Thankfully for them, the Leaky Cauldron was less crowded when they came back. The old witches were still here, drinking a green beverage that made pink bubbles this time but Doris Crockford was gone. They sat in a shadowy corner, surrounded by all their packages and the two cages. Hagrid tried to pay for their lunch but Rohini was faster and paid for the three of them instead.
"You've already done so much for us, Hagrid!" She said and Hagrid blushed with a shy smile. It was the biggest breakfast the twins had ever eaten: sausages, beans, scrambled eggs… Rohini even went as far as licking her plate, making her brother giggle as some sauce was left on her nose. Hagrid smiled and said he was glad she seemed to have a healthy appetite.
As he came to take back the empty plates, Tom gave a piece of sausage to the Siamese cat that Rohini hadn't named yet. She had a few ideas, related to a book she had read once for school called The Hobbit. The names were Rivendell, Erebor or Thranduil. She asked Harry what he thought of it but to her surprise, Harry barely shrugged, drawing invisible lines on the wooden table. He had been awfully quiet since they left Ollivanders, and Rohini might have an idea why.
"Yeh all right, Harry? Yer very quiet." Hagrid pointed out with a frown, and Harry nodded before touching his scar.
"He killed our parents, didn't he? The one who gave me this." He said. It wasn't a question. Hagrid cleared his throat and glanced around before his attention went back to the twins.
"I'm not sure I'm the right person for that."
"Tell us the truth, Hagrid. Please." Rohini insisted and Hagrid sighed in defeat.
"Alright, Alright. It begins, I suppose, with—but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows—"
"Knows who?" Rohini asked in confusion and Hagrid shook his head.
"Well—I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"Why not?" Harry asked, for it seemed odd to be scared of a name.
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared! Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was… Voldemort."
"Voldemort?" Rohini repeated, once again too loud and Hagrid shushed her. The girl covered her mouth with her two hands, mumbling an apology.
"Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this—this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Dark days. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of."
Rohini vaguely remembered him mentioning Dumbledore's name earlier, when they were still on the rock in the middle of the sea.
"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. Yer parents fought against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em."
Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn. Rohini and Harry were blemish now, for they both remembered the terrific flash of green light and their mother's scream that haunted their nights. It was evident now that it had been their mum's last moment, and the thought was frightening.
"An' then—an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing—he tried to kill yeh too. But he couldn't do it. An' that's why yer famous, especially yeh, Harry."
"Me? Why?" Harry asked. "Rohini was here too, wasn't she?"
"Ah, yes of course. But yeh see- the mark on yer forehead. That ain't no ordinary cut on your forehead, Harry. A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse...and an evil curse at that. You-Know-Who probably tried to kill yeh first, but somehow something 'bout yeh stumped him that night. That's why you're famous, both of yeh; that's why everybody knows yer name. You're the twins who lived."
Silence followed the revelation. It was a lot to take, especially for eleven year olds who'd been told since they were three that their parents died in a car crash. Rohini didn't realise she was shaking until Harry touched her shoulder.
"What if- what if we're not good enough?" She asked, avoiding Hagrid's gaze. "What I can barely cast a spell? We never learnt any magic when everybody seems to know so much already." She was frantic now. "Oh my god, what if I make something explode, just like the lamp at Ollivanders?"
"I don't even know what Quidditch or Slytherin are." Harry added, siding with his sister. Hagrid sighed, before grabbing their hands and giving them a comforting smile.
"Listen up, yeh too: You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts—I did—still do, 'smatter of fact." He said with a wink and Rohini gave him a weak smile. "As for Quidditch, it's the most popular Wizard sport. Everyone follows Quidditch—played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls—sorta hard ter explain the rules. Ah, but you will learn about it all at school! Each House has its own team."
"And what are the Houses?" Rohini asked.
"School Houses. There's four of 'em, based on separate entities. Each has its own Common Room and dormitory, its own table in the Great Hall, and students mostly share lessons with classmates of their same house. Each house has one teacher who acts as its Head of House."
"So, Slytherin and Gryffindor are two of them?"
"Aye. The rivalry is strong between 'em. I was a Gryffindor myself. Still am at heart." He said, bumping his chest proudly. "Yer parents were Gryffindor too, yeh know. The two other Houses are Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Newt Scamander-"Hagrid said, pointing at the book on top of Rohini's pile, "was a Hufflepuff. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but—"
"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.
"Don't be silly." Rohini said, pinching his arm. As if offended by her gesture, Harry's snowy owl's hooted at Rohini. "Wow, she's quite protective of you."
"Yeah, she is." Harry said with a smile before caressing the bird's feathers through the cage. "Right, Hedwig?"
"Oh, you found her name already?" Rohini said and Harry nodded.
"I, er, find it on the back of one of the book. It sounded nice." He explained, his cheeks turning pink and Rohini looked at the bird.
"Yeah, it does suit her. As for him..." She said, glancing at her cat, "I think I will name him Thranduil." The Siamese cat meowed in response and the twins grinned. "Oh, he likes it!"
"Well, looks like my mission to escort yeh two to London is done." Hagrid said, before checking his pocket watch. "Ah, I'm gettin' late. Need to meet Dumbledore about you-know-what."
"Wait, what? Hagrid, you can't let us alone!" Rohini shouted, anxious. "We can't just go back to the Dursleys for a month!"
"Ah-…" Hagrid said, "Well…"
"We could rent a room." Harry said, pointing at his pockets filled with coins. "We have enough money for that!"
"You're right!" Rohini said, before turning to Hagrid with hopeful eyes. "Can we?"
"Alright, alright." Hagrid said in defeat, before waving at Tom to come closer. "Do yeh have a free room by any chance? Those two need a place to stay at until the school year start."
"Of course, I'm always glad to help the young Potters." Tom said with a grin. "We'll discuss the price later. Let's put all your stuff upstairs first."
Helped by Hagrid and the bartender, the Potters quickly moved to a room with twin beds. It was pretty simple, with a mirror, an old closet and a funny smell was floating around with a few cobwebs hanging from the ceiling that reminded Harry of the cupboard under the stairs. Hagrid suggested that Harry let Hedwig out of her cage, promising she will return if she ever flew out by the window. Thranduil was already asleep on one of the bed and Rohini scrubbed him behind an ear.
"Well, that's where I leave yeh." Hagrid said. "Here are yer tickets for Hogwarts. Don't lose them! First o' September—King's Cross—it's all on yer ticket. Any problems, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me… See yeh soon, Harry, Rohini." He said and Rohini hugged him one last time before following the two men downstairs in order to pay the rent. Before leaving, Hagrid gave them the key to their Vault, in case they'd need more change.
"So." Rohini said, grinning wildly at Harry. "What do you want to do, now?"
Xxx
The whole month had been quite busy; every day they went back to Diagon Alley, eating ice creams and discovering new details each time. Harry realised his favourite shop was definitely the broomsticks one and he often visited it to admire the brooms while Rohini stayed at the bookshop, sitting in a corner and reading as many books as she could without being noticed.
"You will learn more in a month than you will at Hogwarts." Harry teased her and she childishly showed him her tongue before going back to the book she was reading. Rohini was still uncomfortable when in the middle of the crowd but an old lady owning an Apothecary shop had sold her an ocean blue potion to help her with her anxiety. She had also sympathised with one of the Leaky Cauldron's customer, an eccentric tall and skinny man with an impressive moustache that taught her how to play the chess. Truth to be told, Rohini sucked at the game but it helped her to calm down before bed.
They never tried to talk about what happened the day their parents died. It was a silent agreement between them. They had also agreed to keep their identity secret to avoid the sudden unwelcomed attention from random strangers. Once Rohini had lied when someone had asked her name, saying she was "Amanda Ross." It was somehow the first name that came to her mind, and Harry had called her that for the next few days.
It was the first time they actually enjoyed their summer vacation.
Xxx
"Do you think Dudley still has his pig tail?" Rohini asked the night before Hogwarts. None of them were able to fall asleep, too thrilled for that. Instead, they were sitting on Harry's bed, the window opened for Hedwig had gone out for a hunt; she always brought dead mice to Harry that Thranduil will happily eat under their disgusted eyes. Right now, the cat was lying on Harry's lap who was scratching his chin.
"I feel sorry for pigs. Must be terrible, to look like him." Harry said and Rohini snorted. A hoot caught their attention and the second after Hedwig was back to their room, seeming offended at the sign of the cat on her owner's laps. Thranduil yawned before jumping off the bed.
"I can't wait to be at Hogwarts." Rohini said as she closed the window. She rested her forehead against it; it was pleasantly cold. "I mean, I've read all those books but haven't tried to cast a spell yet. It's seems so… incredible! Can you imagine, being able to turn something into a cup, or being able to make things levitate? " She said and Harry grinned.
"Not too scared to be a Hufflepuff?" He teased and Rohini rolled her eyes. She somehow seemed less preoccupied about the Houses than Harry. "It would be nice, to be Gryffindors. Just like mum and dad." Harry said carefully, waiting for his twin's reaction. Rohini's shoulders tensed.
"I don't know." She said, biting her lips. "I mean- what if they were the coolest Gryffindors ever? What if we aren't as good as them? We know nothing about them in the end, except the kind of wands Ollivanders sold them, that they were Gryffindors and that mum had green eyes." She didn't mention the fact they had been killed though. "Sorry Harry, I'm being silly."
"It's ok. I think you're cool." He said and Rohini rolled her eyes. "I mean it!"
"Siblings aren't supposed to say that." She said and Harry grinned.
"Oh; true. I should actually pretend that you're the lamest sister ever."
"Exactly. Free the Aunt Petunia in you." Rohini said, making them both giggle. "I'm glad I have you, Harry." She said more seriously and Harry assured her he felt the same. "We'll still see each other even if we're not sorted in the same house, right?" She asked and Harry offered her his pinkie finger. They hadn't done a pinkie promise since they were eight: Rohini had made him swear he will never tell Aunt Petunia that he saw Rohini putting a dead frog inside Dudley's pants after she washed them.
"We should really go to sleep." Harry sighed and Rohini nodded, slipping under her blanket. "Goodnight, Rohini."
"Goodnight, Harry." She said before taking off her glasses and putting them on the dusty nightstand between the twin beds.
Thranduil jumped on her bed and kneaded her back for a few seconds before lying on her. Rohini grumbled something in her pillow, but didn't move the cat away. That's how they fell asleep; Harry lying on his left side and Rohini on her stomach with Thranduil on her back, her head buried in her pillow.