ZERO

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It was easy to say that Olivia and James Potter were opposites. The older was a daring Gryffindor, an excellent quidditch player, charismatic, and sociable. The younger, however, was a loyal Hufflepuff, could hardly stay on a broom, soft-spoken and shy. One with a knack for mischief and the other knitting. Despite this, no one questioned if they were related even with James' hair being a shade darker, they could have been twins for all anyone cared.

Olivia enjoyed supporting her brother and letting him take the spotlight more than trying to occupy it. She remembered the first Quidditch game she'd watched. It was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff and James was a Chaser. James' friends agreed to let her sit with him, and she had never felt prouder of her big brother.  Gryffindor won because of her brother!

James hoped she'd taken up a natural talent for Quidditch, like he did, but that wouldn't be the case. They'd gone out to the Quidditch Pitch after breakfast one chilly fall morning. James showed her how to summon her broom, and after twenty minutes of impatience, Olivia simply picked it up.

"Okay, now this is the easy part! You just have to kick up off the ground!" James said excitedly once she'd mounted her broom.

Olivia did. She hovered three feet above the ground. For a moment she was doing it—she was flying! And then her and her broom came crashing to the ground. She wound up with a fractured wrist and James one night of detention. And a howler from their mother stating that if James put his little sister in harms way again, there would be consequences.

So, James kept his little sister, his Ollie, as safe as safe could be. He didn't break his promise, not once.

Or at least, not directly nor to his knowledge.

After a while, James's prank victims stopped retaliating on him. Snape, Avery, Malfoy, all of them, retaliated on Olivia instead. She never really minded the name calling, the threats. She knew they were cowards, they'd never follow through. And James was happy, so she kept quiet about it. 

The only one who really knew was her best friend, Mae. Mae said time and time again that they ought to tell James, or a Professor, or their parents. Someone. Olivia said no time and time again. She knew that all the adults were too busy worrying about Voldemort slowly gaining power. She also didn't want to worry James despite Mae's desire to gain his attention.

(The girl had a hopeless crush on him, but James had his heart forever set on Lily.)

Olivia refused to bother James on this subject and that was final.

She would stand by this until her brother pushed too far one Halloween night. He had humiliated the group of Slytherins who insulted his Lily-flower. And Olivia sat unsuspecting in an empty Transfiguration room waiting to face the wrath of Slytherin.

A Sweater for Redemption • DISCONTINUED Where stories live. Discover now