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: Sorry this has taken forever. Writer's Block and my real life getting busier has meant this went on the backburner for a while. I still intend to finish this, it's just going to be slow going. Cheers!
Chapter 18: Problem Child
By the next morning, Sophie was ready to strangle her brother. She hadn't seen him since he disappeared into the trophy room with the professors and the other champions. The professors had quickly dismissed the students, ushering them back to their common rooms in the case of Hogwarts students, or sleeping quarters in the case of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. There had been a loud uproar and a great deal of protest once Harry left the Great Hall. The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students were furious that Hogwarts was somehow allowed two champions while the Hogwarts students were divided. A great number were suspicious that Harry somehow managed to trick the age line, and many Hufflepuffs were upset that a Gryffindor was eclipsing a Hufflepuff's moment of glory.
The Slytherins didn't seem to care too much about Cedric Diggory, it was more the identity of the fourth champion that irked them.
"Merlin this is too much!" Pansy had shrieked. "Precious Potter got himself entered into the tournament after all. I bet Dumbledore had something to do with it. It was his age line after all!"
A group of Slytherins had gathered around Draco, who seemed to be their unofficial leader when it came to complaining about Harry or the Gryffindors. He wasn't saying much, just standing there with a large smirk on his face as people complained. People like Pansy tossed out nasty comments and then immediately looked to Draco for his approval and it almost became a competition to make the most ridiculous accusation. So far, Pansy's was the one that was most favourable and people kept jumping in to give all sorts of 'proof' that Dumbledore favoured Harry and would manipulate the tournament just to include him. Sophie tried to slip off to her dormitory unseen, but of course she was somehow roped into the common room conversation.
"Hey, Little Potter, how do you think he did it?" Blaise Zabini had eagerly asked. It seemed that her presence suddenly upstaged Pansy's suggestion. Sophie knew that if she said anything in this moment, Slytherin would probably take it as the honest-to-Merlin truth. If she said her brother was in cohorts with Dumbledore, they'd go absolutely ballistic.
They already believed what she sometimes wondered herself; if Harry was truly doing these things for attention. Was it really possible that one teenager could keep getting himself into these situations?
"How would I know?" She challenged.
"He's doing it for the attention, isn't he?" Pansy pressed, her dark blue eyes were glinting as she regarded Sophie.
Astoria made a sound as if to speak, but Sophie cut her off. She had no idea if her friend would defend her brother or not, but she didn't really care.
"Probably," she bristled, "he can't seem to go five minutes without it."
Draco and his friends thought that was hilarious, and hoots of laughter followed her as she fled from the common room. She went to bed as quickly as possible, drawing the silver curtains around her four-poster bed shut and trying to ignore the silent whispers of her friends.
Why couldn't Harry just be normal for once? Why couldn't her brother just go one year without making a spectacle out of himself? He had to go and get himself entered into that stupid tournament and now it was all anyone wanted to talk about. She knew her dad and Sirius were only going to flip once they heard, and then spend the year worrying about him like they always did. She remembered his first two years at Hogwarts. Every few months they'd get a letter from Professor McGonagall and James would nearly have a heart attack. It was amusing at first, but it quickly got old that Harry was all anyone would ever talk about.
The next morning, she decided she wasn't going to approach the Gryffindor table, but then she saw him sitting there, being congratulated by all the Gryffindors. Something inside her snapped and in that moment she marched over without much thought to what she would actually say once she got there. Harry took one look at her, and his expression turned stormy. Well, he wasn't the only Potter with a temper.
"How did you do it?" She demanded. Harry was sitting down so she was able to stare him down.
"You really think I managed to trick Dumbledore's age line and put my name in that thing?" Harry asked, his voice rising.
"I don't know what to think! Everyone's saying - "
"Everyone? You mean your little Slytherin friends, I heard you've become really close to Parkinson - "
"Everyone, Harry, as in literally everyone! The Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs, even the bloody Gryffindors so don't you dare throw that in my face!" She yelled back, annoyed at the nerve of him! She didn't want to be friends with Pansy, but it was hard to live in the same house and not see her on a regular basis. They might as well get along.
"Can't stand the thought of someone else in the spotlight for once, could you? You just had to upstage it by being the fourth champion!"
Sophie stormed off in a huff and avoided Harry for the rest of the week. Not that she had ever done it before, but it was surprisingly easy. Avoiding Harry meant avoiding the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and avoiding the library where he was spending more time with Hermione. Apparently Ron thought the same thing she did and was avoiding him too. That validated her, knowing that even Ron felt the same way. Avoiding her housemates was another story. The Slytherin common room would have been her usual retreat if she was avoiding Harry. Avoiding both at the same time really limited her options, and she had taken to hiding out on the grounds. Sometimes Astoria, Nephele and Kitty would join her. Thankfully they had stayed fairly neutral on the topic, although Sophie could tell that it took a considerable amount of restraint on Kitty's part.
In the evenings, she avoided the common room, choosing to stay in her dormitory doing homework or something. She'd come in before the common room filled just after curfew so she wouldn't be called over by Pansy. Draco had been dominating the conversation, loudly stating that he bet Harry was killed in the first task. People were starting to put galleons down on how long he'd last in the first task. The topic made her ill for as much as she was mad at Harry, he was still her brother.
"Hey Potter!" A voice called out one day when she was running late to Transfiguration.
Sophie froze as she found Draco alone in the common room. Never had he actually acknowledged her presence before. A little bubble of dread swelled up in her chest, wondering what on earth he wanted. She had deflated since her initial outburst and just wanted the year to end and the tournament to go away.
"I've made these for everyone in Slytherin." Draco told her, looking much too pleased with himself. He handed her a yellow badge with bold, black letters on it.
SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY -
THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
The badge then swirled, the bright yellow turning to a neon green and the black letters rearranging themselves to say, POTTER STINKS! Sophie felt her face heat up, even as she reminded herself that he meant her brother and not her.
"Oh very funny," she said, rolling her eyes. "Did you get Crabbe to make them or did you think of that one up all by yourself?"
She tossed the badge back at him, turning on her heel and walking out of the common room. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she found herself surprised that she had just insulted Draco Malfoy's intelligence. Kitty was going to have a stroke when she found out.
Outside the dungeons, a witch with magenta robes was wondering around. Sophie knew she wasn't one of the Hogwarts professors and wondered if perhaps she was with the Beauxbatons or Drumstrang delegations. They had all stayed at Hogwarts, even after the champions had been picked and were staying the rest of the year as support.
"Hello?" Sophie greeted her, "Are you lost?"
"Oh no, love, just taking a little trip down memory lane," the woman smiled at her, "I'm here with the press to interview the champions for the Daily Prophet and thought I'd stop by my old house. Are you enjoying the tournament so far? Two Hogwarts champions! Do you have one you're supporting?"
"Well, my brother's one of the champions so I'll be rooting for him," Sophie said. Even if she didn't feel like it at the moment, she knew it was what she was expected to say. James would be incredibly disappointed in her if she started telling people she hoped Harry lost and embarrassed himself in front of everyone.
"Are you? Sophie Potter then? Lovely! I was hoping to interview the family and friends of the champions, get a few nice quotes for the Prophet, if you have a moment?"
Sophie bit her lip, unsure of what to say. James and Sirius had shielded her and Harry from the press when they were younger. Although, with Harry being a champion she was sure all the families were being asked for comments. It wouldn't hurt to say something, she decided.
"Um, sure? Just who are you exactly?" If James had taught her anything, it was to be weary of strangers. Especially strangers interested in her brother.
"Rita Skeeter," the woman flashed a full white smile. She was already pulling a green quill and some parchment out of her crocodile handbag.
Sophie had heard of her, everyone in the wizarding world had. Rita Skeeter was one of the top reporters for the Daily Prophet. Her articles were highly controversial because she covered high-profile people like Minister Fudge or Professor Dumbledore.
"Now Sophie, love, you wouldn't mind if I used a Quick Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you without worrying about copying everything down."
The quill levitated in the air, poised over the parchment ready to capture everything Sophie said.
"That's fine."
"Lovely! Now, how do you feel about your brother entering the tournament? Excited? Worried? Angry?"
"Worried, I'd guess, I mean he's much younger than all the other champions and there was an age line for a reason." Sophie was distracted by the quill, watching the quill frantically scratching across the parchment. The parchment was hovering above her so she couldn't see what it was writing.
"Ignore the quill, Sophie dear," Rita said, "do you have any idea how your brother could have tricked the age line? Has he said anything?"
"I haven't given it much thought," Sophie said, feeling a little guilty. She had just jumped on board with everyone thinking that Harry had entered himself. She hadn't even let him explain himself. "Harry's always getting himself into trouble."
James had made a trip to the school the day after Harry had been selected as champion. He hadn't stayed for long, just enough to check on Harry and yell at Dumbledore. Sophie would have paid a good sum of galleons to see how that went down. She could only imagine her dad yelling until he was purple in the face that Dumbledore had failed to protect Harry yet again, while Dumbledore sat calmly and let him rage, offering him a cup of tea when he was done.
It had happened in their kitchen once before; at the end of Harry's first year.
"Troubled? So does your brother act out for attention? Do you think this is just his latest stun?"
"It's not quite like that, um," Sophie tried to correct herself. Harry wasn't troubled he just got himself into really bizarre situations. "It's hard to explain."
"What is it like?"
"I - um - I should really be getting to class," Sophie said, suddenly uncomfortable where the questioning was going. She didn't want to get what had happened at the end of last year and she was certain what Harry had done at the end of his first and second year was not to be told to reporters. Her dad would kill her.
"Of course! And I best get to the weighing ceremony! I need to speak with the champions," Rita said with a rather vicious looking smile. Sophie couldn't shake the feeling that she had just been played. It was only when the Daily Prophet arrived the next morning with an article about her brother that she realized just how.
Of course, this isn't the first time Harry has acted out for attention. Fellow students and teachers have voiced concerns that this is another attempt for Harry. Rumours have circulated the school for years, with Harry Potter mysteriously ending up in the hospital wing by the end of each year. When asked, his sister Sophia only had this to say:
"Harry's always getting himself into trouble. Of course I'm worried about him being in the tournament. He's so much younger and less experienced than the others. There was an age line for a reason."
Kitty frowned when she saw the article, "Next time you should spell out your name so she gets it right. She uses one of those quick quotes quills and it doesn't always catch names."
"Kitty that's - " Astoria groaned.
"Entirely not the point?" Nephele interjected. "I think the quill misquotes more than names."
"I didn't say any of that," Sophie said, shocked at the way Rita had worded the article. Technically she had said it, she just hadn't meant it the way it came across. "Well, I did, but not like that."
By the time Sophie returned to the Slytherin common room, she wanted to curl up into her bed and die of shame. Everyone had been repeating the article all day and Pansy had decided that 'troubled' meant 'touched in the head'. People were quoting it every where she went. Harry didn't even look at her. Even worse, she had received a letter from her dad. Of course he didn't believe she would say anything bad about her brother.
I'm sorry you had to learn the hard way, Rita twists everything in her articles. Next time tell her 'no comment'. I've written Harry too, he'll understand.
The final straw though, was a small box of Draco's Potter Stinks! badges left out on the table. Something about them just set her off at the end of a really long, awful day. She grabbed them and marched down the tunnel to her dormitory.
xXxXx
The next morning Sophie went down to breakfast carrying the box of badges she had stolen from Draco. She had been up late transfiguring them and had gotten less than three hours sleep, but she had been pleased with the final result.
Harry looked weary as she approached, but she offered him a small smile that she hoped he recognized as some sort of truce.
"I think you'll like these," she quietly said, handing one over. Harry took it, looking at the crimson red badge that said in golden letters;
SUPPORT HARRY POTTER -
THE OTHER HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
It then turned to a black background with a red lightning bolt on it.