Harry and Melanie: First Cry to Final Breath

Summary: Harry and Melanie Potter have endured a childhood harsher than most could imagine. But they aren't about to let you know that. These two heroes of the wizarding world are sorted into Snape's counsel group upon their arrival to Hogwarts, but are determined to run their own lives. But will they even survive their first year?

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Hey =) I know I didn't update for a really long time but I simply didn't have the time or motivation. But I revamped the first two chapters, switching them from 1st to 3rd person. But they are still divided into sections which are supposed to be focused more intensely on one character. So, here's chapter 3 and reviews are greatly appreciated =)

Chapter 3: Conversations and Thoughts by Firelight

Hogwarts School

September 1st, 1991

The feast ended and everybody, seemingly several pounds heavier and immensely satisfied, stood up to make their way to their respective dorms. Harry stood, accompanied by Melanie and Ron, waiting for the other first years to gather so Percy the Prefect could lead them the Gryffindor common room.

"Do you think we can request a change of consul group?" Melanie asked. "I mean, if the guy doesn't believe in the concept and appears to have some form of immediate hatred towards us, it would be fair to switch wouldn't it?"

"I don't know," Harry responded truthfully. "I don't think you can switch houses so you probably can't transfer groups either. But I guess we'll find out exactly how bad this is tomorrow at our 'group meeting.'" He added air quotes and Melanie rolled her eyes as they filed out of the hall. They walked in silence the rest of the way to their common room. At the sight of the big, plush armchairs and roaring fire, Harry realized just how tired he really was.

"Boys to your left, girls to your right. Go until you see the door marked 'First-Years'. Do NOT be late to breakfast tomorrow. You must get your schedules and then meet with your groups. Now straight to bed, chop chop," commanded Percy in an authoritative tone.

"Well aren't we on a little power trip," Melanie muttered to Harry. He muffled a snort, said a hasty goodnight to his sister and dashed up the stairs to his dormitory before Percy the Power-Tripping Prefect could say anything more. When he and his roommates, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron, made it to their dorm, they all collapsed on their four posters in exhaustion.

Hogwarts Dungeons

September 1st, 1991

Severus Snape had never been a lucky man. He hadn't been lucky with regards to his family. Tobias Snape had been a mean drunk who didn't give a damn about his son. He hadn't been lucky with regard to his social life. One stupid word had cost him his best friend and true love. He hadn't even been lucky with regards to his career. While he had a passion and talent for potions, he had sought out the Defense Against the Dark Arts job and had lost out to that bumbling idiot Quirrell. And then of course, the most unlucky part of his sad life: his connection to and involvement with the Dark Lord.

So really, given his track record, Severus should not be surprised that the spawn of his school time nemesis end up being the first two people sorted into his consul group in nine years. Two blissful years off only to be hit with the green-eyed, sure-to-be-worshipped little brats.

He couldn't help but look for them as the first years entered the hall. It wasn't as if he didn't know they were coming. Dumbledore had made such a big deal about the cursed 'Twins-who-lived' coming to Hogwarts, increasing security and obtaining promises from teachers that they would personally check in and secure the well being of the little brats. Of course, the pampered children would be used to such special treatment. What Severus was not expecting however, was the vivid greenness of both sets of eyes who stared back at him. The eyes that simply screamed Lily. The eyes that he knew he would be in physical pain every time he looked into for the next seven years.

So really, he thought as he poured himself a nightcap and cherished one last glance at a desk free of papers to grade and homework to ridicule, of course the blasted twins would be in his group. But they would be getting any form of special treatment from him, that was for certain. No, he decided, taking a sip of the strong drink and relaxing by his fire with Potions Weekly, he would treat them just like the troublemaking, spoiled little wretches that they were sure to prove themselves to be.

Gryffindor Common Room

September 2nd, 1991

Melanie sat curled up on one of the red armchairs. She was holding a newspaper that someone had left on the table and was mindlessly ripping small pieces off and tossing them into the fire. The clock above the mantel read one o'clock.

Melanie loved to sleep but sometimes it just wouldn't come. Sleep had always been her escape. Sometimes she felt guilty because, as much as she loved and depended on her brother, the time when she was alone in her unconscious was when she was at her most peaceful and relaxed. Those were the moments she craved during a particularly bad day. Also, unlike a typical eleven year old girl, Melanie wasn't afraid of the dark. The cupboard under the stairs at the Dursley's had always been pretty dark, but not lonely because she normally shared the small space with Harry. The true darkness that she had been exposed and acclimated to was the basement at the Golden Arches School.

The Golden Arches School was a boarding school and an orphanage all wrapped in one. Run by two sisters, Anne and Paula, it had originated as a provide-all center for childcare. Anne was in charge of the school.

She was decently nice and concerned about the children. The school was open to boarders and day commuters. Paula was the "evil sister". Once a nice, pretty young women, she lost everything in one fail swoop. She had originally opened the boarding school with the intention of providing a place for the children of military servicemen and missionaries to go. She formed this idea because her own husband was in the Navy. However, a few years after its opening, her husband was killed in duty. Shortly after, she discovered she was pregnant but, unfortunately, she miscarried in her second trimester.

After her personal tragedies, she became bitter and resentful towards all children and parents of children. A poor trait for someone who operates a school to posses. Paula was in charge of the boarding aspect of Golden Arches. Some children were just there for the school year while others, who had nowhere to go back to during holidays, were there all year round.

Harry and Melanie entered Golden Arches in January when they were four years old. Aunt Marge had been visiting for the holidays and Melanie, in an attempt to avoid being attacked by her dog, Ripper, had accidentally caused all of the precious pooch's teeth to fall out. Marge had been furious, confident that the twins had tortured her dog. Vernon had been furious, confident that they did this "freaky stuff" on purpose just to ruin his life. And Harry had been furious that he hadn't been there to see the Amazing Toothless Bulldog.

Anyway, after the Ripper incident, Vernon drove the twins to Golden Arches, which was located just a few towns away from Little Whinging, and dropped them off. Because they had a perfectly viable home for the holidays, Paula wouldn't admit them as orphans who needed year round housing. Vernon was so upset with them at the time that he was happy just to be rid of them for the time being. So he enrolled them for the year long boarding sessions, and from that point on, the twins had only spent the summers at the Dursley's, which both parties could tolerate decently well.

At Golden Arches, Harry and Melanie had troubles, but they also had victories. It was there that they became themselves. It was in no way an ideal environment for rearing children but it allowed for self-expression, something that had been against the Dursley's morals. So, because they felt freer to express themselves, the twins spent a fair amount of time in trouble.

One of Paula's favorite solutions to disobedient children was the basement. A dark, damp room with no windows or furniture- a few hours locked in there had most children crying for dish duty for a month. But it had never really bothered Melanie. The darkness always welcomed her back. There was nothing down there to hurt her and she was free for a few hours to just lie down and think. Dream. Imagine what her life could have been.

She tore a piece off the sports section of the newspaper and watched as it curled and sizzled in the flames.

Headmasters Office

September 2nd, 1991

Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily as he eased his aged body into his favorite armchair next to his personal fire. It was the wee hours of the morning and yet, he could not sleep as busy thoughts, both new and old, conquered the attempted peacefulness of a resting mind.

Albus had prepared himself to see the Potters. Or so he thought. But he wasn't expecting them to look so small and innocent and... normal.

When he had made the executive decision to ignore the young parents decision about the placement of their orphan children, he did so heavily but with the self-confidence that he was doing the best thing by the two young children. The protection blood barriers provide is unmatched by anything that could be simply conjured with a spell or potion. Surely, if James and Lily had known how the situation would play out, they wouldn't object to their young children being raised by their Aunt and Uncle.

And yet, the memories of the venom in James' voice as he declared that Albus himself could raise his children before they were given to the Dursley's and the fire in Lily's eyes as she clutched her child protectively at the thought of her sister having him stuck with him. So, in what he knew to be a cowardly move to ensure that he could continue to justify to himself that he was correct and that the twins were simply fine, he left them on that doorstep and hadn't seen them for ten years.

He knew most people would have expected the Golden Twins, the wizarding world's Blessed Saviors, to be watched continuously. To be checked in on, spoiled, taught of their heritage and their loving parents. Sure, this is what he had let a certain few believe. Like Remus, who had demanded custody after that cursed night. But no, it was much better to have them safely tucked away in the confines of the blood wards than to have them involved in the major publicity event that would have inevitably incurred if a werewolf tried to take custody of the Potter Twins.

So, comfortable in the thought that the children were protected from dark wizards by the blood barriers, satisfied that the wizarding world believed him unquestioningly when he announced they were in the safest location they could be, and content in his own self-confidence that the Dursley's simply couldn't be as bad as the young Potter couple had made it seem, Albus had slept peacefully for ten years.

But now the Potter Twins had come to Hogwarts. And they were small for their age and, unless you knew of their story, gave the impression of being very average. They did not look like people prepared to fight and, Albus prayed, defeat Voldemort when he, as Albus knew he eventually would, return.

But, Albus thought as he stood and headed towards his bedroom, finally tiring of his exhaustive and worrisome mental contemplations, that wouldn't be for awhile. Plenty of time for Harry and Melanie to mature, especially as Albus had already ensured every professor's cooperation in providing extra academic and emotional assistance for the twins when they require it. Albus didn't view it as the pathetic attempt to fix any problems that might have resulted from the ten long, lonely years at the Dursley's. No, he preferred to view it as the best course of action for the wizarding world as a whole. Just as, he thought reassuringly as his tired eyes slid closed, was leaving Harry and Melanie at the Dursley's in the first place.

First Year Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory

September 2nd, 1991

Harry flipped over on his back and let on a sigh of frustration. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep for but he knew it wasn't even close to morning and he wasn't having any luck recapturing unconsciousness. Giving up, he kicked his sheet off his body and quietly slid out of his bed and crossed the room. Slipping out the door, he slowly walked down the stairs, thinking he might make his way to the girls dormitory to see if Mel was also awake. Call it a freaky twin thing, but when he was having a bout of insomnia, normally so was she. So he was less startled than he might have been to here his name whispered quietly from over by the fire as he made his way across the common room.

"Harry?"

"Melanie? What are you doing down here?" Harry strode over to the fire and flopped down in the armchair next to Melanie's.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same. How long have you been down here?"

"Awhile," Mel answered noncommittally. She was tearing what looked to be a newspaper and tossing bits of paper into the now dwindling flames.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow?" The sudden whisper startled Harry a little. Giving his sister a piercing glance, he noticed how tired and small she looked again in the eery light from the fire. Only then did he notice the open textbook rested on the arm of her seat.

"A little. I mean, it's all new and everything but we've done harder things. And this time, we have dozens of other people in the exact same position as us."

"Not the exact same position. They all knew what they were." Melanie was staring resolutely into the fire.

"Not all of the them," Harry countered. "You know Hermione, that other first year? She's muggleborn and didn't know that magic even existed until she got her letter. She told me over dinner last night. And I bet there are loads of people like that. And you know Ron told us that he's not even allowed to do magic at home so he grew up in a magical family and isn't even that far ahead. So relax, we aren't behind."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just, I really want this place to work you know? For a brief moment, I thought we could go somewhere where we would be something other than the Potter Twins or the troublemakers or the orphans. And yet, no one has stopped staring or whispering since we got here."

"I know. I hoped we could have a cleaner slate too. But we don't. So lets just deal like we always do, ok?"

Melanie smiled slightly into the fire. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

"We always are."

Slytherin Common Room

September 2nd, 1991

Draco Malfoy stumbled angrily down the stairs into his cold, drafty common room. Tired and irritated, he made his way over to the embers of the dying fire and sat on the nearest coach. He massaged his big toe, which he had stubbed up in his dark dormitory, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his anger before the conversation with his father. Neither Malfoy male controlled their tempers very well and starting a conversation with Lucius while he was already irritated never seemed to result in a happy ending for Draco.

Draco had been sound asleep when Dobby, their house elf, had appeared next to his bed, poked him, and gave him whispered, hurried instructions to go to the fire. His father wanted to talk to him. Groaning, he slid out of the warm cocoon of sheets and made his way across the room.

"Draco?" came Lucius' voice, angrily. Draco snapped his head up (he had been inspecting the damage of his toe) and looked into his fathers face, which was floating in the fire.

"Evening, father. Is everything alright?" Draco said quietly.

"No," came the short reply. "Do you or do you not have an in with the Potters?" Draco was a little stunned by the question. His father had mentioned that he should try to befriend the twins but nothing to give away how apparently seriously he took the matter.

"Uhm, well not really," Draco muttered, looking back at his foot.

"Didn't I tell you I wanted information? A connection?" Lucius said furiously.

"Well, I offered to be their friend!" Draco said indignantly, the volume of his voice rising and his anger returning. "But they blew me off for that stupid Weasley kid."

"Malfoys do not make excuses," Lucius snapped. "I want you in with the Potters. I need to be able to know what they are doing and what they have done. Can I trust you with this simple matter? Otherwise, Nott could get Theodore to do it..." he trailed off, knowing he had pushed the correct button.

"Teddy? That buffoon? No way. I can handle it, I swear," Draco said urgently.

"Good. Get to work on it tomorrow. I'll check in to see your progress." And the head was gone.

"Yeah, yeah," Draco muttered, now alone, as he made his way back to bed.

Reviews would be appreciated =)