Chapter seventeen

By the time Harry got back to his room and checked on his sister, he found her already asleep. He showered and got straight into bed but he decided to read a couple of his potion books for a while since he wasn't tired.

During the night Harry woke to the sounds of crying, he pulled on his jeans then hurried into his sister's room where he found her curled up in a ball hugging her pillow. Harry sighs as he stares down at Jamie, then he sits on her bed, pulls her up into his arms and holds her, letting her cry onto his chest.

'You're not alone Jamie, you have me and Aunt Mini.'

'They left me, just like you said they would, didn't they like me Harry?'

'I really don't know what to make of either of them as I don't know them. The only thing I do know is they seemed to like each other more than their children.'

'But they were so loving, usually, do you think I did something wrong?'

'No, none of this is your fault, put the blame where it belongs, with them, not you and not me. I often blamed myself for things and it took my friends to explain that none of those things were my fault and to put it where it belonged. You need to do the same. I'll help you through this…sis, I'll be here for you, you don't need to worry about anything,' Harry felt his sister nod, sniff but she also tightened her hold on him. Harry wasn't keen on crying girls, but this time he knew she needed him, she needed someone to hold her, to comfort her, to let her know she wasn't alone in the world.

When Harry felt his sister sag a little in his arms, he gently lay her down, then covered her up. He stared down at her for a few minutes before kissing her forehead before going back to bed.

When Harry woke the next morning, he dressed and stepped into what would be now the common room for him and his friends when school started. He saw Jamie sitting on the sofa staring at the unlit fireplace.

'Morning.'

Jamie turned her head, 'Morning Harry, I'm sorry about last night.'

'Don't be, sometimes we all need a good cry. You can ask Hermione, I've cried on her shoulder, I've even cried on Mrs. Weasley's shoulder.'

'One day will you tell me why you cried because you seem so confident, so sure of yourself, and so strong.'

'I'm that way because I had no choice Jamie, but I was never confident when I first came to the magical world and I was anything but sure of myself or strong. I was so scared of everything, I didn't think I was good enough. I figured if I had to live with those people than maybe I wasn't good enough for a magical family to take me in. Even though Dumbledore explained why I had to stay with them, I still hated them and him for everything I went through. As for being scared, I realised that if Voldemort saw me scared or heard I was scared he would use that somehow to get to me. I learned to make everyone believe that Voldemort never scared me, that death never scared me. My friends knew I was scared for them, but I never let anyone else know that, especially the Slytherin's as most of their parents were supporters of Voldemort. So you see Jamie, I'm just like you, I get scared, I sometimes I want to cry, sometimes I just want a hug. Hermione was the first person to ever hug me, and that was in our second year, she'd been petrified, when I helped uncover the monster and she woke up, she ran down the great hall and hugged me. It felt so strange to be hugged, but I liked it, so Hermione hugs me all the time.'

'Does Ron mind his girlfriend hugging you?'

'He used to get jealous, he thought she liked me, but we had a good long talk not long before the big fight here and he realised I think of Hermione as a sister, just as I think of him as a brother. Now come on, we need to eat, then we're going to sit down and talk. I have a sister I know nothing about and you probably only read parts about me, not all of that would be true.'

'Okay, thank you.'

'Never thank me, we're family,' Harry put his arm around his sister and they walked down to the great hall, 'Dish me up some breakfast, I'm just going to say good morning to my man.'

Jamie giggled, 'Did you say goodnight the way you wanted?'

Harry did an exaggerated pout making Jamie giggle again, 'No, again no, but I'll talk him around, sooner or later,' Harry smiled then walked up to Severus and Minerva, 'She woke through the night crying.'

'I'm sure that will happen a lot Harry, I might have a talk with her sometime today.'

'I think you should Aunt Mini, let her know she does have family that want her,' Harry turned and sat on Severus' lap making him laugh, but the rest of the staff laughed as well, 'Good morning Severus.'

'Good morning Harry, but you did not have to sit on me to say that.'

'I know, I'm going to eat, but I wanted to see you first,' Harry gave Severus a small kiss, 'I'll try to get back to my potions today, I just don't want to leave Jamie alone.'

'Actually Horace is going to see how her potion standard is, so while you are brewing, Horace can see how your sister goes.'

'Thanks Professor, I'm not sure if potions is something she likes or not.'

'If she is like you and your mother, than she might have some talent with potions. Maybe this year I will have a potions prince and a potions princess.'

Harry scowled making Minerva and Severus laugh, 'I think I should give up trying to get everyone to call me Harry, just Harry.'

'You should, now just Harry, I need to get to work and you need to eat. But do you realise you have a bony arse.'

Harry chuckled, 'No, I've never sat on anyone's lap before,' Harry wiggled then stood up and strolled away laughing, but he had heard Severus' quiet gasp, his whole body told Harry that Severus wanted him.

'Professor Slughorn is going to access your potions Jamie, he needs to see if you require extra help or if you're up to date.'

'Actually I'm pretty good at potions, mum taught me.'

Harry saw Jamie's face fall, he put his arm around her, 'You have me and Aunt Mini sis, we're here for you. Remember, put the blame on them, they are rotten parents, they don't deserve us.'

'Thanks Harry, but you should eat.'

'Oh, am I going to have you telling me what to do like Hermione does all the time?'

'She sounds like me, so maybe you'll have to put up with both of us,' Hermione smiled, kissed Harry's cheek as she sat down.

'Well, you've been bossing me around for seven years, I'm used to it.'

'You should be,' Hermione looked at Jamie, 'We have to know how to keep the boys in line or all they'll do is waste their time with gobstones or exploding snap.'

Jamie giggled, 'I think I like your friend Harry.'

'Oh great, double trouble. So Ron, is your mum fussing over Fleur?'

'She's already working on knitting stuff for the baby and it's months away, I mean she just fell pregnant.'

'It's your parent's first grandchild, and that kid is going to be spoilt, nothing like how you lot were treated. But I need to eat, my sister gave me an order,' Harry smirked at Jamie making her laugh again, but he saw Hermione give a very minute nod letting him know she knew what Harry was doing, keeping Jamie's mind off her parents, off their parents and how the left both of them.

After Harry said goodbye to his friends, he, Jamie and Slughorn walked down to the potions room. Harry went straight over to the bench he had been using and flicked through his book until he came to a potion to keep his hair flat. It was more difficult than the others but it wasn't dangerous, so he knew he wouldn't blow up the potions room. Harry enjoyed the whole process of brewing potions, so he didn't think he'd have any problem making the potion. He saw Slughorn talking to Jamie on the other side of the room, then he opened a book for the instructions of a potion to remove boils. Harry smiled as he watched his sister gather her ingredients, he went back to his potion, working on grinding his pods into a fine powder.

'While your sister is starting her potion I wished to explain how we can work around my classes and you're classes.'

'Yeah, I was wondering about that. I didn't want to take away any of your free time.'

'You won't, so I worked it out with Severus. You are only taking four classes so some of your free periods can be spent with me while I'm teaching, but only the fourth, fifth, sixth and Seventh. The lower classes need extra attention so I can't focus on what you are doing and what they are doing.'

'That works well, so when you do have the lower age students I can catch up on homework. So is Severus working on that time table so I know which of your classes I can join?'

'Yes, he is doing the rosters now. I will let you concentrate on your potion while I watch your sister.'

'Thanks Professor,' Harry went back to adding ingredients, then counting his stirs. When it was finished he checked the picture in the book which made him smile. Just like all the other potions he had been making, which turned out perfect, this one also turned out perfect.

'Very good Harry, that is perfect. You have a real talent for potions.'

'Thanks Professor, so how did my sister go?'

'You're sister has a lot of talent as well, her potion was almost perfect. But since all this unpleasantness happened with your parents, I'm sure she is not focusing properly. She is up to a sixth year standard and I believe she will get better. Now why don't you two young people enjoy some time away from this room.'

'Thank you Professor,' Jamie waited until her teacher left, 'He seems nice enough.'

'He is, so let me bottle my potion then we can go set you up a vault,' Harry turned back to his cauldron, then started to fill five vials with his potion, wrote his name, the name of the potion and the date. He took them into the store room, placing them on the shelf with his other potions before sealing the door again.