A/N: Edited this a bit, adding some information and correcting some things. Actual updates should come soon; sorry I made you wait for so long guys! Thanks for your reviews, favourites, and follows!

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley who lived at number four, Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

At least until the day Susan Potter arrived on their door step.

Susan was the daughter of Petunia Dursley's sister, Lily, who had been killed along with her husband that very night of October thirty first. James and Lily had a secret, however. They were wizards. Petunia and Vernon Dursley knew this, and it was the reason they hated the Potters' so much. But when Susan arrived with a lightning-bolt shaped scar on her forehead and a letter from a man named Albus Dumbledore, the Dursley's saw no choice but to take her in.

What Susan would soon find out – almost ten years after the day she was left on the doorstep – would change her life forever…

Chapter One: Meet Susie

"Get up, you useless girl!"

Susie Potter jumped about a foot, suddenly awakened by loud pounding and the scream of her aunt. Reaching around for her glasses, Susie quickly pulled the light string, illuminating her small cupboard.

"You have two minutes!" Aunt Petunia shrieked. "And put on something nice, for once! Everything had better be perfect for Dudley's special day!"

Susie almost groaned.

Dudley's birthday, of course. How could I forget? She thought, sitting up and pulling on an old and very ugly pink jumper and a yellow skirt. They weren't particularly nice, but she didn't see how her aunt could possibly blame her for that; all her clothes were ragged hand-me-downs from Petunia.

Susie's full name was Susan Grace Potter, but she preferred Susie because it didn't sound as grown-up. According to her aunt and uncle, Susan and Susie were both 'nasty common names' – unlike Dudley of course.

Dudley was Susie's cousin. He was a few months older than Susie, and worshipped by his parents. Every year on his birthday, Dudley received more presents than he could count – literally. For the first eight years of her life, Susie had been sent to the home of an elderly woman who lived down the street – Mrs. Figg – while the Dursley's went out for Dudley's birthday. She wasn't as horrible as the Dursley's, but she had more cats than she knew what to do with, and always made Susie watch horrible soap operas and eat cottage cheese. Recently, however, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had allowed her to stay at home alone, provided that she did a very long list of chores and that nothing was out of place when they got back.

Quickly combing her fingers through her untidily wavy black hair and trying to smooth her bangs over the lightning-bolt scar on her forehead, Susie opened the door and started to get out, only to be shoved back in by Dudley as he ran by, laughing.

Rubbing her head, Susie climbed out again and picked up her glasses, going quickly to the kitchen. The table was almost completely covered by Dudley's presents. It looked like he had gotten the computer, second television, and racing bike he had wanted. Why Dudley wanted a bicycle was a mystery to Susie; Dudley hated exercise unless it involved punching something, especially if that something was Susie. Luckily, Susie – though she may not look like it – was fast.

It may have had something to do with living most of her life in a little cupboard, but Susie had always been small and pale. She had a thin oval face, black hair that was soft but very messy, knobby knees that she hated, and bright green eyes. She wore rectangular glasses that were only held together by some tape (and weren't even made for her eyes; the Dursleys didn't want to buy expensive prescription glasses, so uncle Vernon bought a handful of secondhand glasses and Susie had to pick the ones that worked the best). Susie wasn't a vain girl and didn't put much stock in looks in the first place, but what she liked best about her appearance was the thin, lightning bolt-shaped scar on her forehead. She had had it since she was a baby, and the first question Susie had asked her aunt was how she had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parents died." She had said shortly. "And don't ask questions."

That was the first rule for a peaceful life with the Dursleys, Susie had discovered.

As Susie approached her aunt at the stove, Petunia glared at her and said, "Just cook the breakfast, and don't burn anything."

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Susie replied obediently, quickly starting on the eggs, sausage, toast, and bacon.

While his cousin cooked, Dudley was busily counting his presents.

"Thirty-five…thirty-six…thirty…uh…"

"Seven," prompted Aunt Petunia gently.

"I know! Thirty-seven, thirty-eight." Dudley finished happily. "That's two more than last year!"

Susie quickly laid out the plates for the Dursley's, then went back in the kitchen to have a piece of toast.

Luckily, the Dursley's left soon to go pick up a friend of Dudley's – Pier something or other – and spend the day at the zoo. Though Susie had never been to the zoo, she was looking forward to having a few hours alone. Her excitement was intensified when she discovered that the Aunt Petunia had forgotten to leave the usual list of chores.

Grinning, Susie went upstairs to wash up quickly before locking the front door and crawling out a window – as was her custom – to go to the library.

The librarian, Ms. Athena, was a strict but kind woman who came to work at the library every summer. She had allowed Susie to make a library card when she was only six, even though you were supposed to have a parent present at that age. Susie was sure Ms. Athena suspected that her Aunt and Uncle were not particularly nice people.

The library wasn't very busy that day, and Susie browsed through the books, not really expecting to find anything. She loved to read, but sadly only a few books were interesting enough to her to keep her attention. Susie hated that about herself, but if she couldn't get enveloped in it quickly, she simply could not read it.

"How are you today, Susie?" asked Ms. Athena from a nearby shelf. Her gray hair was tied in its usual bun, and she wore a thick, long sleeved dark green dress, which seemed odd to Susie as it was summer time.

"I'm good, thanks," said Susie with a smile.

She picked a book and went over to an armchair to read. Matilda was one of her favorite books, and she thought she was a lot like Matilda, except for the fact that that she lived with her Aunt and Uncle and she wasn't nearly as smart. Susie considered herself to be intelligent, though she didn't know how intelligent, as she had always been forced to make worse grades than Dudley or get locked in her cupboard. She even had a notebook where she would take notes for class and use as a journal as well, in case one day she met a teacher like Ms. Honey, so she could prove she wasn't stupid.

Susie helped Ms. Athena shelve some books, and in return the woman shared her lunch with her. At around one she helped some younger kids find books, and by three she knew she had to leave.

She walked the few blocks back to Privet drive and saw – to her horror – that the Dursley's were home early.

Thinking fast, Susie remembered that the Mulberry's' next door were out of town, and she quickly jumped over the low fence into their yard, crossing over to climb over the Dursley's fence. She landed in the back yard just as Uncle Vernon opened the door saying, "Where is that blasted girl?"

"Here!" Susie said, rather breathlessly.

He eyed her suspiciously and demanded, "What the devil are you doing out here?"

"I was watering Aunt Petunia's chrysanthemums," she said quickly. His beady eyes narrowed, but he allowed her to slip past him into the kitchen.

Susie spent a few hours in her cupboard reading a book they had been assigned for school, before Aunt Petunia called her for dinner…or screamed at her, more appropriately.

After dinner, Dudley tried on his new uniform for the school he would be starting in several months, Smelting's. The uniform consisted of black pants, a white shirt, a bow tie, and a very ugly straw hat. The children at Smelting's all-boys school were supposed to carry around a cane which they would hit each other with when the teachers weren't looking.

"Oh, don't you look precious, Diddykins!" cooed Aunt Petunia, before breaking down in tears. Susie tried her best not to laugh.

The next morning, Susie was awakened by the usual pounding on her door and her Aunt demanding she get up and cook.

When she walked into the kitchen, a horrible smell overtook her. She walked over to the sink and looked down, seeing a tub filled with gray water and several rags floating around.

"What's this?" she asked her Aunt.

Aunt Petunia's lips pursed as they always did when Susie dared to ask a question.

"That is your uniform for Stonewall," she said stiffly, going to the sink and stirring it. "All the children wear gray, and when I'm done it'll look just like everyone else's."

Susie thought it was more likely that it would look like she was wearing bits of elephant skin, but she didn't say anything. She was actually very happy to be away from Dudley, for once; they would each be going to different schools come this September.

Once Uncle Vernon and Dudley had arrived, Susie served the food. She got to sit at the table today since it was no longer overflowing with Dudley's presents, and was eating rather quickly so Dudley wouldn't have a chance to steal her food.

"Dudley, get the mail," Uncle Vernon said from behind his paper as the flap banged shut.

"Make Susie get it!" Dudley whined.

"Get the mail, Susie," said Uncle Vernon gruffly.

She got up silently, already resigned to not ever seeing her food again, and went to the front door. Susie picked up the small pile, looking through it curiously. House magazine for Aunt Petunia, letter from Smelting's, bills…

Susie gasped. There, at the bottom of the pile, was a letter made of thick paper and addressed in emerald ink.

Ms. S. Potter

4 Privet Drive

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

Little Whinging

Surrey

Susie had never gotten a letter before, not once. She had a flash of what Uncle Vernon would say if he saw the letter, and quickly stuffed it into the waistband of her too-big jeans. She went back into the kitchen, handed the rest of the mail to Uncle Vernon, who grunted, "Took you long enough," and then quickly cleared the table.

After she finished washing the dishes, Susie turned to Aunt Petunia who was just about to join Dudley and Uncle Vernon in the living room. "Can I take a shower, Aunt Petunia?" she asked, wanting to make sure she could read her letter undisturbed.

Aunt Petunia pursed her lips before nodding curtly, "Ten minutes." She said, and Susie nodded.

Rushing upstairs, Susie turned on the taps and quickly pulled out the letter.

There was not return address, just a red seal on the back, a crest with a picture of a lion, a bird, a badger, and a snake.

She quickly tore it open.

Dear Miss Potter,

We are please to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

You will find enclosed a list of all the necessary school supplies and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy headmistress.

Susie stood there, stunned, unaware that the shower was still running behind her.

Accepted…Hogwarts…witchcraft…supplies…owl…

It had to be a joke; there were no two ways about it. But who would do something like that? The Dursley's hated magic, they were always furious when Susie did something strange, or something strange happened near her…like it was her fault…

But maybe I am a wizard…thought Susie, I mean, once I jumped up onto a roof, and there was that time I turned Mrs. Crippin's hair blue…

She flipped to the next page and scanned that as well. Wow – magic wands and broomsticks and owls and cauldrons? Susie resolved to ask Ms. Athena her opinion the next day, then got in the shower to bathe quickly before her ten minutes were up.

As they were shelving books the next day, Susie said tentatively, "Ms. Athena, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Susie," she said calmly.

"I got this letter in the mail yesterday," Susie said, spreading it out on top of a book. "What…what do you think it means?"

Ms. Athena eyed her carefully from behind her spectacles. Finally she said, "Come with me," and headed for the office, Susie following apprehensively. Was Ms. Athena going to call the mental hospital and have Susie carted off for even thinking about believing it? That was probably what the Dursleys would have done…

After closing the door behind them, Athena said, "Susie, there's something you should know…"

She proceeded to explain about magic and wizards and witches, demonstrating certain things with a flick of a stick – or wand? – that she pulled out of her sleeve.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named intended to kill you, Susie, but he could not, and no one knows why. That's why you have that scar." She finished finally.

Susie was stunned into silence, which was rare. She was a witch? And an evil wizard had tried to kill her and her parents? It was like something out of a book. But Athena had proven it was real; you couldn't make a desk into a living, breathing pig with just a trick of the light.

"But…my Aunt and Uncle will never let me go, Ms. Athena." Susie protested.

Ms. Athena sighed, "I have a confession to make, Susie," she said, "My name isn't Athena; that's an alternative form of my real first name, which is Minerva McGonagall."

Susie gasped. It made so much sense! "You're the one who signed the letter!" she exclaimed.

McGonagall nodded. "And I will come by tonight to explain everything to your Aunt and Uncle. They really can't stop you from going, so don't worry."

"But it must cost a lot of money," Susie pressed, "They'll never pay for me to learn magic!"

McGonagall shook her head, "Your parents left you everything they had, Susie. I'd even say you're quite wealthy."

This was a new concept to the girl. She had never had money for anything, not even a pair of pants that fit right. She grinned.

Susie was going to like this Hogwarts place.