Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the parts of this story affiliated with the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling. As such, I do not receive any payment for publishing these works.

Chapter 4: The Children on the Roof

Genre: AU/Family/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 1,746

Content Rating: PG

Italics: 'Thoughts' or "letters" or stressed words

Bold: Important information

Underline: Titles

"" - Character speaking

Horizontal lines: A break in time or scene

Magic was a power to be taken seriously and each of the children had learned this the hard way. Harry had ended up upon the school building earlier that day and Hazel's ears were still ringing from her father's bellowing.

"Leave him alone, Dudley!" Hazel shouted, her normally pale face flushed with color from chasing her brother around the playground.

"What 'chu mean? Why should I?" Dudley responded stupidly, "He's just a freak. I don't see why you care."

"Because he's our cousin Dudley." Hazel watched out of the corner of her eye as Harry panted. The bully had been chasing him for at least fifteen minutes. She tried to signal for him to run away, but Harry had other ideas.

"It isn't like you would ever catch me anyways." Harry said.

'You would think after eight years of living with Dudley he would know to keep his mouth shut.' Hazel thought while shaking her head. 'If there is one thing Dudley never listens to – its reason.'

"Is that a challenge, Potty?" Dudley growled – his face becoming a wonderful shade of purple like his father's.

'Say no. Say no.' Hazel's mind chanted.

"Maybe." Harry answered.

'Ugh. One of these days he's going to get us killed.' She groaned.

As the big blubbering boy pounded towards the much smaller Harry, Hazel tried to keep up while shouting idle threats at Dudley. This carried on for several more minutes until Dudley got tired and went to procure a gang of students to help out. Hazel and Harry stood in the shadows of the old dumpster.

"Do you have a death wish?" Hazel gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.

"He needs to know I'm not scared of him." Harry replied.

"Somehow I don't think your plan will be as effective when I'm picking you out a burial plot. Personally, I would like to live to see ten at least." Hazel bit back sarcastically and Harry just grinned at her.

"He is coming back with some other lads." She said and Harry took off.

'I'll have to convince the P.E. teacher to give us extra credit or something after all of this.' Hazel thought as she wobbled after the gang of boys – her legs feeling like jello. The boys were catching up to Harry now. 'Crap, this is not good.' She ran even faster about to threaten them with a teacher when she skidded to a halt.

Harry was cornered now – she could tell he was about to do something foolish. Hazel ran over to her cousin and grabbed his arm. She just hoped she could stop him from doing something rash. A sudden pop filled her ears and she felt as if she was being squeezed in a small tube. Suddenly it stopped and both children fell and scraped their knees on the gravel.

Hazel had no idea where they were – it was like no place she had ever seen before. She watched as Harry hobbled over to the edge of whatever they were on. He turned around ashen faced.

"We're on top of the school." He said sliding down to sit on the roof with his arms wrapped around his legs. Hazel gulped – there was no way to get out of this one. She sat beside her cousin and waited for the barrage of teachers.

They sat in the principal's office waiting for Vernon and Petunia to arrive. Hazel was picking at the bandage the nurse had put on her scrape when the door banged open. An angry Vernon and an embarrassed looking Petunia came through the entry way. The Head Teacher, Mr. Conlin, waved for them to have a seat.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, thank you for coming in. As my secretary should have told you, Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley were found upon the roof of the school this afternoon. Your son and several of the other students reported they had been playing 'cops and robbers' when Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley disappeared and ended up on the roof." The Dursleys' paled as Mr. Conlin continued, "Now, we know children can imagine some silly things especially while they are playing. We've asked Mr. Potter and Ms. Dursley to tell their side, but Ms. Dursley was adamant in waiting for you two to arrive."

"Smart girl, waiting for representation." Vernon praised his daughter while avoiding looking at Harry. "Well, go ahead."

Hazel shot a pointed look at Harry hoping he would let her do the talking since she had more favor with her parents and the head teacher. Harry nodded feeling defeated and Hazel began.

"Well, Mr. Conlin we were playing with the other children when my brother's friend Piers came over and said he wanted to show us something. I knew Dudley trusted him so I went with him – Harry came to make sure nothing funny happened." Hazel said as she watched their faces – so far they seemed to believe her, "He showed us a door and told us that it went to a lounge for children that couldn't play outside like little Betty Brenton, who tends to run away when let out. We headed up the stairs and found ourselves on the roof. We tried to get down, but he and another boy were blocking the door so we decided to wait for a teacher."

Mr. Conlin nodded, looking convinced while the Dursley couple looked relieved. They could deal with a bad friend, but they had feared it had been something far more freakish. Harry and Hazel were allowed to return home early where they each got a loud lecture. Hazel was warned about trusting boys and Harry about causing the Dursley's to be called to the school.

Now they sat in Harry's cupboard flipping through the pages of his mother's journal.

"Harry, I think we appariated." Hazel said.

"That thing where my mum had to go from one hoop to another and the stupid students that were goofing off were losing body parts?" Harry asked and Hazel nodded in reply.

"We need to be more careful, Harry." Hazel said shutting the book, "Remember how in history we talked about the witch burnings?"

Harry nodded with a pale face.

"I heard some of the boys say that it was the right thing to do. That magic is too dangerous and strange to let it live. If they think we can do it…." Hazel trailed off feeling sick to her stomach – her brother had been one of those boys.

"I'll try, Hazel." Harry said weakly.

"Me too." She replied and headed to her bedroom to try to get some sleep before school.

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts an irate witch sat in the Headmaster's office.

"Headmaster, there have been more incidents of accidental magic in that area then I've ever seen." The witch said.

"I assure you, there is but one magical child in the area." Albus Dumbledore replied with a smile. The ministry representative huffed.

"How do you explain two bouts of accidental magic at the same time then?" She countered.

"There must be some mistake. May I see your documentation?" Albus said – the twinkle in his eyes diminishing. The woman handed over her papers and Albus scanned them ruthlessly – it seemed there was in fact another magical child in the home of Harry Potter. This would not do especially with the levels of power the two children were showing. He coughed in surprise at the log of a double appariation. Not even he had done such things as a child.

"Thank you." Albus said regaining his demeanor. He handed the papers back to the official. "I will consult the magical child log and send some of my staff to discuss with the child's parents early."

The official nodded and headed back through the floo.

He looked pensively into the flames until the face of a stern witch appeared.

"May I come in, Albus?" She asked and he nodded.

"Minerva, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked with a half-hearted smile as she brushed off her robes.

"You know exactly why I am here. What's happening at Potter's?" Minerva said with a light glare as she sat before her Headmaster. He chuckled, but humored her.

"It seems there has been a lot of magical activity at the Dursley's home." Minerva's face blanched, but Albus held up a hand, "Nothing like that I assure you. It seems one of his cousins or perhaps both are also magical."

"That's wonderful!" She exclaimed, "Now he won't be alone."

"Yes and no." Albus said, "The magical talent in that house is so extreme that the ministry is determined to take action - it seems the children are quite powerful. I've managed to interfere temporarily due to an overheard rumor in the men's room." He chuckled, "Such interesting things are talked about in there." Minerva blushed. "In any case, we'll need to have a meeting with the family earlier than normal and hopefully with understanding the ministry will lose interest."

"How powerful are they, Albus?" Minerva asked, surprised by the revelation.

"Two of the children performed separate appariation at the same time - successfully." He explained and Minerva's eyes widened, but the firm witch let out no other signs of surprise. Surely they had all known Harry would be powerful. However, a cousin with similar or perhaps greater talent was highly unexpected.

She remembered watching the home and seeing the despicable Muggles inside. The man was brutish and dull while the woman was no more than a common gossip. She remembered the son crying and whining endlessly, but his sister was calm and behaved. Minerva remembered thinking she was looking at a young Lily.

With an internal smile Minerva remembered sitting beside a pregnant Lily and flipping through her mother's old albums – they had been trying to guess if the baby would look more like her or James. Harry, Minerva was pleased to say, appeared a blending of both his parents. She missed holding him on her lap while she read him tales from her youth. Albus snapped her from her thoughts as he spoke once more.

"I'll need you to check the book for a mention of a Dudley and/or Hazel Dursley – they share the same date of birth. Then we'll come up with a plan of action." He said thoughtfully.

Minerva nodded and headed into her office expecting to find just Hazel. Surely no magic would come from such a spoiled baby as Dudley was.

A/N: So sorry for the long wait! Midterm week hit me like a freight truck and I was unable to get a moments peace to write. Hopefully the updates will keep rolling this week – as I'm on break. Thank you all for your patience.