A/N: For those of you confused, all of the books have happened but the major characters like Sirius and the one weasly twin (can't remember which) doesn't die.

"CHAPTER THREE: THE LETTERS FROM NO ONE" Professor McGonagall began, the escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry and Samantha their longest-ever punishment. By the time they were allowed out of there cupboard again, the summer holidays had started

"Samantha" Hermione asked, looking at said girl "when is Dudley's birthday?"

"June 28" Samantha replied, and many growled, wanting to rip the Dursley's apart.

- and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

"Spoiled brat" and "Git" echoed around the hall

Harry and Samantha were glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.

"That would be Malfoy's group" Samantha started looking them over "with Goyle as leader."

There were many snorts at this, while Malfoy looked irritable.

The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport:

"They played Sports?" Fred asked George, who shrugged

"Let's find out Gred."

Harry and Samantha Hunting.

Fred and George growled, finding themselves extremely protective of Samantha. Molly looked horrified that anyone should be put through that, and was crying slightly

Dumbledore had never been more ashamed of himself until then.

This was why Harry and Samantha spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and talking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school

"What about Samantha?" Ron asked "where's she going?"

and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Samantha, who wasn't allowed to go to school, decided that she would follow him to school every day and listen from under the windows.

"Not allowed?" the ravenclaws shouted as one, and Hermione turned to Samantha

"Can you read then?"

Samantha nodded "I can a little bit, its writing and math I suck at."

Hermione looked horrified, then said "we are going to get you a tutor."

Samantha shrugged it off, she learned how to memorize things so she could rewrite them, she was fine on her own.

Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, Harry shrugged

"I don't know what goes through their minds" he replied seriously.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry and Samantha.

"Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"If he dares touch you" Remus growled, grabbing Harry

"He won't" Harry reassured

"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilets never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said, grabbing Samantha's hand on the way out so she wouldn't get hit.

A standing ovation followed, while Fred and George grinned at Samantha.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry and Samantha at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television while Samantha drew, and gave them a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though

she'd had it for several years.

Remus looked horrified, so Sirius laughed and gave him a chocolate frog, which he gladly accepted.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters.

The muggle-borns and half-bloods laughed, while the pure-bloods looked confused.

They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life. As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life.

"He really needs to get a better life than" Samantha grumbled

Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,

Everyone in the room started laughing, except the twins, who then swore that they would never use that nickname on Ron ever again. Harry, having noticed the looks on their faces, smiled at them slightly. While Ron paled at how close the nicknames were.

- he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh, while Samantha just slowly shook her head, disgust obvious in her face.

Many had no restraint now, including harry, who was laughing the loudest.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry and Samantha went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. They went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"Is her cooking that bad?" Ron asked

"Nah" Harry replied "it would've been much worse if she had been cooking."

"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

All of the teachers frowned, was this why Harry never asked questions in class? Is this why Samantha hid herself, or was it just a coincidence?

"Your new school uniform," she said. Harry looked in the bowl again.

"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

Samantha snorted, but didn't add anything.

"Smart lass" Remus muttered, looking around, wondering where she was amongst the crowd.

Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's and Vernon's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." Harry and Samantha seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. they sat down at the table and tried not to think about how they were going to look on their first day at Stonewall High - like they were wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper, while Samantha's eyes widened in shock, he never told Dudley to do anything!

Many looked shocked, but no one said anything

"Make them get it."

The twins growled softly, that walrus should treat their girl better, or else.

"Get the mail, Harry, Samantha."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Nice try mate" Ron commented

"Poke them with your Smelting stick, Dudley."

Molly frowned, if any of her children did that they wouldn't be able to sit for a week. All of the weasley's (even Percy) winced, having been on her knee before, they knew that would be painful, but it was just what that brat needed.

Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. four things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and - a letter for Harry and even one for Samantha, who slowly reached out and took hers, looking shocked.

Many frowned, what's the big deal about a letter? Sure, the Hogwarts letter was something every kid waited for, but they didn't seem to know about magic.

Harry picked it up and stared at it, their hearts twanging like giant elastic bands. No one, ever, in their whole life's, had written to them. Who would? They had no friends, no other relatives –

"That's so… sad" Hermione mumbled, trying to hold in tears

"That's it" Fred muttered to George "I'm ripping them apart for keeping our girl so secluded."

George nodded, obviously agreeing.

They didn't belong to the library, so they'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:

Mr. H. Potter, and Mrs. S. Evans

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

"Evans" Remus muttered, turning to Sirius "of course! That was Lily's name before she married James! Where is Mrs. Evans now, Professor McGonagall?" he asked hopefully

Professor pointed to a girl in the very back "that's her" she whispered "that must be the girl who lived."

Remus and Sirius turned, to see a girl sitting close, but not to close, to Harry. She turned to look at the ceiling, before finally saying "today was a bad day to wake up."

Harry smiled slightly, before saying "now you know how it feels to be famous, what do you think?"

"Professor" she replied instead, never once looking at Remus or Sirius "please keep reading."

She wondered why she never said anything, but continued none less.

The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

"Who's Evans?" Samantha asked, pointing at the name

"I'm guessing you" he replied "you're the only girl I know who's not a dursley, and we both live in our cupboard."

Samantha nodded, and Harry noticed that she had some life in her eyes, maybe she could become happier if this person kept writing.

"Is that why my letter had to be rewritten so many times?" Professor McGonagall asked

Harry shook his head "no, I didn't touch the letters, other than to hand that one to Samantha."

"Hurry up, boy, thing!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke, while Samantha got up the energy from somewhere inside of her to roll her eyes.

The twins looked ready to faint, and quickly and quietly assured themselves that they would soon be back to Harry's witty remarks and Samantha's hidden sense of humor that only they knew off.

Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter, with Samantha following, obviously hoping for him to read it aloud.

Many frowned, the girl could barely read, how did she manage to get through school? Snape was watching the newly pointed out girl who lived, who had let her bangs fall into her face as she leaned against her chair. She didn't seem like a brat, but then again, looks may be deceiving. Snape and Moody both decided to watch her for a while, just until they knew what she was really like.

He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.

"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk. -."

"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"

Samantha looked at Dudley, but didn't say anything, she was used to not being noticed.

This caused a few girls who knew Samantha to cry, while the men of the Gryffindor room all looked at one another and nodded; no one hurt their sister and got away with it. This caused Professor Mcgongall to look at them strangely, how did they seem to know each other so well? Samantha slept in the female's dorm (or so she thought.)

Harry was on the point of unfolding their letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.

"That's theirs!" Sirius snarled, while Harry just shook his head, and muttered

"This was 6 years ago!"

"That's ours!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.

"Good, don't take it lying down" Remus muttered, and Snape watched the girl, Samantha, as she did nothing. He wouldn't call her the Evans brat though, that would be rude to Lily. Potter, however, seemed to notice something and was mumbling into her ear.

"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it.

"Can't tell you how many times Ginny wrote to ya" Bill commented "asking marriages and all that"

"Bat bogey hex" Ginny said through gritted teeth "need I say more?"

Bill wisely learned to shut up then.

His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.

Samantha raised an eyebrow beneath her bangs, was that healthy?

The great hall burst into laughter, they didn't know Samantha had this side of her, they all were starting to like it, except Malfoy, who was sneering at her.

"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.

"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!" They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry, Samantha, and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. While Samantha tried not to wince, doing that would get her a beating, the few she got anyway.

Everyone (minus the obvious) burst out roaring. Samantha winced, that was proof that they had hurt her, that's not a good thing for them.

Everyone had so much anger pent up, they let loose. Silencing charms were cast, and it took a few minutes for everyone to calm down to hear more, while most growled. Fred and George both wanted to grab her hands so much it was an ache, but they manage to restrain themselves.

"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.

"Can he even read?" hermoine asked

"Nah, that'd require intelligence, something he clearly lacks" Neville snarled, and Harry told him

"I knew ya had it in you nev."

"I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's ours."

"Good" remus muttered "don't take it laying down prongslet."

Harry and Samantha looked at each other, and Samantha mouthed in confusion "prongslet?" Harry shrugged his shoulder, he didn't know either

"Get out, all of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.

Harry and Samantha didn't move.

"I WANT OUR LETTER!" he shouted.

Many winced, they didn't know that Harry Potter had a temper, but they sure did now. They would make sure to never cross it.

"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.

"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall throwing Samantha out last, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry and Samantha, his glasses dangling from one ear and her bangs in her face, lay flat on their stomachs to listen at the crack between door and floor.

"Better place anyway" Fred said, grinning, and George nodded in agreement

"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address - how could they possibly know where they sleep? You don't think they're watching the house?"

Snape sneered, they had better things to do than watch fools like them

"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

"Yeah, we wouldn't both you lot—"

"We've got better things to do, thanks!"

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"

Harry and Samantha could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.

"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."

"But -"

"I'm not having two of their crowd in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took them in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"

The silence that followed was chilling. Harry had always thought yelling was much worse than the quiet, but now he was being proved wrong once again. Before anyone could yell however, Samantha levitated the book to her and started reading. If they wanted to yell at her brother they could do it after this chapter.

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry and Samantha in there cupboard.

"How'd he fit?" a first year Gryffindor asked

"He didn't" Harry replied "he just stuck his head in."

"Where's our letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to us?"

Samantha wondered silently whether or not Harry's forwardness was helping the situation any, but said nothing.

"No one. it was addressed to you two by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."

Every Slytherin (and many others from different houses) gasped; a Hogwarts letter was the most important letter in their lives, who burns it?

"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had our cupboard on it."

Hermione frowned, our cupboard? That's just plain sad!

"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. One, that landed on Samantha's hand, skittered down onto the floor, where it quickly skittered away from uncle Vernon.

Ron shuddered and gasped, turning on Samantha "it touched you!" he almost squeaked

Samantha shrugged her shoulders, she like all animals, four legged or six legged.

He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.

"I hope it was" Molly muttered, she really wasn't liking this muggle, and had mentally decided to see if she could adopt Samantha and Harry as soon as possible.

Albus frowned; he really had made a foolish mistake.

"Er - yes, Harry -Samantha- about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you both are really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you both moved into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Second room?" Hermione whispered, looking extremely calm

Everyone within 5 feet of her inched away from her

"Why?" said Harry.

"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle.

Harry wanted to yell back, but Samantha prodded his elbow from where she was sitting, the clear sign of "don't pursue this further"

Sirius sent a grateful glance at Samantha, which she ignored. She wasn't going to mess up Harry's family any more that she had too.

"Thank Merlin, you stopped him" remus muttered

"Take this stuff upstairs, now." The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms:

Remus and Sirius counted down from 10 in their minds. It wasn't working.

- one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry and Samantha one trip upstairs to move everything they owned from the cupboard to this room.

Many sent them pitying looks, which were pointedly ignored by both.

He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog;

"Was the dog okay?" Sirius asked and Harry nodded and replied

"Just a little traumatized."

in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. Samantha sighed and sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder, he almost instantly relaxed. As far as Harry knew, Samantha was the only person that could calm him down so easily.

Most of the women in the room cooed, and Samantha and Harry blushed. 'Not quite' she mentally corrected the book, looking at Ginny 'there's someone else I think can do that. I know that there are two people that can do that to me' she gave a secretive smile to the twins, who returned it.

They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched. From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't want them in there... I need that room... make them get out..."

A chorus of "Git!" rang around the room, from many different sources.

Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed, with Samantha curled up next to him. Yesterday they'd have given anything to be up here. Today they'd rather be back in there cupboard with that letter than up here without it.

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Samantha was slightly happy about this, because every child needs to learn what no means eventually. When she realized she was thinking this and banged her head against a wall the next morning.

Many people chuckled, while others looked disgusted, stupid Muggle.

Umbridge smiled, they knew just how to treat that lying potter, and newly named potterette. She already was learning to hate the girl.

Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall, while Samantha just hoped that she could get more sleep. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.

Many frowned, intrigued. It seemed that the girl who lived thought of only basic survival needs, except helping her brother out. This made her seemed almost animal-like.

Samantha shrugged, she really only worried about things that were really bad. Like quirrel and the basilisk. Otherwise, she really only worried about eating, sleeping, bathing, and just plain being alive. She wasn't afraid of death, but she didn't exactly just jump in begging for it either.

When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry and Samantha, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted,

"There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, Mrs. S. Evans The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -'" With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry and Samantha right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind, while Samantha punched him in the face.

"Practicing for Halloween?" Ron asked, and Harry smirked

Albus blanched, he remembered the troll. They couldn't have… could they have? It seemed like something they would do…

After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.

"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry and Samantha.

"Dudley - go - just go."

Harry walked round and round his new room, while Samantha watched from the bed. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again?

"of course I would" McGonagall replied briskly "I would do anything possible for the boy and girl who lived."

Samantha groaned inwardly, she was already being included in the name! this was starting to get seriously out of hand!

And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.

Hermione and Ron groaned Harry frowned

"My plans aren't that bad!"

"Yes they are" they replied together, and the argument ended

The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry and Samantha turned it off quickly and dressed silently. They mustn't wake the Dursleys. they stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. they were going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. Their hearts hammered as they crept across the dark hall toward the front door –

Hermione and Ron both looked surprised, that plan might just work. Samantha snickered silently; her brother wasn't that bad at plans when he had to be!

Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive! Samantha grabbed his arm, the clear sign of "what did you just do!?"

Everyone laughed, and you could hear the twins chant in the background "be the whale! Be the whale!"

Lights clicked on upstairs and to their horror they realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.

Laughter echoed through the hall. Samantha shook her head slightly; didn't they realize the possible dangers of doing that? She noticed that her robe had slid up a bit, showing off an old burn mark. She pulled the robe back down, not wanting to look at it. Remus, who'd noticed the motion, frowned, was something wrong with her arm?

Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry and Samantha didn't do exactly what they'd been trying to do.

"Paranoid much?" Sirius asked, as Ron said

"And this is where your bad luck comes into play, eh mate?"

Harry thought for a moment, and then said "I think I'm pretty lucky. I've survived this long after all."

Everyone froze, and Samantha sighed "you're not helping them feel better."

Harry replied "it's true though. I've almost died 6 times; I think I'm pretty darn lucky."

"Nine" she murmured to Harry quietly "first year and when we were dueling him after Cedric's death, and when voldemort killed you. You didn't count those."

"I know" harry returned "I don't want them to worry."

He shouted at Harry and Samantha for about half an hour and then told them to go and make a cup of tea. Harry and Samantha shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time they got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry and Samantha could see three letters addressed in green ink.

"I want -" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces beforetheir eyes.

Sirius growled, and hugged Harry again.

Remus seemed to want to hug Samantha as well as Harry, but she wouldn't let him near her.

Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot, while Samantha watched with an eyebrow raised under her mop of hair.

"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."

"Are you kidding?" Fred asked, George continued

"That's the famous Harry Potter you're talking about! Of course we would try!"

"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."

Samantha was surprised; Petunia actually had some sense in here did she? That's surprising.

"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me,"

Everyone starting muttering to each other, should they be proud or offended by that thought? They settled on a mixture of both.

- said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. Uncle Vernon stayed at home again.

After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises. On Saturday, things began to get out of hand.

Twenty-four letters to Harry and Samantha found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain too. Harry was at a loss, why did they keep writing?

"I wonder why?" Ginny muttered sarcastically "you're only famous."

Everyone laughed at this, while Harry grumbled incoherent words.

Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.

"Who on earth wants to talk to you two this badly?" Dudley asked Harry and Samantha in amazement.

"I did!" called three-fourths of the great hall, causing Harry to blush and Samantha to hide behind her bangs. Sirius and Remus took note of this; they wanted to know everything about their newly named step-daughter.

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. Samantha tensed, this couldn't be good.

"My thoughts exactly" Remus muttered "Merlin! Harry, Samantha, how did you survive there?"

"Very carefully" Harry replied.

"No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -" Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one, while Samantha lazily watched, what point was jumping in the air when she knew she wouldn't be able to grab one anyway?

Most of the hall silently agreed, while Dumbledore grinned and praised "you are very creative, Minerva. Good job."

"Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall, before Samantha came tumbling after.

There were many growls at this, and Fred and George both wanted to grab Samantha's hands and hug her close.

When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.

"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"

He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag. Samantha had nothing to pack, only a few pairs of clothes that she could fit in her pocket, so she didn't need or ask for a bag.

Many laughed and frowned, the brat may have gotten what he deserved but Samantha deserved so much more than she already had.

They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.

"Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this. They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. Samantha figured it was a good thing for him to know hunger, he would probably experience it in the future after all, but for most of the drive, however, she was sleeping against Harry's arm.

Many awws went through the crowd (you can probably guess who) and Moody saw that Samantha blushed at this. her bangs were in some serious use today, and probably for the next few weeks while the read the books.

A sudden, lurking feeling settled into her gut. Reading the books meant that soon they'd find out that Snape was her father! This wasn't going to go well…

Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley, Samantha, and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering while Samantha blankly watched the cars roll by...

Molly frowned. That's wasn't a very good place for children to stay! They should have at least given Harry and Samantha separate beds!

They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day, while Samantha nibbled on a piece of bread she'd snuck with them.

Remus exploded "a piece of bread! That's not a fitting meal for a growing child!"

Sirius lightly pulled him back down into his seat, murmuring about how they would murder the Dursley's later.

They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.
"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter or a Ms. S. Evans? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."

She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address: Mr. H. Potter and Ms. S. Evans

Room 17
Railview Hote
Cokeworth
Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. Samantha flipped her off under the table, before poking Harry in the ribs. If they'd tried this desperately to reach them, they would find a way yet.

"Bloody right she is." Ron agreed "they wouldn't let the famous Harry potter get away!"

He recoiled slightly at Harry's glare, but didn't take back what he said.

"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.

"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested. Samantha silently agreed, but she would never say it aloud.

Fred and George whistled "who would have thought-"

"That the horse actually had some sense in her!"

Timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.

"Why am I not surprised?"

Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that
afternoon.

"I hope so" Samantha muttered under her breath "that way he can be taken far, far away from me."

She reached up and touched one of the many burn scars covering the right side of her face. She hated Vernon, she always had and always will.

Samantha quickly covered the right side of her face with her hair, not wanting anyone to see how disgusting her face was. She glared with her one uncovered eye at anyone who looked her way.

Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.
"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. "

Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week,

Everyone in the hall gasped, and a random student could be heard yelling "it's the apocalypse!"

because of television.

Everyone sighed in relief. The world would be okay. Umbridge sniffed from where she was sitting. How could they disrespect such a good child that way?

Then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's and eleventh birthday, and Samantha's twelfth.

Of course, there birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks, while Samantha was sarcastically given a beauty kit, something she later burned.

Fred and George nodded at each other. The next break they took they'd talk to Samantha about her face, and about the fact she was truly beautiful.

Still, you weren't eleven or twelve every day.

Arthur smiled. It was nice to see that Harry was such an optimistic lad.

Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling, which made Samantha cringe. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought, which put Samantha even more on edge than she had been by his return.

Everyone stiffened, while the muggle-borns all glanced nervously at each other. That couldn't be what they thought it was…. Could it?

"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"
It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain; there was no television in there. Something Samantha would have laughed at if she had the energy to do so.

"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. Samantha was too tired to speak any witty comments, she instead leaned next to harry, trying not to fall asleep.

"And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his
boat!"

A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.

"Yep, a perfect gentleman," the twins reasoned.

"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"
It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their
necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like
hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.

Fred and George clenched their fists. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. What they didn't realize was that Sirius and Remus were doing the exact same thing.

The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind
whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas, none of which Samantha got.

Madam Pomfrey had never written so much onto a sheet of paper as she had before now.

He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up.

"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully. Making Samantha slump against harry, evey part of her exhausted by today's events.

Everyone (besides the obvious) frowned, angry at the whale.

He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.

"Everyone's favorite pessimist," Hermione said lovingly, making Harry glare non-angrily, and Samantha laugh.

As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa.

She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Samantha an Harry were left to find the softest bit of floor they could and curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket together.

Molly gritted her teeth. While she didn't like violence, she'd let her children have an exception on this one.

The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, rolling into Samantha's sleeping embrace, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time.

"Hey, Samantha" he shook her awake "know what today is?"

"Your birthday." She yawned sleepily "sorry, I don't have a present. If I did I give it to ya."

"That's okay; just keep awake for the countdown with me."

Remus and Sirius glanced at each other and nodded. They were going to swamp the kids with presents as soon as possible.

Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did.

Ginny ruffled Harry's hair playfully, "Oh, little pessimist." Samantha smiled at the display, but said nothing.

Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow, and it wouldn't surprise him in Samantha picked one up at some point.

"Very Slytherin of you," Draco commented.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"The first and last," he called across the hall. Samantha was surprised, like everyone else. Who knew draco was able to give a compliments?

Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten... nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up,

The twins started whistling and cheering, pleading Harry to do it. Samantha smiled, her twin terrors were such nitwits.

Just to annoy him - three... two... one... BOOM

Many winced, rubbing their ears.

The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, Samantha beside him, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.

"he-hem" Umbridge's sugary sweet voice broke the happiness in the air "I will be reading the next chapter."

Harry growled softly, and fingered the 'I will not tell lies' scar on his hand. He hoped she'd get transfigured into a toad.