Chapter Text
4th July 2009, 4 Privet Drive
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much as was their sole and much-loved son Dudley. The same could not be said for their niece and nephew, Harry and Rhoswen ‘Roe’ Potter, the children of Mrs Dursleys belated sister and her husband. The two of them had lived with the Dursley’s for nearly sixteen years now and they were, much to Mr and Mrs Dursleys disgust and horror, a witch and wizard, respectively.
Harry and Roe had returned from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry earlier that day and retreated together to Harry’s bedroom. They sat in silence for a while both thinking about the events of the last few days, including the funeral of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore that they had attended earlier that day. They both knew that with the death of Professor Dumbledore things had changed for both of them, but for now they were both content to sit and take comfort from the presence of the other.
Harry was the first to move, gently squeezing his sisters’ hand and rising from the bed to kneel and open the trunk that contained all his belongings. It did not take him long to find what he was looking for and he quickly retrieved a letter and set it down on the bed before straightening and looking at his sister.
“Professor Dumbledore’s death has changed things we both know that.”
Harry gave up trying to stand still and took to pacing back and forth restlessly trying to get all the things he wanted to say to his sister straight in his head.
Roe sat quietly watching her brother pace unwilling to break the silence that had sprung up between them but knowing exactly what he meant, with Professor Dumbledore’s death the number of safe places in the world had just decreased for them both.
“Hogwarts isn’t safe anymore.” Harry stated, giving voice to the thought that had been running on a constant loop through their heads since Snape had murdered Dumbledore four days prior. “Not for either of us, not for anyone really but especially not for us.”
“So, what do we do? Sirius said the Blood-wards will break as soon as you turn seventeen, where can we go that will be safe from You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters?”
“Not we, Roe. You.”
Harry stopped pacing and stared at his sister intently.
“Last year after everything that happened at the Ministry, Professor Dumbledore told me why Voldemort targeted us… Targeted me that night in Godric’s Hollow sixteen years ago. It was because of a prophecy; I’m not going to tell you the whole thing but what it basically, boils down to is that I have the power to kill Voldemort. That’s why he targeted me, it’s because I’m a threat to him.”
Roe made a move as if to speak but Harry shook his head letting her know he had more to say.
“That’s why he’s tried to kill me so many times and he’s not going to stop until he succeeds unless…”
“Unless you kill him first.”
Silence filled the room following Roe’s words. Harry sighed, he hadn’t wanted to tell his sister any of this, hadn’t wanted to burden her with it, but if he had any hope of persuading her to follow the plan, he and Sirius had devised to keep her safe then he needed to tell her everything.
“As you know Dumbledore has been giving me private lessons throughout this year.”
Roe nodded and Harry decided to continue.
“The lessons mostly consisted of telling me about Voldemort’s history and how he survived that night. He created these objects that tether his spirit to life. As long as they exist, he can’t be killed not permanently anyway.
Dumbledore believed and I later helped him to confirm that six of these objects were created. I destroyed one of them back in my second year when I rescued Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets, although I didn’t know what it was back then. Dumbledore destroyed another last summer leaving four more that need to be found and destroyed.
The night Dumbledore died, he took me with him to where he believed another one was located, we retrieved it successfully or at least believed we had. After Snape killed Dumbledore, I discovered it was a fake that someone else had switched out for the real one sometime ago.
I’m not going back to Hogwarts next year not just because it won’t be safe but because I need to find and destroy the rest of these tethers, so that Voldemort can finally be killed even if I’m not the one to do it.”
“So, we still have four to find?”
“Not we, Roe, you’re not a part of this and you can’t be.”
“Why not?” Roe demanded “I want him gone just as much as you do!”
“Because you’re not old enough Ro, you still have the trace on you and will do for another 15 months. It’s why I haven’t left already, why I won’t leave until after my 17th birthday because any magic I perform before then will lead Voldemort and his Death Eaters right to me. The ministry is corrupt he has spies riddled throughout it and I’m willing to bet he’ll have complete control over it sooner rather than later.”
“And I’m supposed to do what exactly while you’re off on your hunt? Just sit around waiting for you to come back. You’ve already said it’s not safe for me to return to Hogwarts, if Hogwarts isn’t safe where is?”
Harry ran his fingers roughly through his hair, he’d known going into this it wasn’t going to be easy but explaining the plan to his baby sister was turning out to be a lot harder than he thought it would. He inhaled a deep breath and started again.
“Back at the end of fourth year after Voldemort came back, I went to Sirius and we both realised we needed a backup plan for you, just in case. That’s why Remus took you to Gringotts to get that family tree done while we were staying at Grimmauld Place that summer.
Sirius figured that he could use it to track down any living relatives that we have other than the Dursley’s on mums’ side of the family that you could go to. Somewhere you could stay with new blood wards keyed to you that will last until you turn seventeen. He succeeded.”
“So, I’m just supposed to go off to some stranger I’ve never even met while you fight a war? I want to go with you Harry, I want to help!”
Harry finally gave into the urge he’d been suppressing till now and pulled his sister into a hug.
“I know you do Roe. And I love you for it, but if you were to come with me, it would only put the both of us in more danger. It’s not just that you won’t be able to do magic, no-one around you will either. Not without activating the trace. You remember that summer after my first year with Dobby and the Hover charm? Even though I wasn’t the one performing magic the Ministry still sent me that letter about using underage magic. Any magic done around you while you remain in Britain is a roadmap straight to your location.”
Roe nodded against Harry’s neck where she had buried her head when he first pulled her into his embrace. He could feel her tears dripping onto his shirt and just the thought of her being in pain made him want to cry as well.
“I need you to be safe, and as far out of Voldemort’s reach as possible, because if he ever captured you, I would give myself up in a heartbeat if it meant you would live. You’re my sister Roe and I love you so much, I always will.”
“I love you too, Harry.”
Roe pulled back from the hug and wiped at eyes with her sleeves before she spoke again.
“So where am I going?”
“I don’t know. Sirius and I decided it would be better if I didn’t know, that way no-one would be able to get the information out of me willingly or otherwise.”
Roe nodded it made sense especially given the fact that Voldemort seemed to be able to access her brother’s mind.
“So how am I getting there if you don’t know where I’m going? Is Remus taking me?”
“No, Remus doesn’t know about this, no-one does. We both knew that the only way you would truly be safe is if no-one knows where you are. I’m fairly sure a few people suspect, but they don’t know any real details, and nobody has tried to talk me out of it.”
Harry reached for the envelope he had put on the bed letter and opened it pulling out a necklace and a piece of paper.
“Just before he was killed, Sirius sent me this. It’s a password activated portkey, as far as I know, it’s completely untraceable. It will take you to his contact who will then take you to the family member he discovered and place the Blood-wards. Sirius said he trusts his contact absolutely and that we should as well.”
“When do I have to leave?”
“Now. Tonight.”
Roe drew in a shaky breath, before nodding. It was too soon, but it would always be too soon.
“You need to pack a bag, try, and keep it light but make sure you have anything you can’t bear to lose. Once we leave here, neither of us are coming back and the Dursleys will probably destroy whatever gets left behind.”
Roe nodded and headed her room, making sure to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb their aunt and uncle.
It didn’t take Roe long to pack enough clothes to last her at least a week and her toiletries bag into an old backpack Harry had given her. Next to go in was her photos, a couple of her parents that Harry had given her, the rest of her with her friends or with Harry that she had collected over her four years at Hogwarts. She pulled her jewellery box out but the only pieces she owned that had any value she was already wearing so she set it to one side to be packed later if there was room. Her schoolbooks and robes as well as her potion-making kit, cauldron, parchment, quills, telescope, broom, and wand got laid out on the bed leaving her trunk empty.
She didn’t know where she was going but she doubted she’d need a lot of this stuff, she set aside her robes, telescope, parchment, and quills first. Her cauldron was added to the pile after some hesitation, but her potion-making kit got placed in her bag if nothing else it at least held some useful herbs. Her books were the hardest to go through but eventually she just packed her ancient runes book and grades 3 and 4 of the standard book of spells and an old book Sirius had given her the Christmas they spent at Grimmauld Place; the backpack only just zipped up. Roe shoved her wand into a pocket on the side of the bag, slung it over her shoulder and picked up her broomstick. She was ready.
Harry looked up and smiled when she re-entered the room, she shut the door softly and looked at her brother,
“You’re ready then?”
Roe nodded in agreement and offered her brother a shaky smile. He crossed the room and pulled her into a tight embrace, wishing that things could be different.
“I love you, always have and always will and right here, right now I’m making this promise to you.
I am going to do everything in my power not only to end this war but to survive it, I will see you on the other side of this fight and we will be together again as a family. No matter what it takes.”
“I love you, Harry. Always and forever”
“Always and forever”
Harry repeated the same words Roe had offered him a promise they had been making to each other since they were young children trying to survive the cruelty and indifference offered to them by the people who were supposed to be their family.
He kissed her on the forehead and stepped back. Roe gave him one more smile before speaking the password that would activate the portkey. It happened immediately: Roe felt the familiar pull like a hook behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forwards.