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 Note on grades: I roughly imagine O, EE, A as the equivalent of A, B, C while P, D, T are the equivalent of D, E, F.
Chapter 12: The Godfathers
Sophie awoke to the sound of a hushed conversation. Confused, she blinked a few times to try to figure out her surroundings. The walls were a clean looking white, as were the sheets on the bed. There was also a white curtain drawn around her bed for privacy. She was in the hospital wing?
"I'm sorry James; I'm ashamed I messed up so horribly." She vaguely recognized the voice, although the words made little sense to her. Why was her dad here?
The events of the night suddenly came back to her and she bolted up in bed. She was horribly alert as a panic set in. Peter Pettigrew. The werewolf. The dementors. What had happened? A hand was quickly on her shoulder, easing her back down.
"It's okay, love, you're in the hospital wing, everything's fine," Sirius said, trying to get her to relax. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," she replied. Nothing hurt, but she felt exhausted and a little overwhelmed. "What time is it? Where's Harry?"
"It's about half-past noon." Sirius glanced at his wristwatch. "Your brother and his friends were up earlier this morning, so Poppy released them. We thought it would be better to let you have a bit of a lie in."
Suddenly, they there interrupted by James' voice which had risen from the hush he had been using earlier. "You shouldn't have been out of your office after supper!"
She then realized who the other voice had been. James and Remus were quarrelling over what had happened the night before. From the sounds of it, James was upset that Remus had transformed and went after them. Luckily for them, a stag and dog had saved them. She wondered what happened to the pair.
"Don't worry about your Dad," Sirius reassured her, "He's just upset."
Sophie sank into her pillows. James must be furious. He had told them not to put themselves into any danger and she had been out late on the grounds. If she had come back with Astoria, Pettigrew would have never had the opportunity to kidnap her. "How much trouble am I in?"
"None in the slightest," Sirius looked confused. "You know what happened last night was not your fault?"
She nodded, because she knew that was what he wanted to hear. But she didn't really believe it. If Sirius thought she blamed herself, they would just go in circles in that line of direction. Besides, she had so many more pressing questions after everything that happened. She suspected she only had a window of time before James discovered she was awake and went all worried-Dad over her. "I guess. What happened to the stag and dog? They saved us and I don't know why."
The pair seemed oddly human, and Sophie wondered just who had sent them.
"That was James and I," Sirius scratched the back of his head. She must have looked confused, because he gave more of an explanation. "We became unregistered animagus in our fifth year to stay with Remus during his transformations. Werewolf bites and scratches don't affect animals the same way they affect humans, you see. Pettigrew was our friend at the time and became a rat with us. James was the stag."
Her mind was reeling as she processed some of this information. James and Sirius had been friends with Pettigrew, and they were all animagus together to be with Remus, who was a werewolf. Her dad could transform into a stag while her godfather could transform into a dog? Why hadn't she known any of this before?
"I don't think I've ever seen James move so fast when we got on the grounds," Sirius' smile was rather humourless. "Not to scare you, but I think you know how close that came. James got there in time though, so that's the main thing."
"Sirius?" She hesitated a second too long.
"Yes, love?"
"Was Pettigrew really my godfather?"
The word godfather had always perfectly suited Sirius. He was her uncle, her big brother, her friend, another parent figure. He was so much; there had never been a word to describe it, so godfather made sense. Now she learned he wasn't and it didn't make sense. She didn't want Pettigrew as a godfather. He was horrible.
"When you were born, Lily and James did ask Peter to be your godfather, yes. James was closer to him than Remus at the time and they had already asked me to be Harry's."
"But what about you?" She blurted out.
Sirius looked confused for a moment, before realization dawned on him. "You don't have to worry about that too much. You're just as much my godchild as Harry. There's no real rules or documents, you know. It's more of a muggle thing Lily wanted to do."
"I let him go," she quietly admitted. "I didn't want him to get eaten."
Sirius' eye had a sparkle to them. "That was you?"
"Yes - er - is that alright?"
"You did a good thing," Sirius ruffled her hair. "You spared a life, and James and I couldn't be prouder of you."
"But he's still out there, will he come after me again?" She worried. This was the second time he'd done it, and she didn't want to have to think that at any moment, Pettigrew would show up again. It would have been easier if he was dead or arrested, but now he was free.
"Pettigrew owes you a Life Debt," he explained. "I think it's safe to say Pettigrew won't come after you. Magic works in mysterious ways, and Life Debts are funny things. Now that you saved his life, it's up to him to save yours to repay that debt."
There was one more question she had, something that had bothered her from the night before.
"Whenever the dementors come near me, I hear a little girl screaming," Sophie nervously explained. "Is that me?"
Sirius suddenly looked old. Now that Sophie knew his form was a dog, she could see some similarities. His head dropped, and if he had a tail, Sophie was sure it would be between his legs.
"I'm surprised you remember that. James had asked Peter to sit with you at the hospital while he went back to check on Lily, he didn't know Peter was the spy until he got home. When I got to the hospital, Peter was planning on using you to negotiate with James. Only James and I knew that Pettigrew was the secret keeper at the time, so we could have covered it up. You probably heard the duel - "
They were cut off by another round of raised voices. "I said I'm sorry, James! What more do you want?"
Sirius' attention wavered, seeming curious what was being said between his friends. That left Sophie free to eavesdrop as well.
"I don't know," came James' quieter answer. Sophie had to strain to hear him. "I think it's best if you stay away for a while."
Remus left shortly after that, Sophie could hear the door to the hospital wing shut. She was a little surprised he didn't come check on her, but was relieved she didn't have to face him just yet. She didn't even know herself if she could face him after seeing what he became. Her heart pounded in her chest as she remembered his transformation the night before. James opened the curtain, yanking her from that line of thought.
"Sophie - " James' voice caught in his throat.
He then pulled her into a tight hug that seemed to last forever. He rested his chin of top of her head, and rubbed circles into her back. She closed her eyes, feeling safe in her dad's arms. She could feel his heartbeat thumping just under her ear. When he pulled away, his eyes searched hers. "How are you feeling, love?"
"Fine."
James didn't seem to take that as an answer though, running a few diagnostic charms to be sure. He usually over reacted every time she or Harry got sick or injured, so that wasn't anything new to her.
"Are you mad at Remus?" Sophie quietly asked.
James paused, trading one of those significant looks with Sirius, before carefully responding. "Yes, I am."
Seeing that that wasn't enough for her, James elaborated a little. "Remus had strict rules so he wouldn't be a danger to students on the full moon," explained James. "And he broke them last night. I understand his reasoning, but that doesn't forgive the fact that put you all in great danger. He should have floo'ed home after class like he's supposed to, and then he never would have put you in that position. Another professor should have been out looking for you."
The conversation was dropped immediately, as James started asking her what had happened and what Pettigrew had done. She had been examined the night before by Madame Pomfrey, but James wanted to make sure she hadn't missed any potential lingering curses. Sirius also took her statement about the kidnapping so that he could file it with the aurors. If Peter Pettigrew ever resurfaced, he just had kidnapping a minor added to his list of crimes.
xXxXx
When Sophie returned to Slytherin that afternoon, her friends immediately pounced on her. Kitty was first, and Sophie stumbled backwards from her enthusiastic friend's death grip. Astoria was the next to hug her, while Nephele hovered close behind.
"Oh Sophie, thank Merlin you're alright! When you didn't come back to the common room after curfew I got worried so I went to see Professor Lupin. I knew he was a family friend of yours, I didn't know that he – " Astoria's voice dropped to a frightened whisper. "That he was a werewolf, Merlin, Sophie I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I didn't know either. I was happy when he found us." Sophie looked around the dorm. "How did you find out he was a werewolf?"
She knew news of what had happened the night before travelled quickly at Hogwarts. She had received a number of sympathies on her trip back from the hospital wing. Even Draco Malfoy had offered her a brief nod in the common room. She just didn't realize the accuracy of the Hogwarts gossip mill.
"Snape told the prefects at breakfast and everyone found out from them," Nephele explained. "I expect parents will be owling to have Lupin sacked by supper."
"That's not fair!" A fifth voice chimed in.
Sophie noticed that they weren't the only ones in their dorm. Lyssa was at her desk, frowning at the four of them.
"He's a werewolf," Kitty said, sounding dumbfounded. "Dumbledore shouldn't have even hired him!"
"It's not his fault!" Lyssa snapped. She stood up to yell at them, shaking her finger. "He's a perfectly nice wizard most of the time and parents are going to complain about one night he can't control!"
"They're going to complain that on that one night he attacked four students!" Astoria heatedly told her. "And I think they have every right to do so, he could have killed Sophie or ruined her life. He deserves to go! He's lucky the Potters aren't looking to have him executed for that."
That set Lyssa off, and she rounded on Sophie immediately demanding to know if the Potters were going to sue Remus over the incident. Since Remus was a werewolf, he was considered a beast in the eyes of the ministry and they could have him executed like the Malfoys had a hippogryff executed earlier that year. Sophie honestly didn't know, but she couldn't see her Dad doing that. No matter how angry he was with Remus, he wouldn't have him put down like an animal. More heated words were exchanged as Astoria told Lyssa to back off and leave Sophie alone.
Sophie dropped her eyes, weary over the argument that was taking place between Lyssa and the rest of her roommates. It was easy to defend Remus when you only knew him as the kind professor who happened to have a terrible problem. She would have been the first one to support him if she had found out any other way. But it was hard to defend him now that she had come face-to-face with the uncontrollable monster the rest of the wizarding world feared.
In her mind's eye, she could still see the glowing yellow eyes just behind her.
Sophie ended up holing herself up in the dormitory the whole weekend, not too keen on seeing the rest of the student body. She showed up to meals earlier than most so she could avoid the rush. She was able to catch up with Harry, Ron and Hermione as they had done the same. They had been able to fill in their side of the story, telling her what they had learned during the year about Peter Pettigrew's friendship with the Potters, how Hermione learned Remus was a werewolf thanks to an essay assigned by Professor Snape, and what had happened after they ran into Neville that night.
Neville tried to apologise for abandoning her with Pettigrew, but Sophie wouldn't hear any of it. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. He had been the one to tell Harry, after all, and to fire-call James and Sirius. Harry had returned Neville's stolen wand, and he looked happy to have it back.
Lyssa had stopped speaking to her. Not that they were ever close friends, but they at least had been on friendly terms before. It seemed that Remus had resigned before he could be sacked. She was upset that Sophie hadn't said a word in his defence.
"You know him!" Lyssa badgered her one day in their dormitory. "You know he's a nice wizard and a good professor! You know he'd never harm a student!"
"Oh shut up!" Sophie finally snapped back. "You wouldn't be saying that if it were you! And he did almost harm a student, whether he meant to or not! He could have bit me!"
"I wanted to like you," Lyssa replied, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "But I see you're no better than the rest of them. No wonder you're a Slytherin! You're just as prejudiced."
"Yeah? Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're a Slytherin too!" Sophie screamed at her. "So you can stop acting like it's an insult because you're just making yourself look dumb! No wonder Ravenclaw wouldn't have you!"
Lyssa had fled the room near tears after that. That had been the last conversation Sophie had with her. The other girl spent every waking second with her Ravenclaw friends, before returning just at curfew and going to bed.
On Friday morning, Professor Snape handed out their end of term reports. He gave Nephele a small congratulations on her ranking, which had been first in their year. Zephyr looked sour at that, despite coming in third himself.
Professor Sprout and Professor Otterburn had been very understanding about missing her exams that Friday. So they re-weighted her final mark to reflect that. So that was some relief, knowing she hadn't lost any marks for missing out on those. She had slept through the Herbology one and hadn't had the heart to write the Theory of Magic one.
Sophie torn through the envelope that contained her report.
Final Report for Sophie L. Potter
Pass Grades: Outstanding "O", Exceeds Expectations "EE", Acceptable "A"
Fail Grades: Poor "P", Dreadful "D", Troll "T"
First Year Final Grades
Charms: O
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O
English: O
Herbology: EE
Introduction to Muggle Culture: EE
Introduction to Wizarding Culture: O
Mathematics: EE
Potions: EE
Theory of Magic: EE
Transfiguration: O
It wasn't a bad report, by any means. She had gotten an Outstanding in her three best subjects, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration as well as an Outstanding in Wizarding Culture, which was a joke class to anyone who grew up in the wizarding world. The O in English had been a surprise, she must have done better on some of her final work than she thought. She was ranked ninth overall in her year. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if her grades were good enough to get her accepted into Healer Academy. They were picked based on NEWTs, which was years away, but if this was any indication, then she'd need to work a lot harder.
"I wonder when the ranking list will be posted," said Astoria.
"How did you do?" Nephele asked.
"Oh, I'm eighth," she said. "I was just curious who made the list."
Only the top ten of their year would be posted, everyone else kept their rankings private unless they wanted to share.
"I'm ninth."
"Twenty-seventh," Kitty shrugged. "I failed Theory of Magic."
"Kitty - " Astoria tried to be sympathetic. There were only forty students in each year, so Kitty had ranked among the bottom half of the class.
"I don't mind. Look!" Kitty happily shoved her report under their noses. "Professor Flitwick thought I exceeded expectations!"
The next day, it was time for them to board the Hogwarts Express and leave. The girls got a compartment to themselves and played Exploding Snap as they talked about their summer plans. Kitty's birthday was later that month and her parents were throwing her a party. Astoria planned more summer adventures for them, including sleep-overs, beach trips and shopping.
"I'll owl you," Astoria said as she hugged Sophie goodbye. "Let you know about Ithaca once my parents work out the details."
She waved goodbye to her new friends, a little sad that they would be separated for the next ten weeks. She would miss them, but she was a little grateful to go home and get away from Hogwarts for a little while. She hadn't quite felt herself since the 'incident' and needed a break from everything.
Sophie found where her brother was waiting for her with James and Sirius. She smiled as they hugged her, ready to go home.
A/N: So that's it for the First Year Arc! The next chapter will begin the Second Year, which I'm hoping will be around twelve chapters. Thank you everyone who's read / reviewed / favourited / followed so far! I'm always happy to know people are enjoying this and I'm always happy to hear your thoughts.