You made your way downstairs that morning, feeling sluggish after another night of poor sleep. You continued to have nightmares about Cedric all summer, even if their frequency had begun to decline. This made sleeping well at night exceedingly difficult.

Stumbling in your pajamas and rubbing your eyes tiredly, you were not ready for the onslaught that began as you entered the kitchen.

"Y/N! Where is our breakfast? We're starved!" Your aunt screamed at you.

Your uncle added, "We never should have taken you into this home when that foul woman tricked us into agreeing. You are ungrateful for all that we do for you, and you don't even have the decency to make us breakfast in thanks?"

You took a deep breath and began cooking some eggs on the stove. You noticed that Harry and Dudley were gone, and you hoped that your cousin wasn't being unkind to Harry as he normally was.

Your aunt snapped, "What is taking you so long? Don't you know how to cook at all?"

You just took some calming breaths and continued to cook the eggs, ignoring the insults your aunt and uncle continued to throw your way the entire time you cooked. When the eggs were done cooking, you wondered, "Will Harry and Dudley want some eggs as well?"

Your aunt and uncle rolled their eyes and murmured, "No. They ate before they left. Hurry with those eggs."

Nodding and staying quiet once again, you spread the eggs over three plates. You handed one plate to your aunt and one to your uncle with soft smiles cast towards both of them. Neither thanked you as they immediately began digging into the eggs. You took your plate and shuffled upstairs to eat in your room that you shared with Harry. You wished the two of you didn't have to share since there wasn't really enough room, and since you were getting older and bigger now. However, you did your best with what you had, even if this meant sleeping on the floor every other night.

You sat at the desk under the window and slowly ate your eggs, enjoying your moments of quiet as you gazed outside.

The day seemed to pass by in a blur of demands and insults while you worried about your brother's whereabouts. When he did return with a dazed and terrified Dudley later that day, you knew that something terrible must have happened. Your aunt and uncle started yelling at Harry almost immediately, but you had stepped in front of your brother in case your aunt or uncle got any ideas about coming closer to the bespectacled boy.

When a letter came for Harry, telling him that he was hereby expelled from Hogwarts and going to be put on trial for using the Patronus charm in front of a muggle, your aunt and uncle began laughing at Harry. They had rejoiced in Harry's suffering, and Harry was growing increasingly upset.

Stepping towards them slightly, you interrupted, "Stop it! Harry was saving him! A Patronus charm is for protection!"

Your words angered your aunt who rushed forward the few steps between you to slap you. Harry started to push towards your aunt, seeing red, but you caught him and pushed him backwards. Your aunt snarled, "Don't ever speak that way to me again, young lady. The orphanage is where you belonged, and I don't know why we ever agreed to bring you here."

You took deep breaths as you tried to let your aunt's hurtful words breeze by you like a summer wind.

Harry shook his head, vehemently, "That's not true, Y/N. You don't belong there."

You gave your brother a small smile before you turned back to look at your aunt and uncle calmly. You told them, "I'm sorry this happened to him. Maybe it would make you feel better to take him to see a doctor."

Your idea seemed to resonate well with the couple who wanted to get as far away from their disturbing niece and nephew as possible. They both gathered the boy and hurried outside as Harry glared at their backs. You placed a hand on his shoulder and soothed, "I'm okay, Harry, truly. Are you okay? What happened out there?"

Harry looked at you and explained, "There were dementors. They were going to kill Dudley and I, so I used the Patronus charm to protect us. See how much good that did for me."

You smiled at your brother and agreed, "They may not know to appreciate it, but you saved his life when he didn't deserve your help. Their cruelty despite your actions shows their horrible nature. However, your heroic actions despite their cruelty reveals how incredible you are, Harry."

Harry weakly grinned at you before going upstairs to lay down. It was his night in the bed, so you just silently cleaned up the kitchen. You knew you wouldn't sleep much that night with your uncomfortable sleeping arrangement and your nightmares, so you busied yourself with work instead.

It was quite peaceful in the house at that time since the Dursley's had gone off to the hospital and Harry was sleeping upstairs. An exhaustion quickly crept up on you as you put the rest of the dishes away. After drying your hands on the kitchen towel, you shuffled up the stairs and locked your bedroom door behind you. After you ensured the two of you would be safe this way, you crawled into your sleeping bag on the floor. Harry looked at you when you came in but seemed to fall back asleep shortly after.

Knowing that you were alone made the slow turning of their bedroom doorknob so much more frightening to you. You sat up stealthily and shook Harry's arm as your pulse quickened. You found your wand and held it at the door as the lock quietly turned. Harry put on his glasses and grabbed his wand too.

You stood side by side with your wands ready as the door swung open.

When you heard Professor Moody's familiar voice, you lowered your wand and used your hand to shield your eyes from the light luminating from their wands. You saw an unfamiliar woman with purple hair in the front with Professor Moody right behind her.

Harry questioned, "Professor Moody, what are you doing here?"

You dropped your wand to your side as you examined the crowd gathered in their doorway.

Staring at the two of you, Professor Moody replied, "Rescuing you two, of course."

You beamed at all of them while Harry just blinked in confusion. When they all began to make their way out of the house, you shoved her things into a bag. Harry copied you, and you both had packed all your belongings up within minutes. You hurried down the stairs and followed the group.

You were bouncing around in excitement while Harry was asking Professor Moody a lot of questions. You were just excited to be escaping that place, so you didn't really worry about where you would be going next.

You had no idea how wonderful the rest of your summer would prove to be.

//AN: Hi all! I know I've never done one of these before because I hate how they interrupt the flow of the story at times. However, I wanted to make this to explain that the next chapter will feature an original character. She is actually the original character in one of my best friends' fanfictions. My friend and I have incorporated each other's characters into our fanfics, but I know that you guys won't know her and could use some info on her.

Her name is Thelma. She's dating Sirius. She has long, black hair. She's a lawyer and a super powerful female character.

Thanks all for taking the time to read this necessary bit of explanation about this OC. I hope you are all enjoying the story. I've loved reading all your comments and have even responded to quite a few of them haha. I hope you all have a great today. Love you all.

- Lizz//