My Brother's Keeper
by ChatterChick
Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.
Chapter 2: Astoria Greengrass
The four tables were still pushed together when Sophie came downstairs for breakfast the next morning. It was less cramped as everyone flowed in at their own pace. Sophie was a bit late, wanting to be dressed and set to go immediately after they finished eating.
Sirius was there, lazily flipping through the Daily Prophet. Harry and Ron were at the end of the table, scrambling to add an extra five inches to their forgotten potions essays. The Weasley twins were across from them, heads down and speaking about something or other. Sophie still didn't really know them, although she was wary of them after all the stories her brother had told.
"Good morning Sophie," Percy greeted as she flipped through the breakfast menu. Sophie had always felt a little intimidated by Percy. He was much older than her and seemed closer to the adults than his fellow siblings. "Excited?"
"Yes, I've been waiting to go ever since Harry left," she truthfully replied.
She tapped her wand against her order on the menu, like James had instructed her to do the day before when she finally had her wand. Normally, she would have had to wait for someone to order for her, or the waitress to appear. A plate loaded with toast, sausage, eggs and fried tomatoes appeared in front of her with a glass of pumpkin juice. She felt satisfied, and a bit grown up, to be able to order her own meal.
"Ginny was the same. Have you given any thought to your sorting tonight?" He politely asked.
"I'd like to be in Gryffindor, my whole family's been there," Sophie started. "But it's hard to imagine what the sorting hat would think of me."
"If you don't get Gryffindor, I think Ravenclaw would be a good match for you, you seem very intelligent for your age and much more mature than most of your year mates will probably be."
Sophie beamed at the praise. Her father had always said she was more mature than her brother, and much less likely to make his hair go grey. Harry had a knack for finding the worst sorts of trouble at Hogwarts. Last year, James had threatened to pull Harry from Hogwarts and send them both to Beauxbatons this year. His friend, Remus Lupin, had reasoned with him over the summer and James had changed his mind.
Everyone quickly dispersed near ten o'clock. Harry and the various Weasley brothers were all trying to pack last minute items. There was a bit of a misunderstanding between Ron and Hermione upstairs, and Sophie could hear their raised voices from the pub. Mr Weasley had gone to check if the cars had arrived yet; they had ordered four cars from Mad Cabs to take them to Kings Cross.
Despite being one of the first ones ready to go, Sophie was the last to actually leave the Leaky. The Weasleys and Grangers had already gone ahead, but Sophie had to wait for her brother's last minute scrambling.
"Dad, we need to go!" Sophie urged. She wanted to be on time and not rushing at the last minute like they usually were. "Can't Sirius just apparate them when they're done?"
"Relax," James said, looking at his wrist watch. "We'll be on time. If not, I'm sure Sirius would be willing to give you a grand entrance on a flying motorcycle."
Sophie was rather mortified by the thought.
Luckily Harry and Sirius choose that moment to appear. Harry's hair looked even more rumpled than before, and Sophie was grateful that her hair was much tamer. While Harry looked like James, Sophie looked more like their mum. The only noticeable difference was that Sophie's hair was a dark brown while Lily's had been a beautiful auburn colour. Harry and Sophie both had inherited their mum's eyes.
The cab ride to the train station was fairly quiet. While James was trying his best to hide it, Sophie knew he wasn't entirely happy about their departure. Sirius seemed to pick up on James' disquiet and tried to lighten the mood.
"Eleven's a good age to send them away," Sirius sagely informed James. "They stop being cute and start talking back around then."
Sophie stuck out her tongue at him.
"See?" Sirius squeezed an arm around Sophie. "Let Professor McGonagall deal with that."
They arrived at King's Cross in good time, and found the Weasleys on the platform. The Grangers had already left, having said goodbye to Hermione before she crossed the barrier.
James motioned her away from the rest of the group. "I have a gift for you."
He pulled out a faded piece of parchment from his cloak pocket. When Harry had left for Hogwarts, their dad had given him a family heirloom, the invisibility cloak. Sophie inspected the proffered item. It was yellowed and crinkled with age, but otherwise blank.
"It's a piece of parchment," she told him.
"It's not just a piece of parchment, let me show you. I solemnly swear I am up to no good," James tapped his wand against it. Immediately, it came to life, black lines stretching out from where his wand had tapped. They twisted and turned until it formed a map. A few black dots roamed the map and upon closer inspection, Sophie realized they had tiny letters next to them. M McGonagall and A Dumbledore were together in a large rectangular room that was labelled as The Great Hall.
"It's a map of Hogwarts!"
James grinned fondly at the map. "Did more to keep Sirius and I out of trouble than Remus ever could. Although I imagine you wouldn't use it for any wrong-doing. This is Sophie Lily Potter," James spoke to the map. "You'll be good to her."
Mr Prongs is delighted to meet Ms Sophie Lily Potter.
Mr Padfoot offers his compliments to the lovely Ms Potter.
"Who are they?" Sophie giggled as the writing continued.
"One of the great mysteries of our world." James ruffled her hair. "Don't listen to them too much, they like a joke and will lead you into trouble. Mischief Managed." James said and the map faded away, leaving the parchment blank once more. "Don't forget to wipe it blank or anyone can use it. And try not to let Snape catch you with it," he cautioned, and then added as an afterthought, "Or McGonagall or Flitch."
James and Sirius lifted the trunks into the storage compartment below the train. Sirius had reassured her that she wouldn't have to worry about getting it later; the house-elves would apparate it to her new dormitory. Sophie was soon caught up in the familiar whirlwind of hugs and goodbyes before she boarded the train. Although this time, she was hugging her dad and Sirius goodbye rather than her brother.
"You'll owl us," James was saying, "at least once a week. We'd prefer twice – "
Sirius wrestled her out of James' grip. "My turn," he smiled broadly. "Have fun, owl as often as you can and we'll see you at Christmas! Love you, Princess!"
He cupped her cheeks in his hands before kissing her forehead goodbye. The whistle blew, signalling a warning that it would be leaving soon. James hugged her one last time before sending her off with Harry. Sophie waved to them as she boarded the train. James was looking a bit misty-eyed so she hastily retreated, not liking the idea of seeing him cry.
Harry disappeared once making sure Sophie would be fine on her own. She waved him off, knowing he probably didn't want to tote his little sister around. She was curious to meet some of the other first years anyway. She knew Elliott Longbottom and Myron McKinnon of course; their families had been friends for years. She had very few girl friends and was eager to finally be able to befriend girls her own age. Both her father and her brother met their best friend on the Hogwarts express. Maybe she'd meet hers too.
She glanced into some of the compartments, but most of the other students seemed much older than her. A group of Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, more Hufflepuffs some Slytherins – where were all the first years? She decided she'd try to find Elliott and Myron first and then maybe after lunch they could brave the other compartments and meet people.
She reached out to open the sliding door that separated the various train compartments. The door slid by itself and Sophie wondered if it was charmed to do that. She nearly jumped when she found herself face to face with another girl.
"Hullo." The girl brightly greeted once the surprise wore off. She had light brown hair that was neatly arranged in a braided twist. The girl's sapphire blue eyes trailed down her robes. "You're a first year too!"
Sophie noticed that the other girl was wearing the standard black robes devoid of any colours that marked the unsorted first years. "Hi – yes, I am."
"Were you looking for an empty compartment?"
"I was looking for my friends – do you have anyone to sit with?" Sophie quickly amended when the other girl's face dropped a bit.
"Well, not exactly. I have a sister in third year, but she told me to go and 'make friends'." She smiled sadly. "So here I am."
"Would you like to sit with us?"
"I would like that, I'm Astoria, by the way."
"Sophie."
"So, how was your summer?" Astoria asked.
"Fine, my family are nuts for Quidditch, so we went to the Europe Cup in Germany," she replied. "How were yours, Astoria?"
"Oh, they were nice; we went to Cyprus for some of it."
Students were running up and down the length of the train, excited to see old friends after the summer apart. The girls squeezed to the side to get out of the way as a boy sped past them. "Oh honestly," Sophie scoffed.
Finally, Sophie knocked on a compartment door and was greeted by a familiar face.
"Sophie! About time you got here," a dark-skinned boy greeted her.
A round-faced boy with brown hair and brown eyes smiled shyly at Astoria. "Hi, I'm Elliott, and that's Myron."
"I'm Astoria. Sophie invited me to sit with you, if that's okay?"
"Of course!"
There were a few polite questions as they tried to include Astoria in their usual banter.
"How do you all know each other?" Astoria asked.
"Our parents were friends." Sophie slowly said, sharing a glance with Elliott and Myron. Between the three of them, only two of their parents still remained. Myron's dad had been killed in the war. Elliott and Neville lived with their grandmother after their parents were committed to St. Mungo's. They never talked about their parents. Sophie once asked James why the Longbottoms were in the hospital and he would only tell her they had been seriously injured.
Myron cheerfully agreed. "We grew up together. We're practically family!"
Astoria smiled with some understanding. "I have a few cousins, although they're mostly older than me. Laelia missed the cut-off date by two weeks though."
Myron pulled out a deck of exploding snap and the four spent the better half of the train ride speculating about Hogwarts and sharing what their older siblings had told them. Sophie exercised a healthy skepticism when Myron shared how his cousin had said Gryffindor tower was guarded by a three-headed dog and that you needed to pet him in the secret spot to get into the common room.
"Harry said – "
"Wait, your brother's Harry – and he's a third year?" Astoria interrupted. "Is he Harry Potter?"
Sophie could already see the amused grin stretching across Myron's face. She hated when this happened, although she knew Astoria would find out anyway. "Er, yeah."
"That's so wicked. I've heard about him, I mean, obviously the whole wizarding world has, but some other things from my sister. Like how he defeated Slytherin's monster in the chamber of secrets?"
Astoria looked impressed when Sophie nodded, confirming the rumour.
Myron laughed. "I overheard Mr Potter lecturing him not to go looking for trouble this year. Then Harry goes, 'I don't go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me.'"
Sophie smiled despite herself. James had lectured them both about staying out of trouble. Sophie thought that was a bit rich of him, especially considering the stories he used to share about all the trouble he got into with Sirius. Although, she supposed it wasn't like they had smuggled dragons out the castle or fought monsters in the legendary Chamber of Secrets.
"For the love of Helga," her father had said countless times, "I hope you don't find half as much trouble as your brother."
Sirius would just laugh and remind him who Harry took after.
"This is my good child," James would stress,"the one who takes after Lily."
Since the four of them were already dressed in their black robes, they didn't have to leave to change. There was a shuffle as they straightened their rumpled robes, adjusted their ties and smoothed their hair. However, they would soon be soaked if the weather was any indication. During the journey to Hogwarts, the clouds had gotten darker and rain began pouring down. They put their cloaks on and pulled their hoods up over their heads, hopeful that it would keep out the worst of the rain.
The train slowed as it approached Hogsmeade station. Students started filling the corridors as they exited the train. The group separated from the much taller upper years, although none were quite as tall as the friendly half-giant who was gathering the first years. He towered over the lot of them and was quite easy to make out in the crowd, even without his booming voice.
"First years!" Hagrid called out. "First years, this way!"
"Hullo Sophie and Elliott," Hagrid greeted them. "Hullo Myron."
Astoria fearfully looked up at Hagrid. "He's bigger than I expected."
"Friendlier too, I'd reckon," Myron loyally defended him.
The four of them shared a boat and when all of the first years were situated, the boats took off at once. It was a rather miserable affair to get to the castle, the winds were strong and the rain was freezing. Fortunately, none of the boats capsized on the way over.
They huddled together once they finally made it inside, trying to ring out robes and hair, and appear somewhat presentable. Sophie thought it was rather hopeless, as they would all appear before the school looking like a colony of drenched rats. One of the girls near them knew a drying charm, so at least they wouldn't have to spend the feast in wet robes.
Professor Flitwick greeted them at the castle with a speech about the four houses of Hogwarts that they would soon be sorted into. Some of the students listened attentively, although most were whispering amongst themselves, passing along the incantation of the drying charm.
"Line up, please!" Flitwick bobbed around the first years, ushering them into pairs of two. Then, the giant doors swung open and they hurriedly followed him inside. Elliott and Myron were in front of her, while Astoria walked by her side. She could see Astoria wave at someone on the left side of the hall, most likely her sister.
A stool was step up in the middle of the aisle, with the ancient Hogwarts sorting hat sitting on top of it. It burst into a song about the four houses and the different traits each looked for. Sophie was grateful James had told her what to expect during the sorting, she couldn't imagine how nervous she would be otherwise.
Professor Flitwick had the list of names and began reading them as soon as the sorting hat had gone quiet. "Abberley, Erin!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
The table to their left jumped to their feet, applauding their first new member. Professor Flitwick himself smiled warmly, crumbling the list as he applauded. He allowed the cheers from the Ravenclaw house to die down before reading the next name off his list.
"Belby, Lyssa!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
The table at the far left erupted into cheers. Lyssa Belby looked nervously at the table that was cheering for her, and shakily returned the hat to Flitwick. Sophie felt bad for her, wondering if she was scared of what awaited her in the house with the darkest reputation.
"Bell, Allison!"
Allison Bell sat on the stool for a full minute before the sorting hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" making her the first to join the table on the far right, coloured in red and gold. They made a ruckus as they cheered for her. Fred and George Weasley forced her to give them high-fives on her way past them.
As more names were called out, Sophie tried to stop herself from looking at the Gryffindors. Each time she glanced over, she grew a little more nervous for her own sorting. Almost everyone she knew was in that house. She couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
"Greengrass, Astoria!"
Astoria squeezed Sophie's hand before she approached the front of the aisle and Flitwick had dropped the hat over her head. The brim fell past Astoria's eyes. Sophie wondered if Astoria would be sorted into Gryffindor. When they had all expressed their desire for their houses on the train, Astoria had only smiled and said she wasn't sure where she wanted to be.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Sophie felt a surge of disappointment as her friend from the train joined the Slytherin table. Astoria seemed fun, and she would have liked the chance to become friends.
"Hall, Colleen!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Hughes" …, "Inglebee" …, "King" …, "Lafarge"…, "Ledas"…, "Llewllyn"…, and then a name she recognized.
"Longbottom, Elliott!"
Sophie watched as her childhood friend walked up to the front. She crossed her fingers that he'd end up in Gryffindor like he wanted.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry and Neville both looked happy as they jumped to their feet and cheered for Elliott. It wasn't long after he was joined by Myron.
"Odgen, Liam!"and "Oldfield Rufus!" were proclaimed Hufflepuffs. A "O'Neil, Luke!" joined Elliott and Myron in Gryffindor. They couldn't be far off from her sorting now. "Peasegood"…, "Penrose"…, "Pfeffer"….
"Potter, Sophie!"
Sophie tried to smile as she approached the front of the line. A few whispers had broken out, although she had adjusted to her family's fame years before. Flitwick dropped the sorting hat over her head and the Great Hall disappeared from her view.
"Well, what have we here?" A voice sounded within her head. Sophie's heart pounded in her chest, realizing this was the moment the hat would decide her fate. She hadn't been too nervous until the hat had dropped over her eyes, leaving her in darkness with a voice inside her head, who suddenly knew all of her hidden thoughts, desires and dreams.
"Courageous and loyal, certainly, those values run deep in your family. A rather curious mind there, a desire for popularity and a thirst to prove yourself, to step out of your famous brother's shadow, and I know just the place – "
Sophie felt her heart drop the second she realized where the hat was planning to sort her. It couldn't mean to place her in –
"SLYTHERIN!"