Chapter 2
After her fourth year had finished, Harriet had been juggling all her "family's" demands and taking care of her months-old baby. Her strength and energy withered just by the second day she stayed there. Keeping SJ a secret from the Dursleys was hard, and using magic with little to no food was detrimental to her magical core. Still, she couldn't do anything about it. Thankfully, when the Dursleys were away, Dobby would help her with her chores so she could tend to SJ's needs. Then, at night or whenever Vernon wanted to have parties, Dobby would take SJ Grimmauld Place so Sirius could take care of him. Harriet kept the routine till Sirius picked her up once more for school. When they went to Grimmauld Place, Remus, and Sirius told her to use all the school materials. "Thanks, Siri, I just need to go to bed." She sighed, feeling a little faint.
"Sure, I will show you your room." He took her to her room, and she gasped with happiness.
"Siri," she choked. The room had pastel colors, unlike the rest of the house. There was a white and blue crib next to her queen-sized bed. There were two big wardrobes, one for her and the other for SJ. It also had a bathroom, so she wouldn't have to sneak around the house to change or bathe SJ. Lastly, there was a corner of the room with children's books and toys. Harriet brushed her tears away and carefully hugged her godfather.
"You did this for us?"
"Of course, you deserve it. Plus, we can't have SJ living in dark surroundings." Sirius beamed. Harriet hugged her again and put SJ in his crib. "Now, go to bed. Remus and I are taking you to the train station tomorrow."
"Siri, I don't want to go. If Dumbledore finds SJ with Poppy or even with me... I-"
"Dobby will be there to make sure SJ is safe when you are in Hogwarts. Poppy is a strong witch, so there is nothing to fear." He said. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Just remember, I want to have my grandson on Christmas."
"Thanks, Siri."
Harriet went to the train with a sleepy SJ under his mother's invisibility cloak the next day. When she returned to Hogwarts, she never expected her year to go downhill on the first day. Harriet's image was slandered because the Minister didn't want to admit the Dark Lord's return. Everyone called her a liar, cheat, or murderer since there was no justice for Cedric. To make matters worse, her new DADA professor, Dolores Umbridge, was crazy. She was not teaching them anything relevant to Defense and was turning her home into a prison school. It was terrible that when Harriet said Voldemort was back, she earned all-night detention with Umbridge using blood quills. Her only escape from her nightmares was when she visited SJ in Poppy's office.
When most of the school had enough of Umbridge's teachings. Hermione set a group of students from all four houses, except Slytherins, to learn defense from Harriet. At first, Harriet was reluctant to teach, especially with taking care of SJ. Ultimately, she started teaching defense because a war was brewing on their doorsteps, and they needed to be prepared. Also, Dumbledore told Harriet to take Occulmency lessons from Snape to prevent Voldemort from invading her mind, which ended in disaster.
At Christmas, Harriet flooded Grimmauld Place through Poppy's office since Umbridge was on the lookout, and her Educational Decrees would suspend or expel her. Either way, she spent her son's first Christmas with her godfather. There were lots of pictures taken for SJ's picture book. For some reason, Harriet took most pictures of Sirius, especially with her and SJ. She returned to Hogwarts at night, leaving SJ with Sirius for the night and letting Dobby bring him back in the morning.
When school began once again, the decrees got worse. They were soon to be discovered thanks to the Inquisitorial Squad ratting out everyone acting out of order. Sadly, the defense group in the Room of Requirements was ratted out because of them. As a result, Umbridge was made headmistress. Everything went downhill from there. SJ began teething, needing his mother to be there whenever he went fuzzy, thanks to the pain. With all her schoolwork, it was hard to get some sleep. It was also challenging when Harriet had Voldemort sending her nightmares every night.
When June arrived, the students were mindless drones. Everyone was focused on working on our finals when Voldemort sent Harri a vision of Sirius in danger. Instead of contacting Sirius, she gathered all her friends to rescue Sirius and stop Voldemort's plan in the Department of Mysteries.
After arriving at the DoM, Harriet realized it was all a trap when they were all surrounded by Death Eaters. The friends defended themselves all they could after Harriet destroyed their desired prophecy. The battle continued even when the Order arrived, but everything worsened when Bellatrix dueled the godfather. The world slowed down for Harriet when she saw Bellatrix send her godfather through the Veil. After the Order retreated, Harriet wanted revenge for Sirius. Sadly, her attempts at vengeance failed, and it got worse when Voldemort arrived.
Voldemort tried to kill Harriet, but Dumbledore interfered, acting in concern for the teen's safety. He began to duel the old headmaster until he began to possess Harriet. All he could feel was the girl's unbearable pain over the loss of her godfather. It was a pain worse than the Cruciatus Curse. That was the moment Voldemort changed utterly. He was expelled from Harriet's mind and left with a room full of Ministry officials, Minister Fudge, Dumbledore, and an exhausted and unconscious Harriet.
In the following days, Harriet became a zombie to those who loved her. With Poppy, there wasn't a moment when the teen didn't cry whenever she saw her one-year-old baby. The reminder that SJ wouldn't be able to meet another family member was there. And it wasn't long before that pain and void she felt grew once she got back to the Dursleys.
Vernon discovered the ex-convicts demised and made Harriet the perfect doll for his bosses and customers. That summer, Harriet wasn't doing the chores she usually did. Instead, she was locked up in her room, only wearing the lingerie Vernon bought recently. She barely ate, giving all her scraps to her baby.
Every night, she had to ask Dobby to silence her baby or put him to sleep, even though she didn't have her godfather to care for him. Poppy was out of the question because Dumbledore would notice if a child was roaming in the castle. Still, it pained her that her son could witness the pain that was inflicted on her. This continued until her birthday arrived when Vernon barged into her room and saw her feeding small fruits to SJ. His face turned purple with anger, and all Harriet could do was stand between Vernon and her son. "HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY FOOD TO FEED YOUR BASTARD FREAK?!" He yelled, scaring the little boy. "AFTER I GIVE YOU A PLACE TO STAY, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?"
"Uncle Vernon, please, it was only a piece of fruit a friend-"
"YOU DARE TALK BACK AT ME!" He slapped Harriet with a lot of force that made her drop to the ground. Then the whale of a man started kicking her in the stomach until it turned blue, and blood came from her mouth. Then he took off his belt to whip her back until all he could see was a red pool around Harriet. "That will teach you to steal from me again."
With the torture she received, all she could hear and focus on was her son's cries. "MAMA! NO HURT!" She tried to soothe him, but she couldn't.
What made everything worse was Vernon's loss of patience with the little boy. "SHUT UP, YOU UNGRATEFUL WHELP!" He lashed out at the kids, only to hurt Harriet more than she already was.
The teen received a blow to the head when she stepped on SJ's way. She was hit in the head with the corner of her desk. "I... I won't steal food... Again, Uncle Vernon." He huffed and left, saying she'd go tonight without dinner once more.
After the door was shut, Harriet grabbed her quill and a piece of parchment and wrote with all she could find as ink.
To whoever reads this:
If you are reading this note, I would like you to know I am dying. My uncle didn't seem happy that a friend was sending me food to feed my child. His name is Sirius James Potter, and he is my pride and joy. So, I write this because I know it will be hard for me to take care of him and keep him safe in the place Dumbledore has sent me to live. Regarding the war, I never had a choice in the matter. I don't want to fight someone who has more experience than I do. I have to think of Sirius; he doesn't deserve to lose me (even though he might tonight).
My plea to you is to take my son from danger and keep him out of the war. He deserves to live a happy life I can't provide. We are at 4 Privet Drive, Surrey. Please hurry; I don't know how long to keep him from harm.
Harriet Potter
With this, Harriet called for Dobby. "Miss Harri! Yous be hurt!"
"I-I know... I need you to take this to someone who can help..." She rasped. "D-Do-don't go to the Order. Take this to someone who you think will help Sirius." Then Dobby popped out of the room.
Harriet looked at her baby only last time before everything turned black.
---
Severus Snape was not happy, to say the least; he had been working day and night with Dumbledore's requests to find out his Lord's plans. Unbeknownst to everyone, Severus was still loyal to the dark sect, knowing his real Lord would come from his insanity. During the last weeks of June, he noticed the difference in his Lord, and since the beginning of July, he has worked with a potion to restore his appearance. By mid-July, Lord Voldemort was looking and acting like his younger self.
Working on a potion for Dumbledore, Severus was distracted by a frantic house-elf begging to help his mistress and young master. The elf gave him the note, and he read it carefully. At first, he thought it was a hoax. Why would the pampered Potter write something like that? He thought. When he read it the fifth time, he noticed that what Harriet had used as ink wasn't ink.
The professor paled at the thought of Harriet's state and apparated to 4 Privet Drive. He waited for the family to leave to enter the house. Once they did, he rushed to look for Harriet. "Point me, Potter." He said and followed the light that led him to a bolted door. "Alohomora." The door unlocked, and he gagged at the image that he saw. In all his years as Death Eater, he has never seen anything like this.
A year-old boy was crying next to a bloody teenager. Severus immediately cast a diagnosis charm and was surprised at the length of the results. There was no way Severus was leaving Lily's daughter in this hell whole. He carried the bloody teen and the babe, holding them tightly, and apparated to Malfoy manor. There, he rushed to the throne room where Voldemort was. "You better have a good explanation for coming here unannounced, Severus," his Lord said.
"I do, my Lord. I request sanctuary for Harriet Potter and her heir." He said frantically.
"What nonsense are you speaking of? And, who are you holding?" Lucius interrupted. "The Potter girl is the last of her line."
Severus shook his head. His cold mask had fallen when he thought of Lily's condition. "This is Harriet Potter, and if we don't heal her now, she'll leave her year-old son orphaned."
The Inner Circle gasped at the image of the bloodied girl. She barely had clothes on and was covered in red. "Who is responsible for this?" Voldemort asked.
"She leads me to believe it was Dumbledore, my lord..."
The Dark Lord's red eyes widen to the revelation. He couldn't believe his weapon, the savior, was condemned to death by the one who needed her the most. "I grant sanctuary for Potter and her child. Begin to heal her immediately!"
The healers in the room began their work, shoving all the potions the teen could take. They healed the vaginal scarring, the internal bleeding, the blood poisoning, her damaged back, and broken bones. They didn't stop, not even with the little boy crying for his mother.
Sirius James Potter was trying to reach for his mother's warmth and soothing voice, but a wall of people blocked his way. When he lost all hope, he cried like a banshee. Those cries didn't go unnoticed by the dark Lord. "Hello, little one," he said, sounding calm and soothing.
SJ snapped his attention to the tall, red-eyed man and lifted his arms to be held. "I know you want to see your mother, but she needs to rest." The tall man said. The baby boy nodded, snuggled into the man's chest,, and fell asleep, exhausted and scared. "Lucius, I need you to get a crib for this child immediately." As Lucius left, all the dark Lord could think was how he damaged the life of an innocent child, and he was sure Dumbledore was not the only one to blame.