Ok, so….I feel terrible. To be honest, I was kind of considering just abandoning this story. But people seem to like it, so I'm going to do my best to continue it, and I still have a few ideas floating around in my brain. So, here's the update!
Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock
Chapter Six:
To Hogwarts, To Hogwarts
"Ron! Wait for me, mum told you too!" Ginny cried to her brother as he led the Potter twins up the hill by The Burrow. It was sunny with hardly a cloud, and just the slightest breeze swept their hair and clothes. Ron sighed, a little impatient, and waited as his sister ran up the path after them, bright hair fanning out behind her. She caught up, still panting for breath, and the four children continued.
"So what's up here?" Harry asked the red-haired boy. Ron shrugged.
"Not much, I just wanted to get out of the house before mum realized the garden needed de-gnoming again. It's got a nice view though."
"And the brook's just down on the other side" Ginny supplied, blushing as Harry turned to her.
"Cool," Leila said, averting attention from the star-struck girl. She felt bad for Ginny, because from her perspective, Harry wasn't that much to get worked up over. Sure, he was a really nice kid, and her brother, but that's what he was: a kid. Her brother thankfully didn't seem to think much of his fame at all, probably because he didn't want to act like Dudley. Though it had been miserable there, living with the Dursleys was very good at teaching a person how not to act.
They reached the top, and Ron was proven right. Leila could see The Burrow, the Weasley's makeshift Quidditch pitch, even little Ottery St. Catchpole. It hit her then that this was the best she'd ever felt. She and Harry were staying with people that actually cared about them, they hardly did any work here, and there was plenty of food. Soon they would be going to a school where they could practice magic with other kids just like them. She and Harry grinned at each other before racing down the hill towards the brook, laughing and shoving. The other two followed quickly, and all four jumped in and splashed around in the water. That was until a small voice cut through the laughter.
"Oh, are you looking for Red-Ridged Falentins, too? I thought my hypothesis that they enjoyed violent waves was correct."
Leila and Harry whipped their heads around to spot the newcomer, while Ron and Ginny, unperturbed, simply replied with "Hullo Luna." Luna was a little girl looking to be Ginny's age with long blonde hair and large blue eyes that seemed to see everything and nothing at the same time. She smiled at them, and Leila noticed those eyes rest for a moment on her twin's scar.
"Oh, you are real. Daddy will be so disappointed."
"S-sorry?" Harry choked out, clearly as confused as the rest were now. Even Ron and Ginny had their eyebrows raised, though it was obvious they knew the girl and were used to her strangeness.
"He thought you were a conspiracy. Something that the Ministry made up. You see, to be frank, it seems a little silly that You-Know-Who was defeated by a baby. Daddy was so sure that there was actually a large battle with many casualties, but that the Ministry covered it up by creating you. I guess I'll have to break the bad news to him, though." She actually looked rather put out, which Leila wasn't sure how to react to.
Harry was only able to come up with "I'm sorry that I'm…real?" This girl had thrown him quite off-balance, as he was reverting back to his quiet, extremely polite self. Before Leila and Harry had met, both had been rather shy children who actually would apologize for their existence. Those memories were ones they both tried not to look back on, and she was about to rise to her twin's defense when Luna cut her off.
"Oh it's alright. After all, nobody is responsible for being born," the girl now turned to Leila. "I'm not sure who you are, however." Again, her eyes flickered to the identical scar on Leila's forehead.
"I'm Leila Potter. We're twins," she said, gesturing between Harry and herself. Luna's eyes now lit up in excitement.
"Ooh, so there is a conspiracy! They were just trying to hide your existence! Daddy will be so thrilled to hear this! I'm afraid I'll have to be going now, this most certainly will make it into the next edition of The Quibbler! Goodbye!" And with that the blonde girl turned and raced up the next hill, occasionally stumbling in her large lime-green rain boots.
Harry and Leila turned as one to the youngest Weasley children, simply staring and waiting for an explanation.
"Oh, that's Luna Lovegood. She and her father live over the next hill or so," Ron informed them.
"Luna's my age," Ginny added, managing not to turn too red at the attention.
"Don't worry, she and her father are always like that, it's not because it's you," Ron finished. "Well, we should probably all head back to The Burrow, mum's probably got lunch ready." With that, all four turned and left for their own home, thoughts of food on their minds.
OoO
They made it to King's Cross with a little time to spare. Mrs. Weasley got them through, though at first the Potter twins balked at the idea of running through the barrier. They shouldn't have been so shocked though, Leila realized once they'd gotten their things on the train; they'd been living in a purely magical house for the last couple weeks. They said their farewells to Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, the former crushing them in a warm hug and the latter crying and wishing she was coming with them. So it was that they boarded the Hogwarts Express with promises of letters and toilet seat presents left behind in their place. Percy immediately went to sit with the other Prefects, while the red-haired twins went to see their friend Lee Jordan about a tarantula.
Harry, Ron, and Leila found their compartment again, and made themselves comfortable, as it was supposedly a long ride. Harry and Leila were introduced to proper Wizarding candy, for though Mrs. Weasley's cooking was excellent, there was no room on the Weasley family budget for expensive Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They were munching happily when the door opened and a girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth entered, a timid looking boy who still had a little baby fat behind her.
"Have any of you three seen a toad? Neville's lost his," said the girl, with a slight bossy air to her voice.
Harry and Ron shook their heads, and Leila answered vocally "No, we haven't. What's his name?"
The boy, obviously the Neville the girl referred to answered quietly, "Trevor. Oh, I do hope I find him." Harry and Leila looked over at Ron, who squirmed a bit before voicing the advice he'd given them about pets.
"Look Neville, maybe it's for the best. Toads aren't really the coolest pets, y'know?" But Neville looked rather distraught.
"But he was a gift from my family! I got him when my Hogwarts letter came!" He seemed really panicked. "None of my family thought I'd actually make it, so they were really proud. But's now I've lost him!"
"Maybe you just need to sit and think about where you last saw him for a minute," Harry offered. He, Ron, and Leila were all a little uncomfortable with the hysterical boy.
"I-I guess," said Neville, and he slumped into a chair, narrowly missing Scabbers, Ron's rat, who quickly scurried into the candy pile to hide, probably so he could fall asleep again.
"Very well," said the brown-haired girl, sitting opposite Neville. She studied each of them in turn, and of course her eyes landed on Harry's scar. "Holy Cricket! You're Harry Potter!" Harry scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"Um, yeah, I am. Who are you?" It seemed the girl realized just then that she had yet to introduce herself.
"Oh, I'm Hermione Granger. I'm the first witch in my family, we were actually quite surprised when the letter came, but really, it explained so much. I'm ever so excited to learn about magic here, I've already practiced a lot of spells, like this one: Occulous Reparo!" She said this all very fast and in one breath, so that it was very sudden when Harry glasses appeared to fix themselves, with the aid of magic of course.
'Wow,' Leila thought, 'She's really talented. I haven't really looked through my books at all.' Were they supposed to? None of the Weasley's had mentioned anything about it, nor Remus, nor Dumbledore, and not the letter. She she the raised eyebrow that Ron was giving Hermione, and Leila realized that this girl was an overachiever based on his reaction. So she didn't have to worry, that was good.
"You two are?" Hermione questioned, breaking Leila out of her thoughts.
"Ron Weasley," the redhead supplied.
"Leila Potter," she said, and wasn't surprised when the other girl did a double take.
"Potter? But, that's not possible! All the books I read said that Harry Potter was the only one—"
"My twin exists, thank you," Harry said curtly, and Leila was grateful for his interference; she was getting tired of explaining to people. Hermione's mouth snapped shut, and a slightly awkward silence filled the compartment.
"Um, I think I remember where I left Trevor," Neville said nervously. "It was nice meeting you all," and he quickly left, Hermione taking her cue to leave as well.
"Well, that was weird," Ron said, shaking his head and grabbing another frog. They had just settled back into a regular conversation when the door slid open once again, this time revealing three boys. The two in back looked like thugs, oddly reminiscent of some of Dudley's friends back at the Dursley's. The boy in front was shorter and skinnier than them, with cold gray eyes, blond hair, and the rather pale face that had a constant pinched look.
"So," he drawled, surveying them all with a condescending gaze, "they say Harry Potter's on the train. I expect you're him."
"Um, yeah, I am," Harry repeated. It seemed to be his default answer, and Leila could tell he did not like the attention.
"Wait, how can you tell?" She blurted before thinking. "Did you search all the compartments and ask everyone or something?" The boy flushed a light pink for a moment, before regaining his composure and leveling her with a hard look.
"That's none of your concern. I am Draco Malfoy, and you are?"
"Leila Potter."
"What?" Either he couldn't hear, or he just couldn't believe it.
"I'm his twin," she said, jerking your thumb at Harry. Malfoy's eyes widened and he looked back and forth between the two black-haired children repeatedly. The goons in the back scratched their heads in confusion. Ron, who had been holding back his laughter throughout this whole exchange, accidentally let out a snort. Malfoy's eyes flashed and eagerly landed on his new target.
"Think this is funny, do you? I don't need to ask for your name; my father always said that Weasley's have red hair, hand-me-down robes, and more children than they can afford." Ron immediately scowled and looked like he was about to stand, but Harry cut him off.
"Look Malfoy, what do you want?" Her twin finally seemed to be gaining his normal temper on this train ride, and obviously felt the same as her: Malfoy was like Dudley. They didn't like Dudley, so they didn't like Malfoy either. The blond in question frowned at the tone, but managed a reply.
"Well you see, Potter, we've already finished our candy. But you've still got quite a bit left. I think we'll just take it, since it's not really meant for people like Weasley anyway. Crabbe, Goyle!" The two thug-like boys lumbered forward, and the Potter twins and Ron stood up to meet them. They weren't really sure what they were going to do, there was no way they could take Crabbe and Goyle down, but they didn't want to just sit there. Goyle reached into the candy, but then pulled his hand back, howling in pain and fright. Attached by the teeth to his finger was Scabbers. A brief scuffle ensued, with Goyle finally shaking the rat off, and the three boys fled, making quite the ruckus.
Of course, this drew the attention of Hermione Granger, who entered this time wearing the school uniform.
"What was that noise? Have you three been fighting?" She looked rather appalled by the idea.
"Nope, just Scabbers," Ron replied checking on the rat and finding that his pet had merely fallen back asleep.
"Well, you should probably get changed; I expect we'll be arriving soon. Leila, I can show you where the girl's room is on the train, we can leave the boys here."
"Um, right," Leila said, still not sure what to think of this girl. She grabbed her uniform and left the compartment. The two made their way down the corridor, in silence at first, before Leila attempted to start conversation. "Neville find his toad?"
"Oh, yes he did, actually. That really was a smart suggestion Harry made, I think Neville just panicked really. I've never had a pet, but I expect I'd be awfully worried if I lost it." Once again, the girl spoke in a rush, words tumbling out so fast that Leila could hardly catch them. Why was this girl acting like this? She didn't get it.
Leila changed in the bathroom, running into some other girls, a few who would be starting school with her. They all exchanged polite hellos, but she was soon back to the compartment with Harry and Ron. She felt most comfortable there.
A short while later, the train stopped, and they all stepped out into the night. Most of the students were heading up a path towards some carriages, but then a loud voice boomed, "Firs' years, this way! Firs' years over 'ere!" The largest man either of the twins had ever seen stood holding a lantern to their left. This was quite a feat, having grown up with Vernon and Dudley Dursley. However, this man was large mostly due to his height: he towered over all the students, including the seventh years. That probably made him good at gathering groups of people together, they could all see him. "Righ'! You lot jus' follow me, an no more'n four to a boat!" He led them down a path to a lake where a bunch of wooden boats sat waiting. Harry, Ron, and Leila boarded one, and pulled Neville into it as well as the boy seemed rather hesitant to get in one.
They rode across the lake and got their first view of Hogwarts: the castle was simply magnificent. Leila couldn't wait to get inside.
The boats stopped and they all got out, Hagrid leading them up to a set of large oak doors. He knocked and it echoed across the grounds. The door was then opened by a very severe looking woman with rectangular spectacles and graying hair pulled into a tight bun. The professor, Minerva McGonagall the Deputy Headmistress, led them away, and into an antechamber where they met the ghosts of Hogwarts and she explained the house system, which Harry and Leila already knew from Ron. After a bit, they were brought into the Great Hall.
It truly was breathing taking, with the hundreds of floating candles and the enchanted night sky above them. It was a little nerve-wracking, what with all the older students looking at them, but Leila saw the familiar red hair of the other Weasley boys grinning at them and felt a little reassured. She was even more so when the Sorting Hat informed them, through song, that all they needed to do was put him on and he'd do the rest. So she waited silently with the others while they were alphabetically sorted.
Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, two girls she had met on her short trip down the train corridor, went to Hufflepuff, along with Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchly, among others. Hermione and Lavender Brown, Neville- who she learned had the last name Longbottom –and Seamus Finnegan were sent to Gryffindor. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were quickly sorted into Slytherin, which Ron claimed to be the house that turned out the most Dark Wizards. They were joined by Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson, among other boys and girls. Then in a twist, two identical twins went to different houses, Parvati to Gryffindor and Padma to Ravenclaw which also received Terry Boot, Anthony Goldtein, and a few others. But what did that mean? She didn't want to be in a different house from Harry. And weren't houses supposed to be like your family? Suddenly—
"Potter, Harry."
The whispers began as Harry walked forward and sat, the hat slipping over his head. She realized with an odd lurch that she was next, and she found herself wishing she could just go quickly and have it done. But Harry was taking forever! This allowed the whispers and murmurs to continue the name "Harry Potter" flying back and forth so many times it made her head hurt. She couldn't tell what Harry was thinking, the hat covered his face. Finally, after much deliberation, it shouted one word: "GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat came off his face and Harry looked happy—and relieved. He headed over to the red and gold table which was giving the loudest applause any first year had received, the Weasley twins yelling "We got Potter! We got Potter!" And Leila knew that was where she wanted to go.
McGonagall waited for the noise to settle down before dropping the next bombshell. "Potter, Leila."
The whispers were even worse. "Did she say Potter?" "Yeah, she did!" "But there's only one Potter!" "Another Potter?" "When did that happen?"
She walked up to the stool, head down because she didn't want to look into their disbelieving faces. McGonagall effectively took away the girl's vision by dropping the hat on her head.
"My, my," the Sorting Hat said, "Another Potter. This is the first time that's happened in a while. Twins, eh?"
'Yep, that's right.'
"Well then, let's get down to business. You've got quite the outgoing personality, not too bad of a mind either, but I don't think Ravenclaw's for you. A lot of loyalty for your twin, but…is this jealousy I detect?"
'No, no it's not,' She firmly replied. She wasn't jealous, she just felt a little—
"Overshadowed. That's perfectly natural, after all, it must be hard to be related to the Boy-Who-Lived. The fact you were presumed dead just adds to it. Perhaps Slytherin would be best for you—"
'What? No!' She thought worriedly. 'I don't want to go there, they're all evil gits!'
"Not everyone in Slytherin is evil, Ms. Potter, and not all in Gryffindor are good. If I send you to Gryffindor, that would be such a waste of your potential. Tell me, how will you show everyone you're just as important as your brother if you're in the same house? They'll look at the both of you and see only him!"
'It doesn't matter,' she replied quickly, she had to convince him! 'I don't want to be famous, and neither does Harry. We just want to be together.' She thought she could almost hear the hat sigh, before it spoke back.
"Very well, if that's your decision, Ms. Potter. I hope you'll somehow find a way to succeed in…GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat was removed from her head and she looked up in time to see McGonagall offer her a slight smile. There was a slight pause, which made her feel a little uncomfortable before:
"We got Potter AGAIN!" The Weasley twins yelled, coming to her rescue, and Harry was the first to start clapping. Soon everyone else in Gryffindor joined in, and she rushed to sit next to Harry, giving Ron a thumbs up on the way. She spared a glance at the staff table to see Dumbledore and many of the other teachers clapping as well, but for some reason Hagrid's eyes looked a little wet. She wasn't sure why, there wasn't any reason for him to be crying, was there?
"What took you so long?" Harry asked her, curious.
"Um, not really sure, I think… he was just being dramatic," she said, not quite meeting Harry's eyes. She didn't want him to know that she'd almost gone to Slytherin because the Sorting Hat thought she was jealous. "You?"
"Same, he's really one for dramatics," Harry laughed a bit and gave her a smile, but it seemed….a little forced. Both turned away to watch the others be sorted, content but also a little uncomfortable. It was the first time the twins had ever lied to each other; ironically, it was about the same thing.
Ron also joined them in Gryffindor and once he sat down, the tense atmosphere dissolved. The last student, Blasie Zabini to Slytherin, was sorted, and Dumbledore stood to make an announcement. They were pretty basic rules that Percy had attempted to drill into their heads over the summer, aside from a new one: apparently, the third floor corridor on the right hand side was forbidden to all those who did not wish to suffer "a most painful death". That sort of killed the mood, most students unsure if the Headmaster was being serious.
Things brightened with the singing of the school song, though most of the teachers looked rather sour, and then the food appeared. There was everything there that could ever be desired, and they all lost no time in filling their plates. There was conversation intermixed with eating, Harry Ron and Leila learning from Percy who all the professors were. As their eyes slid from the turban-wearing Quirrell to the hook-nosed Severus Snape, both Harry and Leila winced: At the exact same moment, they had each felt a burning pain in their scar. They brushed it off, as hardly anyone had noticed, but looked at each other, silently questioning what that had been about.
Soon they were dismissed, and Percy led the first-year Gryffindors to their common room. Leila was beginning to wonder if they even had any other Prefects in Gryffindor or if Percy was just hogging the position. They passed through the portrait hole of the Pink (or Fat) Lady. The Gryffindor Common Room was excellent. It was warm and comfy looking, everything one could want in a home. The fireplace crackled merrily while pleasant conversation and laughter filled the air.
It was then that Percy led Harry and Ron away with the boys to their dormitory and pointed the girls towards theirs. Harry and Ron shrugged and muttered quick "G'night"'s at her before following the older boy. Leila sighed then turned to face her new dorm mates: Hermione Granger, Lavender Brown, and Parvati Patil.
"We should probably be going to bed. We'll need a full nights sleep for tomorrow's classes, and at any rate, Percy told us to go to our dorms anyway." Once again, Hermione took over. Leila saw Lavender and Parvati roll their eyes behind the bushy-haired girl's back, and Leila began to wonder what life would be like with these other girls as dorm mates.
They each chose a bed, and began unpacking a few things, Lavender and Parvati chatting to each other; it seemed they had met on the train and taken a liking to each other.
"Well," Hermione started after they all changed, "We should introduce ourselves properly. I'm Hermione Granger."
"Lavender Brown," the first girl said.
"Parvati Patil," said the second.
"I'm Leila Potter," she finished.
"We know," said Lavender, "It was kind of a shock."
"I'll say, I didn't know the Boy-Who-Lived had a sister," Parvati agreed.
"What's he like?" Lavender asked.
"Who?" said Leila.
"Harry Potter of course!" Parvati giggled. Oh, Leila supposed it had been a stupid question. She looked into their eager faces, even Hermione seeming interested.
"Well, he's ok. I mean, Harry's just kind of a boy, there's nothing that different between him and the others." This apparently hadn't been the expected response, as all three looked a little disappointed.
"Oh, then I guess," Parvati yawned, "I'll be getting to bed."
"That's right!" Hermione snapped back to her rigid self. "I'm ever so excited, but I need to rest, goodnight."
"See you in the morning," Lavender called over her shoulder before dropping into her four-poster and pulling shut the curtains.
"Goodnight," Leila said to the room that at first glance appeared completely empty. She then followed suit, climbing into her new bed and pulling the curtains closed around her, falling quickly to sleep after the long day.
Whew, that took a lot of effort. I hope the long chapter kind of makes up for the long wait….ok I know it doesn't, but at least it's a long chapter, right?
Ok, time for IMPORTANT QUESTION, PLEASE READ: The thing is, there's not much I can really change in the first two books, as Voldemort needs to learn in the first one that he cannot touch Harry or Leila because of their mother's protection, and in the second one the diary Horcrux has to be destroyed. So really, I could add a few scenes, change a few minor things, but the end results will still be the same. We've all read stories like that, and they get kind of boring, personally I just skip through most of the basically from-the-text dialogue and look for the parts where the new character's inserted. That's no fun. The third book, PoA, is where things can start to get different, so what I want to know is this. Do you guys want me to go through the first and second books like normal, or should I skip to the beginning of the third? If it's the second option I'd give a summary on the last two years at the beginning of the next chapter. Please let me know in a review guys, because I'm writing this story for you so I want to do what you would prefer.
Thanks for keeping up with this story, even with me being a jerk for not updating. I've suddenly taken a re-interest in this, so it's become a much bigger priority, I'm going to try my hardest to finish. Don't give up on me yet!
Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock