Different
Anne Potter was a strange girl. She had deep red hair falling down to her waist as she looked out the window from her bedroom. She was nearly eleven years old, but she was slight for her age and her face was covered with freckles. She was wearing one of her brother's old quidditch jerseys as she stared out the window. She didn’t like quidditch, but the top was comfortable, warm without being too heavy.
She had always been different, even before her parents had died. She was quiet, too quiet, even when they were babies her brother would zoom around the house on his tiny broomstick whilst she played with her ragdoll. And then, of course, Harry had become ‘the boy who lived’ as they called him now. Anne was shunted to the background, not by her family or by people who knew her, but by the Wizarding World. They were always so busy worshipping Harry that they never noticed little Anne.
She was watching her brother out the window. He was playing quidditch with Ron, Ginny and Fred and George Weasley. Fred and George had come home from Hogwarts the day before and had been playing quidditch in the garden all afternoon. Anne didn’t want to go join them or anything, but she sometimes wished that she did want to go join them. That she was more normal….
Uncle Remus had worried about how different she was when she was a little girl. She didn’t have any friends and liked to keep to herself. She would rather read a book than actually talk to people. As she got older, she began to get nervous at the slightest thing any sudden noise would make her panic.
Eventually, they took her to a child counsellor when she was eight because Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius were worried that they might have been something wrong with her. The counsellor told them there was nothing physically wrong with Anne, she had what was called an antisocial disorder, more specifically Asperger’s Syndrome.
This meant that Anne was very introverted and would never have very many friends, it also explained why Anne’s magic lashed out when she got upset at things. She had learned to control her magic, but her emotions could sometimes be… erratic.
She also had very high levels of anxiety. She would get scared if there was a loud noise from another room, her head would start to throb and she would start to panic whenever anybody shouted, even if they weren’t shouting at her!
Her anxiety was another that made her different, she lived in a house full of Gryffindor’s the house of the brave. Remus and been in Gryffindor, Sirius had been in Gryffindor, her parents had been in Gryffindor and so were all the Weasley’s. It was clear too when you looked at Harry, energetic, sociable, always standing up for his friends and particularly Anne, that he too would be a Gryffindor. But someone so nervous and shy as Anne didn’t belong there, she wasn’t brave.
Anne was sitting on the window seat in her bedroom with her knees pulled up to her chin. She often sat like this, when she was upset when she was nervous when she was thinking, sometimes doing nothing at all.
Anne had very erratic emotions which started to show through just after she turned four. Fortunately for her family, Luna’s family had given Anne a necklace for her fourth birthday, which would change colour depending on her emotion. Anne couldn’t always verbally explain her feelings and her change in emotions was so sudden that Anne always wore it to help her family understand her better. Everyone who knew Anne well enough knew what the colours meant bright yellow meant she was happy, blue meant she was sad, red meant she was angry, purple meant she was confused, orange meant she was shocked or scared, pink meant she was thinking. Anne thought a lot so her necklace was quite often the light pink like it was showing at the moment. Anne was just about to levitate over a book when she heard a knock on the door.
Anne was startled as she suddenly flashed her head away from the window. There was another light knock. “Come, come in” she stammered quietly.
“Hello Anne,” said Percy as he stood in the doorway.
“Hello Percy,” said Anne as her necklace quickly flashed to yellow. “How was school?”
“It was great! I think I’m really ready for the OWLs now.”
Percy was Anne’s favourite Weasley and apart from Luna and Harry, he was the only really close friend she had.
Percy liked to talk a lot about things, especially himself, and Anne was a particularly good listener as she didn’t tend to talk much or interrupt him. Percy had always liked Anne from when they first met because they had both been quieter than the others and had a shared love of books. Percy had grown out of his shyness and had become pompous and bossy, but he had a good heart and he had always had a soft spot for Anne. If she occasionally wandered off into a world of her own whilst he was talking to her, he didn’t mind because he knew she couldn’t help it.
The dreamy aspect of Anne was part of her charm. She was named after Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables and it wasn’t just their hair colour that they shared. Anne Potter like Anne Shirley had always had a vivid imagination, and her mind was often off on a world of her own.
As Percy was jabbering away about his perfect marks, Anne’s grey cat Athene came charging into the room and settled herself onto Anne’s lap. Anne’s lack of friends was made up for by her cat Athene. Athene knew when Anne was upset if Anne was crying Athene would lick the tears of her face and let Anne stroke her. Sometimes at night Anne would wake up and find Athene snuggled in next to her. They were so close that sometimes as Anne got out of the bath then Athene would be licking her legs dry and Anne would laugh because her tongues were so ticklish against Anne’s legs!
After a while, it started to get late, at five o’clock the Weasleys all had to go home to get ready for supper. Anne still hadn’t moved from her favourite seat by the window all afternoon when her brother came in after his bath.
“I’ve been watching you,” Harry told Anne. “You have been sat there all afternoon holding your knees up to your chest. You didn’t even get a book out. I could see you from where I was flying” he added. “What’s up? I know that when you’re sat like that for this wrong then somethings up!”
“What are you talking about?” Anne asked.
“Somethings wrong! I know you too well, I’m not just your brother, I’m your twin brother! When you sit like that, you’re either upset or thinking, when you’re sat like that without moving then you’re so deep off into that world of yours then it has to be a pretty serious problem!”
A small smile played on Anne’s lips at how right her brother had been about her. “Harry” she eventually asked, “do you think I’m different, I mean like weird different?”
“Well no, well I mean yes you’re different but what’s the harm in that,” Harry answered. “But I mean you’ve always been different, besides what’s the fun in being normal!” he laughed. “But you’re still worried about something?”
“I’m worried that we won’t be sorted into the same house when we get to Hogwarts. You and Ron are probably going to go into Gryffindor, but I know I won’t.”
“Oh I see,” answered Harry, ‘I’ve been thinking about that a bit recently too, I mean come on sis you learnt to read when you were three! Typical Ravenclaw if ever I saw one”
Anne blushed, “But what if I don’t have any friends, what if everybody thinks I’m weird.”
“They won’t don’t worry! Besides if you don’t make any in your first year, Luna will join you the year after and she’s a typical Ravenclaw too, you’ll be fine sis!”
Anne was still worried though, she went downstairs for dinner where they were having shepherd’s pie with peas. Anne, however, hardly touched it, she just pushed the potatoes around with her fork. She didn’t even touch her ice cream.
Anne trudged her way upstairs after dinner and changed into her pyjamas, she then sat under her duvet with her knees pulled into her chest. She was worried that Harry and she were going to grow apart. She knew was different and that people who were different tended to get bullied. She hadn’t been to school but had learnt at home with Uncle Remus and Harry. She was terrified, a whole school hundreds of people! And if Harry and she were in different houses they would hardly see each other!
Remus and Sirius asked Harry if he knew what wrong once Anne had gone upstairs. “She’s worried about school,” Harry admitted, “houses, friends, fitting in, she’s got nothing to worry about!”
“Well actually Harry she does, don’t forget you already have friends in Ron and the Weasleys,” said Remus simply.
“Your sister is different and quiet but most importantly she’s vulnerable!” Sirius continued.
“It’s the weak and the vulnerable that get picked on, your sister may be bright, but she is, unfortunately, both weak and vulnerable!” Remus added. “We haven’t wanted to say this but I and Sirius have been discussing it for a while”
“Whatever house you two are put into, you need to promise me now that you will protect and look after your sister! She won’t survive the first term if you don’t help her!” Sirius finished.
Harry nodded, “I’ll look after, I promise, I always have I always will.”
When Remus went upstairs a while later, he found Anne her knees curled up to her chest under her duvet. Her face was covered in tears but she was already half asleep. Remus placed his arm behind her back and lay her down and then tucked her in.
“You’ll be alright Anne, Harry’s going to look after you!”
“Promise?” she said very drowsily and teary.
“I promise!” he said kissing her on the top of her head.