Secret Existence (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 6 No more lies

As I was heading back to the common room, I ran into Hermione. She filled
me in about the talk with Hagrid and info on Nicolas Flamel. We were going to go
to the library tomorrow and start searching for him, for we knew that was the
key to our puzzle.

     Hermione and I were up before the crack of dawn, searching every book we
could think of. His name was familiar to me, so we started with books I'd read.
Of course, he wasn't in any of them. We met up with the boys at breakfast.

     "Any luck?" Harry asked.

     "What do you think?" I replied sarcastically.

     "You found it?" He asked hopefully.

     "No, of course not! Don't be ridiculous," Hermione had missed the sarcasm,
as she'd only been half listening.

     After we finished eating, we scoured the library. Around lunch, I could see
how annoyed Hermione was getting. Her face was scrunched together and she was
really snappy.

     "Hey guys, let's go see if we can eat, and take the afternoon off." I
suggested.

     That afternoon, I set out to get Christmas gifts. I was going to get Ron
something from his favorite Quidditch team, Hermione some new book she'd seen,
Fred and George joke products, and Celeste a Ravenclaw scarf I'd tried to make,
which actually wasn't that bad. The only person I didn't know what to get was
Harry. Evidently, I was getting him Christmas sweets since I knew he'd never had
any, but what else? It took me days of thinking until I made the decision. The
package with my name on it was just a Quidditch thing, but the other gift was
truly special.

     Each of my parents had given me a gift. Mom had given me a necklace with a
small green pendant, which I wore every day. Dad's gift was nothing pretty or
special to anyone else. It was an old snitch. When I was little, I'd watch it
fly around my room and try to catch it. I put in the note that it belonged to
his Dad. I would miss it, but it felt right.

     The train left and Hermione and Celeste with it. As much as I love the
guys, it was kinda crazy. They mostly played Wizard's Chess. I wasn't too bad,
better than Harry, but not as good as Ron. On Christmas Eve, I fell asleep in
the common room while staring at the fire. I was woken up by an excited Ron. We
ran upstairs and got Harry. I knew it was right to get him everything I had when
I heard his question, "I've got presents?"

     Harry got the gifts from me, Dad's invisibility cloak, a Weasley sweater,
Hagrid's flute, a fiftypence from his aunt and uncle, Hermione's sweets, and
numerous other sweets. Then, Ron and his brothers opened their gifts. Then, I
realised I had gifts too. First was the annual scarf. This year's was bright
red. I also got a package from Mrs. Weasley. The sweater was bright red,
brighter than Ron's maroon one, with a big gold S. There was a copy of
"Hogwarts: A History" from Hermione. Then two gifts with only my name on them.
The first, I pocketed, as it said to open when alone. The other, I opened. It
was a locket. It had an E on it. When I opened it, the pictures inside were
sweet. One was Mom and her sister, the other was Mom with a person I recognized
as Professor Snape. He was actually happy. It made me want to cry.

      I ran upstairs and opened the other gift. I knew it was from Dumbledore.
The note said "These survived the fire, I thought you'd want them." It had no
signature. The gift was a thin silver chain with two rings on it. I told the
boys I had an errand to run and I'd meet them at breakfast. First, I ran to
Snape's room. I got there just as he was leaving.

     I hesitantly gave him a hug. "Thank you, Snape. Merry Christmas." I smiled
up at him. He looked totally shocked.

     "Why are you thanking me?" He asked hesitantly. I pulled the locket out
from under my new sweater. He swallowed hard.

     "I love it. How'd you get this?" I asked him quietly.

      "Lil-your Mom gave it to me years ago, when we were in our first year. She
forgot about it, but I always kept it." He spoke quietly. I could tell he was
upset talking about her.

     "Well, thank you. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you to
give this up. Happy Christmas, Snape." I walked away.

     I could have sworn I heard him say, "Happy Christmas Lily." Loudly though,
he said,"Happy Christmas Sky." I started to run.

     I plopped down in between Fred and Harry. As I ate breakfast and looked at
us all together, I realized that I had a new family now. This was more like home
than my actual home, which made sense because an orphanage isn't a home, it's a
temporary place. After breakfast, they all went to the common room to play
chess. I went to Dumbledore's office.

    "Thank you. You're right, I do love it." I told him.

     He smiled widely. "They are yours. I'm glad you like them."

     "Do you know what Snape gave me?" I asked, honestly curious.

     "Snape?" He really had no idea.

     I showed him the locket,"He loved her, my Mom. Didn't he? You don't really
have to answer. They say a pictures worth a thousand words, this photo tells the
whole story."

     "He did. Part of me thinks he still does, even now." He spoke calmly, with
sympathy. I sat down.

     "Why'd she pick Dad? I'm not complaining, but I had to ask. She and Snape
knew each other forever." I asked cautiously.

     "Snape did something even Lily couldn't forgive. The relationship between
them was never the same. He did everything he could for her, right up to the
bitter end." You could see the sorrow in his blue eyes.

     "Happy Christmas Dumbledore!" I skipped out. This was a dramatic change.

     The next story is a rather frightening and nerve-racking. Be ready. That
night, Harry was sneaking to the restricted section. I stayed up, watching the
fire. When he came in, he sat down and stared at me.

     "What?" I asked hesitantly.

     "Sky, do you know what your parents' names were?" He asked.

     "I have to go can we talk in the morning?" I bolted straght to Dumbledores
study.

     "DUMBLEDORE! GET OUT HERE NOW!!" He appeared moments later.

     "What Sky? It's two in the morning."

     "He knows. I didn't tell him, but he knows. I can just tell. I don't know
what he saw, but he knows." I said in a rush. Then, I told him what Harry had
asked.

     "If he brings it up again, come here with him. We will tell him the truth
if it becomes necessary." He seemed upset when he spoke, "It's not ideal. Go to
bed, Sky."

     I left and fell asleep. I avoided Harry for the next day, but that evening
he eventually caught me.

     "Sky, tell the truth. Who are your parents?" He said. I was standing in a
corner, his arms were crossed over his chest.

     "Come on then." I said. He followed me straight to Dumbledore.

     "Dumbledore! Come out!" He appeared, this time in seconds.

     "Yes Sky? Oh, and Harry. I suppose it's time." Dumbledore frowned.

    "Harry, I sort of lied to you. I didn't want to! This nimrod made me!" My
voice actually got more shrill progressively.

     "What do you mean? Sky, what's going on?" He asked. His eyes darted back
and forth between my sad, nervous look and Dumbledore's aggravated, annoyed, and
sad look.

     "Weeellllll...I should start all the way at the beginning. I'm your twin
sister, I was quite shocked when I realised this, but not as shocked as you. I
knew I had a brother, but not who he was. Heck, I didn't know anyone but Uncle-"

     "Anyway, Harry. I understand that you must be confused, but please know
that it was for the best. The truth is a dangerous weapon at times, and this is
one of those times. I know you have a million questions, but it'd best I don't
answer them now. One day I will, when it's the right time." He paused. "Now both
of you off to bed. Stay together and don't get in trouble." Harry and I walked
away.

     "So we have an Uncle, other than Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked quietly.

     "Yeah. I don't remember him, though. He went to do something when I was a
baby. The letter said he was meeting an old friend. He left me in an orphanage.
From what I've gathered, something went horribly wrong." I was nearing tears.
"Sometimes, when I was sitting in my room alone at the orphanage, I'd wonder
what would have happened to me, and to you, if he hadn't gone that day." The
tears were flowing freely now. "I know things would have been different, better.
I just know it."

     We walked into an empty common room. I curled up in front of the fire. He
came and sat down next to me. "Maybe things would be different, but you never
know, Sky. Different isn't always better."

     I wiped the tears out of my eyes, "You're right. Lets just make one promise
to each other. No more lies." I held out my pinky. He smiled a little.

     "No more lies." He agreed, linking his pinky. He left and went upstairs.
Harry had really grown so wise. He reminded me a bit of Dumbledore; he was
always calm and almost overthought everything. After a few minutes of thinking,
I went upstairs.  My last thoughts were these: "Things would be different now.
Different, but is different necessarily better?"