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: Thank you everyone who read/reviewed/favourited/followed! I really do appreciate those! I'd really like some more reviews, just for feedback on what people think so far. I have a chapter-by-chapter guide of what will happen up to the end of Deathly Hallows, but I still have a lot of room to change things if they're not working. Fair warning, I'm writing in limited third person perspective, so the story is filtered through Sohie's bias and what she perceives to be true. So there will be things that readers know by virtue of reading the series that Sophie doesn't at the moment. You'll see that more the next few chapters. There are also a few moments that appear similar to canon events. I tried to rework them as best as I could or gloss over them, but they still needed to happen.
Chapter 5: Halloween Horrors
"Sophie, come in."
It was becoming a tradition to meet with Remus for tea on the weekends. He had tracked her down after her first week and ever since she had been joining him for Sunday tea. Sometimes Harry and his friends would join, but most often it was her and Remus. Today it was just Remus in his office, with two tea cups, a teapot and some biscuits spread out on his desk. Sophie guessed he wasn't expecting her brother this time.
"First Hogsmeade weekend," Remus explained. "I suppose I can forgive your brother and his friends for wanting to explore the village instead of having tea with their old professor."
"He could make up for it by bringing us something from Honeydukes," Sophie sweetly replied.
Having an older brother could be so unfair at times. Harry got to do everything exciting and she always had to wait. She knew if she expressed this thought, Remus would just tell her what James had been saying for years. You just have to wait until you're Harry's age.
Remus poured her a cup and made small chat, telling her about the grindylow in the tank and his plan for their next lesson. Sophie attempted to sweet-talk Remus into giving Chambers, Eastchurch and Vane a troll on their latest essay. It was all in good fun, she knew Remus was too honourable to give the girls a mark lower than they deserved.
"As a professor I'm supposed to remain impartial," Remus winked.
"Snape doesn't," Sophie argued.
Remus looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've been meaning to ask, how has Professor Snape been behaving towards you?"
He had remained cold and indifferent to her since her arrival at Hogwarts. This was a huge relief as she had expected him to be just as mean to her as he had been towards Harry. She supposed his hands were tied between wanting to favour his own house, and wanting to dock points from a Potter. Harry had once explained that Professor Snape had gone to school with James and Sirius and they hated each other.
"He hates me, but not as much as Harry."
"Harry looks a lot like James," Remus smiled sadly. "And well, you take after Lily. I had thought – "
"Thought what?"
"That he might be more tolerable to someone who doesn't look so much like his old school rival, but I suppose the name Potter still counts against you."
Sophie absentmindedly fiddled with her wand; they were dancing dangerously close to a topic she was scared to breach. Halloween was the anniversary of her mum's death. She had been hoping to ask Remus about her, even had a nice segue, but Sophie lost the nerve. James, Sirius and Remus always got really sad around the anniversary. Most of the year, they would fondly remember Lily, but today seemed to be too hard for them. Luckily, Remus seemed to anticipate the conversation.
"I think we sometimes forget that the anniversary of Lily's death is hard on you too." Remus murmured. "You can talk about her, you know."
"I don't remember that day at all," Sophie confessed. She had a few, very vague memories of her mum. She had been four when Lily was killed and Harry declared the Boy-Who-Lived. She thought she'd remember such a big day, or even just parts of it. She couldn't though. She remembered the funeral and the aftermath, but not the day she lost her mum.
"I don't imagine you would," Remus fiddled with his cup. "You were very young, and very sick. James had taken you to St Mungos that day. Dragon Pox was usually fatal in small children back then, and he was worried they'd lose you."
"So if I hadn't been at the hospital, we would have been – " She thought it odd that she had never heard what had happened that day. She had never asked before, and no one else liked talking about it. She suspected Harry remembered it, but he grew dark whenever the day was mentioned and Sophie didn't think she had the heart to ask him.
"James wouldn't have been able to save your mum, Sophie." Remus gently interrupted. "If anything, you having dragon pox may have saved your lives because it meant you weren't home."
"We were in hiding though; did he find us because we left?" She imagined there were spies waiting to report the moment the Potters were seen. Perhaps James had apparated and someone with connections at the ministry was able to track it?
Remus shook his head. "No, it was just a coincidence."
They fell into an uneasy silence after that. There were a few attempts to change the subject to a cheerier topic. Remus asked if Sophie had ever plans to participate in the Halloween festivities taking place during the afternoon.
"Astoria signed us up for Flitwick's pumpkin carving, and then I wanted to take the Forbidden Forest Tour."
It was the one day students were actually allowed to venture into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid took them in small groups along a path he and some of the ghosts had arranged.
Remus' eyes twinkled. "Yes, try not to get separated. I hear Hagrid's pets are more frightening than anything he could possibly set up with Sir Nicholas."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Remus answered.
Professor Snape entered, carrying a goblet that was smoking slightly. His beady black eyes glanced from Remus to Sophie.
"Thank you Severus," said Remus, "Just put it on my desk."
Snape nodded. "I have made an entire cauldron, should you require more."
He put the goblet down before swiftly leaving. His black robes billowed behind him. Sophie relaxed, grateful that he hadn't stayed long.
"Are you well?" Sophie worried.
Poor Remus had been hit with a curse during the war that left his immune system rather weak. He was always catching every bug that went around. The small consolation was that there was a potion he could could take to help boost his immunity. Professor Snape must have taken charge of brewing it. Remus once explained that it was rather complicated and he was dismal at preparing potions himself.
"There is a small bug going around, but I should be fine." Remus reassured her. "Severus was kind to prepare the potion anyway; you know how it is this time of year."
Without fail, Remus was always sick at least once a month.
Sophie looked at the wet tea leaves at the bottom of her cup. It was also becoming tradition to come up with obscure predications with the tea leaves. At first, it was much to Harry's annoyance, but eventually he and Ron joined in. Week after week they would try to come up with the most ridiculous deaths. Sophie thought hers looked a bit like a deformed fish. "I'll be at risk of drowning in the lake."
Remus grinned as he looked at his own perfect circle. "I'll be given a concussion by a quaffle."
She departed shortly after, having agreed to join the other girls for pumpkin carving outside Hagrid's cabin. He had grown dozens of giant pumpkins and the students had signed up in teams to carve them for tonight's feast. There would be 50 house points awarded to the best design.
All around her, students were gathered in teams of four or five, around a pumpkin that was often as tall as they. It was mostly the first and second years who were unable to attend the Hogsmeade visit with the upper years. Lyssa had unofficially joined one of the Ravenclaw teams; her and three girls were working on trying to carve the Ravenclaw eagle. Elliott and Myron were joined by Chambers, Eastchurch and Vane as usual, although Sophie was amused to see that the three girls looked unimpressed by Myron's curving of an inferi.
Sophie found Astoria, Kitty and Nephele, who had waited for her to get there. Astoria was drawing sample designs on a piece of parchment, and there were a number to choose from.
Sophie vanished the pumpkin seeds after Kitty had removed the top, leaving the inside hollow. Astoria lightly indented lines into the pumpkin with the pocket knife Flitwick had provided, the pattern of a cat against a full moon emerged from her artwork.
"You'll want to carve the moon out," Sophie added. "So that the candlelight will shine through, and the cat will look dark against it."
Kitty smiled at the drawing. "This will look so pretty!"
Nephele skillfully twirled her wand, mumbling the incantation of a carving spell Professor Flitwick had taught them earlier in the week for this occasion.
Kitty suddenly burst out laughing and smiled brightly at all of them. "Sophie, you're so funny!"
Astoria joined in with her. Nephele only raised her eyebrows, not glancing up as she concentrated on her charmwork.
"Don't turn around." Kitty softly said. "But Chambers keeps looking at us."
Kitty and Astoria had done this often enough those first few weeks of September, even after Sophie stopped trying to befriend the Gryffindor girls. Every time the Gryffindors appeared, they laughed louder and smiled more. Despite the pair being glad that Sophie was now free to spend time with them, they went to great lengths to show the Gryffindors that they were missing out. Astoria had explained it as the enemy of my friend is my enemy.
"There," Nephele said as she put her wand away. "I think it looks good, doesn't it?"
Sophie lit the candle inside the pumpkin and the four girls admired their work. They carved their initials into the bottom with the small pocket knife before Flitwick came to levitate their pumpkin to the cluster of finished pumpkins.
They joined the small queue of students behind Hagrid's hut for the tour of the Forbidden Forest.
" – five, six, seven, eight." Remus counted, indicating Sophie, Astoria, Kitty and Nephele. "Come along, this way."
"Re – ah, Professor Lupin?" Sophie asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I offered to give Hagrid some help with the tour this year, I was pretty familiar with the forest in my day."
"What were you doing in the forest?" Astoria politely asked.
"Oh, it was a pretty popular detention," Remus mildly responded. "I was here often."
Sophie couldn't tell if he was pulling their legs or not. James and Sirius always said that Remus was their more responsible friend.
Sophie, Astoria and Kitty nervously clung together as different ghosts and creatures jumped out at them in the forest. Nephele seemed unfazed at the various charms set in place. Remus guided them through the tour, telling them myths of various creatures and dark wizards.
"The muggles would later call him Count Dracula, although they've convinced themselves these days that he's only fiction – "
THUNK!
The girls screamed and clung tightly together. Even Remus seemed startled, although he controlled his reaction much better.
"What was that?" Kitty asked.
"The Whomping Willow, it's a touch temperamental." Remus explained. "Sometimes a bird goes to rest and it'll shake it off."
Sophie spied a giant willow tree. Indeed, it seemed to shudder before returning to sleep with a large groan.
Remus glanced at his wristwatch. "I think that's all for our tour. The feast should start soon. Off you go!"
They were nearly late to the Halloween Feast, although still managed to make it just in time. It was the first Halloween Sophie remembered ever being bearable, even with the heavy conversation with Remus. Usually James took them to visit their Mum's grave in the morning. It was the day Lily's absence was most felt in the Potter home.
Long after the feast, Sophie was still awake, distracting herself by watching the little dots on her map. Most of the dots were concentrated in their dorm rooms for the moment, with a few in the common rooms. Sophie prided herself on knowing the names of all forty students in her year, having studied the map often enough and determining which were the first year dormitories in each hose. Although there were still a few names she had yet to connect with a face. She saw her own dot, S. Potter along with L. Belby, A. Greengrass, K. Penrose,and N. Rosier together in their dormitory. She was certain her roommates were all asleep, having closed their curtains some time ago. In the boys' dormitory were D. Goyle, T. Lafarge, B. Manderly, J. Peasegood and Z. Selwyn. The common room was empty, everyone had returned to their rooms after a long day of celebrations. She spied on the Gryffindor common room where her friends and brother were all in their dormitories as well.
She scanned the corridors, looking for what the professors were up to this evening. A. Dumbledore was pacing in an elaborate seven-point star pattern in his office. He did this most nights, and Sophie liked to assume he was pondering some great mystery of the universe. M. McGonagall and F. Flitwick were stationary in their personal quarters on the seventh floor, possibly having gone to bed. She flipped through the pages, finding R. Lupin in his office on the third floor. P. Sprout and C. Burbage were together in Professor Burbage's office on the main floor. Sophie suspected they were friends because they spent many evenings together. S. Snape was in the dungeons, most likely brewing potions without the bother of students.
Sophie frowned as she noticed another dot. P. Pettigrew was near the kitchens.
The name looked oddly familiar, she tapped at the dot with her wand and the name extended. Peter Pettigrew.
"The ministry's making budget cuts in the departments, I'm so sorry – they're going to close the Peter Pettigrew case." She remembered the short conversation she had overheard between Sirius and James, and then the following one when Sirius had caught her eavesdropping.
"Is he dangerous?"
"Yes, but I'll never let him near you."
She needed to tell a professor before Pettigrew could hurt someone! She scanned the map again, Professors Burbage, Sprout and Snape were all too close to the kitchens, she worried she'd run into Pettigrew. But she just might be able to make it to Remus' office without any trouble. She had the map, and as long as she kept an eye on it, she should be able to get there.
She grabbed her map and her wand and crept out of her dormitory and out of the common room.
"Lumos," she murmured, illuminating the dark corridor in a soft glow.
She kept a close eye on her map, making sure her pathway was clear. She didn't mind running into a professor so much as running into Filch or Pettigrew. Finally, she made her way from the dungeons up to the third floor. Remus would be able to contact Sirius this late and he'd catch Pettigrew, Sophie was certain.
"Remus? Remus, I know you're in there!" She knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she had pulled out her map and tapped it, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
She quickly located herself standing in front of Remus' quarters, but the dot labelled R. Lupin had disappeared off the map. She frantically searched the hallways, but those turned up empty too. She thought the professors lived at the school, although now she was having second thoughts. Maybe Remus flooed home to sleep?
Wearily, she made her way back down to the dungeons where her common room were kept. She studied the map, maybe there was a clear path to Professor Sprout or Professor Snape without running into Pettigrew. As she scanned the map, she noticed Snape was no longer in the dungeons.
In fact, the dot labelled S. Snape was rapidly approaching her own dot. She hastily wiped the map blank before he rounded on her.
"10 points for wandering the halls past curfew, Miss Potter, you really are like your brother, aren't you?"
"Please Professor! It's Peter Pettigrew! He's at Hogwarts! He's at Hogwarts!"
Severus Snape coldly starred at her. "5 points from Slytherin for your dramatics, Potter. How are you so sure that Pettigrew is at Hogwarts?"
Sophie suspected Snape was willing to lose the House Cup after all, if it meant punishing her for every little thing. Still, this was more important and he had a duty to protect students from death eaters like Pettigrew. He could alert Professor Dumbledore and the ministry and they would catch Pettigrew.
"I – I saw him."
Snape towered over her, his eyes boring into hers. She flinched and looked at the ground. At long last he spoke. "Empty your pockets!"
"I beg your – "
With the snap of his wand, Snape turned Sophie's pockets inside out. She hadn't had much, a few wrappers, a hair tie, her wand and the blank map. They all fell to the ground and she quickly tried to pick them up. Snape allowed her to keep her wand, although took her map. Her heart lurched, her dad said not to let the professors see it.
"Reveal your secrets!" He said to the map. "Show yourself!"
The map remained otherwise blank. "It's just some spare parchment," Sophie lamely protested.
He ignored it as he poked the map with his own wand. Sophie held her breath. "Professor Snape, Potions Master of this school, demands that you yield whatever secrets you hold."
To Sophie's horror, black lines slowly formed; although this time they took the shape of words.
Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.
Snape froze. If she had been in any other company, Sophie might have laughed. Misters Mooney, Padfoot and Prongs had entertained her many evenings with their witty comments. This time, she starred in silent horror at the map. Please stop! She thought. Unfortunately, Mr Prongs and Mr Padfoot had more to say on the matter.
Mr Prongs agrees with Mr Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.
Mr Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a Professor.
Professor Snape looked ready to murder her on the spot. "Go back to your common room." He slowly said, thrusting the map at her.
"Professor – "
"1 point. Go back to your common room, now."
She decided arguing with him would be a wasted effort. Once morning arrived, she would go to the owlry and write Sirius. He was going to flip when he learned that Snape hadn't listened to the threat of a death eater in the castle.