Rory Potter, the Girl Who Lived

Meeting a Lost Twin

"Rory, love, wake up. We're leaving for Diagon Alley in two hours and you aren't even up yet," Moony says. I bolt upright, throwing off the sheets.
"And I get to meet my brother!" I shriek.
"Yes, you do. Get ready now," Moony says, chuckling.
"Okay," I say. Moony leaves the room, and I go over to my bathroom. I take a shower and dry my hair, then get dressed. I put on my favourite outfit: loose fit jeans that are just a bit too long, and a white tee shirt. My rose quartz necklace, my big glasses, and sandals completes the look. I put on just a bit of lemon-scented perfume (I'm obsessed with lemon) and head downstairs for breakfast.
"You've got your supplies list, correct?" Moony asks as I grab a bagel and put it in the toaster.
"Yeah, its with my letter," I say.
"Good. Wouldn't want to lose that."
"I'm not that unorganized," I tell him, grabbing the jar of peanut butter and I knife. I spread the peanut butter slowly, thinking hard about what might happen today.

Two hours later, Moony calls me to the kitchen.
"Alright. We're going to get going now. Is apparating okay with you?" he asks.
"Yeah. Can we stop in the Leaky Cauldron and get a butterbeer? Harry and . . . Hagrid, you said?"
"Hagrid, yes."
"They should be arriving the Muggle, way, right? So through the pub. We can meet them there."
"That would be fine. Let's go. Hold on tight, love," Moony says. I grab his elbow with both hands, and he apparates us to the Leaky Cauldron, a small pub that serves as an entrance to Diagon Alley. Today will be my first time. Whenever Moony goes, I always stay behind. Now I know the reason: to keep my true identity hidden from me.
"Rory, love, you can let go now, we're here," Moony says.
"Remus! How lovely to see you! What would you like?" the bartender asks. He's quite bald, and frankly looks like a toothless walnut.
"Two butterbeers, Tom," Moony says. "I'm taking my goddaughter Rory to Diagon Alley today. She starts at Hogwarts in September."
"Good Lord," says Tom the bartender, peering at me, "the Rory Potter?"
The Leaky Cauldron suddenly goes completely silent. Everyone is staring at me, and a lady with a pipe is still puffing on it, not realizing that is has gone out.
"Bless my soul," whispers Tom, "Rory Potter . . . what an honor."
He hurries out from behind the bar towards me and seizes my hand, tears in his eyes. My face turns red in embarrassment.
"Welcome back, Miss Potter, welcome back."
I don't know what to say. Everyone is still looking at me.
Then there is a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, I find myself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Doris Crockford, Miss Potter, I can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So happy, Miss Potter, I'm just so happy."
"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."
I shake hands again and again - everyone keeps coming back for more.
A pale young man makes his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes is twitching.
"M-miss P-P-Potter," stammers the man, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you. I t-t-teach at Hogwarts. D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts."
About ten minutes later everyone has calmed down a bit, and my face is no longer red. Then the door opens. A giant of a man steps in. He has tangled dark hair and a tangled dark beard. He's so tall his head scrapes the ceiling, and he wears a coat that looks like its made entirely out of pockets. A boy is with him, and I know instantly who he is. Harry Potter. My twin brother. We look the same, but opposite genders, from dark hair to big glasses.
The people at the pub react the exact same way as they did when I walked in. About fifteen minutes later, the huge man approaches. He and Moony shake hands. Harry and I stare at each other silently as the adults watch us. Finally I clear my throat.
"Hello, Harry. Nice to meet you," I say, sticking out my hand. He looks from my face to my hand to the scar on my hand.
"Enough with this formal, shaking-hands act. You're my sister, and I haven't seen you in eleven years," Harry says. He opens his arms. I freeze for a moment, then throw myself at him and wrap my arms around him.
"Harry!" I gasp, shutting my eyes tight to keep from crying. But it doesn't work. Tears roll down my face as we hold each other tight. Everyone at the pub bursts into applause.
"The Potter twins reunited at last!" someone cries, but I don't really notice.
"It should have been me. Living with the Muggles. And you living with with Moony," I say through my tears.
"No," Harry says, "I'm glad it was you, Rory. I don't think I could bear it if I knew my sister was living with those awful Muggles."
"Oh, Harry," I whisper. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I'm here now," he says. I pull away, and he holds me at arm's length.
"It's so good to see you," I tell him, pulling off my glasses and wiping my tears away.
"It's so good to see you, too," he says with a smile.
"Alright, if you two are done, we'd better get going," Moony says. I laugh quietly.
"Harry, this is Remus Lupin, my guardian. I call him Moony," I say. They shake hands.
"And this is Hagrid," Harry says.
"Nice ter meet yeh, Rory," Hagrid says, shaking my whole arm with one of his giant hands. The adults lead us out back of the pub and to a brick wall. Moony counts the bricks with his wand.
"Rory, Harry, stand back," he says. Then he taps the brick three times with his wand.
The brick he touches quivers - it wriggles - in the middle a small hole appears - it grows wider and wider - a second later we're facing an archway large enough for even Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twists and turns out of sight.
"Welcome," says Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
"Bloody hell," I murmur, and Moony and Hagrid chuckle as we step through the archway. I look quickly over my shoulder and see the archway shrink instantly back into a solid wall.
The sun shines brightly on a stack of cauldrons, but a quiet shop across the street catches my eye. A pet shop. A sign outside says: Owls - Cats - Rats - Toads.
"Moony, can I get a cat?" I ask excitedly.
"Later, Rory, we haven't even got your money yet. You and Harry share a vault, so that makes everything easier," Moony says sternly.
We make our way up the street, and I grab Harry's hand to keep from lost. We examine Diagon Alley with identical pairs of bright green eyes. And we talk excitedly; About us, about magic, about Diagon Alley, about what pet we want, everything. I explain Quidditch to him, and the houses at Hogwarts . . .
"Gringotts," says Hagrid, breaking up our conversation.
We've reached a snowy white building that towers over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors wearing a uniform of scarlet is a goblin. Harry and I whisper excitedly as we follow Moony and Hagrid into the marble building.
"Like I said, Harry, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," Hagrid says.
We walk up to a long counter, where about a hundred goblins sit on tall stools, working quietly. Moony and Hagrid walk up to a free goblin and exchange a few words. Finally, a goblin named Griphook leads us towards set of silver doors, which he holds open for us. We're now in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. Griphook whistles and a large cart comes hurdling towards us. We all load in - then we're off.
I shriek in joy and grab onto Harry as we hurdle downwards and through a twisting maze of passages. Left and right, around and down. Final we come to a halt. Hagrid gets out quickly and leans on the wall, looking a bit green. I step up and jump up and down, my heart beating fast.
"Again!" I squeal, punching a fist in the air.
Griphook unlocks a door. A lot of green smoke comes billowing out, and when it clears, I gasp. Mounds of golden Galleons. Columns of sikver Sickles. Heaps of bromze Knut's.
"All of it belongs to the two of you," Moony smiles.
I glance at Harry, saying, "That's a lot of money."
He nods, and Moony helps us pile it into two bags.
"Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please," Hagrid says.
We load back onto the cart and I shriek in joy the whole way as we speed deeper and deeper underground. When we stop, I notice that vault seven hundred and thirteen has no keyhole. Griphook orders everyone to stand back, then strokes the door with one of his long fingers. It simply melts away. Hagrid steps inside and picks up the vault's only content: a grubby package wrapped in brown paper. He tucks it into his coat and we hurdle back above ground.
"That," I say, "was awesome." I look at Moony. "We should go to Gringotts more often."
Hagrid looks at me, then addresses Moony, saying, "That one's gonna be a Gryffindor, she is."
I giggle. "Gryffindor is the best house."
"Let's get your uniforms, you two," Moony says, gesturing at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Hagrid and Moony head off to get some ice cream while Harry and I get our robes.
Madam Malkin turns out to be a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.
"Hogwarts, dears?" she asks.
We nod and she brings us to the back of the shop, where a pale boy with white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes stands on a footstool. A second witch pins up his long black robes. My first impression is, Oh, he's kinda cute.
Madam Malkin has me stand on a stool next to him as she pins my own robes, and another person pins up Harry's.
"Hello," says the boy, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yes," I say, glancing at him. His icy eyes look me up and down.
"Do you know which house you'll be in?" he asks.
"I think Gryffindor. At least that's what Hagrid says," I say.
"I know I'll be Slytherin, all of my family has been," he says. My second impression is, Oh, he seems a bit full of himself.
"Mmm," I say, not really caring.
"I say, look at that man!" says the boy suddenly, pointing to the front window. Hagrid waves at Harry and I, holding up three ice cream cones.
"That's Hagrid," Harry says.
"The Hagrid that said you would be in Gryffindor?" the boy asks.
"Yes," I say, "he told me after we got off the carts at Gringotts because I wanted to go on them more often. They're fun."
"He works at Hogwarts, doesn't he? Sort of savage, I've heard," the boy says.
"I think he's brilliant," Harry says coldly. I almost slap myself for thinking that the boy was cute earlier. He's a stuck up git. But he still looks cute.
"Hmph," says the boy. "You two are with him? Why? Where are your parents?"
I press my lips together and look at Harry.
"They're dead," Harry says shortly, putting a hand on my arm. I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to pull myself together.
"Oh, sorry," the boy says, but he doesn't seem to care at all. I can practically feel Harry send him a death glare over the top of my head. "What's your name, anyhow?"
"You're done now," Madam Malkin says. I hop off the stool and pay for my robes. Harry steps down and pays or his, then he puts an arm around my shoulder, sensing my sadness at the mention of our parents.
"Well, see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," the boy says.
"See you at Hogwarts," I echo halfheartedly.
Harry leads me outside to where Moony and Hagrid are waiting. They notice my sad expression, and Moony asks, "What's wrong, Rory?"
"The boy in the shop asked us about our parents," Harry explains when I say nothing.
"Here, love, have an ice cream. It makes everything better," Moony says, handing me a cone (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).
Afterwards, we buy our school books at a place called Flourish and Blott's. Its a small shop with books stacked to the cieling. Then we get our cauldrons, brass scales, telescopes, and some basic Potions ingredients.
"Just yer wands left, an' a pet if yer wantin' one," Hagrid says.
Twenty minutes later we leave the pet shop, Harry clutching the cage of a sleeping snowy owl. I, on the other hand, have a little, fluffy brown tabby kitten with the cutest big blue eyes. It's curled up in a small basket lined with a pink pillow.
We go to the wand shop, called Ollivander's, to get our magic wands. The owner of the shop acts really odd, saying that he expected us soon, and inspecting our scars. Harry goes first, which takes a long time. When a wand finally chooses him, Ollivander mutters, "Curious, his curious . . . "
"Sorry, what's so curious?" Harry asks.
"It just so happens that the phoenix that gave the feather in the core of you wand gave others. Just two other feathers, mind you, but others nonetheless. One of those wands has not been sold yet. The other one belongs to the very man who gave you and your sister those scars," the old man says.
Harry and I exchange surprised expressions.
And then its my turn. I take equally as long as Harry to find a wand, trying maybe even more than he did. Finally, Ollivander mutters, "God help me if it's that one."
He runs off to the back of the shop, leaving me staring after in in confusion. A moment later, however, he returns, murmuring to himself.
"Try this one, Miss Potter. Eleven inches, rosewood and phoenix feather."
I take the wand. A warm tingle spreads up my arm and through my entire body. I look down at the wand and notice that my necklace is glowing a pale pink colour. I swish the wand through the air and rose gold sparks shoot out of the end.
Ollivander looks slightly shaken.
"Is it possible - ?" he murmurs. "I suppose it is . . . but it shouldn't be . . . "
"What is it, sir?" I ask politely.
"You got the third phoenix feather wand, dear," he says, then becomes distracted. I pay him seven Galleons for my wand, and Ollivander bows us from the shop.

A while later, I bid Harry and Hagrid goodbye to go home.
"See you on the train, Rory?" Harry asks.
"Of course, I'll sit with you!" I say. "As long as Ron can come, too."
"I don't know him but that's okay," Harry says. I giggle.
"Bye for now, Harry," I say, hugging him.
"Bye, Rory," he says.
Moony and I walk slowly back through the alley, debating names for my new tabby kitten. After fifteen minutes of Moony's suggestions, I come up with my own.
"Ivy," I say, looking at the kitten. "I'm naming her Ivy."