Chapter Text
Harry sat in one of the extra chairs in Snape’s office after his family and the professor entered the Pensieve. He wondered how the memory thing his uncle did worked exactly, and hoped that it hadn’t caught his initial fleeting remembrance of events prior to his letter, or even anything prior to Diagon Alley.
As he waited, he began to realize that there were other things he’d forgotten. Meeting Malfoy at Madame Malkins. Peeves and his many antics.
“Mipsy,” he whispered for the elf, hesitantly. She arrived almost instantly.
“How can Mipsy be helping, Little Master?” the elf squeaked. He eyed her warily. His only experience with house elves revolved around Dobby. She certainly looked better cared for than he had.
“Can you please retrieve my school bag from my dorm?”
The elf nodded emphatically, popping away with a snap. She returned not even a minute later, handing him the bag carefully.
“Does Little Master be needing anything else?” She asked, happy beyond measure to be taking care of the boy.
“Are you happy working for my family?” He blurted out. The elf cocked her head a bit, confused by the question.
“Of course, Mipsy bes happy with the Potters, the Potters bes Mipsy’s family too,” she answered. “Just call for Mipsy if yous be needing anything else.” He’d scarcely nodded when the confused elf disapparated again.
With a sigh, he pulled out his schoolbooks. He decided that since he was in the Potions Professor’s office, he might as well work on that essay. He was halfway through writing his opinion on Beffudlement Draught when his Dad and the Professor exited the Pensieve.
“Hadrian, would you step out for a moment, please?” James asked softly. Harry took one look at Snape and all but ran from the room. He paced the potions classroom for a couple of minutes before Mipsy brought him back in. He gave the elf a bewildered look when he took in the small spread of biscuits and cake. She said nothing as she poured a cup of tea and vanished again.
Harry drank the tea and munched on the provisioned snacks. After he finished his essay for Potions, he pulled out a blank piece of parchment and started jotting down what he thought he should focus on for second year.
He had only gotten to flying car when two figures returned from the Pensieve again. This time, Snape pushing a pale-looking Arennia toward him.
“Stay,” Snape ordered her, before returning to the memory.
“What-” Harry started asking, but was cut off.
“The unicorn,” his sister said. Harry frowned.
“Oh, that,” he mumbled.
Arennia closed the distance between them, pulling him into a tight embrace. She didn’t say anything else, with Harry was grateful for it. He wasn’t sure what he even could say regarding that particular event.
A few minutes later, their Uncle exited. Harry felt his eyes widen as the man took in the siblings’ embrace.
“We just witnessed the detention,” Regulus said softly. Harry fought his expression back to indifference. He already knew that based on what Arennia had said.
“Oh.” That was the only response he had in him to give the man’s statement. The uncle shifted his focus to Arennia directly.
“They’ve left the forest; you can come back if you want to.”
As Arennia pulled away, panic seared through Harry. He grabbed her arm harshly.
“Promise me something,” Harry said, hating the desperation that was exposed in his voice. Arennia gave a confused-looking nod. “Promise you'll still hug me after...” After you watch me kill a man. Harry felt his chest tighten. He pushed the desperation away. He hadn’t had a sister before; what did it matter if he lost her? Better now than after getting too attached.
He was broken out of his train of thought when she tugged him into another tight hug.
“Morning and night,” she said, soothing the tender void that had started forming in Harry’s thoughts. After the two returned to the Pensieve, he continued working on his list for second year.
- Dobby at the house - the ministry letter
The twins and Ron coming
Knockturn
- Lockhart in Diagon
- Station Barrier - the crash?
The pixies in DADA
- Detention with Lockhart, hearing the voice
- Deathday Party - the voice and the warning on the wall
- The bludger, Dobby in the hospital wing
- The duelling club, Justin & Nick, Dumbledore’s office
Polyjuice
The singing dwarf
- Riddle’s Diary memory of Hagrid
- Hermione being petrified
Hagrid’s arrest and Aragog
- Ginny being taken
- The Chamber and the Basilisk
- Freeing Dobby?
As he wrote, he kept going back and crossing things out. Events he didn’t want either his Dad or Professor Snape to see. Other things that, while they were memorable, he didn't necessarily think his family needed to waste their time witnessing them.
He was just debating if the bludger incident was really necessary when all five people exited the Pensieve, and he found his arms full of his sister. The fact that she had tears running down her face was only mildly disconcerting.
“You are the bravest person I have ever met,’ she mumbled. Harry said nothing, choosing instead to just return the embrace.
After a couple of quiet minutes, James cleared his throat. Both his children looked up at him.
“I need you to understand something, son,” James said quietly. The soft tone was almost worse to Harry than if his dad had come out raging. Harry nodded, acknowledgingly. “If you ever have suspicions like with the stone, or about someone, especially a teacher, trying to harm you, you tell me. If, for some reason, I’m out of reach, speak to Professor Snape, okay?”
Sirius and Severus both started, shocked by the eldest Potter’s statement. Regulus rolled his eyes.
“Of course, you coils also reach out to me or Sirius, if you prefer,” the younger Black brother stated. His eyes flickered to Arennia. “Or, if you don't know who would be best, you could always talk to your sister. She would certainly know which of the four of us would be most helpful in various scenarios, and she would guide you appropriately.”
“Of course, Uncle,” Arennia said sweetly. Harry glanced at his sister. He didn’t believe for a second that she would go straight to an adult, not if she could just handle the issue herself. He found he didn’t much mind that idea.
Regulus’s eyes narrowed on his niece. He knew that tone too well, but decided to let it slide, for now.
“At least your second year can’t have been worse,” Sirius chuckled weakly. Harry tried to slyly slip his potions essay over the list he'd been working on.
There is one more thing,” James said, hesitantly. “The Dursleys.”
Harry flinched; he felt his sister tense next to him. When he decided to hazard a glance, the only word he had for her expression was rage. Jame took a few steps, closing the gap between them, before he knelt next to Harry’s chair.
“No matter what, you will never have to go back to them, I promise,” the man said solemnly. Harry couldn’t stop the bitter scoff.
“You could really die,” he muttered. Arennia, if possible, seemed to tense up worse than she already had been.
“Look at me,” James ordered. Harry did so reluctantly. “If I were to drop dead tomorrow, Sirius would raise you. If, by some cruel twist of fate, he and I were both taken, Regulus would. If somehow all three of us perished, Severus would-” The potions master jumped, surprised by that announcement. While he certainly wouldn’t be able to allow the child to return to Petunia, he didn’t think he would make a sufficient guardian. “No matter what,” James continued, “you will never go back there.”
Harry searched the man’s face. He could tell he was sincere, but Harry just knew he didn’t have the kind of luck that meant life would be easy. He didn’t have faith that everything would go according to any of the plans James Potter seemed to have made. But he could hope for the best, even if he had to be prepared for the worst.
“I think I’m ready to remember my second year for you,” Harry said to Regulus, instead of responding to his Dad’s proclamation. James gave a quiet sigh before moving so Regulus could extract duplicates of his son's memories. He had a bad feeling that perhaps that basilisk rumor wasn’t as far-fetched as he would like it to be.