Falling Home

Chapter 6- Walking the Wire and Other Foolish Endeavours

I have changed how long Dumbledore has been dead from 13 years to 6. Sorry for any confusion! I have gone back and changed it.

TW at end of chapter

Shit! Harriet thought to herself as the reality fo the situation hit her like a train. Both Lily and Harry were blocking the doorway, James the floo, making it impossible for her to flee.
"Look," Harriet started, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "I don't want any trouble. I dunno why you're doing this and frankly I don't care. Just give me back my wand and let me leave." Her voice was much more forceful than her heart, which had begun to hammer so loudly in her chest that Harriet was half convinced everyone could hear it.
"Kiddo-" James started to say from behind her before Harriet whirled around violently to face him.
"Don't call me that!"
James raised his hands in surrender again before taking a step closer to her. Harriet wished he wouldn't. "I honestly don't know what has happened, but I can guarantee that it's not what you think. Why don't we all sit down so we explain things. Calmly."
Harriet was half tempted to give another Fuck you but thought better of it when she realised she would be going against three adult wizards without a wand. That didn't mean she would cooperate fully with them. She just had to pretend
"Okay."
James' shoulders slumped slightly as he, Lily, and Harry went to sit down on the couch, leaving the armchair for her. Harriet huffed a short, tense breath before carefully sitting on the edge of the seat.
"Why do you think we're working for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, dear?" Lily's voice was as soft and comforting as ever but it didn't have the same effects on Harriet. Instead, she felt the strange urge to throw a nasty hex at her. Or a chair, seeing as her wand was still clenched tightly in Harry's hand.
"You know exactly why."
Harry huffed at that, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. "How are we meant to have a peaceful conversation with you when you won't even cooperate?"
"Harry-" James started warningly, but it was too late. Harriet felt that familiar fury curled inside her gut like a sleeping dragon awaken, its fire spreading quickly throughout her entire body.
"Cooperate? Why on earth would I do such a thing when it's clear that you've tricked me!" As each Potter went to open their mouth with a retort, Harriet pushed on. "NO! You can't even deny it when you've been hiding a diary from Voldemort! Why would you hide such a thing if you weren't working for him?" By this point, Harriet had stood up and was pointing at each one of them as though her fingers were daggers. "So, really, I don't see any reason why I should 'cooperate' with you!"
James frowned before carefully looking at Harriet. "Harriet," he said slowly, "we don't know what book you're talking about. We've never heard of such thing."
Harriet scoffed, opening her mouth to give another round of insults, but stopped abruptly when she saw Harry's pale, sickly face. "Can you show me this diary, please?" He said slowly, carefully.
"No! Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Please."
Eyes scanning Harry furiously, Harriet frowned. Really, she didn't need the book. It was more the principal of the matter. On the other hand, if giving the book gave Harriet enough time to run, she supposed she could agree. "Only if you give me my wand back."
Harry's eyes narrowed with cold assessment. "Only if you promise not run."
"And why would I promise such a thing? For all I know, you're Deatheaters."
"I'll give it to you after I've explained."
"So there is something to explain."
Harry exasperatedly pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly as if to fight off an approaching headache. "Just, tell me, is it small and black? Handwritten?"
"Yes."
Harry nodded once. "Mum and Dad don't know about the book at all. I hid it there myself."
"Harry!" Both Lily and James scolded.
"But with good reason!" Harry said quickly. "It was right before Dumbledore went to fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for the final time. He asked me to keep it safe. Said that there was dangerous information in it that couldn't get into the wrong hands."
Harriet snorted a sarcastic "I'll say" as James turned to look Harry directly in the eyes. "What information?"
Harry seemed to hesitate for a second, shifting in his chair slightly before clearing his throat. "Well, you know how Voldemort had that Horcrux? The Diary?"
"Yes," both Lily and James chorused slowly.
"It was notes by him on how he created it."
"So let me get this straight," Harriet interrupted. "Dumbledore gave it to you right before he died to keep safe and you put it at the back of a bookcase?"
Harry opened his mouth then closed it again with a frown. "Hidden in plain sight?"
James snorted.
"How am I supposed to believe you? You guys could have created this whole thing to get information from me!"
"What information?" Harry asked.
Harriet's eyes widened as she pointed at Harry. "See?"
James huffed. "How else could you explain how we look so much like your parents?"
"Polyjuice."
"And where would we have gotten the hair? The fingernails?"
Harriet opened her mouth and, much like Harry, closed it again. "Well, maybe you're using a really complicated glamour?"
"I think you know logically that there's no glamour that can be used to make a person resemble someone else so greatly." Lily objected quietly.
Harriet huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose harshly as if it would help her find more reasons not to trust them. When she couldn't, her shoulders hunched downwards. Was it really possible that they were telling the truth?
The reality of the situation crashed upon Harriet's shoulders like a house. Oh merlin! She had just attacked her fa- James! And accused them of working for Voldemort of all people! "I-I'm sorry!"
Each Potter's face softened exponentially. "Its okay," Lily reassured, making Harriet feel even worse for how she acted.
Harry snorted, covering his mouth to disguise it as a cough. "It's really okay, Har. Besides, it was rather funny seeing Dad have to dodge like that. He looked like a niffler trying to steal from the goblins!"
Lily covered her mouth as a giggle bubbled out, James turning to glare at the two before slowly allowing himself to smile. Harriet found it in herself to give a hesitant chuckle, even if it was just to humour them.
The moment was sobered by James' next question. "Why was your immediate reaction to believe we were Deatheaters?"
Harriet's grin melted from her face as she turned her face downwards to look at the rug. "It's nothing against you guys and all. I suppose the resurrection of Voldemort has got me a bit on edge is all."
"I'm sorry, what?" Harry exclaimed, jumping off the couch so quickly that Harriet couldn't help but flinch. She really should start assuming that nothing that happened in her world happened in theirs.
"I-is Voldemort not in power here?"
"Honey," Lily started, "Voldemort was defeated by Albus Dumbledore over six years ago."
"It's how he died," James added quietly, a flash of sorrow glinting from his eyes before he could mask it.
"Oh," was the only thing Harriet managed to choke out, suddenly feeling rather faint. The world tilted slightly as she slumped against the back if her chair. "S-so he never killed the two of you?And then he was defeated Dumbledore?"
Logically, she knew that she shouldn't feel sorrow cracking through her heart. Logically, she knew it was no one's fault but her own that her parents died. Logically, Harriet even knew that no one could have saved her from meeting Voldemort time and time again with little to no help from the adults around her. It was just the way it was.
That didn't seem to make it hurt less.
"Did you ever meet Voldemort?" Harriet asked Harry carefully. Maybe he had had to face some of the things she had. Maybe she wasn't alone in all that she faced. Maybe-
"No," Harry said quietly. "Well, I saw him during the final battle, helped keep him distracted before Dumbledore could reach him."
"And even then you shouldn't have had to face him," James frowned disapprovingly.
"I was an adult!"
"Barely," Lily argued.
"Oh," was all Harriet managed to say.
"Why are you here, Harry?" James asked suddenly as a newfound stillness settled over the occupants of the house.
Harry winced slightly. "It appears I inherited your cooking skills. I left pasta on the stove without enough water. Nearly burnt down the whole apartment."
Lily sighed in exasperation, looking fondly down at her son. "Harry was in a right state when I arrived to help him put out the fire. We decided after assessing the damage that it would be better for Harry to come stay here while they repair the place."
"Ginny decided to go visit her parents for a while. That's why she's not with me."
"Ginny?" Harriet asked with a small frown. This was the second time Harry had mentioned her.
"Yeah, my girlfriend."
Harriet's eyes bugged out of her head slightly as she stared at Harry in a newfound light. She couldn't imagine dating Ginny; she was like a sister to her.
Harry merely chuckled at her expression, seemingly reading her thoughts.
Silence descended upon the room, pink and golden hues from the last rays of sunlight tinting the room an odd glow. It was peaceful here, Harriet realised with a start, as she looked around the room. Besides the obvious fact that there was no more Voldemort, no more Deatheaters to ruin people's lives, there was also a tranquility that she had never had at Private Drive. On occasion she had felt it at the Burrow and Hogwarts, but mostly she had been too busy to be able to sit quietly for more than a minute at a time. A bird sung in the distance; a melancholic melody that made Harriet realise that she had never heard her mum sing. She didn't even know if her mum ever did sing.
Despite being surrounded by faces of her parents, of a brother she could have had, Harriet couldn't forget that they weren't hers. And that made her feel more alone than ever.