The Blood Traitor || Oc x Oc

That Sibling Connection

The Weasley's, the Potter twins, Dante, and Hermione had been sent home early for Christmas after the unexpected attack on Mr. Weasley. Of course, Harry had refused to come out of his room since they got back. He wouldn't let anyone come and see the state he was in, not even his own sister. He was afraid that he would hurt her as well, the way he had hurt Mr. Weasley. 

"Harry, c'mon! Let's go! We're about to have Christmas dinner." 

"I'm not hungry," Harry interjected quickly. He avoided having any sort of direct eye contact with his sister. He did not want her to see that he had lied to her face. 

He was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since they came back to Grimmauld Place. Of course, Sera had noticed his lack of interest in food. He always at something. She sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed, giving her brother an intense stare, one that her brother could not ignore. Finally, Harry had the sense to look up at her. 

"Harry, I know that you're lying to me," she warned. 

"How do you know?" he shot back. He continued to look anywhere else but at her. 

"You don't look at me when you're lying. You're a terrible liar, brother. Tell me what's on your mind." 

Her brother sighed, playing with his hands. 

"It's just that . . . . ever since we came back from the Burrow, I've felt like I — Sera, I feel like I'm becoming a bad person. That snake that I saw attacking Mr. Weasley, that wasn't any snake, Sis. That was me." He looked down and sighed sadly. "I just feel so guilty. I feel like, if I come anywhere near someone I love, I'll hurt them." 

Sera sighed sadly before taking her brother's hands in hers. "Harry? I want you to listen to me. Okay? I want you to listen to your sister. You are not a bad person. You are a very good person who has bad things happen to them sometimes. What matters is the part we choose to act on. I know that you're not dumb, Harry. You're smarter than that. Okay? It's not your fault with what happened to Mr. Weasley. That was Voldemort's doing. Don't blame yourself, okay? Don't beat yourself up about it." 

Harry nodded. He felt so much better after having his sister guide and reassure him. She opened her arms out for a hug, which he gladly took. He didn't want to let go of his sister. 

"Are you ready to go down, now? We're all waiting on you," said Sera. 

Harry sighed and nodded reluctantly. He didn't want to go downstairs, but he knew that he wouldn't have any choice. By the time they got downstairs, everyone was beginning to exchange gifts. 

"Oh, Harry and Sera! I was beginning to get worried! I thought that neither of you would never come down!" said Mrs. Weasley, who sounded relieved. She came over with two packages. Sera already knew that they came with two new Weasley sweaters. It was a tradition for the Weasley family that Sera wouldn't get tired of. She smiled her thanks. 

Everyone became quiet, however, when Mr. Weasley raised his glass of wine. 

"I want to give a special thanks to Mr. Harry Potter, whom I would not be here. Harry!" 

Everyone made their toast with Sirius lingering behind. 

***

Shortly after their return to Hogwarts for the Spring semester, Dante had headed down to the Great Hall first thing with his latest copy of the Daily Prophet. As he read the headline, his stomach knotted and furled uncomfortably. 

The news of his malicious aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, breaking out of Azkaban made him extremely worried. She knew that the evil witch would be up to no good once she was back in England. He knew that she would try to find her nephew and get him to come join the Dark Side once more. 

He knew that would never happen. He wasn't that dumb. He had made his promise a long time ago that he would never turn to the Dark Side, even if it mean that he would be tortured. He'd rather die than join the Dark Side. 

"Dumbledore warned Fudge that this could happen," Hermione whispered bitterly. "I mean, now look what's happened. He's going to get us all killed if he doesn't face the truth of Voldemort's return."

"Sera? Harry?" said a nervous voice of Seamus Finnegan. The four friends turned to face Seamus, who had gotten up from his seat. "I — er — I wanted to apologize for my behavior. Now me Mum is saying that the Prophet's version doesn't seem to add up. So, what I'm really trying to say is that . . . . I believe you." 

The hatred and dislike that Sera had shown towards Seamus since his unnecessary fight with Harry at the beginning of their fifth year seemed to have ebbed away. The tension in her shoulders relaxed, and she finally managed to give Seamus a grateful smile. 

"Thanks, Seamus. We really appreciate it. That does mean a lot." 

"So, Dean's been telling me about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons away from Professor Umbridge. When does classes start?" 

"This afternoon, in the Room of Requirement. Come and meet us there and we'll have a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts class." 

Seamus stuck his hand out for Sera to shake, which she gratefully returned. Now feeling better than ever, and feeling extremely elated, she found herself sitting across from Dante, who still had a stony, still expression on his face. 

The happy feeling that Sera had earlier seemed to fade at once when she noticed how dull and blank his eyes seemed to be. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Dante? What is it?" 

He didn't respond. Instead, he sighed heavily and shoved over the Daily Prophet without a word, still on the page with Bellatrix Lestrange. Startled, Sera took the Daily Prophet and read the section to herself. Now, instead of feeling happy and elated like she had been moments before when Seamus had finally admitted the truth, she felt angry. 

"That evil bitch!" she finally fumed, a little too loudly, as she threw down the Daily Prophet out of anger.

 Several students looked over in their direction, a little confused. No one knew about Dante's past except for Sera, her brother, Hermione, and the Weasleys. Sera understood that he didn't want his past to get out into the world just yet. He was still incredibly insecure about his past. 

When she looked up at Dante again, she could see that he had tears of fear forming in his eyes. She could tell that he was terrified of this woman's return. Dante never cried, unless he was scared or if he was missing his parents big time. 

"I'm sorry for my outburst," she added quietly. "I'm just mad that she's back, that's all." Dante nodded, refusing to look her in the eye. "And just know that I'm always here to protect you, Dante. Never forget that."