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 Small reminder, I changed the courses (see chapter 3 for specifics). So the first years have ten courses they take year-round (English, Math, Theory of Magic, Wizarding Society and Muggle Culture have replaced Astronomy and History of Magic for years 1 and 2)
Chapter 10: Lost and Found
The end of the term was rapidly approaching and with it came exam revisions.
Sophie spent the bulk of her study time outdoors with Kitty and Astoria, studying under one of the a large willow trees on the ground. She suspected they had been planted for this very purpose as there were a great number of them in isolated spots, and there were always groups of students sitting underneath them. It was much nicer than locking themselves up in the library, like Lyssa had done, or in their dorms, like Nephele had done.
The final exams were only worth ten percent of the overall mark for the first years, although you had to get at least an 'acceptable' to pass the course. If you failed a course, you'd have to take a remedial course in the fall, and if you failed too many they'd make you repeat the entire year. Sophie wasn't too worried about her exams, she hadn't had a mark below an 'acceptable' all year, and even that had been in Potions when Professor Snape was in a particularly nasty mood. Still, she put in a decent effort, wanting to bring home good marks after her first year.
Kitty laid down beside them, picking at the grass. "I don't see why we have to bother, didn't Dumbledore cancel them last year?"
"They probably want us to practice writing exams before we take our OWLs," Astoria replied. She tapped her quill against her Transfiguration notebook as she scanned the page. "Jason said the OWLs are the only thing they look at for your fifth year. Everything else is just preparing for them."
Sophie closed her eyes and tried to recite the twelve steps to preparing a Pain-Numbing Draught from memory. Snape had given them a list of three potions to review, saying he would pick one of them for the practical portion of the exam that they would have to prepare without any instructions. She got stuck on the seventh step and had to open her eyes and look at the textbook again.
She sighed, "I don't even want to think about OWLs. I have to do well in everything if I want to get accepted into the Healer Academy."
She needed Outstanding NEWTs in Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms and three other electives to get accepted. It was a very difficult and very competitive process. A small class of twelve was only chosen every four years, and out of those only half would make it to completion and become certified healers.
"Is that want you want to do after?" Astoria asked.
"I think so, what are you going to do?"
Sophie's Dad was a healer and it seemed like a smart, respectable career. She wasn't sure she wanted to work in some department at the ministry and had no idea what she would do otherwise. Most of the adult witches Sophie knew had stayed home and raised their children, like Molly Weasley and Andromeda Tonks, but she didn't think that was for her. Only Marlene McKinnon had a job, but it was a rather boring one in Diagon Alley where she sold advertising space for the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly.
"Well, I have the family business. I can be an apothecary like Dad and help create potions," she thoughtfully replied. "He's got three shops now, so he might give us each one to manage after he retires. I have to do well in Potions and Herbology though."
There was no doubt that Astoria would do well in those subjects, they were her best ones. Sophie wondered if maybe that came from growing up in that business. Some people in the wizarding world even believed that a talent for certain subjects ran in the family.
"I don't have to work," Kitty lazily replied. She was on her back now and had her arms under her head as she looked at the sky. "So I don't really care. Although Daddy expects me to do well enough that I don't fail anything. That would be an embarrassment."
Kitty was usually average in all of their classes, although she had a particularly good memory for events and people in Wizarding Society. Sometimes Sophie wondered how good Kitty would be if she put in the effort in all of her classes.
"You might want to study then," Astoria encouraged her. "Another ten minutes and we'll take a break."
Before long, the end of May had passed and the first week of June was on them. As luck would have it, the first years took ten classes, and had an exam in the morning and afternoon each day. All of the classes had an hour long theoretical exam, while a few had a small practical component with it as well. Remus had designed a series of tasks to complete in a classroom, Flitwick had them make a make a tea-kettle sing, and Snape had made them brew a Forgetfulness potion.
Professor McGonagall's exam Thursday afternoon was Sophie's favourite by far. Along with the written portion, each student was given a little mouse in a cage. They had to turn the mouse into a tea-cup. There were points awarded for the quality of the tea-cup and if it had a pretty pattern, while points were deducted if it still had a tail or whiskers.
Sophie transfigured hers into a white cup with royal blue trim and a pretty pattern of royal blue flowers in the centre.
McGonagall's mouth curved upwards into a smile when she came by to inspect it. "Excellent work, Ms Potter. Full marks."
Sophie beamed as she handed in her parchment with her essay question on it, feeling that she just received an Outstanding in that class. Outside the classroom, she caught up with her friends.
"How did you do?" Nephele asked them. She always wanted to compare answers and discuss the exam afterwards, much to everyone else's anxiety. "I don't think McGonagall thought my teacup was pretty enough, but that's subjective, isn't it?"
"I don't think she'll dock too many points if she didn't think it was pretty," Astoria replied. "Mine was nice, although it was still a bit fuzzy on the bottom. I don't think she noticed though."
"Mine still had a tail," Kitty whined. "I had to make it curl up like a handle, but it was so ugly."
"McGonagall said I had full marks for mine," Sophie couldn't help but brag a little. They all knew Transfiguration was her best subject, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Besides, Nephele probably had them all beat overall, and probably killed the theoretical portion of the exam. She was aiming to be ranked first among their year.
"No surprise there," Astoria teased, "I don't think you can do wrong in that class."
The girls made their way to the Great Hall for an early supper. It seemed that the rest of the Slytherin first years were already at the table when they joined. Sophie loaded her plate with mashed potatoes, some chicken and carrots, feeling famished after a long day of studying and exams. Around her, she could hear her year mates talk about the transfiguration exam that had just happened, and complain about the upcoming exams the next day. Sophie tuned out Nephele's argument with Zephyr Selwyn about one of the Fundamental Transfiguration Laws. It seemed that those two were always in disagreement over something. Lyssa finished her supper quickly, leaving for the library faster than her empty plate had vanished.
"What's everyone doing now?" Kitty asked once they were done eating.
"I have some Theory left to revise," said Nephele. "I'll probably be up in the dorm doing that."
"I think I need to see the plants one more time," Sophie frowned. There was a couple of flowers she still messed up when identifying. "Professor Sprout said she'd leave Greenhouse One open until curfew if we wanted to take a look at them again."
"Mind if I join?" Astoria asked. "It's too nice outside to go back to the common room."
"Sure, you can help."
With that the girls separated, Nephele going back to the common room and, Astoria and Sophie venturing outside to the greenhouses. Kitty seemed disappointed that they were all planning on doing more studying. So she decided to tag along with Jasper Peasegood, Blaine Manderly and Tristan Lafarge. A group of Slytherin first years who had decided that they had enough of studying for the day as well.
The nice weather had persisted so far, and Astoria was right that it was too nice to go back to their common room, which felt so cold and dark in comparison. Astoria and Sophie joined the small cluster of Hufflepuff first students in the greenhouse, looking over the different plants that Sprout had shown them over the year.
"In Daphne's year, they had to prune a Futterby bush," Astoria informed her. Astoria's finger gently brushed over the petals of one of the pink flowers on display. "And Jason said his year had to transplant a Bouncing Bulb. It'll be just something simple to demonstrate our technique."
"That shouldn't be too bad," Sophie agreed. She covered the name of a white flower with six petals and muttered, 'asphodel', then removed her hand to see if she was right. "It's all the plant identification I need to practice more. They all look the same after a while."
The girls practised a little, taking turns covering the names of the plants and getting the other to say them. After a while, they got distracted and conversation turned to plans for the upcoming summer holidays. Hogwarts let out in the middle of June, giving them about ten weeks to enjoy.
"We own a villa on Ithaca and usually go there for part of the summer," Astoria was saying, "What do you think you'll do?"
"I have a pretty good idea," Sophie rolled her eyes. "The World Cup's in England this summer, so Dad's probably going to get tickets for that."
She knew she should be thrilled for that. Many witches and wizards would give their wand-arm to be able to attend. But Sophie had never been a really big Quidditch fan and it got tiring being dragged to every Caerphilly Catapults game or having their family holidays be Quidditch-themed every year.
"I could ask Mum if you could come with us," Astoria suggested.
"Really?" Sophie grew excited. She had never had a friend invite her on holiday before. "Your parents wouldn't mind?"
"Not at all! Sometimes Jason or Daphne's friends come for a weekend or so," Astoria happily told her. "It's much more fun with a friend. Mum and Dad just do their thing, and usually Daphne had Pansy or Portia with her. I could show you the island, and we can go swimming, and - Oh! and Mum could take us into Athens one day."
"I'd like that, it might take some convincing for my Dad to let me though. He's really strict."
Astoria stayed with her for about an hour, the girls having gone through all the plants that Professor Sprout had covered during the year. Astoria helped give Sophie some tricks to more easily remember which was which.
"I think I'm going to head back and see if Nephele could explain Pennifold's Principle one more time."
Sophie nodded, "I'm just going to stay here. See if I can get this on my own."
"Don't stay too long," Astoria teased her. "Slytherin can't afford to lose any points if we want to win the Cup."
With that, Astoria left her alone in the greenhouse with the Hufflepuff first years. It wasn't long before they too decided to head back. Curfew for the younger years was eight o'clock on the week nights and it was nearly seven. Feeling uncomfortable that she was alone in the greenhouse, Sophie decided it might be time for her to head back to the castle.
When Sophie exited the greenhouse, she could see someone lurking on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Her heart skipped a beat as she tightly gripped her wand. The person looked up, and Sophie was relieved to see a familiar, friendly face.
"Neville?" She asked.
"Sophie!" The older boy cheerfully responded. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just finishing up in the greenhouse," she explained. "I've got Herbology tomorrow. What are you doing?"
Neville's face crumbled a bit, "I lost my wand after the Defence exam. I thought I must have dropped it, but Professor Lupin said he didn't see it when he took down the course."
"I could help you look for it," she kindly offered.
It seemed that whatever good genes the Longbottoms possessed had skipped over Neville and had been given to Elliott. They looked like brothers, with similar features, although Neville was chubbier than Elliott and much more awkward. He also seemed to have the worst luck in the wizarding world. Still, their families had been friends forever and Neville had never been anything but kind to Sophie.
Neville thanked her, stumbling over his words with the explanation. He had run out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts obstacle course when a boggart had frightened him. He didn't realize until supper time that he must have dropped his wand. "Gran will kill me if I don't get that back," he miserably told her. "That was my Dad's wand."
Sophie tried to reassure him that they'd find it, or it would turn up somewhere. Everyone at Hogwarts knew how important a wand was to a witch or wizard and it would be returned to a professor the moment it was found.
"Looking for this?" A new voice behind them asked.
Sophie and Neville spun around, finding a strange man holding Neville's hand. He had a bit of a hunch to his back, and his straw-yellow hair was thinning at the top. He looked ugly, in Sophie's opinion, and had an untrustworthy air about him. Instinctively, Sophie took a step back.
Neville nervously swallowed. He reached out his hand. "Yes, thank you, that's mine."
The man didn't give the wand back to Neville though. He twirled it around in his hands, inspecting it.
"This was Frank's wand," The man murmured, before looking at Neville.
"That's right," Neville nodded. "It was my Dad's. I thought my Gran was going to kill me for losing it."
Still, the man didn't hand Neville the wand. Sophie's heart was hammering, frightened at what was going on. She didn't like that there was some stranger on school grounds so close to the Forbidden Forest. She didn't want to think that this could possibly be Peter Pettigrew, but there was no other explanation.
"I'll be keeping this for now, I-I think," the wizard said, turning the wand on its former owner and Sophie. "I'm doing you a favour, really. A boy should have his own wand, much more reliable. I'll - er - also be taking the girl."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Sophie blurted out. She felt Neville grab onto her lower arm, as if he could prevent her from being taken anywhere.
"You'll be coming, and quietly if you know what's good for the both of you," he warned. His voice then came out in a squeak. "I - I killed thirteen muggles! Two kids isn't that - isn't that hard!"
Sophie started to scream as loud as she could. A flock of birds were startled and flew out of the tree above her. Maybe if she screamed loud enough Hagrid or Professor Sprout would be close by and come investigate. She wished she knew the spell Jason had used to summon a professor.
"Silencio!" Pettigrew looked much more relieved now that Sophie wasn't screaming. Her mouth was still open and her throat hurt as if she were, but she couldn't make any sound. He directed the next bit to Neville. "You'll be going back to the castle. Owl James Potter that Peter Pettigrew needs to talk to him, there's been a - a misunderstanding. You know the Potters?"
Neville's face had turned white, but he faintly nodded.
"Good boy, don't worry about Sophie here. She'll be safe with me." Pettigrew kept the wand pointed at the pair of them the entire time he spoke. "But, er, tell him to keep Sirius Black out of things. It gets messy when he's involved."
Sophie fidgeted, terrified of being a captive to Pettigrew. He wasn't going to hurt her was he? He had just bragged that he had killed thirteen muggles and that a pair of kids would be no problem. Neville couldn't leave her alone with him!
"Go on now," Pettigrew told Neville, "Back to the castle. No - no professors and no aurors!"
Sophie couldn't say anything, she felt her eyes misting with tears when she realized Neville was going to leave her alone with Pettigrew. Neville seemed to understand her distress as he tried to reassure her. "I'll get your Dad, okay Sophie? He - he'll fix this, okay? I promise, just be brave and he'll come and get you."
She gave a shaky nod, suddenly wanting her Dad very badly. He and Sirius would never let anything bad happen to her. With that, Neville ran surprisingly fast back to the castle, leaving Sophie behind with Pettigrew. Pettigrew looked uncertainly at her. "We should go into the forest, don't want to get caught before James gets here."
She didn't want to go anywhere with him, and certainly not into the forest. She wasn't sure she'd come out again. Considering her options, Sophie knew there was only one she could do. While she still had her wand, she was voiceless and non-verbal spells were way beyond what she could do. Especially against a full trained wizard.
So Sophie bolted.
She ran blindly away from the forest, as fast as her legs would carry her, in the direction of the castle. Within seconds, a spell hit her from behind, causing her vision to go black.