A/N: Hello! I'm cross-posting this fic (it's on Ao3). This is, as mentioned in the summary, extremely AU! Lily's alive, Harry has a twin sister, Voldemort's super dead, and the Triwizard Tournament is in sixth year. I've rewritten this idea several times since roughly 2016, and I was only recently re-inspired by Do Revenge, because I've always wanted to give Harry a twin with a Camila Mendes FC and the uniforms in that movie are complete perfection.
On that note, other than the obvious huge changes here, I'm also making some smaller ones, such as to the uniforms and birthdays (other than the twins'). Also, I'll be using some Goblet of Fire and Half-Blood Prince dialogue here and there. Otherwise enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own this (and I also do not support JKR).
It started on a warm summer afternoon that should have been languid as the rest.
Elena Potter had spent the night at her longtime friend's in Bath, Somerset, and after detouring to a herbal shop for lemon balm and a new book, she'd taken the Knight Bus back to the village in Godric's Hollow. A short chat with Mrs. O'Connell later she started the walk home.
She followed the well-worn path beside the street, her scuffed floral-patterned high-tops swishing through the dried grass. As she moved Elena dug her new herbal textbook out of her bag to flick through the pages, squinting to see the illustrations of flora and fauna and their uses through the unusually bright sunshine.
She had to wait near a gnarled chestnut tree for an openly bewildered visitor with a wrinkled map to drive past before crossing the street to resume her walk. Despite the sun, there was a rumble of thunder from overhead, and Elena swung her bag back around to shove her textbook into it. She cast a quick glance up at the cornflower sky and quickened her pace. She'd already caught a whiff of petrichor.
Elena's four-bedroom cottage with its clay-tiled roof was in sight when she noticed something strange. There was a glint from the grass between the road and the Liaos' sprawling green field. She took the few steps over to crouch down and rummage through the grass for the source of the glint.
It was a chunk of obsidian. Weird, thought Elena. She leaned back on the heels of her high-tops as she turned the rock over in her tan hands. It was a deep black, with edges so smooth it looked like it had been cut by an expert.
She tilted her head as she examined it, something tickling at the back of her mind. As she was a witch, she'd spent the past five years studying magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her favorite classes had always been Potions and Herbology, and she knew she'd read about obsidian's meaning and uses before. Ugh, why didn't I pay more attention?
Whatever. She could always ask one of her friends. Elena pushed the obsidian into the pocket of her denim jacket and resumed the walk home.
Her mother's sedan was parked in the drive beside the sun-whitened house, and she could see most of the windows were at least half-open. Their cat, Mercury, was lounging on one of the windowsills, and as Elena paused at the doormat to stamp the dirt out of her high-tops she heard the whir of at least one electric fan from inside.
Elena swung the door open and stepped into the sitting room. "I'm home!" she called. She turned to kick her high-tops beneath the rolltop desk—
But her twin brother Harry appeared on the stairs. "I'm meeting Ron and Hermione at Diagon Alley in a few minutes," he reported. He looked as if he'd just rolled out of bed, his black hair messier than usual and his horn-rimmed glasses askew, and his low-effort plain T-shirt was kind of half-on. "D'you want to come?"
"Sure," decided Elena. "How long are we—"
As she spoke Harry rushed back upstairs. Elena rolled her eyes and followed him to the first floor, where their bedrooms were connected with an ensuite bathroom. "How long are we going for?" Elena shouted as she strolled into her room.
"Dunno!" yelled Harry, the word punctuated with the sound of him flinging something around in his room.
I guess that's fine, thought Elena. She set her bag on her daisy-patterned duvet to rifle through it, remove the clothes she'd worn the day before and add her latest Potions notebook. She took the list of Hogwarts supplies she'd received a week or so earlier down from where she'd tacked it to her bulletin board and slid it in, too.
After she'd used the bathroom and pulled her shoulder-length black waves into a ponytail, Elena retreated to her room to wait for her brother. She perched on her bed and glanced around. The sunlight pouring in from her windows brightened the hardwood floor and her paisley rug, and it glimmered on the various mason jars, beakers, and distillers she had set up on every other surface.
Elena studied her old iron-bottomed cauldron, sitting in its place beside the dresser. Obsidian, she mused. Maybe it—
A flicker of movement caught her attention, and Elena glanced toward her windows. Through them she could see the elm tree beside their house and the blue sky between its leafy branches—and she realized with a start that there was a raven perched in the tree. It seemed to be looking at her.
Elena blinked.
"Are you ready?" shouted Harry as he crashed through the door to the bathroom.
The raven fluttered away in a flash of ebony wings. "Yeah," said Elena somewhat pensively, and she trailed after Harry all the way down to the ground floor. She paused to write a note for their mother to leave on the mantel beside their ceramic bowl of Floo Powder.
Harry left first in a burst of green flames. Elena took a handful of the powder herself and glanced around the quiet house, listening to that fan whir and the distant ticking of the cuckoo clock in the linoleum kitchen, and for no reason she could discern she felt as if someone was watching her.
Don't be stupid, thought Elena, even though her heartbeat sped up. She threw the powder into the fireplace, announced "Leaky Cauldron," and moved through as quickly as possible.
Her speed made her much clumsier than usual. Elena slid into London through a sooty fireplace and skidded to a halt on a frayed rug. As her surroundings settled in—the Leaky Cauldron was a grimy pub that held the only entrance to Diagon Alley—Harry held out a hand to help her to her feet.
"Thanks," said Elena, and when she was standing she swatted soot from her jeans. She had to hurry to catch up with Harry, who'd already started weaving through the thick oak tables. Elena managed a cursory glance at the beamed ceiling, flickering lamps, and magical pubgoers before she and Harry took the innocuous door to the appropriate brick courtyard. There was nothing in it aside from browned grass and a single dustbin.
Elena drew in a breath of the air. It was far different from that in the country—she could smell brick and petrol, and she could hear muted city sounds from somewhere outside the pub. "Come on then," said Harry impatiently, and Elena jogged down the worn path to reach the brick wall opposite the door.
Harry withdrew his holly wand to tap one of the bricks three times. All at once the bricks shuddered aside, a gap in their center appearing and widening until the bricks had formed an enormous archway. Elena grinned to herself as she followed Harry into the lively, bustling alleyway where most wizards they knew did their shopping.
It seemed as though most wizards they knew were probably there that afternoon, too, considering the alley was bursting with movement and color. The zigzagging cobblestone street was lined with shops and vendors hawking their wares, people of all ages in all sorts of clothing wandering here and there. All the buildings were cladded, with shingled roofs, and wooden signs hung above each door, shops' names carved into them.
"D'you actually want to meet Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked Elena.
She turned her attention to him. He was fiddling with the hem of his T-shirt and already squinting down the alley, probably in search of his two best friends. And as Elena generally avoided the pair as much as possible—Ron Weasley was remarkably loud and Hermione Granger talked over whoever she tried to hold a conversation with—she shook her head. "We can meet back here in a couple of hours."
"How about four?" asked Harry with a quick look down at his watch.
"Sounds good," said Elena, and he flashed her his trademark crooked grin before dashing away. She saw a few people notice him in passing and point him out.
Elena herself never received such attention. Harry was the one who had miraculously managed to defeat a Dark wizard when the twins had barely been a year old—after their father had died fighting, Harry had deflected the Killing Curse back at Lord Voldemort, destroying their original house and earning the rather gruesome scar that covered most of his forehead. Elena hadn't performed such heroic actions as a one-year-old or ever since.
She took her usual route through Diagon Alley, visiting bookstores and apothecaries and the occasional clothing shop, glancing at window displays with vintage tea sets and polished cauldrons. She had an unfortunate run-in on the Hogwarts uniform aisle of Madam Malkin's—Elena rounded the corner of a shelf, searching for a plaid kilt in the pastel Ravenclaw blue, and almost slammed into Pansy Parkinson.
"Sorry!" said Elena quickly as both of them leapt back.
Pansy sneered back, on the offensive in an instant. "What are you doing here, Potter?" She made a show of looking around the otherwise empty aisle. "Especially without anyone to protect you?"
Elena tried not to roll her eyes. Pansy was exhausting—she and Elena had been friends for five years at Hogwarts, even though Pansy had been Sorted into Slytherin and Elena into Ravenclaw, but after the Daphne Thing, everything had gotten weird. At Stephen Cornfoot's house party that summer Elena had seen Pansy and their other friend Charlotte Guidry fighting, and Charlotte had dragged Elena out of the house with her. Elena and Pansy hadn't spoken since.
Elena fiddled with the strap of her bag as Pansy watched her with expectance, chin lifted and arms folded. "Given that it's a clothing store, I think it's kind of obvious that I'm here for clothes."
Pansy snorted. "Well," she said, leaning back and giving Elena an obvious once-over, "it's clear you need some sort of wardrobe refresher." Before Elena could answer, Pansy pushed past her. "I'll see you at school."
Elena turned to look after her—she was gone in a few seconds, her short dark brown hair disappearing around the corner. When Pansy was gone Elena sighed, because she really had no idea what the hell she'd done to her, and resumed searching for House-colored skirts.
Later, when she'd gone through the three apothecaries with the largest selections, Elena checked the time. She had half an hour left before she had to meet Harry. I might be able to find Cambrian blue clay in Knockturn Alley, Elena thought. And although both Harry and their mother had lectured her at length about the dangers of visiting Knockturn Alley, Elena tightened the strap of her messenger bag and strode in that direction. She'd been there plenty of times and knew most people would leave you alone if you avoided eye contact and walked with confidence.
Knockturn Alley was accessible through a narrow passage not far from Gringotts, the most famous national wizarding bank. It was shadowed by the slant of the buildings on either side, and when Elena emerged onto the main street, there were far fewer visitors than there had been in Diagon Alley.
For some reason Knockturn had a strong earthy smell, with moss crawling on the weathered walls and the cobblestone worn down, and Elena had always wondered if it had been in London longer than Diagon Alley. The shop displays were remarkably different from those in Diagon as well, ranging from coiled snakes to quartz skulls and herbal glycerites, with the occasional unrecognizable tarnished artifact from the previous century.
After being sidetracked into a smoky bookstore, where she purchased an interesting book on the cultivation of carnivorous flowers, Elena slowed to examine a row of bottled herbal powders through a smudged window. She hadn't even heard of most of them, she realized. She grinned to herself and headed into the shop.
It was dark, with old-fashioned gas lamps on the walls, and well-organized, with neatly labeled shelves in perfect rows. Elena started for the powders but caught a glimpse of natural soap and detoured to find a shelf with exfoliating sugar scrubs, floral lotion bars, and enchanted hair rinses.
As she compared a chamomile hair rinse with a white lily one, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Elena glanced up and spotted the shop owner as he spotted her. He was holding a few phials he must have been placing on the shelves in one hand, and he gave her a nod. "You alright?"
"Yeah, not bad, thanks," said Elena automatically. "You?"
"Not bad," the owner echoed. "You looking for something in particular?"
Elena set down the white lily rinse and kept the chamomile with her as she faced the owner. "Do you have any Cambrian blue clay?"
The owner gestured toward the far left of the shop. "There should be some on the last row."
"Thanks," chirped Elena, and she strolled over to examine the indicated row. She found a selection of imported ingredients on one shelf, and as she plucked up a glass jar of the clay she'd been searching for, she heard the door to the shop swing open.
"I'll only be a moment!" she heard a vaguely familiar voice call.
Elena furrowed her eyebrows as she listened to the door shut and then footsteps wander into the shop, trying to place the voice. She was sure it had to be another Hogwarts student, some boy. Well, whatever, thought Elena, and she tried to find the largest-sized jar of clay possible. With that done she considered the lavender bergamot and Vietnamese coriander.
In the back of her mind, she half-listened to whichever student had entered chat with the shop owner. It wasn't until Elena had checked the time on her own watch that she rounded the corner of the row she was on to find a jar of octopus powder as quickly as possible—she had to check the next aisle, too, and in passing she happened to cast a glance outside at the narrow street.
She caught sight of Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin marginally more intimidating than Pansy, leaning against a building across the alley, one leg propped up as he read a book. And recognizing him made it click. The student chatting with the shop owner must have been Draco Malfoy.
Draco and Blaise were inseparable, almost as much as Harry and his two best friends. Of course while Harry and his friends exuded the same chaotic energy, Draco and Blaise were polar opposites. Blaise was the classic image of a cool, composed Slytherin, quiet until offering brief but devastating insults, and Draco was as chaotic as Harry. He was always aggressive toward Gryffindors and starting arguments with whoever would entertain him—and Harry was his easiest mark by far. The two were constantly shouting at each other in the halls or arranging rule-breaking duels in the courtyards. Elena couldn't even remember how the feud had started, but Draco and Harry had hated each other since first year.
Although Elena personally had no problem with Draco, as she barely knew him, she decided to avoid him. She waited closer to the front of the shop for him to finish talking with the owner, and as soon as he walked away, she hurried to the counter. The owner was behind it, sorting through a smooth wooden box marked with an unfamiliar cross symbol.
"Finished?" asked the owner as Elena set her collection on the counter.
"Almost," said Elena. "About the water hemlock—"
The owner leaned back. "You don't have a problem with it."
"No, I'm buying it," said Elena. Some visible tension left the owner's shoulders—fair, considering water hemlock had been banned by the Ministry decades ago, after some political incident. "But how much is needed for the Draught of Amnesia?"
The owner seemed to consider. "I don't know. Depends on how much you're making."
It was a testament to Knockturn Alley that he didn't bother asking why she might want to cause amnesia. "Is the essence required for the antidote?"
"It is," confirmed the owner. "It's in the back. You want it?"
"Yes please," chirped Elena.
The owner turned to take a back door behind the counter into what must have been his storage room. As Elena waited for him to return she shuffled the glass jars she'd selected around and hoped Draco Malfoy wouldn't turn up. He was going out with Pansy, but she'd never had him sit with them, and Elena had been in the same general group conversation as him maybe twice.
It was as if he'd heard her thoughts—Draco came around the corner of a shelf and stopped when he saw Elena at the counter. "Ah," he said, his face registering surprise. This was followed with reluctance that Elena couldn't decide if she was offended by. "Hi."
"Hi," returned Elena with a hint of sarcasm.
Draco nodded politely at her. He seemed fidgety, as though she might suddenly shout at him or throw a spell the way Harry would have. Although Elena did love her brother, she much preferred to discern herself from him, and as a result she asked, "You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks," said Draco. His gaze flickered over her. "You?"
"Yep."
The two studied each other for a second. Draco was certainly handsome, Elena thought. He was at least a few inches taller than her, and even in the rather dim lighting from the gas lamps, he was pale enough that with his white-blond hair he somewhat resembled a column of moonlight—as if he was some mythical being with perfect bone structure.
Elena had to clear her throat and forced herself to persist in making innocuous conversation, even though she was now too aware that she was still wearing yesterday's eyeliner. "Um, how's your summer been?"
"Fine, I guess," said Draco. He pushed one hand through that hair. "I didn't really do much. What about you?"
"Just practiced Potions," said Elena.
"You're really into Potions, huh?" said Draco. At Elena's nod he leaned over to see what she was buying. "This looks alarming," he observed. He glanced up at her with the faintest smirk. "Planning to erase someone's memory?"
"If I tell you, I'd have to erase yours, too," Elena deadpanned.
Draco snorted. "What, I can't just become an accomplice?"
"Please, you'd turn me in to get back at Harry."
Draco leaned back and feigned offense. "I would never!"
Before the sarcastic conversation could continue, the apothecary emerged from the storage room, a jar of water hemlock essence in hand. "Here we are," he said as he set it down on the wooden counter. "Any more questions?" He looked at Draco. "Or can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?"
"No, it's alright," said Draco, and he gave Elena a nod that she returned before he strolled back down one of the various aisles. Despite herself Elena was kind of tempted to watch him go, but she turned toward the apothecary.
He was plucking up the jars Elena had collected and examining the price tags. "Quite a family, the Malfoys," he said in a low voice. "Draco's the best of the lot. How do you know them?"
"I don't."
"Just as well," said the apothecary, hardly bothered. "You sure this is it?"
Elena purchased her chosen ingredients and left the shop without catching even a glimpse of Draco Malfoy again. She didn't make eye contact with Blaise, who was too immersed in whatever he was reading to look up, on her way back through Knockturn Alley toward Diagon. When she met her brother outside the archway to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be seen—but she did have to wait for Harry to sign a couple of autographs.
As he did, Elena adjusted the strap of her messenger bag and squinted up at the cloudy sky overhead, thinking about obsidian and that raven. She'd have to do a little research in her books when she got home.
