Torn Between Three Me's

15 - One Brother

'I thought we agreed, Miss Potter, that we would not speak about that,' Snape hissed. His voice rang through my ears as he stood inches from my face.

'It's important,' I said frantically. 'It's about Harry.'

Snape huffed and started to pace a bit back and forth in the width of the hallway. 'Fine. Go on if you must,' he gave in reluctantly.

'So he was still alive...somewhere in the house...wasn't he?' I asked.

Snape nodded stiffly as he paced. 'The nursery.'

'Was he hurt?' I asked, raising my eyebrows, trying to dig for more answers.

'Not severely. Not much more than you. He had received the scar, yes. But otherwise, I believe he wasn't harmed.'

'Ron mentioned a scar, too. What is it?'

Snape stopped pacing and stood in front of me along the wall. 'The dark lord attacked Harry. He sent a killing curse at him, which backfired at himself, killing him instead. He has a lightning bolt scar on his forehead which marks the attack of such a powerful curse he survived.'

'But...Dumbledore said I survived it too, I thought. Why don't I have...a scar?'

'Because you weren't the target, even if you were protected and survived. Besides, you didn't receive the full effects of the curse, not like Harry.'

I nodded as things started to make more sense. 'And so when you brought me outside...to Dumbledore...and took me away. He was still inside?' Snape nodded. 'Alone!'

Snape sighed. 'He was fine. We were right outside, with the window to the nursery right above us. And Dumbledore went inside to wait for Hagrid right after we left. He was never actually alone.'

'Hagrid?' I asked.

'He brought Harry to his new family like how I delivered you,' Snape explained.

I sighed, threaded my fingers through my hair stressfully. 'Brilliant, another person involved who lied to me.'

'We didn't lie to you, we just-'

'You told me-' I started to shout, but Snape cut me off by putting his hand on my shoulder, peering down the hallway. I turned around and saw McGonagall and Harry walking swiftly down the hall, Harry with a broomstick in his hand. Snape led me around another corner. I saw McGonagall slip into the D.A.D.A. classroom as Harry waited outside.

'You told me he was dead,' I whispered harshly, pointing at him.

'That's not true. Your new family told you about that night and your Potter family's supposed joint fate,' Snape clarified.

I crossed my arms with a huff, starting to feel rage. 'But you never offered any other kind of explanation! Nobody did! You told me about my parents, why couldn't you tell me about this?'

'I told you about what your parents used to be like. You simply put together bits of memories you had of that night. I offered nothing about it, and frankly, I couldn't.'

'That's the same thing as lying!' I shouted as my blood curdled. My voice broke with tears threatening behind my eyes, clouding my vision. 'Everyone lied to me. Even my family. It would have been nice to have one person I could trust! The professor who's blunt about everything, so honest sometimes it's offensive. And he lied to me.' I couldn't hold back my tears anymore, as a sudden sob escaped my mouth and I wiped away the steady wet stream on my cheeks.

'It was for your own protection, child,' he sighed, a hint of compassion shining through. 'In order to protect the pair of you.'

I sniffed. 'From what?' I scoffed. 'If he was gone, what did we need to be protected from?' I shook my head. I couldn't take it anymore. Before Snape could answer, I pushed past him and into the corridor again. Harry, McGonagall, and Oliver were standing down the hall, watching me walk away. With my arms folded around my waist and their eyes burning through my skin, I hurried down the hall and back to the potions room to grab my things and meet the twins in the library.