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'm really grateful for the feedback on that last chapter! It was one that took forever to make it work. Regarding this one, I hope my interpretation of Harry is right, I find he's really hard to characterize and I can't put my finger on why.
Chapter 9: Slytherin versus Gryffindor
Sophie's anger at Harry and Ron from the Christmas break didn't last long. Her feuds with Harry rarely did, and usually by the end of the week there was some silent agreement to move on.
Like Sophie, Harry was very quiet and happy to let the people around him speak. Often when it was just the two of them at home, they were content to sit in companionable silence and carry on with whatever they were doing. James and Sirius were both outspoken and filled the home with conversation, and were just a little bit confused at how they managed to raise such quiet kids.
The two year age gap that seemed extremely large the year before seemed less so now that they were both at Hogwarts. Maybe it was because they had more in common, and Harry stopped seeing her as a 'kid'. She enjoyed the change, having missed her big brother while he was away.
So she enjoyed being invited to sit with him at meals or study with him in the library. Today was one of the times he had invited her to tag along to the library after supper. Hermione tsked as she read over Sophie's potions essay, making corrections as she went. Sophie preferred classes with actual wand-work, and the delicacies of potions-brewing were usually lost on her.
She handed it back to Sophie, "It's worth an E, I would think, but if you make those corrections you might be able to get an O."
"Doubt it," Sophie shrugged. "Snape hasn't given me one yet, but thank you. This should stop him from giving me an A again."
She glanced down at her paper in frustration. No matter how hard she worked or who helped her revise her paper, Snape had never given her any higher than an E. Astoria was an ace at potions, often getting an O herself, and even she couldn't help Sophie get higher than an E. She was tempted to ask Astoria to switch names and see if maybe Snape was just bias.
"That first year keeps staring at us," Harry uncomfortably told them. "Do you know her?"
Her brother usually attracted curious looks, but Sophie thought the students at Hogwarts would be used to him by now. She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see who Harry indicated.
Romilda looked positively sour that Sophie was sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Sophie almost wanted to wave and invite her over.
"Oh, that's Romilda Vane. She doesn't like me much." Sophie shrugged. "If it were up to her I wouldn't be allowed to talk to anyone in Gryffindor, I think. She takes the house thing very seriously so she's probably pissed that I'm sitting with you."
She was tired of playing nice and trying to deal with Romilda and her friends on her own. She knew Harry would immediately go into defensive brother mood and she wanted a Gryffindor to actually defend her for once rather than let their housemate walk all over her.
Sure enough, Harry's face settled into a frown as he regarded Romilda. The easiest way to get into Harry's bad books was to upset his little sister. Sophie was a little surprised that Ron came to her defence as well, glaring at Romilda just as much as Harry did. She supposed she had been adopted as a little sister-of-sorts.
Romilda stiffened and quickly returned to her work, embarrassed that she had been caught.
"Calm down, the pair of you," Hermione hissed. A little more kindly, she asked, "Sophie, are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure. She's always telling me to go back and sit with Slytherin and makes fun of me whenever I try to speak with Elliott or Myron." Sophie miserably explained. "I don't know why either. She has since we started and I didn't do anything at first but try to be her friend."
"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked. When she was met with three blank stares, she sighed. "Bullies like Romilda are jealous. She wants to drive you away because she's intimidated by you."
"How do you know all this?" Ron asked.
Hermione smiled sadly, "Because the girls in my primary school were intimidated by me too."
Long after Sophie left the library and returned to Slytherin for the evening, Hermione's words stayed with her. She felt sorry that the older girl had experienced bullying in primary school, although she couldn't say she was too surprised. Even in Hogwarts a lot of people seemed either intimidated by Hermione's intelligence or annoyed by it. She had gotten to know Hermione a little over the years when she'd visit in the summers. Sometimes she'd stay overnight and James would put Hermione in Sophie's room those nights and the girls would have a sleepover. Hermione could be a little off-putting, but she was well meaning.
She was also usually right.
Sophie wondered about what Hermione said about Romilda being jealous of her. She couldn't really think of any reason why. Romilda had been sorted into the house Sophie wanted to be in, and had the complete attention of her old friends these days.
Artemis stretched out on her lap, rubbing himself against her hands as he demanded attention. Sophie happily obliged. "You're awfully cuddly tonight," she told him as she scratched behind his ear.
Artemis closed his yellow eyes in contentment and purred. Sometimes he could be a nice cat. Most of the time he wasn't.
Artemis did not get along with any of the cats in Slytherin. Back in September, he'd often come back to her looking like he had been on the losing side of a fight. He'd have scratch marks, bite marks and tuffs of fur sticking up. Not that Sophie had any delusions that Artemis was the poor little victim in any of this. He usually started them.
His favourite target was a prissy, white Persian cat named Duchess who Sophie believed belonged to one of the Parkinson sisters. Artemis would hide under couches or armchairs, waiting for her to walk by before snaking his arm out and grabbing her tail. He seemed to enjoy the hissy fit that happened next. He absolutely hated Salazar, the common room's kneazle. Although the pair had managed to come to some form of a truce over the months and now avoided each other.
Usually she kept him in her room, but she allowed him to roam around the common room as a 'treat' when she was there.
The door to the common room opened and Jason and Fiona walked inside, just after their prefect patrols. Seizing his chance, Artemis jumped off her lap and darted out of the room.
Sophie abandoned her spot in front of the fire to run after him and try to catch him.
Jason caught her just as she made it to the door. "Sophie, I can't let you go out there this time of night."
"But my cat," she pleaded. "He doesn't get along with others, I don't want him to get beat up!"
Fiona looked at her wrist watch before sharing a glance with her fellow prefect. "There's a few minutes before our patrols are done. We did finish early."
"I'll take her," Jason volunteered. "But we have to be back by eleven, clear?"
Sophie nodded, thanking him for helping her find Artemis.
Jason led her down the corridor of the dungeon, his wand lighting up the area so that they could see clearly. Sophie shivered, the common room was kept warm in the winter months with two roaring fires and heating charms, but out here was an entirely different story. Luckily, it didn't take long to find Artemis as he hadn't gotten very far. He kept pouncing at a little hole in the wall, hissing and swiping his paw in as far as he could.
"Artemis, Artemis, come here!" Sophie called. When he didn't listen to her, she intervened and picked him up. Artemis hissed and struggled in her arms, almost causing Sophie to drop him.
Jason knelt down and peered into the hole.
"Sophie, hang on, there's a rat," Jason said, his face going white. Quickly, he fired off a jet of red sparks that disappeared down the corridors. "Get back, a professor will be on their way."
The rat in question darted out of the hole the moment Jason stood up, disappearing down the corridor. Jason fired off a few stunning spells after it, but the target was too small and moving too fast. She tried to chase after it, but Jason quickly grabbed onto her arm, preventing her from getting far. "Let go, he's getting away!"
He twisted her to look at him. "I'm not letting you chase after him, if that really is Pettigrew he's dangerous and beyond anything either of us can handle. My job's to make sure you stay safe until a professor gets here."
Sophie relented, knowing that Jason was right. Pettigrew was a dangerous criminal, and there wasn't much a first and fifth year could do against him. She had heard all the rumours after Halloween, when he was first discovered at Hogwarts. People were whispering that he killed thirteen muggles with a single curse and blew up a street somewhere in muggle London.
Professor Sprout arrived a few minutes later, slightly out of breath. "Came as soon I saw the sparks," she huffed, her hand clutched just above her breast. "Flitwick's on his way. Now, where is he?"
Jason explained how they came upon a rat trapped in a hole and how it ran away.
Sprout knelt down to peer into the mouse hole. "It looks rather shallow, but I'll ask Filch to look into it and maybe fill it in. I don't think we'll be catching that rat tonight. It's very possible that it's just a rat, honestly, the aurors would have us frightened over every little creature. Now, Mr Greengrass why don't you escort Ms Potter back to the dormitory. Oh, and five points each, for acting responsibly and summoning a professor."
The next day, Sophie noticed that a rather ill-tempered Filch was trying to fill in all of the potential mouse-holes that Pettigrew could be hiding in or using to travel around. He kept grumbling at how ridiculous it was, and yelling at any students he caught staring at him. Although they never managed to catch Pettigrew, and people began to speculate that he was living in the forest or hiding in Hogsmeade.
The rest of the term passed surprisingly fast, and with it spring began to creep up. Sophie opted to go home for the Easter holidays, but found she was much too busy with the mountain of homework to enjoy them. The professors eased up on the homework the week after they returned to school, if only because the final Quidditch match was that Saturday and they wanted the students to be free to attend and celebrate afterwards.
"I know he's your brother, but you can't not cheer for your own house!" Nephele protested as they walked up the pathway to the Quidditch pitch.
It was the match that Sophie had been dreading, made even bigger by the fact that the winner would determine if Gryffindor or Slytherin took home the Quidditch Cup. While Sophie wanted to cheer for her house team, she didn't particularly like anyone on it. The boys were all large upper years who resembled thugs and thought being able to stay upright on a broom made them something special. The worst was their seeker, Draco Malfoy, who walked around the Slytherin common room as if he owned the place.
Pansy had been sickening all morning, throwing herself all over Draco at breakfast, playing with his hair and telling him he couldn't lose against Potter and he was just the best seeker Slytherin had had in decades. It was enough to make Sophie duck into her oatmeal and giggle. Luckily, only Astoria and Nephele caught her.
Astoria had rolled her eyes and giggled too, but Nephele was now after her what team she would be supporting.
"Since when are you Miss House Spirit?" Sophie asked. Nephele was rarely this enthusiastic about anything. Although, she seemed to be rather competitive, especially when it came to marks and house points. Sophie wondered if the Quidditch Cup was just one of those things.
"Well, some things happen to be important to me," Nephele scuffed. "Like Quidditch teams. My main team's the Falmouth Falcons, but while we're in Hogwarts it seems right to support your house team."
Kitty cheerfully added, "Just think of the after party when Slytherin wins the cup! Wouldn't that be exciting? My sister said they last all night! Even the first years are allowed to stay up past curfew!"
"I don't know," Astoria intervened as she adjusted her scarf. "I'd cheer for Jason or Daphne over my own house. It just happens we're all in Slytherin together. Family's more important than house rivalries anyway."
Among Slytherins, it seemed that family was valued highly and considered above house matters, so that quickly ended any badgering.
"You do know anyone on the team?" Sophie curiously asked.
Nephele sighed, "Not really, no. Well, except Draco, he's my second cousin."
Sophie could recall Andromeda telling Sirius over the break that Nephele's mother knew Narcissa Malfoy. So this was how.
"Mrs Malfoy's mother was a Rosier," piped in Kitty, their ever-reliable source on everyone in the wizarding world and their cousin. "Before she married into the Blacks."
"What she said," Nephele faintly agreed. "We don't really see that side of the family often, so Draco and I aren't that close."
They were getting closer to a topic that Nephele rarely talked about; her family. Sophie only knew that she lived with her mother somewhere in Norfolk and that she was an only child. It seemed that Nephele had reached the limits to what she was willing to discuss, and immediately asked them what their Quidditch teams were.
"Caerphilly Catapults," Sophie responded. "It would be impossible to live with my Dad and Sirius otherwise."
"Holyhead Harpies, so I suppose we're rivals then," Astoria joked. The two Welsh teams had a long-standing rivalry in the league.
"I don't really pay attention," Kitty admitted. "But there's this chaser for Kenmare right now who's just divine, so I think I'll choose them."
Sophie and Astoria giggled, but Nephele only shook her head, as if exasperated that one would choose their team based on appearance.
It was the perfect day for a Quidditch match. It was sunny, with a slight breeze and Sophie could get away with just a light outer robe in the mid-April weather. She had her green-and-silver Slytherin scarf as she was sitting in the stands with her friends, but she had also pinned a red-and-gold POTTER badge on her jumper, just hidden behind the scarf. It seemed that most of the school would be routing for Gryffindor this match, as about three-quarters of the stands were decked out in red-and-gold and had banners with "GO GRYFFINDOR" or "GRYFFINDOR FOR GOLD, SLYTHERIN FOR SILVER" waving in the stands.
"This way," Astoria laughed, ushering them down a row of benches near some fifth years. "You really don't want to be anywhere near Pansy when Harry gets the snitch before Draco. Especially with that badge."
Nephele shook her head in disbelief at what she was hearing. "No loyalty, either of you! Ohh, wait we'll get a good view here, right behind the Slytherin goalposts too." Nephele then hastily added, "Not that there will be many goals made. Most of the game will end up near the Gryffindor side."
It was some twenty minutes later that the Gryffindor appeared on the field, ready to kick off and start the game. Lee Jordan announced each of their names as the launched into the air and did a lap around the pitch. Slytherin soon appeared as well. "And here comes the Slytherin team, lead by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the line-up and seems to be going for size than skill - "
It was rather boring, in Sophie's opinion. There was only so much she could take of watching players zoom around on their brooms and throw the quaffle around. She kept half an eye on the game, in case a rogue bludger came too close to the stands. Luckily, Nephele was the only one of them who really cared about the game, so she was able to talk to Astoria and Kitty through most of it.
"SHE SCORES!" Lee Jordan triumphantly announced to the crowds. "GRYFFINDOR LEADS BY EIGHTY-TWENTY!"
"That's not good, if Gryffindor gets the snitch now they'll win the cup as well as the match," Nephele remarked. Her grey eyes were hardly blinking as she watched the game.
"No faith in Malfoy?" Sophie teased.
Nephele grumbled, "Not with his track record."
Sophie eagerly scanned the sky for where her brother was flying. Draco seemed to hover close behind him, ready to take off the moment Harry spotted the snitch. With both flying a Nimbus 2001, it could be a win for either. Suddenly, both boys pulled into a dive, urging their brooms to go faster as they sped towards the snitch. A hush fell over the entire crowd as they waited for the winner to be determined. Both Harry and Draco were shoulder to shoulder, knocking against each other as they flew. Harry flung himself forward, his right hand reaching in front of him and curling around the snitch. He pulled out of the dive, fist in the air with the fluttering golden snitch clasped tightly within it. Almost the entire stands were on their feet in applause.
"POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" Lee bellowed into his microphone. "GRYFFINDOR WINS THE CUP!"
Harry landed on the ground, but it was long before he was accompanied by the rest of the Gryffindor team. The Weasley twins hoisted him over their shoulders and twirled around. The Gryffindor stands emptied out onto the field and everyone rushed over to congratulate the players.
Sophie smiled softly, wishing she could join the Gryffindors in their celebration.