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Everyone watched as Tess expertly put her memories in the pensieve. Sighing, she stepped back and sat down, letting the memory play back and remembering the day herself.
An eight-year-old Tess was sitting against a brick wall, shivering as the wind blew on her thin blanket. Her brown hair was matted and dirty, and her clothes ragged and smelly. She had nowhere to go and no one to take care of her. Her parents were dead. She still couldn't wrap her mind around this. Her parents were dead, and she was living on the streets. She hadn't been there long and didn't know how much longer she could survive. Tess had never learned survival; there had been no need to. Her parents had loved her.
"I wouldn't be sitting there if I were you. The drunks will be here in an hour, and they'll want their spot." She looked up to see a boy around her age. He had messy black hair and was wearing a black jacket and jeans. And even though he was probably her age, he seemed so much older than her. His eyes were old, as if he had lived so many more years than he actually had. "Do you have a place to sleep?"
"What?" Tess mumbled, eyeing this boy warily.
"I said, do you have a place to sleep?" the boy repeated, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"No," she replied lowly. The boy nodded and held out his hand to her.
"Let's go then," he replied. Tess looked at this boy in confusion.
"Go where?" she asked, still not taking his hand.
"You said you didn't have a place to sleep so I'm going to take you to mine," the boy explained as if this was a basic fact. Seeing Tess's confused look, he continued. "Look, I promise I'm not going to hurt you, but it's cold, and you can't sleep here. Just come with me."
Tess still wasn't convinced. "Why do you care?" she questioned.
The boy's eyes grew softer, and Tess was struck by how much younger he looked in that moment. "Because I was in the same place once, and someone saved me. I'm returning the favor," he replied with a small smile. The boy held out his hand. "You coming or not?"
Tess hesitated before reaching out and grabbing the boy's hand. He pulled her up, and they started to walk out of the alley. "My name's Harry, Harry Potter," the boy introduced himself.
"Tess McKinnon," she mumbled. Harry smiled at her, and she felt herself relax.
The memory faded out, and a new one began. Clearly, it was still from the same day, but the two children were now approaching a cozy old house. It was by no means glamorous and wealthy-looking, but it had a lot of help. Tess felt herself smile. That house had been her home for two years, and she would never forget them.
"Where are we?" Tess asked Harry curiously, the initial shyness now washed away. Something about Harry made her feel safe, like he could somehow block away all the bad.
"Home," he answered with a smile on his face. "I promise you'll love it." Harry opened the old wooden door, and the two children stepped into the house. The first impression Tess got was that she had landed it heaven. It was warm and cozy, delicious smells wavering through from the kitchen. Tess could feel her mouth watering.
"Harry, is it that you?" a kind voice called out from the kitchen.
"Yep," Harry answered. "And I have someone for you to meet." He grabbed Tess's hand and dragged her into the kitchen. The wonderful smells were even stronger. The lady studying her was far too old to be Harry's mother, she decided, and plus Harry had indirectly told her that he had been saved off the streets. Still, Tess liked this lady, whoever she was. Her hair was graying slightly, but she had a cheerful air about her, and there was a kind smile on her lips.
"And who's this?" she asked gently. Tess looked down at her shoes, ashamed of her appearance.
"Tess McKinnon," Harry introduced. "She doesn't have a place to sleep." The lady nodded in understanding and wiped her hands off her apron.
"Well, it's a good thing you brought her here, isn't it?" the lady laughed cheerfully. She turned to Tess. "My name's Fiona. Are you hungry?" The girl nodded mutely. "Okay then. You need some fattening up. I swear you're almost as bad as Harry was when he came here. Now he's almost a normal sized boy!"
Harry scowled, but both could tell it wasn't genuine. "Oi! I could take any boy bigger than me in a fight and win," he boasted. Fiona rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Of course you could," she replied. Suddenly, a blonde little girl came streaking into the room as fast as lightening. She ruffled Harry's hair, something Tess would never attempt to do, and plopped down into the chair next to him.
"Hey! Did you just get back from a delivery? How's Tom? Did you see anyone?" The girl seemed to ramble off questions faster than Harry could get answers, but he answered each question in a couple of words. Finally, the girl noticed Tess. "Hi! I'm Beatrice Dupont, but you can call me Bea! I hate the name Beatrice! It's so old grandma-ish!"
Harry held back a snort. "Geez, give the girl a chance to breathe, Bea," he stated, laughing as he watched the interaction.
Bea stuck out her tongue at Harry. "You're just jealous cuz I can talk faster than you!" she shot back before turning back to Tess. "What's your name?"
"Tess McKinnon," she mumbled. Bea smiled gently at her.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of here," she reassured the brunette. "You'll be safe here."
Tess felt her hopes rise. "So I get to stay?" she asked tentatively. The three people in the room looked at her in surprise. Tess felt her hopes sink again.
Finally, Bea answered, "Of course! Harry brought you here, so you're a part of our family." And those words settled. Tess McKinnon settled into the fascinating world of Harry and Bea and quickly became their Third Musketeers.
The memories ended, and Tess felt herself smiling sadly. Those two years, though short, had been the happiest she had any memory of. Her life before Harry and Bea, the one with her parents, seemed like nothing more than a distant memory, one not even a Pensieve could bring back.
The Order seemed to be in shock. Most of them had never expected Harry, who seemed to have a very Slytherin mindset, to rescue a complete stranger off the street. Something else, however, caught Sirius's attention.
"How'd Harry know that was the drunks' favorite spot?" he asked worriedly.
Tess shrugged. "Harry just knows stuff like that. He watches, listens, and never forgets a thing. He says it's kept him alive so far in life so he must be doing something right."
"And he just offered you a place to sleep? Without even asking anything about why you were sleeping in an alley?" Tonks asked in disbelief. She expected more caution from a boy who didn't trust anyone.
As if reading Tonks' mind, the brunette witch replied, "Harry told me that he could sense that I was like him and that he couldn't have walked away from me. Eventually, a week or two after I'd been living at Fiona's, I told them the whole story. I remember Bea and Fiona crying, but Harry just nodded in sympathy like he understood." She paused, contemplating her next words before continuing. "And Harry was more trusting back then. Before…"
Nobody needed her to embellish on that particular detail. They were all still shocked by the deaths of two Order members that no one knew about until now.
For some reason, Tess felt compelled to add one more thing. "I know he looks tough, but Harry's got a really good heart. He doesn't fight those weaker than him. He's eternally loyal once he trusts you, and he'd die for any of his friends. His mindset is Slytherin, but his heart belongs in Gryffindor." And with that, she walked out of the Great Hall, leaving the Order members to stew over the new information given to them.