The Adventure Of Ashley Potter

Fandom: H*rry P*tt*r

Prologue

With a crack, Albus Dumbledore appeared on Privet Drive for the first time in 7 years. He took in the situation; the muggle fire fighters attempting to put out the fires, fortunately with success, indicating that it was not magical, the ambulances, and the police officer talking with Petunia Dursley. She was clearly upset. Dumbledore snuck up to her invisibly, and silently cast a spell, Legilimens. Instantly, images flooded Dumbledore's mind. He saw Harry, screaming as his uncle, Vernon Dursley, the man currently being loaded into an ambulance covered in burns, attempted to grab him. Mr. Dursley had been flung across the room, then as Mrs. Dursley attempted to grab the boy, he disappeared, appearing in the hallway. Mr. Dursley once again attempted to attack Harry, but Harry screamed and once again teleported across the room, this time fire appearing where he had stood. It grew fast, and in the confusion, Harry was lost.

Dumbledore ended his spell, then left. He knew Harry had survived, but was no longer anywhere near Privet Drive. He had only come to find what had caused him to leave. Now he had to find the boy.

Elsewhere, about 5 miles northeast of Privet Drive, a young girl appeared, soot in her hair. She looked around, seeing no one to see her. She put up the hood of her jacket, hiding her face. She set her sights further down the road, disappearing then reappearing in the spot she had chosen. She continued to teleport, leaving Surrey and continuing north in a zig zag pattern.

Ashley, she thought, overhearing a conversation during her trip where one was apparently named that. I suppose that's a good enough name. After all, if no one were planning on giving her a girl's name, she would just have to choose one herself.

After 7 years, 3 months, and 2 days, Ashley Potter had decided to leave her aunt and uncle, never to return. Had decided that no one would tell her who she was. She had powers, powers she had only begun to explore, but the possibilities as she saw it were endless.

It had started about 3 years ago, when her aunt had shaved her head, and she had grown it back to her usual shoulder length. Then there was the time a year ago, when her cousin, Dudley, had been chasing her with his friends, and she had teleported to the roof of their school. Since both of those instances, she had been testing those powers. She had found there was virtually no limit to how she could change her appearance, but she could only teleport to places she could see or had been to before.

That very morning, she had used her powers in a way she never had before. She had used them to make herself into a real girl, hoping her aunt and uncle would finally not hate her. If anything, it had made them hate her more. Her uncle had grabbed her, screaming how she would always be a boy, and no freakishness would ever change that. They're the real freaks, she thought, more to reassure herself than anything.

Chapter 1

Ashley was well and truly lost. She had been attempting to reach London, but somehow had managed to end up in Kent. Unfortunately, she had no idea where that was supposed to be.

On top of that, there was now a dog following her around. Not that she minded, the dog was big and a lot of people seemed to back off when he growled at them. This dog, big and black, seemed really protective of her. And in return, she was just as protective of him.

She had met him a month or so after she left her aunt and uncle’s house. She had been scavenging some leftovers from a restaurant when it showed up. It got this confused look on his face, then started following her around. She eventually found a place to sleep, and the dog settled down with her.

She had then found herself telling him her story, about how she had run away, about how while they had insisted she was a boy, she knew that she was, in fact, a girl. And she quite enjoyed being a girl comparatively. She of course knew that the dog didn’t understand English, but it was nice to talk to anyone, even animals.

Of course, with a second mouth to feed, Ashley then had to somehow find more food. This is what led into her current situation.

“Door’s locked.” She started walking around the back of the shop to the back door. “Locked too. Damn. Ok, hang on, I got this.” She turned to regard the dog, which she had started affectionately calling ‘Snuffles.’ She had attempted some other names, but he seemed to really like that one. “You wait here, Snuffles. Be a good boy. Wish me luck.”

She closed her eyes and twisted on her heel, disappearing from where she stood. It felt like she was being squeezed through a tube. A very, very small tube. Then she reappeared inside the shop. The storeroom to be precise. She snuck through some shelves to where she knew where the food about to be thrown out was. She picked out a few things, then headed back to the door. She also grabbed some canned foods on her way out. After teleporting outside, she looked around to find Snuffles. “I’m back.”

The dog stared at her with wide eyes. It trotted up to her and sniffed her bag.

“Yeah, I got turkey. Wasn’t much, but I got some.” She set down her bag.

Snuffles tried to poke his nose into the bag.

“Not here.” Ashley pulled out a small spray can. “Hang on a sec.” She shook it before pointing it at the door, spraying a simple triangle in bright pink. She did this to mark it. She had determined that raiding that same place twice was a bit too risky. “Alright Snuffles, come on.” She shouldered her bag. And started walking back to where she was currently camped, the dog following her.

After this, Ashley found that she had to use her teleportation powers more often. Probably shopkeepers had started to take note and had started more diligently locking their doors. Not that it bothered Ashley.

And then things got weird.

It was supposed to be a standard raid. Warp in, grab some of the old food, a couple cans, and warp out. But after she twisted on her heel, the feeling of being squeezed through a tube was accompanied by something different. Something new. And something most definitely wrong. After reappearing in the shop, she found it hard to regain her balance. And it wasn’t hard to determine why – she was, in fact, missing her left leg. She tried to clamp down on her panic. Obviously, the teleporting had gone wrong. The problem was the separation meant that she was now bleeding. A lot. Which was bad. Really bad.

She jumped at the sound of the door opening. Then whimpered as it jostled her open wound. “Ashley? Can you hear me?” Ashley tried to turn towards the door. She spotted a man standing there, and in his hands was… her leg.

“Wha… huh?”

The man sighed. “Ok good you can hear me.”

“Who… who are you?” Ashley grit her teeth to stop from moaning in pain.

“Oh uh… I was… well… I was your dog…”

Ashley’s mind ground to a halt. That made absolutely no sense. This was a man. A person. Not a dog. Unless of course… he was a man that could turn into a dog. Well shit.

“Anyway uh… my name’s Sirius… and uh… I’m your godfather.”

“My what?” Ashley looked up at the man as he crouched in front of her, setting down the leg.

“Godfather. Basically, I promised your parents that I would look after you if something happened to you. Problem is, I wasn’t able to. You see… there was this man. Bad man. He was after your parents. And uh… ok if the situation was any different, I’d be telling you that this is gonna sound crazy, but you’ve been apparating in front of me for a month now, and you’re also obviously… well anyway, point is, magic is real, as you’ve no doubt realized long before. Thing is, you’re not the only one. I, of course, can use magic too. So could your parents. Anyway, this man tried to kill your parents. He succeeded… then he went after you.”

Ashley sucked in a breath. “How… how am I still alive.”

Sirius shrugged. “No clue. I was sent to prison almost immediately after. You see, your parents had hid themselves. They used a very complex charm to hide. The charm takes a secret and locks it within one person, and only this person could tell anyone the secret.”

“And you were this person?”

“No.” Sirius sighed. “People thought I was this person. It wasn’t me. Day after, I went to confront the man who had been. This man then shouted at me, then blew up the street. I ended up going to prison, probably for that, but I’m still unsure.”

“Unsure? How could you not know why you were in prison? Also, how did you get out?”

“Well, you see, I never got a trial. For 7 years.” There was a whole civil war going on among magical people – witches and wizards – and it had just ended because somehow when this bad man, this dark wizard, tried to kill you… it killed him instead.”

Ashley’s eyes widened. “How… how could…?”

Sirius shrugged. “Not entirely sure.” He shifted so he was sitting next to her. “Like I said, I’ve been in prison. I only got out because I had a reason to escape.”

“A reason to escape?”

“Yeah… you.”

Ashley blushed. “Me?”

Sirius grinned. “Yeah, you. You’re my goddaughter. Which I didn’t know at the time, I still thought you were my godson then, but the point still stands. I heard that you had disappeared from a newspaper that I got off some ministry guy who was visiting. So naturally, I had to find you. I still have a job to do, you know.”

“You escaped prison for me?” Ashley couldn’t believe it. There was someone here, right now, and that person… cared about her.

“Yup,” Sirius replied, “and I’d do it again if I had to.”

Ashley looked down at her feet… foot. “How does it not hurt as much anymore. And how am I not dying from blood loss?”

Sirius grimaced. “You’re magic. That means you heal faster. The problem is, if you fully heal, we won’t be able to reattach your leg. At the moment, it’s just clotting. But if we wait a few more hours… it won’t be good.”

“I’d rather not permanently lose my leg.”

“Me neither.” Sirius sighed. “Problem is, I can’t do it since I don’t have a wand. Had to pick the lock. And the other problem is that I’m still technically a fugitive. I can’t exactly take you to the hospital.”

“Hello?” An unknown voice called. “Anyone he- oh Merlin.”

Ashley turned her head to see who had entered.

Standing in the doorway was a woman. She was staring at the two of them with wide eyes. “Si- Sirius Black!”

“Shit.” Sirius was on his feet, standing protectively over her.

“Hey Davis!” The woman called. “You’re gonna have to get the boss here immediately. It’s Black.”

“Black?!” A voice exclaimed from just outside. “Stun him, I’ll get Bones.” There was a cracking noise.

Then the woman noticed Ashley. “Who are you?”

Ashley flinched. “I’m uh…”

“That’s my goddaughter.” Sirius growled. “And you will not be taking her from me again.”

“Goddaughter?” Another new voice said. “Since when do you have a goddaughter?”

“Since she was born.” Sirius replied.

“Clearly prison has messed with your head. Stun him.”

Ashley panicked. “Wait! Stop! Don’t hurt him!”

The new woman turned to her. “This man is extremely dangerous, Miss. You’re lucky to still be alive.”

“Amelia…” Sirius looked like he was starting to panic as well. “She splinched herself… get someone to help her… please.”

The first woman pointed a stick at Sirius. “Stupefy.” A flash of red light hit Sirius, dropping him to the floor.

“What did you do?!” Ashley was crawling away from the unknown women as fast as she could with only one leg. “Get away from us!”

“Calm down,” the second woman said.

Ashley started to hyperventilate. “Oh god… I’m gonna die… oh god.”

The woman pointed a stick at Ashley.

Ashley braced herself for the impact, but nothing happened. But her breathing slowed. She stopped trying to crawl away. She started to calm down a bit. “What… what are you going to do with him?”

The woman, Amelia, Sirius had called her, flinched. “He escaped from prison… we can’t just… well, I am still an Auror, anyway.”

“A what?”

“It’s like a police officer.”

Ashley would have started to panic again if it wasn’t for whatever that woman had done to calm her down before. She hadn’t had pleasant encounters with police. “He’s innocent.” Ashley said. “Said that he never was the secret person. Said it was another man. Said that when he went to confront that man, he blew up the street and framed Sirius. Sirius never even got a trial!”

The woman frowned. “I’m… I can do something about that… if he really is innocent… I can do something about that.”

Ashley scowled. “Prove it.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“Promise me that you do something… he’s my only family.”

“Yeah… he called you his goddaughter. That was a little confusing.”

“I am his goddaughter.”

Another person, a man this time, entered through the door, followed closely by another woman. “I got a healer, Madam Bones.”

The woman turned to the man. “Thank you, Davis.” She turned back to Ashley. “This is a healer. She’s going to reattach your leg for you.”

Ashley nodded. “Thank you.”

The woman knelt next to Amelia and pulled out another stick. A wand, Ashley realised these sticks were. The woman waved it around a bit, before her leg and the area it was supposed to be blurred. And then it was back in it’s place, no sign it had ever been missing. Not even a tear in her clothes.

Ashley stared at it with wide eyes.

The woman – Bones – sighed. “He doesn’t have a goddaughter. He has a godson.”

“Not anymore.” Ashley bent her leg experimentally. Everything seemed to be working fine.

“Not… anymore?”

“Well… not ever maybe? I dunno, don’t think I can say for sure when I was a baby. But ever since I can remember, I’ve always known I was a girl.”

“Well… you are a girl…”

“I know. But my aunt and uncle… they told me I was a boy. I even had… well I fixed that problem. Now no one can say I’m not a girl.”

“I see.” Bones shifted so she was sitting across from Ashley. “And I hope this isn’t weird to ask… but did you also decide to use a new name?”

“Well naturally. What kind of a name is Harry?” Ashley smirked. “Ashley is much better, don’t you agree?”

Bones nodded. “Well, Harry does seem to be a boy’s name. Ashley is definitely a girl’s name.”

“Exactly!”

“And also… is your last name Potter, perhaps?”

“It is… how did you know?”

Bones sighed. “This is really starting to look like Black really is innocent. After all, he didn’t hurt you.”

“Why would that help prove his innocence?”

“Because people think he broke out of prison to kill you.”

“Oh… well he definitely wasn’t gonna do that… after all, he’s been following me around for a month.”

“And you didn’t find it strange that a grown man was following you around initially?”

“Well… he was a dog for most of that.”

“Of course he was.” Bones ran a hand through her hair. “Also… how is your hair… that colour?”

Ashley pulled a lock in front of her face. Currently, she had her hair coloured to pink. “I just thought about it and now it’s pink. Can’t you do that?”

“Uh… no… it’s a really rare skill.”

“Oh… so now what?”

Bones sighed. “Now, we leave here. We need to find you a place to stay, and Sirius here needs to get a trial finally.”

“A place to stay?”

“While I’m sure you did admirably for the past 6 months, it would make a lot of people rest easier if you had a proper home.” Bones stood up. “Although… I do have a lot of space currently… I could take you in.”

“You?” Ashley stood up to follow Bones.

“I was friend with your parents. Not as close as Frank or even Sirius here. Mainly I just… I don’t want you to get stuck in some long guardianship process. If I offered, odds are I would get guardianship.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “We only just met.”

Bones shrugged. “Sirius can’t be your guardian right now, and with me, you would at least get frequent updates about his status instead of having to worry all the time.”

“Still…” Ashley trailed off. “It would only be temporary then?”

“Until Sirius could take you in, yes. Keep in mind, after his name is cleared, there’s still health issues from his stay in Azkaban.”

“Azkaban is the prison?”

Bones nodded.

Ashley sighed. “Well… let’s get this over with.”

Chapter 2

Ashley woke up to a soft knocking on the door to the room they had given her.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and in walked Kingsley Shacklebolt followed by Amelia Bones and a girl around Ashley’s age, if she had to guess.

Kingsley was a tall, muscular, black man. While his appearance was more intimidating than most of the aurors Ashley had seen since arriving at the Ministry of Magic the previous night (excluding one heavily scarred man), his entire demeanor and presence was calming on some level. His presence had a way of relaxing you. Madam Bones, on the other hand, Ashley felt somewhat nervous around. While she had been nothing but kind to Ashley since the previous night, Ashley’s distrust for anyone who worked in law enforcement had kicked in, making it difficult for her to trust the woman, despite her not giving any reason to be distrusted in the first place.

Of course Ashley still didn’t trust Kingsley either, but he had gone out of his way to be kind to her, and that was still worth some points in his favour.

And while  these aurors did not call themselves ‘police’, Ashley had learned enough to come to the conclusion that they were at least ostensibly supposed to serve the same function. A function which the majority of police officers Ashley had encountered over the past 6 months had trampled all over.

Of course, there had never been any risk of being sent back to the Dursleys. No one would ever have recognized her as the ‘boy’ who had disappeared from Privet drive. After all, her hair was now currently a bright purple colour. And the previous morning had been bright pink. It really was fun to change her hair funky colours. Of course, changing her hair funky colours only seemed to make them more interested in her.

After a quick glance at the two aurors, Ashley turned her eyes on the girl that accompanied them. She was probably around Ashley’s height (not that that meant anything since Ashley could change her height at will). Her hair was the same shade of red as Madam Bones – indicating they were probably related. Hey eyes were behind glasses not unlike ones Ashley would have worn previously – however, they had broken, and Ashley had been forced to use her powers to fix her eyes. The outfit she was wearing consisted of flowery blouse and a pair of jeans. Her shoes had some dried mud on them, but they were in good condition otherwise.

“Hey,” Ashley said. She sat up from where she was sitting on the twin bed they had given her. “Who’s this?”

“This is my niece, Susan,” Madam Bones said. “I figured you could use some company today. At least while I tried to get some thing squared away.”

“What things?”

“Your godfather,” she said. “And your potential placement. Even when Sirius Black is declared innocent – and believe me, he will, his testimony was rather enlightening – he still will not be fully capable of taking you in due to several years spending time in Azkaban. He’ll need to spend some months recovering.”

“How many months?” Ashley asked.

“It’s difficult to say for sure,” Madam Bones said. “On optimistic side, it could take a few weeks – crazier thing have happened, after all. More likely it’ll take around 4 or 5 months.”

“So what would happen to me?”

“Since Black would be given legal guardianship over you upon acquittal, your placement would need to be approved by him and a judge. Since I have thrown my hat in the ring for this arrangement, I cannot be judge, nor can I appoint the judge. At present, no one has stepped up for the position.”

Ashley nodded. So she had been serious about taking Ashley in. Another point in the woman’s favour. “Do you know who else has volunteered?”

Madam Bones nodded. “It’s a secret case, currently. Only Ministry department heads and anyone Sirius or they tell down the line will know. At present, only one other has volunteered; his name is Arthur Weasley, and in my opinion, he is actually one of the better individuals who could volunteer. He and his wife, Molly, currently has four of his children in Hogwarts, with one having already graduated. Additionally, he has two more children who are closer to your own age.”

Ashley, who herself had always found a great appeal in the idea of a larger family, found herself hoping to one day meet this Weasley family.

Kingsley spoke up. “Amos threw his hat in the ring earlier this morning, Madam.”

Madam Bones nodded. “Right. So that’s another one. Amos Diggory. He has his own son who has also just entered into Hogwarts this year.”

Ashley felt less of an interest in Mr. Diggory, but still would like to meet him at least.

“Do I get a say?” She asked.

Madam Bones nodded. “Of course you would. This is to decide where you will likely end up living for the next several months. If you don’t get along with the members of the family that takes you in, then it wouldn’t be a very good placing, would it?” Madam Bones checked the watch on her wrist, which, in addition to showing the time, also showed things like the phase of the moon as well as various astronomical data such as star positions. “Looks like Kingsley and I need to be going. Have fun, you two. Don’t burn anything down.” She half stepped out of the door. “Oh, and by the way, Ms. Potter.”

Ashley looked up at her.

“Sirius would like to see you, would you like to?”

Ashley nodded enthusiastically.

Kingsley and Madam Bones left. The door closed behind them.

The girl, Susan, sat in the chair at the small desk in the room, facing Ashley. “Hey,” she said.

“Hi,” Ashley responded.

“So… are you into Quidditch?”

Ashley frowned. “I have absolutely no idea what that is?”

“Oh.”

There was an awkward silence.

“Were you… raised by m- non-magical people?”

Ashley nodded. “If you could call that ‘raising.’”

“What do you mean?”

Ashley shrugged. “They never really cared about me.”

“So, what happened?” Susan asked. “I mean… you’re here now.”

“I ran away. 6 months ago, I just… look, promise not to be weird about anything?”

Susan nodded. “Of course. I mean… we can be friends, right? Friends shouldn’t be weird about anything.”

Ashley smiled at the girl. “We can be friends, sure. Anyway, I’d always known I could… change things. About my appearance. I can change my hair colour, my eye colour, the shape of things, my height. Hell, I could make my skin bright red if I wanted.” Ashley demonstrated by making her hand turn red. “Anyway, I used to not be as good. Colours and hair length was the best I had. But there was something else I always wanted to change… so I did. My Aunt and Uncle… never liked magic. Or just never liked me. Either way… well, somehow, the kitchen was on fire, and I was out, trying to get as far away as I could.”

“What was the thing you’d always wanted to change?”

“This is the bit I was worried you’d get weird about. I uh… when I was born… I didn’t exactly have all the right parts… for a girl. Everyone thought… well they thought I was a boy… but I mean, I wasn’t. I’m not. I’m a girl. I just… wanted to look like one. Like in every way… so I did.” Ashley had started looking at the ground during that speech, but now she looked back up at Susan.

“Right. So you’re a girl who used to look like a boy, but you used magic to make yourself look more like a girl.”

Ashley nodded.

“Sounds like my third cousin.”

Ashley’s eyes widened. Susan just accepted her… just like that. Now that she thinks about it… so had Sirius.

“Anyway. So… Quidditch. Want me to explain it to you?”

Ashley nodded, and the two girls continued to talk for a while – about Quidditch, a sport that was apparently played in the air on broomsticks, and then about other things.

Sirius had had the most interesting few months he’d had in years.

Granted, he had been in prison for 7 years, which itself was barely interesting. The most interesting thing that had happened there was the time Bartemius Crouch’s own son, also named Bartemius, came in and then died a month later. Bartemius Crouch had been the man in charge of sentencing people at the end of the war with Voldemort, and had been the one to send Sirius to Azkaban without a trial.

A trial that Sirius had quickly realized would never come.

Sirius had been wasting away in his cell, constantly blaming himself for the deaths of his friends, James and Lily Potter.

But when he heard that their child, Sirius’ godchild, had gone missing after reading a newspaper he borrowed from Cornelius Fudge, the current minister for magic, he knew he had to get out.

And so he did.

Sirius was an unregistered animagus. A dog, to be precise. The only ones who had known were either dead, presumed dead, or a werewolf who would never have been listened to by the ministry. So the ministry had never found out.

Due to malnutrition over the years in Azkaban, Sirius’ dog form was thin enough to slip through the bars on his cell.

He slipped out, past the dementors, and hid himself on the ferry back to the mainland.

Sirius honestly had no idea how he would ever find his godchild, but of course he had to try.

And then Sirius found her.

Her hair had been a more subdued brown colour at the time, probably to avoid attracting attention, and she had been currently in the midst of pickpocketing some lady’s purse. She had looked nothing like Sirius had expected… and yet Sirius knew that she was his goddaughter.

Not godson, of course. She was very adamant about not being a boy the few times she talked herself into that subject.

And she did like to talk. To him at least. With most other people she seemed extremely closed off.

Sirius followed her as she went to purchase some food with the cash she pulled out.

She noticed, of course. She acted very friendly towards him, asking him if he would like something to eat. He ended up getting some deli turkey.

Of course, her kindness seemed to start and stop at him. To most everyone else she was indifferent. To some people, she was almost hostile. For example, one time this tall, thin woman attempted to ‘help the poor lost little girl,’ which seemed to involve the police on some level. The police was a sure fire way to get Ashley to run the other way as fast as possible. But even before mentioning them, Ashley had been giving the woman a look that, if looks could kill, would have been the equivalent of a bomb going off right then and there. Sirius would later find out that the woman’s build and even many of her features reminded Ashley so much like her aunt.

Sirius never did find out how badly this aunt treated Ashley, but he figured this aunt was likely Petunia.

Ashley rarely initiated contact with others. Except for one time. One time, Sirius woke up to see Ashley painting mud on her face, her hair bright blue. She would run screaming at some family having a picnic in the park they had slept in the previous night, waving a stick around. She started hitting the family’s pudgy son over and over, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Once others started to notice, she would run back off back into the woods to Sirius, but not before an entire loaf of bread that the family had brought and some cheese, then tossing dirt at the family.

Sirius had recognized the mother.

It was Petunia.

Ashley and Sirius had savoured that bread for 2 weeks after that. Ashley said that with the Dursleys, it wouldn’t have made it past that picnic.

Personally, Sirius thought it was the bare minimum Ashley deserved from those people.

Also of note would be Ashley’s bag. The bag itself wasn’t anything special, just a plain black backpack with three large pockets as well as two side pockets, one of which contained a plastic water bottle. Within the larger pockets were several changes of clothes, any food they had, and some goodies Ashley had managed to snag off some tourists. Ashley was especially fond of a bag of chocolates she had pulled out of the purse Sirius had found her pickpocketing.

Adorning the back, however, were several interesting trinkets. She had ripped off the logo on the bag and replaced it with a tag that read ‘Ashley Potter.’ Hanging from the straps were a couple of tags. One was a tacky looking rainbow that Ashley had bought from a small shop. The other was hand-made. It was bright pink and covered in glitter, and also had a ⚢ symbol painted on it. Among other items.

She had multiple times stated that she definitely did not like boys and how girls were clearly much better.

Good for her, honestly.

A few weeks after Sirius had joined her, she made another tag that had a hand drawn image of him (as a dog, of course) on it.

By the time Sirius had joined her, she already knew how to apparate. She had stated she was trying to find London. Why, she never said. She just said it seemed like a good idea.

Sirius had seen her apparate into various stores (after checking during the day for cameras) at night to get food and clothes that she just thought looked cool (they had spent 2 days scouting a store that had a t-shirt decorated with images of unicorns).

There were a few other magical things she could do on command. She could magically clean her clothes, she could heat up food, and she could summon small objects to her hand.

Along with this, some other things she seemed to do more subconsciously included the ability to make herself hard to do a notice-me-not charm when she wanted to remain unnoticed, and her hair seemed to never get tangled in bushes when she walked through them.

All of this but the apparating made sense to Sirius. It was either a simple case of accidental magic (which often followed a person’s desires) or something that he assumed Ashley figured out how to do because the alternative would probably have really sucked (such as being stuck with dirty clothes). Apparating, however, was a very hard skill to learn, and Ashley did it so easily.

Until she managed to splinch herself. Sirius supposed it was always going to happen eventually. When it happened, however, Sirius panicked. He transformed and kicked down the door, rushing inside with her leg to help her. Somehow.

Of course now, of all times, someone from the ministry actually showed up.

And that was how Sirius found himself now, sitting in a holding cell, wondering when the dementors would come for a little smooch.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, of all people, Amelia Bones would enter his cell, followed by a tall and really intimidating auror she introduced as Kingsley Shacklebolt.

She got right down to business. She asked him who the secret keeper was, who knew the secret keeper was actually Peter, where Sirius searched for Peter before the confrontation, whether Sirius cast the blasting curse or not, whether or not he cast anything at Peter during the confrontation, how Sirius believed Peter got away.

Confused, Sirius answered all questions.

“Peter was the secret keeper.”

“Just James, Lily, and I. We were going to tell Dumbledore but never got around to it.”

“I checked his home first. I was expecting to see signs of a struggle, but it didn’t look at all like it. I then saw him out in the street after leaving. He ran… I chased him into a dead end alley.”

“No. Peter did. He shouted that I had betrayed James and Lily, then blew up the street and a bunch of muggles with it.”

“I did actually. When he cast his blasting curse, I tried to stun him. The two curses collided, and his hit the street.”

“Peter, like James and I, is an unregistered animagus. A rat, specifically. He probably just transformed and ran into the sewers.”

She then asked how long they had been animagi, and for what reason they became ones.

“We first transformed early in our fifth year. We became animagi so that we could keep Remus company when he transformed.”

“Awfully kind of you,” she said. “How long have you been with… Ashley, was it?”

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, her name is Ashley. And as her godfather I would legally change it, but, well…”

Amelia sighed. “We can see about doing that. Go on.”

“Right.” Sirius took a deep breath. “I would say I found her maybe 2 or 3 weeks after I broke out? I dunno, I haven’t kept good track of time.”

“So about 5 months then.” She nodded. “Well, Mr. Black, that is all the questions we have for you today. You will be contacted shortly by one Mr. Tonks, who will be your legal representative at your trial in 5 days time.”

“T-trial?”

Amelia nodded. “Yes, trial. You never received one 7 years ago, and what you and Ms. Potter have told me gives a strong indication of possible acquittal.”

“What did Ashley tell you?”

“She told us that you were innocent, and that you told her it had been Mr. Pettigrew all along.” Amelia stood up. “Besides, the fact that you were found with the person you were supposedly setting out to kill, distinctly not harming her, does somewhat dispute any notion of your guilt.”

Sirius swallowed, his throat dry. “Can I- can I see her?”

Amelia pursed her lips. “That would have to be up to Ms. Potter.”

Sirius nodded. “Of course.”

And then Sirius was alone again.

Sirius had fallen asleep, but was woken up around midday.

“Up you get, Black. Your goddaughter is here to see you. A voice said. Sirius saw Kingsley standing over him, a soft smile on his face.

Sirius looked out the door to his cell, spotting Ashley, her hair a vibrant green, talking with another girl with auburn hair.

As soon as Ashley saw him awake, her mouth broke into a large grin, and she rushed into the cell, and threw her arms around him, squeezing the life out of him. Sirius lifted his arms to hug her back.

“You’re ok,” she said.

“Of course I am, sweetheart.”

Ashley pulled back and sat on the bed next to him.

“How are you feeling, Ashley?”

Ashley shrugged. “I’m doing alright. Madam Bones brought Susan to keep me company for a bit.”

Sirius glanced at the other girl.

“That was nice of her.”

Ashley nodded. “Yeah! Susan is really nice. And cool. She told me about Quidditch!”

Sirius smiled. “Oh that’s excellent. What position do you think you’d like to play?”

Ashley grinned, her hair flashing to yellow briefly before back to green. “Well, initially I was thinking beater. They get to hit things! But seeker also seems cool.”

Sirius nodded. “Maybe you should try out for both when you get to Hogwarts then?”

“I’ll go to Hogwarts?”

Sirius nodded. “Of course you will. Your parents enrolled you almost immediately after you were born.”

Ashley grinned again. “I can’t wait.”

The two continued to discuss various things. Susan eventually joined in, and a discussion of the various Quidditch teams started. Sirius tried to get Ashley to support the Appleby Arrows, but it wasn’t difficult for Susan to convince her to support the  Holyhead Harpies instead. Figures Ashley would find that team specifically more interesting.

“They’re all girls?” Ashley giggled. “Then definitely them. Definitely. Girls are much cooler!”

Susan nodded. “Exactly!”

Susan then informed them that since Sirius went to Azkaban, the Chudley Cannons had only gotten even worse.

After the two girls left, Sirius fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Chapter 3

Not guilty.

That was what the court had said. Sirius was not guilty.

Ashley could not keep a grin off her face at that.

The day after, the same judge who had cleared Sirius would, with guidance from Sirius and input from Ashley, had granted temporary guardianship to Amelia Bones.

Ashley had met with both other families, of course. The Diggorys were alright, Ashley got along well with their son, Cedric, but Cedric’s father had clashed with her somewhat.

The Weasleys, on the other hand, were wonderful. The twins, Fred and George, had been extremely amusing, cracking a great many jokes. Percy had felt somewhat distant to her, but he seemed to be a kind person. Ginny, the only girl, had also seemed somewhat distant. She had smiled at Ashley, blushing lots. She hadn’t said much outside of ‘hi’ and ‘bye.’ Ron was also a rather sweet boy. He had challenged her to a game of chess at one point, and when Ashley stated she had never played, Ron had patiently explained the rules to her, and had also assisted her by explaining some beginner strategies.

Charlie, however, was without a doubt one of the coolest people Ashley had ever met. He was the current Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team at Hogwarts, and, according to his entire family, including Percy, perhaps the greatest seeker to go through Hogwarts in the past decade. However, he would not be going into professional Quidditch after graduating. Instead, he would be heading off to Romania where he had a job lined up with a dragon reserve. How cool was that?

Arthur and Molly, the two Weasley parents, were also themselves very delightful. Mr. Weasley had eagerly asked her to explain some basic non-magical things (most of which Ashley knew nothing about, however this did nothing to slow down his enthusiasm, and eventually Mr. Weasley asked about a subject, aerodynamics, which Ashley actually had a book about. A book she had nicked from a book shop a few months ago. Mr. Weasley seemed absolutely delighted to finally have an entire book on the subject of how planes flew.

Mrs. Weasley was hugger. Best way to put it. She didn’t try to hug Ashley immediately, thankfully, but when hearing some of Ashley’s story, she offered a hug to the girl. Ashley cautiously accepted and was given a hug so full of affection that Ashley nearly cried. Her children were honestly so lucky to have her.

But ultimately, Ashley chose to live with Madam Bones and Susan for one simple reason: she and Susan got along so well. The two girls could spend hours together. They would simply talk or play one of the magical games Susan brought to show Ashley. The night Ashley moved in with them, she and Susan had spent hours into the night talking until her aunt had had to come in at 3 A.M. to tell them to sleep.

Ashley quickly took to referring to the woman as Amelia. Amelia was very kind to her and had not once raised her voice. She was stern, but she also allowed the girls a lot of freedom, and, as long as no muggles saw them do magic, allowed them to even wander the small town nearby. Of course, as Ashley would later learn, they had not been entirely unsupervised during those trips.

The first night, Ashley had stayed with Susan. Amelia had offered her a separate room, the next day, but the two girls saw no issue with them continuing to share.

For the first few weeks, Ashley had refused to be very far from her backpack. It had contained everything she owned for so long, and she had been without a dedicated place to put them for so long, that the habit was hard to break. Eventually, she would start to unpack. She put her clothes in her section of the closet. She finished off the last of her bread and gave her last apple to Susan. She and Susan would share the last of her bag of chocolates.

At one point, Susan asked what the decorations on her bag meant.

“Well, this is obviously a name tag.” She pointed at her name on the bag. “This here is a drawing I made of Sirius in his dog form.” She turned the bag around to show Susan the items on the straps. “This is a rainbow. And this I made myself. It’s got this little symbol on it.” She pointed out the ⚢. “It’s meant to represent two girls. They’re dating.”

“Wait, you can do that?”

Ashley nodded. “Of course you can! Girls are just so much better!”

Susan nodded. “Of course!”

“The rainbow is also supposed to mean that. It can also mean two boys dating, but I’m not a boy, so for me it means girls.”

“Why would boys want to date boys?”

Ashley shrugged. “No idea. But I guess if lots of girls can want to date boys, some boys can want to date boys too.”

Susan nodded. “There must be some appeal to it then. Not for us though.”

Ashley smiled. “Nope. I do not want to date a boy ever.”

And with that, the two girls moved on to discuss other things. Specifically, Quidditch. A few days later, Amelia brought home a Holyhead Harpies pin for Ashley to put on her bag. Susan had asked her to get one for Ashley. Ashley pinned it right next to the rainbow.

Sirius would also often visit. Her godfather had given her many gifts, saying, “there’s 7 years of birthdays and Christmas I need to make up.”

Ashley cherished every single one.

Her wardrobe had also expanded. She had also, for the first time ever, tried on a dress. She wasn’t sure at first, but after putting it on, she just marvelled at how it flowed around her.

Of course, Ashley promptly made the look fully hers by adding a pair of massive leather boots Sirius had bought her. She liked them. They made her feel intimidating.

She had also visited the Weasleys a few times with Susan. They always made her feel welcome, and while Mrs. Weasley seemed to disapprove of Ashley’s choice in footwear, she never said anything, and Ginny seemed to approve anyway. Charlie of course definitely thought they were cool.

At night, however, things were not so perfect. Holly would consistently wake up in the early morning in a cold sweat, her heart racing from some nightmare that she could not recall. She barely made any noise when she did, however. She got very good at being quiet over the past 6 months.

Still, it bothered her that she had absolutely no idea what on earth was waking her up every night. Fortunately, as the weeks spent with Susan and Amelia went on, the nightmares would lessen and nearly stop, now being such a rare occurrence that Ashley could almost forget about them.

Almost.

Ashley couldn’t dwell on her nightmares, however, since her days were just so perfect now. Absolutely wonderful in every way.

Shortly after her arrival, Susan and Amelia had planned a late birthday party for Ashley’s 9th birthday. Something which, while Ashley hadn’t noticed, had come and gone while she had been a runaway.

There was one day that was… less than ideal. On Halloween, Ashley had found out that this was the 8th anniversary of her parents’ death.

Sirius took her, with Susan and Amelia accompanying, to see her parents’ graves. Ashley couldn’t help it. She broke down crying for the first time since she could remember. She felt Sirius rest and arm on her shoulder and kiss her temple, quietly reassuring her.

As they stood to leave, Sirius conjured a wreath of flowers – lilies – and placed it in the space between the two headstones. Before they apparated away, Susan gave her a hug that would have rivalled one from Molly Weasley.

Christmas, on the other hand, was a much less sorrowful holiday. Ashley woke up to Susan poking her awake, a massive grin on her face. Ashley grinned right back at her.

“Come on, Ash! It’s time for presents!”

Ashley got up out of bed, and Susan grabbed her hand, dragging her from the room.

Waiting for them by the tree were Sirius and Amelia, along with a childhood friend of Sirius and her dad, Remus Lupin.

Remus was a quiet sort. Ashley had met him in November, after returning from Czechoslovakia once he had heard about Sirius’ trial. The two friends, while awkward, had been quick to re-bond.

Remus looked much older than his age. His hair was already graying in places. His clothes were rather shabby, containing several patches. He was wicked smart too. Were it not for the small issue of him being to nervous due to being a werewolf, he could probably have made an excellent teacher.

Oh yeah, he was also a werewolf. Pretty neat? Ashley thought so, but apparently most didn’t. Once Ashley knew more, she didn’t find it quite as neat.

Ashley sat down on an empty armchair, and was immediately crowded by Susan. The two girls elbowed each other and giggled, trying to unseat the other. It eventually ended with Ashley sitting on Susan’s lap, and they were interrupted by Amelia.

“Girls, settle down.”

Ashley nodded and slid off of Susan and the chair, sitting on the floor directly in front of the chair.

Sirius was quickly nominated to hand out all the presents.

“Let’s see… oh here’s one for Remus from me… and here’s another for Remus from Ashley and Susan.” He placed both gifts in front of Remus.

He continued, placing two gifts in front of Amelia: one from himself, the other jointly from Ashley and Susan.

“And this one here is mine!” He placed another gift in front of his seat. “And these two are also mine.” He had one from Amelia, one from Remus, and one from Susan and Ashley.

“Now for Ashley… we have this one from me, this one from Remus, this one from Amelia… and here’s one from Susan!” He placed Ashley’s gifts next to her, before placing the last gifts, all for Susan, one from each of the other four, on Ashley’s other side.

“And  now… let’s see what we got!”

Sirius eagerly tore open his gift from Ashley and Susan, pulling out a small model of a motorebike.

“We had Remus get it enchanted. It can fly and will make noises,” Ashley said.

Ashley opened her gift from Sirius first. It was a leather jacket.

“You told me you wanted one a week ago… so I got you one.”

Ashley smiled at him and threw her arms around him. “Thank you thank you thank you!” She immediately put it on over her pajamas.

Susan opened her gift from Sirius. Sirius had gotten her a Nimbus 1800. Sirius had also gotten one for Ashley for her 9th birthday, and Sirius simply said, “I figured you could use one too.”

The two girls grinned at each other, silently promising each other to race later.

Remus had gotten a watch from Ashley and Susan. And not just any watch. This was Remus’ old watch that was his last gift from Ashley’s parents, fully repaired.

Amelia opened both her gifts at once. From Sirius she had gotten a collection of muggle history books (Amelia happened to really like history). From Susan and Ashley she had gotten a simple bracelet with charms of the letters S and A on it. She put it on and smiled at the girl.

Sirius opened his gift from Remus next. It was a small stuffed stag toy, looking identical in every way to Prongs. Sirius teared up upon seeing it, and Remus wrapped his arms around him in a hug.

Ashley opened her gift from Remus next. Remus had gotten her a collection of items to decorate her bag with, all of them related to magic in some way. There was a pin shaped like a broom, one shaped like a golden snitch, a dragon pendant, and one pin with the Hogwarts crest on it.

“When you get to Hogwarts and are sorted, it will change to whichever house you’re sorted into.”

Ashley wanted to run to get her bag but stopped herself. “Thank you, Remus!”

Susan opened her gift from Remus next. Remus had gotten her a pair of keeper gloves (Susan played keeper when they played casual games with the Weasleys. Ron would often play the other keeper). She tried them on and they fit perfectly. She smiled at the man. “Thanks.”

Remus opened his gift from the two girls next. It was a set of gardening tools the two had gotten after he told them about his love for gardening.

Ashley opened her gift from Amelia next. From Amelia she had gotten a wizarding survival kit. It was a small trunk (bigger on the inside) that contained a magical tent (which itself was bigger on the inside), a lot of food kept in stasis by charms that were guaranteed to last over 10 years, and also space for her to keep clothes and other belongings.

“If you tap that rune on the side with you wand, the whole trunk becomes almost weightless. You can keep it in your bag if you want.” Amelia demonstrated by tapping her wand on the rune and handing the trunk back to Ashley. She was right, the trunk was now extremely light.

“Thanks, Amelia!” Ashley said, hugging the older woman.

Sirius opened his last gift, from Amelia. She had given him a magical camera, which Sirius promptly used to take a photograph of all 5 of them.

Now there were only two gifts left. One for Ashley from Susan, and one for Susan from Ashley.

The two girls stared at each, silently daring the other to go first. Still staring, they both reached for their gifts at the same time. Then they broke eye contact and eagerly opened their gifts. They had gotten each other each a small bag of muggle sweets. The exact same bag. From the exact same store.

They made eye contact again and broke into giggles.

“Well,” Ashley said, “great minds think alike.”

Susan snorted. “Sour gummies are just good.”

Ashley nodded in agreement.

After the two girls had run back to their room to put away their gifts (and Ashley attach all the new decorations to her bag), they ate breakfast, then Ashley and Susan went outside to play in the snow.

That afternoon, they went to visit the Weasleys.

Also visiting were the Lovegoods – Xenophilius, Pandora*, and their daughter, Luna. The two elder Lovegoods were sitting on one of the conjured couches talking with Bill Weasley about curse breaking. Luna, on the other hand, was currently engaged in discussion with Ginny. Susan and Ashley wandered over to the two other girls to find the discussion was about how adorable Luna found the gnomes.

“Luna’s right. They are adorable,” Ashley said.

Ginny sighed. “If you say so, Ashley.”

“Hey Ashley!” Luna said, waving at her.

Ashley and Susan sat on the other side of Luna.

“Wanna play exploding snap?” Ginny asked.

Ashley nodded. “Sure.”

Susan nodded too.

Ginny grinned and pulled out a pack of playing cards.

The four girls** stood up and took over and end of the kitchen table and started playing.

They played a few rounds, each of them winning at least once, before Mrs. Weasley told them that dinner was ready.

Everyone went outside to sit at 3 picnic tables placed end to end. The yard was covered in warming charms, fortunately, otherwise they would all be quite cold. Ashley ended up between Susan and Luna, with Ginny on Luna’s other side. Across from them was Charlie, who smiled and said hi to Ashley and Susan.

While Ashley loaded her plate with peas, a few slices of turkey, and some potatoes, Susan skipped on the peas in favour of some cauliflower.

After eating, Ashley leaned back, but since there was no back to her seat, she ended up falling off the bench with a squawk.

Ginny and Luna laughed, and Susan helped her up.

Once Ashley was seated, she broke into giggles herself, prompting Susan to let out the laugh she had been holding in.

Once the 4 girls had gotten over their laughter, Mrs. Weasley announced that it was time for dessert. She levitated the remains of dinner (which was barely anything, including a single slice of turkey which Ashley snagged as it floated past), into the kitchen, and then levitated dessert out. There were all sorts of goodies, some of which Ashley had never seen before. Ashley decided to try a bit of everything.

After dinner, everyone headed back inside and the 4 girls** started up another game of exploding snap, this time with Ron joining in. After several rounds, Susan was the ultimate winner, and it was time for Sirius Remus Amelia Susan and Ashley to head home.

“Bye Luna! Bye Ginny!” Ashley said, hugging both girls. Susan did the same. 

On the way out, they were stopped by Fred and George.

“We uh… we thought we ought to give this to you, Sirius,” Fred said.

“It was yours when you went to Hogwarts anyway,” George added.

They handed Sirius a small piece of parchment.

Sirius knew immediately what it was. “Boys… you should keep this. At least for now.” He smiled at them. “Just give it to Ashley when she gets to Hogwarts, alright?”

Fred and George grinned. “You got it, Padfoot

Once home, Ashley and Susan each picked out a particularly large gummy from their bags.

“Is Christmas like that every year?” Ashley asked.

Susan shook her head. “Used to just be me and aunty. We hadn’t known the Weasleys before. But I guess Christmas will be like this from now on.”

Ashley smiled. “That’s amazing.”

Susan smiled back. “It really is, yeah.”

The two girls sat down on Susan’s bed with Ashley’s bag. Ashley pulled out her new trunk. She opened it up and stuck her arm in all the way to her shoulder. “I can’t feel the bottom,” she said. She pulled her arm out and stuck her head in. “Wow, this is big in here.” She looked around, spotting the tent leaning on a wall of the small room inside the trunk. She pulled her head out. “This is wicked, Sue.” Ashley closed the trunk and put it on the floor. They continued to talk for a bit after, but sleep eventually took over, and the two girls would fall asleep.

Sirius would later come to say bye before he left with Remus, but he just found the girls asleep on Susan’s bed, Ashley having rolled over at one point and stuck her head in Susan’s armpit. Sirius smiled before walking over and picking up Ashley, carrying her over to her bed.

She woke up. “Sirius?”

“Hey Ash. Just came to say bye, but you and Susan were already asleep. I’m just tucking you into your bed.”

Ashley sighed. “Bye Sirius. Love you,” she said as Sirius tucked her under her blankets.

“I love you too, Ash.”

He also pulled Susan’s blankets over her.

When he left the room, Ashley was back to being fast asleep.

He quietly closed the door behind himself, then went back to the fireplace where Remus was waiting to floo home with him.

*In canon, Luna’s mum died when Luna was 9. Since Ashley is 9 now and Luna is around a year younger than her, her mum should still be alive.

**Ginny isn’t even close to coming out as non-binary yet. So, until they do, the narrative will be referring to them as a girl. At least for now.

Chapter 4

Ashley woke up that morning by falling out of bed.

She had had a nightmare, but, just like the other nightmares she had, she couldn’t remember anything about it. She didn’t let that bother her, however, and glanced up at the clock on her nightstand. 5:34 A.M., way too early. But it was her eleventh birthday. She was now officially Hogwarts age. Had been for over five hours, it turned out.

And her forehead hurt. She assumed she must have hit it on her nightstand as she fell.

She climbed back onto her bed but did not lie back down. Instead, she hugged her knees to her chest. It was kind of cold.

Eventually, she got up and walked over to stand in front of the floor-length mirror by her bathroom door. She looked herself over. Her pajamas were wrinkled and kind of gross from her sweat, and her forehead was red and inflamed. Just where her scar was. Actually, now that she thought about it, it was specifically around her scar that hurt.

Ashley positively despised her scar. It was the one part of her appearance that she could never seem to change no matter what. Fortunately, she could easily hide it behind her bangs.

She concentrated and the inflammation disappeared, but the aching remained. She sat down on the floor.

This was really weird.

So weird in fact, that she decided to tell Sirius. Maybe he would know why her scar hurt.

It turned out that, in fact, Sirius did not know why, but he figured that it was probably nothing to worry about and Ashley had probably just hit her head on her nightstand like she had assumed.

Ashley wasn’t so sure. But today was her birthday, and she didn’t want to mess it up.

Susan was going to be coming over at noon, and then they would be, finally, shopping for their school supplies for Hogwarts together.

Ashley honestly wished she could bring her Nimbus 1800 to school with her, but first years weren’t allowed brooms for some bizarre reason.

Afterwards, Susan, Ginny, Luna, and another friend Susan had introduced to Ashley, Hannah Abbott, would all be sleeping over.

Or, at least, spending the night. Ashley wasn’t sure the five of them would even be able to sleep at all considering that Ashley had managed to procure several bags of sweets… let’s just say, using some less than legal methods. But she wasn’t about to tell anyone that.

Especially not Susan’s aunt.

Sirius would probably not care. Remus would only care that she had stolen them.

But honestly, they had been just too easy and tempting for Ashley to resist.

And besides, she could have sworn Sirius noticed and had discretely left some money to pay for the bags anyway.

Sirius cooked breakfast that morning. A lot of bacon, eggs, bacon, and more bacon. Honestly, Ashley could never get enough bacon. That stuff was heavenly. All in all, a perfect birthday breakfast.

After Sirius and Ashley had finished cleaning up their dishes, Remus stumbled into the kitchen and immediately chugged some coffee straight from the kettle.

The previous night had been the full moon, which was absolutely amazing timing (not!), and Remus, quite honestly, looked like shit. There were prominent bags under his eyes, which themselves were extremely bloodshot, he had a large bruise forming under his right eye, and his left arm was covered in new scratches. If Ashley didn’t know any better, she would say he looked like he had stayed up all night doing combat with a hedge.

Sirius just handed Remus a vial of pepper-up potion quietly, and Remus drank it, steam promptly flowing out of his ears.

“Better?” Sirius asked.

Remus nodded. “My brain feels slightly less sluggish.”

“Good. Do you think you’ll still be up for-“

“In three hours I should be fine.”

Ashley hugged the man. “It’s ok if you can’t make it, Remus. I know how hard transformations are for you.”

Remus hugged her back. “But-“

“No buts. If you don’t feel well, you don’t have to come with us.”

Remus sighed. “You two are too good to me.”

Sirius came over and ruffled his hair before giving him a brief kiss. “No we aren’t.”

Remus grumbled, but sat down at the table after Sirius handed him a plate of bacon, eggs, and strawberries.

Once Ashley finished her breakfast, she carried the plate over to the sink, quickly scrubbing the grease off before putting it on the drying rack. “I’m gonna head to my room and get ready to head out, Sirius.”

Sirius waved her off, and Ashley skipped down the hall to the stairs, running up them and into her room.

She changed into a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Following this, she turned to the mirror to do her hair.

Unlike how it would probably go for most people, Ashley doing her hair did not involve any sort of hair spray or anything. She did need to wash it, normally, but she had already had a shower before breakfast, being unable to sleep after her nightmare (which she still couldn’t remember). Actually styling her hair was a different thing entirely. She could make it super curly, she could make it shorter or longer, she could even make it stick straight up like she got electrocuted. She could change the colour whenever she wanted.

Eventually, she settled on a dark blue colour for her hair, making it mostly straight with a slight curl at the ends.

After her hair, Ashley turned her attention to her other features. Her eyes would remain the same green colour she always had, but she shifted them slightly to seem bigger and more prominent. She also made her eyebrows and even her eyelashes match her hair colour. Her nose she was already happy with, but she opted to give herself some freckles over the bridge of her nose. She smiled, happy with her appearance.

She glanced at her nails. She had had the same light blue polish for the past month…

She glanced at the clock, she still had about an hour before they had to leave for Diagon Alley.

Shrugging, she quickly applied the potion to remove the polish, wiping the light blue colour from her nails. She debated for a bit, but eventually opted to paint her nails forest green.

Being magical, the polish dried quickly, and Ashley was ready to go. She went to knock on Sirius’ bedroom door, and they headed off, Remus promising he would only come join them if he was actually feeling up to it.

Their flat was only a short walk from the Leaky Cauldron, so they opted to walk instead of using the Floo. They arrived shortly before ten, quickly making their way through the pub and out to the alley.

They made their way to the bank to withdraw some money from the vault Ashley’s parents had set aside for her schooling.

The trip down to the vault was uneventful, but on the way back, they ran into a familiar face.

“Hagrid!” Ashley said excitedly.

The big man turned to the sound of her voice, and his face broke into a large grin. “Ashley!” He walked over to them. “And Sirius. It’s good to see you two.”

Hagrid was the largest person Ashley had ever seen, and he had a big heart to go right alongside his big size. He was one of the kindest people Ashley had ever met.

“What are you doing here, Hagrid?” Sirius asked.

“Oh, I’m here to pick something up for Professor Dumbledore. So I imagine you’ll be gettin’ your school supplies then, Ash?”

Ashley nodded. “Oh yes.”

Hagrid laughed. “Well, I can’t wait to see you there. Have a nice day, you two!”

Hagrid waved at them as they left the bank, heading down the alley to pick up supplies.

They made their way to the ice cream parlour, where they found Susan waiting for them with her aunt. Amelia and Sirius greeted each other, while Ashley squealed and ran up to her friend, giving her a big hug.

“Ashley!” Susan squealed. “How are you?”

Ashley pulled away from the hug. “I’m so excited!” She smiled wide.

Susan responded with a smile of her own. “Me too! Aunty even said she’d get me a pet to bring!”

Ashley squealed in excitement. “That’s amazing. What do you think you’ll bring? A cat? Owl?”

“I want a cat,” Susan said.

“Me too,” Ashley replied.

Sirius and Amelia returned with ice cream, handing Susan and Ashley each a cone.

“Thanks!” Ashley said happily, before digging into her treat.

Once they were finished, they decided to get their textbooks first, followed by their cauldrons and other potions equipment, then the telescope for astronomy.

After that, they headed over to the Magical Menagerie to pick up their cats.

Ashley had never actually been into this shop before, and what was inside was extremely new to her. There were also sorts of mundane creatures; snakes, cats, various different kinds of rodents, spiders, and a few owls. But as well, there were all sorts of bizarre magical creatures. Not too far from the cats were some full-blooded kneazles - a type of magical cat - as well as some part-kneazles. There were magical salamanders, and some miniature gryphons.

Ashley and Susan went right up to where a bunch of kittens were kept, awwing and fawning over the small animals.

A shop worker came over to them. “You girls looking for a pet to bring to Hogwarts?” they asked.

Ashley nodded, her eyes still fixed on one small calico cat in particular.

“We are, yes,” Ashley heard Sirius say to the worker.

“Would both of you girls like to meet the kittens we have, then?”

Ashley and Susan simultaneously turned to the worker and nodded enthusiastically.

The two girls met each of the nine kittens available. Some were more playful, others more reserved. In the end, Ashley only had eyes for that same calico kitten, and Susan ended up picking out a playful black cat with gorgeous green eyes.

They brought the kittens to the counter to pay for them. The worker told them they could pick names for their new furry friends.

Ashley cradled her calico cat in her arms. “She’s so soft.” she scratched behind the cat’s ears, and she mewed softly. Ashley awwed in response. “What should I name you?” she said, looking into the kitten’s beautiful blue eyes. The cat meowed again. Ashley giggled. “How about… hmmm…” Ashley trailed off.

Susan giggled as her kitten purred in her arms, squirming a little. “I’m naming mine Void.”

“Void?” her aunt asked.

Susan nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! She’s all dark and stuff, it’s perfect.”

Ashley giggled at her friend. “I think I’ll name mine Callie. She’s a calico cat, so, Callie.”

Sirius smiled at her. “I think that’s a perfect name, sweetheart.”

They purchased both cats as well as carriers for both and each got a bag of cat food and a few cat toys.

The final things they needed were robes and wands.

For robes, they visited Madam Malkin’s. There, they met Hannah.

“Hi Hannah!” Ashley said to the girl.

Hannah turned towards them. “Susan! Ashley!” She came over and hugged the other two girls.

Her mum followed. “Hello girls,” she said.

“Hi Mrs. Abbott,” Susan and Ashley responded.

“You girls here to get your school robes?”

Ashley and Susan nodded.

“Same here,” Hannah said.

Susan and Ashley handed their cats carriers to Sirius and Amelia so they could go get measured for school robes.

The shop worker currently on duty, a younger girl, just out of Hogwarts, approached them. “Hogwarts, I assume?”

Amelia nodded. “Yes. We’re here to get uniforms for Ashley, Susan, and Hannah.”

“Right this way, then,” the worker directed.

While the worker directed a magical tape measure to take the girls measurements, the three girls chatted together about various things. Specifically, which houses they wanted at Hogwarts - or house,as it were. They all pretty quickly agreed they all wanted to be in Hufflepuff together, and then moved on to discussing other things, like what sort of classes they were looking forward to.

“I’m most excited for potions class,” Susan said. “Aunty has tutored me in it before, I think I’ll do well.”

Ashley replied, “I’m mostly looking forward to second year so I can try out for the quidditch team.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “You and your quidditch. I personally prefer to keep both my feet firmly on the ground.”

Ashley stuck her tongue out at Hannah.

When they were done, they finally went to get themselves wands.

Ashley had never been to Ollivander’s before, and neither had Susan. Hannah had once before when her older brother had gotten his before he started Hogwarts.

They walked into the shop together, Sirius, Amelia, and Hannah’s mum following. The girls had continued chatting, but once in the shop, they quieted down.

There was no sign of Mr. Ollivander. The shop was huge, bigger than the exterior would suggest. It was full of row upon row of shelves, all with boxes. The boxes had tiny labels on them. Ashley looked at one of the labels. It read, ‘Birch - Dragon Heartstring - 9½ Inches - Swishy’.

“Hello there,” a voice said.

They all turned to the shop’s counter, where Ashley was sure there had been no one. Now, an old man with curly grey hair stood behind the counter.

“I suppose you will be needing your wands today?”

Ashley nodded. “Uh, yes sir.”

The man, who Ashley figured was Mr. Ollivander, smiled. “Ashley Potter. I was wondering when I might see you.” He quickly strolled over to a shelf, picking up boxes to read the labels, then putting them back down. “I remember your parents, Ms. Potter. Your mother favoured a Willow wand with a Dragon Heartstring core. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy. Was very nice for charms, although it could have a more vicious side if needed.” He pulled a box out and walked back to the counter. “Your father, on the other hand, preferred a Mahogany wand with a core made from Unicorn Tail Hair. Eleven inches exactly, pliable, was great for transfiguration.” He set the box down and opened it. “Well, I say ‘favoured’ and ‘preferred,’ but the wand chooses the wix, not the other way around, although one could say that they choose each other, although on a more subconscious level.” He pulled the wand out and handed it to Ashley. “Give this a try.”

Ashley took the wand. She glanced at Sirius.

“Wave it, Ash,” he said.

Ashley felt a little silly, but she waved the wand anyway. Immediately, it leapt out of her hand and bounced off Hannah’s face.

Ollivander turned to the girl. “Hannah Abbott, eh? Figures this wand might go for you. Oak with a Phoenix Feather core, nine inches and slightly springy. Not too dissimilar from your mother, in fact. Hers is Birch with a Phoenix Feather core, nine and half inches and springy. Go on, pick it up and give it a wave.”

Hannah picked up the wand gingerly, as if worried it might smack her in the face again. she waved it, and sparks shot out the end. A smile settled over her face. “This feels amazing,” she said.

Ollivander smiled. “A perfect match, then. Such a rare occurrence, you know, finding a wix their wand on the first try.” He turned back to the shelves.

“As for you, Susan Bones, I believe finding your wand may be a bit more difficult. While a wix’s parents’ wands do not always have that much bearing on their own, they can make it easier to find a match to know. Your father’s wand was Acacia wood with its core being a Hippogriff Feather. Not exactly a common combination itself. Your mother’s was a more common combination - Maple with Unicorn Tail Hair. Twelve inches and rigid. You and Ms. Potter will be quite tricky to find wands for I imagine.” He returned to the counter with two boxes. “One for each of you to try.”

And so, for the next half hour or so, Ashley and Susan tried wand after wand, Ollivander getting more and more excited with each failed attempt.

Susan got her wand first.

“Beech wood, and… well this is interesting. Thestral tail hair. Ten and three quarters inches, and stiff. Let’s see…”

Susan took the wand, and immediately golden sparks shot out the end.

Ollivander clapped in excitement. “Marvelous! Now for you, Ms. Potter… let me think. I wonder…”

He turned back to the shelves, going further back than he had previously, returning with a very dusty box. He set it down, opening it and handing the wand to Ashley. “Holly, Phoenix Feather, eleven Inches, Supple. An interesting combination to be sure, and especially interesting in your case, but I suppose it would be rather fitting.”

Ashley took the wand. “How so?”

“Well, the Phoenix whose feather resides in that wand gave one other feather. That second feather ended up with the wand that gave you the scar that sits upon your forehead.”

Ashley glanced at the wand in her hand with a slight twinge of nervousness.

“Of course, if you do not wish to try this wand, I perfectly understand. Other wands may match to you, you know.”

Ashley stared at the wand in her hand.

“Ashley, I don’t think-” Sirius started to say, but Ashley grit her teeth and waved the wand anyway.

Bright rainbow sparks shot out the end of the wand, and Ashley felt tingles all over her body. She smiled in spite of what she had just heard. She had found her wand.