Thank you all so so much for such lovely comments! I've read each one and really appreciate the feedback! Special shoutout to Distorted Braiwaves who had some fab ideas!
Anyways, enjoy the story!
Of course, Harriet wasn't going to expose her entire life's story, even if it was to strangers who took the faces of her parents. Rather, she stared on intently, silently willing them to ask a question, hoping against hope that it wasn't anything too personal.
The silence dragged on for one beats, two, three, before, Jame's eyes widened in realisation that Harriet was waiting for him to speak.
"Alright, well," he started, the confident air around him when they first met diminished greatly. "You mentioned that your parents- in your world, I mean- are dead? How'd that happen?"
"James!" Lily exclaimed in horror, striking the side of James' arm. Harriet couldn't help but flinch ever so slightly.
"No, it's okay," Harriet attempted to reassure, not wanting James to get any more bruises from a horrified wife. "Everybody's always talking about it anyways."
Although the last comment was an attempt to lighten the mood, it did none of the sort, Harriet realised with a start, as the silence dragged on like a piece of bubble gum stretching.
"Umm, well…." Harriet started before furrowing her eyebrows. "Do you guys have a dark wizard named Voldemort here?"
The flinching of the name was answer enough.
"Right, well, I guess that answers that," Harriet chuckled, shifting in her seat. "Well, he went after them, my parents, I mean, and killed them."
The bluntness of her answer seemed to startle them, as they both leaned forward simultaneously, a duplicate shadow gracing their faces.
"We're sorry to hear that," Lily replied.
Harriet shrugged her shoulders in discomfort, as if to brush aside their sickening pity that was the very last thing she wanted. "It's fine, I barely remember them. I was one the time they died."
Once again the silence stretched before them, taunting them, mocking them with its vastness.
"Right, okay," James nodded to himself as if still processing the information. "Normally I wouldn't push the issue, but, seeing as we're alive in this universe, I believe that more information surrounding our- I mean you parent's- deaths might be needed."
Harriet resisted the urge to clench her chest as she felt her heart contract painfully. She wasn't ready to become the Girl-Who-Lived in a whole new universe. She wasn't ready for the expectations, the judgemental looks, the prejudice that seemingly came with surviving the killing curse. She knew it was selfish, she knew that she was probably subjecting hundreds of people to danger by withholding information, but she couldn't seem to form coherent enough thoughts to explain.
"Got lucky, I guess." Her voice was colder than she had meant it to sound. Judging from the glances from James and Lily, they certainly weren't expecting it either.
Lily raised her eyebrows and, for a moment, Harriet was afraid she was going to push the matter. Instead she merely pushed a plate towards her and, in a tone that was very similar to Mrs Weasley, remarked "Have some more toast, dear."
Harriet couldn't help but blink in surprise, glancing down at her empty plate and back at the offered food. She hadn't even noticed herself eating. Before she could grab another slice, however, her stomach gave a painful lurch in warning. With reluctance, she pushed her hand back down and onto her lap before giving a strained smile at the couple. "I'm alright, thanks."
She didn't miss the glance that the couple gave before looking back on her. She noticed, but couldn't muster enough energy to care.
"That's alright, kiddo. There'll be leftovers if any of us get hungry later," James smiled at her before standing to clear the table.
Harriet leapt up, grabbing the nearest plate in a movement that she hoped looked more enthusiastic and less frantic. "I-I'll do it! You guys cooked breakfast!"
A hand appeared in her vision and before she could properly process what was happening, Lily had gently taken the plate from her.
"That's alright, dear. I'm sure you're rather exhausted from your impromptu trip. It's perfectly fine if you need to go lie down for awhile."
As if Lily's words were a trigger, Harriet felt her muscles heavy with fatigue, her eyes stinging with the need to close, to rest. But she couldn't do that, it wouldn't be fair to Lily and James if she left them to clean such a mess after they had been so kind to let her stay with them.
As if sensing her reluctance, James turned around from the sink where he had been enchanting the brush to clean the dishes. "It's alright, we've got it handled. Go take a nap."
"What do you think?" Lily's soft voice broke the companionable silence, where plates could be heard softly clinking against each other.
James looked up from where he was wiping crumbs off the table to look at her. "I don't know," he started with a sigh, heavily sitting down. "There's no doubt she's genuine- she knows things she couldn't possibly know unless her claims were true, but I just can't warp my mind around it."
Lily set the cup she had been drying by hand down softly before going to sit with her husband. "I know what you mean. She's just so different from any daughter I thought I'd have- what daughter I thought we'd have."
James chuckled lowly. "She's certainly not like Harry."
A stretch of silence settled over the kitchen, both husband and wife lost in thought. A light drizzle had started outside, small droplets running down the window that overlooked their overgrown garden that they had attempted to maintain for almost four years before giving up. A low rumble rolled over the house as the rain got heavier.
"You don't think this is some sort of trick, do you?" Lily asked her voice much softer than before, as if afraid to break the tentative silence.
"What, you mean like Deatheater trying to gain information?" James paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "It's not someone with Polyjuice. She's been monitored for hours now."
Lily hummed, encouraging him to continue.
"That would mean, that if she is a Deatheater, that she really is a teenager. I just can't see them using someone so young. Children are just too impressionable. And besides, she was too genuine."
Lily's hum was the
reply.
"I don't think she's anything bad, but we'll keep an eye on her just in case. You can never be too careful."
"Especially in times like these," Lily agreed.
"Especially in times like these."
The bed was so soft. Too soft.
Harriet sighed as she shifted positions for the hundredth time in minutes. It just didn't make sense that she would have any trouble falling asleep with the exhaustion she felt. It didn't seem possible. But then again, Harriet was known for doing the impossible. In everything including sleeping, it seemed.
A last huff escaped her before she roughly grabbed her pillow and stood up, observing the room. Although the bed was towards the corner of the room, there was just enough room for her to sandwich herself between it and the wall. Perfect.
But even in such a space that resembled her childhood, that was her childhood, she couldn't shut off her thoughts.
She missed Ron. She missed Hermione. She missed Remus and Sirius. She missed Hedwig. She missed Cedric- she missed her parents.
What a cruel existence to be haunted by an impression of love who had left her to life; whose love she could not remember. The hugs, the kisses, the warmth, the safety that was supposed to be wrapped around a child like their favourite blanket had long since vanished from her memory.
Like it never existed.
Mr and Mrs Weasley tried to help, so did Remus and Sirius and Hagrid and Dumbledore and even Mcgonagall. But they couldn't shield her from everything. They couldn't shield her from heated glares nor expectations thrust upon her by fully grown adults. They couldn't shield her from the ugly realities of life. They couldn't shield her from Voldemort
Sometimes Harriet felt like she was incapable of being loved. And that left more pain than anything Voldemort could ever do.
Harriet must have eventually managed to fall asleep, as the next time she woke, her body was coated with a hot sweat and her heart was beating so rapidly that Harriet was slightly afraid it would burst from her chest. The room was darker then before, rain violently hitting at the window above her bed as thunder shook the house. Groggily, Harriet glanced over to find that it was just passed twelve in the afternoon. She had only managed to sleep for half an hour.
Not one for self-pity, Harriet slowly climbed off the floor, propping the pillow back of the bed, leaving no evidence behind of her odd sleeping habits. Carefully, Harriet raked her fingers through her tangled hair in an aborted attempt to get it to behave before quickly sighing in defeat. There was no use.
Soft voices could be heard from the hallway outside her room, drifting around her almost melodically. Two she could identify as Lily and James', but the other two, although oddly familiar, were unidentifiable. Admittedly, the last thing Harriet wanted to do was meet more people but she supposed it would be rude to lock herself inside her room all day after the Potters had been so kind. So, with a quick breath for confidence, she carefully made her way downstairs.
Both Lily and James were curled on the couch facing the stairwell, leaving the two men with their backs turned towards her. She half expected, half hoped, they would continue their conversation, ignoring her completely. All chances of this happening were ruined when Lily made eye contact with her before giving her a gentle, kind smile that made Harriet's stomach clench painfully. "Hello, Harriet. Did you sleep well?"
"Erm, well, yes, I did. Thank you," Harriet managed to stutter out with a weak smile.
James smiled at her, a similar expression of kindness before patting the empty space beside him on the couch. Harriet quickly walked towards the Potters, perching herself on the edge of the couch somewhat awkwardly. Finally she had a view of the two strangers in front of her. The first was young, Harriet expected in his early twenties, with dark hair that was messily scattered across his head and startling green eyes that reflected her own. Wizarding robes adorned his figure, reminding Harriet of the Hungarian Horntail she had fought the year previously. He was big, not only in the sense of height, but also with muscles that gave indication that he was active often. Harriet couldn't help but to feel intimidated by him.
The other man also had dark hair that settled just above his shoulders. He wore a muggle leather jacket and dark jeans, making him look undeniably cool. His face was open, friendly, greatly resembling Sirius' if her godfather didn't have that haunted glaze within his eyes that cam from years of imprisonment. Harriet frowned before blinking again. The man that sat before her didn't look like Sirius, but was Sirius.
"Right!" James' voice broke through her shock. "You haven't met them yet! That right there," he stated, gesturing towards the younger man, "is Harry, my son. The other man is-"
"-Sirius," Harriet blurted out.
For reasons Harriet could not interpret, James look shocked at her familiarity with the man. "That's right."
The young man- Harry- stood up and slowly reached his hands towards her, as if afraid of frightening a feral cat. "Blimey! I don't remember being that small when I was a teen!"
"Harry James Potter!" Lily exclaimed, horrified.
"What?" Harry asked, looking genuinely confused with his furrowed brow. "She's like a girl version of me, right? From a different universe?"
Harriet found herself frowning at his words, not having previously thought of the significance between Harry and Harriet.
"I didn't think I could be as big as you in any reality," she found herself saying before she could stop herself from voicing her impulsive thoughts. "You're like Hagrid!"
Harry looked at her for a second before his mouth spread into a wide, genuine grin. "Well she must be me because she's got my wicked sense of humour."
Lily rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Oh, Harry! She's not you! She's got her own set of memories and life experiences. She's more like a long lost sister!"
Harriet found her eyes widening at that comparison, subconsciously slumping further into the couch.
"Mum! Look who made her uncomfortable now!" Harry exclaimed, gesturing fervently towards Harriet.
Lily's face in turn heated up hotly and as she went to retort, Not-Sirius Sirius stepped in. "So, Harriet, I suppose you have been eternally blessed to know me in your world?"
This Sirius was so different from her Sirius that Harriet wasn't sure if it was fair to agree. Where her Sirius was wiry with a pale, slightly sick pallor with cheekbones jutting out almost painfully, this Sirius had a healthy glow and a fair amount of muscles. Her Sirius was always graced with a slightly hunched figure, as if all those years in Azkaban had manifested itself as a weight upon his shoulders. This Sirius, however, stood tall effortlessly his posture relaxed.
However, both Sirius shared a weary glint in their eyes, along with positions that would allow for them to get in a defensive stance easily, which could only come from living in danger for too long. Above all else, however, both Sirius shared a soft expression that seemed to only be reserved for Harriet.
Despite her best efforts, Harriet found her taut muscles relaxing slightly. "Yep, I know Sirius. Er," she added "Other Sirius."
Sirius simply threw his head back and laughed.
In a drab and shadowy building, in another city, in another world, a pale, almost translucent, figure sat upon a carefully carved seat that looked more like a throne than a chair. A monstrous snake lazed by the figure's feet, its eyes slitted menacingly against the shrivelled silhouette that was slumped by then entrance to the room.
"M-My lord," the silhouette stuttered pitifully, taking a minuscule step closer so that his rat-like features could be seen by the pale overhead lamp. "I c-c-come with news a-a-a-about P-P-Potter."
"Yes, Wormtail?" A pale hand with long, overgrown fingernails emerged from the dark robe to gesture Wormtail lazily forward.
Despite the figure's relaxed movements, a yelp erupted from Wormtail before he shakily took a step closer.
The figure merely smiled an icy, ruthless smile before opening his white and peeling lips. "Now, now, Wormtail. There's no need to speak so far away from me. Step closer."
Wormtail looked as though he was about to cry as he shakily took several more steps forward with his wobbling lips.
The Lord merely smiled before lazily rolling his hand. "Potter?"
"Sh-sh-she has d-d-disappeared from her aunt's home," He paused, as if trying to gain back his breath, shaking his head slightly to regather his thoughts.
"And?" A sharp edge had appeared in The Lord's voice that had not been there previously.
"The Order d-d-don't know w-where she is either."
"Interesting," The Lord mused before turning his blood-red eyes sharply towards Wormtail. "I grow tired of your presence. Leave."
"Y-y-yes m-my Lord."
"And Wormtail? Bring Severus to me."
"Y-yes my L-L-Lord."
As Wormtail gracelessly staggered out of the room, The Lord frowned, slowly standing up to pace the study. This was troubling news. Troubling news indeed.
The Lord had been suspecting for some time that something was wrong. For days, he had felt himself more tense than usual, as if he was a rubber band that was being stretched too far. Accompanying this feeling was a sense of loss, of losing something invaluably important. A sense he had only felt once, long long ago.
As if understanding his unease, Nagini slithered closer towards her master, resting her head on his foot.
For days, The Lord had felt as though Harriet Potter had gone missing. And now she had. What he had experienced should not be possible. It was impossible. And yet, he had felt this once before, with Nagini and the bond they had formed long ago. But it was impossible that he and Potter shared such bond. Wasn't it?
The Lord once again frowned before seating himself on his throne as a sharp knock sounded through the room. Good. Perhaps Severus had come with a better theory than his own. Because if he didn't, then his suspicions must be true.
Lord Voldemort had a Horcrux in Harriet Potter.