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.
A/N:I hope you enjoy the brief description of the Slytherin common room. I see Slytherin as a house that values tradition and hierarchy. Also, they're a bit like the Slug Club in that they value making connections within their house. You never know when a friendship might prove useful down the line ;)
Chapter 4: House Lines
Two weeks had passed before Sophie figured out how to proceed with her situation.
The sorting ceremony seemed definite, so she would have to be in Slytherin for the next seven years. That didn't mean she had to be one of them. Surely other people had friends outside their house? She knew Harry's social circle was rather limited to just Gryffindor, but she could extend her own. She decided she could be nice without becoming best friends with any of her fellow Slytherins. The boys mostly kept to their own group, but it was harder to avoid her dormmates. Nephele seemed to spend most of her time alone anyway and Astoria had befriended Kitty fast enough.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sophie said as she touched the map.
It had been dead useful so far. She wasn't allowed into the Gryffindor common room without the password and she was too proud to ask for it. So she contented herself with being able to magically show up where her friends were. She scanned the map, finding H. Potter, R. Weasley and H. Granger together in the Gryffindor common room. M. McKinnon and E. Longbottom were upstairs in the first year boys' dormitory. Sophie sadly noted that outside of class and meals, they spent most of their time in Gryffindor. It was fine, however, because today she was looking for someone else.
R. Vane, M. Eastchurch and N. Chambers were in the library. She grinned, finally.
She had learned the names of the three Gryffindor girls from her classes. Romilda Vane, Melissa Eastchurch and Nicole Chambers usually blocked her from sitting with Elliott and Myron in class or gave her odd looks whenever she sat with Harry for meals. She thought if they became friends, the girls wouldn't mind her so much.
She picked up her bag, charmed to hold all of her books while still being feather-light. She had Hermione to thank for that. No matter what homework the girls were working on, she should be able to join in.
She scanned the Slytherin common room, making sure it was clear. She had been very successful in avoiding most of the upper year Slytherins so far. Harry had made her promise to be careful, not wanting her to be in danger in her own common room and Sophie had heeded his advice.
She ran into Astoria and Kitty on her way out of the common room.
"Sophie!" Astoria greeted. "We were just on our way to the grounds. It's lovely outside, isn't it? Would you like to join us?"
Sophie had yet to be outside, and the windows in Slytherin didn't exactly show the weather. For a moment, Sophie nearly forgot her mission as she contemplated spending what surely would be one of the last warm days outside.
"Sorry, I was just heading to the library," Sophie politely responded.
Astoria sighed. "Nephele said the same thing. Well, you know where to find us if you'd like to take a break."
Nephele was certainly the most studious of their year. She always had her nose buried in a book. Most of the books Nephele read weren't related to class work at all, and Sophie wondered if the other girl was determined to read through the Hogwarts library before they finished school. Sophie had briefly entertained the thought of introducing her to Hermione, but then thought better of it.
She didn't think she could live in the same dorm if she learned Nephele or any of the other girls had a problem with muggle-borns. So far the topic of blood hadn't been breached. It was apparent that Nephele, Astoria and Kitty were all from wealthy, pure-blood families. Sometimes she wondered if they shared the views of the Malfoys and Blacks.
She liked Lyssa well enough. Lyssa was a half-blood and had thought she was destined for Ravenclaw. Sophie thought their similarities could allow them to be allies in Slytherin; Lyssa hadn't looked too pleased with her sorting either. Unfortunately, Lyssa spent most of her time with her friends in Ravenclaw. She seemed just as determined as Sophie to avoid actually being in Slytherin, although was much more successful in her attempts. Sophie was tempted to join her, but for now focussed her attentions on the Gryffindor house.
She found the girls in question and approached their table. The girls were giggling, their notes spread out so far untouched. The girls immediately stopped talking and starred at her.
"Yes, Potter?" Romilda Vane asked.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
The three girls giggled. "Why don't you go sit with some of your own sort, Potter?" Nicole Chambers sweetly asked. She indicated another table where Nephele was working on her own.
"I think she'd rather work in quiet – " Sophie tried to explain.
"Well, so would we." Vane announced. "This is the library, if you were looking to socialize, go back to your common room."
Sophie bravely ploughed on. "I thought it might be nice to meet people outside of Slytherin, I brought my homework though. I need to get this done too."
"Well, we're not really interested in meeting people inside Slytherin." Chambers snootily said.
A rather heavy-set boy with short brown hair and blue eyes appeared at the table, glowering at the girls. Sophie knew him from class, and sighed. It appeared Derek Goyle had appointed himself as her bodyguard. This only made the girls giggle more. "Is he your boyfriend, Potter?"
Sophie scowled, vowing to tell Elliott and Myron to watch out for those girls. She spun on her heels and left the library, the sound of laughter behind her.
To Sophie's dismay, Elliott and Myron continued to be friendly with Vane, Eastchurch and Chambers. Elliott had only said that they didn't want to make any waves. "Besides," he said at supper, "You're our friend. They'll warm up to you."
He invited Sophie to join them on the grounds the next day. The Gryffindor first years had plans to do homework outside and play a game of Quaffle. Their homework was swiftly abandoned, however, as everyone was tired after being cooped up inside doing homework the day before.
Sophie was put on Elliott's team, with Vane and Chambers. With Elliott guarding the three goalposts, the three girls played chaser, running back and forth, trying to score a goal on the opposing team.
"I'm open!" Sophie called as Vane was blocked by Myron.
Chambers threw the quaffle to Vane anyway. Myron easily intercepted the pass and scored on Elliott.
The girls giggled. "Sorry Eli!"
"You could have passed it to me," Sophie scowled. Her words fell on deaf ears as her teammates continued to ignore her.
The rest of the game went on in this fashion. Eventually the opposing team stopped guarding Sophie, aware that she rarely touched the quaffle unless she intercepted a pass.
Half-heartedly, Sophie slowed down, letting the game happen around her. It was clear that she was only here as Elliott's friend. Chambers finally directed a throw at her, but Sophie missed it as she hadn't been paying attention. Eastchurch picked it up behind her and raced towards the goalposts, throwing it to Myron on her way.
"You could at least try," said Chambers.
Sophie scowled, vowing to shut Chambers up. She caught the quaffle Elliott had tossed back onto the field, racing towards the goalposts, dodging Myron and the other two girls as she went. She had played this game often enough growing up with Harry and the McKinnons and knew she was fast on her feet. She feigned throwing the quaffle into the left hoop and then aimed it into the right the moment the keeper went left.
The girls remained impassive, as if Sophie hadn't just scored their first goal. The keeper picked up the quaffle, ready to toss it back into the game.
"I get it," Sophie finally snapped. "I really do."
She fled from the game, not even turning around to see if someone, anyone, had made a move to chase after her. There were no voices calling her back to the field. She held back tears as she made her way through the castle, not quite wanting to catch anyone's eye and burst into tears in front of them.
She stayed in her dorm room for the rest of the afternoon, feigning sleep whenever one of the other girls appeared. Her stomach rumbled, upset that Sophie had neglected it to hide in her room all day. But Sophie didn't have the courage to face everyone in the Great Hall again. She sniffed hopelessly. No wonder she was a Slytherin, she couldn't even face a couple of mean girls.
"Miss Potter?" A tiny, high-pitched voice squeaked.
Sophie looked at the foot of her bed to find a house-elf standing there holding a plate piled with sandwiches and a piece of chocolate cake. "Hello?"
The house-elf offered the plate to Sophie. "Daffy brought Miss Potter supper."
"Oh thank you, but I'm not hungry," she lied.
"Miss Potter must eat," insisted the little house-elf, "Miss Potter's friend was most concerned when Miss Potter did not come down for lunch or supper."
Sophie accepted the plate, and quickly finished her meal. Daffy quietly stood, waiting for her to finish. "Can Daffy get Miss Potter anything else?"
"No, thank you Daffy," she said as she handed the empty plate back to the elf.
"Daffy hopes Miss Potter feels better tomorrow." She kindly said, before apparating back to the kitchens.
It wasn't until after Daffy had vanished to the kitchens that Sophie wondered who had sent her in the first place. She had said Sophie's friend was worried. Maybe Elliott or Myron felt bad after she left the game near tears? She bitterly thought it would be nice to have them hunt her down for once.
Nephele came upstairs later, and gave Sophie a questioning glance. "You missed lunch."
"Yes."
"And you missed supper."
"I'm aware." Sophie duly remarked. She really didn't want to discuss this with her roommates.
Nephele hesitantly sat on her bed next to Sophie's. Her keen, grey eyes scanned Sophie's face. "And you've been crying. Are you alright?"
It seemed that that statement finally set Sophie off. She started opening crying now, her face buried in her hands. After a few seconds, Nephele sat on the bed next to her, silently stroking Sophie's hair.
"My friends and family – " Sophie cried. "They all left me once I was sorted in Slytherin. E-Elliott and Myron won't even stick up for me and I've known them since we were babies!"
"If that's the type of friends you had, then they weren't very good ones."
"Don't say that!"
"Mother says if they're not blood, then they don't matter."
"I wouldn't expect anything else from your family." Sophie snapped. Her eyes went wide for an instant as a heavy silence fell over them. Nephele looked surprised too, although she quickly hid it.
She rolled her eyes. "She doesn't mean pure-blood, she means your blood. Has your brother cast you aside?"
"Well, no."
"Has your father disowned you?"
"Of course not!"
"Then the people who matter don't care. The Gryffindors may mind that you're a Slytherin, but there's one house where that isn't an issue. And you happen to be in it." She pointedly said. "I think Astoria wants to be your friend, if you hadn't noticed."
Sophie's cheeks heated. She had been turning down Astoria's offers all week. "I've been rather awful to her, haven't I?"
"Well, yes." Nephele agreed. "You and Lyssa have been sulking this entire time about being sorted into Slytherin when the rest of us have been nothing but patient."
"I take it your patience is wearing out." Sophie ventured. She wondered if Lyssa had been given a similar talk.
"After tonight it will." Nephele agreed. "Now come, I think Astoria and Kitty are in the common room."
Astoria looked pleased at the inclusion of Sophie and Nephele in the common room that evening. Sophie felt rather guilty at how she brushed her first real friend at Hogwarts aside the past few weeks. She said as much, but Astoria easily waved it off.
"Mum said you needed time to see who your real friends were." Astoria wisely said.
"You wrote your mum about me?"
Astoria blushed. "I tell my mum everything. You and Lyssa seemed so sad after your sorting, so I asked why. She said there's a lot of misconception in our world that Slytherin is full of dark witches and wizards. I thought if we gave you both some space you'd come to see that we're not like that."
Sophie hesitantly asked. "But some are, aren't they?"
Nephele rolled her eyes. "Some of them are twats, but not as many as you think. The other houses are just as bad, except maybe Hufflepuff."
"My dad said that too." Sophie ventured. "About the other houses."
Astoria nodded. "Yes, Mum said her friend Andromeda was most surprised when one of the Gryffindors went dark. He killed thirteen muggles with a single curse."
She should have been more surprised at the knowledge of a dark Gryffindor, but Sophie was more focused on another piece of surprising information.
"Your Mum is friends with Andromeda Tonks?" Sophie asked.
"Yes, she comes round for tea often. They shared a dorm when they were at Hogwarts, you know."
Sophie had known that her Aunt Andromeda had once been a Slytherin, but it was odd to imagine her as friends with some of the parents of her current classmates. She had thought Andromeda had given up all of her old life when she had married Ted Tonks.
"I didn't know your mother knew the Blacks."
Astoria laughed, "No, Mum once said she was too nouveau riche for the comfort of the Blacks."
Sophie let the other girls dictate the conversation after that, tired of all the heavy talk for the day. Astoria seemed to sense it, and allowed Kitty to lead the way with some gossip about the wizarding world's effluent members. Kitty seemed delighted at the chance and offered a story about the Parkinsons' latest attempts to impress the Malfoys.
"I think they should be more worried about fixing a match for their oldest daughter, Rosie," Kitty remarked. "She's a fifth year and Victoria said she hasn't been on a single date yet."
"Oh, they have someone in mind." Astoria's eyes glittered with amusement. "Pansy has to be nice to Daphne and I because her family is trying to impress ours. Jason wouldn't like anyone, especially Pansy, to bully us."
Sophie felt awkward sitting in the common room. Despite being at Hogwarts for over two weeks, she had only ever passed through the common room on her way to and from the dorms. She shivered, the Slytherin common room felt cold despite the run of good weather. There were two roaring fireplaces, one on the left side of the common room and one on the right. When Sophie suggested they move closer to one, Astoria and Kitty delved into a lesson on the unwritten rules of the Slytherin common room.
Upper year students had priority over the more desirable seating in the common room while the younger years were left to arrange the leftover armchairs and couches in the middle of the common room. The fourth and fifth years generally took the couches near the left and right side fireplaces, respectively. The sixth and seventh years preferred the larger circle of armchairs and couches near the glass wall, looking into the depths of the Great Lake.
Astoria gestured to the tables and armchairs off to the side. "Daphne said anyone can use the tables to work."
"Although it's considered proper to give it up should an older student ask, especially an OWL or NEWT student," Kitty agreed.
Sophie didn't bother to comment that Draco Malfoy had taken control of the fourth year's fireplace. It was clear that wealth and connections still outranked age and seniority in Slytherin.
As time crept closer to curfew, more and more students came in from the castle and stayed in the common room. Sophie was surprised at how full the room had gotten, but Kitty mentioned that Slytherins liked the chance to socialize at the end of the day.
The door opened once more and Lyssa walked through.
"Lyssa, why don't you join us?" Astoria asked.
"Thanks, but I should really get started on the readings for potions." She said, before quickly departing for the girls' dormitory.
"I don't know why you bother." Nephele mumbled.
Astoria's bright blue eyes flickered to Sophie and then back to Nephele. "I thought, well, never mind that now. Lyssa just needs a bit more time."
The conversation came to a close quickly after that. Jason noticed them across the room and started to approach them.
Astoria frowned once she made eye content with him. "Oh, you're lucky your brother isn't in your common room. Jason and Daphne think this means they get to boss me around. I suppose we should – yes, we're going – " She rolled her eyes at Jason.
The four girls gathered their things and went to bed.