To Save Heather

Fandom: H*rry P*tt*r

Chapter 1: The Return to Britain

Hermione arrived at the Heathrow portkey terminal feeling very jetlagged and trying her hardest not to throw up her breakfast. After the nausea from the portkey passed, Hermione looked around, easily spotting the familiar red hair of the Weasley family. She headed over to meet them.

“Hey,” she said awkwardly. What else could she say after the last decade?

Ron glanced at her with his one real eye. The other, of course, had been replaced with an eye like that of their late former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and retired auror, Alastor Moody. Not only that, but he was similarly scarred to the old auror.

The other Weasleys had plenty of scars themselves, of course (George was missing a whole ear), but Ron by far had the most scars.

“Hey,” said Ginny, smiling at the older girl. Her smile, however, did not quite reach her eyes.

All the other remaining Weasleys – Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, and George – gave their greetings. All, like Ginny, had a sad smile on their face. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why; after all, there were two of them who were not here who otherwise would have along side someone else who would undoubtedly be here as well.

Molly, of course, would then envelop Hermione in a tight hug.

The others would follow her lead.

Arthur cleared his throat. “There’s uh… there are some reporters out there, waiting for you.”

Hermione sighed. This was not unexpected. After all, she was the long-lost friend of the famous “Boy-Who-Lived,” Harry Potter. And anything or anyone associated would immediately attract loads of media attention, even over a decade after Harry’s death at his own hands.

“I’ll talk to them,” she said.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to,” George replied.

“I don’t particularly want to,” she said, “but I might as well tell them something.”

And with that, they walked out the doors from the portkey station and out to face the reporters.

Amidst the camera flashes, a few came up to their group asking questions.

Hermione cast a Sonorous charm. “Quiet please!”

The chatter died down.

“Thank you. Now, one at a time.” She cancelled her charm.

“Ms. Granger, where have you been for the last several years?”

“St. John’s, Newfoundland. Next question.”

“What were you doing in Canada?”

“Escaping the war. I’m a muggle-born and also not much of a fighter. Staying would have meant my death.”

And the questions continued – some accusatory; “why did you abandon your friends?” some more sympathetic; “did you miss all of your friends from here?” – until Rita Skeeter said, “if you could go back and changed what happened – with Harry, that is – would you?”

Hermione smiled at the reporter, nodding. “Yes.” Under her breath, so quiet only Ginny, who was standing right next to her could maybe have heard, she added, “I would do anything for her.”

After that, a couple more questions were asked – “what are your plans now?” (Hermione declined to answer) and, “do you plan on travelling again?” (Hermione said she did not). Hermione announced that she was done with the questions, and she and the Weasleys left and took a portkey to the Weasley family home, The Burrow.

Once there, Hermione was told that she could sleep in Ginny’s old bedroom for now. At least until she had a place of her own.

The Burrow hadn’t changed much, save for some newer furniture. The same clock was still hanging on the wall. Alongside the Weasleys, Luna, Neville, and Hermione also had hands. Hermione’s had been added shortly before she left for Newfoundland. Hanging on the wall next to the clock were three more hands – Fred, Percy, and Harry. That last hand had never even been on the clock, but Molly had insisted on at least making one.

Hermione started over to the stairs but stopped by the fireplace. On the mantle were 9 Order of Merlin medals – once for each Weasley. In the most prominent positions were the medals awarded posthumously to the two missing Weasleys: Fred and Percy.

Hermione smiled sadly, then turned away and walked up the stairs to her new temporary room. Ginny followed her. Ron looked like he wanted to follow as well, but he did not.

Once in the room, Hermione dropped her trunk at the foot of the bed, then sat down on the bed, leaning against the wall. Ginny sat down next to her.

Ginny’s old room had been stripped of some of Ginny’s belongings after she had moved out, but many of the old decorations still remained. The Holyhead Harpies posters were faded, but they were still animated. Ginny’s old desk still had a few of her textbooks from Hogwarts stack on top of it.

“How’re you feeling?” Ginny asked.

Hermione shrugged. “Jet lagged, I guess?”

“Jet lagged?”

“A muggle term. Means I have yet to adjust to the time difference. I had to wake up at 3 in the morning Newfoundland time to get my portkey on time.”

Ginny nodded. “So… her? You said you would do anything for her.”

Hermione smiled. “Yeah… I would.”

“Well who is her? Harry? Last I checked, Harry was a him.”

Hermione shook her head. She might as well tell Ginny. Ginny could be trusted – after all, she was friends with Luna Lovegood. “No. She was a her.” Hermione sighed. “Or at least, she was supposed to be. You know, it happens sometimes.”

“Like Luna, then?”

Hermione nodded. “Exactly like Luna.”

Ginny sighed. “Is that why she…”

“Why she… did what she did?”

Ginny nodded.

“A part of it.” Hermione paused, wondering how to say this. “Before she… did it…she left a note for me. I found it on my bed when I went up to put my books away. That’s how I knew to tell people. She didn’t tell me how she planned to do it, of course.”

“What did the note say, Hermione?” Ginny asked. She looked curious, but nervous about what she might find out.

Hermione sighed. “A lot of things. She talked about her aunt and uncle and how they hated her. She wanted to come out and finally live as herself, but she wasn’t sure how anyone would have reacted. And her aunt and uncle definitely would have taken it very badly.” She paused, picturing the note in her mind. She had read it so many times, she had entirely memorized it. “She said she would rather die in private, away from the eyes of the entire school, than to die facing a dragon for their entertainment. She of course mentioned how there always seemed to be something happening that made people hate her – something she had no control over.” Hermione licked her lips, which had gotten a bit dry. “She of course mentioned Ron in the note. She missed him so much.”

“Maybe don’t tell Ron that part? He already feels extremely guilty for abandoning Harry like that. It… it made him throw himself into fighting Death Eaters a lot more than he might otherwise would have.”

Hermione nodded. “I won’t. Anyway, after telling me all the whys, she apologised to me. Of course she didn’t need to… but she did. Anyway, she actually didn’t sign with ‘Harry.’”

Ginny shook her head. “Of course not. She probably chose a new name. What did she sign?”

“Heather Lily Potter. In a postscript, she explained that Sirius had told her that her parents would have named her Heather – and of course, Lily was her mum’s name.”

“It’s a pretty name,” Ginny said. “I wish… I wish she had been able to come out to us.”

Hermione raised her eyebrow. “And your massive crush?”

Ginny flushed. “Would have just as easily have been on a girl as a boy. You probably haven’t heard, but I’m actually bi.”

“Oh, me too.”

While the two girls were talking, Ron had headed up to his old bedroom, and sat at his old desk.

He reached into the pouch he always kept on his hip, pulling out a small unassuming stone. To anyone just taking a glance, it would seem that the stone merely had a few scratches on it. To those who knew, however, those scratches formed a definite shape – a symbol, a triangle with a circle and a vertical line inside it.

The Resurrection Stone. One of the 3 Deathly Hallows – items which, according to legend, were created by death itself as supposed rewards for 3 brothers who had overcome him. They were the Elder Wand, this stone, and a perfect invisibility cloak. The first two had led the brothers who obtained them to their deaths.

Ron held the stone, staring at it. He did not know where the cloak or wand were, nor did her care. He had no need for them.

Last he had used this had been shortly after the last battle. He had used it to say his goodbyes to everyone he knew who had died – Fred, Percy, Dean, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, even Moody. He had also offered this to his other family members as well as Luna Neville and Seamus, but all but Seamus had declined.

He thought about Harry. His biggest regret. Ron had yet to use the stone for him. He had been scared to. And yet… he knew someday he might have to.

He turned the stone over in his hand. Once. Twice. Thrice.

When he looked up, there, standing in the middle of his room… was the ghostly form of a teenage girl.

She was probably about 14. She had black hair that fell to her shoulders. She was about the same height Ginny was at that age. She was muscular – had a very athletic build. Most important of all, framed by glasses that looked much more natural on here face than they ever did on Harry in life, were two bright green, very familiar eyes.

“Harry?”

The girl grimaced. “Not exactly.”

Ron gaped at the girl. “How- w- what happened to you?”

The girl smiled. “I died.”

“I can see that. How are you…”

“A girl?”

Ron nodded.

“I was always supposed to be a girl. It just so happens that in death, I can finally properly look like one.” She ran a hand through her hair, the same way Harry would have when he – no, she – she was nervous. “You aren’t… upset about this?”

Ron shook his head. “Course not. You are hardly the only person like that I know.”

The girl, who Ron figured was his late friend, smiled.

“Do you have a name picked out?”

She nodded. “Heather. Heather Lily Potter. Heather is what my parents would have named me…”

Ron nodded. “It’s a nice name. It suits you. Much better than Harry, anyway.”

Heather smirked. “That’s what my dad said.”

Right. Her dad. She had met her dad. She was dead. Ron couldn’t keep her here forever.

“I suppose I’ll have to send you back then?”

Heather smiled sadly. “Soon, yes.”

“I don’t suppose you wanna know about how the fight against Voldemort went?”

Heather sighed. “I can somewhat see how it went. You look really rough, mate.”

Ron snorted. “You should see what the other guy looks like.”

Heather smirked. “Good on you. You survived.”

“Yeah,” Ron said. “Not everyone did.”

Heather closed her eyes. “I know… Fred and Percy really miss you, you know.”

“I miss them too,” Ron said.

Heather grimaced. “You’ll have to send me back now.”

Ron sighed. “I know.”

Heather walked over to him. She tried to put her hand on Ron’s shoulder, but it just passed through. “I’m sorry Ron…”

“No, I’m sorry,” Ron said. “I abandoned you. You have nothing to apologise to me for.”

Ron let go of the stone, watching it drop to the floor.

When he looked up, Heather was gone.

He slumped to the floor, tears in his eye.

That was how Hermione and Ginny found him when they came to get him to dinner.

He had seen them coming, of course. How could he not with his magical eye? But he hadn’t really focused on them until they were kneeling right in front of him.

“Ron?” Hermione said. “Are you…” she trailed off.

Ginny spotted the stone on the floor next to him. “Did you-“

“Call her?” Ron nodded. “I did call her. She… she looked… she seemed so much more… comfortable, I guess. She looked… actually kinda happy. Content, more like. She kept giving me sad looks.”

“Well of course. She hasn’t seen you for over 10 years, Ron,” Ginny said.

“So… how did you know… that she was… as she?”

“Hermione told me,” Ginny said.

“Heather left me a note,” Hermione said.

Ron nodded. “Do you know if anyone else knew?”

Hermione shrugged. “I don’t. She might have told Sirius at some point… hell, she might have sent a note to him too. Whatever the case, we never really… well we didn’t talk, you see.”

There was an awkward silence.

“I have her cloak,” Hermione said. “She, uh- she told me to take the cloak. That it was mine now. She also said she wanted the map sent to Sirius as soon as I could.”

There was another awkward silence.

“We should head down for dinner,” Ginny said.

The other two nodded.

They got up off of Ron’s floor and headed downstairs.

If anyone noticed their melancholy mood, no one said anything.

Seated at the Weasley family table were all the other Weasleys, along with Luna and Neville. Those two had been coming over to the Weasleys for dinner every day, not having any surviving family to spend time with.

After eating, they all left for the sitting room, except for Ron who volunteered to wash the dishes.

Hermione and Ginny sat on a couch together, with Ron sitting on Ginny’s other side once he finished the dishes.

“I should… I need to tell all of them,” Hermione said.

“Probably,” Ron said.

“Definitely,” Hermione corrected. “There’s… there’s something else I haven’t told either of you. Something important. And I’ll need help… so I’m telling everyone.”

“What is it you need help with?” Ginny asked.

“Something desperate,” Hermione said, standing up.

She walked over to Molly and said something to her. Molly nodded back, and Hermione took a deep breath.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

Everyone looked up at her.

“Thanks… uh… I have something I want to… I need to tell all of you. A couple things, actually.” She took another deep breath to steady herself. “So… I’m sure we all knew Harry.”

She got a few sad looks, but no disagreements.

“Right, stupid question… I uh… ok, well Harry wasn’t… well Harry wasn’t exactly Harry?”

George gave her a weird look.

“Ok, that’s kinda bad phrasing… um… ok, so… you know Luna of course. I mean, she’s right here.”

She got a couple nods.

“Ok… well… Harry was… well, she was like Luna.”

A few gasps were heard. Molly could be heard saying, “oh, that poor girl.”

“Her name… the one she chose… was Heather. That was going to be her name.” Hermione took another breath. “Right, so… that’s the first thing.”

She looked around. She watched Luna. Luna herself had a few tears in her eyes. “I wish I could have met her,” Luna said. “I would have… I could have…”

Hermione smiled at the girl. “Yes, well, there is something else too. You see, before I left, Dumbledore told me about something. He told me…” she trailed off. “Dumbledore told me about this ritual. It’s a ritual that can send a person back in time. Very far back in time. Not their body, mind you. It sends a person’s mind back in time. To their younger body.”

“And you want to do this?” Neville asked.

Hermione nodded. “Dumbledore told me I should do this… the reason I returned… well one of the reasons I returned, anyway… the other was to say good bye to all of you before I did do it. The big reason why was because I need to do it at Hogwarts. I need to be as close as possible to where I was exactly 12 years ago when I try the ritual. And I can only go back to a time where I used a time turner. The last opportunity for that is in 2 weeks from now.”

Hermione looked at everyone to gauge their reactions. Many of them looked hopeful.

“Of course… due to the requirements… I only know that Heather or I would qualify. And of course Heather isn’t…” Hermione trailed off. “Anyway, I have to do this. I will arrive back at the end of my 3rd year. Before… before…” she trailed off again. “Point is, in 2 weeks, I need to have everything ready to do the ritual. And I need help for that.”

Arthur said, “of course, Hermione. We will do whatever we can to help. What do you need?”

Hermione let out a breath. “I need… well, not much, to be honest. I need to be at Hogwarts since that is where I used the time turner last. Preferably in the hospital wing, specifically. I also need… well, I don’t know if any of you know what they are, but to do the ritual, I need 3 items. One is a wand, made of elder wood. The second is a small rock. The third… the third I already have.” She paused. “Collectively, they’re actually known as, according to legend, the Deathly Hallows.”

Ron, Ginny, and Neville gasped.

“Hermione,” Ron said. “That’s… I have the stone.”

Neville nodded. “And… and I have the wand.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “That means…” Hermione swallowed. “That means we can do the ritual already…”

“Then let’s do it,” Ginny said. “Why wait?”

Hermione sighed. “Because I don’t actually remember what my course schedule was in my 3rd year. I don’t actually remember where I was each time I used the time turner except for the last time in the hospital wing. And I also remember almost exactly when I used it too.”

“Then that’s it then,” Luna said. “In two weeks, we bring Hermione to Hogwarts. She does the ritual, and then she saves Heather and everyone else.”

Everyone voiced their agreement.

Hermione smiled at them. “Thanks guys… you’re all amazing.”

Chapter 2: Meeting Heather

Hermione took a deep breath of fresh air after emerging from the tunnel. She continued forward to let the others out.

Harry grabbed Sirius’ arm to get his attention. “Can I talk to you for a bit?”

Sirius said that of course they could talk.

Hermione tried not to listen in on their conversation, but she did catch a bit near the end.

“So… one more question,” Harry said.

“Ask away.”

“Well… I was wondering… what would my parents have named me if I had been a girl?”

“Let me think… you know, Lily was convinced that you were going to be a girl. She wanted to name you after a flower. Heather was the name she chose.”

“That’s a very nice name.”

Sirius nodded. “It is a very pretty name.”

At that point, however, the full moon was revealed. Professor Lupin was forced to transform, and Pettigrew got away.

Hermione ended up stumbling after Harry, who was following an injured Sirius. They arrived at the lake to find Sirius passed out.

Then the dementors came.

“Cast a Patronus, Hermione! The incantation is ‘Expecto Patronum.’”

Hermione chanted, “Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!” but it was no use. All that came of it was white vapours, and she eventually would pass out as well.

When she came to, she, Ron, and Harry were in the hospital wing.

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, along with Professors Snape and Dumbledore, burst in. The three of them tried to insist Sirius’ innocence and Pettigrew’s continued survival, but he wouldn’t listen.

After he and Snape left, Dumbledore stayed, and Madam Pomphrey went back to her office for a bit.

“Three turns should do it, Miss Granger.”

Hermione could feel a force tugging on her neck, like a chain. She was distantly aware of the feeling of being pulled from her older body and pulled back through time. The force on her neck grew stronger, and she felt as her mind met with that of her younger self. The two merged, and suddenly, everything came back into focus. She was right back where she started in the Hogwarts hospital wing. The Weasleys Luna and Neville were gone. But they hadn’t really been there – except they had. She shook her head to clear it, feeling as her memories settled in, her older mind asserting itself. The Weasleys of course hadn’t just been in the hospital wing, that was 12 years into the future – and now, an event that will never happen by simple virtue of Hermione’s presence already changing things.

She focused on the face in front of her, looking at her with concern.

“Hermione,” Heather said, “are you ok?”

“Fine!” Hermione said. “Just not used to taking a passenger with me,” she made up an excuse on the fly. “Come on.” She grabbed the other girl’s hand and pulled her towards the door to the hospital wing, facing away from her so she didn’t see the tears in Hermione’s eyes.

“Hermione! Hermione slow down! What’s going on?”

“We need to save Sirius of course.”

“How?”

Hermione whirled around, pulling out her time turner. “This is a time turner. It allows me to travel in time. It’s how I’ve been getting to all my classes and exams on time. And right now, it is a full 3 hours before Sirius is supposed to be kissed, so we have 3 hours to save his soul.”

“Oh.”

“Plus… I think Dumbledore wants us to save Buckbeak.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He said,” Hermione searched her brain trying to remember what Dumbledore had said to her barely 5 minutes ago, but also 12 years ago. “He said that more than one innocent life could be saved to night. Right? That would be Buckbeak then I assume.”

Hermione led Heather out the front doors to the castle, pulling the other girl into a bush with her upon spotting their past selves.

Hermione poked her head out, wanting to watch herself punch Malfoy again.

“Nice punch, Hermione.”

“Thanks, Heather,” Hermione said without thinking. She ducked her head back down, pulling Heather with her as Malfoy and his friends ran past them. After they had ran back inside the castle, Hermione slipped out from behind the bush and said, “come on.” She started walking to Hagrid’s, but noticed Heather wasn’t following. She turned to her friend to see her still sitting behind the bush, on her face a look of shock.

“What?” Hermione said, sitting back down next to Heather.

“How…” Heather ran a hand through her hair nervously. “How did you know that name?”

Hermione realised her slip up.

“Sirius… he only just told me about that name. I hadn’t even…” she started to pull on her hair slightly.

“I… I overheard… and I thought that maybe… and like… I’ve always wanted a friend who’s a girl, and… I’m sorry…”

“You… you’re ok with that then?”

Hermione nodded.

“How did you figure it out? I hadn’t even figured that out until a few days ago. I accidentally found that mirror again, and it just showed me this wonderful image of me as a girl… I just wish that could be true.”

“It most certainly can be true if you’d like, Heather.”

“Keep calling me that?”

“Of course.” Hermione hugged the other girl. “Anyway, I will tell you how I figured it out after we save Sirius. I promise.”

Heather nodded. “I’ll hold you to that.”

The two girls snuck down to Hagrid’s and watched their past selves go into his hut.

Heather made to unchain Buckbeak.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

“What?”

“We need to wait for Fudge and the others to see him first. So they know Hagrid didn’t do it.”

“Oh. Right.” Heather instead grabbed one of the dead ferrets from where Hagrid kept them nearby and tossed one to Buckbeak, which seemed to please the hippogriff greatly.

“Heather… we can’t change things. No matter what, we cannot change anything. Otherwise, something could go very badly.” Hermione cringed at that. That’s literally what she was doing was changing things. So long as she didn’t change her memories before she arrived in the past, she figured it would be fine, however.

“How badly?”

“Oh, like Hogwarts seizing to exist badly. Probably not that badly, to be fair, but it is a risk. More likely the two of us would just seize to exist.”

“That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“I can’t just let him go.”

Hermione shook her head. “You can try and catch him after he escapes from our past selves. Shouldn’t change things.”

“But…”

“We never saw for sure that Pettigrew escaped, so we do not know if he escaped or not. It’s a bit like Schrodinger’s Cat I suppose.”

“Who’s cat?”

“Schrodinger. And it’s not a real cat, it’s like… a thought experiment. Schrodinger said to think of a cat in a box.”

“Why is the cat in a box?”

“It’s just for this. Not a real cat. Anyway, so you have a cat in a box, and you put a vial of deadly poison in the box with the cat. And maybe it breaks. But you don’t know. Now: is the cat dead or alive?”

“Well, this is horribly gruesome. I dunno, alive?”

“Well… not exactly. You see, Schrodinger said that since we don’t know, it was as if the cat was both alive and dead. Until of course we looked into the box. It’s the same with Pettigrew. He has, in a sense, both escaped and been captured, and we can’t know for certain until we either re-capture him, or he escapes us. Make sense?”

“No.”

“Basically, it doesn’t matter if he did or didn’t escape that first time around, because we don’t know.” Well, Hermione did know that he had escaped, but Dumbledore had said that what exactly she did after using the time turner could be changed after doing the ritual anyway. Which did include capturing Pettigrew, fortunately. “Anyway, they’ve arrived.” She pointed out Dumbledore, Fudge, and the executioner – Macnair – as they walked down the path to Hagrid’s hut. “We need to get our attention.”

“What?”

“Well, you remember you got hit by a small pebble the first time around?”

Heather nodded.

Hermione picked up a pebble from the ground in front of her. “Sorry about this.” She threw it through Hagrid’s open window, hitting Heather past self in the back of the head.

“Hey!”

“Well, it got our attention, didn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, but- “

“Hide!” Hermione pulled Heather behind some large pumpkins.

“Oh, it’s muddy!”

“Shhh!”

They listened as their past selves were quickly ushered out of Hagrid’s back door and waited as Hagrid let Dumbledore’s party into the hut, but not before Fudge and Macnair got a good look at Buckbeak.

“Ok good, they saw him. We can get him now.” She crept out from behind the pumpkins, Heather following closely behind.

“My knees are covered in mud now!”

“Oh, stop whining.”

“It’s in my socks!”

“Then just do a quick scourgify spell if you must.”

Heather scowled at Hermione but did just that.

Hermione picked up the bag of dead ferrets. “Can you unchain him?”

“Of course.” Heather walked up to Buckbeak before stopping to bow at him. Buckbeak quickly bowed back, and Heather continued up to Buckbeak and started petting his neck as she unfastened the chains from the post they were on.

“Come on, Buckbeak. Come with us. Got some nice juicy ferret for ya,” Hermione said, holding one out for him and slowly backing towards the edge of the forest.

Buckbeak squawked and started following, Heather following behind.

They reached the forest as the door to Hagrid’s was pushed open, Dumbledore leading the others out, and gesturing vaguely at the grounds around them.

The two girls and the hippogriff continued making their way deeper into the forest.

“Now what?” Heather asked.

“Now… we wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For us to leave the shack. After that we try to catch Pettigrew and well…”

“Well, what?”

“Well… I guess maybe I should tell you how I know about you being a girl now.”

“Ok,” Heather sat down on a fallen log, and Hermione joined her.

“Right so… well basically, you told me. In the future, anyway.”

“What?”

“So… there are actually more ways to time travel than just a time turner.”

“Like what?”

“Well, there is this very obscure ritual, you see. And basically, it needs very specific circumstances to work. And it only goes back exactly 12 years. No more, no less. And with all the specific needs, only I fit the requirements to do it. Well, so did you, but you weren’t available.”

“Why not?”

Hermione gave Heather a sad look.

“Oh.” Heather swallowed. “How bad?”

“Voldemort did die in the end. But so did a lot of other people. A lot of good people. And… I missed you. A lot.”

“I… I see. So, I just told you?”

“Yes.”

“Anything else.”

“Well, I know some of what I need to do to kill Voldemort. Unfortunately, not everything…”

“But you can figure it out?”

Hermione nodded. “I know enough to do that I believe.”

“Good.”

“And… I’ll need your help.”

“Why?”

“Well… there was a prophecy… and basically it means either you or Voldemort will kill the other. That basically it.” Hermione took a breath. “It doesn’t mean you have to actually fight him, I suppose. You can just deal the killing blow. Or the prophecy says it has to be by your ‘hand’ and I thought of a few theories on that. Like, you could hire some mercenaries and tell them to ‘act as your hand’ or something like that. Point is, you just need to be involved in some way to fulfill the prophecy. Hell, the prophecy doesn’t actually name you or Voldemort, just a ‘dark lord’ and ‘the one with the power to destroy the dark lord’ which could be literally anybody. I could call myself a dark lord and it be about me. And ‘approaches’ might sound like it means soon, but on the grand scale of the universe – which is several billion years old, by the way – soon could literally mean within a couple thousand years.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I knew about this damn prophecy for a full decade before I could come back in time, Heather.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Hey Hermione?”

“Yes?”

“So… you know that Patronus? Out by the lake… the one that saved us and Sirius… the one I thought my mother casted? Do you know who actually casted it?”

Hermione’s mind ground to a halt. Her mother? Hermione could’ve sworn the first time around Heather had thought it was her father… but her mother…

Dumbledore had said nothing could be changed that Hermione’s past self had seen before the time turner. However… however, Hermione had not seen Heather cast the Patronus before using it. She had already passed out. And Heather hadn’t said the person looked like her father until after they used the time turner the first time around. It was a stretch, but…

“You.”

“What?”

“It was you. You were the one who cast that Patronus. Or will cast the Patronus. Only…” Hermione tried to think of how to say this. “You see… the first time around, for me that is, you thought that the person casting was your dad. I think, however, that that’s been able to change because I didn’t actually know that until after we used the time turner… so now…”

“Now what?”

“Now… well, I do know a charms to grow hair and colour it. Learned a bunch of stuff to help you for when I came back in time.”

“Wait, what?”

“Hold still, I need to make you easily mistaken for your mother.”

“Hermione… what?”

“You said you thought you saw your mother, right?”

Heather nodded.

“And I know that this person was actually you. So, this means we need to make you look like your mother.”

“Oh.”

“What? Do you not want to look like your mother?”

“I mean… I like my hair colour as is… longer would be nice though.”

“We can change the colour back after,” Hermione said as she pulled out her wand.

“Ok then.”

Hermione cast a couple charms on Heather, making her hair grow out longer and changing the colour to a dark red, looking similar to that of Lily Potter. Hermione then conjured a mirror and handed it to Heather.

“Oh… oh my.” Heather held the mirror up, turning her head to examine her hair. “I…” She dropped the mirror onto her lap and threw her arms around Hermione. “Thank you!”

Hermione hugged the girl back. “You’re welcome, Heather.”

Heather pulled back. There were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling wide.

“We should be coming out any second now,” Hermione said.

The two girls hid behind some bushes to watch the whomping willow. They watched as their past selves came out of the passage under the tree.\

They watched as Remus transformed, followed by Sirius.

Hermione waited a bit before bringing her hands to her face and letting out a loud howl. “A-wooooooo.” She grinned at Heather. “That should lure him away.”

“Yeah, and now he’s coming right towards us.”

“Oh. Right.”

The two girls burst out of the bushes and ran towards the lake. Fortunately, their past selves, Ron, and Snape were too distracted to notice them.

“There’s Pettigrew!” Heather shouted, pointing at a rat scurrying along the ground.

“Accio!” Hermione shouted, scooping the rat out of the air as it flew towards her. “Stupefy.” The rat went limp in her hand. “Missing toe. This is him.” She put the rat in her pocket.

The two girls continued sprinting to the lake.

Once there, they saw that the dementors had already shown up, and Sirius was lying on the shore, passed out.

“Oh no,” Heather said.

“Hide! We’re coming.”

The two girls hid behind a log down the shore from Sirius as their past selves came charging in. They watched as the two of them tried and failed to cast a Patronus, past Hermione passing out quickly, but past Heather stood, holding up her wand, repelling the dementors. But she too fell to her knees.

Heather leaped over the log, pointing her wand at the dementors.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” She shouted, a large white doe bursting out of her wand. The Patronus charged the dementors, knocking several of them away. The dementors all fled. Heather walked up to the doe, reaching out to pet it. The doe winked out of existence.

Heather quickly ran back to where Hermione was after hearing voices. She got back behind the log just in time to see Dumbledore and the executioner walk into the clearing. Dumbledore quickly conjured stretchers for Sirius, past Hermione, and past Heather, and they were led off.

“Now we just need to fly up and break Sirius out,” Hermione said.

“Fly?”

“Yeah.” Hermione spotted Buckbeak and pulled out another ferret. Buckbeak came over and gladly accepted the ferret. “Alright, Buckbeak. Just have one quick thing we need to do. Will you help us?” Buckbeak squawked and crouched down, allowing the two girls to climb onto his back. “Thanks, Buckbeak.”

They flew up to the tower Hermione knew Sirius was to be kept in. She peaked into the window. “Not here yet.” She directed Buckbeak to fly up to the roof.

“How will we know when they put him there?”

Hermione checked her watch. “We still have around 20 minutes to get back to the hospital wing. So, in about 5 minutes I’d imagine?”

Heather nodded. “Alright.”

“So, uh… I know a charm that can make your voice sound… less… not girl?”

“Excellent phrasing!” Heather laughed.

“Oh haha. Yes, praise my inability to phrase things well. Just lemme cast this charm.”

“Ok, Hermione.”

Hermione waved he wand at Heather’s throat and cast the charm. “There. Say something.

“Like what? Oh my god!”

“You like?”

Heather nodded. “It doesn’t crack!”

“The charm is temporary… but I do know of a few ways to do something more permanent. Needs more time to pull off, however.”

“Ok. Can we do that tomorrow? Please!”

Hermione nodded. “We should have time to do it tomorrow.” She checked her watch. “Come on, time to get Sirius.”

The two girls flew back to the window on Buckbeak. Hermione unlocked the window and pulled it open. “Hey! Padfoot!”

Sirius came up to the window. “Hey, Hermione. And uh…” Sirius’ eyes widened. “Lily?”

Heather and Hermione giggled.

“Nope! I’m Heather! Heather… Heather Lily Potter.”

Sirius grinned. “Of course, you are. Come to get me out of here?”

“Of course, we are. Hop on to the hippogriff express!”

The 3 of them flew down to a courtyard just below the tower, dismounting once Buckbeak landed.

“So… Heather, huh? This happened pretty quickly.”

Hermione giggled. “Actually, I have a time turner. We had 3 extra hours tonight. Speaking of, we need to get back to the hospital wing in… 10 minutes.”

“Oh, that explains it. And you look… so much like Lily.”

Heather shrugged. “Hair colour is more temporary. Needed to keep things the same. I thought I saw my mum cast a Patronus, but it was actually me. We’re gonna undo the hair colour, but the rest stays.”

Sirius wrapped his arms around Heather in a hug. “If you ask me, I think this colour suits you. But it’s up to you.”

Heather smiled shyly. “I… thanks.”

“I suppose you’re gonna tell everyone else then, Heather?”

Heather nodded. “I’m Heather now, and I’m staying Heather.”

Sirius smiled. “You know, your mum fully believed they were having a girl. All of her instinct screamed that you would be a girl. I suppose she was right.”

Heather had never smiled so wide before in her entire life.

“Well… I suppose I have to go then.”

Heather nodded sadly.

“I’ll write as soon as I can, Heather.” Sirius mounted Buckbeak. “And Hermione.”

Hermione looked up at Sirius. “Yeah?”

“You really are the brightest witch your age. Moony was right.”

Hermione smiled at him. “Take care, Padfoot.”

Sirius and Buckbeak took off, flying up and up and disappearing into the night.

“Come on, Heather. We have to get back.”

The two girls ran back to the hospital wing, Hermione stopped, grabbing Heather’s arm.

“Wait.”

“What?”

Hermione quickly cast a charm at Heather. “There we go. Now the others won’t see the changes. It would lead to too many questions right now. I’ll undo the spell after Fudge leaves. Don’t worry, you and I still see what you really look like.”

They continued around the corner to see Dumbledore just leaving the hospital wing. They rushed up to him.

“We did it, professor,” Heather said.

“Did what?” Dumbledore said. “Good night.”

He turned to leave.

“Professor!” Hermione said.

Dumbledore turned back to them.

Hermione pulled the stunned rat out of her pocket. “You might find this useful, professor.” She handed the rat to him. “Good night, professor.”

“Thank you, Miss Granger.”

The two girls slipped back into the hospital wing, and Dumbledore closed and locked the doors behind them.

“How’d you get over there?”

The two girls looked up at Ron, who was looking at them in confusion.

“One moment you’re standing right there, then you disappear, and now you two are over there!”

“Don’t worry about it, Ron,” Hermione said.

“But- “

“We’ll tell you in the morning, Ron. Right now, I think we’re about to have some guests again.”

“What?”

The two girls settled back into their beds. And not a moment too soon, since just then, the door to the hospital wing banged open.

“POTTER!”

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Madam Pomphrey shouted, running out of her office, her wand raised.

“Potter! What did you do?”

“Now, Severus, I must protest.” Fudge came running after Snape, clutching his bowler hat to his head, huffing and puffing for breath. “In what universe could the boy have gotten past highly trained aurors?”

“Ask him!” Snape shouted, pointed at Heather.

Fudge glanced at her. “Harry, I must apologize. I really have no idea what has gotten into him.”

“No need for you to apologize, minister. You’re not the one who came in here shouting after all,” Heather said.

“Quite right indeed… come on Severus, we must let them rest, you know.”

“Hear, hear, minister!” Madam Pomphrey said. “Barging in here, disturbing my patients. How would he like it if I came in and slammed his door when he’s making delicate potions?”

Dumbledore calmly strolled in. “Now, Severus. I can easily verify that none of the individuals in here could possibly have done such a thing. After all, I did lock the doors after leaving, and they were still in there at the time. In no world would they have been able to get all the way up to that tower and back here.”

“There! You see Severus? Couldn’t possibly have been them. No! It must have been some dark magic You-Know-Who taught Black. Not dissimilar to that which helped him escape Azkaban all those months ago, I imagine.”

“I do believe that makes much more sense, minister,” Dumbledore said, ushering the other two men back out of the hospital wing before turning to wink at Hermione.

Hermione winked back, and Dumbledore smiled, patting a pocket in which Hermione could just make out the outline of an unconscious rat.

Madam Pomphrey muttered to herself walking back over to Ron’s bed and waving her wand over his broken leg. “Your leg should be fine by morning Mr. Weasley. It’s healing very nicely.” She walked over to Hermione’s bed. “Just exhausted, dear. Shouldn’t need more than some rest.” She continued to Heather. “And you can take down that illusion, Potter, now that the minister has left.”

Heather’s eyes widened, and she turned to Hermione. Hermione cast a quick charm to change Heather’s hair back to black before cancelling the illusion. Ron gasped.

“Hmmm… about what I expected, to be perfectly honest. It suits you.” Madam Pomphrey walked back to her office.

“Harry… your hair?” Ron said.

“What about it?” Heather replied.

“It’s… long.”

“Yes, it is long. I think it looks better this way.”

“It does look good mate.”

“Thanks, Ron.”

Hermione settled her head against the pillow. She was absolutely exhausted. Whatever her past self had done with the time travel on top of that and then another 3 hours running around saving Buckbeak, capturing Pettigrew, and saving Sirius – all that had left her very tired. By the time her head hit the pillow, she was sound asleep.

Chapter 3: Coming Out

Hermione groaned as she woke up, her neck feeling sore.

“Oh good, you’re awake Miss Granger.” Madam Pomphrey said. “Mr. Weasley has already left, but Mr. Potter insisted on waiting for you after waking up.”

Hermione looked around and spotter Heather sitting on the edge of her own bed reading a small novel. Heather looked up and waved at Hermione. Madam Pomphrey handed Hermione a glass of water before heading back into her office.

“Morning, Heather.”

“Afternoon, Hermione?”

“Is it really?”

Heather nodded. “Yeah.”

“Any particular reason you waited for me?” Hermione asked.

Heather nodded. “I was hoping…”

“Well, the two of you are perfectly fine, no sense hanging around here right now.” Madam Pomphrey had returned.

Heather made a face at Hermione. Hermione sighed. “Actually, we were hoping to talk to you about something.”

Heather smiled wide at Hermione. Oh, she thought she could get Hermione to do all the talking, huh?

“Oh, and what would that be?”

Hermione gave Heather a look to tell her to go on.

Heather’s eyes widened and she scowled at Hermione. “It’s… it’s about me, Madam Pomphrey. I’m… I’m, uh…”

Hermione sighed. “Just spit it out, Heather.”

Heather shot Hermione another glare. “I’m a girl,” she said, really quietly.

Hermione brought her hands to her head. “You’ll need to speak louder than that, Heather.”

“No, I heard her,” Madam Pomphrey said. “How long have you known this?”

“A few days,” Heather said, very interested in her nails.

“I see.”

“So, uh…”

Hermione groaned. “What she wants to know is if you can help her do the whole transition thing.”

“Well of course she does,” Madam Pomphrey said. “I would just like her to say it in her own words to make sure.”

Hermione motioned for Heather to speak.

“I, uh… I would like to uh… I would like whatever potions or whatever does the things to uh… transition.”

“Good enough.” Madam Pomphrey swept back into her office.

The two girls looked at each other.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Heather shook her head. “You could have helped.”

“You heard her, you needed to say that you wanted it yourself. That’s how… that’s how it works.” Hermione had almost slipped up and mentioned Luna. It was a bit rude to out someone like that.

“Quite right, Miss Granger. We need verbal confirmation that the patient in question does in fact want this treatment. Or written, I suppose, in the instance of the patient being unable to speak.” She held up a vial of potion. “Now, it just so happens that I have some of this potion around. I will also be placing an order for more immediately. Since you are in school, the cost will be covered. This potion must be taken once a week for 2 years in order for the effects to become permanent.”

“What are the effects?” Heather asked.

“To start with, a complete stop and reversal of male puberty. This includes any growth of body or facial hair. You also will find that spontaneous erections will stop altogether.”

Heather flushed bright red.

“After a few months, you will begin to notice changes attributed to a female puberty. These changes also include some body hair growth, although it is a bit lessened from female puberty. You will also experience hip and breast development, along with soreness in said breasts. Oh and of course since your body will over time be changing itself to fully match that of a cis girl’s, you will begin to experience monthly PMS symptoms. By the time you are done taking these potions, your body will be entirely identical to that of a cis girl’s in every way.”

“Wait? I’d… have a period?” Heather was very red.

Madam Pomphrey nodded. “You would also be capable of becoming pregnant.”

Heather squeaked.

“Do you still wish to take this potion?”

Heather nodded.

Madam Pomphrey handed her the potion. “Excellent. Every Sunday for the next 2 years, you will receive a vial of this potion in the morning. When you leave Hogwarts for the summer, you will be provided with enough doses to last the entire summer.”

Heather stared at the vial in her hands with wide eyes as Madam Pomphrey walked away.

“Congrats, Heather.”

Heather looked up at Hermione. “I-“ she shook her head. “This is… uh… help?”

“Well, you drink it.”

Heather blushed. “I know that. But uh… help? Like… a period? And…” she mouthed the word pregnant.

“Well, you can’t get pregnant without having sex. And also, it’ll take several months yet before your body is even remotely close to being able to do that.”

Heather mouthed the word sex, her ears now a rather impressive shade of red.

“But if it’s help dealing with your period you’d like, then that I can do. As for not getting pregnant… uh, just don’t have sex without some way to prevent it.”

“I wasn’t even planning on that for several years. If ever.”

Hermione giggled. “It’s not that embarrassing.”

“Yes, it is!”

Hermione laughed. “Come on, Heather. Gotta talk to Professor McGonagall.”

“Why?”

“Well, you can’t exactly stay in the boys’ dorms, can you?”

Heather’s eyes widened. “Uh, no.”

“Exactly.”

Hermione stood up, and Heather followed.

“Are you going to drink that?”

Heather quickly nodded before opening the vial and drinking the potion, placing the empty vial on a nearby table. “That tasted funny. Like… strawberries?”

Hermione looked at the girl, amused. “It tastes different for different people, as I understand it.”

“But why strawberries?”

Hermione shrugged. “Do you like strawberries?”

“I mean, they’re alright.”

“Then that’s good. At least it doesn’t taste bad, right?”

Heather shook her head. “So, we were gonna do the more permanent thing about my voice?”

Hermione laughed. “That potion is the more permanent thing, Heather. Remember, it reverses all effects from male puberty.”

“Oh.”

“Actually, as I understand it, shouldn’t take more than a week or two for it to fully reverse.”

“Oh, well, that’s good then.”

The two girls continued walking to their head of house’s office. They stopped in front of it. Hermione gestured to Heather to knock. Heather’s eyes widened before she hid behind Hermione and pushed her towards the door. Amused, Hermione knocked on the door.

It didn’t take long for Professor McGonagall to open the door. “Oh. Hello, Miss Granger. What can I do for you? And Miss… I’m sorry, I don’t believe I know your name.”

Heather smiled at McGonagall thinking she was a girl. “Uh… Potter.”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow, but quickly schooled her features and ushered the two girls into her office.

“Well, I can’t say that that was what I expected, but it wasn’t exactly unexpected.”

“What do you mean, professor?”

“Well, when your mother was pregnant with you, she was convinced you would be a girl.”

At the word ‘pregnant,’ Heather’s blush returned. Hermione giggled.

“As a matter of fact, she had a name picked out for you: Heather.”

“Well, that’s what I named myself, professor.”

Professor McGonagall nodded at her. “Of course. I imagine Remus would have told you that.”

Heather hesitated before nodding. Best that she didn’t say it was Sirius instead.

“So, I imagine you’re here so that Heather can move into the girls’ dorms?” McGonagall asked.

Hermione and Heather nodded.

McGonagall nodded. “Your belongings will be there when you return to the common room, then. Now, since the two of you just came from Madam Pomphrey, am I to assume that she has started you on the potion, Miss Potter?”

Heather nodded.

“Well then, I suppose I’ll have to add you to the roster for the sexual education lessons with the third years come September.”

Heather flushed again. She could remember the lesson she had had with the boys back in September this past year. It had been rather mortifying. She couldn’t imagine going through that again, and this time with students a whole year younger than her.

At least the girls wouldn’t be making as many stupid jokes as the boys had all done… right?

“Well, if that was all, you two best be off. I have a lot of exams still to mark, and, as is usually the case, so little time.”

The two girls left her office and started heading back to the Gryffindor common room.

On the way back, Hermione decided to tell Heather a bit about the future.

“So, I can’t tell you much. Some people, including Voldemort and some of his followers, could just pull information out of your mind. So, until you can protect it, it’s probably best if you do not know everything. Otherwise, my future knowledge isn’t quite as good if Voldemort were to find out.”

“What about Dumbledore?”

“A lot of what I know Dumbledore suspects already. I will talk with him so that he knows for sure, of course. After all, he’s the one who told me to come back in time in the first place.”

“I bet Dumbledore doesn’t need to worry about anyone taking information from his mind.”

Hermione shook his head. “No, he does not. He is quite accomplished at mind magic. So am I, as a matter of fact. I can teach you in September. Maybe sooner.”

“Sooner?”

Hermione nodded. “We caught Pettigrew last night. I gave him to Dumbledore. It is very likely Sirius is freed before Summer is done.”

“That’s fantastic!”

Hermione smiled. “It really is. Anyway, so, this Summer, the first time around, you and I went with the Weasleys to the final match of the Quidditch World Cup. While there, death eaters – Voldemort’s followers, that is – attacked and one of them managed to cast the dark mark – Voldemort’s mark – with your wand that he had stolen. Speaking of, you might not want to keep it in your back pocket. Especially since girls’ clothes tend to have absolutely miniscule pockets.”

“Where would I keep it then?”

“Well, I keep mine in my robes pocket for classes. But outside of classes, I, and most other girls, keep it in a handbag.”

“Wait. Like a purse?”

Hermione giggled. “Yes, like a purse. Lots of girls have those, you know. And the reason is typically because the pockets in our clothes aren’t even big enough for a tic-tac.”

“A what?”

“Not important. Anyway, after that, we, of course, stay at the Burrow for a bit before school starts. Once it does start up, after returning, we find out that an event happening at Hogwarts is the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Basically, students from two other schools in Europe visit and then an artifact called the Goblet of Fire will select one student from each school – that was submitted, of course. Students shouldn’t be made to participate if they didn’t want to. Shouldn’t being the key word.”

“What happened?”

Hermione grimaced. “There was, uh…” she sighed. “So, Voldemort knew about the tournament. Or will know, I guess. So, he sends one of his followers – incidentally, the same one that steals your wand at the Cup – don’t worry, you get it back after. So, he sends this follower to put you name in the Goblet, right. And you get entered under a 4th school. And so he charms the Goblet to think that there aren’t just 3 schools, and you end up having to compete.”

“Oh.”

“Also, uh… you hadn’t come out by then. To anyone, including me…”

“Oh.”

Hermione sighed.

“And then what?”

Hermione gave Heather a sad look.

“Did I die? In this tournament, did I die?”

Hermione shook her head. “Not in the tournament.”

“Then what-“

“Shortly before the first task… I was trying to help you prepare… and then you find out that the first task involves dragons.”

Heather paled at that. “And then what happened?”

Hermione opened her mouth, but no words came out. She threw her arms around Heather and pulled her in for a hug, sobbing.

“Hermione, what did I do?”

“You…” Hermione sobbed again.

“Hermione, it’s ok. Whatever it is, I haven’t done it yet.”

Hermione sniffled. “You killed yourself,” she whispered.

Heather stiffened. “I did what?”

Hermione nodded. “It- you- it was a couple days after you told me about the dragons… and I just… I found this note on my bed…” Hermione sobbed again.

“What did the note say?”

Hermione shook her head.

“I don’t mean word for word. But what did it say?”

“You… you apologized. And then you went on rambling a bit about your aunt and uncle and your cousin and how you had hoped to go to live with Sirius… you talked about how you always seemed to nearly die.” Hermione sniffled. “And then you told me that you were scared to die. But… you said you would rather die privately, with no one to watch instead of facing a dragon for other people’s entertainment.” Hermione pulled back from Heather, looking into Heather’s eyes. “And… you told me about yourself. About who you really were. Are. About being Heather. About how you wanted that to be your name instead. About how you were sure that you were supposed to have been a girl all along. You… you left me your cloak… you told me to send your map to Sirius.”

“Map? Professor Lupin has the map.”

Hermione smiled at Heather. “Well obviously you get it back.” The smile fell from her face. “And finally… finally, you told me where to find you. At the bottom of the page was simply signed: Heather Lily Potter.”

“Where to find… oh.” Heather closed her eyes. “Was it Myrtle’s bathroom?”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “Yes,” she said, so quietly Heather barely heard her. “Do you-“

“I have had thoughts,” Heather confessed. “I sometimes think ‘why shouldn’t I?’” She sighed. “There’s always been something stopping me. I suppose a tournament that is itself a death sentence anyway was enough to push me over the edge.”

“I’m going to try my best to keep you out of that, you know.”

“I figured you would say that.”

“No, I’m going to tell Dumbledore, and he can make sure that that Death Eater can’t enter your name.”

Heather smiled. “Thanks, Hermione.”

“You’re my best friend, Heather. I… I really missed you.”

Heather gave Hermione another hug, and they continued on their way to their common room.

“Oh, by the way, Heather. In other news, it turns out that I’m bi.”

“Bi?”

Hermione nodded. “I like girls and guys and everything in between.”

“Wait, you can do that?”

“Do what?”

“Like girls as a girl?”

Hermione snorted. “Of course, you can. Why? Do you?”

Heather nodded.

“Anyone in particular?”

Heather blushed. “She, uh…”

“Come on. I won’t tell. I’ve never gotten to do this sort of thing with other girls.”

“Ok… I kinda fancy Cho Chang.”

“The Ravenclaw seeker?”

Heather nodded.

“She is pretty cute, yeah.”

Heather nodded again.

“A bit young for me though.”

Heather made a noise of confusion. “She’s in the year above us.”

“Yes, I know. And I happen to be 12 years older, mentally, than all of our classmates.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. Maybe in 12 years.”

“I guess then you aren’t going to get to be a normal girl either.”

Hermione shook her head. “I never was a normal girl in the first place, Heather.”

“Right.”

“But she really is cute. And you aren’t 12 years older than everyone else mentally.”

“But…”

“But what if she’s straight?”

Heather gave Hermione a questioning look.

“Straight would mean she only likes guys. For guys, straight would mean they only like girls. Gay would be a girl who only likes girls or a guy who only likes guys.”

“Oh. Ok. Not what I was about to say, but what if that, yeah.”

“Well then you find a different girl. There are bound to be other girls around here who like girls.”

“Oh, huh. Right.”

“So, what were you going to say?”

“Oh. Uh.” Heather ran a hand through her hair, then was caught slightly off guard by it being longer than she was used to, and this seemed to bring her comfort. “I was about to say, “but she’s so pretty and when I see her I get all tongue-tied and…” she trailed off.

Hermione tried not to laugh.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re laughing at me.”

“Am not.”

“I can see you. You’re trying not to laugh.”

“Then that means I’m not laughing, right?”

“Well yeah. But you would be laughing if you weren’t trying not to laugh.”

“It’s just… you’re being so… gay!”

“I…”

“No, you’re just standing there, talking about a girl and saying, ‘oh she’s so pretty,’ and blushing like mad. It’s honestly somewhat adorable.”

Heather buried her head in her hands.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re fine.”

They reached the entrance to the common room.

Heather suddenly looked very nervous.

“Relax, Heather. I’m not entirely sure anyone would recognize you right now, anyway.”

“But I still have the same face.”

“You’d be amazed what something as simple as just growing your hair out a lot can do. Especially since no one expects it.”

“Except Ron.”

“Oh. Right.” Hermione nodded. “He knows your hair is longer.”

Heather laughed nervously. “What if he asks why my stuff is gone?”

“Well, that would require him having gone into the dorms by now, and we don’t know that he has.”

“We also don’t know that he hasn’t.”

Hermione shrugged. “It’ll be fine, Heather.”

Hermione gave the password, and the portrait opened. She pulled Heather through the entrance.

The common room was mostly empty since it was nice weather outside, and exams were done. The were a couple of scattered first years. Ron was nowhere to be seen. Heather let out a relieved breath.

“Or there could simply be no one here,” Hermione said. “Come on.” She led Heather over to the stairs up to the girls’ dorms and dragged her up to the 3rd year dormitory. She pushed open the door and pulled Heather inside. “Your stuff is all here already. And there’s a new bed in place too.”

Heather sat on her bed, leaning back against the headboard. “It’s much cleaner in here.” She sniffed. “Smells nicer, too.”

Hermione laughed. “No boy stink?”

Heather shook her head. “It’s nice.”

Hermione smiled. “Hey, uh… wanna paint your nails?”

Heather shot Hermione a bemused look. “Paint my nails?”

Hermione nodded. “Yeah. That’s something girls do together, right?”

Heather snorted. “You’d know better than me, Hermione.”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t exactly do girly things. Never really had someone to do that with.”

“What about your… our other dorm-mates?”

Hermione shrugged. “I guess… I dunno.”

“Have you tried asking them if you could join in?”

Hermione shook her head.

“Well, there’s your problem. A bit hard to join in if you don’t ask first. But sure. If you want, we can paint my nails. And your as well.”

Hermione smiled before biting her lip nervously. “There’s uh… a problem with that.”

“And what would that be?”

“I don’t exactly have nail polish.”

Heather couldn’t help but laugh.

It was at this time that Parvati and Lavender returned from wherever they had been.

“Oh. Hey Hermione, and… who’s this?” Parvati asked.

Hermione turned to the other girls while Heather continued to laugh.

“Oh, uh… this is Heather.”

Lavender examined Heather’s unfamiliar belongings. “New student? But exams just finished.”

Hermione shook her head. “No uh… she’s not new. She just… changed dorms.”

Heather snorted.

“You can do that?” Parvati asked. “What house was she in?”

“Gryffindor,” Heather said.

Lavender blinked. “Wait, so did you move up a year?”

Heather shook her head, giggling. “No, this is my third year here.”

“Well then the only other option is the boys’ dorms,” Lavender said.

“Ding, ding, ding!” Heather exclaimed. “5 points to Gryffindor! Except of course I can’t give points.”

“Wait, what?”

Heather laughed again.

Hermione sighed. “Yes, the boys’ dorms. You remember McGonagall mentioned this sort of thing back in December, right?”

“Wait she did?” Heather exclaimed.

“Yes,” Hermione said. “Were you not paying attention then?”

“I was busy trying not to die of embarrassment, Hermione. Or maybe she only said it to the girls, I dunno. Don’t see why she would have.”

Hermione sighed. “Do try to pay attention this September, at least.”

Heather saluted the older girl. “You got it!” In doing this action, she flicked her hair up, momentarily revealing her scar.

Lavender and Parvati noticed and gasped.

“What?” Heather asked. “Something on my face?”

“Your scar.”

“Oh. Right. I suppose that is on my face. Hate that bloody thing.” She scowled. “Right, so… now that you two are here, Hermione has something she wants to ask you.”

This startled Hermione. “Um… what?”

“You know, Hermione. That thing. About ‘painting our nails’ and other sorts of ‘girl stuff.’” Heather laughed again.

Lavender and Parvati giggled. “Painting your nails?”

“Well, I don’t know! What do girls do together?”

Lavender laughed. “Well, you are right about that.”

Parvati smirked. “Do you got your own nail polish, Hermione? I imagine Heather probably doesn’t.”

Heather giggled. “Nope. She just said so right before you got here.”

“Oh, well then you can borrow some of mine,” Lavender said. I think it should suit you.”

“And Heather can borrow some of mine, then,” Parvati said.

“Thanks,” Hermione said.

Heather just flashed Parvati a thumbs up.

“So, uh… when did you figure this out, Heather?”

Heather shrugged. “Three days ago. I was wandering around, found this mirror. It’s called the Mirror of Erised. Spells ‘desire’ backwards. Get it? ‘Cause it’s a mirror?” Heather laughed again. “Anyway, this mirror is magical. Show you ‘your hearts desire.’ Basically, it just shows you what you really, really want. And, among other things, something it turns out that I really, really wanted was to be a girl. Turns out, I can just be a girl if I want. It’s amazing!”

Lavender nodded. “Being a girl is amazing, I agree.”

Parvati suddenly laughed for no apparent reason.

“What?” Hermione asked.

Parvati smirked. “The boys came back with us. They’re probably really confused over where Heather’s stuff has gone.”

Heather laughed at that too. “Probably. They’ll never find my stuff though!”

Hermione snorted. “Of course not. They can’t climb the stairs, can they?”

“They can’t?” Heather said.

Hermione gave Heather an amused look. “Heather, did you pay attention to the prefects back in first year?”

Heather shook her head. “Ron kept distracting me.”

“That explains why you were late to your first class.”

“What?”

“There were guides hanging on the notice board for the first years to use. You would have known that had you been paying attention.”

“Oh.”

“Basically, boys can’t climb the stairs to our dorms.”

Heather smiled. “Well that proves it then. I’m not a boy. I climbed the stairs!”

And with that, the four girls continued talking about a variety of subjects. They also did get around to painting their nails too.

Lavender’s nails were a light blue colour, Parvati’s a similar shade. Hermione had gotten a dark purple, and Heather’s were bright pink.

“It’s just such a girly colour,” she said. “I have to.”

When it came time for supper, the 4 of them went back to the common room.

Ron was waiting for them. Or more specifically, for Hermione.

“Hey, Hermione. Have you seen Harry anywhere?”

Heather, Lavender, and Parvati broke out into giggles.

“No Ron. I have not seen anyone named ‘Harry’ at any point today.”

Ron frowned. “But he said he was gonna wait for you to wake up.”

The three girls broke out into full blown laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Ron asked.

“You,” Heather said.

“What did I do?” Ron asked, utterly baffled.

Heather stepped forward to pat Ron on the shoulder. “Come on, mate. Let’s get down to dinner.” She walked past him to the portrait hole.

Ron just stood there, completely bewildered.

“Well, Ron? Are you coming?” Lavender said.

“Yeah, Ron?” Parvati said, still giggling. “Are you coming to dinner?”

“What’s going on?” Ron asked.

“Dinner,” Heather said matter of factly.

“And who are you?” Ron asked.

Heather snorted. “What? You don’t recognize me?”

Ron turned to get a better look at the girl. “No, I- Harry?”

Heather started giggling again. “Eh, close enough.”

Hermione snorted. “Her name is Heather now, Ron.”

“I… what?”

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Heather Lily Potter.” She extended her hand for Ron to shake.

Ron took it. “Wait, so… you’re a girl now?”

Heather nodded. “Always have been. Just figured it out recently.”

Ron nodded. “Gotcha. Just like Ginny’s friend. What’s her name? Luna, I think.”

Heather raised an eyebrow. “Ginny has a friend like me?”

Ron nodded. “Yeah, actually. Maybe she can introduce you. Maybe she could also finally get over blushing every time she saw you.”

Hermione smirked. She highly doubted that. Ginny was bi after all. But Ginny didn’t even know that yet. She supposed she would find out very soon.

Chapter 4: Return to "Normalcy"

Heather knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

She pushed the door open, looking around the office. It was now rather bare compared to when se last visited. Everything had been packed into a trunk sitting on the now empty desk.

“Ah, Heather. I was just about to go looking for you.”

“You’re leaving?” Heather said.

Professor Lupin sighed. “I’m afraid so. Professor Dumbledore should be receiving some angry letters from parents about now, so it’s best that I be long gone by the end of the day.”

“But…” Heather ran a hand through her hair. “But you were the best Defense teacher we ever had.”

Professor Lupin laughed. “Perhaps the best you had. The last two professors hardly set the bar very high. Metaphorically speaking, it was at the point where it could no longer be used for limbo.”

“But… even the 7th years say that you’re the best we’ve had.”

Professor Lupin sighed. “Maybe so… but that won’t matter to many. No, most wizards will simply see the werewolf and completely ignore everything else.”

“But that’s so unfair!” Heather exclaimed.

“A lot of things are unfair, Heather. This is hardly the first job I’ve had to leave because of my affliction, it won’t be the last.”

Heater sighed sadly. “I know. I just… I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“So do I, Heather.” Lupin placed a pair of trousers in his trunk. “Before I go, I have something for you.” He picked up a piece of paper off his desk. “I suppose, since I am no longer your professor, there is no reason why I ought to keep this from you. It is rightfully yours, after all.” He handed the paper to Heather.

Heather accepted it. “Thank you, professor.”

“Oh, no need to call me professor anymore.”

“I don’t care. You’ll still be a professor in my heart.”

Lupin smiled at her.

“Where will you go?”

Lupin sighed. “Had Sirius gone free, perhaps I would have gone to stay with him. However…” he trailed off. “Can you keep a secret?”

Heather nodded. “Of course, professor.”

“Right. Dumbledore reckons he might be able to get Sirius’ name cleared in a few weeks. He won’t tell me how, but he says it’s possible.”

“Really?”

Professor Lupin nodded. “He assured me he would make it happen.”

“That’s… that’s great.”

“Well, if that was all?”

Heather nodded.

“Well, then you best run along. Your friends, I imagine, would make for much better company than your old professor.”

“You’re not that old, professor.”

He shook his head. “No, I suppose not. I feel it, however. I feel, in many ways, incredibly old, Heather.”

Heather turned to leave. “Good-bye, professor. And I hope to see you again soon.”

“As do I, Heather. Good-bye.”

Heather left, the door closing behind her. Sighing, she opened the map. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The map illustrated itself. Heather search until she found Ron and Hermione out near the lake along with Ginny and Ginny’s friend, Luna Lovegood.

“Mischief Managed.”

She went to join them.

Hermione rested her head against the glass of the window on the Hogwarts Express. She watched as the countryside raced by.

She looked upas she heard something tapping on the window. Just outside was a small owl holding a letter nearly as large as itself. She opened the window to let it in.

She looked at the letter. “It’s for Heather.”

Heather snagged the hyper owl out of the air and took the letter. After she let the owl go, it went to perch on Ginny’s shoulder.

Heather tore the letter open and read it.

“It’s from Sirius,” she said. “Says he’s sent me a Hogsmeade form for next year. And uh… the owl’s for you, Ron. Says he feels guilty you don’t have a pet anymore.”

Ron eyed the hyper owl wearily. “Thanks, Sirius.”

“I think he’s adorable,” Ginny said, “he needs a name.”

“You choose, Gin,” Ron said.

“Pigwidgeon.”

“Gesundheit,” Ron replied.

“What? No. That’s his name, Ron,” Ginny said.

“What?”

“His name is now Pigwidgeon.”

Pigwidgeon hooted happily at his new name.

“Oh jeez.”

Heather laughed at Ron, then examined her permission slip, and frowned.

“What is it, Heather?” Hermione asked.

“It’s just… the Dursleys.”

Hermione frowned. “Oh, right.”

Heather gestured to her hair and her nails, currently painted a light purple. “I don’t think they’re gonna like this.”

Hermione pursed her lips. “I could do an illusion again. Make the Dursleys not see any of that.”

Heather shrugged. “Maybe.”

They rode in silence for a bit.

“So… do you 3 wanna join us for the Quidditch World Cup this Summer?” Ron asked, referring to Heather, Hermione, and Luna.

Luna looked up from her magazine. “Oh, daddy already got is tickets in the reporter’s box.” She looked back to her magazine.

“Alright then. You two? Dad managed to pull tickets off Ludo Bagman. Called in a favour for that.”

Heather glanced at Hermione. “That sounds fun, Ron.”

“Imagine watching the pros play,” Ginny said.

Heather’s face lit up. “Oh, that would be very exciting.

Ron nodded. “It would be.”

Heather glanced at Hermione again. Hermione was staring at her and noticed.

“Can we talk outside for a bit, Heather?”

Heather sighed and got up to follow the older girl outside. She led Heather to the bathroom. She closed the door behind them and locked it.

“Are you sure about going to the Cup, Heather? You know what’s going to happen.”

“I’m sure. Have you talked to Dumbledore already?”

Hermione nodded. “Not directly. I sent him a letter. I asked him to meet with me at some point this Summer. And to involve you for it.”

“I thought you couldn’t tell me everything yet?”

Hermione nodded. “I can’t. But I want to start teaching you occlumency as soon as I can, so I want you there so I can talk to Dumbledore about that.”

“Oh, ok. But yeah, I’m sure about the Cup. I’m gonna be keeping my wand secure this time.”

“It’s not just your wand getting stolen, Heather. All sorts of little things could change and just… stay safe, please.”

“I plan on it.”

Hermione smiled. “I suppose I should be there too, then.”

Heather smiled wide. “That would be great.”

The two girls quickly returned to the compartment to find Luna entertaining Ron and Ginny by trying to balance her magazine on her nose. Somehow, she managed to do it.

“Ta-da!” she said, which caused the magazine to fall. “Oh, poo.”

Ginny and Ron laughed.

Luna smiled. “Well at least it was funny.”

Heather and Hermione sat back down in their seats. Ginny gave them a questioning look, but they didn’t have an answer for her.

A few minutes later, they pulled into King’s Cross Station.

Heather got a mischievous look on her face.

“What?” Hermione said.

“Oh, I just wanna try something,” Heather replied.

“Ok… need me to apply that illusion?”

Heather shook her head. “No thanks. It’s part of my idea.”

“Um, ok… if you’re sure.”

Heather gave Hermione a goofy smile. “Trust me.”

The 5 of them disembarked the train. Ron and Ginny quickly met up with Molly and Luna wandered over to her father. Heather and Hermione made their way over to the barrier.

“Last chance, are you sure you don’t want that illusion?”

Heather shook her head. “I got this, Hermione. Watch.”

The two girls walked out of the barrier one after the other. Hermione easily spotter her mum and dad nearby, and Heather’s uncle was very distinctive. His eyes swept over the two of them, entirely ignoring Heather. Clearly, he didn’t recognize her.

Heather walked over to her uncle, Hermione following cautiously, palming her wand, ready to intervene if things went south.

“Hey, Uncle Vernon!”

Vernon focused on Heather, and his jaw fell open. Hermione spotted a thin woman, Heather’s aunt, next to Vernon.

“Boy! You… what?”

Heather stopped. “Boy?” She turned to look at Hermione, a look of mock confusion on her face. “What boy?”

“You!” Vernon growled.

Heather focused on her uncle again. “Are you feeling alright, Uncle Vernon?”

Vernon simply growled. He noticed the letter from Sirius in Heather’s hands.

“What’s that? If that’s another form for me to sign-“

“Oh, it’s just a letter from my godfather.”

“Godfather? You don’t have a godfather!”

“Oh, I assure you, I do. You see, he just broke out of prison last Summer. To protect me, of course. He’s a convicted murderer, you see, and he loves me to death. Can’t stand the idea of anything bad happening to me, you know. I’m sure you understand. After all, you have Dudley.”

Hermione spotted Heather’s cousin trying to hide behind his father.

“Anyway, he expects regular letters from me. And I imagine if he finds the slightest hint that I’m not enjoying myself as much as I possibly can, he’d be quite upset. Might even pay us a visit, in fact. Wouldn’t that be exciting?!”

A vein pulsed in Vernon’s forehead. Hermione thought Heather might be playing a dangerous game, but she had tried this same thing the first time around, so Hermione figured she would be fine.

Vernon simply barked out, “come,” before turning and stomping back to his car, his wife and son following nervously.

Hermione walked up to Heather. “You think you can continue to handle them then?”

Heather nodded. “They’ll be too scared of Sirius to try anything. At least until the Weasleys pick me up for the Cup.”

Hermione nodded. “You take care of yourself, Heather.”

“You too, Hermione.” Heather squared her shoulders and marched after the Dursleys.

Hermione watched her leave as her parents walked over to her.

“New friend of yours?” Her mum asked.

Hermione shook her head. “No. Old friend.”

“Old friend? I could have sworn you only had those two boys as friends.”

Hermione shook her head. “One boy. One girl.”

“Oh. What happened?” Her dad asked.

“She’s trans,” Hermione said. She knew that it wasn’t an issue to tell her parents that; they had been accepting of others Hermione knew to be trans the first time around, after all.

“Oh. That makes much more sense,” her mum said.

“Her family doesn’t seem to be very accepting of her.”

Hermione shook her head. “No. Her aunt and uncle… well, they like to be ‘normal.’” Hermione snorted. “Wonder if anyone’ll ever tell them being abusive is very abnormal. But Heather has her godfather to look out for her.”

“Why doesn’t she live with her godfather?”

“’Cause he got wrongly accused of a crime he didn’t commit 12 years ago and is now a fugitive.”

“That’s… quite a wild story, Hermione,” her mum said.

Hermione nodded.

“Well, come on. Time to go home,” her dad said.

“Maybe we should invite her over at some point,” her mum said.

Hermione smiled. “I think she’d like that.”

The Dursleys and Heather rode back to Number 4 Privet Drive in silence. Well, silence except for the sound of Vernon’s grinding teeth. It’s amazing he still has teeth at this point, with how audible the noise was.

Once they arrived, Vernon simply opened Heather’s door and gestured to the house. “In.”

Heather was quick to comply, dragging her trunk and carrying Hedwig’s cage. Hedwig would eventually fly back sometime later that night.

She carried her things up to her room. She sighed as she sat down on her bed.

“Home, sweet home.”

She heard Vernon calling for her. She sighed and got up to head back downstairs.

She found the 3 Dursleys sitting around the kitchen table.

“Hi.”

She sat on the side facing them.

“So… your godfather then. We don’t want to make him upset,” Uncle Vernon said.

Heather shook her head. “I suppose we don’t. He’s much nicer when he’s happy.”

“So, in that case…” Vernon scowled.

“I would simply prefer to be left alone,” Heather said.

Vernon looked relieved to hear that. “And… chores?”

Heather put on a thoughtful look. “Well, I imagine he wouldn’t be terribly upset about me doing some chores. After all, any healthy household should have chores divvied up between its members.” She smiled. “So I suppose he can’t object if I, as the young lady of the house,” she inwardly smirked at the impressive shade of green Vernon put on when he heard that, “were to, for example, be doing the gardening, while the big strong young man of the house did the more manly tasks. You know, chopping firewood, mowing the lawn, that sort of thing.”

“Dudley shouldn’t-“ Petunia started to say, but Heather interrupted.

“I imagine it would be good for him, actually,” Heather said. “Build up some muscle, you know. All the ladies love some muscle on a guy as I understand it.” Heather smiled. “Plus, I imagine it would be rather strange for a young girl like myself to be doing such tasks.”

That got their attention. They hated looking strange in any way.

“On the other hand, it’s somewhat expected that boys our age start to help with those sorts of tasks.”

Vernon nodded. “You make a good point there. I remember when I was a lad. Around this age, my father took me out back once, and he handed me his axe. He directed me to our pile of firewood and told me to start chopping. And so, I did, of course.” He nodded. “We may not have a pile of firewood, but it’s about time I showed Dudley how to operate a lawnmower like a proper man.”

Petunia nodded in agreement. “And if you want to be a lady so bad, I suppose you should act like one. Gardening is more of a lady’s task, after all.”

Heather smiled to herself. She had gotten exactly what she wanted while convincing the Dursleys it was exactly what they wanted. She loved gardening; it had always been relaxing for her.

“I believe my godfather will find this arrangement to his liking,” she said.

And with that, the Dursleys dismissed her and went back to their tasks. Dudley and Vernon turning to watch the telly while Petunia turned to start supper.

As Heather made to leave, Petunia called to her. “Oh, uh…”

“Heather,” she supplied, amused.

“Heather. Could you help prepare supper, please?”

Wow. ‘Please’ and she used her name. That took effort.

“Sure.”

Heather walked back into the kitchen, and Petunia directed her to start peeling the potatoes.

Chapter 5: Plans and Preparation

There was a knock on the door.

“Heather, could you get that!” Petunia called.

Heather sighed and got up from her bed. She walked down the stairs to the door and opened it to see Professor Dumbledore. He was wearing a very fancy, if somewhat old-fashioned, muggle suit. It was even in a more subtle colour than what Dumbledore usually wore.

“Ah! Heather! Just the woman I’m here to see,” he said.

“Who is it?” Petunia asked, walking to the door from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “Oh. It’s you.”

Dumbledore inclined his head. “It is indeed. May I borrow Heather for a bit?”

Petunia nodded. “If you must. But make sure she’s back by dinnertime, she promised to help.”

Dumbledore nodded. “I would not dream of keeping her past her dinnertime. Meals are, of course, very important things.”

Dumbledore led Heather out of the house and down the street.

“She seemed to be rather more pleasant than the last time I met her,” he remarked.

Heather nodded. “Well, for one, they don’t yet know Sirius is innocent. For another, they have an obsession with seeming entirely normal. And one thing that is seen as abnormal is having a young girl do certain tasks, like lawn mowing, or referring to her as if she were a boy.”

“So, they have to refer to you as a girl and as Heather or be that which they fear being.”

“Exactly.”

They walked for a bit more in silence.

“Professor, where are we going?”

“I believe your friend, Miss Granger, informed you she sent me a letter before you left school asking for a meeting between the three of us?”

Heather nodded. “She did.”

“Well, we are headed to meet Miss Granger at her local library.”

Heather snorted. “Of course, the library. Where else?”

Dumbledore nodded. “I happen to find a young mind eager for learning a beautiful thing, Miss Potter.”

Not as young as you might think, Heather thought.

Eventually the two of them found somewhere to duck out of view.

“I imagine you have not apparated before, Heather?”

Heather shook her head. “I have not, sir.”

Dumbledore held out his arm for her. “Then I am sorry in advance.”

“What?”

“Apparating is not particularly pleasant the first time. Not grab on.”

Heather held Dumbledore’s arm, and he twisted on his heel, Heather following. Heather felt as though she were being sucked through a straw. Fortunately, as quickly as the sensation started, it ended again.

“You were right. That was unpleasant.” Heather fought to keep her lunch from making an early reappearance.

“Yes, well, it can’t be avoided, unfortunately.”

Heather nodded. “I think I’m good now.”

“Excellent,” Dumbledore said.

The two of them walked out of the alley they had appeared in. No one seemed to notice them, indicating Dumbledore must have placed some sort of charm on them. As it turned out, they were just across the street from the library, so they crossed. Once they entered, they easily spotted Hermione. She was sitting at a table in the corner, a book propped up in front of her. In big bold letters on the cover was ‘CALCULUS II.’ As they approached, she put in a bookmark in and put the book down. Heather noted that the bookmark was about a third of the way through the book.

“Hello, Professor, Heather. Take a seat.”

They each took a seat facing Hermione.

“I suppose you wish to know why I asked for this meeting, Professor?”

Dumbledore nodded. “Your letter indicated that it was quite important.”

Hermione nodded. “Oh, it is. So, you know about time turners, of course. I imagine you may have come across other methods of time travel at some point.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Of course. Time travel is one field I have delved into before. I know of a few methods.”

“I imagine you know of a couple that can send one’s mind back in time to their younger body and in doing so alter the course of events.”

Dumbledore nodded. “I know of one. It has very specific requirements.”

“Requirements which I should be meeting in just under 12 years,” Hermione replied, “and in fact, I did meet them in just under 12 years.”

Dumbledore stiffened. “How bad?”

Hermione sighed. “Honestly? Not as bad as it could have been. Voldemort was defeated, but many, many good people died.”

“Including me,” heather said.

Dumbledore turned to her with a pained look.

“And you as well, Professor,” Hermione said.

“What do you know?” Dumbledore asked.

Hermione grimaced. “To be quite honest, there is information missing that for one reason or another remained inaccessible to us. Unfortunately, some of the… items… were dealt with by someone we just don’t know. I do, however, know what all the items are.”

“And these… items… are they what I suspect?”

Hermione nodded. “They are indeed. And the number you need is 7.”

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, a look of shock on his face. “I knew he was crazy, but 7…”

Hermione nodded. “I know.”

“I imagine you’re being cryptic because Heather can’t protect the information.”

“No, I can’t,” Heather said, “Hermione offered to teach me Occlumency though.”

Dumbledore nodded. “That would be for the best, yes. When can you start?”

“As soon as Heather can start.”

Heather sighed. “I promised Aunt Petunia I’d help make dinner tonight. But I can ask about visiting you tomorrow.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Perhaps you should visit with Miss Granger until the Weasleys come to get you two for the Cup. I can add some protection to the Grangers’ home.”

“That would be nice, thank you,” Hermione said.

“So, you’re essentially 26 then, Miss Granger?”

Hermione nodded.

“Then I imagine classes might be dull for you.”

Hermione grimaced. “I dropped out after 4th year. Went to a muggle school and did some haphazard studying in my spare time. I moved to Canada too. That was when he returned. End of 4th year.”

Heather got up. “I need to use the bathroom. You two can talk about things I can’t know yet while I’m gone.”

Hermione waited until she was out of earshot.

“So, here’s what I remember from my 4th year the first time around. First of all, during the Summer, just after the final match of the Quidditch World Cup, the campsite is attacked. Heather already knows this and has taken precautions to prevent things going exactly the same as last time. She should be safe since Voldemort does want to kill her himself.”

“I figured as much. You know the prophecy, I assume?”

Hermione nodded. “I told Heather the gist of it, but I won’t be telling her the full thing until after she learns Occlumency.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Dumbledore said.

“She never found out the first time around either… anyway, shortly before we head back to Hogwarts, Alastor Moody was attacked. He is ambushed by two death eaters who are presumed to be dead at this point in time: Peter Pettigrew, who I imagine you have turned over to the aurors by now.”

“I have.”

“Right, so he won’t be part of the attack, but it’s not like that will change that much. The other is Bartemius Crouch Junior. The first time around, what happened was Pettigrew found Voldemort and brought him back with a plan to use the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament, which they learned about from a vacationing Bertha Jorkins, to kidnap Heather and use her to help return Voldemort to a body.”

“But with Mr. Pettigrew in custody, that can’t happen the same way.”

“It can if they let him escape, I imagine. Or it could happen by Crouch instead being the one to find Voldemort. Point is, we can’t assume Voldemort will not be back in Britain by then. In fact, as I understand it, he was back in the country by Heather’s birthday the first time around. I know this because Heather had a vision of him around then. That gives Crouch a lot of extra time to find Voldemort and rope some other currently free former death eater into helping kidnap Heather. The first time around, Crouch did break free from his father’s Imperius curse for the first time just after the final match of the Cup. However, his father did put him back under the spell right after he conjured a dark mark. Thing is, I have no idea is it will still happen the same way. So, Crouch might be able to look for Voldemort anyway, and he would still know about the Tournament from his father.”

“So, there are ways in which Voldemort could still attempt to hijack the Tournament to kidnap Heather.”

“Exactly. The way in which Crouch did so in the old timeline was by using Polyjuice potion to disguise as Moody, who you had hired to be the defense teacher for the year. Acting as Moody, Crouch then be able to put Heather’s name into the Goblet of Fire and use a powerful charm to make the Goblet believe there were 4 schools so that Heather, entered under a 4th school, would be forced to compete. And then, with the trophy being a portkey in the final task, Crouch would simply redirect it to take Heather to the graveyard where Voldemort planned to perform the ritual to get a new body. Or, at least, that was the plan. It never happened that way.” Hermione sighed. “Shortly before the first task, Heather found out what it was. The champions needed to face dragons. She didn’t know what exactly was required, just that there were 4 dragons, one for each champion.” Hermione took a deep breath. “You’re an educator, sir. I imagine you’ve seen a lot of things with your students.”

“I have, Miss Granger. Go on.”

“She… she took her own life.” Hermione fought to keep herself from tearing up. She didn’t think she would be able to survive the dragons, and… and so she decided it was better to die privately instead of in front of an audience.”

“Oh my. That’s… had she ever confided in you about thoughts of a suicidal nature before that point?”

Hermione shook her head. “Not in that timeline. She never told me anything like that then. She did tell me she has had thoughts this time around, though…”

“I see. That is quite serious.”

Hermione nodded. “I just… I don’t want her to have to go through any of that.”

“Neither do I,” Dumbledore agreed.

There was a pause.

“So those items… am I correct to assume that they are horcruxes?”

Hermione nodded. “Six of them. Seven pieces when you include Voldemort himself. He put them into objects important to him and used important deaths to create them. His last one he wanted to create when he killed Heather, actually.”

“So then would he only have 5?”

Hermione nodded. “Currently, yes. At least, I think so. At some point between him returning to Britain and regaining a body he made his 6th, however.”

“What are his Horcruxes, Miss Granger?”

“One has been destroyed already. That would be the diary Heather stabbed a year ago. The others are still around somewhere. I know where some are right now, but not all, nor who found or destroyed them. There was a lot that we never figured out, unfortunately. I do, however, know what they all are. 

“One of them was a ring. This ring was actually found and destroyed by you, but it cursed you and led to your death several months later. It was found in the shack belonging to Voldemort’s mother’s family. This ring also happens to contain the resurrection stone, which eventually ended up in the possession of Ron Weasley, which is how we found out so much about one of them, at least.

“Another of them was a locket that belonged to Slytherin. It had been passed down until it ended up belonging to Voldemort’s mother. She would later pawn it off, but Voldemort would eventually end up getting it back. Unfortunately, I don’t know where this horcrux was found, nor do I know who destroyed it. It’s remains were however found lying in the dirt after Voldemort attack Hogwarts. Examination of those remains are the only reason we know for sure it had been a horcrux.

“Voldemort had actually stolen the locket from a woman named Hepzibah Smith. Along with the locket he had stolen a cup that had belonged to Hufflepuff. We know that at some point this cup was given to Bellatrix Lestrange for safe keeping. We never found out where she hid it, but it was destroyed by an auror named Kingsley in an attack on Malfoy Manor. It was there because Voldemort had requested Bellatrix bring it to him.

“The last of the ones that currently exist is Ravenclaw’s lost diadem. Unlike the previous two, I know where this one is right now. It is actually in Hogwarts, somewhere in the lost and found.”

“I did not know Hogwarts had a lost and found.”

“Most don’t, weirdly enough. It can be accessed through the room of requirement, also known to the elves as the come and go room. Should be easy enough for you to find, horcruxes radiate dark magic quite intensely unless otherwise supressed as I understand it. It would be destroyed by Ginny Weasley by throwing into Fiendfyre set by Draco Malfoy.

“And lastly there’s the horcrux he has yet to make. In the last time-line, that was his pet snake, Nagini. You had suspected her after she had attacked your friend, Daedalus Diggle, while he was guarding the prophecy around Christmas of 1995, killing him. You noticed her acting with remarkable intelligence surpassing that of a simple snake, and deduced that she likely had a very strong connection to Voldemort. She was later killed by Dean Thomas at Hogwarts using the Sword of Gryffindor shortly before Neville finally struck the killing blow on Voldemort.”

“Well, the diadem should be very easy to deal with. The Sword of Gryffindor should have taken in basilisk venom, am I correct?”

“It had the last time; it should have in this time-line since that happened over a year ago.”

Dumbledore sighed. “It sounds like a lot, but it really is just 2 horcruxes that we don’t know, isn’t it?”

Hermione nodded. “I believe so, unless Voldemort moved the ring to the shack after his rebirth, which is unlikely.”

“That leaves us with one issue.”

“And what would that be?”

“Heather’s scar.”

Hermione froze. “What about it?”

“I suspect, and I imagine you do to, on some level, that Heather’s scar is also a horcrux. An incomplete one, most likely. Hearing that Voldemort intended to create one with her death points towards it along with many other things.

“She can feel him when he’s near; her scar aches. I suspect as he grows stronger, it will begin to ache when he feels strong emotion. You mentioned that she had had a vision of him, and likely will at some point again. As a matter of fact, we should tell her to inform us immediately should that happen.”

“And what if her scar is one? What then?”

“I have… theories on how to destroy it with as little as possible harm to her.”

“Such as.”

“You said the Voldemort intended to use Heather to construct a new body the last time around?”

Hermione nodded. “I think crouch said her blood was what was needed.”

A triumphant look passed over Dumbledore’s features.

“That is the best thing we could hope for, Hermione.”

“Professor?”

“It actually all but guarantees that Voldemort can never kill Heather, actually.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Her blood.” Dumbledore smiled. “Her blood is that of Lily Potter, her mother who gave her life to protect her only child. This act, as you probably already know, left a protection on this child. A protection that would continue to remain active should Heather be able to, in some capacity, call a place where her mother’s blood resides home or someone within whose veins runs this blood is nearby. In this case, her sister, Heather’s aunt Petunia.”

“So, she stays there because it literally prevents Voldemort from killing her.”

“Precisely!” Dumbledore exclaimed. “In fact, as it is now, Voldemort cannot even touch her. If he uses her blood to rebuild his body, he would be able to touch her, as his body will share the same blood. But he will not be able to harm her still since the protection will in fact be carried by him. And if he’s there, so to will the protection be.”

“So, he could literally never kill her ever. And since the prophecy means one of them must be killed by the other, this ensures that Heather must be the one to kill Voldemort.”

“Exactly! And here’s the best part. Should Heather be at any point hit by a killing curse from Voldemort, since she cannot ever be killed by him, the curse will only have one piece of soul it could possibly target – and that is the piece that makes up the horcrux in her scar.”

“That’s almost too perfect, professor.”

“Well, the protection must be active for this to work. And once Heather turns 17, she will no longer be able to properly call her aunt’s home her own home. Because of this, it is only by Voldemort using her blood that the protection can continue.”

“Why won’t she be able to call it home?”

“The animosity between the Dursleys and her over the years have made it so that no matter what she verbally calls it, that house will never properly feel like a home to her. The only reason she could even call it that now is because the ministry sees it as her home. They will cease to do so on her 17th birthday, and as a result, the protection can only be maintained by either having Petunia Dursley around, or by having Voldemort around in the event of him using Heather’s blood.”

“So, it’s just a technicality that’s keeping her safe now?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“I promised her I wouldn’t let her be entered into that Tournament against her will.”

Dumbledore sighed. “You cannot, of course, break a promise.”

“But… she needs to face Voldemort. Either for him to use her blood, or to hit her with a bloody killing curse before she turns 17.”

“Sadly, that does seem to be the case.”

“Should we tell her?”

Dumbledore stroked his beard. “We will have to, of course. I suppose we also don’t want Voldemort to find any of this out at any point, so it must be told to her after she has learned Occlumency.”

Hermione nodded. “You can come back, Heather,” she called.

Heather walked back towards them. “Hey.”

“Did you hear any of that?” Hermione asked nervously.

“No, Dumbledore’s privacy charms are very good.”

Hermione nodded. “I’ll tell you eventually, but…”

Heather grimaced. “Occlumency, I know. When do we start?”

“Ask your aunt about coming to stay with me tomorrow, Heather,” Hermione said.

“Alright.”

Hermione stood up, picking up the book she had been reading.

“Don’t you need to return that?” Heather pointed to the book.

Hermione shook her head. “Not a library book.” She opened up the cover to show the lack of a library slip on the inside. “I brought it from home so that I had something interesting to read while I waited for you to arrive.”

The 3 of them walked out of the library, Hermione showing the librarian that her book was, in fact, not a library book.

“Well… see you tomorrow, Heather. See you in September, professor. Maybe sooner. Depends.”

Good-bye, Miss Granger,” Dumbledore replied.

“Bye, Hermione,” Heather said.

With that, Heather and Dumbledore crossed the street back to the alleyway, and Hermione started to head back to her home.

Chapter 6: Staying with Hermione

Hermione woke up just as their car pulled into the Dursleys’ driveway. She saw Heather through the window by the door, apparently having rushed downstairs when she saw them.

Heather had phoned Hermione’s house the night before to say that the Dursleys were allowing her to leave to visit with Hermione.

Hermione and her parents got out of the car to go say hello to the Dursleys.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came out to greet them, Heather following.

“Dudley, can you be a gentleman and get Heather’s trunk?” Petunia said.

Hermione could hear Dudley whining, but he emerged with Heather’s trunk. Hermione could see that he was already noticeably more muscular than he had been back at King’s Cross.

Hermione’s dad took Heather’s trunk and loaded it into the boot of their car, Heather handed off Hedwig’s cage, which he also put into the boot.

“Well… see you later then,” Heather said awkwardly.

“You said the plan was for you to visit with those… Weasels afterward? For the rest of the Summer?”

Heather nodded. “Weasleys. And yes.”

Her aunt nodded stiffly. “Well, then, I suppose we shall see you next Summer then.”

Heather nodded. “Have a good year, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley.”

“You too,” Vernon choked out, somewhat forced.

Heather, Hermione, and her parents made their way back to the Grangers’ car and got in to head back to the Grangers’ house.

“They were rather pleasant,” Hermione said after a bit.

Her mum nodded her agreement. “I’m surprised. I expected them to be more… not that.”

Heather shrugged. “They like to appear normal. By all appearances, I am a young teenage girl. Having me do the heavy lifting of my trunk would seem not normal. Asking Dudley, the big strong young man, to help would, to them, be much more normal. They did know you two aren’t wizards, after all.”

Hermione’s dad said, “that… makes a lot of sense, actually.”

Heather giggled. “Actually, I just told them that my godfather would be unhappy if I was unhappy, and they currently believe him to be a convicted murderer.”

Hermione’s dad did a double-take. “What?”

Heather laughed. “He’s not a murderer, of course. He’s actually innocent of all charges. But the Dursleys don’t know that.”

“So, they’re scared of him, then?” Hermione’s mum asked.

Heather nodded. “And since the neighbors would find it strange that they have a young girl doing things typically expected of men and teenaged boys to be doing, like mowing the lawn and whatnot, I managed to convince them to have Dudley do that sort of thing, while I did the more quote on quote ‘feminine’ tasks, such as gardening and preparing food.”

“Clever of you,” Hermione said.

Heather snorted. “Uncle Vernon also agreed that it was probably about time to teach Dudley to do those sorts of things anyway.”

Hermione’s dad snorted.

“So, what will you two be doing for the next couple of weeks?” Hermione’s mum asked.

“Well,” Heather said, “Hermione said she wanted to help me with some studying.”

“Also, I was thinking of maybe teaching her to swim in our pool.” The Grangers actually had a pool in their backyard.

Heather’s eyes widened. “Swimming?”

Hermione nodded, before leaning over to whisper in Heather’s ear; “in the off chance that, despite all the precautions Dumbledore and I will be taking, you somehow still end up entered into the blasted Tournament, you’ll want to know-how. One of the tasks involves swimming.”

Heather nodded. “I mean, sounds fun.”

Hermione smiled at her. “We have a pool in our back yard that I can teach you in. It’s not too deep, and mum is a certified lifeguard.”

“Oh, the Dursleys would be so jealous that you have a pool.”

Hermione laughed.

“Anything else?” her dad asked.

Hermione looked at Heather. “You’ve never been to the cinema, right?”

Heather shook her head.

“So, there’s that, then.”

Once they arrived at the Grangers’ home, Hermione led Heather up the stairs to the guest room.

“So, you’ll be staying here, Heather.”

“It’s cozy,” Heather said.

“I suppose,” Hermione replied. Hermione frowned. “I guess you probably don’t have your own swimsuit?”

Heather shook her head.

“I didn’t think so.” She examined the old clothes Petunia had given her. “We should probably get you some new clothes. Key word being new. And of course, a swimsuit as well. And I imagine you’ll also need bras sooner or later; the effects of male puberty should be fully reversed by now.”

Heather shrugged. “I mean, I guess. I mean, my voice doesn’t crack at all anymore. And that little bit of mustache I had is gone.”

“You had a bit of mustache?”

Heather giggled. “Guess it wasn’t that noticeable then.”

Hermione shook her head. “I suppose it wasn’t.”

“So…. now what?”

Hermione shrugged. “Dinner will be in about an hour, so we don’t really have time to go pick up some clothes for you. I could start teaching you Occlumency, however. Probably for the best. If we start now, I should be able to get you good enough by the time we get back to school. If you keep practicing, you should have it mastered by next Summer.”

“Ok then,” Heather said, “how do I do this?”

Hermione sat down on the bed, and Heather sat with her.

“For starters, it’s probably best if you’re sitting, or even laying down. As a beginner, you’re going to be in and out of consciousness as we practice it. You could fall over if you were standing.”

Heather laid back against the pillow. “This good?”

Hermione nodded. “Next you want to sort of clear your mind. There are techniques to it, and masters can do Occlumency without even needing to clear their mind, the thoughts they want hidden are already locked away, and all the intruder will see is mundane things. That’s not something you’ll be able to do yet as a beginner. And so, we start with the hardest of the obstacles, because once you’re passed it, everything else is much easier.”

“So, what are some of those techniques then?”

“Right, so, the one I used when I first learned this was probably the easiest – although it doesn’t work for everybody, and I have practiced the other techniques so that I could teach them in the first place. Anyway, all you need to do is simply picture a dark room. Completely dark. No light, no sound. Helps if you close your eyes at first.”

Heather closed her eyes. “How do I not fall asleep doing this?”

“Practice,” Hermione said. “Like I said, no light, no sound, no smell. You can’t even feel the floor beneath you.”

“That’s hard,” Heather said.

“I know, thoughts keep popping up, don’t they?”

Heather nodded.

“That’s fine, I didn’t expect anything different from that. No, what you want to do is find a focus. Not a memory, not a thought. A focus. An idea. One small sensation within this dark room you’ve constructed. A small candle. Or wait. Not a candle. A candle gives off smell and light, that’s two sensations. So, a single ball of light. A dull hum. A smell, one you know. Not a smell you like, nor a smell you hate. Just a smell. Don’t even think about the name of the smell, just imagine the smell. Just this empty, dark room and this smell, or this sound, or this small light. If it’s a sound, don’t change to the tone. It must be just one tone. Something that can fade into the background, not enough to distract you, but enough to distract others not used to it. Can you tell me what you chose?”

“Sound.”

“Now, focus on this sound. Perfect it, make it a part of your mind. This is the background sound in your mind. If someone breaks into your mind, you want this sound to be the only thing they can hear.” Hermione waited a couple of minutes. “Open your eyes.”

Heather’s eyes remained shut.

Hermione sighed. She reached over to poke her friend.

Heather woke up. “Oh… sorry.”

Hermione smiled. “Don’t apologize. That’s normal. Happened to me a few times when I started. Want to try again?”

Heather nodded.

“Alright. Imagine the dark room again. With the noise. Maybe not the noise, maybe change it, if you’d like. A smell, perhaps.”

After a few more attempts in which Heather fell asleep, she finally managed to stay awake.

“I did it!” she said.

Hermione smiled. “Good job, Heather.”

“That was really hard.”

Hermione nodded. “And that was step one. Next, you need to spend several hours trying to hold nothing but this empty room in your head while someone pokes at your mind with Legilimency, which is what I will be doing starting next session. As for right now, it is nearly time to eat, I imagine.”

“Wait, how are you going to perform magic outside of Hogwarts?”

Hermione smirked. “Dumbledore sent me a signed note that excused me from the restriction for the purposes of teaching you Occlumency.”

“He can do that?”

Hermione nodded. “He popped by yesterday evening with someone from the ministry. They tested my Occlumency and Legilimency skills, and now I am a certified master in both. The ministry examiner was astounded that someone as ‘young’ as I am managed to master both, but Dumbledore just said something about how I’m an ‘exceptionally bright witch.’ As a benefit, now I am exempt from the underage magic rule for the purpose of teaching either skill.”

“That’s really cool!”

Hermione nodded. “Those skills were one of the only things I managed to really keep on top of after I left for Canada in the old timeline.”

“Are you going to teach them to anyone else?” Heather asked.

Hermione shrugged. “Probably some of our friends. I know I ought to tell them about me being from the future and all that. And if I’m going to do that, I probably should teach them to protect that secret too.”

“You told me already.”

Hermione sighed. “I did, yeah. I had always intended to tell you immediately. I just… I didn’t want you to have to wait any longer to come out, you know. The sooner you could be yourself, the better.”

Heather gave Hermione a hug. “Thanks for getting me to come out then.”

“Hermione! Heather! Dinner’s ready!” They heard Hermione’s mum call.

Heather giggled.

“Come on, you,” Hermione said, pulling Heather up off the bed. “We need to eat.”

The next morning, Hermione was up early, as usual. Unlike usual, however, ‘early’ meant 5 in the morning. The reason for her early rise was unclear, but once awake, Hermione could never get back to sleep. So, she sat up and picked up a book from her nightstand, opening it to where the bookmark was. The book in question was a translation of the Iliad, something which she had been reading over the past few days.

She had just reached the part where Achilles died when she suddenly felt like she needed to check on Heather.

Hermione put the bookmark back into her book (with a marker on the bookmark to indicate exactly where on the page she left off, of course), and got up out of bed. She pulled on a pair of socks, then slipped out of her bedroom door. Her room was just across the hall from Heather’s, so she quickly slipped into the room.

Hermione immediately noticed that Heather was not currently in bed. Instead, Heather’s sheets were crumpled at the foot of her bed, and Heather was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. She was clutching her abdomen, as if in pain.

“Heather?”

The girl looked up at her, a grimace on her face.

Hermione sat next to her. “What’s wrong?”

Heather shrugged. “Dunno. Just hurts.”

“What hurts?”

Heather waved her hand over her belly. “Just everything around here I guess.”

Hermione pursed her lips. “Heather…” oh Merlin, this was going to be an awkward question. “Is there blood in your underwear?”

Heather’s eyes widened. “What? Nonomino!” She shook her head vigorously. “I uh… don’t yet have everything down there, uh… it’s not changed yet…” she trailed off, blushing furiously.

“Ok, well… that doesn’t exactly rule it out, I just needed to make sure.”

“Doesn’t rule it out? What-“

“You can still experience cramps and whatnot. Is this the first time?”

Heather nodded.

“Right. I wasn’t expecting that to happen so soon, but I suppose anything’s possible.” Hermione took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back, you wait right here.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just going to get something to help. Don’t worry.”

Hermione got up and slipped out of Heather’s room, quietly walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. She grabbed an empty water bottle out of a cabinet, then filled it up and sealed it. She turned to head up the stairs, but stopped.

Her mum was standing in the door to the kitchen, her hair messy, but she was just as alert as Hermione. “Hermione? What are you…” She noticed what Hermione was holding. “Oh.”

Hermione let out a breath. “It’s for Heather.”

Her mum nodded. “Is it her first time?”

Hermione nodded. “I found her sitting on the floor.”

“Alright. You should probably get back to her then.”

“Ok, mum.”

Hermione walked back up the stairs and re-entered Heather’s room. “I’m back.”

Heather looked up at her from where she was now laying spread eagle on the floor. “What’s that?”

Hermione sat next to Heather, handing over the water bottle. “Hot water bottle. It’s supposed to help.

Heather took it. “Thanks.” She sat up, leaning on her bed again. Hermione sat facing her with her legs crossed.

The two girls sat in silence, Heather occasionally letting out a small sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much, Hermione.”

“What are friends for if not to have each other’s back when one of them starts her first period?”

Heather made a grunting noise. “But there’s no bleeding.”

Hermione shrugged. “Still technically a period, Heather.”

Heather scowled. “I don’t like it.”

Hermione laughed. “No one does.”

Heather sighed. “Worth it.”

It wasn’t long before Heather drifted off back to sleep. Hermione, however, continued to stay awake, sitting on the floor and reading her book. She had pulled the blankets and pillow off of Heather’s bed for her friend to use (Hermione figured she probably couldn’t lift Heather back into the bed).

Eventually, Hermione heard a light knock at the door. She put the bookmark back into her book before getting up and stretching. She opened the door to find her mother just outside.

“How is she?”

“Asleep.”

“That’s good. Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Ok. I’ll wake her up then.”

Hermione’s mum left as Hermione closes the door behind her. She knelt next to Heather, and gently shook her shoulder.

Heather groaned, her eyes opening slightly. “What time is it?”

Hermione glanced at the clock on Heather’s nightstand. “Around 9.”

“Back hurts.”

“You fell asleep on the floor. I can’t pick you up to put you back in your bed.”

“Oh.”

“How about…”

“Still hurts, but less now.”

“Good.” Hermione stood up. “Mum said breakfast is nearly ready.”

“Not hungry.”

“Are you actually not hungry or do you just feel like you can’t eat anything right now.”

Heather shrugged. “Hurts too much.”

Hermione sighed. “You’ll be fine. Come on.”

Hermione quickly went into her room to get dressed. After she was done, she found Heather standing in the hallway in jeans and a t-shirt.

The two girls walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. They each grabbed a plate and loaded it with toast and bacon before sitting at the kitchen table.

Hermione’s parents sat with them; their own plates similarly adorned with food.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” her dad asked.

Hermione put down her half-eaten piece of bacon. “Not sure. I think we should get Heather new clothes sooner rather than later.”

“Probably a good idea,” he said.

“I can drive you two out to a nearby store this afternoon,” her mum added.

“Sounds good, Mrs. Granger,” Heather said after swallowing a bite of toast.

After they had finished eating, Heather offered to help with the dishes, but Hermione’s parents declined.

Hermione grabbed Heather’s hand and pulled her out to their backyard. Heather eyed the pool. “Well, what am I supposed to do, then?” she asked.

Hermione smirked. “What do you want to do?”

Heather looked confused. “I dunno.”

“You gotta be able to think of something.”

Heather sat in one of the Grangers’ lawn chairs, staring at their small garden. “D’you have any suggestions?”

Hermione sat in another chair. “Well, we can’t do any swimming until we get you a swimsuit. I mostly spend my free time reading. So, if you happen to like doing a lot of reading…”

Heather shook her head. “Reading’s fine, but not all the time.”

“Then I have no ideas for you.”

Heather groans in annoyance.

The two girls sat, having a staring contest until Heather looked down at the ground.

Hermione stood up and held out her hand for Heather to take. “Come on. I have something to show you.”

She led Heather back up the stairs and to the end of the hallway, next to the bathroom. Hermione grabbed a rope hanging from the ceiling and pulled, a ladder popping out that Hermione unfolded.

“Up here.” Hermione climbed up the ladder, with Heather following. Hermione pulled the ladder back up behind them once Heather was inside the small room in the attic.

Hermione watched Heather look around the small space. “What is this?”

“I sometimes come up here. It’s very cozy up here.” Hermione sat down on a beanbag seat near a window, grabbing a book off a bookshelf next to it.

There well a couple of dusty bookshelves, and a small pile of LEGO bricks in a corner. The small window was currently the only source of light, but there was a single lightbulb hanging from the roof.

Heather sat down on the floor.

Hermione sighed. “This is the first time I’ve been up here in over a decade.”

“What?”

“Time travel. I actually was last up here the night before I left for Hogwarts this past year, but from my perspective it was over a decade ago since I was last up here, packing up my things to go to Canada.”

“Oh.”

Hermione sighed, sinking down into her beanbag. “I missed this place.”

“You didn’t come up here since you got home?”

Hermione shook her head. “No. I uh… I was busy.”

“With?”

“Homework. I still need to pass all my classes, Heather. And I also never did my 5th year anyway.”

The two girls could only just stand up in this small space, and Hermione stood and walked over to a small door in one of the walls. She opened it, revealing a small bin filled with LEGO.

“Wanna build something cool?” Hermione asked.

“Aren’t you a bit old for that?”

Hermione giggled. “I’m 14, sort of. And besides, there is no such thing as too old for LEGO.”

“Really? Dudley keeps saying he’s too old for it.”

“Well, he’s an idiot.”

“That’s true.”

“So, what do you want to build?”

Heather shrugged. “A castle? I’ve always wanted to build a LEGO castle.”

“Castle it is.”

They spent the next couple of hours putting together the walls of their castle and putting in some guards.

“Why would it need a king? Why not two queens?”

Hermione snorted. “I don’t have 2 queens.”

“That’s dumb. There should definitely be two queens.”

“Oh absolutely. But I only have one queen.”

“Maybe we can have her execute the king and then add the second queen later.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Or we can just not include a king at all.”

“Oh, alright.”

Hermione heard her mum call for them.

“Oh, guess we gotta go,” she said.

“Already?”

“Sounds like it.”

“We can get the second queen when we head out then.”

Hermione laughed. “If we have time.”

Hermione dropped the ladder back down, and the two girls went back downstairs to Hermione’s mum.

“Time to go get Heather some new clothes,” she said.

They did, in fact, end up getting some LEGO. No second queen, however. Heather got distracted by the space-themed LEGO.

They also had some lunch while out.

When they got home, Hermione excitedly told Heather to get changed into her new swimsuit so they could go swimming.

Heather was in the middle of undressing when her reflection caught her eye in the mirror on the back of her door.

Her breath caught when she noticed small bumps forming on her chest.

Oh. I have boobs now.

She continued changing, quickly pulling off her jeans and replacing her clothes with her swimsuit – a one-piece with a small pair of shorts over the bottom (they made hiding things easier).

She sprinted down the stairs to where Hermione was waiting.

“Let’s go!” she said, pulling Hermione out the back door.

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, with Hermione teaching Heather how to swim.

Afterward, the two of them headed back inside to shower before dinner – first Hermione, then Heather.

 After dinner, Hermione helped Heather practice her Occlumency.

“Ok, Heather. This time, I’m going to be trying to get into your mind with Legilimency. If I do manage to get past your defenses, which is likely, I will immediately be pulled out, so you don’t have to worry about me seeing much of anything beyond some surface thoughts.”

Heather nodded. “Ok.”

Hermione waited around 30 seconds, before pointing her wand at Heather and saying, “Legilimens.” Immediately, she got an image of nothing but darkness. She could smell a smell she couldn’t quite place. She continued poking around until something shifted. She could suddenly see an image of Heather’s face in the mirror. Hermione pulled right out of Heather’s mind, causing Heather to gasp loudly.

“What-“

“I just saw your face in a mirror. That’s it.”

“Oh… that’s it? Nothing else in the mirror?”

Hermione nodded.

“Good. That was… uh…” Heather blushed.

“Oh.”

Heather shook her head as if trying to clear it.

“Wanna try again?”

Heather nodded.

They tried again a few times until Hermione could hold the spell for 5 whole minutes without getting to see anything beyond the void Heather had in place.

“Good job.”

Heather sighed. “This is so hard.”

Hermione nodded. “Very hard.”

They did a few more attempts, but it was clear that Heather was starting to get tired, so they stopped.

Chapter 7: unfinished chapter

The next couple of weeks were the most relaxing weeks Hermione could remember having in over 12 years (or just under a year, depending on the perspective). Heather had already finished her summer homework before visiting, and Hermione had finished the first week back.

Now it was time for them to head to the Burrow for the rest of the summer, as well as go to the Quidditch World Cup final.

Unlike the last time around when Arthur had managed to get the Dursleys’ hooked up to the floo network, the Grangers’ house did not have any fireplace at all, which meant that he had to visit by apparating and walking over. This also meant that he was the only one to come pick them up.

He seemed to want to spend time pestering Hermione’s parents over various muggle related things, but since Heather and Hermione had already packed that morning, he did not have the time.

Once arriving at the Burrow, the two girls were directed into Ginny’s room to put their trunks away. Ginny was sitting at her desk working on some summer homework and looked up when they entered. She blushed when she noticed Heather.

Oh, I definitely need to help her figure out she’s bi, Hermione thought.

“Oh. H-hi, Heather.” Ginny stared at her lap, her cheeks almost as red as her hair.

Heather didn’t say anything about that, and simply responded, “hi, Ginny.”

Heather sat down on top of her trunk after putting it down. Then she scowled and moved to sit on the cot that Mrs. Weasley had brought up for her.

The three of them sat awkwardly looking at each other before Hermione broke the silence by asking Ginny how her summer was going.

Ginny shrugged. “Alright, I guess. H-how ‘bout you?”

Heather smirked. “I got the Dursleys to be nice.”

Ginny’s eyes widened. “H-how’d you manage that?”

Heather giggled. “I just told them about Sirius… without mentioning the innocent part.”

Ginny laughed. “I bet that scared them good.”

Heather nodded. “It totally did.”

Hermione smiled, sitting on her own cot.

“So, what have you been up to, Ginny?”

Ginny shrugged. “Not much of anything, really. I uh- I wanted to try dying my hair green, but mum said no.”

“Isn’t that Slytherin colours?” Heather asked.

Ginny nodded. “But also Ireland, and that’s who we’re rooting for now.”

Hermione sighed. She knew for a fact that the English Wizards’ continued possessiveness of Ireland ruffled more than a few feathers on the Emerald Isle, but now was really not a good time for her to mention that (despite how much she wanted to point that out).

“Oh. Right. Ireland.” Heather laughed. “Hey uh, I need to pee. Be back in a bit.” She stood up and stepped out of Ginny’s room. The door closed behind her.

“You’re blushing.”

Ginny jolted her head around to look at Hermione. “N-no I’m not!” Her face was getting very red.

Hermione sighed. “You still fancy her.”

Ginny covered her face with her hands. “Sort of. I mean, I know she’s a girl and all, but like..” she groaned.

“Girls are allowed to fancy girls, you know.”

“They are?” Ginny swallowed. “I am?”

Hermione nodded. “I mean, I like other girls. And, if you still fancy Heather, then so do you.”

Ginny curled in on herself. “But… is that really ok?”

Hermione groaned. “Yes, it’s really ok.”

“Oh. So, it’s ok that I actually sorta… fancy her more?”

“What do you mean?”

Ginny stammered, “w-well, she’s… she’s happier now. Seems happier now. And, uh, I dunno. I’ve barely gotten to know her, but those last few days at Hogwarts were the most I’ve ever talked to her and she’s just so nice and sweet and-“ Ginny shut her mouth.

The door opened with a creak, and Heather walked back into the room.

“What’s up?” She glanced at Ginny’s extremely red face.

Ginny slammed her face into her own pillow.

“Uh, Ginny? Are you ok?”

Ginny shifted and flashed Heather a thumbs-up, but did not pull her face out of her pillow.

“If you say so.”

Hermione was trying really hard not to laugh at her friend. She was not successful.

“What’s so funny?” Heather asked.

Hermione snorted. “Oh, nothing.”

Ginny snorted, although it was muffled by her pillow.

“Ok, something’s up,” Heather said.

Hermione smiled. “Don’t worry about it, it’s between me and Ginny.”

Heather sat back back down on her cot. “That’s alright. You don’t have to tell me, but you can, I won’t tell anyone.”

Ginny sat up, her cheeks bright red. “A-anyway, looking forward to the match in a few days?”

Heather nodded enthusiastically, “of course. Would be amazing to see professional level quidditch!”

The two girls continued to discuss quidditch, Hermione tried to join in, but she had never been all that interested in the sport beyond cheering on Heather or her other friends.

Hermione gazed out the window at the setting sun, thinking over the tasks yet to come. Two horcruxes still had to be found still. She had received a letter from professor Dumbledore the previous week indicating that he had already found and destroyed both the Ring and the Diadem. He had fortunately avoided being cursed by the ring this time around, and was keeping the former horcruxes in a secure vault in a location only known to him Hermione and Sirius by virtue of a fidelius charm, Dumbledore being the secret keeper - Sirius’ family home.

Outside the window, approaching quickly, Hermione spotted a winged shape - an owl - approaching. She stood to open the window, and the bird flew in, landing on Ginny’s bed. Tied to it were two letters. Hermione quickly untied the letters, and the bird flew over to Ginny’s desk. Hedwig eyed the other bird, before deciding it was no threat and returning to her own treats.

“Heather, we’ve got mail,” Hermione said, holding out the letter with ‘Heather’ written in shaky but still somewhat elegant handwriting.

Heather took the letter. “Oh, Sirius wrote again. wonder why he wrote to you.”

They both opened their letters, and began to read.

Hermione,

Thank you once again for catching Wormtail. Just this morning I was finally granted trial, and have now been cleared of all charges! 

As well, Dumbledore and I have some extremely good news for you; we found another one. It was right here, in my family home. It turns out, my brother had taken it from where You-Know-Who had hidden it, and ordered Kreacher to destroy it before he died. As of right now, the locket is out of the picture. As I understand it, that just leaves one more along with, of course, my own godchild’s scar.

While I understand that you and Dumbledore only know of the one method by which it could be removed safely, I do agree with you that having Heather go through a tournament meant for adults should probably be avoided. Unfortunately, despite searching through my family’s extensive library, I was unable to find any other method. As much as I hate to admit it, Dumbledore’s solution may be the only solution.

As for finding the cup, I believe I may be able to find it eventually since Bellatrix is my cousin.

-Sirius Black

Hermione folded up the letter, placing it down on her cot. Heather was still reading her letter.

Eventually, she looked up. “He’s free.”

Hermione nodded. “He is.”

“Does that mean I can leave the Dursleys?”

Hermione pursed her lips.

No, she couldn’t. Not while the only way that they knew to deal with her scar required she continue living there. Of course, should she still end up in the tournament and Voldemort managed to land a killing curse after his resurrection, then the reason to return would be gone.

“Come with me, Heather,”

“What?”

“I need to discuss something with you.”

Heather seemed to want to protest more, but she complied, following Hermione out of Ginny’s room and across the landing to the bathroom. Hermione quickly cast a privacy charm.

“What is it, Hermione?” Heather said, her voice filled with confusion.

“It’s about the Dursleys.”

Heather frowned. “What about them?”

“You will still need to live there for at least the first month of summer.”

Heather’s eyes widened. “Why? Hermione, I hate that place, I don’t want to go back there-”

“I know. I don’t want you to either. Neither does Dumbledore. But at the moment, as long as you can in some convoluted technical way consider that place - or any place with your aunt or cousin - your home, Voldemort cannot kill you. As in, he will literally be incapable of killing you - at least until you turn seventeen. Same with his followers. Anyone trying to kill you on his behalf will be incapable of killing you.”

“Wait, so you mean-”

“You living there is the only reason you are still alive now.”

Heather looked upset still, but a determined look appeared on her face. “It’s only for a month, right?”

Hermione nodded.

“I can handle them then.”

“Are you sure?”

Heather nodded vigorously. “Of course.”

Hermione breathed a small sigh. “We’ll be making sure there’s someone watching over you at all times next summer. You got that? If anything happens, if they do anything to hurt you at all, there will be someone there to help you.”

“Promise?” Heather looked at her, a pleading look in her eyes.

“I promise, Heather.”

Heather smiled wide.

Hermione smiled back, but then it fell away just as quick. “There’s something else Heather.”

Heather’s smile fell away as well. “What?”

“Voldemort’s plan is to use your blood to resurrect himself. That’s the entire reason he wants you in the tournament.”

“Why is that important?”

“Because if he does… that same protection that prevents him from killing you will be present whenever he is near you.”

Heather frowned, furrowing her eyebrows adorably. “Wait, but that means…” she trailed off. “I’ll do it.”

“Heather, what-”

“I’ll do the tournament. If this protection does wear off when I turn seventeen, then I’ll want it to continue in whatever form it can, right?”

“How will you escape Voldemort?”

“You and Dumbledore will come get me.”

“But we don’t know where-”

“Then figure out where. Find some way to track me. I have faith in you, Hermione.”

Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. For so long she had felt like a failure, failing to see what had been wrong with her best friend until it was too late, failing to figure out the reasons for her entry into the tournament until it was too late,and Voldemort had returned. But now, her best friend said she had faith in her. She trusted her to protect her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Heather, pulling her into a hug. “I don’t know if I can figure it out. But I promise you, I will try. And Heather, I have faith in you too. I have faith that even if we can’t find you, you’ll be able to come back to us anyway.”

“You do?”

“You’re a very capable witch, Heather. Plus, you do have plenty of my own future knowledge to help you prepare for this tournament in advance.”

Heather giggled. “I do have that, yeah.”

Hermione gave Heather a quick squeeze, before pulling out of the hug. “Come on, I think Ginny might be getting lonely.”

Hermione didn’t notice, but Heather flushed slightly at the mention of the ginger-haired girl.

Dinner that night was hectic. The entire Weasley clan was there along with Heather and Hermione. As well, Luna had ended up joining them sitting between Ginny and Heather, engaging them in an animated discussion about snorkacks. Hermione still wasn’t sure what they were, but Heather and Ginny were completely fascinated.

Hermione found herself sitting between Ginny and Bill. She tried to strike a conversation with a man she had found herself beginning a friendship with before she travelled back in time.

“So, Ron says you’re a cursebreaker? I’ve read about them. It’s supposed to be really dangerous.” Hermione hadn’t had the opportunity to nerd out about something in years, so being able to discuss anything related to interesting magic with someone who knew what they were talking about without anyone’s lives depending on it was a very welcome thing.