The Potter Ritual

Chapter Two: Heartless

Hadrian James Potter walked through the doorway of Four private drive, he was sweaty and tired as he had to walk from Kingscross to here, however, his face held a bright smile, despite being back. Harry couldn't wait to see his baby sister again, she was the only one in the house who actually cared about him, and he would be lost without her. He prayed that the pain he was feeling was just cus he was tired from walking and the sunburn, not his connection to his sister. He felt anxious as he didn't see his little sister in the front yard waiting for him, his smile soon dropped and he felt his stomach drop, she always ran up to him when he came up. Cautiously, ignoring the pounding in his head, his lips in a thin line as he entered the house.

Harry choked back a gag as the metallic smell of blood drifted into his nostrils as he walked up to the cupboard. Feeling the pit in his stomach grow deeper he opened the cupboard door. Harry felt his eyes well up with tears as he saw his baby sister bruised and battered on the old, dirty stained mattress, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, tears staining her gaunt cheeks,  Unruly curly auburn hair, oily and dirty, hanging sadly around her face and mattered in blood, The baggy shirt she had been wearing stuck to the bleeding sores on her back and arms covered in bruises ranging from yellow, to green to purple and Sapphire's honey-brown eyes haunted and bruised. Her face was scrunched in pain and her position looked as if she had just been tossed in - which she probably had been - Harry feared she were dead for a split second until he heard her soft cries.

Harry cursed himself, he knew she was hurting, he could feel it through their connection, but he always blamed it on quidditch injuries, or something else. Deep down he knew Sapphire would be hurt but no matter how hard he begged or how much proof he showed, Dumbledore didn't care, he never let them leave the Dursleys for good, he said that once Sapphire was 11, so next term, they could live with Padfoot and Moony, but he didn't care that they were hurt, they didn't care his baby sister was being hurt.

"Sapphire" Harry sighed sadly, his voice thick and unsteady, trying to stop the flow of his own tears as he scooped the fragile girl into his arms, his school supplies left forgotten in the hallway.

Sapphire curled up to her older brother, whimpering softly, as she hid her arm in her chest, her free hand clenched the fabric of Harry's shirt, her bruised face was hidden. Harry frowned felt the throbbing of Sapphire's arm on his, his entire body was throbbing, parts having shooting pains while others were stabbingly sharp, even his hair hurt, he could only imagine how hurt Sapphire was 

"Fire? what happened to your arm?" He asked, focusing on what he could only imagine was horrid injuries.

He felt dread flood his body, from what he saw she was already in a bad way with a dislocated shoulder, and what he guessed were several broken bones, as they were physically closer he could feel her pain more. He had seen her after 'baths' where Petunia had tried to drown her, he'd put more of her joints back in place than he cared to remember, he held her as she sobbed and had unmatted her hair. She never hid an injury from him so he could only imagine what was there. The Dursleys had always been horridly cruel to them, and it made Harry wish he hadn't returned to Hogwarts that year, that way maybe he could've protected his baby sister. Sapphire shook her head, another wave of tears overflowing onto her cheeks, she started to tremble softly, nuzzling further into Harry's chest

"Please, show me?" Harry asked, shushing her gently,

He slowly and carefully pulled Sapphire's arm from her chest. Harry's heart broke even more as he tried to ignore the whimpers, Sapphire winced as her arm was moved causing Harry to utter apologies, he had to hold back his own sob as he saw what was written on her arm.

The word freak, etched deeply into her skin.

Harry pulled her into a soft hug as he hid his face in her hair so she wouldn't him crying, and Harry, not for the first time, wished for someone to come save them, and for him to be able to stop and save the pain she felt. He had failed, whenever he came home Sapphire was always bruised and hurt, her hair always matted, he remembered when he came home from his first year to learn that his baby sister had learnt how to pop her own joints back into place. This was different, worse because she didn't beam up at him when she first saw him, she always waited in the front yard for him, but this time, she couldn't even pop her arm back. His breath choked from my body and his mind felt like it was short-circuiting.

"Let's get you cleaned up" Harry muttered, subtly wiping his tears away as he stood up and reached out his hand for her to hold and he helped her to her feet. His own legs felt like jelly, he couldn't even tell what he was feeling, a numb rage filled his body, he was running on autopilot, it was like he was stuck in a horrid nightmare but it was real - even if it didn't feel real- it was real.

"But w-what about m-master-" Sapphire whimpered brokenly, her voice weak, barely a whisper, her voice broke into silence. Her brown-doe eyes glossed over with tears as she looked fearfully up at her brother. Harry had to stop himself from growling. 

"His name is Vernon, and he is not your master, nobody is, alright?" Harry said, barely able to conceal the rage in his voice.

He turned around and cupping her bruised face in his bigger hands, staring into her eyes to try and make sure she understood him. Sapphire gave a small nod with a shy smile, Harry smiled at her and turned back around, taking her smaller hand in his, then the two left the room. Hary felt her slow down and turned around, softly picked her up, and placed her on his hip, some may think it's weird that he was able to pick her up like a toddler, but she weighed absolutely nothing, plus he started puberty and shot up, and with quidditch, he had gained muscle.

"Get that  freak out of my sight!" Vernon snapped, purple face as he saw Sapphire. The young girl tensed up on Harry's hip, hiding her head in his neck, Harry growled protectively as he felt her tears hit his neck. 

"She's not a freak" Harry tightened his grip on his sister protectively, and gently stroked her hair in an effort to calm her down.

"She is! aren't you freak, a good-for-nothing freak don't you agree with me freak?" Vernon asked sadistically,

Vernon chuckleded at Sapphire who was now shaking like a leaf, her eyes went blank as she answered him in a disconnected voice that sent chill's down Harry's spine.

"Yes, Freak is a good for nothing freak," 

Vernon smirked smugly as he suddenly lept forward and grabbed Sapphire by her hair, he pulled her out of Harry's grip and kicked Harry in his knee when Harry fell Vernon then kicked him in his eye then dropped Sapphire to the floor. Vernon kicked her in the ribs multiple times, before grabbing the young girl by her throat, spitting in her face, and threw her across the room. A blood-curdling scream escaped Sapphire's lips as she compacted against the wall

"STOP IT! DONT HURT HER" Harry bellowed, standing up unsteady on his hurt knee, and withdrew his wand and aimed it at his uncle, growling quietly.

"You're not allowed to do magic outside of school," Vernon said smugly, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice.

Vernon slowly stalked towards Harry, mockingly raising his hands in surrender, laughing as he saw Harry's eyes glistening with tears. Petunia was also laughing, but at Sapphire who was crying, unmoving from where she was thrown, Dudley had started spitting on her and kicking her, Petunia clapped and laughed, congratulating her son

"I don't care, she's my little sister, I love her with everything I have. She is worth going to Azkaban for, she is worth the world," Harry hissed dangerously at his Uncle, who then stepped back his now eyes wide. "You laugh, YOU LAUGH" Harry screamed manically.

The air was dangerously quiet, only being broken up by Sapphire's whimpers, Dudley had stopped his assault on Sapphire when he saw the wand, then a loud bang, followed by a thud echoed around the house, which caused Petunia and Dudley to huddle and hide behind the couch. Four figures stood in the doorway for a second, processing the scene before them, before darting forwards. Harry ignored the intruders that had pulled out their wands pointing them at Vernon, instead he ran over to Sapphire and cradled her in his arms, gently tears forming in his eyes and cascading down his face, and held her close to his chest.

"H-Har-ry?" Sapphire croaked, voice interrupted by hiccups, her body shaking terribly and tears staining her pale face, glistening eyes that pulled at Harry's heartstrings. 

"Shh, it's alright, just, keep your eyes open yeah?" Harry shushed her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead, running his fingers as best he could through her matte hair.

"Harry i-its not a b-big deal, h-he has d-done worse" Sapphire croaked again, her voice breaking of as she talked, looking into her brother's wet emerald eyes seemed to cause her to breakdown in a fit of sobs. Harry cried quietly with her, neither noticing as the four adults stunned the Dursleys and ran up to them.