HARLOW POTTER STOOD IN front of the full length mirror that was inside of the bathroom of the medium sized house on privet drive. she studied her eyes trailed up and down her body, particularly focusing on the white dress she had on. harlow took a deep breath and opened the door to the bathroom. from the direction of harry's room, she could hear hedwig fussing around in her cage. harlow approached her brothers room and gave a small knock on the door.
"come in!" harlow heard from inside of the door.
she opened his door and smiled at him, "if you don't shut her up uncle vernon will."
"yeah, i know." harry sighed, he turned around in his seat to face harlow, "well look at you." he laughed out.
harlow crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling insecure, "i don't want to talk about it."
"sorry, sorry," he said, trying to stop himself from smirking, "i just never thought i'd see you of all people in a dress."
"i know, but uncle vernon insisted i would help with the guests, so that means i get to wear this silly looking dress."
"it's not that bad," harry told, harlow gave him a look, "it's really not."
hedwig began to chirp again and bite the outside of her cage.
"harry potter!" a voice called from downstairs.
"now you've done it." harry said to hedwig and got up from his chair.
harry made his way downstairs, harlow trailing behind. they arrived in the kitchen, where aunt petunia was putting the finishing touches on a cake. they turned the corner to see uncle vernon fixing dudley's collar.
"i'm warning you, if you can't control that bloody bird it'll have to go." uncle vernon cautioned.
"but she's bored! if i could only let her out for an hour or two." harry replied.
"huh, huh! so you could send secret messages to you freaky little friends. no, sir!" their uncle answered.
"but I haven't had any messages from any of my friends, not one, all summer."
"who'd want to be friends with either of you?" dudley snickered, as his father let him go to allow him to go over to his mother.
harlow rolled her eyes, and uncle vernon approached the two twins.
"i should think you'd be a little more grateful. we've raised both of you since you two were babies, given both of you the food off our table, even let you, harry, have dudley's second bedroom, purely out of the goodness of our hearts."
"grateful? you've got to be joking." harlow talked back. "the only thing you've done for us is try to cover up who we are and who our parents were. we have nothing to be grateful for."
uncle vernon slapped harlow across the cheek with the back of his hand. the room turned to a sickening silence. "listen here you stupid little girl, learn some respect or get out."
harlow nodded her head, regretfully. "i'm sorry." she apologized in a cold tone.
on the other side of the room, in the kitchen, dudley was trying to pick pieces of the cake.
"not now, bopkins. for when the masons arrive." aunt petunia scolded in a polite manner.
"which should be any minute!" uncle vernon cleared his voice "now let's go over our schedule once again, shall we? petunia when the masons arrive you will be?"
"in the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously into our home." aunt petunia answered.
"good! and- and dudley, you will be?" he asked.
"i'll be waiting to open the door!" responded dudley.
"excellent! harlow?"
"i'll be waiting for them to sit down so i can serve them." harlow replied.
"yes, and you?" he said turning to harry.
"i'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that i don't exist." harry answered.
"too right, you will. with any luck, this could well be the day i make the biggest deal of my career. and you will not mess it up!" said uncle vernon.
aunt petunia looked at harlow's red cheek, "oh and harlow, do go upstairs and put some blush on your other cheek then come right back down you hear me?"
"yes ma'am."
ϟ
as harlow finished applying blush onto her cheeks, she heard the door bell ring. she fixed the bottom of her dress and made her way back downstairs. she took her place next to dudley as he opened the door.
"mr. and mrs. mason! do come in!" uncle vernon greeted.
harlow offered the mason's a warm smile, the four of them walked over to the living area where aunt petunia was waiting.
"please, sit." aunt petunia said with a big grin on her face.
harlow walked over to the bottle of campaign, and poored the mason's a drink, along with her aunt and uncle. there was a loud bang coming from upstairs, then another, then another.
"oh, don't mind that! it's just the cat." uncle vernon told.
"i'll go check on the cat," harlow said, and rushed her way up the stairs. she barged into harry's room. "what could you possibly be doing-" harlow was cut off when she saw that harry was alone, there was someone, or something, else in the room with him.
"what is that?" harlow asked.
the creature was banging his head on harry's dresser, it stopped when it realized harlow's enterance.
"i'm dobby, dobby the house elf." the creature said.
"hello dobby, i'm-"
"harlow potter." dobby finished her sentence.
"why, yes." harlow remarked, "what's happening in here."
"dobby had to punish himself. dobby almost spoke ill of his family." dobby replied.
"your family?" harry questioned.
"the wizard family dobby serves, sir. dobby is bound to serve one family forever. if they ever knew dobby was here..." dobby trailed off. "but dobby had to come. dobby has to protect harry and harlow potter- to warn them. harry and harlow potter must not go back to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry this year! there is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen."
"w-what?" harlow stuttered.
"what terrible things? who's plotting them?" harry asked intently.
"ooo- er- can't- say- argh-" dobby cut himself off.
"it's okay, you don't have to say it." spoke harlow.
"don't make me talk, i- er-" dobby stuttered out.
"ok– we understand. you can't say." said harry.
dobby picked up harry's lamp and started to hit himself with it.
"dobby!" harlow cringed.
"dobby, put the lamp down." harry scolded.
"bad dobby!" dobby shouted.
harlow heard foot steps creeping up the stairs, she looked over to her brother who was attempting to wrestle the lamp away from dobby.
"uncle vernons coming."
harry grabbed dobby by his clothing quickly, "get in there, and keep quiet!" harry told dobby, shoving him into his dresser.
uncle vernon barged in, "what the devil are you two doing up here?"
"i-i was just-" harry stuttered.
"harry tripped," harlow lied.
uncle vernon furrowed his eyebrows, "i bet, you just ruined the punch line of my japanese golfer joke!"
"sorry." said the twins in unison, harry kept pushing his dresser door closed, trying to keep dobby in.
"one more sound, and you'll wish you'd never been born! and fix that door!"
"yes, sir." the two said, once again in unison. uncle vernon stormed out, harry opened the door to his dresser and let dobby walk free.
"see why we've got to go back?" harry asked. "we don't belong here. we belong in your world, at hogwarts. It's the only place we've got friends!"
"friends who don't even write to harry and harlow potter?" dobby inquired.
"wait." harlow furrowed her eyebrows.
"hang on- how do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?" asked harry.
dobby pulled a stack of letters from the back of his cloth. "the potters mustn't be angry with dobby. dobby hoped, if both harry and harlow potter thought their friends had forgotten them, they might not want to go back to school, sir."
"give me those, now!" harry demanded, dobby ran out the door and down the stairs.
harlow grabbed harry's arm before he could follow dobby. "harry, stop it, you're going to cause a scene."
harry shook off his sisters hand, "i need those letters harlow, you should want them too." harry ran out of the room after dobby, harlow raced after him.
dobby stood at the edge of the doorway to the kitchen, harlow could hear her uncle and the mason's talking about business.
"dobby, get back here!" ordered harry quietly.
"dobby, please, what are you doing?" harlow asked.
"dobby apologizes, but harry and harlow potter must say they're not going back to school!" dobby snapped his fingers together, the cake aunt petunia made started to levitate.
"we can't. hogwarts is our home!" stated harry,
"then, dobby must do it, sir, for the potters' own good." dobby snapped once again and the cake began to levitate over to the living area.
harry rushed into the kitchen, hitting dobby's head as he walked in. harlow walked into the living area, standing behind aunt petunia, facing the cake.
she looked at harry urgently as the cake came closer and closer. harry creeped behind the cake, the cake arrived over mrs. mason's head. the moment harry tried to grab it, harlow heard another snap and the cake fell apart all over mrs. mason.
"i'm so sorry! it's my nephew- he's very disturbed. meeting strangers upsets him. that's why I kept him upstairs!" uncle vernon confessed.
harlow looked over, and with another snap of dobbys fingers, dobby was gone just as soon as he came.
the mason's left shortly after that, leaving an angry uncle vernon for the potter's to deal with. after uncle vernon had dealt with harry, he came downstairs to harlow, sitting on the now cleaned couch.
uncle vernon marched in harlow's direction, "i'm so sorry-" she was cut off by another stern slap to the face, this time with so much force that it made her jump.
"to bed with you!" he said, grabbing her wrist and forcing her up.
"ouch," she tried to pull her wrist out, "you're hurting me!"
he dragged her to the cupboard underneath the stairs and threw her under, she could hear the door the the cupboard lock behind her.
ϟ
the next morning was painfully silent, uncle vernon let harlow and harry out of their rooms only to do their chores before making them go right back into them.
harlow heard the buzz of a screw driver from outside of her cupboard. "you're never going back to that school. you're never going to see those freaky friends of yours again. never!" she heard her uncle yell at her brother.
the day went by dreadfully slow, harlow laid in her cupboard until night fall, wishing that she was at hogwarts. she fell asleep early that night.
in the middle of the night, she heard the cupboard door unlock and open. the moonlight reflected off harlow's eyes, "harry?"
"get up." he ordered.
"it's the middle of the night." she whispered.
"i know," he began, "ron, fred, and george are here."