Chaotic Queers of Hogwarts

Fandom: H*rry P*tt*r

Chapter 1: Queer Girls of Hogwarts

Heather struggled to catch her breath. She collapsed onto her bed, her face buried in the pillow. Don’t freak out, girl. Calm down.

But how on earth was she even meant to calm down now? Her godfather, the only person who had truly known her as herself, Sirius Black, was dead. Tripped in a fight and fell through a veil that was apparently a one-way ticket to see Hades and Persephone.

On top of that, she found out about some stupid prophecy that basically boiled down to: “oh by the way, that dark lord who keeps trying to kill you? Well, you now have to kill him, or he kills you.”

Why was it always her? Why couldn’t she just have a normal life as a normal teenage girl? That is, without the dark wizards who want to kill her, the aunt and uncle who hate her guts, and definitely without the fact that only Sirius knew that she actually was a girl at all.

You see, Heather was in fact a trans girl. To the outside world, she was actually a teenage boy named Harry James Potter. She even believed this about herself until the Christmas break, when Sirius came out to her as bi, and she got curious. By the end of the break, she had come out as herself to Sirius, and Sirius had managed to somehow obtain a prescription for a type of muggle medicine called Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT for short).

HRT had probably been the best thing to ever happen to her (and not much good tends to happen to her, so it was a very low bar). Over the past several months, she had noticed a significant dip in her anxiety, despite how much more anxiety inducing circumstances were. It became easier to focus on various tasks, including her homework, which gave a significant improvement in her grades.

Oh, and also, she got boobs. Finally. They weren’t big boobs, but she definitely had boobs now. Which was amazing.

Of course, since she wasn’t actually out, they could have caused issues – if it wasn’t for her school robes being somewhat bulky. Oh. And also the fact that people just didn’t seem to notice at all. People were weird like that.

She probably would have to come out soon – after all, it’s not like she could pretend to be a cis guy forever. The issue was she wasn’t sure how anyone would react. She especially concerned over how her friends might react – although, they had not given indications that they’d react negatively.

Anyway, at this current time, she was rather upset. And also was crying on her bed. Did I mention that she had a much easier time crying now?

“Hey Harry? You in here?”

Heather froze. It was Neville.

“G- Go away Neville.”

“Harry? What’s wrong?” She heard Neville walk over to her and stop just outside of her bed.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Oh. Ok. Uh…”

She heard Neville walk away. She sniffled.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna talk, Harry?”

Heather scowled. “Can you stop calling me that?” She snapped.

“What?”

Heather groaned internally. She shouldn’t have said that. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine.” She could hear the concern in Neville’s voice.

“Well, I will be fine. I don’t wanna talk. So can you leave me alone please?”

“Ok, Ha- Ok.” Clearly he had heard her when she said not to call her ‘Harry’.

Heather lied back and closed her eyes, hoping she could just fall asleep.

Unfortunately, it was anything but a calm sleep.

When she woke up, it was near noon, and the dormitory was empty. That suited her just fine since it meant no one was there to try and talk with her.

Ok, she was lying when she said she didn’t wanna talk. She just didn’t feel close enough to Neville to talk to him. If Ron or Hermione were around, she would probably be willing to talk to them. Probably. But the two of them were likely still in the hospital wing considering they had probably been hurt the worst out of the 6 of them who’d gone off to the ministry last night.

She slid out of her bed and onto the floor, sitting there for a minute trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes. She then reached into the drawer on her nightstand and pulled out her pill bottles. She looked at them. Damn, I missed my dose yesterday. She wasn’t sure if she should then take both days’ doses, or just take one day’s dose and live with missing a day. There were never any instructions about what to do if she missed a day.

Shrugging, she uncapped the bottle of her anti-androgen and popped one of the pills in her mouth. She grabbed the glass off her nightstand. Unfortunately, it was empty. She scowled and filled it with aguamenti, then took a sip to help swallow her pill. She then grabbed a couple of the estrogen pills and stuck them under her tongue. She then stood up unsteadily, her head spinning slightly.

I’m such a mess, she thought. She tried to cast a couple spells to clean herself up, but it didn’t help with the gross feeling. She sighed. Hopefully no one comes back for a bit. She shed her shirt and jeans, before grabbing some clean clothes from her trunk. Do I not have a clean bra? She grimaced, but then found one anyway. It had been buried under a couple skirts. That she had not had an opportunity to wear since Easter break. She closed her trunk and then stepped into the bathroom. She put her clean clothes on top of one of the counter with the sinks before shedding her underwear and stepping into a shower.

Holy shit, I soooo needed this.

After her finishing her shower, Heather got dressed and left the dorms. The common room was empty. Which was fine, she didn’t want to be around people right that moment. She also didn’t particularly want to stay in one place, so she left.

Ok, small correction. She didn’t want to be around people who would want to try and talk to her about last night. On the other hand, there were plenty of people who wouldn’t try to get her to talk: they also happened to be elves.

With her mind made up, she started making her way down to the kitchens. This decision may also have been slightly motivated by her own hunger. Only slightly.

On the way down, she passed a couple students, but, fortunately, none of them decided to talk to her.

Upon reaching the kitchens, she immediately spotted her friend, Dobby. After all, Dobby was somewhat difficult to miss on account of him typically wearing anywhere from 3 to several dozen hats at once, all them perched precariously on his small head. Of course, there was no danger of them falling off since he probably held them in place with magic. Also, he was wearing bright pink, blue, and white pants. Pants that he had made after he found out about Heather being trans. Turns out the little guy really, really liked her. Who knew? (That is, aside from literally anyone who had seen the two of them interact.)

Of course, Dobby also immediately noticed her and rushed over excitably. She smiled at the elf, and embraced him in a hug. “Hey, Dobby.”

“Hello Miss Heather,” Dobby responded. “Dobby heard you was not at breakfast.”

Heather nodded. “Yeah, I slept in a bit. Had a very late night last night. But now I am starving and came down here. You wanna try making pancakes with me again?”

Dobby nodded eagerly. This had been something that happened since shortly after the Winter break. Whenever Heather wasn’t feeling up to facing the students in the great hall, she would come to the kitchens and together, she and Dobby would prepare some food to eat together. It was perhaps the most relaxing thing she could remember doing in recent memory, and that includes those times she snuck into the prefect’s bathroom late at night over the past couple months (her map had been very helpful in managing to tell her what the password was currently set to – Sirius and Remus had managed to create a new and improved version of the Map – a Marauder’s Map 2.0, so to speak. Of course, Wormtail’s name was nowhere to be seen on it. And they’d added her father and mother under a special thanks section.

Dobby and Heather set about preparing the pancake batter together, mixing the ingredients and then pouring the mix onto a pan that Dobby had set up over one of the stoves. Heather also had the brilliant idea of adding blueberries to the mix – she much preferred them over the strawberry bits they’d added last time.

After the pancakes were prepared, they drowned their pancakes in syrup before digging in.

Heather ended up eating no less than 6 pancakes. They were really good pancakes.

Dobby said that now he must be getting back to work, so Heather left him to it and went out to wander around the castle for a bit. This is how she ended up face to face with Nick.

“Well you see, when a witch or wizard dies, they may choose to remain. Typically this comes from those who were scared of death or on some level deserve to remain a ghost. You see, being a ghost is not a pleasant experience, Harry.” Heather winced at the address, but Nick didn’t notice. “Your godfather, from what I remember of him in school, would very likely be neither of those. There are of course other ways to communicate with the dead. But all or rare, difficult, dangerous, or any combination of those.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

“I’m sorry Harry,” Heather winced again, “I really am.”

Heather left feeling dejected. That had been her last hope to see Sirius again. At least seeing him again any time soon. And I doubt he’d want me to go about dying so soon, she thought. Not that I have any intention of dying before I can at least become a grandmother. Or at least be at that age. Heather really wasn’t sure if she’d ever want kids. Or be able to, for that matter. Sure there was always adoption, but Sirius had mentioned there was a lot of barriers preventing queer people from adopting.

She continued to wander around before finding Luna, who was currently barefoot, and her back facing to Heather.

“Hey Luna.” Heather said.

Luna whirled around. “Oh. Hey.”

Heather smiled at the girl. She was always a very calming presence. “So uh… where are your shoes.”

Luna’s expression darkened. “I don’t know.”

Heather frowned.

“This always happens every year. They turn up eventually though.”

“Are you looking for them?” Heather asked.

Luna nodded. “Yup. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them?”

Heather shook her head. “Not since you last had them on your feet. Would you like some help looking for them?”

Luna nodded. “Oh, yes please!” She seemed so happy to have help offered.

Heather smiled. “Alright. I’m gonna call a friend and see if he can help. Hey Dobby! If you aren’t busy right now, and have the time, could you please come help us with something.”

With a crack, Dobby appeared in front of them. “Yes, Miss Heather?”

Heather nervously glanced over at Luna, but Luna didn’t seem to have noticed anything weird about the way Dobby had just addressed her. “So, my friend Luna can’t find her shoes. I was wondering if you might be able to help out?”

Dobby nodded. “Dobby can be helping out. Dobby can find anything in Hoggywarts that Miss Heather and Miss Luna needs.”

“That’s great, Dobby!” Luna said. “I, uh- I’m also missing some other things. Could you help find those as well, please?”

Dobby nodded. “Dobby will find all of Miss Luna’s missing things and Dobby will bring them to Miss Luna. What is it that Miss Luna be missing?”

“Well, I’m missing all my shoes, my rain boots, half of my socks, a couple bras, one of my school uniforms, a silver bracelet, and a winter hat.”

Dobby nodded. “Dobby can find all of that. Dobby will be right back.” And then with another crack Dobby disappeared.

“He’s quite an interesting little fellow, isn’t he?”

Heather nodded. “He’s a good friend. He tried to save my life a few years ago. In return, I freed him from some bad wizards – the Malfoys. I hadn’t heard from him my entire 3rd year, but he started working here last year, and we’ve had a bit of a friendship ever since.”

“And he called you ‘Miss Heather.’ What’s that about?”

Heather smiled nervously. So Luna had in fact noticed. “Well, you see-“

“Are you like me?”

That caught Heather off guard. “W-what? What do you mean?”

Luna smiled. “I asked if you were like me. When I was born I was not actually named Luna, by the way.”

Heather nodded. “So what were you named?” Heather immediately regretted asking that. You don’t just ask something like that.

“I’d rather not say. It was not a name I particularly liked, you see. Much like I imagine you don’t like your old name.”

Heather shook her head. “No. Definitely not.”

Luna looked thoughtful before her look turned serious. The first serious look Heather had ever seen on the small girl’s face. “It’s not exactly a safe thing to be. What we are, that is. I can be somewhat safe since I was able to change so young. No one ever knew that I was born as a boy. Oh sure, they can see that I’m different in some way. But none of them know this. And it’s good they don’t if they found out, I’d have to leave.”

Heather’s heart sank. This had been exactly what she had been afraid of. That just by her being herself, she would be forced to leave Hogwarts. She licked her suddenly very dry lips. “What- what does this mean for me?”

Luna looked sad. “It means you can’t stay. It will never be safe. Harry Potter should just disappear. It wouldn’t be safe to know that Heather was once Harry Potter.”

Heather sighed. “Should I change my last name then?”

Luna nodded. “Probably. Or just move to New Zealand, I’ve heard they’re very accepting over there.”

Heather put her head in her hands.

“What’s wrong, Heather?” Luna asked, moving closer and putting her arm around the older girl.

Heather choked back a sob. “This is exactly what I was afraid of, Luna. That being myself could lead to me having to leave Hogwarts. That it would lead to me having to just disappear.” Heather sniffled. “I’d lose all my friends.”

Luna rubbed Heather’s back. “Hey, I’d still be your friend. I’d disappear with you.”

Heather turned to look at Luna. “You would?”

Luna nodded. “Of course, Heather.”

“Oh there you are!” A voice called. Heather turned towards the source. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

It was Daphne Greengrass. A Slytherin in Heather’s year, and someone she had struck up an unlikely friendship with earlier that year. She smiled at the slightly older girl. “Hey, Daph.”

Daphne sat down on Heather’s other side. “So what’s wrong? You look like you’ve been crying.”

Heather realised that she had crying and there were currently tears on her cheeks. “I, uh… Sirius died.”

“Your godfather?” Daphne asked.

Heather nodded.

“Damn. That really sucks, Harry.”

Heather winced, and Daphne definitely noticed. Daphne noticed a lot.

“It does suck, right?”

Heather nodded. “Yeah, of course it sucks.”

Daphne nodded. “Right… it’s just… is there anything else bothering you, Harry?”

Heather tried to school her features. She really hated that name, but Daphne still noticed anyway.

“There is something else bothering you! What is it?”

Heather cringed inwardly. “I can’t tell you.”

“Well why not? It’s nothing bad is it? You aren’t doing something like sacrificing babies or plotting to steal my ice cream?”

Heather sighed. She really didn’t want to lie to Daphne. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just…”

“Well if it isn’t bad, then why can’t you tell me?”

“I just can’t.”

“Bullshit. You know there’s nothing you can say that would phase me.”

Heather turned to Luna for help, but Luna looked just about as awkward as Heather felt.

“Well what if it did?”

“What do you mean?” Daphne seemed to struggle for a bit. “Harry… are you gay?”

“What?”

“You know. Gay. Homosexual. Do you like dudes?”

“What? No! I do not like dudes. I totally only like girls.” She laughed nervously. “No dudes for me!”

Daphne nodded. “I see.”

Heather hesitated for a second before asking. “Daphne, are you gay?”

Daphne stared into Heather’s eyes. Heather could see a vulnerability in Daphne that she had never seen before.

“You are gay, aren’t you?”

Daphne’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I am. I like girls. Just… please don’t tell anyone.”

“We would never, Daphne,” Luna said. “In fact, I am also not straight. I don’t know what I am, but whatever it is, it’s not straight.”

Daphne nodded. “I kind of expected that from you.” She paused for a second, then, “so uh… what’s bothering you then, Harry?”

Heather felt really nervous. She didn’t want to lie. But also… Daphne was gay… maybe she would be accepting. “Uh… that name is.”

Luna let out a small gasp.

Daphne frowned. “Harry? You’re bothered by the name ‘Harry’?”

Heather nodded.

“But why…” she trailed off, glancing at Luna. “Maybe I’m also correct about that?” She paused. “So what name do you prefer?”

Heather suppressed her nerves. “Heather. I prefer the name ‘Heather’.”

Daphne nodded. “Sounds good to me, Heather Potter.”

Heather breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s more of a girl name… so are you actually a girl then?”

Heather nodded.

“Well that makes things a lot less confusing.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Daphne smiled at them. “Well you know I’m gay, right? A lesbian, if you will. Something I quite enjoy being by the way. I have no interest in guys, right?”

Heather shook her head.

“Huh… this would make you gay too… anyway, a few months into our friendship, I had realised I was kind of… catching feelings for you, I guess. Which was weird, ‘cause you were a guy. Except you’re not a guy, and never were a guy. You’re a girl. So it makes a lot more sense now.”

Heather felt kind of shocked at that. “You… you had a crush on me?”

Daphne shrugged. “Had. Have. Will probably continue to have. You’re a really nice girl, Heather. And especially after Christmas, you seemed to get a lot less moody.”

“Well that’s when I got my HRT.”

Daphne looked at her questioningly.

“Hormones. I got my hormones then. You know, estrogen.”

Daphne nodded. “Makes sense then.” Daphne grinned mischievously. “So are you getting tits now?”

Heather blushed. “I- uh- well-“ She nodded. “I- uh- I actually already kinda have them… I mean, they’re really small. But I have them.”

“So is that the reason for all the bulky robes in June?”

Heather nodded. “It’s uncomfortable, but I don’t want people to find out.”

“No, I didn’t think you did. Most wizards can be kinda nasty about this sort of thing. Which honestly makes no sense. It wasn’t that long ago that nobody actually cared. Hell, part of why muggles hunted us so much back before the statute was because wizards supported people like us so much.”

“So what happened to change that?”

“Well, you see, following the statute, many wizards became obsessed with maintaining a little something called blood purity – which is total bullshit anyway – and that involved not having kids with muggles, for the most part. But it also involved wanting to maintain lineages. Eventually all the purebloods had all married each other, so now just about everyone was related somehow.” Daphne paused to catch her breath. “So then it was less accepted for purebloods to be queer in some way. It also seemed like for a bit before the war against Grindelwald, muggles had started to be a bit accepting. Not much, but a bit more. And then pure bloods started being afraid muggle-borns would influence the ‘proper’ purebloods to be gay and not have kids.”

“And then it became less acceptable for anyone to be queer then?”

Daphne nodded. “Exactly. It’s all bullshit anyway. Just because I like girls doesn’t mean I can’t still get pregnant. And just because some muggle-born I met happened to be gay does not make me gay. I was gay long before I met any muggle-borns.”

Heather sighed. “D’you… do you think things could go back to how they were? Like, before?”

Daphne shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe. But it’s not something the three of us could do anything about right now. As it is, once I graduate here, I’m out of here. No more wizarding world, just gonna disappear into the muggle world. Try and get a muggle education and a muggle job.”

“That sounds… kinda defeatist.”

Daphne shrugged. “If it’s what I need to do to be myself, then so be it. Magical Britain is dying, Heather. So are a lot of other nations, but some are flourishing. Mind you, it’s nearly impossible to find them anymore since Europe has kinda messed up most of the world. But Mongolia is doing great from what I’ve heard. Same with Japan in fact. I think it has to do with how much those magical communities welcome muggle ideas and muggle-born mages.”

“Luna mentioned that she heard New Zealand was very accepting.”

“Is it really?”

Luna nodded. “Daddy always says that when I graduate, we will be moving to New Zealand. It also helps that those islands are full of so many fascinating magical creatures.”

Daphne smirked. “Maybe I should go with you then. Would mean waiting a whole extra year and avoiding basically the entire pureblood male population of Britain for that time, but I think I could manage.”

Heather made up her mind. “Then we all go. To New Zealand that is.”

Daphne smiled wide. “New Zealand it is then.”

The three queer girls all smiled at each other as they made a pact to leave Britain forever.

Chapter 2: More Queer Girls at Hogwarts

The three girls headed outside to sit in the sun. Daphne had helpfully taught Heather an illusion spell that could help hide her growing breasts, meaning she could shed her bulky robe.

“So you really wanna take that risk Heather?” Daphne asked. Heather had stated she planned to come out right after graduation.

Heather nodded. “It’s only a risk for the few days I’ll still be in this stupid country once I graduate. After that I’ll be long gone. Besides, if any of my other friends are supportive, they deserve the chance to stay my friend.”

Daphne nodded. “Maybe I should do the same with Tracey. She’s been my friend basically as long as I can remember.”

“And she’s pretty cute,” Luna said.

Daphne blushed. “Well that’s not a factor in my decision at all.”

“Oh, do you like her too?” Heather asked, smirking.

“I’m allowed to fancy more than one girl,” Daphne said.

Heather giggled. “Oh I know. I myself have a few different crushes. Not including Cho Chang, who I most definitely do not have a crush on anymore. God that date was a disaster.”

“Wait, you actually went on a date with her?” Daphne locked shocked.

“Yup.” Heather nodded. “I feel like if she hadn’t still been an emotional wreck from Cedric’s death, maybe it could’ve gone better. But that’s not what happened, and I’m pretty sure she’s straight anyway.”

Daphne nodded sagely. “While the straight girl may like Harry Potter, they will not be interested in the true person who is you.”

Heather giggled. “How about you, Luna? Any crushes?”

Luna smiled. “Well, Ronald is kinda cute. And Ginevra has always been a good friend to me.”

Daphne nodded. “While I can’t say anything about Ron Weasley, as he is a boy, which is not my type. I will say that Ginny gives off… vibes.”

“Vibes?” Heather queried.

Daphne nodded. “Yup. Vibes. There’s just something about her that feels queer in some way.”

Heather snorted. “Well she definitely does like guys, that’s for sure.”

Daphne laughed. “Yeah, just about everyone heard about that little valentine from her first year.”

Heather blushed. “It was kinda sweet,” she said.

“I agree, it was sweet of her.”

“So Heather, I notice you only told us who you don’t have a crush on anymore. What about you have a crush on now?”

Heather smirked. “Are you sure you wanna know, Luna?”

Luna nodded. “Please tell us, Heather.”

“Alright. So I have a crush on Ginny, actually. She’s just… yes.”

Daphne laughed. “Oh? What about her is ‘just yes’?”

Heather blushed. “She’s athletic, ok. I like athletic girls.”

Daphne nodded. “So do us all. Athletic girls are one of the best types of girls. Tracey’s athletic too, although she doesn’t play Quidditch.”

“What does she play then?” Luna asked.

“Hockey.”

“Oooo. I’ve seen a couple games of that,” Luna said. “It seems very brutal. A lot of hitting.”

Daphne nodded. “So I’ve heard that professional hockey gets like that. But the games Tracey plays have never been that violent.”

“Have you ever played, Daph?” Heather asked.

Daphne nodded. “A few times. I’m not very good. Tracey, on the other hand, is amazing.”

“I’d like to watch sometime then,” Heather said. “Maybe play a game too.”

“Then you totally should. I’ll ask Tracey to invite her over to her place for a bit next Christmas break.”

“Does she know? Like, about you being gay?” Luna asked.

Daphne nodded. “Not sure if she’s straight or anything – but like, she’s also asexual and demiromantic.”

“What does that mean?” Heather asked.

“Ok, so asexual is like not into sex at all.”

“That’s a thing?”

Daphne nodded. “I’d imagine it’s not that uncommon. Anyway, demiromantic, as she said, is like you’re not into someone - romantically, that is – unless you already know them well or are close to them.” Daphne paused. “And I do mean really well.”

Heather nodded. “So no blind dates for Tracey then.”

“Exactly.”

“So that makes four queer girls we know here in Hogwarts,” Luna said. “Oh I hope Ginevra is gay… or at least bi.”

“Me too…” Heather said.

Daphne snorted. “So… how have exams been going for you two?”

Luna shrugged. “Same as last year. The Defense Exam was rather boring however.”

“Of course it was,” Heather responded. “Anyway, O.W.Ls have been… something. Not nearly as hard as teachers made them out to be. I imagine the N.E.W.Ts will be much harder however.”

“Oh, so you think you passed all of them then, Heather?”

Heather shook her head. “Probably not divination, I definitely don’t actually have an inner eye, which probably would really help. And history… well that was yesterday. It got interrupted by…” she trailed off.

“By what?” Daphne asked.

“Voldemort sent her a vision that was why she went to the ministry last night.”

“Oh.”

There was a pause in the conversation. Daphne grabbed a rock and skipped it across the lake.

“You gonna retry it you think?” Daphne asked.

“You can do that?”

Daphne nodded. “Of course you can. You said your scar hurts when you get these visions. I’d imagine debilitating pain and a vision as a result of a curse scar is more than valid of a reason to redo an exam.”

Heather shrugged. “Maybe. I told Professor McGonagall earlier that I would like to maybe become an auror… but I’m not sure.” Heather sighed. “I mostly said that to annoy Umbridge.”

Daphne nodded. “Auror work is very stressful from what I understand. And once you do come out, it’ll be much harder to get that sort of job.”

Heather shrugged. “That’s why I’m not sure. Maybe in another more accepting country… but at the same time, I don’t think I really want to have to go around catching dark wizards for a living. I already have had a bunch of them trying to kill me for the past few years.”

“Well… you did a good job teaching us in Dumbledore’s Army… maybe you could give teaching a go?” Luna said.

Heather smiled. “You know… I did enjoy doing that…”

“Then maybe you should become a teacher, Heather,” Daphne said. If you’re good at it and enjoy it…”

Heather glanced at her watch.

“What time is it?” Daphne asked.

“About 2 pm,” Heather said.

Daphne nodded. “Hey… do you wanna meet Tracey?”

Heather nodded. “Sure.”

Luna stood up from where she was sitting on the grass. “She sounds cool.”

They found Tracey in the great hall, reading a letter.

“Hey Trace!” Daphne called.

She looked up at them. “Oh. Hey Daph.”

Daphne sat down next to her friend, Luna and Heather sitting on Daphne’s other side.

“You brought Potter over.”

Daphne nodded. “That I did. She wanted to meet you.”

Tracey nodded, then paused. “She?”

Daphne nodded. “Yup. She. Tracey, I would like you to meet Heather Potter. She’s that secret friend I’ve been running off to meet. And this is Luna Lovegood, another friend of mine who I just met today.”

“Potter’s a girl?”

Daphne smirked. “Well of course she is.”

Tracey frowned. “You know how people feel about that sort of thing, Daph.”

“No different then how they feel about people like you or me. We can manage.” Daphne glanced at the letter in Tracey’s hands. “What’s the letter about?”

Tracey grimaced. “it’s from my dad.”

“Oh no.” Daphne grabbed Tracey’s hand. “What does he have to say this time?”

Tracey sighed. “Oh, nothing much. Just letting me know the Crabbe’s have approached him about supporting You-Know-Who.”

Heather and Luna’s eyes widened at this.

“They do know his ex-wife was muggleborn… right?” Daphne asked.

Tracey shrugged. “Probably. Might be ‘offering him a second chance’ or some such bullshit.” Tracey used air quotes when she said, ‘offering him a second chance.’

Daphne nodded. “Does he say whether or not he will join them?”

Tracey shook her head. “Nope.”

Heather scowled. “Great. More people I’ll probably need to fight. Fuck my life.”

Tracey grimaced. “I would rather that not happen. Daphne seems to really like you.”

Daphne snorted. “On the other hand, if you do see my dad, feel free to beat the crap out of him.”

Heather, who had heard a lot of Daphne’s rants about her dad, simply responded with, “will do.”

“Wait, does this mean no Hockey?” Luna said.

Tracey looked confused. “Hockey?”

Daphne laughed. “Heather here wanted to know if she could join in one of your hockey games. Not exactly easy if your dad is working for You-Know-Who.”

“If he does join, I think I’d just run away from home.”

“And where would you go?” Daphne asked.

“I could figure something out. We could figure something out, Daph.”

“And what about your schooling, Trace?”

“O.W.Ls are done. I’m a fully qualified witch now.”

“Uh, wouldn’t you need to wait for marks first?” Heather asked.

“Also, I haven’t taken O.W.Ls yet,” Luna said.

Tracey glanced at the Ravenclaw.

“She’s coming with us, Trace. She’s one of us.”

Tracey and Luna locked eyes. Luna smiled at the older girl serenely.

“Fine.”

Just then Ginny walked in and plopped herself on the other side of Luna. “Hey Luna, Harry. Watcha doin’ at the Slytherin table?”

Heather sighed at the name. “Just hanging out with friends. Daphne, Tracey, this is Ginny. Ginny this is Daphne and her friend, Tracey.”

Ginny nodded. “When’d you wake up?”

“Same as always,” Luna said at the same time Heather said, “around lunch time.”

Ginny nodded as if that was exactly what she had expected. “And how are you feeling?”

“A bit tired, but otherwise feeling alright,” Luna said.

Ginny stared into Heather’s eyes, demanding she tell the truth.

“Like shit,” Heather finally said.

Ginny sighed. “Me too. Last night was exhausting. And it must be even worse for you. I mean…” she trailed off, not wanting to finish that statement.

“It’s more than just last night, Ginny.” Heather decided to try opening up to Ginny a bit. “It’s more like almost my entire life at this point.”

Ginny grimaced. “Your aunt and uncle?”

Heather nodded. “Them too. And almost everyone here. All the teachers. The ministry. Voldemort. Pretty much everyone who isn’t Sirius to be completely honest with you.”

Ginny frowned. “What have I done, Harry?”

Heather sighed. “Nothing intentional. Nothing you even would know unless I told you.” Heather ran her hand through her hair.

“You have very nice hair,” Ginny said. “I mean, it does make you look a bit like a girl-“ Heather’s heart fluttered at that statement. “-but it looks really good. It suits you.”

“That was kinda random, Ginny.”

Ginny shrugged. “Not that random. I keep seeing your hair and I just… it looks so pretty.”

Heather blushed. “I just grew it out. I have a few charms I found to help with brushing, but that’s it.”

“Well, it looks good.” Ginny smiled. “Anyway, what is it I’ve done that’s bothering you?”

Heather sighed. “Harry.”

Ginny looked confused. “I think I’d noticed if I’d done you.”

Heather sighed. “Not me. Harry. The name.”

“What about the name?” Ginny frowned. “Do you not like your name?”

Heather shook her head.

“Ok then,” Ginny smiled. “So do you prefer the name… Heather?”

Heather was startled. “What?”

“You prefer to be called Heather, right? You’re actually a girl then?”

Heather nodded. “H-how-“

“I overheard you and Sirius over the Christmas break talking about something. You were talking about some pills or something. And he said that name at some point. He also called you his goddaughter. I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but now knowing you don’t like being called ‘Harry,’ I have an idea.”

“And… and you don’t think it’s weird or wrong or anything?”

Ginny shrugged. “I don’t. I know some people do. But why should I care? You do what you need to be happy, Heather.” Ginny smiled. “Very pretty name, Heather. It fits, you’re a very pretty girl.”

Heather’s eyes widened. “I am?”

Ginny nodded. “Did I not just go on about how pretty I thought your hair was?”

Heather nodded. “But… but what about the rest of me?”

Ginny made a show of looking over Heather. Heather squirmed a bit in response. “Definitely all pretty. Although…” Ginny frowned. “Could’ve sworn you had tits.”

“I, uh-“

“I definitely remember feeling them last time you hugged me. Which itself was surprising since I don’t remember you ever being ok with that sort of contact before.”

Heather started playing with a lock of her hair. “I… I kinda well… Daphne taught me how to do an illusion charm, and I used one for that.”

“Oh that makes much more sense,” Ginny said. “I could use something like that sometimes. I mean… I feel like they’re getting too big…” Ginny trailed off awkwardly. “I just want them to be a bit smaller… it feels awkward like this.

“I know the feeling,” Tracey said. “I actually had mine made smaller magically. My dad was so pissed off. Which is weird, but most people are weird. I just didn’t want guys ogling me so much. Also feels much better like this now.”

Ginny’s eyes widened. “You can do that? Make them smaller magically, that is.”

Tracey nodded. “Well I can’t. But I know someone who can do that. They were perfectly willing to help me, maybe they could help you.”

Ginny smirked. “Maybe. I dunno.”

“So how’d you sleep, Ginny?” Heather asked.

Ginny’s face fell. She sighed. “Not that good. My ankle wasn’t a clean break, it took a lot longer to heal than if it was. And even then, the pain lasted for about an hour after. By then, it was about 4 am, and I really needed to pee, but Madam Pomphrey told me not to walk on it, and she was also asleep. So that kept me up for about half an hour until Ron woke up screaming about something, and she came running. I was able to ask for help getting to the bathroom then.”

“Oh that sounds… not fun.”

Ginny snorted. “You can say that again.” Her stomach growled. “Anyway, I just woke up, and now I am starving.”

“You missed lunch, you know.”

Ginny shrugged. I figured there would still be a bit of food here. And I was right!” She grabbed a croissant from a nearby plate and took a bite.

“So you’re… ok with me? This does make me gay, you know.”

Ginny nodded and swallowed. “Perfectly understandable. I mean, what’s not to like about girls? They’re softer, they don’t typically have facial hair. And when they do, it’s normally softer than a guy’s. And they are much better looking, in my opinion.”

Luna gasped. “Wait… are you gay too?”

Ginny nodded. “Of course. It’s just the clearly better option, girls are. Perfectly understandable why guys are so interested. Not that I’m all that interested back, but they can be fun to practice kissing with I guess.”

“I thought you were dating Michael Corner,” Heather said.

Ginny shrugged. “I was. Wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I enjoyed the kissing, sure. But I just wasn’t all that into it. And I would notice how I kept noticing other girls. Like Hermione is pretty attractive. She has some nice hair. Looks fun to bury my hands in.” Ginny sighed dreamily. “Anyway, I thought I might be bi. I mean, kissing Corner was alright. And of course I had that not so secret massive crush on ‘Harry’ Potter.” She put air quotes around Heather’s dead name. “Of course now that I know you’re actually a girl, I’ve thought, ‘hey, there goes the one remaining reason why I thought I might be bi.’” Ginny laughed. “So I guess I’m gay then.”

“So am I the only one here who likes guys then?” Luna said.

Tracey shrugged. “Probably not. But I dunno. Never actually had interest in any guys so far.”

“But you might?” Heather asked.

Tracey shrugged. “Would require a guy to actually try to become friends first. Not exactly common in Slytherin nowadays. Most of them prefer to follow the Malfoy example of ‘assume the girl is into you because of course all girls are just waiting to leap into your arms.’” She looked ill at the thought.

Ginny grimaced. “Yeah… you wouldn’t like Corner either. Seemed more interested in the physical side of things. I just liked the kissing part.”

Heather sighed. “Guys just suck most of the time, don’t they?”

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement. Except Luna. She just flashed Heather a thumbs up.

“Hey, uh…?” Ginny said.

“Yeah?” Daphne responded.

“So… what if we like… made an unofficial Hogwarts gay club?”

“A gay club?”

Ginny nodded. “Yeah. So we can have secret meetings where we plot to take over the world and stuff.”

“Take over the world?”

Ginny nodded. “Of course. Isn’t that what you do at secret meetings?”

Tracey snorted.

Daphne sighed. “Why would we take over the world?”

Ginny shrugged. “For fun.”

Heather nodded sagely.

“Can we do art?” Luna asked.

Ginny nodded. “Of course we should also do art. Art is very important. And you should all see Luna’s drawings. They’re amazing.”

Luna blushed. “Thanks, Ginny.”

Ginny smiled at her friend. “Of course, we’d also invite anyone else we meet who’s like us.”

“Of course we should,” Daphne said. “Maybe if a whole bunch of us got together we could organize something to like… I dunno…” she trailed off.

“We could do something to make thins better for us here?” Tracey spoke up.

“Exactly,” Daphne said. “We could do… protests and stuff. I dunno, all I know is what the muggles did. Apparently some of them would throw bricks or something. At the police.”

Heather raised her eyebrows. “That takes guts. I can’t imagine throwing bricks at aurors.”

“I can,” Tracey said.

They sat in silence for a bit, save for the crunch of Ginny eating some crackers.

“We’d need a place to meet,” Luna said, “and people know about the Room of Requirement now.”

Heather shrugged. “That’s not the only hidden place in or around Hogwarts. We could probably find some out of the way corner somewhere in the basement or something.”

“You want to hide in the basement?” Daphne said.

Heather giggled. “Well… it’s gonna be an underground movement.”

Daphne groaned at the pun. “Goddamnit.”

Chapter 3: Running Away

“Get in, boy.”

Heather grit her teeth, internally seething at her uncle.

Oh, she wasn’t planning on staying with them. There’s a reason she had shrunk her trunk and put it in her pocket, sending Hedwig out to stay with Luna and her father.

She was, effectively, planning to run away.

She just didn’t want Dumbledore or any of his Order of the Phoenix to know her plan.

As soon as she got back to Privet Drive, she intended to sprint to the nearby playground, and call the Knight Bus. From there, she would be going to the Leaky Cauldron, where Luna and her father would be waiting for her (and how lucky it was Mr. Lovegood agreed to this). Afterwards, she would be staying at their house for the remainder of the summer.

She just hoped Dumbledore or anyone else wouldn’t be able to find her.

Save for Ginny of course. Ginny knew all about this plan, and had even been the one to suggest the conjured decoy trunk now sitting in the trunk of her uncle’s car. Ginny would also be coming over to spend time with Luna and Heather (although her parents and brothers wouldn’t know about Heather being there) as often as she could.

Heather was in a bit of a weird situation involving her friends.

For one, Luna had made it no secret that she was very much interested in Ginny romantically. However, Ginny seemed oblivious, and had also confessed to Heather during the train ride that she also possessed feelings for the girl.

This left Heather feeling rather amused.

She had also been having yet another sexuality crisis (the first having happened when she’d first come out, and had lasted until she properly determined that she did, in fact, have a complete disinterest in boys, while often had thoughts about girls; thoughts about kissing them, cuddling with them (including specific girls, and not just Ginny).

She was very aware of just how gay she actually was.

This crisis was different. For one, it turned out she’d only figured out her romantic orientation. Apparently, her own sexuality was a bit more up in the air than she had realized.

Asexuality. It all came down to that.

Was she asexual?

She figured, had you asked herself from before, and she had answered honestly and with enough thought, she would have said yes.

But that wasn’t the entire story.

But that had been when she still thought of herself as a boy. The idea of herself having sex as a boy quite honestly put her off of the concept entirely.

But as a girl… that she figured she might be able to get on board with.

Heather was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her aunt screech, “what on earth happened to your hair?”

Holly looked up to see her aunt looking back at her in the mirror.

“It grew,” Heather said simply, “I like how it looks.”

“It looks girly.”

Heather bit back her retort. That’s the point! Instead she said, “lots of boys have long hair.”

“Hooligans,” her uncle muttered.

Heather scowled.

“Whatever, I like it.”

“Like it or not, you are getting it cut the instant we get home, do you understand?”

Heather grimaced. Hair cut? Fuck no!

She didn’t respond.

Not like she would give them the chance; all of her stuff was on her, and she could run.

Outrun the Dursleys, at least. Which was good enough.

Hopefully the stupid Order didn’t have someone waiting at Privet Drive already. That could really screw with her plans.

Ah well, she’ll figure it out. She always did.

Before long, the car pulled into the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive.

“Get your trunk, boy.”

Damn, uncle. No need to rub it in.

She casually strolled to the back of the car.

A mischievous grin passed over her features.

She figured she might… annoy her aunt and uncle. Just a little bit.

She popped open the boot, and…

She bolted. One moment, she was standing by the boot, as if preparing to take out her trunk. The next, she was sprinting down the street, running for the nearby playground.

She heard her uncle yell something, but she couldn’t make it out.

She heard footsteps behind her. She swore.

Time for a shortcut.

She took a hard left, running up the driveway of Number 8. Running between the backyards of the evens side of Privet Drive, and the odds of the next street over, was a small, underused footpath.

She shoved the back gate open, sprinting right down the path, shoving a low-hanging branch out of her way.

“Harry, stop!” a voice called.

Heather risked a quick glance over her shoulder. Her pursuer had yet to reach the path.

Then she burst out onto the road. Just across, she spotted the playground. She sprinted across, pulling her want out of her pocket. As soon as she reached the curb, she held it out.

BANG!

The large, triple-decker Knight Bus exploded into existence in front of Heather. She pulled back so as not to get run over.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency trans-“

“Yeah, I know, I’ve ridden before. Kinda in a hurry.”

“Well get on then!”

Heather leapt onto the bus. Just before it started moving again, she spotted, through the window, the person who must have been sent to wait for her.

She didn’t recognize them, but they watched as the bus exploded away, taking Heather with it.

“Where to, Miss?”

Heather turned to look at Stan. She was surprised he didn’t recognize her, and also a little happy he had gendered her correctly.

“Leaky Cauldron.”

“That’ll be 11 Sickles. 13 if-“

Heather interrupted by handing Stan the money. “Just the fare, Stan.”

Heather sat down in one of the chairs sliding about the bus.

“Hold up, you like some’at familia’. Have you ridden before?”

Heather didn’t say anything.

“Hold up, I know.”

Heather prayed he didn’t say what she thought he was about to say. She glanced around the bus nervously.

Fortunately, the was only one other passenger, and he was asleep.

“You’re Harry Potta’!”

Heather winced.

“Or… not?”

Heather looked up at the man.

“Hey, no judgin’ from us. We’ll keep your secret. Won’t we, Ern?”

Ernie just nodded in agreement.

“But… why?”

“’Why,’ she askes,” Stan Muttered. “Well ‘cause you’re the bloody Girl ‘o Lived, ya know. The Chosen One. And most importantly, you’re on o’ us.”

“Us?”

Stan nodded. “Yup! I’m gay meeself, and Ern here is a trans man.”

“You sure you should be saying all that, Stan?” Ernie asked.

“Oh, don’ worry. The old man’s asleep. And… sorry, what name do you prefer?”

“Heather.”

“And Heather here won’t tell a soul.”

Heather shook her head. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“There we go then.”

They continued in silence, Stan counting the Sickles she had handed him, then depositing them in a box at the front of the bus.

“Comin’ up on the old man’s stop, Stan.”

“I’ll wake ‘im up.” Stan quickly walked over to the other passenger, nudging him awake. “We’re at your stop, Mr. Wilkins.”

The old man stood up as the bus came to a stop. He strode out the door without giving Heather a second glance.

“We’ll be at your stop soon, alright Heather?”

Heather nodded. “Great.”

“Say, whatchoo doin’ comin’ right back into London same day the Express got in?”

Heather sighed. “Rather not say.”

Stan shrugged. “’S’alright, none o’ my business.”

When they reached the pub, Heather got up to get off.

She was stopped by Stan. “Might wanna hide the scar, Heather.”

Heather nodded, pulling her bangs over her forehead to hide the scar.

Almost immediately after she got off, the buss sped off, leaving Heather alone.

She walked into the pub.

“What can I do for you, young miss?” Tom asked.

Heather pushed down the happiness of being gendered correctly again. “Just a butterbeer, please.”

Tom handed her a bottle. “5 Knuts.”

Heather nodded and dropped the coins into Tom’s hand, taking her drink and going to sit down at an empty table.

Her heart was pounding, and not from the bus ride.

She had run away. Again.

A small part of her imagined aurors bursting in to drag her back to the Dursleys, but she knew that was a ridiculous concept.

When she was about half-way through her bottle, the fire flaired green, and a tall man with dirty blonde hair stepped out, followed almost immediately by Luna, who quickly spotted Heather.

“Hi Heather!” she said, sitting next to the older girl.

Her father walked over, holding a pair of butterbeers, and handed one to his daughter.

“Hello Heather. It’s great to finally meet you. Luna writes home about you a lot.”

Heather blushed. “She does?”

Mr. Lovegood nodded. “Of course. She always talks about her friends.”

Heather sipped her drink. “Oh.”

When they had all finished their drinks, Mr. Lovegood stood and said. “Well, let’s be off, I suppose.”

Luna and Heather stood up to follow him to the fireplace.

Mr. Lovegood stepped in, tossing in some floo powder and announcing “The Rookery!”

Luna followed. Then Heather.

Fortunately for Heather, she ended up in the right place.

Unfortunately for her and Luna, she came flying out, knocking Luna over.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, Heather. You just need practice.”

Heather took her shrunken trunk put of her pocket, and Mr. Lovegood unshrunk it.

Heather reached in and pulled out Hedwig’s cage, which Mr. Lovegood also unshrunk.

Heather closed her trunk back up.

“Welcome to our home, Heather,” Luna said. “C’mon, you’re staying in my room.”

Luna grabbed Heather’s hand, pulling up the spiral stairs in the middle of the bizarrely round room.

“Daddy’s room is downstairs. Mine is all the way at the top. It has a very nice view.”

They stopped at the final landing.

Luna led Heather over to the window.

Heather had to agree, it was a pretty view.

She turned back to look at the room. Luna’s sheets were messy, as if she had forgotten to make them back in September. Sitting on the floor next to it were a pair of sleeping bags.

“Ginny and I usually use these when she stays the night. But right now, you can use one.”