thoughts about Holly: Some about her origins, her whereabouts before coming to Hogwarts, and her relationship with Harry and the Headmaster.

But the biggest aspect was what she could come up with to make her have fun. Then the blocks made by Professor McGonagall came to mind, she hadn't had the opportunity to play with them. Perhaps that was something she would find enjoyable.

The Ravenclaw found herself excited for her turn to take care of Holly next; both to get more information about her out of Harry…

And to also get another chance to make her smile once more.


A/N: First round with Sue Li is done! Next up: Susan Bones and the Hufflepuff troupe, look forward to that! Please kindly leave your review as you exit out the side. And also mind the gap…