Tattered and Torn

Harry looked at things in a new light when he walked outside the next morning. He felt better than he had since the previous June. It was okay to love again. He had already opened his heart.

"Hiya, Harry!"

Harry turned and smiled warmly, although it was only a half-smile and not entirely sincere. Still, Jamie could tell the difference. "Hi, Jamie!"

Jamie's grin matched his. "You should smile like that more often. I like it."

"I'll try." Harry gestured for Jamie to walk with him. "What's on your mind?"

"How could you tell something was on my mind?"

"I've worn that look many a time myself. What's wrong?"

Jamie hesitated. "Dad went to see your mother last night. She's going to come live with us at some point."

Harry studied Jamie. "You aren't exactly happy with this, are you?"

"Not really," Jamie confessed. "I mean, she's nice and all--she has to be, or she wouldn't have produced such a great kid." She grinned up at Harry briefly, then her smile faded. "But...well, I don't know if I want her to come and be my mom. I mean, it's obvious Dad loves her and all, and he always has, but she's not my mom and I don't think I want her to take my mother's place."

Harry gave her a sad smile. "She won't. I know you're worried, but I can assure you she won't try to take your mother's place." He paused, wondering how best to phrase it. "Your mother occupies a special place in your heart, and no one can take that place away. My mum won't want to, either. No one wants second-hand love." That got a small chuckle out of Jamie. "Listen, Jamie, I promise. Love isn't something you only have a little of, something you use up quickly and then lose. You always have more love. No one's going to take your mother's place."

Jamie smiled again. "I'm glad we found you," she said a little wistfully. "I always envied Virginia and Erin, just a little. They had older siblings when they needed one. I never did." She looked up anxiously at Harry. "You're already my half-brother, but will you be my big brother?"

"If you don't mind being my little sister. Being related to me isn't really all it's cracked up to be."

"I don't mind." Jamie wrapped him in a bear hug. "Thanks, Harry."

"No problem." Harry hugged his sister. "Hey, Jamie, want to sign my cast?"

"Sure!" Jamie fished a marker out of her pocket and signed her name with a flourish: Your sister, Jamie Potter.

~~~

On an impulse, Harry turned left down Magnolia Crescent that afternoon instead of returning to Privet Drive. A figure was bent over the gardens in front of the pebble-dashed walls of Number Twelve. Harry was struck with a sudden urge to talk to the person; it was in the shadows of this house that Harry had first seen Sirius. The thought gripped his heart in an iron vice, but he steeled his resolve and moved to the edge of the property.

The figure straightened and turned. "Harry!"

Harry blinked in surprise. "Hermione! I didn't know this was where you were staying."

Hermione nodded and came over. "It is. Why did you come down this way?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad I did," Harry answered honestly. "How are you?"

"Fine," Hermione answered with a smile. "How's your arm?"

"Better."

Hermione tilted her head and examined his cast. "Your sister, Jamie Potter," she read aloud. "I thought she was your half-sister."

"I sort of adopted her as my full sister," Harry explained. "Thanks to you--thanks to that talk we had yesterday--I wasn't afraid to agree when she asked if I'd be her big brother. She knows the risks of being my sister and she wants to do it anyway. I'll say this for her, the girl's got guts."

Hermione laughed with open relief. "That she does. She sounds like a sweet kid."

"She is." Harry paused. "Hey, Hermione?"

"Mmm?"

"D'you want to meet her?"

"I'd love to," Hermione said happily. "When?"

"How about now?" Harry held out his hand with a teasing grin.

Hermione smiled and took it. "Sounds good to me."

The two walked up the street, towards where Mrs. Figg--and now the Potters--lived. Harry heard a rusty meow and looked down to see Tufty, one of Mrs. Figg's cats. "Oh, hello," Harry said in a friendly tone, bending down to scratch the cat's ears. As a kid he'd never been very fond of Mrs. Figg or her feline friends, but over the past year he'd come to appreciate them all. Without her he and Dudley would've both been dead.

Hermione looked down at the cat. "Who's that?"

"Tufty. One of Mrs. Figg's cats...she lives two houses over from my dad."

"She works for..." Hermione hesitated and looked around. Harry understood, though, and nodded.

Harry spotted Mrs. Figg down the street, in conversation with Harry's father. Erin and Virginia were sitting on Mrs. Figg's front lawn, playing with a couple of the cats. Jamie was on her front porch, engrossed in a book, but she looked up and beamed when she saw Harry approaching. "Harry!" she called, leaping up and running to meet him.

Harry gave Jamie a one-armed hug. "Hi, Jamie." He jerked his head at Hermione, who came over. "Jamie, this is my..." He hesitated, looked up at Hermione, and smiled. "This is my girlfriend Hermione." Hermione crimsoned. "Hermione, this is my little sister Jamie."

"Nice to meet you, Jamie," Hermione said with a warm smile.

Jamie grinned. "Nice to meet you too, Himmony."

"Her-my-oh-nee," Hermione corrected her.

"Huh-my-oh-nee," Jamie repeated.

"Accent," Harry reminded her, unsure whether he was referring to Jamie's accent or his and Hermione's.

"Her-my-oh-nee," Jamie corrected herself.

"Got it. How old are you, Jamie?"

"I just turned thirteen last month," Jamie answered proudly. "June twenty-fifth."

Hermione focused on Jamie to avoid having to see the sudden look of intense pain on Harry's face. "So you're a third year at Salem?"

"I was. I'm transferring to Hogwarts this year."

"That's wonderful," Hermione said as enthusiastically as possible. "What house are you going to be in?"

"The letter I got this morning said I was going to be in Gryffindor. It was the closest house to Ogletree."

"What sort of wand do you have?" Hermione asked, desperate to keep the chatter going while Harry got his emotions under control. She slipped her hand in his; he squeezed it lightly.

Jamie sighed. "I don't have one anymore. It didn't survive the move. But it was a good one--seven-and-a-half inches, veela hair and rosewood."

"Veela hair?" Hermione repeated in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? I didn't know you could use veela hair for a wand core."

"Sure you can, but it makes for temperamental wands," Harry said quietly. "At least according to Mr. Ollivander." In response to Hermione's incredulous stare, he added, "Fleur Delacour's wand has one. One of her grandmother's."

Hermione nodded. "Well," she said to Jamie, "I think you'll like Ollivander's wands. We'll have to take you to Diagon Alley at some point."

"Has your list come yet?" Harry asked Hermione

Hermione nodded, beaming. "I've been made prefect again. Yours came too, right?"

Harry nodded, then hesitated. "I've been made prefect too," he said finally.

Hermione smiled. "That's wonderful, Harry!"

A strange smile crossed Harry's face. "Somehow, I knew that's what you'd say. Soon as I saw the badge I knew you'd say it was wonderful and Ron would say 'Better you than me'."

Hermione laughed. "He probably will."

"Prefect?" Jamie inquired.

"Basically, it means we're students who help make sure the other students stay in line," Hermione explained.

"Ah," Jamie nodded. "Hall monitors."

"I guess that'd be the nearest equivalent," Hermione shrugged.

Harry was about to say something when he noticed a street light flicker on down the street, then another, then another. All of a sudden he realised he was squinting to see Jamie. Just as suddenly, the streetlight he hadn't realised he was standing under winked on, illuminating them in a sickly orange light.

"Crumbs," Hermione said, startled, blinking up at the light. "What time is it?"

"It's six-forty-five," Jamie answered, looking down at the luminescent hands of her watch.

"Damn," Harry muttered. "I was supposed to be home fifteen minutes ago...I'll see you tomorrow, Jamie."

"Okay, see you." Jamie scampered back down the street.

Hermione accompanied Harry back to his own house, then paused and sighed a little. "I'd best get home too...Uncle Owen will want me to..." She trailed off suddenly and stared with wide eyes. "Oh, damn. Tell me that's not what I think it is."

Harry followed her gaze and felt all the colour drain out of his face. The sky was illuminated with a sickly greenish light radiating from the smoky form of a grinning skull. A snake protruded from its mouth.

He grabbed Hermione's arm to stop her from leaving. "You're coming inside," he said firmly. "There's no way you're staying outside if the Death Eaters are around. You can call your uncle and explain."

Without giving her a chance to protest, he practically dragged her up the walk to the front door and opened it. "Aunt Petunia?" he called.

His aunt stepped into the hall, looking worried. Relief flowed into her eyes as she saw him. "Harry! There you are!"

"I'm sorry I'm late," Harry apologised.

Aunt Petunia waved him off. "Don't worry about it...your friend is rather worried about you."

My friend? Harry thought in bemusement, glancing at Hermione, but his unspoken question was answered when Remus Lupin stepped into the hall, looking older than Harry had ever seen him. "Harry," he said seriously, looking worried and scared and relieved all at once. "Are you okay? Mundungus Fletcher thought he saw a Death Eater in the neighbourhood and alerted us right away--I thought you'd be back at six."

"I wasn't due till six-thirty," Harry said, throwing a nervous glance back at the door. "And I know about the Death Eater."

Remus looked startled. "You do?"

Hermione pointed a trembling hand out the window. "The Dark Mark...it's hovering over that way..."

"What?" Remus pulled back the curtains and looked. "Good Lord...is that why you brought Hermione over?"

Harry nodded. "We noticed it about five seconds ago and I wasn't about to let her go off by herself if there were Death Eaters in the area."

Aunt Petunia spoke up. "Come in, you two. Dinner's ready." Her voice was shaking--she was obviously scared--but she was trying to deal with it.

"I have to go," Remus told Harry slowly and seriously. "Listen to me, both of you--do not leave this house. I'll come back and get you when it's safe, all right? Until then, I want you to stay put."

Hermione and Harry nodded. Remus gave Harry a quick hug, then Disapparated.

They had almost reached the kitchen when Hermione stopped. "I still have to call my uncle," she said with a kind of desperation. "I have to let him know where I am..."

"Go ahead," Aunt Petunia told her. "Let him know you'll be here until further notice."

"Right." Hermione picked up the phone and dialled, then listened. "Hello? Oh! I was looking for Owen MacDonald...What? You're kidding me...oh, no. Is--is that where the Dark Mark was?" Harry blanched. "Yes, I know what it is...Hermione Granger...oh, hello, Tonks."

A sudden sight flashed in front of Harry; his scar seared with pain. He tapped Hermione lightly on the shoulder. "Hermione...tell her it's Lucius Malfoy, Pettigrew, and Macnair, and they're still nearby."

Hermione relayed the message, then held the phone out to Harry. "She wants to talk to you."

Harry took the receiver. "Hello?"

"Harry? That you?" Tonks' voice crackled over the wires.

"Tonks? Yeah, it's me."

"Good. Listen, Harry, I don't suppose you could tell us exactly where these three are?"

Harry tried to remember what he'd seen. "They're hidden in a clump of rhododendrons in one of the houses nearby...I think it's Number Fourteen."

"Thanks, Harry. Anything else we need to know?"

Harry was about to say no, then thought of something suddenly. "Keep Remus away from Pettigrew."

"Why? Don't want to know about old friends killing each other?"

"In so many words. Pettigrew has a silver hand."

Tonks swore on the other end. "Damn, I forgot. Got to go, Harry...someone will come by and talk to you once we've got this under control." The line went dead.

Slowly, Harry replaced the phone in the cradle, then turned to Hermione. "Nothing to do now but wait. Come on, dinner's going to be getting cold."

Harry, Hermione, and Aunt Petunia worried for a good hour or two. Finally, in desperation, Aunt Petunia unearthed a game called Life. Once she'd explained the rules, Harry and Hermione said they were willing to give it a try.

By the time the doorbell rang some time later, Harry's little blue peg in its little white station wagon was a married doctor with six little peg children crammed into the backseat--three little blue pegs and three little pink pegs. Hermione's pink peg was also married, but she was a journalist with two well-behaved little pink pegs in the back of her little blue station wagon. Aunt Petunia's (also married) pink peg had gone straight into the business world and had two little blue pegs and one little pink peg. All three left the game as it was and hurried to the hallway.

Aunt Petunia pulled open the door. Mad-Eye Moody stood before them, looking incredibly foreboding even for him. Aunt Petunia gave a small yelp and backed up.

"Everything all right, sir?" Harry asked, quickly intervening before his aunt panicked and called the police.

"Not really," Moody answered. "Potter, I know you aren't going to like this, but Lupin's been hurt."

Fear gripped Harry's heart. "H-how badly?"

"Badly," Moody admitted. "That rat Pettigrew grabbed his chest before we could catch him...Tonks didn't get us the warning in time. We pulled him off, he's in custody now--as a rat, if you can believe it, that cursed reprobate Mundungus Fletcher put a spell on a jar so he can't transform back--but they've taken Lupin to St. Mungo's. I know you'll want to see him...if you want, I can come by tomorrow and take you up, say nine o'clock."

"If you don't mind," Harry said quickly. He was frightened for the man who had come to mean so much to him.

"'Course not." Moody turned to Hermione. "Granger, I'm afraid there's nowhere at the house for you to stay. You'll have to find somewhere else...do you have any family?"

"She'll be staying here, of course," Aunt Petunia said hastily, having recovered from her initial shock.

Hermione gave Aunt Petunia a grateful look and nodded. "If that's all right with everyone."

"Fine with us. I believe this is yours...figured you might need it." Moody handed over Hermione's trunk. "I think everything's in it. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Potter. And remember, you two--constant vigilance." He touched the brim of his hat, turned, and was gone in a whirl of cloak.

Harry and Hermione stood together at the door for a second, both unable to move. Aunt Petunia reached over their heads and shut the door so firmly both of them jumped.

Putting a hand on each one's shoulders, she said gently, "Let's finish the game, shall we?"

A reluctant, mirthless, sarcastic half-grin tugged at Harry's face. "I guess it wouldn't make sense to abandon Life in the middle of the game, would it? We have to keep playing until we get to the end."