A flash of bright green light blinds me. Pure, true terror washes over me. Then there's another flash of green light, this one even brighter. My vision goes white, then black.
I bolt awake with a scream, clawing at the sheets that trap me to the bed. But then I freeze, remembering reality. I press a hand to my heart, which pounds frantically against my chest. The odd lightning bolt scar at on my left hand sears with pain.
"Rory?! Rory, are you alright?" my father gasps, bursting into the room with his wand at the ready.
"I'm fine. Just another nightmare, Dad, I promise," I say, panting. He lowers his wand and sits on the bed next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes that makes you feel better," he says, his pale face warm and kind despite the constant look of exhaustion.
"It was the same one, with the green light. It's always that one, and then my scar starts to hurt. Why? What's with this scar?" I ask. No matter how many times I ask, he will never tell me why I have the exact same scar as the famous Harry Potter, but on my hand rather than my forehead.
He sighs. "Get dressed, Rory. There's a letter for you downstairs, and I have to tell you something afterwards."
"Oh, Godric, is it my Hogwarts letter?!" I squeal.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is," Dad says. I punch a fist in the air, grinning from ear to ear.
"Finally!"
"By the way, happy birthday," Dad says. I giggle.
"Thanks!"
He gets up and leaves the room so I can get dressed in private, closing the door with a soft click. I quickly pull on my outfit for today, my emotions mixed. I'm partially excited because I can go to Hogwarts, but confused and a bit worried about what Dad wanted to talk to me about. Afterwards, I go slowly downstairs, putting on my glasses and clipping on the pendent necklace I always wear. It's a teardrop shaped rose quartz pendent with swirls of gold around the edges to hold it to the chain. It's also the only thing I have left from my mother, even though I never knew her. Dad says she died shortly after I was born.
"Rory! There you are, I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost," Dad smiles. He holds up two plates. "Look, I made pancakes!"
"Thanks, Dad. You're the best," I say, plopping down and taking a plate.
"Here you are, love. Your Hogwarts letter," he says, handing me an envelope. It's thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment. There's no stamp, and it's addressed in green ink:
Miss R. Potter . . .
"Potter? Dad, they've got my name wrong, shouldn't it be Miss R. Lupin? I'm not a Potter!"
"Rory, love, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," he says. "I don't know how to out this lightly, but I am not your real father."
"Stop joking, Dad, of course you're my real father!" I say, but I can't help but feel a twinge of doubt.
"No, I'm not joking, Rory. You see, your mother and father died mere months after you and your twin brother were born."
"I've got a twin brother now? What next?! This isn't funny, Dad," I say. But the twinge of doubt grows into a pang.
"Your real parents were murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named. You see, your parents are Lily and James Potter. And your twin brother is Harry Potter. I have told you the story of Harry Potter, correct?"
"Yes," I say softly. What he says is starting to make sense.
"You see, I've left a part of that out. Rory, that part is you. You are the Girl who Lived. You and your twin brother were but one year old when you survived He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named's killing curse. That scar on your left hand? You were left with that: the exact same scar the Harry Potter has. That pendent? Look on the back. Evgraved into it are the words: To my daughter Rory. ~L. Potter."
I flip my necklace over and gape at the words I had never noticed. "L. Potter . . . Lily Potter . . . my mother," I whisper. Then I look at my scar. The lightning bolt remains as noticeable as ever. "The scar . . . "
"See? I speak the truth. You are Rory Potter, the Girl who Lived."
"But if you're not my father, then who are you?" I ask, glancing up at the man I used to know as "Dad."
"I am Remus Lupin; you know that. Your father was one of my best mates when I went to Hogwarts. I am your guardian. Call me . . . Moony."
"Moony?" I ask. "Is that because of the whole you-being-a-werewolf thing?"
"It's a nickname your father and our friends had for me in school," Moony says. He looks into the distance, like he's trying to collect himself. I understand. He's asking me to call him somethimg he hasn't been called in a long time, probably since my parents died. And my father may have been the one who made it up.
"And what about Harry? My brother, where is he? Why isn't he with us? Why were we separated?" I ask. A million questions buzz through my mind, threatening to explode forth any moment. "Is he a wizard, too?"
"Slow down, Rory," Moony says. "Okay, to answer your questions: Yes, he's a wizard. You were separated because I could only care for one of you, and it was Dumbledore's orders. You know Dumbledore, correct?"
"The headmaster of Hogwarts," I say. "Yes, I know him."
"It was decided that you would stay with me and Harry would go to live with your aunt, uncle, and their child. He has lived there ever since."
"Does Harry know I exist? Does he know he's a wizard? Does he know that he . . . er, we are famous? Does he know about what Voldemort did to our parents - ?"
"Okay, enough for now. I can only answer so many questions at once," Moony says.
"Sorry, Da - er . . . Moony," I stumble. He chuckles and then continues to speak.
"Harry knew nothing of you, magic, You-Know-Who, or your parents until earlier today. Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, has told him. He owled me this morning."
"Why did neither of us know anything? Why haven't we visited him?"
"Harry lives with Muggles - " Moony starts.
"Muggles?! Why?! Muggles . . . " I spit, cutting him off. "My brother, my famous brother; Harry Potter, for Merlin's sake, lives with Muggles!?"
"The worst kind. They hate anything and everything magic. But Harry wasn't told because he lives with Muggles, and you weren't told because Dumbledore ordered me not to. To keep both of you safe. We haven't visited, again, because of the Muggles."
"When will I meet him? He's going to Hogwarts this year, too, right?" I ask.
"Yes, he's going to Hogwarts too. And you will get to meet him tomorrow, when we go to Diagon Alley to get your Hogwarts school supplies."
"TOMORROW!?" I shriek in happiness. "Tomorrow, I get to meet my twin brother. Tomorrow, I'm no longer Rory Lupin. I'm Rory Potter."
"You can be Rory Potter today, if you'd like," Moony says. I giggle, but otherwise ignore the comment.
"Thank you for telling me," I say, becoming serious once more.
"Think not of it. Again, it was Dumbledore's orders," Moony says. "Now, why don't you go take a shower or freshen up; we've got guests coming soon."
"The Weasley's?" I ask excitedly. "Tonks?"
"You'll see," Moony says. I raise my eyebrows at him, but he says nothing more, so I go upstairs. I splash my face with water and look in the mirror, pondering myself due to what has just occurred. I have clear, creamy-coloured skin, big, bright green eyes, and a delicate nose and eyebrows. My long, wavy hair is such a darl shade of brown that it's almost black, but not quite. My body is small and thin. I guess if you had to choose two words to describe me, it would be delicate and feminine.
Although I'm quite the contrary most times. We visit the Weasleys very often, and I always wrestle with the boys, and play Quidditch on hand-me-down broomsticks. Ron and I are best friends, and he's going to Hogwarts this year too. I really, really want to be in Gryffindor, and Moony says that I'm bound to be. My life's dream is to play a Chaser at Hogwarts. Someday, I will.
I finish thinking hard, then brush my teeth and comb my hair. I take one last, long look in the mirror and leave the bathroom, slowly walking downstairs. When I enter the kitchen, nobody's there. However, a bunch of party decorations (set up by magic, I presume) are put up, and a cake that could not have been baked by anyone other than Mrs Weasley is set on the counter.
"Hello? Anyone here? Moony, where'd you go?" I call, even though I'm onto them. A surprise party with the Weasleys.
"SURPRISE!" everyone yells, popping out of their hiding places. I squeal in delight, then hug everyone. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Percy, the twins, Ron, and Ginny all grin at me.
"Happy birthday, dear," Mrs Weasley says. Then the door opens and Tonks comes tumbling in.
"Surprise! I hope I'm not too late, am I?" she says, straightening up and brushing her lavender-coloured hair out of her face.
"TONKS!" I squeal. "I haven't seen you in forever, how are you?"
"I'm great," she says, hugging me. "And what about you, birthday girl? It hasn't been forever, you stayed with me last month for a few days."
"I'm doing awesome, because everyone is here. But that was last month!" I say, looking around the room happily.
"Quidditch, anyone?" asks Fred, holding up a bunch of brooms.
"Yeah!" Ron says, grabbing my arm. "Come on, Rory! You, me and Ginny against Fred and George!"
"Yeah!" Fred cheers. "Prepare to lose, you three."
"You're on, Weasley," I say. We run outside and I grab some balls from the shed.
"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you, Lupin," Fred fires back.
"Potter, you mean," I say happily. Fred, George, Ron and Ginny stare.
"Who told you?" Ron finally asks.
"Moony told me this morning," I say, but at their confused expressions, I say, "Remus told me this morning. I call him Moony now."
"You seem awfully . . . calm considering he just told you this morning," George observes.
"Oh yes. It's not a big deal, really," I say. "Took me a while to believe him, but . . . here I am: Rory Annabelle Potter."
"Wow. Actually meeting you as Rory Potter is scary," Ginny says. I hug her.
"I'm still the same Rory!" I say. "Even though I'm famous, I'm still your friend."
"Of course. Now, ITS QUIDDITCH TIME!" Fred yells comically. Everyone grabs a broom and mounts it, shooting into the sky.
An hour and a half later, we return to the adults for lunch, laughing and pink-faced, our clothing and hair rumpled and windblown. For lunch we have Mrs Weasley's delicious pasta and meatballs, then birthday cake. Afterwards, we have birthday presents.
"You guys didn't have to," I protest as Mrs Weasley hands me two wrapped packages.
"But we wanted to, dear," she says.
"You are all so nice," I say, unwrapping one of them. Its Mrs Weasley's delicious treacle fudge. "Oh, my gosh! You made treacle fudge just for me?"
"Molly knows you love it, Rory," Mr Weasley says with a grin. The other package contains a gold bracelet with a little cat charm on it. I squeak in delight.
"A cat! Oh, my gosh, thank you so so much! Cats are my favourite animals!" I squeal.
"It was Ron and Ginny's idea," Fred says.
"Here," Tonks says, handing me an oddly shaped package. "I'm not very good at wrapping, but that was the best I could do."
I laugh, looking at the lopsided wrapping paper. "Its better that what you gave Moony at Christmas last year," I giggle. Tonks buries her face in her hands as I open the gift. Its a big leather messenger bag.
"I thought, since you were going to Hogwarts this year, that it would be helpful," Tonks says proudly. "And you don't have to buy one now."
"Thank you Tonks!" I say, hugging her. Moony hands me a few big yellow candles.
"I didn't have time to wrap them, but they were lemon, and I know you love lemon," he says. I grin.
"That's okay! Thank you all so much! You're all really kind to do all this for me," I say. Mrs Weasley beams.
"Its not a big deal, dear. We just thought it would be a nice thing to do," she says. I thank everyone again, and then Mrs Weasley announces that they should get going, as they're going to Diagon Alley today. Tonks agrees and say that she has to work. I bid everyone goodbye as they leave.
"Bye Ron, see you at Hogwarts," I say, hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"See you at Hogwarts, Potter," Fred says with a flirtatious wink. I roll my eyes.
"Later, Weasley," I say, hugging him.
"What, no kiss on the cheek for me?" Fred asks, faking he's offended.
"See you, George. Goodbye Percy and Arthur. And no, no kiss for you, Freddie," I say. He looks shocked that I addressed him by his first name.
"See you later, Rory. Maybe before you go to Hogwarts," Tonks says, then she addresses Moony. "When's the next full moon?"
"The nineteenth," he says.
"See you on the nineteenth, Tonks," I say with a grin. She smiles back.
"See you on the nineteenth, Rory," she says.
YOU ARE READING
Rory Potter, the Girl Who Lived
ספרות חובביםRory Potter is Harry's twin sister, but she doesn't know it. After Lord Voldemort killed her parents, she and Harry were separated. Under Albums Dumbledore's orders, Remus Lupin raised her as Rory Lupin, and leaves her out when he tells her the lege...
