Amaryllis Potter wasn't sure what to expect on her first trip back to the locker room since her injury, but a massive cheer from her team was not it. Each of the older witches took turns coming up and congratulating her on her first victory, and on her recovery.
What they didn't realize is how she had been holding back tears throughout the 'celebration'. True, she didn't think they would kick her off the team just for being injured, but there had been some fears about being replaced.
The last to congratulate her was Olivia Wood, who put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Glad to have you back Amy, sorry we couldn't do more to keep you from getting hurt."
Amaryllis shrugged gently, but apparently the conversation wouldn't end there. "The boy was your brother, right? Harry?"
It was Katie Bell who asked, and the question earned an almost anxious silence from the others in the room.
"Oh, yeah that was Harry. He's been doing a lot of studying over the summer and Professor Riddle has been mentoring him a bit."
She noticed the excited whispers and her reaction was clear enough that another of her teammates decided to explain. "It isn't like a lot of boys get to do that sort of thing, and I don't think Professor Riddle has ever taken on someone for mentorship."
Amy blinked, before shrugging like it was the most natural thing in the world, and for her maybe it was. Harry was incredibly talented, to the point where she had even overheard her parents mentioning that he would have been recognized as such even if he were his original age and year in school.
Why wouldn't someone recognize that kind of talent?
Still, her reaction did nothing to ease the atmosphere in the room, "I heard he's going to be training with the Aurors soon."
The redhead frowned, that certainly wasn't something she had heard, and considering they were family she would know better than some random classmate.
Before she could correct the assumption, however, another spoke up. "No, he's spending time with the Minister of Magic though. Some super-secret mission."
"Don't be ridiculous, Professor Riddle is training him to be the next dueling champion, they spent the summer travelling around the world."
"Then when did she have time to do lesson plans? My older sister told me he will be going to the other schools sometime this year to train though."
On and on the assumptions, and blatant lies, went. At first, they had been a tad amusing, Harry forming his own legend, but eventually the myths about his talents started to shift into more inappropriate comments. She heard a few make flirty comments, then suggestive ones, some commented on his appearance, some on what he might look like with less clothing on. They were talking about her brother like he was an open book, like he was an object, like they knew him, even though most, save for the Weasley twins, hadn't even spoken to him before.
It bothered her for more reasons than she was willing to admit, because it had taken them so long to crack the shell he kept up, because he was their sibling, because no one should be talking about doing certain things with him.
Especially not before her and Harriet.
She didn't like it, not one bit, and was sure that when her sister found out she would be just as angry.
****
He wasn't sure if it was a good indication or a worrying one that he could tell his tutor was in a bad mood the moment she stepped through the doorway. A slight twitching in her brow, the slight tardiness, a bit more force in each step.
"Something wrong?" Her eyes snapped up towards him, narrowing in obvious irritation at the question, but he held firm and even crossed his arms in defiance of her attitude. "What, you're allowed to pry into my personal life, but I can't ask why you're throwing a tantrum?"
When she refused to answer the boy-who-lived rolled his eyes.
"Fine, whatever, I'll leave you to your brooding."
He had taken all of two steps when she finally spoke, "My mother." Those two words caused him to freeze. He knew that she had been raised by the woman, and apparently it hadn't been the best childhood, but he always assumed having one parent was better than none. "She… wrote to me."
"Okay, and that upset you?"
Grace let out a sigh before running her hand over her face, then proceeded to a nearby stool to sit down on. Cautiously, as he always was around her, Harry followed. "Merope Gaunt is a foul woman and even poorer parent. I haven't been in the same room as her in many years, but she occasionally sends me a letter reminding me of how much of a failure I am."
The boy flinched slightly, knowing how bad it was dealing with the Dursleys. "Sounds like a wonderful person." He quipped, finally earning the slight upturn of the woman's scowl into something closer to a smile.
"She…" Riddle trailed off for a second, staring off at an opposing wall in a manner Harry imagined himself doing whenever he remembered the past. "She was abusive, physically and emotionally. Hit me across the fingers or hand anytime I did anything less than perfect, called me names, told me I would never amount to anything if I didn't succeed at everything…"
Harry Potter merely stared at the woman as she continued remembering and confessing her childhood's darkness.
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