The girl who died Harry Potter's Twin Sister

Chapter 8- DH

Tall, dilapidated houses looked down on them from every side. Number 12 was still visible to them, luckily. They rushed towards it, checking over their shoulders and looking to the side to check they were not being followed. They raced up the steps, and Harry tapped on the front door with his wand. They heard the metallic clicks of the many locks on the door and the door swung open. 

As soon as they stepped inside the door slammed shut and the old-fashioned gas lamps sprung to life lighting the long and dusty corridor, once familiar to them. The only thing that seemed out of place was the troll's leg umbrella stand which looked as though Tonks had tripped over it. 

"I think someone's been in here," Hermione whispered. 

"That could've happened as the order left," Ron murmured back. 

"Maybe Tonks visited for some order thing? Or Sirius," said Elizabeth. 

"So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked. 

"Maybe they're only activated if he shows up," suggested Ron. Yet they remained close together, straying no more than a few steps from the door. 

"Well we can't stay here forever," said Harry, and he took a step forwards. 

"Severus Snape?"

Mad-Eye Moody's voice whispered out of the darkness, making all four jump back in fright. "We're not Snape!" croaked Harry. Something cold swept over Elizabeth and her tongue curled backwards on itself, making it impossible for her to speak but before she could feel inside her mouth her tongue had unravelled. 

The others must have experienced the same thing as Ron and Harry were making retching noises and Hermione stammered, "That m-must have b-been the T-tongue T-tying Curse Mad-eye set up for Snape!" 

Gingerly, Harry took another step forwards. Something shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, and before any of them could say another word, a figure had risen up out of the carpet: Hermione screamed and so did Mrs Black, her curtains flying open; the grey figure glided toward them fast and fast. Its hair was streaming behind it, its face sunken, fleshless with empty eye sockets. It was a horrific sight. It raised a wasted arm, pointing at Harry. 

"No!" Harry shouted and though he had raised his wand no spell occurred to him. "No! It wasn't us! We didn't kill you..." 

On the word 'kill' the figure exploded in a great cloud of dust: coughing, harry looked around to see Hermione crouched on the floor by the door with her arms covering her face and Elizabeth crouched by her with her arm around her. "It's all r-right... it's g-gone..." Ron stammered. 

Dust swirled around Harry like mist, catching the blue gaslight as Mrs Black continued to scream. 

"Mudbloods, filthy, stains of dishonour, the taint of shame on the house of my fathers-" 

"Shut up!" Elizabeth bellowed. A red orb shut the curtains again silencing her. 

"That... that was..." Hermione whimpered as Ron helped her to her feet. 

"Yeah," said Harry, "but it wasn't really him, was it? Just something to scare Snape."

"Before we go any further, I think we'd better check," whispered Hermione. She raised her wand and said, "Homenum Revelio."

Nothing happened. 

"Well, you've just had a big shock," said Ron kindly. "What was that supposed to do?" 

"It did what it was supposed to!" said Hermione rather angrily. "That was a spell to reveal the human presence, and there's nobody here except us!" 

"And old Dusty," said Ron glancing at the patch of carpet from which the corpse figure had risen. 

"Let's go up," said Elizabeth. She led the way up the creaking stairs to the drawing room on the first floor. Hermione waved her wand and lit the old gas lamps and perched herself on the sofa. Ron crossed the window and moved the heavy velvet curtain aside an inch.  

"Can't see anyone out there," he reported "And you'd think, if Harry still had a Trace on t+him, they'd have followed us here. I know they can't get in the house, but-" Harry had given a cry of pain. 

"Harry!" cried Elizabeth. "What's wrong?" His scar was burned again as something flashed across his mind like a bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt a fury that was not his own pound through his body, violent and brief as an electric shock. 

"What did you see?" Ron asked advancing on Harry. "Did you see my place?" 

"No, I just felt anger, he's really angry." 

"But that could be at the Burrow!" Ron thundered. "What else? Didn't you see anything? Was he cursing someone?" 

"No, I just felt anger... I couldn't tell." Harry felt confused and Hermione did not help. 

"Your scar, again? But I thought the connection closed?" 

"It did for a while," muttered Harry, his scar was still painful, which made it difficult to concentrate. "I... I think it's started opening again whenever he loses control, that's how it used to..."

"But then, you've got to close your mind!" said Hermione shrilly. "Harry, Dumbledore didn't want you to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it down, that's why you were supposed to use Occlumency! Otherwise, Voldemort can plant false images in your mind, remember..."

"Yeah, I do remember, thanks," said Harry through gritted teeth; he did not need Hermione to tell him that Voldemort had once the same connection between them to lead him into a trap, nor that it had resulted in Dave's death. 

He turned his back on the three, pretending to examine the old tapestry of the Black Family tree on the wall. Then Hermione shrieked; Harry drew his wand again and spun around to see a silver Patronus soar through the drawing-room window and land upon the floor in front of them, where it solidified into the weasel that spoke with the voice of Ron's father. 

"Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched." 

The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out a noise between a whimper and a groan, dropping on to the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm. 

"They're all right! They're all right!" she whispered, and Ron half laughed and hugged her. 

"Harry," he said over Hermione's shoulder "I..."

"It's not a problem," said Harry, sickened by the pain in his head, "It's your family, of course, you're worried. I'd feel the same way." He thought of Ginny and then looked at Elizabeth. "I do feel the same way." Of course, he knew Ginny was safe and he knew Elizabeth was safe but he couldn't help but feel like something horrible was going to happen to her. 

The pain in his scar was reaching a peak, burning as hard as it had done in the garden of the burrow. "I don't want to be on my own tonight, could we use the sleeping bags I brought and sleep in here tonight?" He faintly heard Hermione ask. 

"Of course, Hermione... Harry, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked, stepping towards Harry. 

"Bathroom," he muttered, and he left the room as fast as he could without running. 

He barely made it; bolting the door behind him with trembling hands, he grasped his pounding head and fell to the floor. 

"More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time ... You called me back for this, to tell me Harry and Elziabeth Potter have escaped again? Draco, give Rowle another taste of our displeasure... do it or feel my wrath yourself!" 

"Harry!" He jumped at the sound of Hermione's voice. "Do you want your toothbrush? I've got it here."

"Yeah, great, thanks," he said, fighting to keep his voice casual as he stood up to let her in.