Harry Potter and his sister Alison

Chapter 31

"Ali it's been nearly a week, would you please just talk to me?" Harry begged as he knelt down next to the armchair she was curled up on, silently working on an essay for Transfiguration. She merely just glanced over at him briefly before continuing to write.

"Ali I didn't mean to hurt him like that, you know that." He continued to plead with her, trying desperately to make her understand. "Please, just talk to me."

Alison's hand paused a moment, a conflicted look on her face. She eventually sighed and set her books, parchment, and quill on the small table next to her then turned towards her brother, crossing her arms.

"I shouldn't have lied to you, I know." She started. "But you wouldn't have let us hang out if I told you we were friends."

"Seemed to me like you're a bit more than friends." Harry muttered, causing Alison to glare at him.

"It started out as just a friendship." She snapped then rubbed her eyes. She hadn't slept well the past week, too worried about Draco's recovery and upset with what happened between him and her brother to sleep properly. She had visited the Slytherin several times over the past few days and each day he was looking better and better, but he was so weak he was usually asleep or a bit out of it whenever she was there. "After a couple months it turned into something more."

"But this is Malfoy, Alison." He put a hand on her shoulder. "He's tormented the both of us for years how can you just forgive him just like that?"

Ali glanced around the common room, making sure no one else was close enough to hear them, then looked back over at Harry. "He saved my life." She whispered, biting down on her lower lip. "And yours. I can't tell you how or why," She added, seeing the confused look on her brother's face. "But he did. We'd probably both be dead right now if it weren't for him and then he sincerely apologized for everything. Has he tormented you at all this year?"

Harry blinked as he thought about it. The fight in the bathroom had been the first time he actually had talked to Malfoy all year. The Slytherin prince hadn't thrown any verbal insults at him, just giving him dirty looks across the hall whenever they passed which Harry gladly reciprocated.

"I guess not." He admired then shook his head. "But that doesn't mean I trust him Ali, especially with you. I know he's been up to something bad all year and I'm sure he's the one behind Katie's cursing."

Alison rolled her eyes and huffed, grabbing her homework and began working on it again, completely ignoring Harry again.

"Harry?" The dark haired boy turned and looked up. Ron was standing just behind him. "Dumbledore says he needs to talk to you immediately. Sounded really important and he said to make sure you bring your cloak."

Harry sighed a little. He wanted to keep trying talking some sense into his sister but if Dumbledore needed him for something important, he'd immediately go help him. He stood and pressed a kiss to his sister's head to make sure she knew he still loved her, trying not to feel too offended when she moved to try to dodge him, then turned and walked out.

———

Alison couldn't sleep that night once it was just after hours and all the students had just gone to bed so they could get up early for their end of the year exams, most snoring away in their beds. Harry hadn't returned by curfew and she wondered what in the world he and Dumbledore were doing and why Harry needed his cloak.

He had told her all about his and Dumbledore's year long quest to figure out Voldemort's weakness and how Professor Slughorn seemed to hold the key in figuring it out. She had overheard he, Ron and Hermione whispering a couple days ago about how he'd managed to get Slughorn to reveal the answer: something called Horcruxes. She wasn't sure exactly what they were or what they did, but she had heard enough to know they were what stood in the way of Voldemort's undoing. Perhaps a book in Restricted Section of the library had the answers?