Star-Crossed

Chapter Seven: The Twins who Lived

Later, we returned to the Leaky Cauldron. Hagrid had gotten us two rooms to stay in for the night and then we would be on our way to Hogwarts in the morning.

Currently, the three of us were eating dinner downstairs in the large dining room of the pub. Hagrid was slurping down spoonfuls of the clam chowder in front of him. Harry was nearly devouring the bowl of roast beef stew he had. But I was just carefully picking at my bangers and mash, too deep in thought to put much attention to my food.

My brother noticed my far off expression and shook my shoulder slightly, "Natie, hey, why aren't you eating?"

I shook out of my slight daze and refocused, taking a hasty bite out of the roast beef on my plate, "Oh, erm, sorry. Just got a little lost in thought."

"How come?" Hagrid piped up, finally noting the uneasy blanket of silence that basked our table, "Yeh do seem quite quiet, yeh were lively enough this morning"

I pursed my lips and straightened up, placing my fork down as I finally spoke on what was on my mind, "He killed our parents, didn't he? The one who gave Harry and me these." I pointed to my scar behind my ear, and Harry's on his forehead.

"You know, Hagrid." I persisted when he grew quiet, his uncertainty was apparent, but I heard whispers in the back of my head that told me I was right, "I know you do."

He sighed deeply and pushed his bowl away, "First, and understand this you two, 'cause it's very important. Not all wizards are good. Some go bad. And a few years ago, there was one wizard who went as bad as you can go. A-and his name was V- ..." He trailed off, before trying again, "His name was V-...oh, I can't say it."

"Maybe if you wrote it down." Harry tried urging him, but Hagrid shook his head.

"No, I can't spell it." He denied, "Alright, c'mere." He drew us both in, leaning down over the table and whispered, "Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" My brother and I repeated, much louder than Hagrid before us. An uneasy feeling was cast over me as the name registered in my head. Voldemort...

"Shhh!" Hagrid hushed us frantically as a couple wizards across the room looked up quickly.

Harry and I glanced around at everyone else, hoping they hadn't heard us.

"It was dark times, you two, dark times." Hagrid told us somberly, "Voldemort had started to gather some followers, brought 'em over to the dark side of things. Anyone that stood up to him, ended up dead. Your parents fought against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em."
I froze for a moment and Harry seemed still as death beside me as well. I wondered if we were feeling the same things. A far off scream echoed in my ears, but I seemed to be the only one that heard it. I shook off the nervous feeling in my chest and continued to listen to Hagrid.

"Nobody, not one," He reiterated, " 'cept you two."

Shock flashed through my body. I had no idea what I was expecting, but it most definitely wasn't that. The bad feeling I had before grew tenfold as my brother sputtered.

"Us? Voldemort tried to kill...us?"

Hagrid nodded slowly, "Yes. Those ain't no ordinary cuts, Harry. Marks like that only come from bein' touched by a curse, and an evil curse at that."

"Well, what happened to V-" I stopped when Hagrid's face grew stern, "to, erm, you-know-who?"

"Some say he died," Hagrid scoffed, shaking his head, "Codswallop in my opinion, nope. I reckon he's still out there, too tired to carry on. But one thing is absolutely certain, somethin' about you two stumped him that night. That's why yer famous. That's why everyone knows yer names. You're the twins who lived."

Harry and I both went still, registering the information, however slowly. Dinner passed by quickly after that, and soon enough, Harry and I were in our beds upstairs in the room.

I was lying awake in my bed, shifting back and forth, both unable to get comfortable and unable to stop thinking about the story Hagrid had told us. The truth of our past, our parent's death, everything. It made all the sense in the world, and no sense at all at the very same time.

"Natalie?" My brother's voice suddenly cut through my thoughts, "Are you awake?"

I stopped moving for a moment before I responded quietly, "Yeah, you?" It was pretty obvious he was awake, but the question trickled out anyway.

Harry huffed a slight laugh and replied, "Well, that was obvious wasn't it."

I snickered back, "Yeah, I know..."

Everything was silent for a moment, the two of us just laying in our beds staring up at the ceiling. Until I heard Harry shifting, a blanket of uncertainty wafting over me as I felt his eyes landing on my form from across the room.

"Is something wrong?" I asked aloud, noting the feeling waving over from his side.

He sighed audibly, "Sort of...I know you feel the same, don't you? That's why you've been awake all this time."

I stayed quiet, letting him talk.

"What Hagrid told us...it's all..." He trailed off.

"A bit unbelievable, right?" I finished, knowing where he was going with his words, I could hear it in my own head. It was easy for us to understand what the other was feeling, it always had been. But we'd never been the greatest at outwardly saying it, preferring to communicate with simple looks, or between our thoughts.

"I guess it explains a lot though." Harry replied, humming in agreement, "The weird dreams we've always had."

Recurring dreams, he meant. Since we were little, always the same one. A crib in a pretty nursery with pink wallpaper, toys everywhere and soft, soft blankets around us. Then, everything grew grim and gaunt in seconds, a shrill scream and a flash of bright green light just before a haunting figure, shrouded in shadows towered over us. I would always turn away and Harry would grab me, and then the same flash of bright green light would follow the hideous hiss of a voice that sent a cold sweat cascading over my body, even in my dreams. Then darkness, a sharp pain in the side of my neck behind my ear, then eerie, chilled darkness.

And then we'd both wake up in the cupboard under the stairs, chests heaving, sweat covering our shivering, frightened bodies. When we were younger, I would always wake up crying, Harry pulling me into a comforting embrace, withholding his own tears to play the role of older brother.

I let out a soft noise, letting him know I agreed with the sentiment, "Not to mention all the strange stuff that's happened to us. And got us in trouble with the Dursleys." I noted and Harry barked a laugh.

"How is it that the strange stuff always happens to us?" My twin mused, dragging his hands down his face.

I snickered, "Maybe we're meant for the chaos." I was half joking, but a sinking feeling in my chest as I spoke the words told me that perhaps there was some truth to that.

Harry's silence told me he'd felt it too.

"We should sleep." I concluded after a drawn out moment of silence.

"Yeah, we should." Harry agreed rather quickly, "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

I sighed deeply, "G'night, Has." I called out as I rolled over in my bed, snuggling deeper into the oversized cotton shirt that was my pyjamas, throwing my blanket back over my shoulders.

"Night, Natie." My brother called back, the rustling across the room indicated him snuggling back down into his bed for the night as well.

Taking a few deep breaths, I settled back down, relaxing into the covers. My whole life was changing, but somehow it wasn't bothering me a bit. It all felt strangely comfortable. Not completely unfamiliar at all.

Soon enough, I was drifting off into a soft, dreamless sleep.