He With The Jewel Eyes // A Grey Harry Potter - Time Travel AU

A Talk Between Twins

Rose raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing defensively.

"A chat? What for?" Harry chuckled in response.

"For the sake of repairing our relationship, of course. We are family, aren't we?"

The word 'family' made Rose remember the scene from before, in the kitchen, and she scowled, turning her head to the side with an angry huff.

"I don't want to have any relationship with you." Suddenly, a hand grabbed a hold of her chin, and tilted it to the side, neither gentle nor rough, but enough for her to feel uncomfortable.

Before she could swat it away, she came face to face with her brother, and her breath caught up in her throat, unable to express her discomfort.

She had never looked at him so closely before. For her, she had been an insignificant pebble at the side of the road draped in a red carpet for her to walk on, a person she didn't care for the slightest.

But now, meeting his eyes, those green eyes so mesmerising she couldn't look away, she realised that she had been wrong.

This person before her wasn't unimportant at all.

The emotion in Harry's eyes wasn't recognisable to her, but she still couldn't avert her gaze: they were filled with an aura that wanted her to see more, pull apart and try to comprehend.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a hand waving in front of her face, and blinked, coming back to reality.

Harry was looking at her, one hand still in the air from waving for attention just a moment ago, eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Trapped, weren't you?" he asked, and the slight upwards motion of the corner of his lips showed just how amused he was, even more so coupled with his teasing eyes. "I've been told my eyes have such an effect."

Rose felt her body from the neck up heat up and turned her head to the side in a rush to hide her embarrassment, failing to do so if her brother's soft laughter was to be taken account.

What was she thinking? He was mesmerising at all, he was just her brother, the average boy with no trait of importance.

She bit her lip in annoyance, face reddening more, thoughts running wild.

How dare he make fun of her? Who had given him the right to do so?

She was about to voice her thoughts but Harry got to it first, clearing his throat to gain her attention.

"I wanted to talk to you about your attitude." Rose's head snapped to his direction, face showing clear irritation, arms crossing defensively.

"My attitude? There's nothing wrong with it," she said stubbornly, and Harry inhaled in exasperation, closing his eyes and rubbing his nose.

It was around a minute later that he opened them, and he still looked just as worn out as he did a minute before.

"Do you actually believe that, or is that your pride speaking?" he asked, disbelief mixing into his voice.

Rose raised her chin in opposition, chest puffed up, trying to create an aura of superiority. It was an old trick in the book, looking taller and covering up more space to intimidate.

Sadly, it didn't work at all, and she exhaled forcefully, face lowering and hands entering her hair only to ruffle it harshly.

"What the hell do you want me to say? That I know I have a shitty personality, but I don't make an effort to change it even if I'm aware of it?" she asked rhetorically, and when she raised her head again, Harry's eyes met with Rose's stubborn ones, causing him to sigh.

"Why don't you?" he asked, leaning forward. "Why not make an effort to improve yourself if you are aware of your faults?"

Rose reeled back as if she was being pushed by an invisible force, eyes filled with disbelief.

"Are you an idiot, or are you just naive?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head as if to shake off Harry's suggestion. "Things aren't that simple, you know? People don't change so easily."

Harry leaned back thoughtfully.

"Why not? What's keeping you from trying?" he asked and the pure curiosity in his eyes made Rose flinch. Was he actually asking that?

"You-" she sighed, dropping her head onto her hands. "Do you know what people would think if I suddenly started acting differently? That I am a two-faced bastard, and that I'm not the perfect Light Saviour they envisioned me to be!"

Harry tilted his head to the side.

"Why do people's opinions influence how you choose to behave?"

Rose raised her head from her hands and stared at him pointedly for a few minutes, before standing up, face scrunched up in exasperation.

"Because I'm a public figure, you idiotic piece of shit!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, stopping caring about being found by her parents.

Harry was apathetic to her raging emotions, as he raised a single eyebrow in boredom.

"Are you saying that your current personality is much more desired by the public that a kinder one?"

And Rose froze. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, mind turning blank.

He was right. She had a bad personality, yet she was quite well-liked by the public. Did that mean the public wanted her to act like a bitch?

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice her brother standing up, and getting closer, until he put his hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her contemplation.

"Look, I don't care about your personality: I only want us to be a proper family. I know you don't like me, and I don't like you either, but for our parents' sake, please don't act like a pampered greedy little shit in front of them, alright? I don't care if you hate me, I don't even care why, but as long as you don't act out, I'm fine with it."

Rose took a step back, shrugging off the hand on her shoulder with a glare.

"And why should I comply?" she asked suspiciously, body tensed up, ready to retaliate in case of an attack, and instinct drilled into her after sparring with her father for a year.

Harry smiled his usual plastic smile, causing Rose to feel sick in the inside. Her face must have shown her disgust, as the boy's smile turned into a slight smirk, causing her to scowl in response to his amusement.

"What are you smirking at, you bastard?" she lashed out in anger, first clenching in an urge to punch the boy in front of her in the nose, but before she could do so, Harry spoke up, the one-sentence making her freeze up.

"Because that's what we both want the most, isn't it? A family."

After that, he softly grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, making her shiver as his lips came in contact with her skin.

Harry stood up straight and winked at the gaping girl.

"So, we are in agreement, correct?"

The shell shocked girl nodded, unable to make out words, and the boy smiled with a pleased expression, eyes crinkling slightly at the edges, showing him older than his actual age.

"Great. Then I hope we have a successful cooperation from now on."