Disclaimer: The only things I own are my pen, paper, laptop, and Harry Potter books written by one, JK Rowling. Also, this shit gay. Get over it.
A/N: This is unbeta'd. I will be going back and making a valiant attempt at fixing this eventually. It has been nearly two years since I last touched this fic. I was a junior in high school when I started it and now I'm a second semester freshmen in college. Bear with me please. The first half of this chapter was written well over a year ago. My writing style has changed. This will be undergoing sever editing in the near future. I am so terribly sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I have no excuses other than I'm a lazy ass.
In the Arms of a Father Chapter 2:
Harry had fallen asleep about ten minutes into the train ride. His head was in Cole's lap as the girl stroked his hair. The poor kid had so much going on and their entire world was depending on him to save them. 'The bastards,' she thought.
She grabbed a scroll out of her bag and began reading it. She did have her own studies to keep up with. A few moments later, she heard someone coming closer, two people coming closer. They had the same gait and fall, she almost thought they were one person.
The two unidentified subjects stopped outside their cabin. Cole slipped the kunai she kept hidden in her sleeve into her hand. The door opened quietly and two identical heads of red hair poked through. 'Well almost identical,' Cole thought.
The two redheaded boys walked in, careful to not make too much noise once they saw that Harry was asleep. Both of their expressions softened as they looked him over.
"How is he?" one of them asked.
"Tired clearly. Before anymore questions are asked, who are you?" Cole asked, glaring from behind her curtain of black hair. She knew they were the spawn of that ridiculously dressed redheaded man from the platform. There was no mistaking the genetics.
The boys looked taken aback for a moment before the one on the right said, "I'm Fred Weasley." Then the one on the left continued, "And I'm George Weasley!" They both spoke at once, saying, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance!"
Cole relaxed. She took note of the minor differences between the two and kept them in mind. "Cool. Harry was telling me about you guys and your family earlier," She said with a smile. She pushed her kunai back into place. Then, speaking together, they growled, "What in the name of Merlin's beard are you doing with Harry?"
Cole just laughed. They really thought they'd pose a threat to her. It was an absurd thought. "I was hired to protect Harry by your headmaster. However since it is Harry's sizeable bank account that is paying my bills, I only answer to him. I protect people, that's all."
Fred and George relaxed a tad then smirked. They pulled a handful of sweets from their pockets and George offered, "Want to buy one? Only five knuts because you seem pretty cool."
"What's it going to do to me?" she asked warily.
Fred laughed, "Always so paranoid! They won't do anything bad, promise." Sly smiles crossed both their faces.
Cole dropped five copper coins into Fred's hand before taking a piece warily. Doing a quick scan, she found it harmless and popped it in her mouth.
Suddenly an odd, cool sensation came over her as the magic infused into the sweet washed over her and out of nowhere, her nose starts bleeding. A confused look crossed her face as the Weasley twins whooped with joy and gave each other a high five.
Cole scowled and wiped the blood off her face before pinching her nose. The words came out awkwardly as she said, "I will never eat anything you boys offer me ever again. This means war, dears." She sent some healing chakara into her hands and healed her nose before releasing it.
Fred and George just smiled, assuming this willowy girl in front of them could never pose any harm to them. "We're sure it is…" they said in tandem. Cole's only reaction was to scoff. People constantly underestimated her, though not quite as much as they underestimated her dear friend, Naruto.
They lapsed into silence for a few moments before the firey-haired twins got up. "We should get back to our own compartment," Fred began. George then continued, "Yeah. We told them we were only going to be gone for two minutes or so to check up on Harry." "We see he's in good hands," they finished together, causing Cole to shudder. It still creeped her out when twins were able to speak in tandem.
Cole waved them off without a word, taking care to not wake the still slumbering Harry. The twins left quietly, sending friendly smiles to Cole over their shoulder. Cole finally fully relaxed again when the door to their compartment clicked shut. She settled in her seat, prepared to wait until it was appropriate to wake Harry, or Harry woke up on his own.
She kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief when the wizard in her lap stirred, not three minutes later. Being around sleeping teenagers made her very nervous. You never knew what might happen.
Harry sat up, rubbing his eyes. "How long have I been out?" he asked shyly. He hated napping for too long. He always ended up in some kind of trouble whether it be his uncle or being late to class.
"Not long. Just under an hour. If you're tired, you may want to sleep some more. I hear the start of term feast can be quite draining," the older girl said with an understanding smile. Cole understood just how much energy it took to maintain a disguise and façade. She spent her entire life doing just so.
Harry settled down again. But before he could drift off again, their compartment was invaded yet again. This time, a haggard looking blond stood in the doorway. His shoulders were hunched and his hair was stringy. He was pristinely dressed but his shoulders were unable to fill the tailored suit jacket that was draped across his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, Cole saw the shadows in them. They nearly matched her own.
Harry bolt up onto his feet immediately. "Malfoy! What are you doing here? Haven't you messed with me enough already?" Harry's stance was defensive and he looked ready to fight or flee, Cole wasn't sure which. But the blond boy was of no threat to them, at least not at the moment.
'Malfoy' kept his eyes on the floor at Harry's feet. He spoke softly, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done all that shit to you last year. I'm really sorry. But I'm here not just for me, but for Slytherin House as well. Us children… We just follow what our fathers say. Most of us don't support the Dark Lord and we know he's back. I spent most of my summer suffering the brunt of my father's rage because he's no longer the Dark Lord's right hand man. We desperately need your help and we can't let anyone know." He sunk to his knees in front of Harry and Cole's eyes widened. Even if he was English, Malfoy knew that his life was in Harry's hands.
Harry just stared at Malfoy for a moment before hesitantly touching the blond's shoulder. Malfoy looked up and held Harry's gaze for a second before allowing the brunet to help him up. As soon as Malfoy was on his feet again, and steady, Harry spoke. "Draco… I don't know how much I can do. But I will do everything I can to help. I'll talk to Dumbledore as soon as we get back to the school."
"Thank you, Harry…" Malfoy, now identified as Draco, replied softly. He glanced at Cole before ducking out of the compartment. The girl assumed he was going to tell his friends immediately.
Harry collapsed onto one of the benches and he rested his forehead on his palms. His shoulders were hunched and he looked as if he was about to get crushed by whatever weight was pressing on him from all sides. He really did have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Not only had Voldemort come back, but no one believed that he was. His best friends had left him to rot alone and the fate of the goddamned wizarding world was on his shoulders.
Cole really felt bad for the kid. As she observed him, she could almost see an old friend of hers. Her vision tunneled and Harry's black hair faded to a golden blond, his skin darkened into a sun-kissed tan, and pale scars could almost be seen on the boy's cheeks. Cole blinked and the illusion disappeared. She new too many children who were too old.
She sat next to the brunet and began braiding her too-long hair. It was comforting to her. "You'll be okay, kiddo. I know this kid back home. He's the most annoying little fucker you'll ever meet, but damn if he can't save the day. He came from nothing and I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to end up ruling my home city by the time I get back. You can do it too, kid. You've got me. You've got those two guys you mentioned earlier. Sirius and Remus right? You've also got those two carrot top twins. You got this."
Cole tied off her hair with a tie that she fished out of one of her numerous pockets then nudged Harry with her elbow. The boy looked at her with a begrudging smile and she returned the expression with a smirk.
"Thanks Cole…" Harry said with a soft sigh. He leaned back in his seat. Glancing out the window, he noticed the sun setting and realized it was about time to change. "We should change into uniforms… We'll be at Hogwarts within an hour."
Cole simply nodded and pulled her blank uniform out of her pack and began changing. "So Harry. Tell me how one gets put into these houses of yours? I think they're really ridiculous considering all the rumors I hear about the violence between certain houses," she asked lightly, hoping to change the subject.
Harry just shrugged as he saw that Cole was changing without leaving the compartment before answering, "Well… You just put on this hat. It can read your surface thoughts and will place you into whichever house fits you best. And as for why we have houses, I'm not totally sure. For whatever reason, we have them now and that's that."
Cole hummed her acknowledgement as she pulled on the grey skirt of the uniform. Smoothing down the front of her uniform, she sat back down and crossed her legs. "That is really stupid. But oh well…" She leaned forward a bit and cracked her back before slumping back into the seat. It was kind of nice for her to be able to relax. The school was relatively safe. It was only prone to attacks from within.
Once Harry was done changing, Cole gave him a once over. He was thinner than the Malfoy boy. That really needed to change. She would bet money that she could snap the kid in half with one arm. "So… Harry, I hate to bring this up, but is there anyone at school other than the twin hooligans that you can trust? Somehow I doubt we will be sorted into the same house. I am still being paid to protect you, so that means being able to leave you where I know you will be safe."
Harry sighed. He nearly cringed at the memory of Hermione screaming at him and Ron's look of disgust. "I… Ginny is okay with it. And I think Neville is too. Dean and Seamus, definitely. I should be safe enough in the Tower if you get sorted somewhere else. Ron won't get in the way of his sister."
Cole relaxed just a little bit more. "That's good. Do you mind if I get in touch with Remus and Sirius? I'd just like to be able to know more about them before trusting them implicitly."
Harry nodded. "I mean I'd rather you didn't. But it's your call. I'm sure they won't mind."
Cole was about to reply when the train slowed to a stop and the chattering of a thousand odd students filtered through the door. They had arrived.