A bunch? Did that mean it wasn't just Ginny as the sole daughter? Another idea slammed into his brain, one that froze the blood in his veins.
Ginny had been the first girl, likely because Molly had wanted a daughter. What if she didn't exist? Clearing his throat, and hoping to keep and cracks or despair out of his tone, the boy-who-lived inquired as subtly as he could, "How many sisters do you have?"
The sigh of exaggeration still made Harry smile, despite how much he was dreading the answer, "Five older, including a pair of twins, and one younger."
One younger, that meant Ginny was here and his heart wept a bit in relief. "Must be nice, having so many siblings you can count on." His statement earned a moment of frowned confusion from Ron, who nodded slowly a moment later.
"Yeah, yeah I guess it is. What about you mate?"
Knowing he was at least on the path to becoming friends with the Weasley raised Harry's spirits, "It's… weird. I didn't know I had any until late summer."
"Oh, yeah sorry." There was embarrassment written all over the other boy's face, and the Potter was quick to wave the apology off.
"Don't worry about it, just glad I have them now." And he was, it had taken all this time but after finally saying it out loud he was glad to have them, even if he felt like an outsider, he knew deep down that they were on his side.
He had a family, the one thing he had always hoped for, and it brought tears to his eyes.
****
Amaryllis, just call me Amy, Potter wasn't happy. Sure, she was enjoying school, enjoying all the new faces, most of the classes, and making friends, but she was still unhappy. Everything should have been good, great even. Harriet was fitting in well, her own grades were decent, they were decent friends with the Gryffindors of their year, and her love of Quidditch was already earning her a bit of attention not just from McGonagall but the Gryffindor team itself.
Yes, everything appeared to be wonderful. The problems, instead, came about because of the newest member of their family.
It wasn't that Amy was upset by his arrival, the complete opposite really. Harry felt like he had always been there, should have always been there. He fit so well into her and Harriet's corner of the world, like a missing puzzle piece.
The problem that was causing her poor attitude was that Harry wasn't with them. He wasn't a Gryffindor, didn't have every class with them. They didn't see him first thing in the morning when they entered the common room, didn't stay up late whispering in a cozy corner with him, weren't the envy of the rest of their year at how close the three of them obviously were.
Instead, Harry seemed… sad. Adding Hermione into his, and by extension their own, lives had certainly helped. The way he lit up around her put a smile on her own face a bit of pep into her sister's step. But when he didn't know she was watching, when she would catch a glimpse of him coming out of another classroom or in the mornings before they met for breakfast, it was during these times that he looked unhappy.
Amy had always been rather sensitive to the moods of others and seeing him unhappy made her unhappy.
But perhaps worst of all was his discomfort around two of their professors. Riddle was obvious, and likely because she was his Head of House and had taken such a forceful approach in dragging him before the rest of their class. Snape though… Snape was an entirely different type of problem.
It wasn't that she targeted Harry, far from it she was almost kind towards him. But it was the way she looked at him when he was busy, the way she would occasionally stare at him. If it had just been her attitude towards her then fine, whatever the redhead could deal with the arsehole.
But the moment the 'professor' turned her attention onto her siblings, that was when a line had been crossed. Harriet wouldn't retaliate, at least not for herself, and Harry seemed almost ignorant of his own situation.
Idea after idea had crossed into her mind as ways of encouraging the woman to piss off, but each one had been interrupted by a voice in her head sounding suspiciously like her parents. That was fine. If she wasn't supposed to get revenge, then she would write her parents and ask them. Maybe it would even get them to do something about it.
****
"Look who it is, the talented reject himself." Harry looked up from his book to where a handful of Slytherin girls stood across from him at the table, eyeing him with annoyance and no small amount of dismissal. "Trying to impress the professors hm? Don't bother, everyone knows you are just faking it."
He blinked, the blinked again in confusion, "Faking what?"
The lead girl, who, despite her personality and the sneer on her face, was rather pretty with black and silvery hair, leaned forward before gesturing towards his work area. "This, pretending to be talented, acting as if you can even understand half of what you are reading. It's pathetic."
Harry frowned but managed to reign in his temper before telling the girl where to shove her opinion. Another chimed in immediately after, "Maybe he's trying to get attention from Professor Riddle. She seems interested in him for some reason."
"Maybe she thinks he is cute and would make a good pet." A third joked, earning laughter from the group and a few others nearby who had been eavesdropping.
Biting his tongue, the boy fought the urge to hex the lot of them until another voice rang out from nearby, one that made him twitch a bit. "Didn't think of you as the type to harass younger Slytherins Delphini."
The group of witches turned, and spotted the elder Malfoy idly strolling towards them, clearly unamused at the situation.
"What do you care Pandora?"
The blonde raised her hand, idly inspecting her fingernails, "Just making sure you don't lose us House Points with unbecoming behavior. Whatever would your mother say if she found out you required backup to bully a first year?"
A sneer formed on the other's face as she marched forward, Harry's body tensed in preparation for a conflict. It wasn't as if needed the other witch's help. He had fought trained adults for goodness' sake, none of them were even the slightest threat to him.
But he didn't want to see someone get hurt for sticking up for him, even if it was a Malfoy.
"You better watch yourself Pandora unless you need reminded of who the star duelist is." The two stared each other down for another moment, before Delphini turned and left with her followers. The blonde gave one more glance over to the boy before departing as well.
His mood ruined, Harry packed up his things and prepared to leave, only to be stopped by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Harry, you should stay clear of her."
"It isn't like I was trying to have her insult me. Who does she think she is anyway?"
The, usually silent, boy shuffled his feet, "That's Delphini Black, heir to the Black family. They are… really important."
Black the name rang in his mind as it conjured images of his Godfather from another time. But he already knew better, he had met Marie.
"Any chance you know the name of her parents?"
Vincent nodded, before glancing around and lowering his voice. "Her mother is the Bellatrix Black, no official father but some people think it might have been her cousin, Sirius Rosier."
Well that certainly complicated the world even further.
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