His Sister

2. the girls' home.

The entire walk back, Y/N tried over and over again to convince Hagrid to let her stay with him. Ever still, his response was a curt, quiet "no." She knew part of her words and pleas were getting through to him, but she also knew Hagrid well enough to know that he would still deny her.

"Here we are, Y/N," he said sadly. "I'm afraid it's time now. You know how to get to the station, I presume?" She nodded, her throat feeling thick and dry with fear. "I'm sorry, dear, I really am. Just run right in and answer to no one. Don't let them get started on you. I'll take all your things out of your little hands for you and they'll be waiting for you in your room at Hogwarts." He gently took the items from her hands and sighed. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to imagine what Harry would do.

"Okay," she said, although trepidation laced itself so tightly with her words it almost broke them apart. "Alright, I will. Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, Hagrid." He gave a tight-lipped smile, patted her lightly on her head, and began to walk away.

She took in a large breath of air through her nose and felt the way her lungs grew beneath her ribs.

Harry would be right by my side if he knew, she told herself. She clenched and unclenched her fists nervously. He would. I need to be strong like my brother. It would make him proud.

She turned swiftly and marched right up the stairs to the dismal girls' home and slung the entry door open. She only took two steps in before stopping and stared before her at the horrid place she could never call a home. She felt her heart sink and realized she would have to spend yet another night in the exact place she was looking at. The place that made her stomach churn and her face heat with unbearable anger.

"Ah, what a pity," came a seething voice. Madame Harriet. "You've returned. What, even your own kind didn't want you?" Y/N felt that familiar anger boil up right then and there, her breaths beginning to waver.

"They were spectacular," she said, not able to speak louder than a whisper. "I have to stay here one more night and then I'll be off in the morning." Madame Harriet let out a short, shallow laugh and stepped forward, and her ugly snakeskin heels clicked against the old hardwood.

"That will be a thrill," she said. Her voice seeped into a growl. "Not having your pesky presence taint these halls will be just marvelous. Not only will I enjoy it, but so will all the girls. I would say don't come back, but oh, dear, you're only a child. And you'll be in my hands until someone decides they want to adopt the pitiful, creepy little mange that you are, or you turn eighteen. I believe the second option is more likely; you are quite undesirable." Y/N gritted her teeth and felt that simply boiling anger quickly turn into a blazing fire in her lungs.

"You'd be surprised," she managed. "I have already made friends." Madame Harriet let out a full laugh, and her hand covered the delicate, shiny pearls that laid neatly against her chest.

"You?" she asked loudly. "Made friends? That is utterly absurd! A foolish statement." Y/N huffed.

"I even met my brother," she said angrily, not realizing it had slipped past her lips. Madame Harriet's grin slowly faded and she marched forward. She grabbed Y/N by the ear and dragged her into her office. She angrily closed the door and slung Y/N into the chair before her desk, then turned it aggressively toward her. It made an ugly sound scraping against the old wooden floors.

"You have no brother," she seethed. "No family. You are an only child and your parents died. You are alone and you have no brother. Do you understand me?" Y/N's jaw ached from the pressure, and she gripped the arms of the chair hard enough that her joints ached.

"I do have a brother, and he'll be waiting for me tomo—" Madame Harriet's cold palm of her jewelry-covered hand made sharp contact with her face. It left a hot, burning sting that Y/N hissed against.