(1) The Other Potter (D. Malfoy)

Chapter Fourteen

The compartment is rather quiet. Daisy has no interest in making conversation and Harry and Ron have no idea what to say to one another. Yet. Whoever thought it was a good idea for eleven-year-olds to sit on a train for hours alone didn't know eleven years olds very well. They can be socially awkward and self-consciousness can start to creep in. It was easier when they were young to talk to strangers, but they are at that age now when they pause more. Worry more. Harry lets out a breath, scratching at his jeans before he tries.

"Are all your family wizards?" He asks Ron who nods a little in answer.

"Er...yes, I think so. I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him" Ron answers and shrugs a little.

"So you must know loads of magic already" Harry continues. Ron pulls a face. Not sure of the answer to that. Compared to someone like his parents, he doesn't know much, but compared to someone like Harry, then yes, maybe.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles, what are they like?" Ron asks. Harry glances at Daisy who raises an eyebrow back at him. Not sure what that look is about. She tilts her head and Harry turns back to Ron.

"Horrible" Harry admits. Daisy glances at him. "Well, not all of them" Harry corrects himself, thinking about Grayson, Elena and Jeremy. They've been really nice to him. Daisy was really lucky she was placed with them instead of Vernon and Petunia. It makes him feel slightly jealous. Wondering how different things would have been if he had been placed with her. If they had been kept together. It would have been better, he knows that. It would have been easier. Everything would have been easier. Grayson and Magnolia feel like better parents already and he's only spent a few hours with them. "If I had been with Daisy...." Ron glances between the two of them.

"You weren't together?" He asks, and Harry shakes his head in answer. Ron frowns and Daisy can understand the confusion. It is something that still confuses her. It would have made more sense for them to be raised together. But one thing does stick out as a giveaway that she and Harry were not raised side by side. She leans forward a little.

"The accents didn't give it away?" She asks. She is an American, her accent reflects that, as does Harry's British accent. Ron shrugs a little.

"So who did you...?" Ron starts and then stops, seemingly thinking better of the question.

"Aunts and uncles" Harry answers. "Just...different ones" Daisy hums in agreement as she pulls her legs up to tuck underneath herself.

"Sooo" Daisy draws out. "Were those your only brothers?" Ron shakes his head.

"No" He mumbles. "Got five of them" He admits but it does get him talking to fill the space. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat" Ron then reaches into his jacket to pull out a fat greying rat which lays floppy in his hand, fast asleep. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff..." Ron stops himself. "I mean, I got Scabbers instead" He corrects himself, blushing at the slip-up. Harry glances at Daisy who is watching Ron. She understands what he was trying to say but she doesn't know what that's like. She's had anything she could ever ask for, except the unicorn she'd asked for when she was five, but at the time, she had no idea that they were real, she was just a kid who wanted a rainbow unicorn. Harry nods though, as if he understands. Daisy watches him as he tells Ron all about how little he had with Petunia. She feels terrible about it and she knows that Magnolia would feel just as bad if she knew. Magnolia has proven to be a very good mother and she would have taken Harry in without question, just as she had Daisy. She would have treated Harry as just another one of her children, and he wouldn't have had nothing. He wouldn't have been treated like a pet they never wanted. It actually makes Daisy so angry. That no one thought that they should be together. That no one else thought that it would be a good idea to keep twins together. Petunia and Vernon were horrible to him. Worse than horrible to him. They abused him. They were supposed to take care of him and they failed, miserably. Daisy wonders if Magnolia knew she'd be more forceful in bringing Harry home with them at the end of the year.

".....and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Daisy or Voldemort..." Harry is still talking to Ron, but the redhead's sudden gasp stops him. Ron looks around to see if anyone heard Harry, but considering that there are the only ones in this compartment, there is no one else to hear. "What?" Harry asks, surprised by Ron's outburst.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron answers. "I'd have thought you, of all people..."

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," Harry argues. "I just never knew you shouldn't" Harry looks at Daisy, silently asking her if she knew. She shrugs a little. She knew, but she never really cared about that 'rule', though she was always careful about asking Magnolia about him, considering he took her sister from her, it was always going to be a powerful and hurtful memory for her. Harry turns back to Ron. "See what I mean? I've got loads to learn...I bet," Harry leans back in his seat. "I bet I'm the worst in the class"

"You won't be" Daisy argues, giving him a look. "There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough...." She adds and shrugs. Harry glances at her and smiles softly.