The Dursley Girl

C.4 Second Cousins

"Herbology first, and I think we're with the Slytherins," I tell Sean as we eat our breakfast.
It's our first day of classes and I'm extremely excited.

"So we just grow plants? Doesn't sound very magical," says Dean as he takes a bite of his toast.

"I'm sure they'll find a way to make it magical. We should get going, we can't be late for our first class," I gather my books and we leave the Great Hall and head for the Greenhouse.

We get to the class and see that we're some of the first students there, besides a couple of Ravenclaws and one Slytherin. As I get a better look I realize it's Scorpius. He's sitting in the back flipping through his herbology textbook.

"Sean, what do you know about Scorpius?" I whisper, "Rose didn't seem like a big fan of him..."

"Malfoy? Scorpius Malfoy?" Sean looks alarmed. "His Grandparents were death eaters and-"

"What's that?"

"It's a supporter of Voldemort, anyways, he-"

"Who's that?"

"Who's that?" Sean looks amused. "You haven't heard of the Wizarding War? Or the second Wizarding War, or the battle of Hogwarts?"

I shake my head.

"Well, have you heard of Harry Potter?" He asks.

I think for a moment and then remember that's Albus' dad. He's the one that James said was a famous wizard.

"Yes, I met him on the platform. Why is he so famous?" I ask.

"Back when my father, Dean Thomas, went to school here, he was in the same year and house as Harry Potter. Friends, even. Harry Potter was a legend even as a kid. He had been the only person to live through the death curse of Voldemort. See, back then, Voldemort was a powerful dark wizard, and people were afraid to speak his name. They called him 'You-know who'."

I nod, urging Sean to continue his story.

"Well, years later, Harry comes to Hogwarts. For every year he's here, Voldemort is trying to get to him. Rose's parents, Hermione and Ron, were by his side the whole time. Those three will probably be remembered in this school for history. Now, a lot happened that would take a long time to explain, but all of this led to the battle of Hogwarts. Students and teachers fought the death eaters. In the end, Harry Potter ended Voldemort," Sean explains.

"Wow..." I say taking it all in. So that explains the fame of Albus' dad.

"It wasn't an easy battle. Lots of lives lost. All because of Voldemort and his followers," which brings us back to Malfoy," he glances at Scorpius and lowers his voice again, "Like I said, his grandparents were some of those death eaters."

"But not his parents, right?" I ask trying to defend Scorpius.

Sean looks at Scorpius again to make sure he's not looking over here.
"From what I know, his father was a death eater for a while. Not long, but he was. He even led some of the most dangerous death eaters into our school, which began the fall of Hogwarts."

This information shocks me. His own dad was a death eater? He began the fall of this very school! How can someone have the audacity to come to this school when you have a history like that? I don't blame Rose for not liking him.

I look around the room and notice it's filled up since me and Sean arrived.
I notice Scorpius is now accompanied by Albus. Albus looks over and smiles at me, I wave back. Scorpius looks at me and I turn away.

The door opens once more, and a tall man wearing a sweater vest walks in.
"Good morning students. My name is Professor Longbottom and I will be your herbology teacher this year."
----
The day went by in a blur. I met all my teachers and learned what I'll be doing this year. I even practiced a couple spells on my wand!

I'm with Gryffindors for charms and defense against the dark arts which means Rose and Cian are in two of my classes, which I'm quite happy about.
Me, Rose, Albus and Scorpius are now sitting on the benches in the courtyard sharing stories of our first day.

Rose did not look pleased about the presence of Scorpius, but it's quite clear that he and Albus are becoming close friends.

"Lananh, I wanted to ask you, what's your last name again?" Albus asks me.

"Dursley, why?"

"Well... when I first heard it, it sounded so familiar. Who's your father?"

"Oh, well he's a muggle. Him and my mum, you wouldn't know them. His name is Dudley-"

"Dudley Dursley! You're Dudley Dursleys daughter?" Albus stands up in shock.

Me and Rose share a glance of confusion.

"Merlin's beard that's insane. Really? Dudley Dursley's daughter? And you said you hadn't heard of Harry Potter?" Albus narrows his eyes at me in suspicion.

"Albus, what's with you? How would she know, she's muggle born. Who's Dudley Dursley?" Rose
asks.

"Yeah, you're acting as though she's just told you she's a werewolf," Scorpius laughs.

Albus gives him a glare and then sits by me.
"Alannah, your father is my father's cousin," he says.

My eyes widened with shock.
"No-it- how? My dad told me he didn't know any wizards other than-" I stutter.
I then come to another realization, "Albus, that would mean that me and you-"

"We're cousins!" He exclaims.

"Well, second cousins," Rose chimes in.

I ignore her.
"How- why wouldn't my father tell me this?" I begin thinking of the distant look on my father's face when I asked if he knew any other wizards. Had he really been keeping this from me? Did he not know? But why had I never even heard of Harry, whether he was a wizard or not?

"He's probably ashamed," Albus says.

"Ashamed? Why?" I ask.

"My father lived with your father when he was young. Your grandparents took him in after my father's parents died when he was a baby," Albus tells me.
"But why would he be ashamed of that?" Scorpius asks.

"Exactly," I agree with Scorpius. "That's a very generous thing to do."

Albus rolls his eyes.
"Allanah, I hate to tell you this, but your father and your grandparents were anything but generous. They did the bare minimum when they took in my dad. They stuffed him under a staircase for eleven years of his life. To this day, my father is afraid of small places. They teased and tormented him for years, they tried to keep him from finding out about Hogwarts."
I can't believe any of this. My dad, the man I knew as a caring person, would do such things to a child- his own family?

"I can't believe this," I whisper to myself.

"Lannah, you're blood related to one of the most famous wizards," Rose says.

"Yeah, we covered that, thank you Rose," Albus says sarcastically.
This starts an argument among Rose and Albus, with Albus calling Rose a know it all and Rose telling him he's got a bad attitude.

"Excuse me, I think I'm going to go back to my common room," I say quietly among their bickering. I slip away and begin walking into the castle.

"Alannah!" A voice calls out behind me.
I turn and see Scorpius. He runs up to me.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

I refrain from rolling my eyes. As if he could have a caring bone in his body. Not possible, after what I learned from Sean.
"I'm perfectly fine. I only just found out my father has been lying to my whole life, but really I'm fine," I say sarcastically. I begin walking away but he continues walking with me.

"Allanah-"

"Please leave me alone," I snap.

I see a hurt look wash over Scorpius' face and for a moment I feel bad.
"This is because of what Sean said, isn't it?" He says looking down at his feet.

 I felt embarrassed that he had heard our conversation.

He looks up and sees my red face. "Sorry. Sean isn't such a great whisperer."

"Well, did he lie?" I challenge.

Scorpius remains quiet for a moment before answering.
"Well- no. But my father-"

"Your father was a supporter of Voldmart," I say confidently.

I see Scorpius trying to suppress a smile.

"What? What's funny?" I ask.

"You said Voldmart. It's pronounced Voldemort," he says.

"Well you should know," I say and begin walking away again and I don't look back.
----
Later, in my dorm room I hold a quill above a blank parchment to write a letter to my parents.
I think of all the questions I have and the anger. Did he think I wouldn't find out?
I keep trying to start the letter but don't know what to say.
In the end I simply put the quill away and climb into my bed, my mind racing with thoughts.

When I said I found family here at Hogwarts, I didn't think I meant it so literally.