November 1997

It was three in the morning. Harry was knelt on his bed, leaning against the window sill, watching the lightening storm. Anything to distract from the nightmare downstairs.

This night had gone on forever. The chaos had begun when Harry's sister had first crashed through the front door at midnight, screaming. By the time the rest of the marauders had arrived and the search party had been dispatched, it was clear that the consequences of this night were going to ruin every good thing about Harry's family and their world.

Harry heard someone coming up the stairs. The shouting continued downstairs. The steps across the landing were dragging.

His mother entered his room, sat down on his bed, and put her head in her hands.

"It's not looking good, Harry," she told him. "I don't think there's any fixing this." She looked sideways at him. "Your sister has seen things tonight that no child ever should. We must be understanding."

But it's all her fault, Harry thought. It always is.

Harry's bedroom door opened once more. Matilda walked in, her dress smeared with blood. She came and sat down on the floor, her back against her mother's kness, silently asking her to undo the plaits in her hair as she was wont to do as a child.

"I wish Sirius and Remus would stop arguing," Matilda said wearily as her mother began gently unthreading her hair. "It's only making things worse."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Those two will do more damage than your sister…"

"Really?!" Harry exclaimed. "Mum, we're in this mess because Daisy never listens!"

"Shhh!" Matilda hissed at her brother. "She's downstairs crying. She never cries. She may be a walking disaster but she's sorry for what she's done."

"How can you forgive her?"

"Never said I had."

Lily stood up. In surprise, Harry and Matilda fell silent. She walked into the middle of Harry's room and faced them.

"I am only going to say this one more time…" their mother told them in a low, stern voice. "The only reason you and your siblings are even here are because your father and I survived that war, and the only reason we managed to do that is because we didn't listen to what we were told."

She bent down to Matilda's level and addressed them both.

"Your sister may be a troublemaker and she may be annoying but so was your father so I know that she is not a bad person."

She stood back up, and looked at Matilda. "I can't force you to forgive your sister but you will not punish her for this."

"Will you, then?" Matilda asked. "Mum, she's about to be expelled."

"She won't be expelled." Lily sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"That's right, she won't be," Harry interjected. "She's Dumbledore's favourite student."

Matilda rolled her eyes. "Can't you stop being jealous of her for one night? Particularly this one?"

"I'm not jealous, I'm frustrated! Why does she get to be the victim when she's caused all of this?!"

"Of course you're jealous! You used to treat her like a pet before she started at Hogwarts and now that she's showing you up, it's as though her entire presence angers you!"

"She angers me because she treats people like toys, Matilda! We're her experiments, you said it yourself!"

"I've said lots of things about Daisy, Harry, but I won't listen to you try to convince me that our sister is some sort of evil mastermind."

"Of course she isn't evil, but she's trouble and she's gone too far this time and Mum doesn't need to punish her because the Wizengamot will!"

"For Merlin's sake, Harry, she's twelve!"

And there she was, in the corridor, quietly crying as their mother, whom Harry and Matilda had not heard leave the room, put her arms around her. Harry immediately felt shame. Twelve years old, looking no older than eight thanks to the mop of red curls on her head that made her resemble a character in a children's book. Her idolisation of Dora Tonks had taken its toll on her clothing, but while Dora Tonks looked like an adventuress, Daisy looked like a scarecrow. She'd always had a mismatched look about her, as though she'd been sewn together by a toymaker. Harry often wasn't sure why he could no longer take her clumsiness and forgetfulness as an endearing feature of Daisy-ness. Perhaps Matilda had a point.

Daisy was no monster. She was, simply, a mess.

"Daisy…" Matilda started. "…can I come to your room and talk?"

"Don't bother," Daisy's voice wobbled. "Tomorrow morning I'm going to do everyone a favour and pack my bags and leave."

"Where will you go?" asked Harry. "Who'll have you?"

Harry immediately regretted the venom in his words. Intending to make a point about the large number of friends and relations who now would not go near her, he'd sounded like those vile old relatives of his father, rotting in that old mansion.

As Daisy stormed into her room followed by their mother, Matilda turned to Harry. "You're right, it's not jealousy… it's bitterness. You're bitter that we're growing up and you not in charge of us anymore."

Us? Thought Harry. Oh. You too.

"You decided to betray Mum and Dad. I kept that secret for you."

Matilda laughed, then looked away from him. "People like you are the reason there's still a blood war." Matilda told him darkly. "If Mum and Dad found out, they wouldn't care. In fact, they'd understand."

"So tell them," Harry shrugged. "Tell them what you've done."

Matilda clenched her jaw, and said nothing.

From another room, they heard the stirring of another, much younger sibling. Matilda walked away from Harry and down the hall. She peered into a darkened bedroom and waved at a hidden figure. She suddenly turned in the direction of Daisy's room, having heard something out of Harry's earshot.

She looked at him, and pointed at Daisy's room. "Fix your mess."

Harry swallowed, and obeyed her. Nothing, not even blind fury, could sever whatever magical force existed between his family. He lamented this as he walked past her.

"Everything used to be perfect," he whispered to her. "What happened?"

Matilda sighed. "You know my theory."

I do, Harry thought. And I disagree. We are just as we should be. Nobody was ever meant to die.

oOo oOo oOo oOo

A/N- just trying to post this AGAIN because I think my ff account is fucked, lemme know in comments if this works