Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

seleene_paris

Rating: PG13
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 31/01/2005
Last Updated: 17/06/2005
Status: completed

: Two people bound by blood find each other after sixteen years. In order to be a family once again, they must accomplish the impossible: defeat the Dark Lord at his own game. I began typing this before book 5 came out. It’s supposed to occur in Harry's 7th year. Consider it an AU. (AU stands for Alternate Universe if you do not have a clue.)

Chapters

1. The Girl Who Lived

2. The Boy Who Lived

3. Summer's End

4. Hermione's House

5. Hogwarts and Chicago

6. The Dance Team

7. Dinner and A Tryout

8. A Family Reunited

9. Hermione's Transfiguration

10. Uncle Severus and Halloween

11. The Truth About Hector Grey

12. Thanksgiving

13. The Function of A Rubber Duck

14. Ice Skating

15. To Love A Woman

16. S'il vous plaît, élévation à vos pieds

17. A Prophecy Once Foretold

18. N.E.W.T.S. and O.W.L.S.

19. Epilouge

1. The Girl Who Lived

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris

Started: Tuesday, January 14, 2003

Finished: November 11, 2005

Rated: strong PG-13 (language, violence, and adult situations.)

Pairings: HP/HG; RW/ OC

Synopsis: Two people bound by blood find each other after sixteen years. In order to be a family once again, they must accomplish the impossible: defeat the Dark Lord at his own game. I began typing this before book 5 came out. It's supposed to occur in Harry's 7th year. Consider it an AU. (AU stands for Alternate Universe if you do not have a clue.)

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all the Harry Potter trademarks along with the Warner Brother's company. I own all those coming from the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry and anything associated with them along with some of the "fill-in" characters from Hogwarts.

Author's notes: Just in case you were wondering where all these places are in which this story details, I will enlighten you about them as native from the area. Cottage Grove, IL is REALLY considered one of the most haunted places in the United States of America. The graveyard alone will allow you to experience the supernatural and it is almost guaranteed! Also, along the way to up, you can have several sightings of ghosts. A couple of examples are a house that appears out of nowhere and a ghost farmer bringing his load of goods down to the market, but disappears. With the house, there has been no recorded house being built on the premises of which the house appears. A PERFECT PLACE FOR A SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT DON'T YOU THINK?

I also chose two former asylums for the insane as my high schools for the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry (C.I.W.W.) They are about 15 minutes from one another. Both of the graveyards are so haunted, no one can go in there. Trust me! I know! The stories behind these asylums (Diversetech and Shapiro) are creepy enough to keep away, but to see it all come together is even more so.

Urban legends tell us what happened to make these too places so "Haunted". When the twin asylums were in operation, it was when they used the old "torture devices" to make people "sane". Shapiro still has some in their attic and supposedly so does Diversetech (but you will see why I say supposedly in a moment.) Diversetech is no longer in operation, but is closed off to the public, as it is private property.

There where many accounts of inmates trying to get out of these places. One of my teachers in high school mentioned once in class, she use to live in Manteno, IL and it would not be uncommon for one of these insane people would come on to their property, via the Diversetech sewer system.

All this insanity ended one night; after all in all good stories a plot has to occur. After all the staff at Diversetech left for the night and they locked the inmates inside their rooms, as it was standard procedure during those times, a fire occurred and killed everyone inside. The bodies where so chard and unidentifiable, all the bodies were given was a number instead of a name. To my knowledge, no attempt since then has been made to give the bodies names, but I have not lived in this area for too long.

Since the fire Diversetech has not been in operation, like I stated before, and not too long after Shapiro shut down. Shapiro is now a community of life rather than death because it is now a home for the mentally disabled. The campus is abundant with life and hope and once a year it opens it doors to the public and you can find out what truly happened there. With it's gothic style buildings and luscious lawns it still carries the scars of the past, but the community who live there now are changing the world around them.

To these people who died horrible deaths at these two places I dedicate this story. Their memory stands as a reminder and to inspire people change and adapt to the different kinds of people around us and see their humanity with in. Even though there are no names to be mentioned specifically, their memory of what happened to them will continue to live on.

******

Chapter One

The Girl Who Lived

Heather Lillian Potter, the girl who lived, awoke to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing annoyingly on the bookshelf next to her bed. It was the summer of her fifth year at the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry and she planned on spending her birthday with her friends Rachel Wido and Hector Grey. Her birthday, which was actually October 31st, would be celebrated on July 31st this year, since it would be her sweet sixteenth birthday and her adoptive parents wanted to celebrate it with her.

"Heather, baby," her adoptive mother called as she stepped into the room. "Angel, it is time to get up. Rachel and Hector will be here any minute." Heather slapped the alarm clock asleep fully and rolled back over to catch the last few remnants of her dreams. Her mother sighed out loud. "This is going to be one of those mornings." Virginia mumbled and then demanded. " Heather Lillian Potter! It's time for you to get up!"

Heather moaned, but complied with her mother's demands. She stretched cat-like and crawled out of her bed; she walked into her adjoining bathroom. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she traced the lightning bolt-shaped scar on her forehead like she did every morning.

Her parents, Roger and Virginia Nelson, told her how her real parents died at the hands of the most evil wizard alive, the one and only Lord Voldermort. If she had grown up a muggle, she would not have believed a word of what they had said; however, she grew up with both of her adoptive parents being a witch and a wizard, so she was more inclined to believe them, since she was one herself. Her parents told her of an older brother in which also escaped with her. Now she and a brother she never met were orphans.

A twinge of sadness washed through her. Her adoptive mother told her she looked like her real parents, when they were alive of course. Physically she looked an exact duplicate of her mother, except for the hair, eyes, and skin tone of which belonged to her father. Sadly, she could not remember what parents looked nor sounded like.

Her brother, she could only could guess what had separated the two of them. Her most logical reasoning concluded she and her brother were separated at an orphanage and now he could be anywhere, even on complete opposite sides of the country for that matter. Heather vowed she would reunite with her long lost brother, her only living blood relative.

After elementary school her adoptive parents enrolled her into a private school focused on her destiny, witchcraft. The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry accepted her application as soon as she applied. With her acceptance, she knew she would excel in all of her classes. With all her hard work and dedication in and outside of the classroom: she became captain of her house dance team, a member of her house's color guard team, a member of her school choir, a star in her school's theater and a Prefect of her house. Outside of school she received five trophies in gymnastics (from when she was in grade school), a talented horseback rider (owning your own horse did have its advantages). She also received three gold medals in figure skating in the junior Olympics (her current winter sport since the color guard and the dance teams were fall and spring sports), seven beauty pageant titles including Miss Junior United States (her adoptive mother made her enter those and most of which she entered when she was young.), an archer and a writer by hobby.

"If only my parents were alive, they would have been proud.” Heather heaved a large sigh as she walked out of the bathroom across her bedroom to her closet and her dresser. "What to wear?" she asked herself out loud and after a few minutes of debate, she decided to wear a pair of carpenter style blue jean pants, a plain red tank top, and a red and white bandana. Once she had dressed, a knock came the door of her room. "Come in." Heather called.

In stepped a girl with long strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her naturally curly hair cascaded down her back in a spiral curl to her mid-back. Heather welcomed her friend, Rachel, and then her attention went to the person with her best friend. Hector Grey stood proudly at six-foot and with his raven black hair and bright blue eyes, plus the fact he was on their house's Quadpot team, made him irresistible to every girl at their school. Hector was the first to speak. "Are you ready to go?" Hector seemed impatient about waiting for her to get ready to leave; a trait in which Hector was not commonly known for.

"Why are you in such a big hurry, Hector?" Heather grinned from ear to ear. Her slim friend blushed red. "Is there something your hiding from me?"

"Birthday secrets." he replied sweetly in a way in which sounded as if he knew nothing, but he actually knew more than he was allowing himself to say. He grinned evilly and Heather decided she did not like the fact he was keeping information from her.

"Hector Michael Grey, you know very well I do not like secrets."

"Exactly." Hector's grin grew wider. "Now come on. Stargazer is waiting for us." He referred to Heather's jet black Arabian with a white star on the mare's nose.

"I'm sure Supernova will be happy to see you. After all, he can't seem to stand anyone else riding him." Heather grinned back at her male friend. Heather then noticed what her two best friends were wearing. They were both in their riding clothes, with Hector in a pair of blue jeans like Heather's, but a black t-shirt which read: Stop Reading My T-Shirt. Rachel wore a pair of kaki pants and a light blue tank top, which read: So Many Boys, So Little Time.

"True that." Hector grinned and opened the door so the three of them could leave for the stables.

*****

Heather galloped her horse away from the stables at an amazing speed. She raced her horse against her friends through the thickness of the woods toward the lake her father owned.

Hector followed her on a black and white pinto buck at great speed to catch up. Behind the both of them, Rachel had caught up with them with her chestnut mustang with a deep brown mane and tail named: Orion. When they reached the lake, the trio dismounted and allowed their horses to get water and rest for a little while.

Heather found and claimed their log, under their favorite tree, a large walnut tree with a large swinging rope hanging off of it. Hector followed her and decided to join her on the log. "I'm going for a swim." Rachel stripped down to her bathing suit, in which she was wearing under her regular clothing.

"Okay." Heather waved at her friend. "Have a nice time." Rachel dove into the cool crisp water; Hector and Heather stayed silent for what seemed like hours, but was only a time span of a few minutes while watching their friend swim toward the center of the lake.

"Heather."

"Hector."

They laughed as they realized they had called upon each other at the same time. "Go ahead." Heather motioned for him to continue.

"Heather," he paused to look down at his hands. When she looked at him, he looked back at her face and into her eyes. He cupped her face as he leaned in to kiss her. She felt his lips upon hers and she returned his kisses enthusiastically.

As the kiss deepened, Hector pulled away. He pulled his class ring out from his finger and pulled a silver chain, out of his pocket to slide the ring on to the chain for her to wear around her neck. "I cannot go another minute with out hearing what your answer to my question. Heather, would you be my girl?" he attached the clasp together around her neck full knowing the answer to his question before she told him.

"Yes, Hector. I will accept your offer." She said official-like. Her 'business' mode made him want her even more. As he leaned in once again to reclaim her lips, applause came from the direction of the lake. Rachel stood up the best she could in the middle of the lake and witnessed the whole event. "It's about time!" she shouted with her damp hair clinging to her neck and back.

Heather and Hector blushed simultaneously and Heather then threw Rachel her death stare to try to get her to stop her comments before she grew red as her shirt.

Rachel continued on for a few minutes, but realized the sky was beginning to cloud over. "I think it is going to rain. We'd better be heading back." Rachel raced toward the water's edge and grabbed her clothing. The trio mounted their horses to try to escape the rain; however, by the time they reached the barn to put the horses away, the sky opened up and began to pour its contents of water upon them. They were soaked from head to toe by the time they reached the back porch of the house where the servants with warm blankets and hot beverages greeted them.

*****

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2. The Boy Who Lived

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: see chapter one for details.

Chapter Two

The Boy Who Lived

(It's very imaginative, I know.)

The sun warmed the backs of everyone who lived on Privet drive. A boy of sixteen, soon to be seventeen, laid down on the grass on a blanket, looking up at the sky above him trying to make shapes with the puffy white clouds in which formed above the group of planned housing on the particular street. Next to him was everything he could possibly need to enjoy the warm, sunny day: lemonade, a package of saltine crackers, and his latest letter from his friend Hermione Granger.

The Boy who lived rolled over on his side to read his letter more attentively. Ronald Weasley, his best mate, and the rest of the Weasleys were away visiting Bill in Egypt. With this in mind, Hermione made it a point to write to Harry every day to make sure he survived it with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Cousin Dudley Dursley.

Dear Harry,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have asked my parents if you could stay with us the rest of the summer and they agreed to let you!

I couldn't believe it myself! Please let me know if you can come stay with us starting tomorrow and what time to pick you up. (Don't worry, Daddy and I won't use Floo powder in the chimney like the Weasleys.)

Lot of Love,

Hermione

To spend the last month of the summer with Hermione would be a blessing sent from above, but to get away from the Dursleys for the rest of the summer, would be the cherry on the top of a sundae. Harry quickly stood up and raced into the house through the back door to find his Uncle Vernon in the living room on the recliner, reading the newspaper. As Harry approached the man, he cleared his throat.

"What is it, boy?" he seemed annoyed at Harry particular this evening for interrupting his reading.

"I was wondering if I could stay at one of my friend's house for the rest of the summer. You see they invited me to come and stay

..." Vernon grunted and Harry continued. "I know Aunt Marge is coming next week and it would be a good idea if I were away since what happened last time."

Vernon grunted again and then Harry offered, "You could tell Aunt Marge I could not come back this summer because I miss behaved or something during class. She'd believe that.”

Uncle Vernon folded his paper neatly and put it on the table next to the armchair. "Why should I let you go?"

"My godfather would let me."

"When do they arrive?"

"Whenever I want them to."

"The sooner, the better."

"My thoughts exactly." Harry thought, but he said nothing as he turned around to climb the stairs to write to Hermione the great news.

Hermione!

Guess what? The muggles are going to let me stay at your house! How about you pick me up at noon I would appreciate it. I can't wait to get away from the Dursley's, but I am more anxious to see you again.

Forever yours,

Harry

He rolled the small piece of parchment and tied it on to his snowy owl's leg. "Give this to Hermione." Hedwig flew out the window with amazing speed and Harry watched her fly away. Harry hoped it would reach her in time for the Grangers to make arrangements.

"BOY!" Uncle Vernon yelled from downstairs. "COME DOWN HERE AND MAKE DINNER!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry slowly walked toward the door. He opened it, walked out and down the stairs, and into the kitchen.

Harry took the hamburger out of the sink, where it had been defrosting, and began to fry the hamburger into meatballs for in their spaghetti. Harry sprinkled garlic powder and basil to season the meat and began to chop up mushrooms, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and onions to add later in the recipe.

Harry stirred the hamburger to keep it from burning and stirred the noodles, in which he had started to put in the boiling water, to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. He allowed the food to cook a little more as he went to the fridge and pulled out a head of lettuce, another green bell pepper, baby carrots, a red onion, more fresh mushrooms, broccoli, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and some grape tomatoes. He chopped the baby carrots and tore the lettuce head.

After seeing him work diligently and smelling how wonderful the meal smelt, Petunia went over and asked. "Is there something I can do to help?"

Harry seemed a little phased about her asking him permission to help him with dinner. Once he recovered from her offer, he motioned toward the stove. "You can stir the noodles and hamburger, so I can do this, but as you do, reach over and turn on the stove, please."

"Why do you need the oven on for?" she asked while she did his bidding anyway.

"I'm going to bake some dinner rolls." Harry added as he motioned toward the bag of pre-made rolls on the counter. Harry took the chopped carrots, sliced onion, the chopped peppers, and mushrooms into the bowl for the forming salad.

"Harry," Petunia began and Harry seemed rather surprised she used his name instead of the usual "boy" she and her uncle normally called him.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia?"

"Where did you learn to cook like this? It smells wonderful and looks delicious. You didn't learn it at that school of yours did you?"

Harry did not look at his aunt as he asked her to give him the garlic powder. Once she handed him the garlic, he answered her question. "Actually, yes it did. My friends Ron, Hermione, and I took a class called "Muggle relations" and we had a cooking portion in at the end of it." he seemed surprised she had any interest at all in him. He stayed quiet as she analyzed what he had just said. Something in his gut was telling him there was something fishy going on with her and as nice as it was having someone actually care about what he did while he was at Hogwarts, but he did not know how he liked his aunt being the person who did. It just seemed so very odd. She annualized him as if he was becoming a person she did not recognize.

Over the past few years, Harry went from a small, scrawny boy to a lean, well-built young adult. "Harry, how did you ever become such a man?" She smiled at him for what in the first time in his whole life ever; she never use to smile at all especially at him.

"What?"

"Look at you, you use to be this scrawny little boy and now you look like this. What happened? Did you lift weights at school or something?"

"Quidditch."

"Ah, yes, Quidditch. I remembered your father use to play it. Some sort of wizard game is it not?"

"Yes, how did you know? Harry was drilling himself in shock because his aunt mentioned his parents in a non-feared tone of voice. She seemed quiet as she added the vegetables to the meat to allow them to cook. "What is it like?"

Harry began to feel scared. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with my Aunt Petunia?"

"I am your aunt, Harry." she seemed like what she was doing was a normal everyday occurrence. "After you left last year, Harry, a few of my friends approached me about you and it struck me like a slap on the face because we were not treating you fairly. I know your Uncle

Vernon does not care about what people think, but I do." She came closer and made him look at her. "I apologize for the way I have treated you for the past sixteen years, Harry. Please forgive me."

Harry thought about this scene to be very strange to be very strange to the extreme; however, Harry forgave her. Before she could utter another word, the phone rang and Dudley answered the phone. "Yes, this is the Dursleys...yes he is here...you actually want to talk to him? Oh, so you are a friend of his from school. May I ask who is calling hot stuff? Hermione Granger?" He put the phone line on hold and ran into the kitchen with it to give it to Harry. "Hey, Potter. Your girlfriend, Hermione, is on the phone!"

Harry glared at his cousin and took the phone. He looked at his aunt and she looked back at him. "Could you take over? I'll only be a few minutes."

"Sure, but don't take too long. Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes." Petunia looked over at her son who was busy picking out the bacon bits out of the salad. "Dudley!"

He seemed shocked as she yelled at him. "Come over here and set the table."

"But mum!"

"Do it!" She commanded and Dudley did as he was told. Harry grinned at his aunt and exited the room and up the stair to talk to Hermione in the privacy of his own room. "Hello? Hey, Hermione. Did you get my owl?"

Hermione's voice floated over the receiver and Harry smiled at the sound of her voice. He had missed her terribly over the first part of the summer holiday and he was really glad she decided to call him instead of owl him. "Yes, I did, Harry. Noon? We can be over there sooner. Mom and Dad were planning on more around nine o' clock."

"That is even better. I just didn't want to put you out."

"Harry, its no problem. By the way, I was calling to tell you Hedwig should probably spend the night tonight, since you would be here early tomorrow anyway. Not to mention she looks exhausted."

"Yeah, she has been to Egypt and back a couple of times already this summer, sending Ron messages when Pig rested from his journey."

"Poor Hedwig!" Hermione exclaimed then she reassured her friend. "Well, she is going to rest tonight. Mom really likes her and Dad seems to enjoy having her around as well. I gave her some crackers to eat and some cool water to drink. Was that okay? I don't have a copy of "Which Owl" here in front of me, so I have not had much of a chance to look up what owls enjoy eating."

"She should be fine for now." Harry locked the door of his room from the inside and plopped down on his bed with the cordless phone. "You may want to let her out later when she has the strength, to let her hunt. She really enjoys small mice, but I do not think there is any place open this late at night."

"There is a pet store down the street a little ways. They are usually open until ten at night. So, should I have Daddy run over and get her some?"

"You realize you buy them alive."

"Yes, I know."

"That means, she needs to kill them."

"Yeah, I know, but after seeing Ron vomit slugs, I think I can handle something like that."

Harry winced as he remembered the memory with clarity. "I guess so." Harry's aunt called from the bottom of the stairs for him to come down to dinner.

"Harry, get off the phone and come down to dinner!"

Harry covered the receiver. "I'll be down in a moment." his attention went back to the caller. "I have to go for dinner."

"That is okay, Mum's calling me too. I'll see you tomorrow at nine then?"

"At nine." Harry confirmed and Harry hung up the receiver and walked down the stairs to eat dinner. He placed the phone up on the charger and walked into the kitchen, noting his uncle had come from his chair and now seated himself at the head of the table and his aunt at the other end. The three of the Dursleys were waiting for him to take his place at the table. He took his place and inhaled the sweet sent of the food he had prepared.

"This dinner smells lovely, Petunia." Vernon mentioned as he took a helping of salad and placed it on to his plate. "It's almost too beautiful to eat."

"Thanks, Vernon, but you know full well that Harry made tonight's dinner. You called him after all."

"Harry? That walking disaster made this?"

"Yes, Vernon, he did."

Dudley stayed quiet as the two boys witnessed the argument in which was about to take place. Mr. Dursley took a scoop full of spaghetti and slopped it on to his plate. Dudley did the same, but did not make the snorting sound his father once did. Vernon continued his rampage on how Harry could not have possibly made something so wonderful or do anything right. "That boy would burn the house down before he would create something as wonderful as this."

"Vernon."

"Yes, my pet."

"Harry did indeed make this meal." Petunia stood up abruptly. "And this conversation has made me decide something."

"And what is that, my pet?"

"I'm going back to the world that I once loved," Petunia seemed determined to have her say, "because I thought I really could fit in here in this world, but I see that I don't. I belong there."

"What are you talking about? Go back where?"

"Where do you think, Vernon?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Pet.”

"Back to the Wizarding world and way from this muggle one and for some reason I don't even know why I left in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" Vernon seemed to grow his favorite shade of crimson as he grew filled with anger toward his wife.

"You're a witch?" Harry seemed surprised.

"I actually graduated, too. When I went to Hogwarts, I was in Slytherin. Your parents were in Gryffindor."

With this, Vernon began to turn a nice mauve color with his fury. His knuckles turned white and he looked as if he were about to burst. "You're one of them? How come you did not tell me?"

"My sister was a witch, and all of our friends are wizards so I thought you would get a hint."

"That means that Dudley..."

"…Is 1/2 and 1/2…"

"Aunt Petunia." Harry interrupted.

"Yes, Harry."

"Then if Dudley is a wizard, why doesn't he have powers?"

"Yeah, how come I don't have any powers like Harry?" Dudley began to grow interested in what her answer would be.

"He's a squib, Harry." She looked at Dudley, then back at Harry. "I had a friend at St. Mungos and she tested him for me in private. I hoped he was for our little family's sake and I guess I was glad that he was, so I did not mention it because it was not important at the time."

"What is a squib?" Dudley pulled at Harry's shirtsleeve annoyingly.

"A witch or wizard with out or with very little powers. That is why you were never accepted at Hogwarts."

"No, Harry." Petunia looked at her husband and watch him more gradually purple as if he were about to burst. "He got his letter. I wrote Dumbledore and told him he was going to be attending Smelting like his "family" before him."

Without another word, Vernon Dursley stood up and left the table to climb the stairs to the bedrooms. They heard the door slam and Dudley took the moment to whine. "Why can't I go to Hogwarts? I want to go to Hogwarts!"

"And be with the rest of us weirdoes?" Harry asked his cousin and Dudley shut his mouth. "It's too late for you to go anyway."

"It's not. A friend of mine began my sixth year and he was the same age as I." She paused then continued. "I could write Dumbledore, Dudkins, and you could attend; however, you would have to take tutorials to ensure you did well since you are already too far behind and not to mention you are a squib."

"Not to mention, you'd have to give up all your friends." Harry added.

"That is fine. I never really liked them anyway." Harry rolled his eyes at the unfaithfulness of his cousin. Suddenly, the front door opened and slammed shut. They listened as Vernon Dursley started the car and left.

Petunia Dursley sighed, as she knew this would be the final time the three of them would see Vernon Dursley, again. Harry and Dudley finished their meal in silence.

*****

Harry woke the next morning to Petunia pounding on his door. "Harry, its time for you to get up, so your friend can come and pick you up." With all the excitement of last night, Harry forgot Hermione was picking him up this morning.

"What time is it, Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked as he raced down the stairs, toward the kitchen.

"Shh! Your cousin is still asleep! It's about seven in the morning." She stood over by the stove and the smells of bacon, eggs, and toast. "I figured you probably wanted something to eat and take a shower."

Harry took a seat at the table and Petunia placed the plate filled with food and he began to devour it. "Have you talked to Dumbledore, yet?"

"Not yet. I'll need to go to Diagon Alley and owl him."

"I wish you would have told me sooner. I would have allowed you to use Hedwig. You would have had a much quicker response."

"I don't know why I didn't. All the details are still rather fuzzy."

"Aunt Petunia." Harry's mind nagged at him to ask her about the question plaguing him so much for the past couple of hours.

"Yes, what is it, Harry?"

"Aunt Petunia, why did you leave the wizarding world?"

Petunia Evans sighed and sat down at the table next to him. "Why did I leave the wizarding world?" she repeated his question.

"Yes."

Petunia sighed once more and tried to give him an answer. "Harry, I have to be honest with you. I did not entirely tell the truth at dinner last night. I guess it was because of Dudley I left the wizarding world, although like I said before, the specifics are a little fuzzy."

"What do you mean it's because of Dudley?" Harry seemed rather confused. I thought he and I were the same age."

"You are. Your mother got pregnant with you the same time I was expecting Dudley." She paused as she tried to recall all the details. "Your mother is a year younger than me, so she still attended Hogwarts when James and her conceived you. By the time her graduation rights occurred she was only seven months. Hogwarts allowed her to continue her studies, since she would not deliver until July and she was the Head girl and your father was Head boy. I, on the other hand, got pregnant with Dudley by chance."

"So, Uncle Vernon made you leave?"

"Weren't you paying attention last night, Harry? He just found out I was a witch. Dudley is the son of another man, truthfully." She paused reflectively and said the name of the man. Harry's eyes grew large at the sound of the name he knew quite well. "His name was Severus. Severus Snape."

*****

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3. Summer's End

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: see chapter one for details

"Now all this you claim, Mr. Potter, as well as I."-John Wesley, the man who started many protestant denominations, including mine. Nazarene.

Chapter Three

Summer's End

Roger Drive roared loudly as Heather and Hector strolled down the street with the other students of the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry under the direction of a Professor Daniel Gaddis. "I can't wait until we get back." Heather commented to him. "I so want to see the grounds once more. I wonder which plants they have planted this year."

"I know you are going to be one busy girl this semester. Not only are you prefect this year and captain of the dance team, color guard, and the star in the school play, but you are adding choir to your list."

"At least Choir is a class and I can get credit for it."

"True." Hector grinned evilly and took her hand and placed it around his arm. "Bucking for Head Girl by the end of next year?"

"Duh." she stopped.

"No matter what happens to you, Heather, you will always be my Head Girl."

"That is sweet." she smiled at him, but looked down at her shoes. "Danielle MacNeal is still in the bag for it, though, so it is going to be a close match."

"Even with that fight with that fourth year...what's her name?"

"Does Jackie Wheeler ring a bell? She's in our house by the way."

"Really? Who won buy the way?"

"Jackie, I think. At least her wounds were less extensive." Heather rolled her eyes. "You know Danielle, her parents are practically fucking Bill Gates."

Hector rolled his eyes at her use of language. "I really wish you would cut down on your use of bad language."

"Sorry." Heather looked down at the street as they continued walking. "I just get so upset; she can practically buy her way out of anything and leave who ever ain't lying there in the mud. It's not like I'm jealous of her or anything, but I think it is annoying she flaunts herself through connections like that. I'm not poorer, but I know we don't have as much money as she has. I don't do that to my friends, do I?"

Before Hector could respond, the voice of Danielle MacNeal floated into their ears. "Look, it's the lead Scarlet Slut."

"Look, Hector. It's the lead Western Whore." Heather smirked at the rival of house.

The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry is comprised of three different schools, in three different locations, and in three different towns. The Junior High, comprised of the first, second, and third years, is located in Cottage Grove, IL. In the muggle word it is considered one of the most haunted places in the United States of America. In the Wizarding World it is considered one of the most secured places in the United States.

The two High Schools, consisting of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years, located themselves about fifteen minutes away from each other. The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry founded themselves on the grounds of two former mental institutions, the Diversetech and Shapiro campuses.

Two of the four houses of the Institute, attended each of the two High schools. The houses included: Sifto-Salt, Franklin, Western, and Milner. Milner and Franklin houses both attended the Diversetech campus, while Sifto-Salt (Salt for short) and Western houses attended the Shapiro campus.

As Headmaster of all three of the schools, Daniel Gaddis, found his offices located itself between the two senior high schools. Since the schools and the Wizarding community interacts with the muggle community more often in America than it did in Europe, the headmaster's office was subterranean with the school's seal upon the door.

The seal consisted of all of the four house's mascot of all of the houses due to the founders of each house was animagus and could transform into the creatures on the seal. It bares the Sifto-Salt scarlet Phoenix, the Franklin house's Midnight blue timber wolf, the Milner house's gold cougar, and the Western House's hunter green alligator.

If this sounds familiar to anyone; it's because it should. When the four founders from he school came to America, they wanted to build a school much like their beloved Hogwarts, in which they attended. Since Scarlet Sifto-Salt, Saoban Franklin, Kimberly Milner, and William Western came over to America, they knew their freedoms of religion and the separations of church and state (compared to the olden days when the laws were made) would add to their safeties here in America in which they did not have in England.

Danielle stood there wearing a pair of Old Navy flare style blue jeans and a green peasant blouse to match the green and black house patch on her black robe. On her feet, she wore a pair of green and black Nike tennis shoes. Danielle was a tall, skinny girl, who had curly blonde hair. Her blue eyes shined through a pair of wizard contacts. "You still bucking for Head Girl, Heather? I would drop out of the race if I were you."

"And why is that?" Heather brushed her raven black hair back behind her ear. Her dark brown eyes began to fill defensively. Heather's red vintage style blouse and her kaki jeans made her fit in a little better with the Wizard way of life rather than Danielle's peasant top. Heather's black leather ankle boots accented her black cape with the red and silver patch of the Sifto-Salt house.

"Because I am prefect now as well. Not to mention, I was told I would be."

"By who?" Hector asked as his Sifto-Salt robe swayed in the wind a little as he asked this. "Professor Gaddis won't announce that until a couple of summers from now."

"Well, I've been guaranteed it. After all, my parents were Head boy and Head girl, not to mention my older brother and sister...it practically runs in the family."

"Danielle!" her father called from Madame' Dawson's wand shop with a young boy in tow. "It's time to go home."

"Alright, Daddy. I look forward in seeing you tomorrow." she sneered at Heather. Danielle strutted away from the two of them and Heather turned around to roll her eyes at what just happened.

"Don't even think about what she just said, Heather! Don't dwell on it for one moment!" Hector exclaimed as he took her hand and held it to his heart. "Even if she were correct about you not being head girl, it would not matter much to me because you know you should have been the head girl. You are much more gifted than she is. Danielle is just jealous of you."

"Aww!" Rachel called across from Berti Bott's candy store with a large box of Berti Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a bag full of Chocolate frogs. "I'm sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but we need to be headed over to the Cloakroom and get something to eat."

""I could use a Starbuck's Frappicino right about now." Heather admitted to them. Let's go to Barnes and Noble instead and get one."

"And allow you to sit around and read until closing?" Rachel rolled her eyes at the idea. "No way!"

As they headed over to the Cloakroom, which was across the street from Roger Drive's branch of Gringott's Bank, they stopped as they passed Madame' Cross' robes for every and all occasions. Heather stopped to look at the latest look in Wizarding robe fashions.

"Heather, come on!" Hector sighed as he frustrated tried to pull Heather away from the store window.

"Come on, Heather! I'm starving!" Rachel complained. "We can come back after lunch."

"Rachel, you are always hungry."

"So what? I have a high metabolism." Rachel huffed and then pouted. "I may always be hungry, but at least I have the knowledge to know when we should be going now if we want something to eat before it gets too busy."

"Fine." Heather knew she could not fight two hungry people, especially if they were Hector and Rachel because things could get vicious. Together the trio walked into the restaurant and claimed "their" table. The waitress walked toward them and took their order.

"I'm going to the restroom, Rachel, you want to go with?" Heather asked her to go with.

"Yeah." Rachel stood up and walked down the hallway toward the restroom, but not before Hector mumbled some complaint about girls always going to the restroom in packs like wolfs.

On the way to the door, Heather accidentally collided with a man with his cape hood clenched around his head. When he ran into her, he made no attempt to apologize. "Sorry." Heather stated and when he turned to acknowledge her presence, her scar began to burn. "OUCH!" she hissed in pain.

"Come on, Heather." Rachel pulled Heather into the bathroom while Heather clenched her forehead still very much in pain. "What's wrong?"

"My scar, it's burning."

"How can it burn? Let me take a look at it."

"No, it hurts too much."

Rachel rolled her eyes at Heather as she washed her hands. For some strange reason, Heather never liked going to the medi-wizards to take care of an injury. Rachel remembered back when the three of them were in their fourth year and Heather had broken her ankle in the middle of their house's production of Annie. Rachel had heard her foot snap and she squinted as she remembered the sound that emitted from her foot.

Even though Heather had dropped a heavy prop on her foot, she continued the production without a complaint. When the production was ended, Heather limped off stage to take off her costume and stage make up. As she took off her character shoes, Rachel noticed Heather's foot turned purple.

"You're going to the hospital," she had informed her friend, "and if you do not comply with my demands, there will be hell to pay."

Heather shook off the memory and went over to her friend from the sink and to where she stood by the door.” Are you sure you are going to be alright."

"I am fine, just a small headache that is all." Heather turned on the faucet and washed her face. She dried it with a paper towel and they exited the bathroom.

"Want me to brew you a pain killer potion?"

"No thanks." she looked at her friend and tried to smile. "I will be fine."

"Positive?"

"Absolute."

"Okay, but if you need some..."

"I'll ask, I know." Heather and Rachel walked out of the hallway and found their booth next to the window. Hector was waiting calmly as their drink order had arrived.

*****

Heather arrived at the entrance to the grounds of the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She pulled up in her new black with silver trim Jaguar XK-8 convertible with a black top, black leather interior (although with the black and white zebra striped seat covers on the front seats, the zebra striped pillows and blankets in the back seat, and the Zebra striped steering wheel cover no one could really tell.) and 10 disk compact disk changer, Heather arrived to the grounds in style.

Her trunk and suitcases were I the backseat and the trunk of her car. Her cell phone rang once she pulled into the gate. She put on her headset and kept driving. "Hello? Hey, mom! I just pulled in at the gate. Yeah, I have my laptop. Check my email? Why? You sent me some already? But I have not been gone for more than ten minutes! Okay."

"Look, honey." Her mother voice floated into the phone. "I have to go. I have a couple of babies to deliver. Good luck with your first day of school. Bye honey."

"Bye mom." she hung up the phone as she pulled into the front parking lot of the school where she was greeted by the familiar face of the keeper of grounds at the Institute. "Hello, Douglas."

"Hello, Miss Potter." the house elf smiled at her. "Did the miss have a nice summer break?"

"Yes, Douglas. Did you?"

"Yes, Miss. I was busy working on the flowers and the fountains here. There was much for Douglas to do, Miss, to prepare for the semester." He paused and then continued excitedly. "I believe, Miss, that this year the gardens will be as beautiful as the ones in Babylon."

"Douglas, how do you know about the hanging gardens of Babylon?"

Heather asked him and Douglas pulled a book out from his ragged cloak pocket. "Headmaster Professor Gaddis gave it to me from his own collection, Miss. Douglas is allowed to learn himself, Miss."

"That is wonderful, Douglas!" she smiled at him and he began to trot off. "Douglas will see you, miss, at the fest."

Heather parked in her car in front of the castle and she began to unload her things from it. As she dragged her things to the stairwell, Heather was greeted buy the sight of Professor Gaddis leaving the school and heading to, more than likely, the Cottage Grove campus.

"Hello, Miss Potter. Welcome back." the headmaster placed his black briefcase into the sidesaddle bag on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

"Thank you, Professor Gaddis." Heather paused then asked. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going haunting."

"Ah, yes the sorting ceremony at Cottage Grove."

"School rumor has it the Western house third years are going to make all their first years run across the road stark naked."

"Streaking! That is so hilarious! I wish I would have thought of that!" Heather Potter laughed heartedly, but the look on Professor Gaddis' face gave her, made her stop instantly.

He grew serious. "I figured if I were present, they would not proceed as planned."

"Probably." she snorted as the sight of all the first years streaking filled her head and Professor Gaddis looked at her once more.

"Well," Daniel Gaddis started his motorcycle and it revved to life. "I must be going, Miss Potter. I hope I will not have to see you later this evening or tomorrow morning. Behave yourself."

"What me? I'm always good." she grinned evilly at him.

"Some how, Heather, Good is not a term I would use to describe you." He waved as he drove away from the building, out of the gate, and toward Cottage Grove.

Heather began to climb the stairs, when she heard her name being called amongst the crowd forming outside of the school doors. Rachel raced toward Heather sporting her new school uniform. The Sifto-Salt Uniform consisted of a deep scarlet, red plaid pleated skirt with white collared shirt and a plain scarlet, red silk tie. Her black uniform cloak swayed behind her. "Heather!" Rachel hugged her friend when she reached her. "You look nice. I like your boots."

Heather looked down at her uniform; her "shoes" consisted of a black pair of jungle combat books, which rose to her lower shin and calf. "Thanks, I bought them at an Army surplus store in Lockport." she smiled at her friend. "We're going to have to go there during a break sometime to get you a pair."

As soon as all the students registered for classes, the faculty and students of the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat down for first feast of the school year. The deputy headmistress, a Professor Celestial Moon stood up to make the announcements.” As this New Year begins, I'd like to inform our fourth years, and remind those who cannot seem to stop bending the rules..." Heather, Hector, and Rachel looked at each other. The three of them gave each other knowing glances and knew Professor Moon was speaking directly to them. "You may not leave the school grounds unless you have direct permission of a teacher or if it is a weekend for that allotted time. That is all." she sat down at the table and the feast began as the kitchen staff brought the students their meal.

As Heather chewed down on some spicy chicken wings, the ghost of the Chicago Institute began to appear out from nowhere. "Hello, how are you, Heather?" the voice of the Sifto-Salt house ghost called to her. Louis Siemens appeared over the green bean casserole.

"Hello, Crazy Louie. How was your summer?"

"Dreadful and yours?"

"Actually it was quite nice." Crazy Louie noticed Hector and Heather sitting next to each other and holding hands on top of the table. "I can see why."

Rachel rolled her eyes and continued gnawing on her chicken leg. She took brownie from the plate in front of her. As the dinner progressed, a storm brewed out of nowhere and soon it raged over their heads. The wind wiped the tree's branches against the large gothic style windows as if they were a child's objects of play. The wind let a loud howl as the rain joined in with the branches in beating the window.

Rachel stopped eating for a moment to allow herself to witness the show in the sky. The lightning flashed brightly and the thunder crashed so loudly it shook the building. Everyone stopped their eating to watch the spectacle showing out the window.

After the next flash of lightning, everyone seemed to count the interval between the lightning and the thunder to measure the distance of the storm. Three seconds lapsed in between the two elements of nature and Heather knew the center of the storm would pass over the school in a matter of a few more minutes.

Heather continued eating a moment later, but the actions going on at the head table caught her attention. Professor Sierria Shift, the potions mistress and the head of Sifto-Salt, leaned over to hand something to the deputy headmistress. Professor Moon's eyes went wide in what looked like complete horror. Heather had learned to read lip very well over the past few years and it seemed as if Professors Moon and Shift seemed to be discussing something having to do with the safety of the school.

"Are you sure, Sierria?"

"There have been sightings of him all over the area. I have owled Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts, but there is no answer as of yet. He and the rest of the Hogwarts staff are probably at their first feast and sorting ceremony."

"Has there been any answer from any of the other schools? Salem?

Colorado? Miami? Or Los Angeles?"

"Nor Great Lakes Academy."

"I guess we will have to wait until someone does."

"But what if he strikes during that time?"

"Then Merlin help us."

"I wonder what he is looking for, Celestial."

"I don't wonder, I know. It's not the matter of what. It's the

matter of who."

"What do you mean, Celest?"

"He's looking for someone particular. My guessing he has found her."

"Her? Who is he looking for?"

Celestial Moon looked at her fellow faculty member and the name

fell from her lips in terror for the person. "Heather, Heather Potter."

*****

-->

4. Hermione's House

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: see chapter one

"Leave him alone!" Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate a point, "it's more of the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..."

Lily Evans (Potter) and James Potter on the matter of Snape in J.K. Rowling's latest novel Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

*****

Chapter Four

Hermione's House

The sun brightly beamed down into the window at number seventy-seven Yorkshire Road. The warm, happy sunrays floated into the room in which Harry Potter stayed in while he spent the last few weeks of his summer holiday with his friend Hermione Granger. With a tapping noise annoyingly coming from the direction of the window, Harry moaned as his sleep-filled eyes opened. A ball of white feathers, his owl known as Hedwig, patiently waited for him to open the window to allow entrance into the room. Attached to her leg was a letter and in her mouth, a small parcel dangled from a string. Harry freed his owl from her burden and opened the letter. It was from Ron.

Hey Harry,

Happy Birthday, mate. Everything is going well here. Since we've been here, I've been spending a lot of time indoors because I have second and small third degree sunburns on my back...you know us red heads don't have a certain pigment in our skin? I didn't. Something called melanin or something like that. So anyway, of course Fred and George are making fun of me, but their own burns are not much better. Everyone here is burned to a crisp, except Bill of course. Mum and Dad are having a great time visiting Bill again, not to mention meeting his new fiancé` Sandra. Yes, in a few months, there will be another Weasley lady. Bill says that they want to have the wedding back at the burrow. I think it would be wonderful to have another girl in the family. I hope you and Hermione are having a wonderful time at her place. You lucky devil! I haven't been able to go over to her house. Well I'll be back next week, so we will go to Diagon Alley and get our school supplies then.

-Ron

Harry opened the small parcel and found several boxes of Chocolate Frogs. He smiled at the small birthday offering because he knew the Weasleys did not have much money. Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in."

In stepped Hermione wearing a long cotton nightgown. Covering most of it from complete view was a long emerald, green silk bathrobe. To him, she looked breathtaking. "Oh, bloody hell! Harry!" She covered her face.

"What?"

"Look at yourself!" she blushed ear to ear. "Get a shirt on."

Harry looked down at his shirtless body. Quidditch gave him the six-pack most Wizards (and most of the witches too) at Hogwarts only could dream of. His well-sculpted chest made Hermione blush even more. Normally he would have teased her a little before slipping on a tank top, but he did it with out a word because he concluded she was embarrassed enough already.

"Come on. Mum has breakfast on the table already and we have big plans for the day." Hermione tossed him a bathrobe and together they descended the stairs, walked through the living room, dinning room, and the family room, and then they came to the Kitchen. Once Harry reached the room, Harry stopped because the bright yellow room was covered in red and yellow balloons and streamers. Not that anyone seemed to pay attention because Mr. Granger seemed busy reading the local newspaper and Hermione's mother stood at the stove frying eggs and bacon for her daughter and Harry to eat.

As Hermione's mother continued to fry the breakfast, Hermione escorted Harry to sit down at the table with a bright yellow sign hanging above them, saying in bright red letters "Happy Seventeenth birthday, Harry." Hermione's mother finally turned around, once she had shut off the gas stove, to greet the two. "Happy Birthday, Harry."

"Yes, indeed!" John Granger looked up from his paper. "How old are you today, my boy?" Mr. Granger smiled knowingly.

"Seventeen."

"A proud age." Mr. Granger claimed. "Any thought what you want to do with the rest of you life?"

"John, he's still a boy! Let him be!" Emma Granger hugged at her husband, placing the gathered group their breakfast on the table.

"I was just wondering, Emma."

"Well, actually, I have put some thought into what I want to do with my life." Harry told them.

"And what is that, Harry?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Probably a Quidditch player on a national team or something."

Hermione guessed pouring herself a glass of grape juice.

"Actually, I was thinking of being a teacher, or an auror."

"Really?" Hermione seemed surprised for some reason.

"I've always liked kids. Someday I hope I have kids of my own." He admitted from the group and Harry's eyes seemed to linger at Hermione as he said this. Some where deep inside him told himself that he had high hopes Hermione would help him with this particular desire. He then continued audibly. "I never had any brothers or sisters...That's why I would like to teach. I want to be an auror because that is what my parents did before they died."

"So, what are you guys going to do today?" Emma asked changing the topic to a more happy thought.

"Well if Harry permits me, I thought maybe we could go to a public pool for a swim." Hermione offered.

"That sounds like fun. I'm assuming you will be meeting up with some friends of yours, Hermione?"

"That is possible, but after that I'd planned on visiting the zoo."

"Sounds like fun." Mrs. Granger smiled casually. "Just make sure you two are home by dinner."

"I'm going to need one of you two to ride along with me, since I only just received my permit yesterday." she smiled at her parents with a full grin.

"I'll do it." Mr. Granger picked his newspaper back up and read the comics section. Hermione cringed at the thought. She could only imagine what questions her father would inflict on Harry if the two of them were left alone. "Just make sure you take your cell phone with you. I don't plan on staying in parking lots all day. You can drive there and back because I know you need to get your hours in because you are not able to because of school."

After breakfast, Harry changed into his blue swimming trunks and climbed down the stairs with a towel and a duffle bag filled with a change of clothing, shampoo, conditioner, and a pair of swimming goggles. Mr. Granger waited for him in the living room, at the bottom of the stair well.

"Hermione isn't down yet?"

"Not yet."

Harry reclined at the couch next to the doorway leading from the foyer, in which he just came. Mr. Granger reclined on the armchair across from him. Harry began to grow uncomfortable as Mr. Granger assessed him. When he finally spoke, he asked a question. "What are your intentions toward my daughter?"

This caught Harry off guard. Had he really been that obvious about his feelings toward Hermione? Had he passed by his room, when it was her invading his dreams? Harry gulped. "I don't know what you mean, sir."

"Don't play stupid with me, Mr. Potter."

Harry began to feel the sweat forming on his brow. "I'm not," he squeaked. "I really do not know what you're talking about."

John Granger sighed, because he knew this boy wanted his daughter and wanted her badly enough to deny it in front of her father. He had passed by his guest bedroom one evening, the room in which this boy stayed, and heard moaning coming from the room. When he opened the door, Harry was struggling in his sleep chasing after Hermione and finally confessing his feelings. "Hermione! Come back!" he had called after her. "Hermione! I love you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Please don't leave me! Everyone I love has left me! Please don't go!" Even in the darkest room, John could have seen the tears streaming down his face.

Coming back to the present, John Granger noticed Harry looking as if he was waiting for a response. This is when Dr. Granger took the moment to speak. "Hermione is my only child, Harry, and I like to know about every thing dealing with her and her life. You see, Mr. Potter, she is my only child to survive childbirth. All the children my wife tried to give me before and after Hermione were either stillborn, miscarried, or died young. So, now you can understand why Hermione and her mother are my total world." Mr. Granger paused then he continued. "So you can understand, Mr. Potter, I want her to be happy. Like any good father should, but I want to ensure my daughter's happiness. That is why I am asking you: What are your intentions toward my daughter?"

"She is my friend, Dr. Granger. If more happens, it happens. I'll admit, I do have some feelings, but she has not said anything to me about wanting to be more than friends, so I think it is safe to assume she does not want to be more than friends for the time being. I am okay with this because her happiness is important to me as well."

Before Dr. Granger could respond, his daughter came down the stairs in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. "Ready to go?"

"Where is your swimming suit?" Harry asked her surveying her outfit.

"I'm wearing it underneath. Come on! Let's go before it gets too crowded!" Hermione grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him out the door and toward the garage. The three of them stepped into the vehicle and drove off.

*****

Harry looked around and smelled the chlorine in the air from the pool. He had rinsed himself off with the hose provided before he had entered the indoor pool. Harry took a moment to take off his glasses and put them neatly by the railing in which hung his towel to keep it dry.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye coming from the girl's locker room. Her dirty blonde hair seemed more brown than normal because it was wet. It also seemed curlier as well, but Harry assumed that was because her hair had a natural frizz to it that just would not straighten. It finally seemed appeased with being curly when wet.

Harry had also seen why she had worn another outfit over her swimming suit, for if her father had seen her, he would have killed her. She wore a red two-piece halter-top swimming suit with a bikini style bottom. Harry felt himself grow hard and tried to control his feelings for his best female friend, but it was getting pretty hard. Especially with her wearing that. She approached him and smiled, which turned him on even more. "Sorry, I kept you waiting."

"No, your fine." Harry shuddered as he watched her dive into the pool. She swam gracefully halfway out and turned around to see what was keeping him.

"Harry, what are you waiting for? Jump in! The water's fine!"

Harry gulped and jumped in after her and felt the cool water drown his heated musings from before. Something inside of him gave him the evil idea of going under the water and pulling her down into it with him. He stopped and put on his goggles and swam toward her. He got up close to her and dragged her under the water. She was caught by surprise and opened her eyes under the water to see who had brought her under. Harry smiled as he held his breath. He waved at her and the two of them came up for air.

"What did you do that for?" She exclaimed as they caught their breath. Harry never gave her the answer she sought; all she received from him was an evil grin coming from his direction.

*****

Once the two had dried off some and drove to the zoo, with Mrs. Granger this time in the front seat. Nothing was said between the three of them until they got to the zoo. "Now, be careful. Don't talk to strangers and don't do anything stupid, okay? I'll be back around 4:30 pm to pick the two of you up, so we can be back in time for dinner." She waved as she drove off and left the two standing there.

It was a warm day at the zoo and many people were taking advantage of the misting system the zoo put in for their patrons. Harry and Hermione opted to keep their wet swimming suits on, in order to keep them cool. Harry was having a hard time controlling himself because he could see her swimming suit under her wet white t-shirt and it seemed as if she were oblivious to how he was reacting to it. By the time they reached the artic creature exhibit, he had no trouble controlling himself in the very cold air.

"Hey, look, Harry! It looks just like Hedwig!" Hermione pointed to the zoo's prize snow owl. Harry read the name of which the zoo gave her.

"Who on earth would call an owl Ziggy?"

"I guess they would call her Zigs for short maybe?"

"I guess so." Harry and Hermione walked past the polar bears and seals through and underground tunnel, in which the animals could swim over you. Then they came to a sheet of frozen ice in which you could try to put your handprint in to dictate you came in the exhibit. Hermione tried to melt her hand in the ice, but her hand became numb before she could finish. She went outside to wait for him and to warm up in the sun.

After he checked if the coast was clear, Harry pulled out his wand and uttered a spell. Harry carved a heart deep into the ice. Then inside the heart he inserted the following phrase: HP loves HG forever. He smiled at the picture he made, but before he was done admiring it, someone began to come down the corridor. Harry quickly stashed away his wand and went to find Hermione sitting on a bench. "What took you so long?" she asked.

"I was just trying to see if I could hold out longer than you could." he grinned at her.

"Well, I think you won."

"Yeah, I hope so."

*****

When Harry, Hermione, and Dr. John Granger arrived back at number seventy-seven Yorkshire Road with large bags of souvenirs from the zoo, all the lights were off in the house. Harry opened the door and turned on the light. "What the bloody..." Harry turned on the living room light and then there was a sudden loud yelling of "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Harry!"

With a shocked expression on his face, he glanced around the room to greet the many faces of people he and Hermione both knew including some fellow students and professors from Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, Dennis and Colin Creevy (whom of which was taking so many pictures of the blasted event, it was making everyone blind.), but Harry's eyes fell upon a man whom stood in a corner. Once he had spotted him, he ran over to him and gave his godfather a large hug. "Sirius!"

Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and his father's best friend, stood against the back corner with his arms crossed. "Happy Birthday, Harry."

"Sirius, what are you doing here? What if you get caught?" Hermione seemed to exclaim what Harry was going to ask once she joined the two in the corner.

"Don't worry, I'm cleared!"

"You're cleared?" the two exclaimed in unison and became one giant hug once Hermione heard this.

"Hermione...we can't breath." Harry choked out the words, trying not to allow anyone else notice how he felt for the girl.

"Sorry."

Sirius picked up his train of thought where he left off. "Yes, I'm out. Peter was caught a couple of days ago and they were able to get him to confess the whole thing." Sirius' smile grew in satisfaction. "I thought I owed it to you two to tell you in person...where is Ron?"

"In Egypt." Hermione answered. "He's visiting his brother Bill there."

"From what he wrote me this morning, he's burnt up pretty bad."

"Oh really? I guess it is his fault for not wearing sun protection."

Hermione seemed to roll her eyes at the comment. "How are the Weasleys?"

"Bill is getting married."

"About Bloody time." Sirius smiled.

"Do they have a date?" Hermione asked.

"Ron did not tell me a date, but he did tell me Bill wanted to have it back at the Burrow."

After a few minutes of chattering, Dr. Emma Granger brought in a homemade birthday cake with seventeen candles on it. "Blow out the candles and make a wish, Harry." Hermione said and Harry did as he was told.

"I wish that you, Hermione, were mine...forever." he thought in his head, but did not say it out loud for he knew it would never come true if it did.

*****

"Well, this is going to be our last year coming to Diagon Alley as students." Hermione said out loud toward Harry a couple of weeks later.

"Yeah," Harry stood and leaned against Madame` Malkin's Robes For All Occasion's Wall.

"When is Ron going to be here? Did he say in his letter?"

"I'm right here!" Ron raced toward them. The Egyptian sun had really scorched his skin. His ivory (now bright pink) began to peel. Ron decided to go with out his shirt due to the extensive burns on his back.

"Ron!" they shouted in unison. The two raced over and Hermione hugged him tightly, before Harry could remind her about Ron's sunburn. Ron screamed in pain as Hermione hugged him, but once she realized what she was hurting him, she let go quickly. "I'm sorry about your burn. I forgot. Are you alright?"

"I'll be alright." Ron winced as the pain on his back burned and subsided.

"How big are the blisters?" Harry asked, as Ron was able to stand up straight once more.

"Big. Want to see?" Before either one could object, Ron tore of one of the medi-wizard pads off to show them how big exactly he was talking about. When they saw his blisters, measuring at least two inches in diameter, the two of them hissed in pain for him. Harry counted seven to eight rather large pads on his back.

"Are you sure you're okay? You wrote and said you had third degree burns." Harry seemed to feel a great pang of sympathy for him.

"The medi-wizard in Egypt healed them for me since I could not have traveled very well in that condition, now could I? He also took a scalpel and popped the big ones on my back so they could heal over with out it scaring over too bad."

"Did it hurt, much?" Hermione asked.

"Duh." Ron rolled his eyes as the trio began to walk down the alley toward Gringott's bank. As they approached the corner of the street, Harry spotted his cousin Dudley and Aunt Petunia coming out of Gringott's.

"Oh, Bloody hell." Harry muttered under his breath as he saw them. He turned away and pretended to be interested in the store window.

"Come on, Harry. You can window shop later. We need to get to

Gringott's so we can buy our school supplies." Hermione complained as she pulled at his arm for him to go inside Gringott's with them.

Before Harry could turn away, he heard his name. "Harry! Hey,

Harry!" Ron and Hermione turned to the voice in which called their best friend.

"Harry."

"Yes, Ron."

"Isn't that your Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley?" Ron asked him, confused to as what Muggles, especially his aunt and cousin, were doing in Diagon Alley.

"Yes it is, Ron."

"What are they doing here? I thought they were Muggles." Hermione seemed to be confused as Ron was over the issue as she said this.

"Me, too, until right before I left for your house, Hermione. She actually began acting like a normal person and nice to me. It was all strange. She actually apologized to me for treating me so badly for the past sixteen years. Then at dinner, she and Uncle Vernon had a fight and she confessed to being a witch and she was coming back."

"Betcha that made your uncle blow a fuse." Ron seemed to think this whole situation was funny.

"I'd bet she was under the Alzheimer's curse." Hermione stated and both Harry and Ron seemed confused. "My goodness, don't you ever read? Harry you are from a muggle background. You know what Alzheimer's disease is don't you?"

"Yeah, isn't that a dementia disease?"

"Yes, and like the disease, family members often notice the behaviors opposite from what the person suffering from the spell did before the spell had been cast. It's a timed curse and only the person who cast the spell can know exactly when it will stop. The longest known case so far recorded lasted thirty years. I read about it in Magical Medical Spells: the Ones Magical Families Need To Know About. Written By Guinevere Pickleson.

"Hermione, you need to get a life." Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione, obvious jealous Hermione knew the answer and he did not.

"At least she did not fail potions class." Harry came to her defense. Harry's aunt and cousin approached the group as he finished saying this.

"Hey, Harry." Dudley seemed eager to see his cousin, once again.

"Hello, Aunt Petunia, Dudley. I did not expect to see you here."

Harry smiled courtly at them. "How are you doing? Has Uncle Vernon returned?"

"No, but I did get a letter from our lawyer saying Vernon wants a divorce."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Harry said with a smile on his face once he noticed she smiled when she said that.

"I'm really torn about it, let me tell you." she grinned.

"How are you enjoying Diagon Alley?" Harry asked his cousin.

"This place is the coolest! I can see why you want to come here."

"Just wait until you get to school, then." Hermione offered in his direction.

"Who are these people, Harry? I think you need to introduce us."

Petunia motioned toward Ron and Hermione. "I'm Harry's Aunt Petunia. This is my son, Dudley."

"Well, you remember Ron. Him and his family came over a couple of times to take me to their place."

"Ah, I remember now. How could I forget that vibrant red hair?" she smiled at Ron and then turned to Hermione. "And who is this charming little lady? Your girlfriend, perhaps?"

Harry blushed. "No, this is Hermione."

"Ah, the girl who you keep moaning about in your dreams."

"Aunt Petunia!" Harry exclaimed feeling his face turn a deeper shade of crimson.

Hermione blushed at the comment as well. Just the thought of Harry dreaming about her made her weak in the knees. "We're just about to go to Gringott's to get our money. Care to join us? Then we can go shopping together."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Hermione! Do you mind, Harry?" Petunia asked her nephew.

"Oh, no. Not at all." Ron answered for him. "Besides, we can tell you all sorts of stories about your nephew here, at Hogwarts. Ron ushered the group toward the wizard's bank.

"Umm...Ron, I really don't think that is a good idea."

Ron obviously did not hear him as he began his first tale. "Did

Harry ever tell you about the time..."

*****

"Vault 687." the goblin known as Griphook said as he exited the cart.

"It's about bloody time!" Harry mumbled, his temper flaring as he stepped out of the cart and handed the goblin his key to unlock his vault. "Maybe Ron will shut the bloody hell up and we can get on with this."

Ron, still raving about his, Harry's and Hermione's adventures at Hogwarts was really beginning to grind on Harry's nerves. When Griphook opened the vault, Harry received the reaction he knew he would get.

"Bloody Hell, Harry." Dudley exclaimed as they opened the vault wide enough for everyone to see. "You've been holding out on us."

Harry turned to see Petunia and Dudley's expressions. The two former "Enemies" wore Gemini expressions of shock and disbelief. "Harry, where did you get all this money?"

"From my parents." Harry sighed. “It was left to me when they died." He grabbed a sack full of galleons, sickles, and Knuts and then locked the door shut.

As the five of them left the bank, the group headed towards Madame` Malkin's Robes for All Occasions for Dudley and the rest of them to acquire new robes for the coming semester. When they waited for Dudley to get his school robes, Madame` Malkin approached Hermione with a parcel. "Ah, Miss Granger. Here are the dress robes your parents ordered for you. I had to send all the way to Paris for the material." Madam Malkin turned toward Harry and Ron who stood next to Hermione at the counter. "You two need new dress robes?"

"Actually, yes I do." Harry mentioned and she immediately showed him to the back of the shop. She took his new measurements and then pulled out and emerald green robe. "I think these will suit you nicely for this year. The color matches your eyes perfectly."

The robes were purchased and the trio along with Harry's aunt and cousin headed over to Ollivander's wand shop. When the group came inside, Mr. Ollivander popped his head out from where it was buried in a pile of wands. "I wondered if I was ever going to see you, Mr. Snape."

"Snape?" Ron and Hermione's eyes shot to Harry.

"That was a shock to me, too." Harry cringed at the thought. "I'll explain everything to you once we get outside."

"Ah, Petunia Evans. Long time no see. How is that wand of yours?

Willow and Unicorn mane hair, eleven inches. Really good for charms isn't it?"

"Well, I have not used it much since I live in the muggle world, but all that will change once Dudley goes to Hogwarts."

"Late Boomer, aye? There is nothing to be ashamed of. Even some of the greats were late boomers." Ollivander poked through a stack of wands and handed him one. "Try this one."

Dudley gave it a wave after some encouragement from the group with him. The wand glowed with approval of its destined owner. "Ah, yes. An interesting wand if I do say so myself. Pixy wing and Yew, 9 3/5 inches. I can see that we are going to be expecting interesting and unusual things from you, Mr. Snape." he turned toward Petunia. "That will be, seven galleons."

Petunia handed him the money and the group left for Flourish and Blotts to buy their books. Ron and Hermione took the time to stop him and get the rest of the story from him. "I just found out my aunt went to Hogwarts with my parents. A year after she graduated and my mum and dad were in their seventh year, both my mum and my aunt got pregnant. Dudley is not biologically my Uncle Vernon's son. He is Snape's son."

"Oh, Merlin Harry." Hermione seemed to let it all sink in. "That means Snape is your..."

"Uncle, yes."

"That is so wrong!" Hermione cringed at the idea. "Please tell me you are joking!"

"I wish I were." He responded making Hermione quiver in disgust.

"Hey, you're not the only one who does not like the idea of him being my uncle."

"You realize this may give us an edge in potions." Ron began to plot ways to make Snape pay for everyone of those comments he gave, the detentions they did not deserve, or the points taken away from

Gryffindor house unjustly.

When they turned to go into the store. Ron turned to Hermione.

"We're leaving in a hour and a half. That is all the time you get because we need to be headed over to get something to eat before the crowds get too big."

"That is fine." Hermione grinned from ear to ear. "Besides, I already own most of the books in here already."

*****

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5. Hogwarts and Chicago

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

Author's notes: I appreciate all the reviews I've been getting and I'd like to take this particular moment this is the long awaited chapter of When the Chicago Institute meets Hogwarts.

God Bless,

S'Eleene Paris

+*+*+*+

-------- *+* +*+

*++* *+

*****

Chapter Five

Hogwarts and Chicago

"A five, six, seven, eight." for what seemed like the thousandth time, Heather marked time for the Sifto-Salt dance team. She just taught them the new routine and now she was smoothing out the rough spots, but that was over an hour and a half ago. Usually, the team picked up on the routine quicker than this and it was frustrating Heather to no end. She decided to do a simple routine this early in the year, since the first Quodpot match was in a few days and she only had a few hours to prepare a routine for them. She grabbed her bottle of water and sipped on it, until she noticed a mistake. She waved them off. "Take Five." she sighed and rubbed her temples in fatigue. She looked at her watch and realized if she did not get a move on, she'd be late for work. She grabbed her things and waved to her assistant Captain, Rachel Wido, over to ask her to take over practice. "Rachel, take over please. I need to get to work."

"That is fine, have fun. I'll see you when you get back." Rachel waved her off and Heather raced for her car. A few hours later, while Heather Potter refolded some shirts on a display table, a couple of official looking business professionals walked in the glass doors that led out to the hallway of the mall. Immediately, she stopped what she was doing and headed toward them. Unfortunately her boss, Jessica Branam, met them before she could.

"Can, I help you two?"" Jessica asked them as Heather quietly shifted toward them.

The newcomers consisted of a team of a man and a woman. They were uniformed down to the matching black traveling cloaks. The woman had her long blonde hair up in a tight braided bun and the man kept his dark brown, almost jet black, hair shortly cropped. The two of them looked at each other and then the woman spoke. "This is Agent Red Handle and I am Agent Roxanna Head. We're agents with the FBI and we were wondering if a Miss Heather Potter worked here." She quickly showed the manager their badges and Identification.

"Why do you need to see her for? She hasn't done anything wrong, has she? If so I can witness to her character. She's a real heart and his hard working."

"No, she's not convicted of anything. She witnessed an incident a while ago and we need to take her in for questioning." Agent Handle mentioned and Jessica looked behind her to find Heather.

"Well, she is standing right there." Miss Branam gestured toward Heather. "Is this going to take very long? She's on the clock."

"It may take several hours, actually."

"Alright." Jessica turned to Heather. "Clock out and I'll see you when you get back."

"Alright." Heather took off her nametag from around her neck and clocked out at the time clock. She put on her coat and walked out with the two agents. Once they had walked down the corridor of the indoor mall a little ways, Agent Head stopped her. "Heather, we really are not members of the FBI. We had to tell the muggle something in order to secure you."

"Secure me? Who are you?"

"We're members of the Department of Magic. The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry was attacked earlier today. It bares the dark mark of the-one-who-must-not-be-named."

"Which campus did he attack? There are three after all."

"All three campuses were destroyed completely. The survivors are being taken to a secure location. We are to take you there immediately."

Heather stood in shock and in horror as images of her friends ran through her head. "Did anyone die? Are Hector Grey and Rachel Wido okay? Where is this secure location?"

"The school is not releasing names of the dead at the moment. They are still counting and identifying the bodies. As to your other question, the secure location is in Scotland. It's at a school perhaps your familiar with. It's called Hogwarts."

"Wasn't that were the founders went to school at?" Heather seemed confused at the location they chose. "Why Hogwarts?"

"Yes, the American schools have locked down as it is standard procedure when this sort of thing occurs. That is why Hogwarts was chosen. Besides, Hogwarts is one of the safest places there is in the Wizarding World, besides Gringott's." Agent Handle confessed.

"Your parents have been notified about your traveling. We are going to fly to London, catch the Hogwarts express at Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross to Hogsmeade. Someone from Hogwarts will meet you there."

*****

In the boy's dormitories, in the Gryffindor tower, it was still with the silence as the boys slept in a dream filled sleep. This silence did not; however, carry over to the Head Boy's room to where Harry Potter slept not so peacefully. His dreams lately were of two girls. One of which he knew was Hermione, but the other he did not know, but in his dreams he always did. She always wore the same white dress Hermione usually wore in his dreams. It suited the unknown girl well with her almost jet-black hair (just like his), deep brown eyes, and beige skin.

Voldermort, the dark lord, tied both the girl he did not recognize and Hermione over a pit of boiling hot lava. Harry always had to decide whom he was going to save. "Your lover or your sister." Voldermort teased. "Chose wisely."

A blood-curdling scream woke Harry from his nightmare. He jumped up out of his covers and raced to Hermione's room to see if she was all right, with his wand at hand and his glasses lopsided on his face. He barged into the room, and once he saw Hermione kicking and screaming in her sleep, he put his wand away and went over to wake her. "Hermione, wake up!"

Harry battled Hermione's arms as he shook her. When she woke from her nightmare, she gasped for air and she began to cry. Harry collected her into his arms as she let out her emotions. "It's okay, 'mione." he said as she collapsed in his arms. As she bawled, Harry tried to comfort her by rocking back and forth and gently caressed the air upon her head. "Shh.It's going to be alright."

A few seconds later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room with the head master Professor Dumbledore. It looked as if he had tripped the spell for alerting Professors when the member of the opposite sex was in the Head Girl's room. It looked as if they raced from their beds because they were still in their pajamas. Once they noticed what Harry was doing in Hermione's room this late at night, they calmed down. "What happened?" Professor McGonagall asked him as they noticed Hermione crying.

"Another nightmare." Harry sighed out loud. This had happened every night for the past week.

"Have your dreams subsided any?" Professor Dumbledore asked him.

"No."

Before he could continue, a phoenix type of bird flew into the window. He flew over to Professor Dumbledore and handed him a message. He read the message and sighed. He gave it to Professor McGonagall and she gasped in horror. Hermione's tears subsided and she looked up from Harry's arms. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing Professor McGonagall had grown very pale. Hermione was in her business mode, once again, and Harry took this as a sign that she was going to be all right.

"One of our sister schools in America has been attacked by he-who-must-not-be-named. Assemble your house and the others and we will wait for the other school to assemble or send word of their students."

With the nightmares put aside, Harry and Hermione raced to the different house dormitories to wake the prefects to wake their students and gathered in the Great Hall. When the whole school gathered in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall silenced the students in the room as they sat at their house tables. "You're attention please." she called over the students muttering among themselves. They quickly grew silent as their headmaster stood up in front of them from his chair. The Head boy, Head Girl, and the prefects took attendance of all their houses. "I have to be honest with all of you. One of our sister schools in America was attacked and now bears the dark mark. They are coming here to regroup and probably attend classes for the rest of the year. They have had a large shock as it is, so please make them feel at home."

A door opened slightly and a short, heavyset wizard walked in followed by a rather large group of students. "Greetings, Professor Dumbledore."

"Greetings, Professor Gaddis." he gestured toward the chairs along the walls and in the front and along the walkways between the house tables. "We placed some chairs out for you, your staff, and students. They must be exhausted."

"They are." he turned to his students and gestured for them to sit down. Professor Gaddis then noticed the entire school of Hogwarts was awake and assembled. "Albus, you did not have to wake the whole school for us."

"That is standard procedure, as you know."

"Yes it is." Professor Gaddis looked at his students. Once over 1,600 students studied at three different schools. Now a meager 800 from all the schools sat themselves either in the chairs, in the Hospital wing, at St. Mungo's or still in America, allowing their wounds to heal before heading to another one of the schools. He smiled at the 400 students who looked around the room at the moment. "Would you like to take roll of my students? I need to see who is here."

"I'd be honored." Professor Gaddis handed him three rather long scrolls of parchment. "Each school has a roll. As you know the Chicago Institute is made up of three schools: the Cottage Grove campus, the Diversetech Campus, and the Shapiro Campus. All the students total of 1,600 students."

"Yes." Dumbledore took the lists and began with the oldest students. "From the Shapiro campus: Alexandra, Celeste."

"I'm here." the voice floated from a blonde haired, blue-eyed fourth year.

"Ambrose, Andrew."

"Here."

"Ari, Alice." As Dumbledore continued to read the names off the list, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley rejoined their house at their house table. Harry smiled at Hermione and grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?" he asked when they sat down.

"I'm fine."

"Want to talk about your nightmare? It might help." Harry asked his green eyes looked at her sympathetically through his glasses.

"Don't tell me your still having those dreams." Ron interrupted before Hermione could say another word. Hermione gave Ron a glare that if looks would kill he would have been dead.

"You have been having this dream more than once? Hermione, it is an omen!" Harry did not believe everything Professor Trelawney preached in her divination classes, but he had learned through experience if you had dreams over and over again, the person having them needed to pay attention to what was being said.

"I dreamed me and another girl were tied to up by Voldermort," Ron shuddered as she said his name, "and you Harry have to decide between me or her."

"You or my sister. I know. I've been having the same dream." Harry sighed. "But there is nothing to worry about. After all, I don't have any siblings, remember so I don't think we have anything to worry about..."

Harry was interrupted by Dumbledore's voice. He looked up as his last name was being called. "Potter," there was a pause. "Heather."

Everyone from Hogwarts simultaneously looked over at the boy-who-lived. Professor Dumbledore called the name once more. "Heather Potter."

That was when Professor Gaddis leaned over and whispered into his ear, but it was loud enough so everyone could hear. "She's one we are still waiting on."

But before Professor Dumbledore could read another name, a voice came from the doorway. "I'm right here professor." Everyone simultaneously turned toward the direction in which the voice came. They found a dark haired, dark eyed, and beige skinned girl who stood about five foot three inches. Her hair was cropped short to her jawbone with no bangs and the ends of her hair curled under, framing her friendly looking face. She wore a bright smile upon her lips. Professor Gaddis smiled at her safe arrival. "You can't keep me away long enough if you tried."

"Late as usual, Miss Potter."

"Actually, I was helping Madame` Pomfrey in the hospital wing since I took first aid and my mom is a medi-witch. Besides, Professor, you know how much I love to make an entrance." Heather shyly leaned her head over on to one shoulder. With one hand, she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, revealing her lightning bolt-shaped scar. She tilted her head back up and noticed all of the Hogwarts students were staring at her. One of the students, a boy with raven black hair, green eyes, and round-rimmed glasses caught her gaze. What drew her attention to him was the scar upon his forehead; it matched hers exactly. She rubbed a finger over it and her attention was brought back to where she was by her headmaster's voice.

"Please take a seat with your house, Heather. Rest for a moment, but I will be needing you to help me show the headmaster something in a moment." Professor Gaddis offered Heather a seat in the front row and Heather took it.

Harry's eyes followed the girl and his eyes were wide in disbelief. He thought he was the only one person with that particular scar. The same scar in which he received the night of his parents murder matched hers identically. She could have not received it recently, for it would be fresh with blood. No, hers seemed to have aged almost as much as his did. To Harry, the matter seemed too coincidental.

After all the names were called, Professor Gaddis thanked Professor Dumbledore for the use of his school. "Professor, as you and your staff may know, our school's focus is on the relations between Muggles and Magic folk because where we are from, the two intermingle more often than what it does here, but as of lately our school's curriculum has been challenged quite often."

"Oh, and why is that, Professor?" Dumbledore inquired, now interred along with everyone else in the room.

"Heather, come up here." Professor Gaddis motioned toward the girl to come back up to stand in front of them once more. Then Daniel Gaddis' face and voice turned toward the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Pick anyone of your strongest students and Heather will challenge them to a

Wizard's Duel."

"According to your roll sheet, she is only a fifth year. I don't think she could take on a seventh year." Professor McGonagall mentioned as she took the scroll in hand and pointed her finger at the evidence.

"Trust me, Minerva. She can handle it." Gaddis smiled as he clapped Heather on the back.

"Alright," Albus Dumbledore scanned the crowd and realized all of his students in some form or another were silently signaling him to bring Harry Potter forward. "Mr. Potter, would you mind to come forward to battle Ms. Potter."

"Yes, Sir." Harry reluctantly stood up and came to the three of them. Harry then noticed Mr. Ollivander standing off to the side.

"When did you arrive, Mr. Ollivander? I did not realize you were here."

"I arrived on the Hogwarts express with some of the Chicago students. I'm mainly here for wand servicing, but since you two are going to duel, allow me to look over your wands before you do."

Harry pulled his wand out from his holster on his belt and handed it to the elderly man. "Ah, yes. Phoenix feather and Holly eleven inches. Very good." Ollivander handed Harry his wand back and looked at Heather.

Heather pulled out her wand from the case she had carried in with her. It looked like a rather long piccolo case or a rather short flute case. Inside lay what appeared to be a yellow glass rose, but when she handed it to Mr. Ollivander Harry guessed it to be her wand. Harry had never seen a wand like hers before, and not too many others in the room had either, because they seemed to begin to mutter among themselves when she opened the case. Harry looked at it with care and noticed that it had not been used very much. This confused Harry more because how on earth was a fifth year, whose wand did not seemed to be used very much, suppose to be able to beat him. Mr. Ollivander seemed to look at the wand very carefully as if to see if he was really seeing what he was looking at. "Ah, yes, this is definitely one of Madame' Dawson's creations. She always had an interesting taste in wands. The Diamond and Phoenix feather, twelve inches it's a very rare and powerful wand indeed, but probably not as powerful as its owner, right?" Heather blushed at his comment. He handed her wand back and smiled. "Very well care for, I might add."

Harry and Heather went to the center of the staged area. They saluted each other, but Heather handed Harry her wand. "I won't be needing this." The room began to fill with whispers as the two of them began their duel. Heather held her hands apart at her waist as if she were holding a ball of air. Harry, very confused now by her actions, looked around the room for any assistance at all for this strange positioning. The only help he received was from Professor Snape who just grinned from ear to ear. "Just go with it." he lipped to Harry.

Harry let out a breath, one he did not know he was holding and waited for her to strike. When it never came, he took the offensive. "Rictusempra!" Harry watched as his spell came closer and closer to her. When it was two feet in front of her, it stopped as if some force was holding it away from her. The spell hung in front of her, as a ball of light, until she decided to do something about it. Once she decided to stop picking at her rather short, for a witch anyway, nails she took it into her hands and crushed the "ball" and threw it into the air.

Fireworks and doves flew out of what once was Harry's curse. "Accio my and Harry's wands!" She held out her hand and before Harry could tighten his grip on his wand, Heather's spell ripped both wands out of his hands and away from him. She held both wands as if she were about to strike and Harry held up his hands to show her his defeat. She walked over, once everyone started to applaud, and gave Harry his wand back. She offered her hand to him out of good humor. "Good duel, Harry."

"Yes." he shook her hand and she smiled at him.

"You took a little more doing than most of the people I'm use to dueling. I appreciated you making me think."

"No problem. Glad to be at your service." Harry smiled at her and he went back to sit back down in between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, both of which still were in shock over what they had just seen.

Professor McGonagall quietly walked over to Professors Dumbledore and Gaddis. "I think we'd better get the Chicago students sorted. Shall I run to your office and retrieve the sorting hat?"

"That won't be necessary, Minerva. You see, the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry's founders went to school with me, here at Hogwarts. Their school is based upon this one, so all we have to do is pair up the houses." Professor Dumbledore told her, and smiled as an involuntary sigh of relief came from the entire audience in the room. It seemed as if it were too late in the evening to be sorting another school population into another. Dumbledore turned to Gaddis and mentioned to him, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I will need to see your prefects, so I can tell them which house their house will be joining. They will announce them to the school and meet our school prefects."

"Sounds good." Professor Daniel Gaddis then announced to the school their intentions and both schools prefects came forward. That was when he noticed there was no male representative from Sifto-Salt. When the whispers began to die down once more, Professor Gaddis appointed his new prefect. Once the new prefect, a Robert Andrew Smart, stood next to Heather Potter, Professor Dumbledore handed each one of the Chicago student prefect groups a card, which held the name of the house of which theirs would merge with. The Hogwarts prefects, Ron Weasley among them, stood off to one side, as they would greet each former prefect into their house as prefects of the new larger house. Professor Gaddis gave the group the instructions. Each of the prefects looked at the house names and seemed satisfied with what they saw.

"I want each of you to communicate some how, by magic, which house you will join. Then you along with the other prefects will lead your house back to the dormitories. You all must wait until all the houses have spoken in order to leave this room. We will dismiss you by house according to alphabetical order." Professor Gaddis turned toward the prefects. "Now, let's see. Sifto-Salt...what way will you be using?"

"Take a wild guess." Heather rolled her eyes and Professor Gaddis gave her a warning shot not to be defiant toward him in front of Professor Dumbledore.

"No doubt Transfiguration. So, Sifto-Salt, What house will you be joining?"

Heather looked out to her fellow students. "Sifto-Salt, I want to say that your house colors will no longer be red and white: red for our courage and white for the purity of our hearts. No longer will the phoenix be our loyal house mascot." Heather paused to feed the silence. She took a more personal tone, but seemed to laugh. "You know how I always say I look really good in green? Then again, blue is a nice color on me, too, but Sifto-Salt, do not worry one of your colors will stay the same. Like I said, our colors will no longer be red and white, but Red and gold will be the colors we wear." Heather turned around to no longer face them. She snapped her fingers and the Gryffindor house robes were the ones she wore when she came back around. "Gryffindor will be our new home!"

*****

End Chapter Five...

well...what do we have here...another James Potter perhaps????

maybe...you will have to wait and see!

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6. The Dance Team

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: if you don't know by now, it is in chapter one.

Author's notes....

Hey look! There is nothing to talk about!!!!

Except the fact this one is shorter than the past few and this chapter allows the characters to have a bit of time building relationships with one another. More like a PWP (for those who are clueless: PWP = Plot? What Plot?) For the moment. Don't worry. It gets back on track.

Oh well, I guess that it okay.

You keep reading and responding...I keep writing and posting...sound fair?

I think so...carry on

God Bless,

S'Eleene Paris

Oh, here is a really good song to listen to when reading this chapter:

* Beethoven's "Moonlight"- Sonata number 14 in c - sharp minor.

I have to make you all cultured somehow.

*****

Chapter Six

The Dance Team

"And watch the staircases," Ronald Weasley mentioned to the students who just joined the Gryffindor house, "they like to change direction." This was the second time Ron had explained this that year for new comers and he seemed to be enjoying himself. All the Gryffindor students climbed the staircases to the dormitories.

When they reached the portrait of the fat lady in a pink dress, the painting spoke. "Password."

"Quidditch cup." Ron recited and the door opened to reveal the Gryffindor Common room. The Gryffindor Common room filled with its students. All the former members of Sifto-Salt house, along with the Gryffindor, gathered around the fireplace. This included the Head Boy and Head Girl: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.

Ronald Weasley and Heather Potter took command of the group with ease as they stood in front of the fireplace to address the entire house. Ron was the first to speak. "For those who just joined us from Chicago, I'd like to welcome you to the Gryffindor tower. The boys' dormitories are located upstairs to my left; the girls, the same on my right. You will notice, if you brought things, they have already been brought up and ready for you."

Heather, then, turned to the members of Gryffindor's house. "We, the hundred or so of us from Sifto-Salt would like to thank you as we say in your dormitory for the rest of the year. I'd also like to pass on some good news to all of you. I spoke to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Gaddis and neither one of the schools are going to have classes for the next week to allow all of us to get situated and get to know our new fellow students. Not to mention, it will give us some time to allow the rest of our luggage to arrive. I know my things have not arrived, yet, but that will change I am sure about that. Not to mention the professors have to make room and prepare schedules for the four hundred or so more students and the approximate 20 more teachers in which survived the attack. Good night to you all." but as the group began to disburse, Heather called the ladies back to join her. "Umm...ladies, I need to see you for a moment." She paused as several girls sat themselves back down on the various forms of reclining around the room to listen to what the Prefect had to say. Hermione waved at

Harry as he disappeared behind the tapestry, telling him she would join him in a matter of a few moments, in their personal common room.

Once the Gryffindor gentleman left, Heather smiled at the ladies. "After I talked to Professors Dumbledore and Gaddis, I chatted with Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house, and Professor Shift, the head of Sifto-Salt House. We discussed and planned some events, compared and contrasted schedules, and jotted down meeting times. Sifto-Salt members, I am pleased to announce that Thong Thursdays are still in effect and will continue this next coming Thursday. The Gryffindor girls are encouraged to join."

"Alright!"

"Rock on!" and other approval cries emitted from all around the room from her fellow dorm mates. Most the Gryffindor girls all seemed to simultaneously blush, specifically the head girl.

Heather, sensing this, made it crystal clear what thong Thursday was all about and it made the Gryffindor girls giggle and blush more. "On Thursday, traditionally every week, all the female members of Sifto-Salt wear thongs in honor of our house founder, a Scarlet Sifto-Salt who of which started this tradition." She smiled then continued on another topic. "There are going to be try-outs for the house Dance team, and yes, former Sifto-Salt members have to be there. Any questions? No? Good. One more thing, before I dismiss, we need to practice our routine all day tom marrow because Professor

Gaddis wants all the Chicago teams to perform at dinner. I want to make a good impression on the Gryffindor house girls who want to try out. Now!" she clapped her hands together to get their slipping attention. "Everyone off to bed because practice is after breakfast at 7:30 am sharp!"

After some moaning and groaning from the team members, everyone trotted out of the room to bed. Heather glanced about the room and let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Somehow, for some reason, she felt as if she belonged here. She felt complete being here at this school even though she had never placed her big toe in it before. Ron peeked his head out of another portrait hole and showed her into the prefect dorms. She found her room, and opened the door.

She shrugged off the thoughts she was having before as she closed the door and headed off to bed with high hopes tomorrow Hector and Rachel would join her tomorrow. She changed into a light white nightgown, provided by the school. She climbed into bed, but did not fall asleep as she fell into the soft masses of her pillow and blankets of her four-poster bed.

*****

"Help me, Harry!" a girl's high-pitched scream filled his ears.

Harry James Potter witnessed Hermione Granger and Heather Potter dangling from the ceiling once more as they were being lowered into the lava filled pits once more.

Voldermort laughed manically as Harry began to pull out the Sword of Godric Gryffindor out from the sheath from his belt. As he did, Voldermort used a spell to pin him against the wall. "Now, you will watch as I kill them both, then I'm going to use the Imperious Curse upon you and then I will make you kill the rest of your friends." He grinned evilly and told him the rest of his plans. "Especially, that annoying Ron Weasley. After you kill all of them, you will be throne in to Azkaban and you will have to live the rest of you life knowing you killed them all. Then no one will be able to stop me!"

Voldermort came closer to him and gripped him by the neck of his shirt collar. As Harry thought he was about to take his last breath on his own accord, he awoke, safe from his nightmare in his bed. Harry jolted awake with beads of sweat on his brow and he was blanketed with it. His nightmare lately had decided to visit him more frequently since the Chicago Institute's arrival. "How do they, or at least Heather

Potter, fit in with all this? It just does not make sense." Harry thought to himself about the situation. Sure they shared the same sir name and they both looked like his parents, but that did not mean they were related to each other did it? Besides if he did have a sister, Dumbledore would have kept them together, right? Or at least told him about her wouldn't he?

Something tugged at his thoughts. "But what else had he been keeping from him. There was a lot you do not know about yourself, let alone your parents, when you got here, and most of which you had to find out on your own. Why would Dumbledore keep something this big away from him?"

Harry threw off his blankets and sheets onto the floor. He definitely could not sleep with the image of the most evil wizard ever known and questions in which he did not have answers to. He stood up and walked into the head's dorm common room. He walked through the common room and in front of Hermione's room, and then he stopped. Harry checked to see if she locked her door. She didn't and he had expected as much. He and Hermione made a pact to keep their bedroom doors unlocked during the night lately because of the nightmares and Dumbledore had lifted the warning curse on their dorms since after many of nights of entering the rooms, the headmaster and Professor

McGonagall grew tired of their sleep being interrupted by the constant signaling of the alarm by one or the other waking the other from their dreams. That and nothing more became of the meetings, so the two felt as if they trusted the two of them and lifted the curse.

Once Harry opened the door, he tiptoed inside to see Hermione sleep peacefully in her bed. Madame` Pomfrey gave her a potion earlier in the day for a good night's sleep and from the looks of it, Harry thought, the potion worked. Hermione laid on her side, in a deep sleep, with Crookshanks, her cat, purring contently on the legs of his owner. Harry watched the two sleep peacefully with them not even knowing he was standing there next to the bed.

Harry moved a stray hair from her face, and then slowly leaned down to kiss her forehead, softly. He quietly exited the room and once he was on the outside of her door, again, he leaned against it to let out a sigh. "Why do I have these growing feelings for her?" he asked himself for the thousandth time. "She's my best friend! I should not have these feelings for her." Harry smacked his head against it, as he tilted his head backward. He leaned heavily on the doorframe of his love's bedroom. He felt torn between the aching of his heart and the logic of his head. "She would never want to be with you. All she thinks of you is a friend and nothing more." his head tried to reason with the erratic desires from his soul.

The conflict was interrupted by some music being played in the Gryffindor common room. He opened the door from the Head boy and girl dormitories, which was adjunct to the Gryffindor common room via a tapestry. When Harry looked out into the common room, he witnessed a sight he did not intend to see. Harry Potter watched as Heather Potter played something on a piano, one of which he did not noticed there before. She seemed to be playing a song he was to guess to be classical. She was so involved in performing the piece to an invisible audience, she did not realize he was listening to her until she finished playing. Heather shut the piano key cover and stood up. "Don't stop." a voice called from behind her.

She turned around; shocked anyone was up this late listening to her play. She saw Harry Potter standing behind her. "Hello, I didn't hear you come in."

“What song was that? It was beautiful. Was it a classical piece?" Harry was full of questions about the piece and what she was doing up this late at night.

She collected the sheet music and smiled at his lack of a music background. "Actually, it is from the Romantic Period. It was Ludwig Van Beethoven's Sonata Number 14 in G# minor. It's also known as "Moonlight"." She blushed as she rambled off the answer.

He moved over to the couches and sat down on one. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I couldn't sleep." she joined him on the armchair closest to him.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm worried about my two best friends. You see I was at work when the school was attacked and I have not seen them since. I know I should get some sleep since I have to wake up early to practice with the dance team, but I can't seem to fall asleep." Heather sighed in frustration.

“I can understand how you feel. If I were in the same situation, I would probably be worried sick about Ron and Hermione."

"Ron's that red headed prefect."

"Yes."

"And Hermione...is she that cutie with light brown hair?"

"The head girl?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Heather asked bluntly and it seemed to catch him off guard. "Because I can sense something going on between the two of you."

"Hermione is not my girlfriend." Harry informed her. "Unfortunately." He added under his breath.

"Too bad...your children would have been beautiful." Heather's gaze fell downward as she began to pick at her cuticles of her nails.

"The two of you would have made a cute couple to say the least."

"What about you?" Harry asked taking the spotlight off him for a moment. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, one of those best friends I'm worried about is my boyfriend. His name is Hector Grey. We became a couple over the summer." Heather looked back up to see Harry's face. "I just hope that Hector and Rachel are alright."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they are just fine." Harry tried to reassure her. "I'm sure they were held back due to the airports could not have had an open flight until a day or two later."

"How do you know about airports and airplanes? You're a pure-blood wizard aren't you?"

"My dad was a wizard. My mum was a muggleborn witch. That makes me half and half. You see, my parents died when I was a year old and I have lived with my aunt, uncle, and cousin since then."

"That is ironic." Heather piped up once she heard this. It was as if she was putting two pieces of a puzzle together.

"What is?"

"My parents died the day I was born. I've been living with adoptive parents ever since. That was sixteen years ago."

"But you are a fifth year. You should only be fifteen."

"State law in Illinois requires one to be five before September 1st in order to go to Kindergarten. Since my birthday is October 31st, I was held back a year."

"That is stupid."

"It's the law."

"Wait a minute. You said your parents died on your birthday, right?

Sixteen years ago."

"That is right. I was only a couple hours old when they died."

"My parents died the same day." Harry seemed to be putting the same puzzle together.

"Could it be possible we could be brother and sister?"

"It's possible, but I'm sure if I had a sister, Dumbledore would have told me by now."

"Are you sure about that? Just look at all the facts, Harry."

"I'm positive."

Heather's eyes fell downward to the floor again; Harry could see the loss of hope in their depths. "Harry, after I was adopted and I grew up a little, my parents told me I was adopted and that I had a brother out there somewhere that they wanted to adopt but could not for some reason. I do not know where he is, or if he is still alive, but one thing is for certain. I am going to find him, where ever he is."

Suddenly, a few girls came down the stairway and Harry recognized them to be formerly from Sifto-Salt. "What time is it, Harry?" She looked at his watch when he offered it to her. "I need to go and get dressed for practice. I'll see you later, Harry." She stood up and raced toward the prefect dormitories.

*****

The castle had been abandoned for quite a few years and no one in the right mind would meet or stay in the haunted castle for anything. The muggles never trampled the saccade soil of the grounds for anything and neither did very few wizards. A caped-man stood in the great hall and waited on news from his spy. When the spy arrived, the caped-man called him over to his side. "Wormtail, over here!"

"Yes, my lord."

"What news do you have for me, Wormtail?" he seemed to grow impatient with he trembling man. "Is the girl dead?"

Wormtail trembled as he continued to stay silent. Peter Petigrew chose his words wisely because he did not want to upset his dark lord with his answer. "The buildings were completely destroyed and very few of them survived."

"But did she die?" Voldermort seemed to want only that basic information from his servant. "You did kill her yourself, didn't you? You did watch her die?"

Wormtail gulped. "Yes, my lord."

"Good, now we can move on to the second part of my plan."

"And what is that, my lord."

"To finally kill what stands between me and greatness!"

"Harry Potter?"

"Yes, Wormtail, very good." Voldermort went to the window and peered out onto the grassy knoll. He watched as the storm picked up outside and an evil grin spread across his face. "He's been a stopper in my reign for the past sixteen years and now, that will all end. I want him dead! And I want him dead before he the end of the year before he graduates from Hogwarts."

"How are you going to do it, my lord? May I guess, master?"

"Wormtail, what could you possibly know about making plans like this?" Voldermort sighed and gave in. "Go ahead."

"There is an old muggle saying: United they stand, Parted they fall. You should separate and kill Potter's friends and make watch as you kill them."

The scenario played in Voldermort's head, and then grinned evilly. "Wormtail, this is the thanks I get for breaking you out of Azkaban?" Voldermort turned back toward the falling rain. "No wonder you are only a servant and not a full blown Death eater."

*****

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7. Dinner and A Tryout

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: you know the routine...see chapter one.

Author's notes:

*Crickets chirp*

*****

Chapter Seven

Dinner and A Tryout.

The Great Hall at Hogwarts buzzed with excitement as the students piled into the room for dinner and live entertainment provided by the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger took their usual place toward the front so they could see the entertainment more easily and the three of them could keep on an eye on the first years.

The first thing the group noticed was the teacher's table had been removed from the front end completely and instead a muggle sound system stood in it's place to amplify the music for the teams. Hermione seemed confused over this as she looked over at Heather Potter, along with whom she assumed to be the other house's dance team captains, stood up front. Hermione knew, being the only one out of the three of them who had read Hogwarts: A History knew there were muggle protecting spells placed all over the grounds of school and knew that no muggle device can be operated on Hogwarts grounds. Professors Dumbledore and Gaddis walked up front and announced the proceedings for the evening. "Greetings, Hogwarts." Professor Gaddis began. "Tonight during dinner you will be graced by the wonderful, beautiful, and the graceful talents of the many school teams the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry has to offer to its students. I have talked with Professor Dumbledore and he has agreed to continue most of the activities."

"I want to encourage the Hogwarts students to get involved with these activities. For whichever house participates the most in these activities, will receive 150 points toward the house cup." Professor

Albus Dumbledore claimed and the room filled with exclamations of excitement. Once they hushed down once more, Dumbledore continued. "Now on with the teams." Dumbledore adjusted his half moon shaped glasses and read from the piece of parchment. "The first teams are the dance teams. They will perform in this order: Western House, Sifto-Salt House, Franklin House, and finally Milner House."

A bunch of girls stood up from the Slytherin table to claim the stage. Heather walked passed them to join Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny at the Gryffindor table. As she did, Danielle MacNeal hit her shoulder against Heather's arm. "Sifto Slut." she chastised.

"Western whore." Heather shot back as she sat down across from Harry and next to Hermione. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny looked at her, shocked at her use of language. Heather explained to them. "It's an on going feud, Western house doesn't like Sifto-Salt and we reciprocates their feelings." Once Western House arrived on stage, the group began to dance to “Wild Wild West” by Will Smith. Their team uniform consisted of a black tank top with sprinkles of glitter in shape of fire works. The shirt carried down to their lower abdomen and ended with a dangling set of beads. The beads barely covered their navel because of their low-rise black dress pants. Heather rolled her eyes at them...Western Whores...the nickname fit.

"Hey, Harry." a voice called over his shoulder and when he turned around, he found his cousin sporting his Hufflepuff uniform. Dudley (Dursley) Evans-Snape appeared to the group and he smiled at all of them. "I know I'm not suppose to be over here, but do you mind if I join you?"

"Yeah, actually, we do." Ron declared and Dudley sulked away.

"Why did you do that for?" Harry asked him, his temper flaring a little. "He just wanted to feel accepted. This is all new to him."

"But he is your evil cousin Dudley!" Ron protested. "He's the one who tormented you all these years! Now that you're the big fish, he needs to understand that you will not put up with his childish behavior!"

"Put a sock in it, Ron!" Heather looked at him and rolled her eyes in disgust.

Harry decided Heather's blunt approach worked on Ron, but decided to add for good measure. "He's changed, Ron." Harry stated his defense for his cousin. "It's almost as if he is a completely different person. He must have felt he no longer needed to find attention anymore now that my Uncle Vernon is no longer his father. He's actually decent to me lately." Harry looked over his shoulder at his cousin, whose head rested on top of his hands. "Besides, he's part of the only family I have." Harry paused and then declared. "I'm going to invite him over here."

"But, Harry!" Ron muttered.

"Good for you, Harry!" Heather cheered him on.

"Why are you cheering?" Hermione asked her. "You don't know what he and his stupid family have done to Harry every year. It's terrible! Just plain awful!"

"The one thing I have learned over the years is people change.

Danielle and I use to be friends and now we're archrivals. You always need to give people a chance to change." Heather preached, and then turned to Harry. "Go ahead, Harry. Invite him over here. I'll be the supportive friend when these two aren't."

Harry stood up and went over to the Hufflepuff table. He tapped his cousin on the shoulder and invited him over. "But what about your friends? What will they have to say?"

"Dudley, I honestly don't know and I don't frankly care. You're the only family I have, Duddikins." Harry grinned at the pet name his aunt use to call him by. This proved to get a reaction out of him. "Come on, come sit by us."

Dudley stood up and walked over to the Gryffindor table. He took a seat next to his cousin and Ron. "So, how goes your day?" He politely began to make conversation to the group.

Before anyone could answer, a loud applause resounded through out the Great Hall. "I have to go up there now. Don't get into anything important until I get back. I have to go set up, see ya." Heather called over her shoulder as she began to walk away, but the sound of Ron's voice made her turn back.

"Answer me one question."

"Yes, Ron."

"How can you be using a muggle artifacts here at Hogwarts? They are not allowed because they won't work."

"That is because any muggle artifacts you see are usually enchanted, Ron."

"Oh." a light of realization over came upon him as if someone turned a light on.

Professor Gaddis stood up to announce the next group. "The next group has held five consistent National titles, seven consistent state championships, and two International honors at the French-Marx Competition in Bourbonnais, France. Please welcome the Sifto-Salt Dance team,” he allowed the applause to die down before he announced the routine in which they would be performing. "They are going to be performing the routine that won them this past years' national title."

When Heather and the rest of the girls heard this, they all turned pale and their eyes grew large. Heather stood up from her crouched position on the floor and went over to talk to the professor about the routine. "Um, Professor, you didn't say the national title did you?" she whispered to him.

"Yes, I did."

"Not the recent state title nor last year's French title, right?"

"You heard the correct, Heather. I said the national title."

"That's what I thought. " she paused as to think about her wording.

"I don't think these Brits could handle the piece we did. This is even so since we have the edited version of the songs. Considering our audience, I think everyone would be much happier with another piece."

"Now, Heather. I'm sure the piece will be fine. I trust your concern, but I'm sure it is not that bad."

Heather turned to get back into her position on the floor, much like her teammates. "Okay," she sighed and she whispered to him under her breath. "Don't say I did not warn you."

Suddenly, Limp Biskit's "Nookie" came over the sound system and after several seconds of the piece being played, Professor Gaddis gave her the signal to cut the music. Heather quickly did as what she was told and muttering came from the audience in the Great Hall. Professor Gaddis stalked over to Heather and demanded an explanation from her. "I thought you said this was the edited version of the song!"

"It is."

"And you performed it in front of all those judges?"

"Yes, Professor. That is how we won."

"Really?"

"Hey, I tried to warn you."

Professor Gaddis ignored her last comment and asked her. "Is there another show your team could perform instead?"

"Yeah, there is. There is another show we could do. We'll need another few moments to set it all up."

"That is fine. Take your time." Professor Gaddis turned around to walk away toward Professor Dumbledore. Gaddis whispered an apology and Dumbledore put the other man to ease.

After thee crew set up, the team transfigured their costumes from the red leather pants and silver halter top to muggle bongo style blue jeans and a red t-shirt with white lettering. The words on the front of the shirt read: Got Salt? On the back, it listed the team and the song:

Sifto-Salt House Dance Team

Chicago Institute of Witchcraft

"Since You Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson

Heather "Chaos" Potter- Team Captain

Rachel "Black Widow" Wido- Assistant Team Captain

Celeste Alexandra Jasmine Brown Courtney Callman

India Jade Andrea Jacquline Sarah Johnstone

Amber Miller Amanda Miller April Miller

Sandra Miner Opal Opera Shavon O'Brian

Sima Peacock Moria Orenda Robin Yakira

Nadine Nokimis Michelle Mercedes Lillian Elwood

Kimberly Wyatt Mika Salena Nora Zita

A total of twenty-three-member team, but from what Hermione could determine only about fifteen girls survived the attacks. So, the team had about eight spaces to fill. After the Sifto-Salt dance team finished, the team stood off to one side and cheered on the Franklin house and Milner house teams. After the other two teams finished their routine of their songs: Blue by Eiffel 65 (Franklin house) and a compilation of Jock jams (Milner house), the three teams joined forces to perform the final piece for the evening. Blaring enough to make the school vibrate, played the song from the movie most of the witches at the Chicago Institute adored, "Miss Congeniality" 's Anywhere USA by PYT.

The teams magically transfigured their uniforms, again, into black dress pants with a boot-cut style leg. The Sifto-Salt team wore a red midriff shirt, Franklin house wore a blue shirt of the same style, as did Milner house, but Milner's was white.

When the song ended, everyone at the tables, except Slytherin and Western houses, applauded for the three teams as they came off the stage. Heather rejoined her group at the Gryffindor house table. "That was awesome!" Ron exclaimed as if her was captivated by a veela's charms like he did with Fleur Declure in their fourth year.

"Thanks." Heather smiled, but humbly mentioned it was just not her who worked hard on the piece. "Granted, I did write the routine, but the other girls worked as hard preparing the piece, if not harder."

"What other kinds of things do you guys have at the Chicago Institute?" Harry asked trying to make conversation.

"WE have a lot for the students to do, and I do mean a lot! For example, I was involved with the dance team, but my school color guard, choir, theater, and clubs. I was involved in the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies clubs."

"What would you do in those clubs?" Ron asked, his attention belonging to her only.

"DADA club is really just a dueling club, but Muggle Studies club we would apply what we have learned in class, but you will learn about it in our Muggle Studies class on Thursday."

"Thursday? You mean we go back to classes on Monday?" Dudley's eyes seemed to grow wide almost in horror. "You know what that means."

"Yeah, you get more tutoring from Hermione?" Ron grinned knowingly at Dudley. He knew very well Hermione's study habits and could see them bleeding over to her tutoring.

Hermione glared at him, but before she could comment, Dudley came to her defense. Dudley shook his head and commented on Ron's statement. "No, Hermione is a good tutor. I'm actually ahead in my classes for a change." Hermione blushed at his statement.

"Then what is the matter, Dudley?" Heather inquired to what the problem was. "Who's giving you such a hard time?"

"It's the potion's master."

"Professor Snape? He gives everyone who is not in Slytherin a hard time." Hermione told him.

"Well ever since he found out that I am a seventeen year old first year and that I'm related to Harry, it has been a constant thing. He's been giving me a rougher time than normal." Dudley's eyes seemed to express his exact feelings toward their potions master.

"Your Aunt Petunia must not have told him, yet." Ron Whispered to Harry, but the rest of the group heard it.

"Told me what?" Dudley asked.

"Not you. Snape." Ron, Harry, and Hermione answered in unison.

"What is going on?" Heather asked. "You guys better tell me."

"I'll tell you later." Harry told her.

Heather suddenly smacked her head in realization she forgot

Something. "Oh, Damn! I forgot to announce when the tryouts are and the retreat! How could I be so stupid?" she turned then once she realized

Harry was about to answer her. "Wait, don't answer."

"A retreat? To where?" Hermione asked her somewhat interested in what she had to say. "London perhaps?"

"It's a two week bonding session for the dance team at my house.

It's not going to be all fun. We have to practice the new routine and go shopping for new uniforms."

"Bloody hell! But you only just got here! Is that safe? Wicked! So, can I try out?" Ron asked.

"Can pigs fly?"

"They can if you enchant them to."

"Well, if you can magically turn yourself into a girl, then no."

Ron cringed at the thought, but said nothing more about joining the team.

"When are try-outs?" Hermione asked, trying to change the topic.

"Tomorrow morning before breakfast on the Quidditch field."

"Quidditch pitch." Harry corrected.

"Whatever."

*****

The next morning on the Quidditch Pitch, Heather strolled on to it and was greeted by the site of twelve girls wanting to join the dance team. Her old teammates were dressed in matching windbreaker tear-a-way pants and a matching top.

"Good morning, Heather." triplet girls with their natural brown hair and blue eyes greeted her and even the girls where duplicates of one another, the three of them were completely different. Amanda Miller was the oldest and would often wear bright and cheery colors. She defined the word "Preppy" with her designer jeans and latest hairstyles. Amanda's hair was streaked blonde and it lay flat to frame her face.

Amber, the middle of the three, was a lot more rebellious. With her blue spiked hair and preferred the classic punk style with the fishnet nylons, dog collared necklace and bracelets, and black leather combat boots. She had several body piercing including her lip, eyebrow, navel, nipples, and nose besides the ones in her ear, in which she had every available space there taken up by an earring of some sort.

April Miller did not fill either one of her sister's ways, but decided on the skater look herself, which seemed to match Heather's group perfectly well. April was the happy medium between her sister's extremes. Even though she had her nose and ears pierced, although not as much as her sister Amber, she did enjoy a nice pair of Old Navy jeans now and again. April decided she would be the only one to keep their natural hair color, saying it was "too beautiful to change."

April handed Heather a clipboard. "They're twelve all together. We showed them a routine to perform and we rated them for you. All you need to do is interview them and then decide. Simple and easy."

"Well, let's see what kind of talent is here at Hogwarts, shall we?" Heather flipped through the list of names of the Gryffindor girls. The names appeared in the order in which they came down and it also showed them their grades.

1. Patil, Parvati - 7th

2. McDonald, Natalie - 4th

3. Brown, Lavender - 7th

4. Weasley, Virginia "Ginny" - 6th

5. Carmen, Blythe - 1st

6. Brook, Carla - 2nd

7. Farr, Sandra - 5th

8. Eden, Emma - 1st

9. Ebony, Fiona - 2nd

10. Anastasia, Simone - 3rd

11. Tatum, Violet - 3rd

12. Granger, Hermione -7th

Heather stared at the last name on the list. Hermione Granger, the one girl who she thought hated her most here at Hogwarts, besides Danielle MacNeal was trying out for the dance team. India Jade, a fifth year member of Sifto-Salt with deep sea- green eyes, interrupted her thoughts. "I just wanted to let you know, the girls are ready for their interview."

"Thanks, India."

"Heather."

"Yes, Jasmine, what is it?" she turned to greet the girl who had come up from behind her.

"Do me a favor and let my cousin, Lavender on the team. She's really good."

"Not to mention first and foremost, she is your cousin." India spat at her.

"India, Jasmine. Cool it. I'm going to pick people I deem worthy."

Heather told them before Jasmine could retort. "Now, do me a favor and shoo so I can interview the girls."

Once she had made it down the list, dismissing them after the interview was over, she finally was down to the last person. Hermione

Granger came forward and sat down with Heather on the Quidditch pitch stands."

"Let's see. Hermione Marie Granger." Heather flipped the page over and read through her biography, in which she was required to submit. "It says under 'previous experience' you were a gymnast. How long?"

"Since I could walk. I gave it up when I came here."

"It also says you have a double black belt in Karate...and you know kickboxing."

"I sensei over at a gym over the summer."

"I see. Thank you, Miss Granger." and Heather dug back into the information as got up to leave. "You will know by curfew if you made the team via letter. If you made it, I want to see you in my room after lunch tomorrow."

Hermione exited the stadium and headed off to breakfast, knowing full well Harry and Ron were wondering where she was. The moment of truth came after dinner when the girls who attended the dance team try-out received their letters. Beside the letters that lay on their pillows lay either a red or a gold rose, which by the time the first few girls opened their letters, they figured out if you received a red rose: you made the team, but if you received a gold rose: you did not and better luck next time.

Hermione drummed her fingers on the table, trying to decide when she wanted to go into her room and find out if she made the team or not. As she reclined in her and Harry's common room, trying to desperately work on her Herbology paper on 'magical medical herbs and their usages in the Wizarding World', her mind drifted off to other things than the task at hand. "I have to make the team other wise I cannot show Harry I can be more than just his best bookworm friend. Maybe then he will notice me." Hermione grinned and closed her book deciding now she had the nerve, she would be able to take any disappointments.

"Going to bed, Hermione?" Harry asked from the couch.

"Yeah, I think so, I'm a little tired. My eyes are hurting way too much for me. Good night." Hermione picked up her book and headed across the room, with Harry watching her every move as she did so.

After she closed her door and put her books away, she changed into her nightgown and went to climb into bed as she came out from her personal bathroom. As she began to tear down the bedding, she found a red rose laying on her bed and a note on the side in which read: Hermione Granger, in red ink. Hermione shook as she opened the letter and to her great relief, she liked what she read in the short message.

Hermione Granger.

Congratulations! You made the dance team! There will be a meeting, as I told you earlier today on the pitch, in my room in the Prefect dorm after lunch tomorrow. The prefect's door is located next to the statue of Godric Gryffindor in the Gryffindor Common room. The password is: Kneazle.

-Heather Potter

Captain

*****

Author's sub notes: Just FYI: I don't think most of the British public takes on the stereotype the Americans have for them. In general, people think the British may have book learning, but no-way-in-hell have any street smarts. I don't think like this, at all. I am playing on the stereotype and in no way am trying to offend people with this piece. My own ancestors come from Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland mostly (There is some German and American Indian in there too.) and they would be rolling in their graves if I didn't put this little note here. Any flames about this topic, it is obvious you didn't read this section, so go ahead and flame, but I will just laugh at you.

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8. A Family Reunited

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris <torres_01@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: you can probably say it with out me actually telling you...its in chapter one.

Author's notes: I think this one is one of my favorites because of what happens in this chapter. If the story Dumbledore tells is a little vague, it is because Hagrid will clarify in Chapter Ten.

I'd like to thank all of you who have responded to this piece and think it is really good, it's a real honor to serve you in such a way that I can give you pure pleasure in a way you never could imagine…lol…I am kidding, any way, on to Chapter Eight.

*****

Chapter Eight

A Family Reunited

The Following morning Harry, Ron, Dudley, Hermione, Ginny, Heather, and Neville Longbottom reclined at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. The eggs, sausages, bacon, and toast with jam were warmly welcomed to the students of Hogwarts in the chilly crisp autumn morning. Most of the Hogwarts students were a little depressed with the fact their classes would be resuming in a couple of days. Hermione reminded them by informing Dudley their tutoring would resume around ten that morning when the Quidditch team went out to the pitch to practice. "Everyone will want to go outside and watch so we can go into the lawn and study in quiet for once."

"Hey, do you guys mind if I join you today?" A boy in his sixth year approached the group. The boy had orange hair naturally with his hazel eyes. His pale pink skin was blotched with freckles.

"Hey, Andrew!" Heather greeted. "I'm cool wid' it." she turned to the group to make introductions. "Andrew this is Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Dudley Snape, Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. Guys this is Andrew Ambrose. He's a phoenix."

"A phoenix?" Harry asked.

"Sifto-Salt's mascot is a phoenix." Andrew claimed a seat next to Heather on the end of the table.

"Oh."

"Speaking of the devil and she shall appeareth." Andrew looked and pointed up to the ceiling. Most of the other students in the Great Hall seemed to notice the beautiful bird swoop down to meet Heather where she sat. " It's your parent's phoenix, Scarlet."

Heather looked up and smiled as the bird landed in front of her on the table with ease. The Phoenix carried a rather large box in her mouth and a rather large envelope rolled and attached on to her leg. Scarlet placed the letter down and leaned her head toward Heather for her to scratch. "Hey, Scarlet. What do you have for me? My parents already sent my clothing." Heather looked at the box and it had been marked "perishable". When Heather opened the box, her smile went wide. "YES! I love my parents!" she pulled out a case of diet I.B.C. and Stewart's Root Beer and a rather large box of cheddar "goldfish" crackers. "Ambrosia!"

"I'd hardly call crackers and root beer Ambrosia, Heather." Andrew looked at her.

"Well, you didn't see what else they sent."

"What?"

"Our addiction."

"Starbucks?"

"Carmel Frappicino."

"Now that is definitely nectar of the Gods!"

Heather pulled a Carmel bottle of Starbucks Frappicino for herself and Andrew. She tore open the seal and began to drink it. Her mother must have put a chilling charm on it for it did not taste warm at all. "You do know that Coffee stunts your growth." Hermione pointed out.

"I'm not going to get any taller anytime soon." Heather tossed back at her playfully. "I've been 5'3" since fourth year and I really don't think I'm going to grow anymore." To push Hermione even more, she took a rather large drink of her coffee. Heather began to open the large envelope and found may notes inside. One was for her, but the rest were for Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Dudley. All the letters said the same thing in the same ebony ink.

Please come to our office immediately, we have some things to explain to you. Things we should have told you a long time ago. The Password is Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

-Professors Albus Dumbledore and Daniel Gaddis

*****

When the group of students reached the headmaster's office, they were greeted by a rather large group of Wizards and Witches. Among them were Professors Dumbledore, Gaddis, McGonagall, Snape, Remus Lupin; a friend of Harry's father, James from school days, Sirius

Black; Harry's godfather, Harry's Aunt Petunia and two people he did not recognize. Heather soon remedied that once she announced: "Mommy! Daddy! You're here!"

Heather raced to a man who had pre-maturing grey heir amongst his pitch-black follicles. His pale eyes were filled with so much emotion to see his daughter alive once more. Her mother wailed as she hugged her daughter tightly, not able to contain herself. "My stars! Heather, darling! I'm so glad you are safe! James and Lily would have come back to kill us if you would have died!"

"MOM! Stop!"

"Lily and James?" Harry seemed confused.

"Who are Lily and James? What do they have to do with this?" Ron spoke his thoughts as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"And why do they share the same names as my parents?" Harry thought to himself as he awaited the answer from anyone who could answer his unspoken question. It was Professor Dumbledore who informed Harry and the rest of the group in the room of the truth. "Lily and James Potter are Heather's biological parents. They died the night she was born: October 31st in Godric's Hollow, sixteen years ago. Somehow she and her brother survived the attacks. We did not know completely why they survived, but we do now."

"You see, Heather was blessed with very strong wand less magic powers, which was evident by the time she was a couple hours old. That is why she is still a fifth year and not already out because we have been training her to be an auror and to use her Sorceress powers to her advantage." Professor Gaddis continued. "We believe she and her brother, with out realizing it, used their combined powers to keep her and her brother safe from harm, even though their mother's love already did."

"Are you trying to say?" Harry seemed to be, finally, allowing the pieces to come together.

"Yes, Harry. Heather Lillian Potter is your sister." Dumbledore told him and there was silence in the room and the girl and boy who lived looked at each other. Unconsciously, the two of them ran a finger along the scar on their foreheads simultaneously.

"I'm just wondering why you would not allow us to adopt Harry as well and prevented this whole questioning of "where is my family" in the first place. We would have loved to take him in as our own son. James and Lily would have wanted to keep the family together." Roger

Nelson looked over at the headmaster of Hogwarts. Roger's wife, Virginia, did the same.

"That was for their protection."

"From who?"

"From each other."

"What do you mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall seemed confused over the idea.

"Before the attack, your parents, "Dumbledore directed the explanation toward Harry and Heather Potter. "Feared for not only their lives, but yours Harry, and their unborn child which we all know today as Heather." Dumbledore began. "Very few people knew about Lily Potter being pregnant at the time and it was part of the reason they wanted to go into hiding was to protect the two of you. Sirius was only told about Lily being pregnant because James and Lily wanted him to be their secret keeper."

"I told them I would have been the first person anyone would come to for information about them and I suggested Peter Petigrew would have been the better choice for Secret keeper

..."

Dumbledore continued. "That is how Voldermort knew about you, Heather. Peter knew."

"That's why he attacked the school was to kill me?" Heather questioned.

"Suppose to, but didn't." Remus Lupin answered. "He didn't figure you would have a job since your still in school. I guess he did not seem to look up the child labor laws in America are different then they are here."

"I still don't understand why you separated them." Virginia seemed to grow irritated, as a direct answer was not given.

"If the two were separated, they could live normal lives without knowing the other existed. I was concerned even after people thought he died he could come back. I figured if the two of them were separated, Heather in America and Harry with his aunt, if there was an attack again on either one of them, the other would be able to alive, for he could not find one and the other." Dumbledore explained. "The two would have been each other's own undoing."

With the explanation finally told, Sirius Black asked another question. "There is one more question I would like to ask, why was Snevelus called here."

"Yeah, why was he called here?" Lupin wondered as well as he stood across the room, next to the bookshelf.

The headmaster turned toward Petunia Evans and said. "Petunia, isn't there something you wanted to tell him?"

"Yes, Professor, but I think I need to tell him outside where we can get more privacy."

"So be it." Dumbledore gestured toward the door and Petunia and Severus Snape left the room. The room went silent to hear what the potion's master's reaction would be.

When it came, the group realized they did not have to be quiet. "I HAVE A SON!!!!"

Heather's attention went back to her adoptive parents with a serious look on her face. Her father asked her. "What's wrong, Sweetie? You look upset."

"I'm just frustrated that I'm not getting any straight answers around this place."

"About what, pumpkin?" her mother asked her.

"About Rachel and Hector." Heather vented, but did not see the looks of fear being passed between her parents and Professor Gaddis. "All they told me was "I don't know" or "They'll be here eventually.". I thought of all people you guys would know, if anyone did."

"Um...Heather darling."

"Yes, mom."

"About Rachel and Hector..." before Roger Nelson could continue, Professor Dumbledore told her of her friend's fate.

"Ms. Potter, I'd hate to be the one to tell you this, but Hector Grey and Rachel Wido will not be joining us here at Hogwarts."

"Why? Are they at Salem Academy?"

"No," Professor Gaddis seemed shocked no one told her. "My stars, Heather! They're dead! You mean no one told you?" Heather's eyes began to tear up as the fifth year raced out of the office, crying and Harry raced after his sister.

*****

During the last hours of the long morning, Parvati, Lavender, Hermione, Dudley, and Heather, who seemed unusually quiet for this time of day, Hermione tutored Dudley for charms class. "Remember, Dudley. Pronunciation is the key to performing any spell correctly. It's Win-GARD-ium Levi-O-Sa."

Dudley pounced the spell the way Hermione had and the feather floated in the air. It worked! Finally! "I did it!" Dudley exclaimed excitedly.

"Congratulations, Dudley. You performed you first spell." Hermione cheered, then turned back into the book. Just at that moment, Harry and Ron stride into where they were seated, obviously heading back inside to change out of their Quidditch robes and probably shower because they had wind-swept looks on their faces and they were covered in sweat. Harry looked even more wind-swept than Ron because of his messy hair.

"I didn't know you played Quidditch, Harry." Heather looked up from her book and spoke to him for the first time since this morning. She had spent most of the morning back in her room, but Harry had convinced her to come out before heading to Quidditch practice via her door. "What position do you play?"

"Seeker, Ron plays Keeper."

"I probably would want to play beater." Heather said as she looked back down at her book.

"Why is that?" Ron asked, as he was unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

"I'd get to smack things, really, really hard. I think that would be lots of fun. I could see it now once I got pissed off or something, I could hit it REALLY hard."

"And have the probable force to put someone in a coma for three months." a boy of seventeen walked into the area carrying a broom. "I'm Blair Blake. I use to be the captain of the Sifto-Salt Quodpot team." Blair shook Harry and Ron's hand. Blair stood a proud 5'11" with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He obviously had been playing Quadpot for a long time for his muscles were well developed. "I've played Chaos before when she's pissed off and trust me..." he rubbed his forehead with his finger on his temple, indicating he had been hit by her once before, "you will hurt."

"Chaos?" Harry seemed confused as he looked over at his newly found sister.

"My nickname is Chaos." Heather clarified.

"How did you get it?" Ron asked her.

"It's a long story, but I don't have time to tell it because we need to be getting to the Great Hall for lunch, so then after lunch I can meet with the new dance team." Heather and the rest of the group who where studying packed up their books, so they could leave.

"Let's go then." Hermione grinned as she shut the book she was using to teach Dudley.

"Can't we change first?" Ron whined.

"No, we're going now."

"Fine, but answer me one question."

"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asked him exasperated.

"What is Quodpot...I've been hearing a lot about it for the past week or so, but no one has seemed to have bothered to explain it."

"Seriously, Ron. Don't you ever read?" Harry asked as they began walking toward the

Great Hall.

"Oh, I see you finally read Hogwarts: A History."

"Actually, Quadpot is mentioned in Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp." Hermione clarified.

"Wow! An Answer that wasn't in Hogwarts: A History! You never cease to amaze me with your cleverness, Hermione." With his sarcastic remark, Ron earned a smack on the back of the head from Hermione as they walked down the hallway.

"To answer your question, Ron, Quodpot is another broom game. It comes from Quidditch."

Blair began, but Heather finished for him.

"It's played with eleven players instead of seven like in Quidditch. We throw a Quod, a modified Quaffle, from one team member to another in order to get it into the pot across the field before it explodes. Any player who has it when it does explode must leave the field. Once the Quod is in the pot, which is a cauldron containing a solution which will prevent the Quod from exploding, the team is awarded a point and a new Quad is brought out onto the field."

"It's not very popular here as it is in America. That must be why you never heard of it." Blair finished her thought.

"Oh." Ron stated as they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

"If you would read more, maybe you would learn something." Hermione spat at him as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

*****

After lunch, true to her word, Heather met up with her new team. Consisting of former Sifto-Salt and the new Gryffindor members, the room began to fill quickly and once she had counted everyone present Heather took attendance. "Alexandra, Celeste."

"Here."

"Brown, Jasmine."

"Here."

"Brown, Lavender."

"Here."

"Brook, Carla."

"I'm here."

"Calman, Courtney."

"Yo!"

"Carmen, Blythe."

"Here."

"Elwood, Lillian."

"Physically, not mentally."

"As usual...Farr, Sandra."

"Good Afternoon."

"Granger, Hermione."

"Here."

"Jade, India."

"Yo, mama!"

"Funny, India. Johnstone, Sarah."

"Can I talk to you after this?"

"Yep. Mercedes, Michelle."

"Here."

"McDonald, Natalie."

"Here."

"The Miller triplets, you guys here?

"Yeppers!"

"You bet!"

"Whatever."

Heather rolled her eyes at the Middle Miller's response. "Nokomis, Nadine."

"Here."

"O'Brian, Shavon."

"Why not."

"Orenda, Moria."

"Here."

"Patil, Par...Par...help with the pronunciation, please."

"Parvati."

"Right. Patil, Parvati...You're here, right?"

"Duh."

"Salena, Mika."

"I'm here, Heather."

"Good. Weasley, Virginia."

"Call me Ginny, Please."

"But Virginia is my mother's name...besides it is a state in the United States."

"Wrong, Virginia. Ginny please."

"Okay, last but not least Yakira, Robin."

"Here."

Heather put her roll sheet away, and smiled at all of them. "Okay, ladies. We are it. We are the new house dance team and I would like to take this moment to tell you what I'm going to call this little endeavor." Heather paused to feed the excitement. "To honor both houses, I'm calling our group Salt and Gryffindor."

"Why not Gryffindor's Salt?" Parvati offered.

"Think Simon and Garfunkel."

"Just as long as we don't have to do "Mrs. Robinson", I'll be fine." Parvati laughed at her own joke.

"That's only if you're on Salt's color guard team." Mika grinned and the rest of the Sifto-Salt's dance team laughed.

"What's so funny?" Hermione laughed.

"Well, most of us on the Dance Team pull double on the color guard and we did that song once for a show." Mika laughed harder.

"Oh."

"What are we going to do this year, Heather? Sloop John B by the Beach Boys?" India Jade asked sarcastically.

"Don't laugh, I was going to do Kokamo." Heather played with India's mind. "You'll find out once we get to my house."

"AW!"

"Yeah, I know. Now Professor Hagrid will have the carriages waiting outside in two hours. Go and pack and I'll meet you outside."

*****

Two hours later, the Salt and Gryffindor dance team met up outside on the front lawn. Hagrid helped the girls load their bags on to the carriages to travel to the train station at Hogsmeade to catch the Hogwart's express to King's cross to catch a bus to the airport and to get on to a plane headed for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

When they reached King's Cross, after several hour's worth of travel, the team crossed the barrier to get on a bus to go to the airport. Once at the airport, Heather and the team passed through metal detectors successfully and Heather found the hanger in which the team would be leaving. "Gate C-10." she called to them.

"But the call board said the plane leaving for Chicago from London is at B-7." Hermione corrected.

"We're not taking a commercial jet." Heather explained. "My father is allowing us to use our private jet because none of you can apperate, yet."

"Neither can you!" Parvati exclaimed.

"Actually, yes I can and so can most of the dance team. Apperation laws are different in the United States. We learn to apperate and get our apperating permits at fifteen and when we are sixteen we can get our apperating licenses." Mika clarified. "Our apperating laws are the same as our muggle vehicle laws."

Heather brushed a stray hair out off her face as she tried not to think about what happened only a few hours ago, but the event was still fresh in her memory. Even though she finally met her long lost brother, it was a bittersweet reunion because even though she gained a brother; she lost her two best friends Rachel Wido and Hector Grey. Heather heaved a large sigh and replayed the scene after she was told of her friend's fate. Harry had run after her, away from the meeting with the meeting with Professor Dumbledore and Gaddis. "Heather, Wait! Stop!"

She turned around and stopped running away from him, even though her head told her not to. Once Harry caught up with her, he took a moment to catch his breath then he spoke. "Are you okay?"

"Would you be okay if you just found out your best friend and your boyfriend died?"

"I would not know anything about a boyfriend, but I would be devastated if I lost Ron and Hermione."

Heather wiped away her tears, but it was a fruitless effort because tears were still streaming down her face. "That's the problem, isn't it? You don't understand...no one understands! First our parents, and now my best friends! It's all my fault!" Heather wept into her hands.

Harry stayed silent almost as if her was debating either hitting her on her head or embracing her so tightly he would just crush all the sadness out of her. He finally spoke when her tears subsided a little. When he did speak, it was so quiet; Heather could hardly hear what he said. "In my fourth year, a student older than me died during the triwizard tournament and for the next year and even still today I blamed myself for his death."

"But at least you still have Hermione and Ron to help you through it."

"And if you would let us, we could be there for you now." Harry enveloped her into a hug. "Heather, you are my sister. I am going to help you through this whether you want me to or not." Tears began to brew in her eyes once more as she hugged him back tightly until the tears stopped rolling down her cheeks.

Heather found herself back at the present as they reached the gate for their flight to

the United States. She absentmindedly handed the flight attendant her ticket. "I cannot

believe my parents and Professor Gaddis would not tell me the truth about Hector and Rachel.

They did not even let me say good-bye to them!"

Heather found her seat with ease and pulled out her journal to begin writing her thoughts on the latest developments of her life down on paper. Then a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Can I sit? Everywhere else if full." Heather knew whom the voice belonged to before she looked up and noticed Hermione Granger standing next to her.

"It's a free country. Do whatever you want." Heather noticed her tone was a little harsher than what should have been, but she did not apologize because it did not seem to faze Hermione.

"What are you working on? Homework?"

"My journal."

"Oh, do you like to write?"

"Yeah."

"Do you write stories?"

"I have a website full of my works. I do mostly poetry, Haiku most of the time. I do write stories, though."

"What kind of stories?"

"Romance mostly. I did a mystery/adventure series once, but it was stupid, so I stopped writing it."

"Oh," Hermione paused not too sure on what she should say next. "I should like to read it sometime."

"Maybe." Heather looked at Hermione and asked the question that had been bugging her for the past few minutes, since Hermione sat down next to her. "Are you going to be this inquisitive the whole 13 hours we are going to be on this plane?"

"I'm sorry if I hit a nerve."

"Did my brother sick you on me?"

"Actually, he did ask me to keep an eye on you to make sure you were okay." Hermione took her charms textbook out and began to read. She had lied. Harry did not even know she was on the dance team, let alone taking this flight with his sister, but it was a good way of making sure Heather did not do something stupid. "He's worried about you, Heather." That was not a complete lie because Harry was worried about her.

"I don't need a babysitter." Heather went back to her writing and Hermione went back to her charms homework, saying nothing else to her, allowing her some "cool-down" time.

"Why is she making it so hard for me to be her friend?" Hermione wondered to herself as she flipped the page of her charms book. "Is it because of her friend's death? Does she not want anyone to get close to her because she is afraid of hurting them, too?" Hermione pondered these things during the rest of the flight.

*****

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9. Hermione's Transfiguration

Title: Harry Potter and the Girl Who Lived

By: S'Eleene Paris

Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, see chapter one for details.

Author's notes:

I do apologize for the wait. I know that it took forever for me to update, but I do hope

you enjoyed my shorts during this time.

I would like to thank the following:

I would like to thank all the people who mean the most to me. I would like

to thank all the people who think they mean the most to me.

Seriously, though, I would like to thank all of those who have responded to this piece.

I would also kindly remind you that this is an AU. Alternate Universe so there are a few small

minor things that are different. I have had a few pieces of hate mail about Ginny’s name. I

wrote this piece before we all knew her name was actually not Virginia, so due to consistency

of this piece I decided to continue with Virginia. Another editing will change that once I get

this first set out of the way. Thanks for that and for waiting. Also, Hermione takes on some

obvious “changes”, but I think deep down inside all of us, we all have a bad streak.

okay, the now presenting the long awaited chapter nine.

Chapter Nine

Hermione's Transfiguration

Once the Salt and Gryffindor Dance Team landed at the Chicago

International Airport and went through customs, the group exited the

airport to await the arrival of their ride to Heather Potter's house.

It did not take too long for the three black and silver stretch limousines

to pulled up to where they stood. Three men, in identical uniforms, headed

toward Heather and she smiled at them. "Hello, Miles, James, and Jonathon."

"Sorry we are late, Miss Potter. There was a lot of traffic." Miles

gestured for the other two to start loading the vehicles with the luggage

and the girls. "How was your trip?"

"It was nice and that is alright we just got here. The plane was

late taking off." Heather handed him her suitcases and Miles put it in the

trunk of the first car. Heather took the last remaining seat in the first

car. Miles shut the car door and headed to the front of the car.

"Wow, Heather! Three drivers? You must have more money than all the

Malfoys combined!" Parvati Patil exclaimed.

"Actually, no. Miles is our driver normally. James is the butler

and Jonathon is our Chef. They pull double when we have rather large groups

come to the house." Heather yawned and closed her eyes to nap a little

before they reached her home.

"How long does it take in order to reach your house?" Hermione

asked as she took in the sites of Chicago, Illinois.

"About a hour. Depending on traffic and if it's still road

construction season." Heather opened her eyes, then turned around her to

roll down the glass divider between Miles and the rest of the vehicle.

"Miles which way are we going to be going? Route 45, Route 50, or I-57?"

"I-57 of course."

"Thanks." Heather rolled the window back up halfway, then

remembered to ask him. "Oh, Miles could we stop off at Kroger? I need to

pick up something."

"Yes, Miss."

Heather rolled the window back up and opened a compartment to her

left to take out a Diet Pepsi. She opened up the bottle and took a drink.

The girls looked at her with envy. "There is another cooler with pop in

it over there. You are welcome to it."

After about fourteen hours worth of travel, the group of travelers

finally reached their destination: the house in which Heather Potter lived.

Hermione stepped out of the care and took note of how large the house seemed

compared to her own. Once the group reached the inside the foyer of the

Red and limestone brick house, Heather showed them around the house. James

showed the girls to their rooms to their rooms, in which were comfortable

since they only had to pair up.

Once settled, the girls regrouped in the family room to watch a

movie. "So, what do you all want to watch?" Heather asked. "You name it, I

probably have it."

"How about the Sound of Music?" Nadine Nokomis offered.

"Nah, none of that music stuff. How about something scary?"

Celeste Alexandra offered.

"Yeah, Like the Blair Witch Project." Courtney Calmen added her

two cents worth as she tossed her light brown mid- back hair over her

shoulder.

"That's not scary!" Blythe Carmen rolled her eyes. "Besides, I'm

not really in the mood to watch some stupid muggles trampling around the

Blair woods looking for a ghost of a witch who obviously was in Slytherin

house."

"How about Something funny, then? India Jade offered as she cleaned

the imaginary dirt from under her nails with the tip of her metal nail file.

"Like Patch Adams?"

"That is more sad then funny." Mika Salena corrected her. "How

about the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood?"

"I'm not really in the mood to laugh to hard..." Amber Miller

complained as Hermione Granger came into the room bearing her school bag

and books. Hermione found a chair on the other side of the room and opened

her school bag and took out her homework to begin studying.

"I'm going to go and run to the bathroom. If you guys finally

decide on a movie, let me know." Heather stood up from where she reclined

on the couch and made a bee-line for the opposite end of the room, to where

the door to the hallway was. Heather walked right by Hermione and decided

she needed to get more involved with the group.

Heather walked back into the room and took Hermione's books from

her and threw them on the floor. "I've had it!" Heather exclaimed as the

other girls took notice and turned around to watch Heather blow up at

Hermione, but what they received surprised them. "Ladies." She called over

her shoulder. "I think it is time for a make-over."

*****

The Great Hall buzzed with excitement as the first Quidditch match

of the season was coming up later in the afternoon, especially since it

was a double header between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The schedule set up

for today consisted of the Quidditch teams first, then after the Quidditch

teams, the Quadpot teams were going to play and the two dance teams were

going to perform as the half time show as they modified the field for

Quadpot.

As Harry Potter noticed his friend Ronald Weasley sitting in their

usual spot at the Gryffindor table. The Gryffindor house Quidditch team

keeper reclined on the table across from him to eat breakfast. A pang of

disappointment shot through him as he noticed Hermione was not there with

him. "Where is Hermione? She's never missed a game, Ron. I have not seen

her in any of her classes and she is never in the library! This is nothing

like her. Something must be wrong!"

"I asked Professor McGonagall about Hermione this morning and all

she said was she had sent Hermione on a special mission for her and will not

be back until later today before the game." Ron gnawed on his sausages.

When he noticed the biscuits and gravy and reached out to claim some for

his plate. "The only reason you want her here is because you fancy her and

you want to show off in front of her."

"Ron, next time say it a little louder. I don't think the

Slytherin table heard you."

"So it is true!"

"What?"

"Fancy her, don't you?"

"Fancy who?"

"Don't be such a git, Harry. Hermione of course."

"Hermione?"

"Hermione Granger, you know, our best friend since first year?

Bushy brown hair, brown eyes, went with Viktor Krum in our fourth year."

"I know who she is, Ron."

“So.”

"So, What, Ron?"

"Do you fancy her? It's a simple question, Harry."

"Yes, so would you stop asking please so get back to knowing that

not in a million years she would ever go with me."

Ron grinned ear to ear as he took a sip from his pumpkin juice.

"Don't worry, Harry. Your secret is safe with me."

*****

The Early October sun parted its way through the few white

puffy clouds in which floated like pillows in the deep sapphire sky.

The Gryffindor House Quidditch team was sweeping the Slytherin team

90 to 20.

Harry flew around the pitch in search of the Golden Snitch.

"Another save from Gryffindor's keeper, Ron Weasley. "Rage-filled

Ronald" throws it to Chaser Parker Aubrey, a good find for the team

takes the Quaffle across the field to take it to score!" Dean Thomas'

voice floated over the loud speaker. Dean had taken over the

announcing for the Quidditch teams once Lee Jordan left Hogwarts a

few years ago. Needless to say, Professor McGonagall did not have to

threaten Dean as much as Lee when he became biased toward their house

team.

Harry took a moment to stop his search to watch his best

friend throw the Quaffle to the new chasers from Sifto-Salt. Parker

had caught it and raced toward the Slytherin side of the pitch to the

goal post. Harry avoided almost being hit by a bludger, when he speed

forward in search of the missing Snitch once again. Harry wished he

could have continued watching the new chasers to see if they had made

it in the goal post, but continued his search. A few seconds later,

the goal post rung in confirmation the Quaffle did indeed make it

inside of the Goal post. Dean Thomas took the liberty to announce the

new score. "Gryffindors lead 100 to 20!"

The Gryffindor seeker spotted the snitch near the ground of

the pitch and Harry raced after it. Draco Malfoy saw he was going

after it, and went after him. Even though Draco made the attempt,

Harry made the catch and won the game by 250 to 20. Harry, Ron, Parker,

Christina Anderson (chaser), Alice Ari(chaser), Beau Benedict, and

Prescott Plato (both beaters) landed to on the field to watch the half

time show. Slytherin did the same on the other side. "Ron, did you see

Hermione? I sure didn't."

"No, I wonder where she is." Ron seemed more interested in

the dance team setting up, rather than his missing friend. Harry

followed his gaze toward the girls and rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you, Ron! Hermione is missing and all you can

think about it are girls in leather pants. You have such a one tracked

mind..." Ron was watching the group of girls as if they were veela,

but knew not if any of them were.

Once the music started, the girls began to perform. Harry

took note of the Gryffindor girls who joined the team. "Ah, Ginny

made the team. As did Parvati and Lavender, no surprise there.

Natalie and who is that?" Harry thought as he took note of a girl who

had strait brown hair and cinnamon eyes. She swayed her hips to the

music and Harry's heart seemed to pound in his chest. "It must be the

costume." Harry decided as he was practically drooling over her in the

black leather pants and the red and black string halter top she wore.

She had a tattoo on the tip of her shoulder of Gryffindor house

mascot, the lion.

Harry looked over at Ron to see if he saw the same girl,

to ask him if he knew her, and to see if he was affected this way too.

Ron seemed to be entranced by another girl and once Harry followed his

gaze found it to be Heather. "That's my sister, Mate!"

"I'll stop staring at her once you stop staring at Hermione."

he gestured back to the girl in which Harry had been thinking in

pure thoughts about the moment before. "That's Hermione?"

"Not as good as Heather." Ron grinned evilly. Ron's remark received

a smack on the arm from the Gryffindor seeker and brother of the girl of

whom he was referring on the back of his head.

Once the Salt and Gryffindor dance team finished their routine of

"Baby-Got-Back" by Sir Mix-a-lot, they joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team

off on the sidelines after they had begun to tear down their equipment and

put it away. Heather and Hermione bent down to untangle the wires belonging

to the sound system. Harry and Ron watched and admired the view of their

well formed behinds through the material of their pants. When Harry and Ron

went over to congratulate them, to playfully get their attention, Harry placed

his hand on Hermione's behind, as did Ron with Heather, and touched where they

dared.

Hermione's eyes popped out of her head and she looked over at Heather

to confirm what they had discussed before. Heather nodded and the two ladies

stood up from their bent positions and turned around to confront the two

idiots who dared to do what they had just did. In one swift motion, the two

ladies acted in unison, and reached down to grope the two boys. Heather did

all the talking. "If either of you two gentlemen do that ever again," Warned

Heather. "I will rip your manhood off and force feed it to you. Is that

understood?"

"Yes." They whimpered and the two girls let go of their hold on them.

After the two boys recovered a little, the announcement was made for the

other teams to clear the field so the referees would be able to adapt the

pitch for Quadpot.

Once Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather reached the stands, Dean

Thomas was announcing the Gryffindor team. "Arriving in Alphabetical order

for Gryffindor we have Captain Andrew Ambrose leading his team onto the

field. Following are: Blair Blake, Belle Clocksmen, Cosmo Cyrus, Jessie

Phillips, Robert Smart, Isaac Yoder, Ishmael Yoder, Rachel Yoder, and Samuel

Yoder!"

After some cheering from Gryffindor, Sifto-Salt, Hufflepuff, Milner,

Ravenclaw, and Franklin houses the other team took to the field. After

their team was announced for the Slytherin, six more students came out on the

field. Dean Thomas clarified why the other six were needed. "Since

Quadpot is not as popular here as it is in America, we have asked six

students, three from each house, to referee this event today. From

Western house we have: Danielle MacNeal, Robert Crabbe, and Richard Gay-

Allison. From Sifto-Salt we have:  Alexander Benson, Lana Wells, and

Hannah Yoder.

The two teams hovered over the Quad as it was brought out on to

the field and once the other referees took their positions, Hannah Yoder

released the Quad and the game begun.

*****

The following morning, Hermione and Heather refused to speak to

Harry and Ron due to the previous days events on the Quidditch field.” It’s

just not bloody natural for Hermione to be mad at us this long, especially

for something as small as that. Really, Harry, I think your sister is a

bad influence on her." Ron complained as the two of them stride into the

Great Hall for lunch the following day.

"Yeah, but we're the ones who made them mad." Harry mentioned to him

as he opened the doors to the Great Hall. "We have to go and make it right,

Ron. No matter what the cost."

The two of them made for the Gryffindor table, but instead of

sitting down on the table next to Hermione and Heather, the two boys stood

up on the table to make an announcement to the whole student and teacher

population. "Can I have your attention please?" Harry spoke loudly so

everyone could hear.

All the noise from the chattering students suddenly halted as the

boy-who-lived made the apology public. "I'd like to take this time to

make it known Ron Weasley and I have done something dishonorable to Hermione

Granger and Heather Potter and wish to submit our apologies to the public

and to them personally, by allowing them to do anything they want to us in

from of the entire school population as witnesses."

Murmurs came from the students across the room. "Anything?" Heather

asked wickedly.

Ron gulped audiably. "Anything."

Heather grinned and stood up, with Hermione at her side, and nodded

to Hermione who in turned nodded back. Heather grinned ear-to-ear. "Are you

sure you want to do that? We might do something really evil to you."

Harry shook his head, bravely. "Anything you want, we were the ones

who wronged you."

"Alright. Hermione grinned pointing her wand toward them. She looked

over at Heather and asked. "Heather, would you like to do the honors?"

"It would be my pleasure." Heather grinned a truly evil grin. One

of which made even Harry gulp. Heather muttered a spell under her breath

and pointed her hand toward the two of them. Harry closed his eyes and hoped

it did not hurt too much.

Harry felt the spell hit him and he suddenly felt as if there was a

draft. Harry heard laughter and once he opened his eyes he knew why.

Everyone tried to suppress giggles coming from everyone in the room, even

several teachers found the site amusing including Professor Dumbledore who

sat at the table trying to figure out if he wanted to laugh at the boys or

to feel sorry for them. Harry and Ron looked down and found themselves no

longer in their school robes, but only their boxer shorts. Ron grew as red

as his silk ones he wore and Harry felt himself grow hot with a blush as

well.

"I think that makes us even, don't you think, Hermione?"

"Oh yes, very much so." Heather and Hermione looked them up and down

before striding confidently out of the Great hall while wolf calls

came from the Slytherin end of the Great Hall.

*****

A couple of days later, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Heather reclined

in the prefect meeting with the other prefects and the house heads:

Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Sprout, and Professor

Flitwick. "Is there any other business we need to discuss this evening?"

Professor McGonagall headed the meeting.

Heather Potter raised her hand and Professor McGonagall called upon

her. "Professor, I was wondering if the Gryffindor or any other house has

done any charitable work?"

"No not normally, why do you ask Miss Potter?" Professor Sprout

answered in her kind voice.

"Because it is custom for the Chicago Institute students to perform

charity work for the local charities like hospitals or disasters of some

kind. A give back to the community sort of thing."

"Oh."

"I was wondering if Gryffindor house could do something like that."

Heather exhaled a breath she did not realize she was holding.

"We could give the money to Saint Mungo's." Harry offered. "To

be used in their long-term occupant ward. I have not seen it myself, but if

Voldermort is coming back to power, I have a feeling they will need to

expand." Harry did not let on he knew about one of his fellow Gryffindor's,

Neville Longbottom, parents were occupants on the ward he had mentioned and

ignored the shivers and hisses coming from the others in the room when

he mentioned Voldermort's name.

"Good idea." Professor Flitwick stated once he recovered from the

shock of hearing one of the students calling the dark lord by his name. “So,

how do you plan on doing it?"

"Well, I was thinking of doing a fashion show. It could be

sponsored by the whole house and we could have sign ups for people to do

help us out. We could sell tickets during meal hours."

"How much do you think the tickets would be?" Professor Sprout

seemed sold on the idea.

"We could advertise in Hogsmeade and have for adults: nine sickles,

for students and professors: seven sickles, and professors Dumbledore and

Gaddis get in free."

"It sounds like a wonderful idea, Heather."

"Actually, it was not mine, it was Hermione's idea. She came up with

the idea when we were on the dance team retreat. Heather looked at Hermione

and filled the group in on the conversation at Heather's home.

"As long as the money does not go to spew, I'm fine with it." Ron

crossed his arms as he leaned back and slouched in his chair.

"It's S.P.E.W.!" Both Harry and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

Everyone else in the room seemed confused as if they had missed a private

joke between the three of them.

Heather was the first to speak her thoughts. "Did I miss something

here?"

"Oh, it's that stupid society Mudblood cooked up for the house

elves. Something about equal rights." Draco Malfoy spat out before he

realized what he had said in front of the professors.

Professor McGonagall pounced on it, like she would if she had been

in her animagi form. "Fifty points from Slytherin house and Mr. Malfoy I

expect to see you in detention. I do not know how many times I have warned

you about that very same thing. Maybe that will teach you some manors."

"S.P.E.W is the acronym for the group 'Mione came up with." Harry

explained. "It's the stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish

Welfare."

"But house elves like doing chores. " Professor Sprout seemed

confused.

"But they should get paid for doing them, just like everyone else."

Hermione exclaimed and Ron rolled her eyes, as if he was silently trying

to tell the group not to pursue the topic of conversation and to get back

to the one at hand.

Professor Snape seemed to grow irritated by the mere mention of

house elves having equal rights, but stayed silent as he was plotting

against Professor McGonagall get his house their dignities back after

Draco Malfoy blew it.

"I will take the idea up with the headmasters, right now, let's

adjourn for the evening. Remember to post signs for the Halloween ball and

help come up with ideas for the theme. You are dismissed."

Everyone stood up to leave the meeting and Ron went around to where

Heather stood talking to Hermione and Hannah Abbott. "Harry and I are ready

to go do our rounds before heading to back to the common room. Want to

come?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." Heather said as she said good-

bye to Hannah, then Ron escorted Heather with Hermione in tow to meet

Harry outside the door.

The corridors of the school were pitch black except for the

torches of the fire pits; they were lit and burning brightly. Heather and

Ron was talking to each other about something, or nothing perhaps;

Hermione could not tell. All Hermione knew was how much her heart longed for

the boy who walked beside her. Hermione took a moment to glance in the

direction of the boy-who-lived. His messy jet-black hair disappeared into

the darkness around them. His eyes were coasted downward toward his feet.

Hermione recognized this particular expression as his "deep in thought"

look.

Harry caught her looking at him. "What?"

"Knut for your thoughts. What is wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"Oh, well then."

"Actually," he admitted. "I was thinking about the Halloween ball."

"Coming up with ideas for a theme?"

"Actually, I was trying to think about a way to ask the witch I want

to take and convince her to go with me."

"Oh, really?" Hermione tried not to let her voice sound too hopeful.

"who is the lucky witch Harry?"

"I'd rather not say, at least for now anyway."

"Alright. What is she like then?" Hermione took her eyes

away from him a moment to look out onto the balcony. She led him over to the

spot and looked off it toward the lake.

"Well, she's smart, funny, beautiful, and we've known each other for

quite a while."

Hermione looked down at the concrete railing. She knew she was not

the one in which he was referring to because she was not beautiful and

funny."

"She sounds like a gem to me, Harry."

"She is." Harry paused and he was tempted to tell her the entire

truth, confess to her that he indeed want to take her to the ball.

"I had an idea about the Halloween ball theme." Hermione piped up,

wanting to change the topic before she burst into tears in front of him.

"What was your idea?"

"Well, whenever my mum and dad threw a party for Halloween, we would

get dressed as witches, warlocks, wizards, fairies...well you get the idea."

"Yeah, so?" Harry was not sure where this was going to head.

"Why don't we dress up like muggles from different time periods?

Like the Renaissance, The Middle Ages, The 50's era, and the disco era...

you know that sort of thing."

"Hermione! That is a brilliant idea! I wish I could have thought of

that. You are going to take it up with Professor McGonagall aren’t you?"

"Of course."

Before Hermione could say anything more, Ron and Heather came

rushing to find them. "Guess what, Harry? I have a date to the Halloween

ball."

"Congratulations! Who is the luck wizard?"

"Me, mate!" Ron's red hair showed brightly in the pale moon light.

Hermione could tell Harry wanted to deck his best friend, but instead held

his tongue until he could control his rage. When he could speak, all he

could muster was. "We should be heading back to the common room. I have lots

of homework to finish before tomorrow."

"Speaking of tomorrow," Hermione began. "Professor McGonagall

is suppose to be handing out our revised schedules to us." Hermione sat

down in a large arm chair once they had reached the Gryffindor common room.

"I hope you guys get Professors Wells or Phillips. They are

awesome!"

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Professor Laurie Wells is one of our charms professors. I had her

at the Cottage Grove campus. She is the one who wears the light pink

robes with the soft gold trimming on them."

"Oh, that one witch with the short cropped blonde hair and blue

eyes, Okay, but what was the other one? Professor Phillips was it?"

"Professor James Phillips, the head of Franklin house and my current

Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He's the one who always insists of

wearing his house colors. Midnight blue and silver. He's one interesting

man, let me tell you!"

"Probably not compared to some of the DADA professors we have had."

Harry laughed at the thought.

"Tell me!" Heather pleaded and Harry proceeded to tell her.

*****

+*+

@>----- +*+*+*

+*

10. Uncle Severus and Halloween

For information about where I got the information on

Hermione in Greek mythology go here

Chapter Ten

Uncle Severus and Halloween

True to her word, Hermione’s prediction of Professor McGonagall

passing out the revised schedule came to pass the following morning.

Harry glanced down at his revised schedule and decided he did not mind

having some entirely new professors.

Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday

Time:                          Class:                         Professor:

9am-10am                    Transfiguration                  McGonagall

10:30am-11:30am              Potions                       Snape / Shift

1pm-2pm                      Charms                            Wells

2:30pm to 3:30pm     Care of Magical Creatures               Hagrid

Tuesday/ Thursday

Time:                          Class:                         Professor:

9am-10am                       Astronomy                      Star-Cluster

10:30am to 11:30am           History of Magic                  Binns

1pm to 2pm                     Defense Against D.A.           Phillips

2:30pm to 3:30pm               Muggle Studies                   Moon

10:30pm to 11:45pm            Astronomy Lab                  Star-Cluster

Harry compared his, Ron’s, Heather’s and Hermione’s schedules.

He found all of their classes matched perfectly, but Heather had advanced

classes after dinner on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Her classes

consisted of Animagi training and advanced Divination.

“Wait a minute, there must be some mistake. Heather, you are only a fifth year.

How come you in our classes, not to mention in all these advanced classes?”

Hermione seemed confused as it really did not seem logical that she would be

in advanced classes.

“Remember how Professor Gaddis said I am training to be a Sorceress?”

“Yes.”

“It’s because I am advanced for my age. We have a law in America that says

I cannot graduate until I am 18 and since I am so far advanced, they have

begun my career training.” Heather lifted the confusion from Hermione,

until Ron spoke up.

“So basically you are a seventh year, in a fifth year body, which

should be a sixth year.”

“I guess so.” Heather tried to make sense of his logic, but decided

that it hurt her brain hurt too much trying to figure it out, so she just

agreed with him to make him think she understood, but not quite getting

it herself. “Besides after the attack, my activities have diminished very much,

so I will be able to have some time for myself, because I will only have my

career prep classes and the dance team practice. Since the school play was

canceled as was the color guard team and a few other things.”

“It still sounds like you have a full schedule, anyway.” Hermione seemed

impressed by her organization and usage of time. “But you did not

leave any time for you to study.”

“I don’t need to study. I write it down once, and I have it.”

Heather looked at her watch. “We better get heading to class! We’re going

to be late!”

*****

After transfiguration was over, the four of them headed

down to the dungeons for potions. Professor Severus

Snape stood in front of the class in his greasy jet black

hair and his pitch black robes. He was not entirely alone

in his classroom, Harry noticed as he claimed a seat in

between his sister, Heather, and Hermione. Ron decided

he was safer sitting on Heather’s right side instead of her

left because Harry still seemed a little upset with him after

asking his sister to the Halloween ball.

Standing next to Professor Snape was a woman Harry

presumed to be Professor Shift, the head of Sifto-Salt

house. Her red robes draped on her shoulders gracefully

and upon her face was a beautiful smile and friendly looking

eyes. She was very much contrast to Professor Snape at this

present moment. She was the first to speak. “Good morning

class. For those of you who do not know me, I am Professor

Shift. For those who do not know this man, he is Professor

Snape. We will be your potions masters for the rest of the

school year.” Professor Shift began to hand out the course

syllabus. “It’s a good thing that our schools use most of the

same textbooks, otherwise there would have had no

interschool cooperation.”

Professor Snape said nothing as he began to look over his

lesson plans. Harry thought he seemed rather upset sharing

his classroom and class with another professor. Professor

Shift’s voice called Harry back from his musings. “So, we

will test of the syllabus on Wednesday does that sound

good to everyone? Now are there any questions?”

Heather shot her hand up and awaited to be called upon,

since her hand was the only one in the air, she was called

upon rather quickly. “Yes, Heather. What is it?”

“Professor, I have a question that really does not have to

do with this class, but it is rather important…”

“What is it, then? You know I am willing to

answer any questions with in reason.”

“Well, I was wondering how long we have to

wear this whole uniform thing. This tie is driving

me nuts!” Heather pulled at it to show her distaste.

“I cannot tie ties very well and I had to ask Harry

this morning to help me. I still do not have it quite

down as of yet. So could you ask Professor Gaddis

or Professor Dumbledore about it?”

Professor Snape seemed to jump at the chance to

give James and Lily Potter’s daughter a hard time.

“Anyone want to answer Miss Potter’s stupid question?”

Hermione’s hand shot up into the air like a bullet. Snape

ignored it and called upon Draco Malfoy. “Malfoy,

would you like to give it a go?”

“Our school uniform is not complete with out it, sir.

House points will be taken off if our uniforms are not

complete.” Malfoy turned around in his chair to face

her. “So I suggest you learn how to tie your tie, Ms.

Scar head.” Malfoy turned back around in his chair

to face the front. Snape seemed pleased with the answer

from his student; however, Professor Shift seemed furious.

“Ten points from Slytherin,” Professor Shift definitely was

upset “for name calling is strictly forbidden. I will not put

up with it and Mr. Malfoy; I will see you tonight in detention.

I cannot believe I had to take points away this early in the school

year! I expected this from Western and my house but not

from Hogwarts students.” The two professors claimed each

others places, but Snape mumbled something and the only one

who could hear it was Professor Shift. “It was not a stupid

question, Severus. The students at the Chicago Institute are

not required to wear the complete uniform all the time. The

only time in which they are at: the first feast, every Sundays

for meals, and when ever they attend a formal school event

with other schools involved.”

Professor Snape ignored Professor Shift and began to teach

his lesson. “Today we will be learning about the polyjuice

potion…”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other and Hermione

grinned from ear to ear full knowing they had brewed that particular

potion during their second year in the third-floor girls’ bathroom.

Snape wrote the ingredients on the blackboard along with the

instructions in order to brew it. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather

wrote the instructions down carefully.

“How long do the lacewing flies must be stewed?” Professor Snape

asked the class. Hermione Granger and Heather Potter were the only ones

who raised their hands.

“Yes, Miss Granger.” Professor Shift called upon her since

Professor Snape was having a hard time deciding which student he

would call upon.

“Twenty-one days.”

“Very good, Miss Granger and ten points to Gryffindor.

Miss Potter was there something you wanted to add?”

“Yes, Professor, I believe Ms. Granger has not read the

latest article of Potions weekly.”

“Why do you say that, Heather?” Professor Shift asked

from the teacher’s desk.

“Well,” Heather pulled the magazine our from her

book bag. “According to Professor Hazel Knut at the Great

Lakes Academy you have to stew them for at least 21 days.”

“Isn’t that what Granger already said?” Draco Malfoy sniggered.

“No it is not.” Professor Shift looked over at Draco Malfoy

to glare at him. She looked over at Heather before she allowed

Heather to continue.

“The lacewing flies have to stew for twenty-one days,

that is a given, but Professor Knut found that the longer your

lacewing flies, the longer your polyjuice potion will last. For

example, if you stew your lacewing flies for forty-two days,

the potion will last for two hours instead of the usual of only one.”

“That was so insightful.” Professor Snape said in his

usual monotone voice, but it was said in a sarcastic way. He

then turned to face Harry.  “It is obvious who the brains are

in the Potter family.” Snape sneered and went back to teaching

the polyjuice potion.

“That was incredibly rude.” Heather whispered so

only Harry, Ron, and Hermione could hear.

“He is always on Harry about something. We are

positive he has it out for him.” Ron whispered back to her.

“He doesn’t like me because something that happened

a long time ago with our dad. To put it mildly, they did not

get along.” Harry said bitterly.

“That is really mildly.” Hermione explained to her.

“It sounds to me like someone needs a little attitude

adjustment.” Heather looked at the professor and grinned.

She cracked her knuckles and knew she had to do something

about this particular professor. “Who better than Chaos

to give it to him?”

“Heather, no way! Do you know how much trouble

you would be in if you get caught?” Hermione preached.

“Yeah, and that will be half the fun. Besides, I do

not plan on using my wand. I can use wand-less magic,

remember?” Heather turned back in her chair to cast a

spell on Professor Snape. “After all, payback is a bitch.

Aloha mortis.” She cast a spell to make him wear a Hawaiian

grass skirt, a pair of red and white floral print swimming trunks,

and a lai.

When Professor Snape turned around, he heard

subdued laughter coming from his class. He looked

down at his clothes and turned a deep shade of crimson

with embarrassment and anger, but before he could do

anything about it, the bell rang for his class to leave the room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exited the room right behind

Heather. “Bloody hell, Heather! I can’t believe you just

pulled that off!” Ron exclaimed once they were safely

away from the dungeon.

“Neither can I!” Hermione still seemed shocked

Heather had been able to pull it off.

“I can’t either!” Heather exclaimed. “I cannot

believe how easy Seriously Snapped was!” The four of them laughed.

“Nice job, Chaos.” Ishmael Yoder, a seventh

year Sifto-Salt member, patted her on the back.

“I saw the whole thing and I could have not done

it better.” Ishmael and his twin brother Isaac had

caught up with the group.

“Do you take request, Heather?”

“I always do, you know that, Isaac Yoder.”

“How about a Kimono, you know one of

those Japanese formals, complete with the

wooden shoes and make-up.”

“Red and white?”

“Nah, let’s pin it on those stupid idiots

known as the Slytherins.”

“Green and silver then it is.”

“Sounds good to me.” Neville

Longbottom caught up with the group.

“If anyone comes up with anymore

ideas, let me know.” Heather grinned

from ear to ear. “I think I am going to

have some fun this year!”

*****

The next day of potions, some to the students

arrived weary of what their potions masters

had to say about what happened in their last

class session. Nothing was said about it and

class had continued on as if it did not happen.

The Charms classes had been canceled earlier

in the day due to Professor Flitwick and the

other Charms professors were away at a

conference in France, so Harry, Ron, Hermione,

and Heather made plans to meet Hagrid in his

hut for afternoon tea.

Halfway through potions, Professor Snape called

upon Heather to show the class how to properly

insert their lacewing flies into their cauldron

because Neville Longbottom melted his fifth

one for that particular week.

“Yes, Uncle Severus.” Heather sauntered

up to the front. Professor Snape took

her aside and spat at her.

“Do not call me Uncle Severus during class.

It’s Professor Snape, understood?”

“Yes, Uncle Severus.” Harry called from his

seat across the room from where the two of them stood.

“That goes for you too!” Snape pointed at

Harry as he spat out his acid.

Both Harry and Heather grinned from ear to

ear as the class laughed hysterically at the

professor’s little problem. Then both of the

Potter children said in unison. “Yes, Uncle Severus.”

“If you two do not stop disrupting this class, I will put

you in detention and take a way ten points from Gryffindor.”

It was not Professor Snape that threatened, but it was

Professor Shift.

“Yes, Professor Shift.” The rest of the class observed

silence for the remainder of the class session.

After lunch finished, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather

dragged their school bags and books to Hagrid’s hut.

Ron knocked on the door and Hagrid opened the door.

“Come on in! I jus’ put the tea on. I see ya brough

‘Eather wit ya.” Heather shook his hand once he offered it after

the four of them took off their coats and joined him inside. “

Ya look jus like yar motha’ before she died. Exep ya got Jame’s

eyes ‘an hair, ‘o course.” Heather smiled at the rather large man,

of whom of which reminded her of a teddy bear. “I didn’t ev’n

know ya existed until Professor Dumbledore mentioned ya at the

staff meeting once ya arrived ‘an all. Ya ‘ere top secret ya ‘ere.

He didn’t want ya to get ‘urt.”

“What do you mean, Hagrid?” Harry seemed confused

on the details of his sister and his separation from one another.

“As, ya know, ya’re parents went into hiding when ya

‘ere one, Harry. Lily was ‘xpecting Heather in six months,

but didn’t want to risk anyone else knowing because their

lives ‘ere in danger. So, ‘Eather, here was one of the secrets

the secret keeper was going to keep. Only, James, Dumbledore

, Sirius, Madame Nelson, Peter, ‘an of course Lily knew.”

“Why Madame Nelson?” Ron asked as Hermione

rolled her eyes.

“Who do you think delivered her? They could not

exactly go to St. Mungo’s now could they?” Hermione

knocked Ron on the head and both Harry and Heather

tried very hard to suppress their fits of laughter.

Hagrid laughed heart fully. “Ya ‘o course know

avout what ‘appen to ya’re parents secret keeper.

That is probably why he went after ya at school,

‘Eather. Peter musta told ‘em about ya ‘an finish

off the potter line.”

“Who’s Peter?” Heather was the one who

seemed confused now. It was obvious no one had

told her about this before.

“I’ll tell you later.” Harry told her as Heather

sipped on her tea, but Harry seemed to want more

answers. “But Hagrid that does not explain why we

did not know we were brother and sister until recently.”

“I asked Dumbledore the very same question,

‘Arry.” Hagrid took a sip of his tea. “Dumbledore told

me about what happened right after ya’re parents

‘ere attacked. Dumbledore knew about what happened

and went to go secure the two of you. He gave ‘Eather

to her Godmother, ‘irgina ‘elson, and you, ‘Arry,

to the Weasleys, until we could find your aunt and uncle.”

Hagrid paused then continued. “Dumbledore told

me to get ya from the Weasleys a couple ‘o hours later.

Sirius Black loaned me his motorbike and I flew to get ya.

Dumbledore never told me to get ya ‘Eather because he

knew ya ‘ere out of the country ‘an ‘ere in a place

he-who-must-not-be-named would not be able to find

ya for a while ‘an could lead a somewhat normal life.

‘Arry, ya ‘ere safest with the Dursleys because they

‘ere muggles and he would never have found ya there.”

Harry seemed satisfied with this explanation, but

turned to face Ron. “I guess it really was fate that we

are best mates.” Harry smiled warmly at his red haired

friend.

“I guess so.” Ron’s eyes sparkled brightly and

Ron turned to look at Heather. Heather met his gaze

and there was something strange about his gaze that

made her not want it to let it drop. Ron smiled at her

with a wide grin and Heather suppressed a giggle.

Hermione watched the display between the two

and smiled. “If only they knew what they were getting

themselves into.” Hermione thought to herself as she

looked down at Fang, Hagrid’s dog, which sleeps fully

drooled all over her robes. Hermione patted the old

dog’s head and scratched behind the old boarhound’s

ears absentmindedly. She smiled at the dog and when

her gaze floated back to the group, she noticed Harry

looking at her with an unusual expression on his face.

He seemed to be waiting for a response from a question

that was asked. “I’m sorry, I was thinking about

something else. What did you ask me?”

“I was wondering if you were ready to go.

We have class in a few minutes and we need to be

getting down to the edge of the forest.” Harry smiled

at her affectionately. Ron, Heather, and Hagrid were

already outside once Hermione stood up to stretch.

When Hermione bent over to pick up her bag, she and

Harry’s heads collided; he was obviously trying to do

the same thing. “Ouch!” the both of them yelped in pain.

“Are you okay, Hermione?” Harry asked once

he had overcome the shock of the accident. Harry

reached over to touch her head once he securely had

her bag on his shoulder. “You don’t need to go to the

hospital wing, do you?”

“I’m alright.” She sharply in took air as she winced in pain

as he touched the spot in which his head collided with

hers. The room began to spin a little as Hermione felt

woozy enough to sit back down on the chair. “Well,

maybe I should go.”

“I’ll go tell Hagrid and I will escort you to the

hospital wing.”

“Harry, you don’t have to miss class because of

me. Besides, we have N.E.W.T.S. coming up

shortly. You need to be in class as much as possible,

especially you since you want to be an auror.” Hermione

complained as he knew very well she would do this sort

of thing, after telling her about his hope and desire to become

an auror to once and for all take down Voldermort.

“Hermione, you can barely stand, let alone walk.”

Harry quickly spat out as we went over to get Hagrid’s

bucket as Hermione turned a mighty shade of green.

Luckily, he gave her the bucket just in time before she

vomited. “I think you have a concussion.”

“I think you are right.” She leaned back into the

chair and closed her eyes to try to stop the world from

spinning around her. “I think you better go and tell Hagrid.”

“I’ll be back in a flash, Hermione.” Harry raced

out the door to inform Hagrid what had occurred in his

hut in his absence.

“Are ya alright then, ’Arry?” Hagrid asked after

Harry recounted the tale of what happened.

“I just have a bump, but I need to escort Hermione

to the hospital wing. She can barely stand on her own and

she threw-up. Those are classic signs of a concussion.”

Harry wanted this conversation to end as quickly as

possible because he knew if Hermione went to sleep;

she would never wake up.

“Go along then, ‘Arry.” Hagrid dismissed the

boy and he raced off back to Hagrid’s hut to take

Hermione to the hospital wing.

Once the two came to the steps to get inside

of the school, Hermione collapsed on to one

of the steps. “I need to stop, Harry.”

“Alright,” Harry leaned against the railing wall

across from her on the top step. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just need a break.” She placed her

head in between her legs to try to let the dizzy

sensations subside.

Harry tried to rack his mind over what he should do

when someone has a concussion. He had read up on muggle

first aid when he spent the summer with the Dursleys and

he read something about head injuries. “Don’t let her

loose conciseness.” Something inside him screamed.

When he saw her eyes roll into the back of her head,

Harry knew he had to ask her questions in order to

keep her awake. “So Hermione, are you going to

the Halloween ball?”

Hermione’s eyes rolled forward once more as Harry

helped her stand up. “No.” she told him as they entered

the doorway. “No one wants to go with me.”

“But didn’t your parents buy you new dress robes?

I am sure they would be awfully disappointed if you

did not wear them.”

“I would wear them if someone would ask me, but it

is a couple of weeks away and I highly doubt it if

anyone would ask me this late.” They rounded the

corner and headed down the corridor toward the

hospital wing, in which was at the far end.

“What about you? Have you asked her yet?”

“I’ve tried to, but it just would not come out.

Besides, she probably should have a date by now,

wouldn’t she?” Harry sighed as he tried to hint

to her what he was trying so hard to ask her.

“I heard somewhere that she didn’t, but she may

by now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Harry. Who was it?”

Before Harry could answer her question,

the two of them came to the hospital wing. Harry

escorted Hermione over to a bed and Madame

Pomfrey met them over there. “My goodness!

What in Merlin’s name happened?”

Harry recounted the story once more as the two

of them helped Hermione lie down on the bed.

Madame Pomfrey went over to her office and

when she returned, she carried out a potion bottle.

“You need to stay the night for observation and

take this potion every couple of hours.”

“But I really should be in class! We have

N.E.W.T.S. this year and I really need to

be in class!” Hermione whined and tried to

get up from the bed. “I’m fine, really! It’s

just a bump and nothing else.”

“Really, Miss Granger. You really think I am

going to let you go after what happened?

Sometimes, I think you’re as bad as Mr. Potter here.”

Harry ignored the comment. “Yeah, you’re

really fine. That is why you felt dizzy and

vomited a couple of minutes ago. Don’t worry;

I will get all of your homework for you.” Harry

smiled at her.

“Mr. Potter, unless you are feeling ill as well, I would

suggest you get back to class.”

“Professor Hagrid knows I am here. Besides, Care of

Magical Creatures is my last class for today.” Then he

lied. “I’m ahead in that class anyway. One day off will

not hurt.”

“Suit yourself.” Madame Pomfrey poured the liquid into

a cup and gave it to Hermione to drink. Hermione drank

the contents of the glass and cringed with the after taste

of the potion. Harry felt a pang of empathy toward his best

female friend. He had to have the skele-grow potion during

his second year after Professor Lockhart had tried unsuccessfully,

to mend his broken arm after a rogue bludger hit his arm during

a Quidditch match. That particular potion did not taste

very good and Harry had a feeling this one did not

exactly taste any better.

“What did you expect? Pumpkin juice?” Harry

could have just heard Madame Pomfrey exclaim,

but she could not make the comment because after

she had administered the potion, she had left the room.

Harry sat down at the edge of Hermione’s bed and

reached over to hold her hand. She looked up and

smiled at him. “It’s now or never.” He told himself

and called to her. “’Mione?”

“Yes, Harry.”

“Since we are head boy and head girl

and neither one of us has dates…”

“Don’t remind me.”

Harry continued. “Well, I was wondering if you

wanted to go to the ball with me. I know I am no

Viktor Krum…” Harry breathed; somehow, this

was easier than what he expected it to be.

He did not have to wait long for his answer.

Her eyes brightened and she seemed in shock. “Of course,

Harry. I would love to go to the Halloween ball,

but who are we going to go as?”

“Let’s not pick anyone obvious, so Romeo

and Juliet are definitely out.”

“How about Anthony and Cleopatra?”

“Lavender and Seamus are doing them.”

“How about Sandra Dee and Danny from ‘Grease’?”

“No, rumor has it that Draco Malfoy and Pansy

Parkinson are doing that one.” Harry thought

about who they could go as. “Who could he and

Hermione go as…he and Hermione…” Harry stopped

right there when he thought about her name. He knew

there was a story about her name in Greek mythology.

“Hermione, have you ever thought about where

your name came from?”

“It’s Greek and it means earthly. Shakespeare used it

in his play A Winter’s Tale but that is about it.

What does my name have to do with what we are

going to go as for the Halloween ball?”

“Do you know where it comes from in Greek mythology?”

“No.”

Harry looked shocked. “I thought you read every book

that was ever published.”

“I’ve never been interested in Greek Mythology

or Roman Mythology, but what about Hermione?”

“Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy and

King of Sparta.”

“Wasn’t that the same Helen of Troy who was

considered the most beautiful woman in the world?”

“The same Helen, also, who decided to go off

with Paris and that, started the Trojan wars. She was

betrothed to Orestes before the Trojan War. Later though,

her father wanted her to marry Neoptolemus. Basically,

the two grooms fought over her and her first betrothed

won.”

“Oh, well it was interesting, but what does this have

to do with our Halloween ball costumes?”

“I was thinking, you could go as Hermione and I could

be your Orestes.” Harry shyly asked her, leaving out the part

of Hermione and Orestes had a son together, but he had a

spark of hope that he and his Hermione could help him

ratify that. “So, what do you say?”

“I say it is time for Miss Granger to get her rest.”

Madame Pomfrey showed him out of the room,

but Hermione nodded in approval of their choice.

When Harry saw her nod, he left the room without

another remark.

Harry climbed the stairs toward the Gryffindor tower

with a giant grin upon his face. Not in a million years,

he thought, Hermione would even think about going

to the Halloween ball with him, but when he had asked,

she said “yes.” And this baffled Harry.

Harry spotted Ron standing outside the Gryffindor tower,

chatting with Heather. They were deep in conversation

and Ron looked nervous as he talked with her.

“Hey, big brother.” Heather called when she noticed

him coming down toward the two of them. “How is

Hermione? Is she going to be okay? Ronny told me

what happened to her.”

“Ronny?” Harry looked over at his best mate and

grinned. “Since when have you been Ronny?”

Ron blushed crimson. “Shut up, Harry.”

Heather looked at Harry expectantly.

“So, how is Hermione? Is she going to be alright?”

“Madame Pomfrey said she had a concussion

and wanted to keep her over night. Nothing too

bad, like in our second year, remember that Ron?”

“Yeah, that was funny.”

“What happened?” Heather was confused again.

“In our second year, Hermione, Ron and I brewed a

polyjuice potion in the girls’ lavatory.  She got the hairs off

a Slytherin girl and we got our hairs from Crabbe and Goyle.”

“Anyway, the hairs she pulled of the Slytherin girl’s

robes where of the cat the girl owned, so Hermione

turned into a cat for several hours.”

“When she went to the hospital wing, you should

have seen Madame Pomfrey’s face! It was classic.” Harry

stopped, this time he had inflicted the injuries she received

and the thought made his stomach turn.

Heather either must have read his thoughts, or his

face expressed how he was feeling and she consoled her

brother. “It will be alright, Harry.” She smiled affectionately

at him. “Maybe you could take her to Hogsmeade this

weekend to make it up to her.”

“Yeah, I’d bet she’d like that.” Ron grinned from

ear to ear, but then he decided to change the topic. “So,

have you got a date for the Halloween ball, yet?”

“Just did. Quidditch Cup.” The portrait hole

opened up and Harry walked inside before either Ron

or Heather could ask who it was.

*****

The following morning at breakfast proved to

have the usual sensation of tired students. It was

Thursday morning and there was a looming drive because

it was a Hogsmeade weekend added to the mixture of

thoughts and sensations. The next weekend would be Halloween

and the students were putting their finishing touches to their

costumes and knew they would be able to find the perfect prop

or accessory in the small, entire wizarding village.

Heather yawned and began to cut her cinnamon raisin

bagel so she could smear cream cheese over it. Ron watched

her do this as if it were the most fascinating thing to watch.

Harry reclined in a chair between Neville Longbottom

and Hermione, who had been released from the hospital wing

only a few minutes before. Harry began to rack up ideas to

convince Hermione to go to Hogsmeade with him. “Maybe

I’ll suggest we go and work on our costumes…yeah, that is it…”

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by the call of a

bird flying into the Great Hall. Heather’s parents’ phoenix

flew into the room carrying a small box and a letter. Heather

opened the letter after she stroked the bird on the head, so

everyone who sat with her could hear it.

Dearest Heather.

Just thought you could use these this weekend.

Love,

Mom and Daddy.

Heather opened the small box and ripped the tissue

out. Inside the box, she found a set of keys. “Why on earth

would my parents send me my car keys?” Heather thought

out loud. “Unless…” Her eyes grew really wide and she abruptly

stood from the table to run out into the entrance hall. Heather

opened the front doors and saw the site she intended to see.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced after her, trying to figure

out why she left so quickly, and joined her on the front steps.

Heather exclaimed shouts of joy, “I love my parents!”

She jumped in the black jaguar convertible.

“Your parents sent you a car?” Hermione asked,

not believing they did indeed send her a car.

“Not just any car,” Heather turned on the engine

by pressing on the gas, “it is my car! My baby!” she

turned toward the group of them and smiled. “Anyone

want to go for a drive before class starts?”

“Count me in!” Ron jumped into the car, sitting

next to her in what Heather would refer to as “shot-gun”

position.

“Me too!” Harry raced down the stairs and joined

them in the car, but in the back seat. “Come on, Hermione.

It will be fun.”

“Fine, but only for a few minutes. We have to be

getting to Astronomy early today because Professor

Star-Cluster is going to be giving us a very interesting

lecture about moon phases and I do not want to be

late and miss any of it.” Hermione climbed into the

car and sat down next to Harry against the zebra

stripped pillows.

“There is a throw blanket back there if you

guys get too cold.” Heather and Ron both rolled

their eyes at Hermione’s last statement and once

everyone was safely buckled in; Heather put the

car in drive and floored it. With the top down,

the wind felt sharp against their faces and Harry

and Hermione decided to lay the blanket over them.

They drove off for a while before Heather motioned

for Ron to look in the glove compartment. “See if my

cell phone, driver’s license and insurance card are in there.”

Ron scoured through the designated compartment.

“Any idea of where they would be at?”

“I keep my insurance card and my license inside

of the pocket of my ownership manual. My cell phone

and car kit should be in there somewhere next to it.”

Heather kept her eyes pinned on the road as she drove.

“The cell phone and rest are here. Hey! What is this?”

Ron pulled out one of Heather’s travel cases for her compact disks.

“It’s muggle music. Would you like to listen to

some? I have the latest from Limp Biskit.”

“Let’s listen to this one.” Harry pulled out Heather’s

Barenaked Ladies cd: “stunt”. Heather put it in the player

on her dashboard and the song “One Week” began to play.

“I like vanilla, it is the finest of the flavors.” Heather

sang along.

“I reckon we better get heading back to

Hogwarts.” Hermione complained.

Harry checked his watch and agreed with the

head girl. “She’s right we should be heading back.”

Heather turned the car around and headed back toward

the castle. When they pulled up to the main door, the headmasters

along with Professors Shift and McGonagall waited for them

at the steps of the castle. Heather gave an apologetic look to

the rest of the occupants in the car.

Professor Dumbledore spoke first and for some reason

he did not sound mad, which was strange for Heather to hear

from a Headmaster. “Did you enjoy your ride?”

Heather shut off the cd and engine. “I’m sorry, I did not

realize this was a closed campus, so I did not realize we could

not have vehicles here. My parents sent me my car to use

during Hogsmeade weekends…”

“You’re parents and I have spoken about this matter

and both feel it would it would be nice for you to have hear

while you attend Hogwarts.” Professor Dumbledore

motioned toward the car then winked. “As long as you

keep your grades up and don’t make the other students

too jealous, you can keep it.”

Heather grinned and locked the doors to her car.

“Oh, and Miss Potter,” Dumbledore turned around and

looked at her with all seriousness, “you may want to

put your top up. It’s going to rain, and we wouldn’t

want that nice leather interior of yours to get all wet,

wouldn’t we?” He smiled at her then he and the other

professors went inside.

Heather raced to turn on her vehicle and put the

top up. “Harry, help me with the other side.” Harry

raced over and together they put the top up. Once they

reached the doors to enter the castle, when they had

finished, it began to massively down pour. “ I did not

know Scotland had a monsoon season.” Heather smiled

as the four of them walked inside and on to their class.

*****

History of Magic with Professor Binns lagged

on as usual. Bins, as he was a ghost, did not either

seem to care or was ignorant to the fact he was utterly

boring. Most of the students found themselves entertained

by the thunderstorm crashing outside the castle or the dream

images running through their brains as they slept with their

heads on their desks.

Harry seemed amazed there were two people actually

paying attention today to Professor Binns lecture. Heather

lounged in a chair in front of him, with Ron at her side. She

looked like she was busy taking notes on the current trends

of magical history, stopping only briefly when Ron passed

her a note.

Harry watched Hermione scribble her notes down onto a piece

of paper next to him. She was very interested in what Professor

Binns had to say. “Do it now! Now is your chance to ask her

on that date!” his head screamed at him.

He jotted down a quick hello to see if Hermione

wanted to talk to him.

Hey Hermione!

Hey Harry. What is up? I am busy taking

notes on the lecture right now.

Harry paused, even though she was busy,

he knew if he did not do it now, he would

never do it.

I was just wondering if you wanted to go to

Hogsmeade with me and look for stuff for our costumes.

Harry felt a wave of relief once Hermione responded.

Sure! I would love to.

Great, pick you up at breakfast then?

That would be wonderful. Is Ron and Heather going with us?

I was kind of hoping it would be just the two of us,

since we will be working on our costumes together so

they could be a surprise.

Oh, okay. Are you sure?

Well, don’t you want it a surprise?

I guess so.

Well, then, we got to keep it from them what we

are doing…at least for a week…nothing too long.

Hermione looked up from the note and smiled at

Harry. She nodded at him and tucked the note into her

bag, once the bell rang for them to be dismissed from class.

“So, are you guys going to ride with us on back and

forth from Hogwarts?” Heather asked as she and Ron

caught up with the two of them.

“Yeah, but ‘Mione and I have some official

Hogwarts business to take care of.” Harry lied.

“What about?” Ron looked excited.

“You can’t know. It’s official head boy and girl

top-secret business. So, we are going to have to split

up once we get there.” Hermione continued Harry’s lie.

“That is fine.” Heather said over dramatically.

“I know when I am not wanted.” Afterwards she laughed

to signal to them, it was okay with her.

“Hey, Scar-head! How is your Mrs. Scar-head?”

Harry and his gang turned around and found the site

they intended to see. Draco Malfoy, his two goons Vincent

Crabb and Gregory Goyle, and Danielle MacNeal standing

a couple of feet away from them.

Heather wanted to jump the four of them, and once

she looked over at the rest of the group, they looked like

they wanted to as well.

“What do you want, ferret face?” Harry shot back at him.

“I’m really not in the mood to mess with you today.”

“You think you are all big and bad, Potter, because

your head boy. All you and your sister are a dirty half-breeds

because your muggle-loving father married a filthy mudblood.”

Hermione had to physically restrain both Harry and Ron because

they were both ready to leap on the boy.

Danielle Sniggered as she finished his thoughts. “Yeah,

and look where that got him! Six-feet-under in a box! You might

want to learn from the past Harry and learn from your father’s

mistakes. Especially since the evidences of that mistake are

still here today.”

Hermione tightened her grip on Ron and Harry, but

her attempts were futile because Heather went after the two

of them. As Draco and Danielle pulled out their wands,

Professor McGonagall raced toward them to prevent

the fight. “What’s the meaning of this? Who started this?”

“Draco and Danielle insulted Harry and Heather’s

mother and father with out any real cause.” Hermione explained.

“Fifty points from Slytherin and a weeks worth of

detention for the both of you. Maybe that will teach you

not to insult your fellow students.”  Professor McGonagall

lead the two misbehaving students away and their two

goons followed suit.

Once the five had turned away and were

walking down the corridor, Heather pointed finger

at the two of them and pigtails, curling behind their

backs with them not noticing a single thing. Heather

giggled and raced to catch up with Harry, Ron,

and Hermione.

*****

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes

consistently progressed to the better since Harry,

Ron and Hermione had joined Heather in Professor

James Phillips’ class. Professor Phillips stood a proud

six-foot exactly and was a thin man, with cropped light

brown hair and light blue eyes. “Good afternoon, students.”

“Good afternoon, Professor Phillips.”

“Today, we are going to be learning about love

charms and potion and why some consider it a dark art.”

Professor Phillips turned around and began his lecture.

“Does anyone want to tell me why or why not you

would support this? Yes, Miss Potter.”

“A dark art is defined as any form of magic in

which is used for ones own selfish ambition. A love

potion or charm is usually brewed when one wants

someone when they know they cannot have them.”

“Correct fifteen points to Gryffindor.” The

lesson continued on with the students frantically

writing down notes about love potions and charms.

The bell rang for them to head on to their next

class: Muggle studies with Professor Fulla Moon.

As they reached the door to the classroom, they

noticed a note attached to it.

Students,

All classes today will be held on the Quidditch

pitch for a practical lesson.

-Professor Moon.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Heather went outside

to be greeted by the clouds parting and the sun coming

back out. Outside on the pitch the four of them found

Professor Moon setting up targets for archery.  When

Professor Moon spotted them, she greeted them.

“Hello, Heather, Ron, Hermione, Harry. Heather, you

know how to do this, could you help me?”

“No problem.” Heather went over to attach a target

on to a large bale of hay.

“Heather, I don’t suppose I can get you to demonstrate

this for me?” Professor Moon asked her, hoping she would agree.

“Sure, do you have my bow and arrows?”

“Right over here.” Professor Moon pointed over to a case.

Heather handed Professor Moon her wand and zipped-open

her archery case. She put on a special glove on to help guide

the arrow, and then she grabbed her arrows and took her aim.

She took three shots as the students began to file out on the

Quidditch pitch. The first one fell very short; as did the second,

but the third one hit the target pretty close to the bull’s-eye.

“So, Miss Scarhead can hit the target 1/3 of the time,

bit deal.” Draco Malfoy rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Actually believe it or not, what she did was called

“finding the distance” and considering it only took her 3 shots

to do it, is considered really good.” Professor Moon turned

to the rest of her class. “Welcome class. Today, we will be

learning an ancient form of defense in the muggle world and

I think most of you Hogwarts students may come to enjoy.

It is one of which has become quite a sport, and of course

I am talking about the defense form called archery. For the

next three weeks we will be learning different forms of

ancient defense such as archery and swordsmanship. We

will also be looking at ancient muggle mannerisms and how

they are different in the muggle world today. To support this,

we will all enter “chivalry” class and discover what was and

is considered well mannered. For now, everyone pair up and see

if you can hit the targets.”

“Ron, want to be my partner?” Heather asked.

“Sure.” He went over to her and joined her where she stood.

“Since I already hit the target, why don’t you

give it a try?” Heather handed him her bow and some arrows.

Ron looked at it with raised eyebrows, in confusion.

“How do you load this thing?” Ron attempted to put the arrow

inside the bow, but did not accomplish the desired goal.

Heather took the bow from him and showed

him how to load it. He watched intently as she loaded

the bow into the arrow with out much care. “If you

don’t get it the first time, don’t worry too much. I

didn’t even hit the target until the seventy-first time.”

For the next few minutes, Ron grew more

and more frustrated with the bow and arrow. “Here,

let me help.” Heather took hold of the archery supplies

before he could say no. She took hold of the bow over

his hand and wrapped the other one around him to help

guide his shot. Ron felt an electric feeling at her touch

and it felt unusual to him. He liked it, but it felt new to him.

Heather whispered into his ear and it slightly

aroused him. “You have to have to be steady and patient

when firing an arrow. That is why it takes a lot of physical

strength to be able to do this sport.”

A gut feeling told Ron that they were no longer

talking about archery. “Well, I want to be really good.

There is an archer I want to impress.”

“Oh, really?” Heather blushed. She guided

his shot. “Now, when I say “go”, let go of the arrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

She waited for his aim to be perfect and then

whispered, “go”. The arrow flew into the air at a perfect

angle and it landed on the bull’s-eye. “See what happens

when you have a little patience? Things go a little better.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” Ron smiled,

tempted to lean in toward her and plant a passionate kiss

upon her lips, but restrained himself because he was no

t sure if she felt the same way and that her brother was

his best friend.

Heather mentally kicked herself for not kissing him,

at least on the cheek. To let him know of all the burning

desires within her heart. “What kind of former girlfriend

are you?” her other side defended her decision. “Hector has

only been gone for three weeks now and now you are already

replacing him!” Heather pulled at Hector’s ring unconsciously,

which she had not taken it off since placing it

around her neck a summer before.

Ron noticed her playing with the school ring

and his heart sank. She still wore Hector’s ring around

her neck. He knew if he did not get out of there, he knew

he would say something stupid about it. “I have to go.”

He told her as soon as the bell rang for class to end.

“See you at dinner?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” Heather watched him

painfully walk away from her to head up to the Gryffindor

Tower. He caught up with Harry and told him he needed

to practice his Quidditch moves before dinner.

“Ready to go, Heather?” Hermione asked, collecting

her book bag from the ground where she had left it to

practice archery with Harry.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Heather picked up her book bag

and together Heather and Hermione walked up to the Gryffindor

Tower.

*****

Friday passed quickly and uneventfully,

unless one would count Neville Longbottom melting,

yet again, another cauldron eventful. Saturday arrived

before anyone could really put much thought into the

weekend. After checking out with Feltch, Ron, Harry,

Hermione, and Heather walked out onto the front lawn

to Heather’s car. Harry and Hermione climbed into the

back which left Ron to sit next to Heather in the front

seat. “What do you guys want to listen to? I do not

know of any of the good radio stations in the area,

so I guess we will have to listen to my cds. Which

one do you want to listen to? If you do not tell me,

I will put in my Creed cd.”

“Which one?” Hermione asked.

“Human Clay.”

“Oh, that is a good one.” Hermione

seemed to jump in her seat, excited, a feat in

which was truly amazing since she was safely

buckled in.

Heather took out the cd and placed it into

the player. Immediately, the ‘shuffle’ option mixed

up the tracks and played track four. The song

entitled “Say I” began to play. “We did this song for a

winter color guard show once, in my first year.

I have my rifle and saber in the trunk if ya want

to see some of the moves.”

“Maybe once we get to Hogsmeade.”

Ron commented and Harry heard her cell

phone ring.

“I think your cell phone is ringing.”

“Ron, could you answer it?”

“How do you work it?”

“Press ‘send’, say hello, and ask who it is.”

Heather kept her eyes on the road.

Ron pressed the button and answered the

phone. “Hello…yes this is her phone…who is this?

Okay, she is right here…hold on a moment.” Ron placed

the phone by Heather’s ear so she could talk on the phone

with out having to worry about hanging on to it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Heather! It’s me Emily Zale.”

“Hey, Emmy. Long time no hear. Hold on,

let me put you on my head set.” Heather, single handedly,

attached a head piece to her phone. Ron put it on her

head, and the voice of her friend Emily grew more

life like. “How are you doing, Em?”

“I am fine. I called your house and your parents

told me you were away at school, so I tried calling you

the other day and it said your phone was out of the service

area! I could not even get to your voice mail!”

“Yeah, take a guess of where I am at?”

“Monee?”

“Monee would be good if I were still in the

country. I am in Scotland right now.”

“No way!”

“Way!”

“You’re parents made you change schools?”

“No, my school burnt down. They sent me over here.”

“How do you like it?”

“It’s nice. I’ve met some new friends.”

“Speaking of which, was that Hector

that answered the phone?”

Heather paused. “Rachel and Hector

died in the fire.”

“I’m so sorry, Heather!”  She paused,

and then continued. “So, what else is going

on around you since I am stuck here in California?”

“Remember how I told you about that brother

I had, but I didn’t know where he was at?”

“Vaguely, but anyways…”

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“I found him.”

“Really, you found him there? Wow! That

is a one in a billion probability! So what is

the beef on this brother of yours? What is

his name? What does he look like? Does he

have a girl friend?”

“Want to talk to him? He’s sitting right here

behind me?” Heather took of the head set

and passed it behind her. “It’s my friend

Emily. She wants to say hello to you?”

Harry put on the head set. “Hello.”

“Hey! I am Emily Zale, I am one of

Heather’s friends from grade school.

What is your name?”

“Harry, Harry Potter.”

“Not the Harry Potter!”

“Yes, the Harry Potter.” Harry took

the head set off as Emily screamed

in excitement.

“Sorry about that, it’s just I’ve never

met anyone famous before.”

“That is alright. I get it all the time.”

Harry assured her and the conversation

continued until the black and silver Jaguar

convertible pulled into Hogsmeade. Heather

parked the car in front of the Three Broomsticks

and then saved Harry from the ritualistic

‘do you have a girl friend?’ question by taking

the head set from him to tell Emily they

needed to hang up.

“Hey, Emily. I am going to let you go now.

Yes, it was nice talking with you.

Well…good-bye!” Heather hung up her cell

phone and began to put the top of her convertible

up and locked the doors.

Harry grabbed Hermione and began walking

down the street to the clothing shop. “We’ll see

you later. We have costume business to take

care of.  How about we meet at the Three

Broomsticks for lunch.” Harry called over his

shoulder to his sister and his best friend.

“Want to go over to my brothers’, Fred and

George’s, new store here in Hogsmeade?

It’s a joke shop.”

“Sure, I could use a good laugh right at

the moment.” Heather put her keys in her

blue-jean pocket and headed toward the

store, down the street.

*****

Heather screamed, but it did not do any good.

The Dark Lord, Voldermort, had her dangling

by a rope over a pit of hot, boiling lava. Hermione

matched her cries with her calling to Harry for help.

Voldermort stood in between the pits and he cackled

with laughter and taunted Harry. “Your lover or your

sister, Potter. Choose wisely.” Heather suddenly felt

the rope she was being dangled with give into her

weight and she fell toward the lava with an

accelerated pace.

Heather screamed and suddenly woke in a

cold sweat. She also found Ron Weasley

sitting on her bed next to her, shaking her.

She exclaimed. “The dark lord!”

“It’s okay, Heather! You were only

dreaming!”

Heather sighed in relief. “Thank Merlin!”

Heather looked around the room in reassurance

everything was as it should be. Harry and

Hermione, along with Professor McGonagall

raced into the room a few minutes later.

“What happened?” Professor McGonagall asked,

demanding answers. Ron proceeded to tell her

what had happened. “ Well, Mr. Weasley. It

seems as if you have things well under control.

I will leave you to handle the situation. Come on,

Potter, Miss. Granger.”

The three of them left the room, but not before

Harry had asked his sister if she needed anything.

Once she assured him she was alright, he left with

Hermione at his side. Ron looked back at her, and

told her what had happened. “I heard you scream

and then I ran in to see if you were alright.”

“It was just a nightmare.” She caught her breath as

she repeated her thoughts from before. “Thank Merlin.”

“What was going on in the dream? You will feel

better about it if you tell me.”

“Voldermort was using Hermione and I as a trap

for Harry…”

“And he has to decide which one he has to save,

I know.”

“You’ve been having these dreams, too?”

“No, but Harry and Hermione have been.

They still have to be given a dreamless sleep

potion ever evening before bed.”

“What does it all mean?” Heather gave her knees

a hug and Ron placed his hand on her arm to

comfort her as she tied to sort out the meaning

of the dream.

“What ever it is, we have to tell Professor Dumbledore.”

*****

The next week of school flew by quickly and

soon the weekend was upon them once more and so

was the day of the Halloween ball. Heather woke to the morning

of the thirty-first of October to Harry, Ron, and Hermione

waiting for her in the Prefect common room. Heather grabbed

her bathrobe and joined them. “Good morning, Heather.”

Ron grinned, trying to suppress fits of laughter.

“Good morning.” Hermione looked up from her book calmly.

She gave Ron an evil glare and he stopped laughing, albeit

only temporary. “How did you sleep?”

“Alright, thanks to Madame Pomfrey. She gave me a

dreamless sleep potion.” Heather admitted, and then

caught on of what was actually going on.

“Okay, what are you guys up to?”

“Think about it. What day is today?” Harry yawned.

“October thirty-first and the Halloween Ball is tonight.”

“Besides that.” Ron hinted.

“My birthday?”

“Happy Birthday!” Ron shouted as he handed her his gift.

“Thanks.” Heather said forcefully.

“What is wrong, Heath?” Harry asked her. Hermione

handed her present to her, as well.

“It’s nothing…” She paused as she looked down at

her feet. “It’s just…I celebrated my birthday before

I came here. You see I celebrated my birthday last

July. Like my parents do every year.”

“July?”

“The thirty-first.”

“That is my birthday!” Harry exclaimed.

“Really? It must be why they chose the day.”

“Wait a minute. You said you had to be sixteen

in order to get your license. Why do you have

it already?” Hermione seemed confused.

“Daddy pulled a few strings and was able to get

me into the driver’s registration office a couple

of months early.”

“Oh.”

“So, are you going to open your presents or what?”

Harry asked, fiddling with something in his pocket.

“Mine, first!” Ron claimed.

“Fine.” Heather took a seat on a near by sofa couch

and began o tear open the wrapping paper with out

much care into saving it. Heather found a small offering

of assorted items including: a couple of dungbombs, two

boxes of Berti Botts every flavor beans, and three packages

of chocolate frogs. “Thanks, Ron. We’re going to have

sot set these of in the Slytherin common room sometime

with in the next month.” She grinned evilly and placed

the gift aside.

“Mine next!” Hermione shouted and leapt over to where

Heather sat. Once Heather opened the gift a little ways,

and it soon began apparent of what the present consisted

of. “A quill?”

“Yes, an eagle feather quill, just like ours.” Hermione

motioned toward the two boys in the room besides

herself. “I noticed you used ink ball point pens and

I knew as a writer, you might like to have one.”

“Thanks! You will have to show me how to use it

because I have never used a quill before.” She put

the quill aside and then looked at Harry. He handed

her a small velvet box. When Heather opened it, she

gasped. “Oh, Harry! It’s beautiful!” Heather pulled

out a beautifully engraved heart shaped locket. Heather

opened it and found a wizard photograph of her

mother, father, and a baby Harry. “Is this mom

and dad?”

“Yeah,” Harry smiled at the picture as it moved.

A red haired woman kissed a little boy as his father

held him. Harry, James, and Lily Potter waved at

their daughter and sister.

Tears formed in Heather Potter’s eyes as she gave

her brother a long hug. Harry smiled as his sister

smiled as she wiped the tears out of her eyes with

a smile. “Thanks, Harry.”

“No problem. Let’s get down to the Great Hall

for breakfast.” Harry guided her out of the portrait

hole with Ron and Hermione close behind them.

“I’m starving!”

*****

Later in the evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and

Heather went their separate ways to get ready for

the ball. Ron and Harry decided to meet up with

the girls in the Gryffindor common room. Harry was

the first in the common room and he decided he wanted

to wear his new dress robes over his white toga to keep

warm in the crisp autumn air. Ron followed suit as he

came out dressed like a hippie, even down to the

“love beads”. “Hey, Harry. Looking sharp, mate.”

“You look not too bad yourself.” Harry noticed his

friend was “forced” to wear tight light brown suede

pants.

“Ronny? Are you ready to go?” Heather asked as she

came out of the prefects’ dormitories. “Wow, Harry!

Nice crown of fig leaves! Did you make that yourself?”

“I wanted to be as authentic as possible.” Harry then

noticed she was obviously not wearing a bra. He turned

red at the thought. “You’re not wearing a bra?” It was more

a question than an exclamation.

“I wanted to be as authentic as possible.” She grinned at

him, and then turned around to Ron. “Let’s go, Ronny.” She

turned back to Harry, still dumbfounded to why she was

not wearing all of her undergarments and held up her

index and middle finger to form the number two.

“Peace out, Har. See you and Hermione at the

party.” Together the two of them walked out

of the Gryffindor Tower.

Harry watched the two of them leave; half of him

wanting to congratulate Ron for finding love and

the other half wanting to deck his best friend for

even thinking about his sister in that way.

“Wow! Harry, you look nice!” Hermione’s heavenly

voice floated through his ears. Harry turned around

and smiled at her.

Harry was speechless at the sight of her. Her hair,

tamed from its usually bushy hair, curled perfectly

into spiral ringlets. Her dress robes were made

from the same green material his were. When Harry

was finally able to speak, all he could gasp out.

“You look beautiful, ‘Mione.”

Hermione blushed brightly. “Thanks, but we’d better

be going or people are going to talk.”

“Okay, but I wanted to give you this.” He opened a

medium sized box, and once he opened it, Hermione

smiled. For inside lay a wrist flower corsage. It consisted

of three blood red roses, a spray of baby’s breath,

and a red and white ribbon to accent.

“It’s beautiful, Harry. Thank you.” She smiled as he

placed the corsage around her wrist. Harry held out

his arm for her to hold on to and together they walked

out of the Gryffindor common room.

Once Harry and Hermione walked into the Great Hall,

the room buzzed with life. Not because people were

enjoying themselves not because they were trying to

enjoy the music Professor Gaddis chose, but because

the group grew restless for something they liked.

The duo found Ron and Heather chatting with Mika

Salena, India Jade, Blair Blake, Andrew Ambrose,

Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan.

“Hey, Harry, Hermione.” Neville waved.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“What do you think of the party so far?” Mika asked

the new comers.

“It’s alright.” She shrugged.

“I think it bloody hell sucks.” Heather commented.

“Who chose this bloody music anyway?”

“I think you will find it was Professor Gaddis.

I guess he was trying to stop the Western whores

from grinding every man in site. Horny Bitches.”

Blair Blake rolled his eyes at Andrew Ambrose’s comment

about their rival house. “We just need to take matters into our

own hands, that’s all.” Andrew grinned from ear to ear.

“Andrew, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Blair

matched his grin.

“What are you planning?” Heather caught on to

what the two were planning.

“You will see.” The two of them excused themselves

and went to find Parker Aubrey and Cosmo Cyrus.

Heather smirked, as everyone seemed to be at a loss of

what was going on. “I think Transfig-UR is going to take over.”

The students from the Chicago Institute looked at one

another and knew the four boys would change the party to

the way they liked it. The Hogwarts students; however, did

not know and were still confused on what was going on.

“Transfig-UR?” Ginny asked, wanting to lift the

confusion for all of them. “What is that?”

“Blair, Andrew, Parker, and Cosmo D.J. together.

They’re group is called Transfig-UR.” Mika explained

while watching her date, Andrew; walk away with

India’s date, Blair.

“Are they any good?” Ron asked Heather.

“There is a reason why they are Sifto-Salt’s

unofficial D.J. team. They remix all of the dance

teams music for us.” Heather smiled at Ron.

A few moments later, Blair claimed the stage along with

everyone's attention. "Hey, everyone! Who else thought that sucked?"

There was a major uproar of applause and shouts of agreement. "Well,

me and the rest of the boys from Transfig-UR have decided to take

over. So, sit back and relax as Transfig-UR transfigures your party!"

The lights suddenly dropped and then laser lights flashed as

smoke poured out of the strategically placed cauldrons surrounding

the room. A screen ascended from the ceiling and the song "Get

This Party Started" by Pink began to play. The screen played bits

and pieces of the actual music video by the artist along with other

video screens strategically placed in sequence.

Everyone in the room began to dance the night away as

Transfig-UR mixed the music. About halfway through the party,

Blair Blake made another announcement over the sound system.

"Hey, how's it going? Having a great time tonight?" After the

loud screams and applause, he continued. "Traditionally, tonight

is the crowning of our Homecoming King and Queen. So, in

keeping with tradition, we are going to crown the best dressed

couple tonight."

After the round of applause, Andrew took over. "Last

year's Homecoming King and Queen, would you please step

forward."

Heather growled as Danielle MacNeal came forward

with her date, Tim Rose; a seventh year member of

Franklin house. She handed Andrew their crowns and left

the stage. Andrew began to speak again. "Tonight, we

thought that since the Hogwarts students were so

gracious to allow us to attend their school, we would

crown one of their gentleman as our king for this year."

"And the winners are..." Parker made a drum

rolling sound with his hands and the table top.

"From Hogwarts, our new king is: Ronald Weasley!"

Ron's eyes went wide as he stood in shock.

Harry patted his friend on the back to congratulate

him. Ron made his way to the front and accepted

his award.

"Now the crowning of our queen. As states

in our student handbook, our queen must be a

member of the Chicago Institute and she must

be at least a fourth year." Andrew fed the

anticipation. "And the winner is a girl who is not

new to the position of being queen, infact, she is

the current reigning Miss Junior United States.

Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, I am

proud to announce that this year's Chicago Institute

of Witchcraft and Wizardry's homecoming queen is

Heather Potter!"

Heather's eyes went as wide as Ron's

as she went forward, but once she was half way

up, Andrew played  the "Miss United States"

remix.

Once she came up front, she glared at

Andrew and Blair. They cut the music and

gave her the award. "It looks like they are

going to be dead later on this evening." Cosmo

commented and everyone in the room laughed.

"As tradition, our new king and queen must

take the floor in a spot light dance."

Heather and Ron looked at each other.

Heather had only danced with Ron in the fast

songs and knew her thoughts would only betray

her with a slow song. She complied with it, as did

Ron and the two of them took the dance floor.

Transfig-UR played "One In A Million"

(Bostrom Mix)  by Bosson. Ron smiled at her.

"You look really nice this evening."

"You have said that about seven times this

evening."

"Oh," Ron nervously looked down at

his feet. "but you really do look nice."

"Thanks, Ron." She smiled at him,

affectionately. "You do too!"

After the song ended, Heather looked a

little flushed. "You want to go outside? You

look a little flushed."

"Yeah, let's go."

Heather and Ron were not the only ones

having a wonderful time at the dance. Hermione

found herself lost in Harry's eyes as they danced

to another slow song toward the end of the

evening. They spoke no words, but allowed the

words to the Backstreet Boys song "How Did I fall?"

speak for them.

"It's now or never." Harry told himself as he

leaned in to capture her lips with his own. Once he

did, she accepted his attentions to her lips

gleefully and willingly. One of her hands found the

back of his head as the kiss deepened.

"Go, Harry!" Lavender Brown exclaimed as

she danced with Dean Thomas, near by. Dean

whistled at the two as they let go of their kiss.

Both Harry and Hermione wore Gemini

expressions of embarrassment and were blushing

profusely once everyone around them

was watching them.

Harry looked at Hermione and knew how

she felt about him. He reached out for her hand

and she took it.

*****

Ron walked Heather away from the

Halloween ball and felt the light breeze cool him

because in the Great Hall, being filled with

hundreds of bodies, was too warm for anyone to

dwell in it for too long. The two of them walked

for quite some time before either one could

realize they were standing next to the lake.

A full blood moon shone brightly down

upon them and the stars above them danced in

their ancient styles. The moon beams played

on the ripples on the lake. Ron knew this was

the perfect time to do it. "Now, before your

Gryffindor courage runs out!" he thought to

himself as he leaned into kiss her, but then he

noticed she still, after all this time, wore

Hector's ring around her neck. Ron grew frustrated.

"Why do you still wear his ring, Heather? You

need to move on."

Heather grew defensive. "Who died and

made you my mother?"

"Look, Heather..."

"Don't "Look, Heather" me!" she began

to rage. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for

them to die!" she clamped her hand over her

mouth as if she had said something nasty.

For the first time, it dawned upon her they were

indeed, not coming back and this was not sort

of joke and Hector and Rachel would pop

out of no where and yell "jokes on you" as

she had pulled some of the same to them.

"Heather, I'm sick and tired of having

to compete with a memory! No one can!"

Ron fumed.

It was Heather's turn to fume. "What

do you mean by "compete with a memory"?

Ron, what are you talking about?"

Heather was even more confused than what

she was before. He sauntered away a couple of

feet and threw his hands in their air.

"Heather, in case you did not notice, I

am in love with you!" Ron exclaimed, exasperated

as he finally let out his feelings for her. He walked

back over towards her and took her hands into

his.

"Do it!" His head screamed at him and

Ronald Weasley pulled her tighter to him to

kiss her passionately on the lips. Her lips

were soft and moist against his.

Once Ron pulled away from the kiss,

he noticed tears forming in her eyes. Heather

quickly turned and ran back toward the castle,

crying.

Ron did not race after her like he knew he

wanted to. He wanted to so badly it hurt, to dry

away her tears and take away her pain. How

could he, though, when he was the one who

caused them.

*****

End chappie 10!

That was a long one...sorry about the wait guys!

By the way, I do not own the songs  used

in the story either. They are owned by the

peps who made them...

here is a rose for all of you for waiting so

patiently for this....

@>----->--------

On to Chappie Eleven...when I finish typing it...

don't worry, that one is smaller!

11. The Truth About Hector Grey

Chapter Eleven

The Truth about Hector Grey

Ron and Heather continued not talking about the events of the Halloween Ball for weeks after it had happened. Both Harry and Hermione felt as if they missed out on something big. Even though the two of them still talked; it just was not the same as before.

One chilly November morning during breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went down to grab a bite to eat before class to find Heather no where to be found. The trio sat down at the Gryffindor table when April, Amber, and Amanda Miller walked by. Hermione took the moment to ask them if they had seen Harry’s sister.

“Chaos is down there.” April pointed down at the other end of the Gryffindor table. She had a portable cd player with her and she sat alone, upset about something.

“Why is she down there?” Ron asked as he grabbed for another hot cinnamon roll.

“Probably because someone pissed her off.” Amber looked directly at Ron as she said this to accuse him of making her mad.

“Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the person ended up dead by the end of the night.”

Ron gulped audibly, but Amanda put the prefect at ease. “Don’t listen to her, Ron, she is just joking. She’s not mad at you. It’s that stupid asshole known as Professor Snape. He caught her and Danielle fighting again and gave her detention for a week, not only that but took points away from Gryffindor. Besides, Heather couldn’t kill anyone with her wand-less magic…at least not yet anyway, but don’t be surprised if you hear about some strange things going on around here…well stranger than normal anyway.”

“Like what?” Hermione asked.

“Glass windows shattering, unexplainable injuries, and other things of that nature.” April sighed. “Chaos always makes the day interesting for the teachers when she is upset.”

“Okay, would someone please tell me how my sister got that nickname?” Harry asked, he was growing much frustrated he could never get straight answers out of any of the Chicago Institute students. It was as if they were trying to avoid the topic all together. “Because every time someone goes to explain it; no one does.”

“Really? No one told you?” Mika looked surprised no one had told him why as she chose a seat next to Hermione. “I would have thought it was rather obvious why.”

“I thought that too.” India Jade replied as she and Mika joined the six of them at the table. India took a spot across the table from Mika. “Why do you think Mika and I are down here and not with her? It’s best not to approach her when she is angry.”

“Why are you down here then?” Hermione asked as she cut her sandwich into smaller pieces. “You should be down there making her feel better.”

“No way!” India exclaimed. “I rather like my life thank you very much.”

“It’s just because things happen.” Mika tried to explain.

“Like what?”

“Like she busts the bones of the person who infuriated her,” April looked at Harry, who had asked the question, “and never actually touch them.”

“When did that actually happen?” Hermione shot back. “That does not seem like a logical explanation at all. No one can break someone’s bones with out making some form of contact.”

“Heather always has…” Amanda began and her twin, Amber rolled her eyes to continue her thoughts.

“…and always will be…”

“…the exception to all the rules.” April grinned as she finished her sister’s thoughts.

“Chaos just needs sometime to cool off. You see, before she received that cd from Hector and before she learned to control her wand-less magic, she caused chaos inside of the school when she had reached some form of high emotional stress. That it is why it was so important for her to learn to control her emotions and her wand-less magic.” Mika looked down at Heather and continued. “Hector burned an audio cd to help her with her anger management and to tell the truth it has helped immensely.”

“What is on it?” Harry asked as Hermione took his hand and placed it in his own to calm him down.

“That is they mystery, Harry. No one knows except Heather and Hector. When ever anyone has approached her about it, she has changed the topic.” India admitted. “Most people speculate that it is probably Hector’s voice because he was always the safety on Heather’s trigger. Whenever Heather was angry, he was always her voice of reason. He could always calm her down.”

“Others, like me, speculate that the cd is some music Hector burned. Heather’s world is completely surrounded by music and people would figure it help her calm down. Besides, music sooths the savage beast.” Mika offered as she cut her food up with her fork and inserted it into her mouth.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other and grinned at each other knowingly. The three of them had an encounter with Hagrid’s three-headed dog named Fluffy in their first year at Hogwarts. Music had soothed the dog to sleep, so they could get passed to get to the Sorcerer’s stone.

“What exactly was Hector and Heather’s relationship? Were they best friends or something else?” Ron asked and Mika, India, Amber, April, and Amanda looked at each other expectantly as if they there trying to convince the others to speak up. “Well, what was it?”

“I don’t think now is the right time to be telling you this, so why don’t we get together later tonight and I won’t only tell you, but I will show you.” India spoke quietly as if it were some sort of secret,

“How about in the Head boy/ girl common room,” Hermione offered, “it would be a little more private?”

“That sounds great! We’ll see you then after dance team practice since Heather is supposed to have Animagi training tonight.” India looked at her watch. “We’d better be going or we are going to be really late for our next class!”

*****

Heather was silent through much of transfiguration, even though many of the students knew it was her who had turned Draco Malfoy’s water goblet into a frog instead of a bird. Professor McGonagall said nothing, but wanted to laugh as Draco Malfoy grew frustrated that he was performing the spell correctly, but the object did not turn into the object he wanted it to.

Neville, on the other hand and to his amazement, performed the spell correctly on the first try. Not only was Neville surprised but so was the whole class. “I think I am getting a hang of this whole transfiguration thing!” he exclaimed with newly found confidence. Harry had a feeling his sister had something to do with this situation as well. He’d have to ask her once it was safe to approach her.

The bell rang and the seventh years and the one fifth year began to head down to the dungeons for potions. If transfiguration did not go well with Heather; then potions did not sit well with her either. Professor Shift was not in class due to illness, so the students from the Chicago Institute were able to see Professor Snape in full force.

He picked on both Harry and Neville and took points away from Gryffindor because Hermione knew the right answer, but he did not like the way Hermione had presented her information. He gave Slytherin points for “attempts” at answering his questions.

When finally, Heather had enough, she marched up to Professor Snape and the two almost fought physically. “You silly little girl!” Snape sneered. “You actually think you can take on a Professor?”

“You should not be ragging on Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors like that!” Heather volleyed back to him.

“Get out of my class room, Potter!”

“Good! I didn’t want to be here, anyway!” Heather sauntered toward the door after she picked up her books from where they were laid next to Hermione. She turned around once she reached the door. “You know, Professor, you are making a horrible mistake.”

“Humor me, Miss Potter. Why is that?”

“Because you think Harry takes after my dad and I take after my mother. Well, Professor, to shed some light on the topic, he does not take after father, Harry takes after mother and I take after father. It’s not Harry you need to worry about, Snivelus, it’s me!” Somewhere in the depths of her eyes, they became much darker. “I’m my father’s daughter.” She turned around and stalked out, but not before uttering a spell over her shoulder and hung the professor upside down from the light fixture. Her laugh rang through out the halls on her way out from the dungeon. “PRONGS RIDES AGAIN!”

*****

After dinner was over for that evening, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Heather reclined in the Prefect common room. “So, did your detention get extended for what happened in Potions today?” Harry asked his sister as she lay on the couch face down, but hung over the side of the piece of furniture. He and Hermione claimed the two arm chairs next to the couch on either side. Ron seemed content on the floor, next to the couch.

“I was lucky and I got only two more weeks worth of detention. Professor Gaddis was furious! Professor Dumbledore was the only one to calm him down. He told him that Professor Snape probably did as I said he did and I could not control my anger.” Heather would have laughed if the situation was different and not so serious.

“What time is your animagi training?” Ron asked, trying to change the topic before it got out of hand.

“Oh, I am done with that. All I have to do now is get registered with the Department of Magic in the Secretary of Transfiguration division. Professor McGonagall said a representative should come here next month before Christmas break.”

“What is your animagi form?” Harry asked his sister. “As you already know, Dad was a stag.”

Heather grinned at her brother as she changed from her human form. Suddenly a black jaguar lay on her belly side down on the couch where Heather had been a moment before. She gave a good swipe of her giant paw at the now frightened Ron, who scampered away once she had taken form. The jaguar changed back into her human form. “That was bloody brilliant!” Ron exclaimed.

“Can you show us how to do that?” Harry was surprised it was Hermione who had asked this and not Ron, but Harry knew from the expression on Ron’s face, he wanted to ask the very same question.

“Sure, but don’t be too upset if you do not get it your first night. It took me about two years to learn how to do it, but I was told that was pretty fast.” Heather sat up on the couch properly and looked at her watch. “I’d better get going otherwise I’ll be late for detention. I serve it tonight with Professor Shift, since she is feeling better. See ya!” Heather walked out of the room with Ron, Harry, and Hermione making excuses to leave the prefect’s common room as well.

“I need to finish my homework.” Hermione said as she disappeared via the entryway of the Head boy/ girls common room door.

“Me, too.” Harry headed to the door of the head common room, but Ron stopped him.

“Hey, I need to talk to you, mate. Do you think you can hold off the homework for a bit?”

The last bit Heather heard was her brother agreeing to listen to Ron’s important message. Heather did not notice India Jade and Mika Salena come down from the girls’ dormitories as she exited the Gryffindor House Tower Common room nor the fact in reality, Ron and Harry were procrastinating to allow the two girls entry into their head boy and girl’s common room.

Once the five of them were safely in the confines of the room, Mika waved her wand and a television and a V.C.R. appeared. Mika pulled out her digital video recorder from the inside of her robes and connected it properly.

As she did this, India took center stage and addressed Ron directly. “Ron, you asked about what the exact relationship there was between Heather and Hector, correct.”

“Yeah,” Ron looked at her expectantly. Hopefully, he would get the answers he needed.

“Ever notice the necklace she wears; she never takes it off for anything?” Mika asked.

“You know, I don’t think I have ever seen the pendant for that necklace.” Harry recalled. “The most I have seen of it, is a silver chain.”

“Well, let me show you this video and maybe you can figure it out.” Mika pressed a couple of buttons and suddenly the image of Heather appeared on the television with a tall boy with jet-black hair and strongly built. He towered over her, but his friendly blue eyes compensated for this.

They skated on the ice gracefully around the rink; doing things Harry would never attempt to think of doing. When ever Harry had been on ice, gravity worked against him or Dudley worked against him.

As the two finished skating to the song, Mika turned off the television, “They won the junior Olympics together when they were twelve. They had planned next year to go to the Olympics in Helena this year.”

“So, they’re teammates, that’s it?” Ron asked hopefully.

“No, don’t you get it?” India asked him asked him if he were completely stupid. “When it comes to figure skating, couples have to spend a lot of time and put a lot of trust in one another, that is why a lot of the ones who go to the Olympics are either engaged to be married or are already.”

“Some days I get the feeling she wishes she was there at the school when it happened and died along side them, instead of at work, safe and sound.” Mika told them honestly. “Most days, though, I know she was glad she was at work because if she would have been at school, she would have never had met the three of you.” Mika looked directly at Harry. “All she could ever talk about before meeting you was the brother she had never met and wanting to come and find him so they could be a family again.”

“I do not think she knew how big of a price she would have to pay to meet you and be the sister she always wanted to be with you.” India tried to explain.

Harry looked out the bay window, across the way from which he sat. He knew Heather had been through her friend’s death and she took it pretty rough, but now the three of them knew why she had taken it so rough. Harry stayed silent, Hermione looked as if she was about to cry, and Ron punched a hole in a near-by plaster wall.

Ron looked at his bleeding hand and he did not care. He stormed out of the room more upset he did not see it before he was told rather than at Heather for not telling him about it.

*****

Once Heather came back to the dormitories, she could not have sense her brother, Hermione, and Ron had witnessed why she was distant with them. Harry and Hermione, in fact, did not realize she was even back in Gryffindor tower. The two of them were snuggled up against each other in front of the fire place, studying.

“Aww! Look at the two of you!” Heather smiled as the duo on the couch looked up.

“Hey, Heath.” Hermione continued writing her essay for transfiguration.

“How was detention?” Harry asked, closing his History of Magic book. “What did Professor Shift make you do?”

“Write lines.” Heather rolled her eyes. “I had to write “I-will-not-perform-spells-on-teachers” about a hundred times. According to Professor Shift, that is what I will be doing for the duration of the detention.” Heather took a moment to glance around the common room. “Where is Ronny? He didn’t go to sleep already, did he?”

“Ron went out. I’m not sure when he’ll get back.” Harry looked at his sister and tried to smile at her, but could not. He had a feeling he knew why Ron had left in a huff. Harry knew he had feelings for his sister and he had not realized how close Heather was to her ex-boyfriend.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the opening of the common room opened and Ron trudged into the door. He looked windswept with his bright strawberry blonde hair all over his head and his cheeks were pink. Ron held his broom in his good hand, and wore a cloth over his bad one. His face and Quidditch uniform were caked in mud.

“Hey, Ron!” Heather exclaimed as he came into the room. Ron said nothing to any of them and went into the prefect dormitories.

*****

End of chapter Eleven…more stress as I finish writing chapter twelve now. Oh well. God Bless, S’Eleene Paris

12. Thanksgiving

AN: I would like to say thanks to all my group members

on the Third-Floor Corridor for taking such an interest

in where this story is headed and for putting up with me

for not getting chapters out like other writers do. I

guess they understand that some good things take time.

\:D/ the disclaimer is in the first chapter, so please

take note of that.

Chapter Twelve

Thanksgiving

The silence Ron was giving off continued for only a

brief time due to a series of letters from his parents

and the Nelsons.  Ron kept his letters from his family a

secret and Harry had a feeling he had asked for some “girl

advice” from his father. Heather had not kept her letters secret,

especially when she opened her letter from her parents and

screamed. “OH MERLIN!”

“What’s wrong?” Ron asked now concerned as almost

everyone in the room was looking at her as if she had

grown a second head.

“I can’t believe they did that!” she exclaimed in no great detail.

“What?” Harry asked and Heather handed him the letter

from her parents. Harry took it and began to read it so Ron,

Hermione, and himself could understand what was going on.

My dearest Heather,

I am writing to tell you to come

Home for Christmas break.

“Well, that is not completely horrible.” Hermione

commented.

“Read on.”

I know you just met your brother and

made some new friends, so we are

inviting them and their families to our

annual Christmas party.

“A party! Bloody Hell!” Ron’s eyes shot big

in surprise.

“That is not all of it, read on.”

I have sent out the invitations and

the date is set for the weekend after

Christmas on New Years Eve. I know

this is rather short notice, but I am sure

you can make the necessary arrangements.

We of course will allow you to stay with your

Brother and friends for the week of Christmas

And then fly over with them for the party.

They will, of course, stay with us at the house

Because you know how much your father

And I enjoy entertaining guest and not to

Mention, you can show your friends

Around the sites of Chicago.

Lots of love,

Mom

Xoxoxox

“What is so horrible about that?” Harry seemed

confused on what the problem was.

“I cannot believe it!” Heather moaned as she

laid her head on her folded arms, which were on the table.

“I cannot believe they are going to do this to me! Not to

mention you guys and your families!”

“What is wrong, Heather? Stop being so dramatic!”

Harry was growing frustrated and a little annoyed with his

sister’s indirect explanation of what was wrong.

Heather sighed and looked up for the first time

since she began having her fit. “Every year my parents

throw this big Christmas party for all of their friends

and relatives. It’s boring and it is a major snob fest.

I cannot believe my parents want you guys exposed to it!”

“So, simply tell them we have other plans. That’s

all.” Hermione tried to solve her problem.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because if we don’t go, they will be deeply offended.”

“Oh,”

“And besides, it would look good for Ron’s

dad to meet my father since my father is the Secretary

of Magic. As you know that is the equivalent of the Minister

of Magic here and besides, Cornelius Fudge goes every year,

so if Ron’s dad goes they would have to eventually meet up.”

Heather commented as she picked at her meal. “And my parents

really want to meet all of you guys, especially Harry. My mom

and dad went to school with the Nelsons and they really want to

meet the “boy-who-lived”.”

“I guess then we can do nothing but to accept

the invitations.” Harry and the rest of them looked toward

the ceiling to spot several official looking owls fly into

the Great Hall toward several different people. Many of

them flew to former members of Sifto-Salt house and a few

of them were flown over to the Professor’s table (Professors

Dumbledore, Gaddis, McGonagall, Shift, and Snape). Then four

snowy owls flew over to where Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny

claimed.  The birds left as quickly as they came, not before

they delivered the white envelopes. Harry looked as his letter,

his very first piece of mail from another culture.

Inside, he found his invitation to Heather’s adoptive parents

annual Christmas ball. The invitation matched the envelope in

color, but the invitation was written in black ink and had a

decorative silver dove that had been enchanted to fly around

the invitee’s head.

Along with the invitation, Harry found a letter

from Dr. Nelson explaining the procedure of the party.

Harry,

I don’t really know what to say to you first.

There are so many things I want to say and ask you that

I don’t know where to begin. I guess, for now, I

Should get on with what is needed to be said and wait

until later to figure out what I want to say when we

see each other in December.

By now, I don’t know if Heather has told you

or not, but every year my husband, Roger and I hold

an annual Christmas party for our family and friends

at our home. Please accept our invitation to come stay

with us for the rest of Christmas break except the week

before when you and Heather will be staying with the Weasleys.

Molly Weasley and I have been keeping in close

contact since Heather told me about you, Ron, and Hermione

and I must confess I would like all of you, including the

Weasleys and the Grangers to come stay with us. Although,

the Grangers have already sent their condolences due to a

dental convention in France in which they already made

arrangements to attend.

Now, this is a formal event, so please bring your

dress robes from school and make sure to bring your invitation

and letter with you for the security measures on our gates will

not let you entrance other wise.

Magically,

Dr. Virginia Nelson M.M.D.

Later after lunch, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione

reclined in the Gryffindor common room, responding

to their invitations. Harry pulled out the parchment

he intended to write his response on. He wrote his

response with the eagle feather quill Hermione had

bought them one year for Christmas.

To Mr. and Dr. Nelson,

I am writing you to accept your invitation

to attend your Christmas ball. I look forward to meeting

you again, since we only met briefly a couple of months

ago in Dumbledore’s office.

-Harry James Potter.

When Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Heather went

down to dinner after the four of them had sent off Ron,

Harry, and Hermione’s responses, they did not find the

house tables set up for dinner. Instead, they found the

tables set up for a banquet. The four of them were guided

over to a table where they were joined later by Mika Salena,

India Jade, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Andrew Ambrose,

and Blair Blake.

“Does anyone know what this is all about?” Ginny

Weasley asked looking at Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Heather

since the four of them were prefects and head boy and head girl.

“Yeah, of all people, you guys should know.” Mika tossed

toward the four of them.

“We have no clue what this is about.” Heather admitted.

“We know just as much as you guys do about this.” Harry shrugged.

“Well, it must be important if they are not using the

house tables and are using the fine linens.” India took her cloth

napkin and placed it on to her lap.

Once all the tables were filled to their capacity,

Professors Gaddis and Dumbledore came to the head table

and waited for the rest of the Professors to arrive. Joining

them this evening was: McGonagall, Snape, Shift, Hagrid, Moon,

Wells, Flitwick, and Phillips. When all the professors were

seated, Professor Dumbledore stood and the room went silent.

“Good evening students. Most of you are probably wondering why

the house tables are not set up this evening. Professor Gaddis

has politely informed me there is a national holiday in America

today. Today is Thanksgiving Day in America and today we will

celebrate this day with our American brothers and sisters.

(AN: and for Heather and Harry, this is literal.) Today we

will celebrate this day of thanks, for what we have, and

remember those who have passed on.”

Professor Gaddis stood up next to Dumbledore

and continued the Headmaster of Hogwarts thoughts.

“Tonight, while you eat, we will be reading the lists

of students who were killed in fight against Lord Voldermort.”

After a few dozen shutters and a couple of screams, the

Professor continued. “The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and

Wizardry would like to announce an open house during

Christmas break to dedicate a new monument to honor those

whose names we read tonight. Everyone will be able to go

into all the new buildings, and go into the dormitories

for refreshments.”

“I hope most of you will attend this event. For now,

I will allow Professor Celestial Moon, deputy headmistress

of the Chicago Institute to read off the Memorial roll call

for her school.” As Professor Dumbledore finished, he and

Professor Gaddis claimed their seats once more and a

traditional American feast appeared before them on the tables.

A full roasted turkey, green bean casserole, yeast rolls

with butter, cranberry salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes

and gravy, Relish and cheese trays, and for dessert: Sweet

Potato and Pumpkin pies with Whipped Cream.

Professor Celestial Moon stood up, where she

sat next to the headmaster of her school and walked over

to a podium in which Harry had not realized was there.

The Professor’s robes glinted in the light as she pulled

a long roll of parchment out from her sleeve. Moaning and

groaning came from the direction of several tables in the

audience. She looked up and she noticed the students who

grew annoyed with the list being as long as it was. “Don’t

worry; it is not as long as you think it is. I just made

it look organized and nice for a keepsake. It also has

anti-aging spells for it to look nice for ages to come

because we are going to be putting it on display in the

Student Union so none of our students will forget what

happened this year and why we are in the fight against

Lord Voldermort.”

The Professor rolled her steel-blue eyes as

most of the students shuddered and or screamed once

more. Hannah Abbott fainted, but was quickly revived

once Terry Boot threw water on her face. Professor

Moon tossed her salty brown hair over her shoulder and

read the list starting with Sifto-Salt house. “Bo Sashi,

Thomas Chandler, David Dexter, Hector Grey, Nova Halona…”

Harry looked over at his sister and saw a tear roll

down her cheek. She either did not care or she did not notice

it because she did not make an attempt to wipe it away.

“…Andrea Jacqueline, Edenda Lana, Alexander Lesley,

Sandra Miner, Ninetta Nara, Opal Opera…”

Heather finally noticed she was crying and wiped

away the tear with her hand, but it was useless because

more took the place of the one she wiped away. She took

her napkin and dried them with it. Harry watched as she

tried to calm herself down, but it was no use.

“…Sima Peacock, Bruce Pentwater, Alexander Tora,

Rachel Wido, Kimberly Wyatt, and Nora Zita.” Professor

Moon glanced over in the direction of Heather and took a

breath to move on to the other houses of the Chicago Institute.

Heather, Mika, and India wiped away their final tears

as much as they could. Andrew and Blair consoled them, or

at least tried to. It was impossible to bring them back, but

Harry had a gut feeling he wanted to learn how to if it meant

never seeing his sister crying again. As soon as the Chicago

Institute lists were finished being read, the American students

sang their school song in the tune of their national anthem.

For the hurt of men

We wizards stand

Against the dark arts

And the evils there of!

That’s why we go to the

Chicago Institute.

To Learn and to change

From the darkest of ways!

For the hears are so pure

And each student is sure

To live with the muggles

Harmoniously!

With the Institute we stand

And our loyalties lie!

Over land of the free

And the home of the brave!

There was a short round of applause with tears in

the eyes of the Chicago Institute students. Professor Moon

took her seat and Professor McGonagall took the spot light,

placing her glasses on her nose. “There are not as many

students from Hogwarts as there was the Chicago Institute,

but here is the memorial roll call for Hogwarts…” Professor

McGonagall named a few names Harry was only briefly familiar

with and then she came to one in which he was very familiar

with: “Cedric Diggory”.

Harry thought about Cho Chang and what she probably

would have done. “Probably cry and run out of the room.” The

list carried on and Harry took the moment to look over at

Hermione. Her cinnamon eyes were filled with tears and one of

them betrayed her and fell down her cheek. Harry knew how she

felt; he hadn’t gotten over Cedric’s death but at least he was

able to carry on with life. Cho had not been for the rest of her

stay at Hogwarts, in fact, she transferred schools not too long

after. He smiled at her and wiped her tear away with a smile.

She smiled back at Harry and took his hand. He placed

it in hers and Harry took her hand, to kiss it sweetly. “I love

you.” He whispered to her.

“I love you too, Harry James…”

“…James Potter, Lily Evans-Potter…” Professor McGonagall

took that moment to look over in the direction of the mentioned

son and daughter. She caught Harry’s glance and she smiled at

him, reassuringly. He smiled back at her, telling her that he

would be alright, and she quickly went back to her list.

After the list ended, applause rang through out the

hall. Professor Dumbledore took her place and led the Hogwarts

students in their school song. “Everyone, pick your favorite

tune and sing along.”

“Is he for real?” Heather asked her brother. Harry

paused from his singing to answer her question. He nodded and

together he and began to sing where he had left off. “You’ve

go to be joking!” She caught his glance and she smiled at him

reassuringly. He smiled back at her, telling her it was not

as crazy as it seemed and to join in.

“No, Heath. He is very serious.” Harry finished his

version of the school song. “I’ve learned over the years;

no matter what is going on, take Professor Dumbledore very

seriously.”

Dinner finished not much later with tired eyes and

full bellies; the students of Hogwarts began to disburse to

their respective common rooms.

“You ready to go?” Harry asked his sister.

“No, I think I am going to hang out here for a while.

You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure. Go ahead and I’ll catch up.” Heather

watched as he left with Ron and Hermione. Heather sighed, once

they had left, and walked out of the room. She found herself

headed towards the lake like she had with Ron the night of

the Halloween ball.

“Ron, why do I have these feelings for you? I shouldn’t

be having these feelings for you especially since we only just

met a short time ago.” Heather asked out loud to herself as she

sat down under a tree next to lake. She had done this several

times before when she needed to clear her thoughts and maybe that

is why she felt so drawn to it now, but every time she had come to

this tree to think about Ron; she came back with more questions

than she had answers.

Heather looked out at the lake and it rippled in

the cool November breeze. “Why can’t I just have someone

tell me what I should do? That would make life so much

easier!” She exclaimed to no one in particular.

She shivered, it would be dark soon and she would

no longer be kept warm by the sun’s rays. She also knew she

should head inside the castle soon because the setting sun

meant the nocturnal beasts of the Forbidden Forrest could be

out; wanting to find them dinner. Heather collected herself to

head back up to the safety of the castle.

She did not get too far away from the tree once she

stopped at the sound of a voice from behind her. “Well, well,

well, if it isn’t Ms. Scar head.” A nasty feminine voice floated

into Heather’s ears.  Heather knew who it was before she even

turned around to face her.

“What do you want Danielle?”

“I’m here to finish what I started the other day

before that mangy professor got into the way.” Danielle

had her wand readied and before Heather could utter a counter

curse; Danielle sent as spell at her and suddenly all Heather

saw was darkness.

*****

Ron paced the floor in worry. It was nearly midnight

and his “girl of his dreams” had not returned to the safety

of the common room and was pacing a whole in the floor of

the common room.

Hermione, being much more practical, reclined in an

armchair and read Harry’s copy “Which Owl” for the thousandth

time. “I’m sure she just got side tracked, Ron. She’s fine

and not to mention able to take care of herself.”

“It’s nearly midnight, Hermione. I am going to go

out looking for her.” Harry disappeared into the head boy

and girl common room and came back with his invisibility

cloak and the Marauders’ map. “Anyone want to come with?”

he asked, knowing full well what the two of them were

going to say.

“I’ll go.” Ron jumped at the thought.

“Well then I might as well go, too. Some one has

to keep the two of you out of trouble. I’ll go, but I am

going to tell you that I am sure she is fine.”

“You don’t know that Hermione. You dropped

Divination in third year remember?” Ron seemed to think this

was a matter of extreme importance to find her.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Harry

tapped his wand on the Marauders’ map and it opened up. They

looked at all the floors of the castle and did not find her

name and Ron to become frantic.

“Try outside by the lake. She goes there often to

think.” Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron’s hysterics. They

checked the map regarding the new information and again Hermione

had been correct.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Ron grabbed the invisibility cloak

from the floor where Harry had dropped it a few minutes before

to get a better grip on the map. Ron placed it around the three

of them and guided them outside.

“I don’t see her!" Ron was still frantic to find her,

even though Hermione knew where she was at. The trio made it

down the corridors of Hogwarts fairly easily, with not too many

problems with avoiding certain caretakers and his cat. Once they

had made it on to the grounds, they began their search for their

missing friend.

"Where is she?" Ron grew more frantic (if that were

possible) as his search for Heather became more and more important.

The three of them searched the school grounds until Ron found her

lying under their tree by the lake.

"See, Ron, she's just fine." Hermione said as the three of

them stood close enough to where they could see her, but not close

enough to disturb her. "She just fell asleep."

"We should go wake her up and bring her inside. She's going

to catch a cold out here." Harry commented.

"Guys, I don't think she's sleeping!" As Ron said this, he

bolted out from underneath the invisibility cloak to be by her side.

Harry and Hermione followed suite, and quickly found Ron's comment

had been accurate.

Harry checked for a pulse and heaved a sigh of relief once

he had found one. "Hermione, go inside and find Professor McGonagall.

I think Heather was attacked. Come on, Ron. We need to get her to

to the hospital wing." Harry pulled out his wand and muttered the spell.

"Locomotor mortis!"

Once Harry and Ron reached the hospital wing with Heather's

lifeless form, Madame Pomfrey rushed to revive the girl. A few more

minutes later Hermione finally arrived with not just Professor

McGonagall, but with Professors Gaddis, Shift, and Dumbledore as well.

The first one to speak was the Chicago Institute's headmaster. "What

happened? Who did this?"

"I am sure, Headmaster Gaddis, that once the child is revived

we will get the answers we seek." Professor Dumbledore spoke very calmly,

considering the situation. A trait that seemed annoying to both Harry and

Ron. Professor Dumbledore turned to the other three Professors. "It must

be late. The three of you must return to your quarters and rest. I will

stay with her."

"What about the children?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she

administered the cure for Heather's state.

"I don't think I will be able to sleep with my sister is here."

Harry found a spot next to Heather and took her hand. The other

three professors left without another word.

"Neither can I." Ron went over to her and took her other hand.

"Well, I'm not going back up there if the two of you are not."

Hermione stood by Harry and placed her hand upon his shoulder.

Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes at the four extra people who would

be joining her this evening. She knew it was going to be a long night for

all the occupants in the room, especially for Heather.

*****

Two days later Ron laid his head against the wall, next to the

bed in which his best friend's sedated sister laid. His eyes were shut

to grab a nap while Heather continued not responding to the treatments.

He, Harry and Hermione had taken shifts to get some sleep and eat. Both of

which Ron had not received much of as of lately. Since it was the weekend,

they did not have to worry much about missing classes for the time

being. The three of the knew; however, if Heather did not wake up soon,

they would be needed to find out ways not missing too many of

their classes.

Suddenly, he felt someone shaking him and when Ron

opened his eyes to see who it was. He found it was Hermione

standing in front of him. "Hey, Ron. Why don't you go and get

some sleep." Hermione asked him.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Remember how you, Harry, and Heather were having those

nightmares?"

"We still are, but Madame Pomfrey is giving us something.

Why? You having them now, too?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sure Madame..." Hermione was interrupted by Ron who

of which continued with his thoughts.

"...but mine are different then what yours have been. Or

what at least is going on in them."

"What's going on in your dreams?"

"Harry and I in a different room than the ones you guys

suggested in the beginning of it. We're fighting death eaters and

we do a really good job of it, too. Once we took care of them, we

hear you and Heather scream. We run a room, the one in which you

describe in your dreams and not too much soon after, I wake up."

"Once Heather gets feeling better, we should probably talk

to Professor Dumbledore to see if he knows anymore on the

situation." Hermione took a moment to glance in Heather's

direction. There had not been much improvement with her condition

with in the past couple of days, ever since she had been brought

to the hospital wing. "Alright, if you won't go and take a nap,

then I will join you." Hermione grabbed a seat on Heather's bed

and gave Ron a good look-over. Ron's normally bright red hair

dulled in the sunlight. His eyes also did not have the same

sparkle as they normally did. He looked worn with his uniform,

of which it looked as if he had not bothered to change, was

wrinkled and his face, now turned downward, was full of worry.

Heather let out a moan, then gave a small sigh.  Ron

looked at her, but it was not a spectacular sign. She had

emitted sounds before; she just did not wake from her going-on

three day nap. Ron placed his hand on her face to comfort her.

He caressed it lovingly and she calmed down. Ron smiled at her

response.

Suddenly, Heather's deep brown eyes opened and she moaned

again. She glanced at the two occupants of the room, but her

first words were of her brother. "Where's Harry?"

"He's getting something to eat." It was Hermione who

answered her question. "How are you doing?"

"I feel like I was ran over by a ragging Hippogriff."

Heather put her hand to head to try to make the pounding in her

head stop. "What day is it? How long have I been out for?"

"About two days." Ron answered. "And it scared me."

"It scared all of us." Harry's voice floated through their

ears. Upon turning toward Harry's voice, the three of them turned

to see not only Harry standing in the door way, but Professor

Dumbledore as well.

"I see you decided to join us once again, here in the

mortal world." the professor kept a light note to his voice, so

he did not sound upset or sarcastic. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was telling Ron and Hermione; I feel like I was

ran over by a ragging Hippogriff." When she said this, she tried to

sit up in her bed, but Ron pushed her back down.

"You probably shouldn't be doing that so soon. Your body

has been through a lot in the past couple of days." Ron explained.

"Do you remember what happened? Who attacked you?"

Professor Dumbledore asked her, wanting to get the student who

attacked her the punishment they deserve.

"Yeah, I was sitting out by the lake and when I turned

to go back inside, Danielle attacked me."

"Danielle MacNeal?" Hermione asked, growing

uncharacteristically irritated. Heather nodded as she closed her

eyes and swallowed.

"Do you have any idea why Miss MacNeal would do something

like this?" Dumbledore asked Heather, but Ron answered for her.

"Danielle and Heather rival almost as bad as Harry and

Malfoy."

"Alright everyone. Get out! She needs her rest." Madame

Pomfrey ushered the visitors out of the room.

"I will discuss with Professor Gaddis the punishment in

which Danielle should receive." Professor Dumbledore told Harry as

he walked out of the Hospital wing with the two boys. "Whatever the

punishment, gentleman, I promise you she will be dealt with."

"Thank you, Professor. We appreciate it." Ron and

Harry stopped a little ways down the hallway with the headmaster.

"I'm sure the two of you need to get back to your

studies." Once Professor Dumbledore mentioned this, Harry

realized for the first time that Hermione was not with them.

"Where's Hermione?"

"She probably went to go do her homework or

tutor Dudley." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Probably. Let's go find Dudley before

she gets to him. Who better than his own cousin to tutor

him in Defense Against the Dark Arts or flying?"

*****

It was not her boyfriend's cousin of who she

was after. No this one time she could not turn to her books

to quench her anger. All Hermione knew  was the person who

put her new best female friend in a coma for the past two

days was going to pay and Hermione knew exactly where

Danielle MacNeal was at this time of day; sitting in the

bleachers on the Quidditch pitch with her gang, watching

the Salt and Gryffindor dance team practice.

Once on the field, she was greeted by her

fellow dance team members. "Hey, Hermione!" April Miller

called once India Jade stopped the music and Mika Salena

stopped the group. "How's Heather doing? Has she woken up

yet?"

Hermione ignored the group as she continued

toward Danielle MacNeal and her gang. Once Hermione reached

Danielle, Hermione balled her fist and punched Danielle

hard on her nose. Blood splattered all over her uniform.

Everyone who watch stood in shock as Danielle screamed.

Once the Salt and Gryffindor dance team overcame their shock

that Hermione ignored them; they raced over to see what was

going on.

Once Danielle got over the shock of the head girl

attacked her, she shouted. "You Bitch!" and punched Hermione

in the eye. Soon the two of them became involved in an all out

brawl.

When India and Mika saw what was truly going on,

the two of them went to go find help. They found Harry, Ron,

and Dudley coming down to the pitch from the school with

their broomsticks in hand. "Harry! Ron! You have to come quick!

Hermione has completely lost it!" India yelled as she and Mika

raced over to where they were.

"What do  you mean she's gone crazy?" Harry asked them,

tying his Quidditch robes tighter on to his body.

"She just came out on to the field a couple of minutes

ago and punched Danielle on the nose." Mika yelled and the five of

them headed toward the field.

"Didn't I tell you she was mental?" Ron asked him as

they followed the two to the fight. By the time he, Dudley, Ron,

Mika, and India reached where Hermione and Danielle were fighting,

a rather large group had formed around them to watch. Harry made his

way through the crowd with Ron and broke up the fight by grabbing

Hermione and Ron taking a hold of Danielle. "If YOU EVER come near

ANY of my friends, again, I WILL KILL YOU!" Hermione screamed at

Danielle while trying to break Harry's hold.

"That's a threat? Not that it scares me." Danielle

yelled back and struggled, trying to do the same Hermione was

doing, but with Ron.

"No, it's a promise, MacNeal. Touch any of my friends

again and it will happen. You should be scared...VERY SCARED!"

Professor McGonagall raced over a few  minutes later

with Professor Snape to investigate why all the students were

surrounding that particular section of the bleachers. "What's going

on here? What's the meaning of this?"

"Hermione attacked Danielle." A Western house sixth year

by the name of Dana Mist complained to the two professors.

"Danielle was just sitting around with us, watching

the dance team, when all of a sudden Hermione attacked Danielle

for no particular reason. "Dana's twin sister, Dawn, spoke up.

"She's crazy! She needs to be locked up somewhere."

Harry struggled with Hermione to restrain her from

doing anything too rash. Harry pleaded with Professor McGonagall.

"Professor, you know Hermione would never attack anyone with out

being provoked." He hoped Professor McGonagall would think logically

about the situation with Hermione still struggling a little against

him.

"Miss Granger, Miss MacNeal, please come with me to

the headmaster's office. Miss Granger, you should be ashamed of

yourself! You being head girl and all!" Professor McGonagall escorted

the two girls along with Professor Snape up to the Headmaster's

office.

"Alright, everyone. Party's over! Let's get back

to work!" Mika gathered the Salt and Gryffindor dance team to the

other side of the pitch.

*****

Rumors of what happened spread through the school

like wildfire. Only the people who where there knew exactly what

occurred on the pitch during the fight between Hermione and Danielle.

"Injuries could have been worse." Harry thought as he looked over

the table at Hermione who was able to come out of the fight with

only a black eye, a few scrapes, and a couple of broken ribs, of

which Madame Pomfrey was able to mend quickly. Danielle had not

been so lucky as she had a broken nose and jaw, plus the hundreds

of scratches from Hermione's nails. Harry never really knew Hermione

had it in her to inflict that much damage with out her wand. Harry

watched as Hermione dove into her homework. "How long do you have

to go to detention?"

"Until Christmas break." Hermione scribbled her

homework onto her parchment with her quill. They were in the

Great Hall for lunch and all Harry could do was pick at his lunch.

Harry was anxious because his sister was getting out of the Hospital

wing today for the first time in close to a week.

"You know what, Hermione?"

"What, Harry?" Hermione was trying to finish her

Potion's homework before that evening when she would have to

do her detention.

"I'm glad you did something about Danielle,

otherwise I would have."

Hermione looked up from her studies and smiled

at the complement. "But Harry, you're too much of a gentleman

to do something like that to a lady."

"But Hermione, she isn't a lady. No true lady

would have done something like that to my sister."

"Speaking of Heather, how is she?" Hermione

asked changing the subject.

"She's getting out of the hospital

wing right now. Ron is getting her as we speak so she can

have something solid to eat." The doors of the Great Hall

opened and Ron sauntered in with Heather hanging on his

arm for support. Heather greeted the pair with a smile,

but winced in pain as she took in a deep breath.

Ron guided Heather to the seat next to her

brother. "Hey, how are you doing?" Hermione asked as

Ron claimed the seat next to Heather.

"Way better than I was a couple of days ago.

Madame Pomfrey says I should take it easy for the next

couple of days because of the combination of the spells

used..." Heather looked at Hermione, who was banged up

and her black eye had turned a mighty shade of purple.

"What the hell happened to you, Hermione?! Are you okay?"

"She got into a fight." Ron blurted.

"A fight?!" Heather was surprised. Of all the

people she would figure would get into a fight, Hermione's

name never came up on to that particular list. "With who?"

"She got two weeks worth of detention for it, too."

Harry nodded.

"What happened?" Heather was more intent to find out

what made the head girl get into a fight and who with.

"She beat the crap out of..." Mika took the seat next

to Hermione and Hermione clamped her hand down on the girl's

mouth.

"I really don't want to talk about it." Hermione

informed her and Heather changed the subject.

"So are all of you coming out to my place for

Christmas then?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Mika smiled once

Hermione took her hand away from her mouth. "I am going to go

out and buy new dress robes for it even."

"How are  you going? I did not see you get an

invitation?" Hermione asked casually.

"My mom and Dad got the invitation and it included

me on it. You see my dad is the head Shaman and takes orders

from Heather's dad." Mika turned and asked Heather. "So are we

going to try it again? Maybe if Harry comes along with us, it

would work better."

"What would work better?" Harry wondered why his name

came up in the conversation at all.

"Well, you see Heather and I every year "during the

boring snob-fest" as Heather puts it, we go and have a meeting

with the dead. Since my dad is the local Shaman, he supervises

it. Last time we tried to make contact with your parents. Your

mother cooperated, but for some reason your father didn't.

Something about him not being there. We didn't put much thought

into it, until we came here and found you. "

"What did she say?" Harry seemed to be interested with

anything his parents would say to anyone.

"Now that is rather personal." Heather blushed and

turned to Ron. "So, is all of your family coming?"

"Yep, all eight of us."

"I thought there was only seven of you."

"Eight if you include Bill's fiancée." and the

conversation continued on that topic until it was time for them

to go to class.

*****

Hermione pulled to door to the dungeon classroom open

and found Professor Shift sitting at the Professor's desk. "Hello,

Hermione. We were waiting for you." Hermione then noticed Danielle

MacNeal sitting at a near-by table, scrubbing cauldrons clean.

"What will I be doing, Professor?"

"You will be alphabetizing the potion ingredient

shelves."  With a flick of her wand, the doors opened to admit

the mess inside. "When you are finished, you can help Danielle with

the caldrons."

A few minutes after Hermione finished taking out the

ingredients on the top shelf to be sorted, the door to the dungeon

classroom opened again to allow Heather Potter entrance. "Ready

for your detention, Heather?"

"Yeah."

"Professor Dumbledore told me what happened and

since you are recovering, I am only going to make you write

lines." With another flick of her wand, parchment, a quill,

and a bottle of ink appeared on the desk next to her. "You

know the phrase you are suppose to write, so please get

started."

Heather Potter smiled and sat down at the desk to

begin her detention. Hermione did not know what possibly could

make her smile in detention until she passed behind Heather,

while she was sorting out the potion bottles. The phrase

Heather wrote brought a smile to her face and Hermione knew

she would have to tell Harry and Ron about this particular

expression. Heather was destined to write the slogan: "My

Uncle Severus Snape is a slimy git" for the rest of the

detention.

*****

End of Chapter 12.

Sorry that took so long to post. I have been having problems with

stuff. I will try to get it out asap.

Oh, let me know how you felt about this, really. Constructive

Critism is always welcome by me. I am going to try to work on

my brittish culture, and dialect and stuff. I am an American, so

I can do that pretty well, but not that. Also, if you are having

problems with the fact Heather is "perfect" she's not...she's got

her faults. Hopefully, they will shine through in the next chapter

because when you are at home, you have a tendency to act like

yourself and not how you think people want you to be.

God bless,

S'Eleene Paris

13. The Function of A Rubber Duck

Okay, there is probably a subliminal reason why

This chapter is not coming along as fast as I

wanted it to, because after all it is the 13th

chapter.

I do want to thank Danny for helping me through

some of the rough patches in this particular chapter.

I love you and I thank you!

God Bless,

S'Eleene Paris

Chapter Thirteen

The Function of A Rubber Duck

The weeks passed by quickly and soon

Christmas break was upon the students of

Hogwarts. The Great Hall fluttered with

noise, of several different sorts, belonging

to the students hurrying  around; eating and

preparing themselves before they disembarked

from their beloved school.

Heather Lillian Potter poked at her food.

For some reason she did not seem to be

hungry this afternoon.  "It's probably just

nerves." Harry offered to her; sensing his

sister was not feeling quite right. "You

should eat something though, because we

have a long journey ahead of us."

"You're probably right, Harry." She did not

eat anything; however, she did change the topic.

"Where is Hermione?"

"She and Ron went to load your car. I guess

when you handed Ron your keys, Hermione got

a little nervous." Harry admitted. "Hermione

also figures he could also use a hand since

she thought we should leave right after lunch

was over if we wanted to make it before the

Weasleys had to stay up too late."

"You do realized when I drive, it takes me

about two hours to get about anywhere."

"Yeah, but Hermione doesn't."

"Is Dudley, for sure, not going with us?"

"Yeah, Aunt Petunia wanted him and Uncle

Severus to spend sometime together. She moved

into Hogsmeade last weekend, so they are helping

her unpack." Harry gave her a smile. "So, you

finally a registered animagi."

"Yep, the official came this morning and I

am now a registered animagi." Heather smiled.

"You know, I think having the ability to

change into an animal is going to come in handy

some day. Especially if I am going to be an auror."

"Are you excited to be going home in a week?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"Why only sort of?" Hermione asked as she and

Ron joined the two of them for lunch.

"Well, it's kind of complicated." Heather

tried to explain. "I don't know. I just am."

The doors of the Great Hall parted open and

both Hermione and Ron stepped into the large room

to have their last meal before leaving. Hermione

claimed the seat next to Harry and Ron sat next to

Heather. "We're all set and ready to go." Hermione

claimed as Ron took a chicken drummette from Heather's

plate.

"Careful, they are hot." Heather warned Ron. Ron

shrugged her off and took a rather large bite out

of it. He gasped for something to drink and Heather

handed Ron some pumpkin juice. "I told you to be

careful."

"I didn't think they were going to be that spicy."

Ron claimed as took a smaller bite, this time. "What's

on that stuff?"

"Tabasco sauce." Heather smiled. "I like my wings

hot."

"They aren't made from Buffalos are they?" Ron was

being stupid. Harry suspected it was his way of flirting

with her.

"No, Buffalo wings are named after the city in which

the food was founded in. It's a city in New York state."

Hermione answered. "Don't you ever read?"

"Where is Ginny?" Heather asked changing the topic.

"She's saying good-bye to a few of her friends. She'll

be a long in a few moments. I told her, if anything, to meet

us by the car." Hermione spoke, since Ron was currently

stuffing his face with food.

"So, when are you guys leaving?" Mika asked as she

claimed a seat next to Hermione. "Ron, do you need a bib?"

"Mno, thanks. I'm good." Ron said as he attempted to speak

with his mouth full.

"Ron, didn't your mom teach you not to speak with your

mouth full?" Heather asked as she nibbled on her potato

chip.

"She tried to." Ginny said as she claimed the seat next

to her offensive brother. "But it didn't do any good, did it?"

"So you ready to go, then?" Harry asked her.

"Any time you guys are."

"I'm good, let's go now." Heather jumped up as did Harry and

Hermione.

Ginny joined them, but Ron waited to grab a few more

chicken wings before heading out of the Great Hall.

"Wait up, guys!"

*****

When the five of them reached the Burrow, it was dark and almost

time for dinner. Ron had complained a few times during their trip

to his home that he was "starving", but Heather could not stop

because it was getting to late in the evening. "Besides," she told

him while they were driving. "I don't like driving at night. My night

vision isn't really good and the fewer hours I have to spend driving

in the dark, the better."

Molly Weasley was the first to greet the group once they entered

home. "Welcome home!" She exclaimed as she kissed her youngest son

and only daughter. "Did you have a nice trip?" She asked turning to

Harry and Hermione.

"We made good time." Heather smiled and Molly Weasley reached for

her and hugged her.

"Oh, honey. It's good to finally meet you! Ron has told us all

about you!" She tightened her grip on the young girl and soon Heather

was having a hard time breathing.

"Um...Mrs. Weasley. I can't breathe." She finally croaked out and

immediately, she let go.

"Sorry, Dear. Let me get a good look at you." Molly pulled Heather

away from her body and really looked at her for the first time.

Heather's deep brown hair was the exact shade Harry's was, but her

eyes were only different by color. Instead of the emerald green

she had been expecting, Heather had a deep brown that almost matched

her hair in exact color. She also had a lightning bolt shaped scar, but

hers claimed the opposite side of her forehead from Harry's.

Currently, she wore her school uniform, but it did not belong to

Hogwarts. "What school are you from again?"

"The Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am wearing

our school uniform. It seemed appropriate for the moment."

Heather glanced down at her red and white plaid skirt and her

black army boots.

"I'm not too sure if army boots are really considered part of

your uniform, Heather." Hermione added her two knuts worth into

the conversation.

"Well, at our school we can wear any type of shoes we want, but

they have to be black." Heather commented. "You gotta to love

freedom of speech."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Heather’s ignorance,

but said nothing as the group went into the Weasley's

living room, where they met up with Arthur

Weasley. Ron and Ginny raced to their father's arm and he

greeted it with appreciation. Heather felt a pang of jealousy rise

with in her. She knew with out a doubt that this would

probably would not be the homecoming she will have once she

reached home because her parents were very busy people. No, her

parents loved her, they just did not have as much time as the

Weasleys have to spend with one another. "Where is Bill, Charlie,

Percy, Fred and George? I thought they would be here." Harry

asked and Mr. Weasley answered.

"They were here, but they could not stay up to meet you. Fred,

George and Percy live in London and will meet us at the airport

once we are ready to leave. Bill and Sandra are already asleep

upstairs and Charlie is staying with Fred and George and will

apparating in once and a while."

"Why don't we get your things up into your rooms where you

will be staying and then you can come down. Then you can come

down and eat something." Mrs. Weasley gestured toward the

upstairs and the five of them headed toward the upper rooms.

*****

After a week with the Weasleys, Heather never more relaxed

and better fed in her life.  She waited for Harry, Hermione,

and the Weasleys to come down stairs to have breakfast before

heading off to the United States. Mrs. Weasley, all that

week, confirmed with her husband that he had their passports

and they were ready to go. This morning it was not any

different. "Arthur, you do have Hermione and Harry's passports,

right?"

"Yes, Molly. For the hundredth time, I have all the passports

including Heather, Harry and Hermione's." He showed them to her

and placed them down on the table. "They will be safe in my, what

did you call it Heather, a curry on bag?"

"A carry-on bag." Heather corrected and smiled. "I received an

owl last night from my parents. They suggested I keep my car here

and they sent me enough money for us to take the Knight Bus."

"That is too generous of your parents to send us that, let

alone your parents are going to let us stay at their house."

Molly Weasley blushed.

"Mom and Dad enjoy entertaining, so it really is not a big

deal for them. They'll do anything for people when they are on

their way to spend some time at our place. They like to give out

some of what they receive." Heather dug into her carry-on bag, of

which she had at the table with her, and pulled out presents for

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "These are just a little something for

allowing me to say here at the house for a week."

Mrs. Weasley opened her present and found a basket full of

scented bath soaps, candles, lotions, and body sprays. "I thought

you might like to "escape" once and a while." Heather smiled, but

what she was waiting for was Mr. Weasley's reaction to his

present.

"I know what this is!" He exclaimed. "This is a rubber duck!"

"Yes, Harry told me that you had asked him what the function

of a rubber duck was. I didn't think you got a real answer did

you? So I thought I would show you what it was and how muggles

use it." Heather spotted the empty sink. "First thing's first,

we need some water. Like a sink full."

"No problem." Mrs. Weasley pulled her wand out and uttered

the charm. "Fillius!" the sink filled with water. "Is that

enough?"

"It should be." Heather stood up from her seat and escorted

Mr. Weasley to the sink. "Now, watch this very carefully."

Heather took the duck from Mr. Weasley and placed it in the

water. Everyone watched, except for Hermione, who thought this

was just a big joke.

The duck, as Heather suspected, floated on the water. She

smiled, but once she realized Arthur Weasley was not getting

what it did, she clarified. "It's a muggle bathtub toy."

"OH!" The realization hit Mr. Weasley with interest. "Muggles

are really interesting, aren't they?"

"You will love America then, Mr. Weasley. The muggle world and

the magic one in America has more of a tendency to cross over

more often than it does here. My friends and I find it much more

comfortable to wear muggle cloths than wizarding. When Hector and

Rachel were alive, there was this muggle book store that we use

to go to all the time. They had a whole section devoted to

divination. Can you blame the muggles for wanting to try and be

wizards? The bookshop is not as extensive as the one on Roger Drive,

but its not too bad."

"Speaking of which." Hermione looked at her watch and stood up

from the table. "If we don't get moving, we are going to be late."

Heather looked at her watch and agreed with Hermione. "Yes, we've

got to get a move on. I don't want to be late." With those words, the

Weasley house became chaotic once again. Soon, the Knight bus

pulled up in front of the house. Stan Turnpike stepped outside of the

bus and knocked on to the door. Mr. Weasley opened the door, and soon,

everyone was carrying bags out to the tripled decked purple bus.

Heather handed the money to Stan and soon they were on their way,

rushing through the streets toward London's airport. Before Harry knew

it, they had arrived at the airport and the group piled out of the

Knight bus and awaited for the arrival of the four remaining members

of the Weasley family. Soon, a taxi pulled up to the airport and

the four Weasleys stepped out.

"Next time, Fred, George, don't give him a reason to turn around in

the car while we are driving in a muggle vehicle again. I really do

not want a repeat of that." Charlie complained and Percy agreed,

not quite noticing the group of people waiting for them.

"Yes, next time, it would not be a good idea to use that particular

curse again, ever." Percy added as he pulled his luggage out of the

trunk. He was the first one to notice the group standing next to the

door, waiting for them. "Hey, they're already here!"

The other boys from the taxi looked over in the direction Percy

indicated. "The combination of Hermione and Heather must have made

them come early." Fred observed as he looked over at the group.

"You know, she isn't too bad looking for someone who is 16."

"You know, that makes her consent age." George volleyed back, with

an evil grin plastered on his face, knowingly.

"Yeah, but I doubt that she thinks of you in that way." Charlie

countered. "I'm almost positive it’s our brother she wants. Just look

at her, they're in love."

Ron was only a mere few inches from her at any moment

they had been around at the burrow. Currently, he was standing

behind her, longing to have an excuse to touch her. "You guys

ready to go?" Heather asked them as they approached and where

greeted warmly.

"Oh yeah."

"Well, then. Let's go." Heather Potter picked up her baggage and

carried it through ticket checks and security check points. Once

the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Sandra (AN: you thought I forgot about

her didn't you?) were all through, Heather took a moment to check the

departing board. "We need to get to Gate B18."

"But the plane leaving for Chicago is at Gate C7." Ron notated,

wondering why she was headed to the wrong plane.

"Trust her, Ron. I said the same thing when I went to Chicago for

the first time with her too." Hermione said and smiled. "Trust me."

The group of them strolled down to the gate to board the plane. They

went outside and met the pilot. "Hello, Miss Potter. Ready to go home?"

"Yes, Joe I am. How soon will we be departing?"

"As soon as we get inside. I must inform you though, Chicago is

experiencing snowy conditions. We will be landing at the Kankakee

air port. They just finished re-doing the run way to allow larger

planes to land. Your father has informed me that this jet will be

able to harbor there."

"Thank goodness. I was getting sick and tired of that one hour drive

in between." Heather began climbing onto the plane, followed by Harry,

Hermione, Sandra, and the Weasleys. Once everyone seated themselves,

the plane took off and began the long journey towards the United States.

*****

"Heather, wake up!" Harry jabbed at his sister's arm. "We've landed."

Heather yawned and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She nodded as a

yawn escaped her. She stood up and walked off the plane. The sun

was bright against the several layers of newly fallen snow.

"Bloody Hell! Its cold!" Fred complained as he stepped off the

plane.

"Mom says its been warmer than what it has been. It's actually

above zero for the first time in three weeks." Heather said

causal-like as if it were the most common thing in the world.

"Ah, Miss Potter, Welcome home." a gray haired man greeted them.

Miles, the Nelsons driver, greeted them next to two cars. One

being a black stretch limo and the other being a silver Porsche.

"Your father sent his car along, so you could feel comfortable

going to the house since you did not have your car with you."

"Dad's car is a stick-shift! He knows I don't like driving

sticks!" Heather threw her temper tantrum. She rolled her

eyes. "Why couldn't I take Mom's Grand Prix? She's in town,

isn't she?"

"She's attending the Governor’s ball with your father. They

took her car." Miles sighed, as if this was another normal

occurrence. The group began loading up the cars with their

luggage and with themselves. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny

claimed the extra seats in the Porsche, while the others

took the limo.

Heather groaned. "So, they aren't going to be at home when I

get there?"

"No, Miss Potter."

Heather rolled her eyes and headed toward the drivers seat

of the car. The only ones that heard her next comment was

the occupants of the car. "You'd think I would be use to

it by now." She sighed and opened the car door to sit down

in the driver's seat. "You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah,"

"You guys want to stop off and see my school before we head

to the house?"

"That sounds like a nice idea." Ginny offered.

"Wait a minute. This is a Porsche isn't it?" Harry asked, he

had read about muggle cars a while ago, when the Dursleys bought

a new one and knew a Porsche was a small American import. There

was no way that all five of them could be seated in this car

unless it had expanding charms on it. "Did your father expand

this car?"

"He must have done it for today." Heather viewed the back seats

through the rearview mirror. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were in the

back seat of the car, with Ron in the front next to Heather. "He told

me gas prices were extremely high around here lately like almost 2 to 3

dollars to the gallon. He must have wanted to use the most

miles to the gallon."

Heather drove down the street a little ways, then turned once she

had reached some baseball fields. "Hang on tight, this last turn is

always a dozy." Harry thought this turn was rather ridiculous as

did Hermione.

"What are we doing in a grave yard?" Ron asked as they continued

pass the close buried graves of the former insane.

"This is Shapiro’s graveyard. The entrance is in here because most

muggles can't stand to be around here. Probably because of all the

ghosts flying around here and of course the anti-muggle charms."

Heather smiled as they finally reached the gates of the school.

They were greeted by house-elf. Heather rolled down the window and

said. "Good morning, Douglas. Nice to see you again."

"It is good to see young Miss Potter, again. They are still fixing

the school grounds, young miss. The dormitories were not affected by

the attack of He-Who-Shouldn't-Be Named, but most of the other buildings

were." A tear seemed to leave his eye. "Too many young ones died here

on that night."

"I know, Douglas." She tried to smile, but the memory was too fresh.

"Are we allowed inside yet? There are a few things I would like to get

from my dormitory."

"Students are still not allowed to come inside, because construction is

still going on and will probably continue through the summer. By Fall, though,

students will be able to return to the grounds from the various campuses

in which they had been separated. Although the students will be allowed

on campus in a few days for an open house."

"I know most of the Diversetech students went to Salem Academy because

Hogwarts could not handle all of us plus their own. Oh, by the way, these

are my new friends from Hogwarts, Douglas. Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione

Granger, and my brother Harry Potter."

Douglas's eyes grew wide and muttered. "Now the prophecy can be complete!

Now that they have found each other."

"Prophecy? What Prophecy?" Hermione asked.

"I probably should not have said that." Douglas began beating his head

against the post of the gate.

"He still thinks he is owned by the school. He's not, you understand,

but he thinks he is own by the Headmaster. You guys have house-elves

don't you?" Heather tried to explain.

"Yes and it is sad they still think they are suppose to be our slaves!"

Hermione exclaimed.

"Don't get her started, because she may make you join spew."

"Its S.P.E.W."  Harry and Hermione rang in unison.

Heather looked at them as if they were crazy and said good-bye

to Douglas. She turned around in the driveway and took off back down

the road, past a muggle community college. "What school is that?"

Ginny asked.

"Kankakee Community College. A muggle school." Heather answered and

took the exit to I-57. They drove a few miles until they reached Exit

315. "Well, everyone, welcome to Bradley."

"I thought you were from Bourbonnais." Harry had been the one to ask

this.

"Bradley, Bourbonnais, and Kankakee is what we call a tri-city area.

Three rather large towns make up one big metropolis." Heather explained

as she drove passed a restaurant called Denny's. "I live on the

other side of town, as Hermione and Ginny already know."

"How long until we get there?" Ron asked, his stomach growling.

"No more than fifteen minutes." Heather stepped on the gas pedal

as soon as they were out of the major part of the town. "Less than

that if I have any say in it. So, what is Sandra's last name again.

You know Bill's fiancée?"

"Its Sandra Watson. They worked at Gringotts together." Hermione answered.

"Her cousin is some sort of muggle movie actress named Emma."

"Never heard of her." Heather scratched at her head. "I'm really

good with muggle movies and stuff and I don't think I have ever heard

of her."

"She's popular in England, but you might not heard of her since she

is a rising child star." Hermione added as she adjusted her coat closer

to her. "Is it really cold in here or is it just me?"

"Cold? This is nothing!" Heather reached over to turn on the heater.

"Like I was telling Fred, my mom wrote me a few days before we left and

she mentioned we finally got back up in the positive digits this week.

Earlier it got down to about negative 10."

"Well that isn't too bad." Ginny offered.

"It is when it is degrees F and not C." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"In America, they use F. Its about 30 degrees off of what we are."

Ron jumped in changing the subject because it reminded him too much

of school. "So are Miles and the rest of your servants Muggles?"

"No, most of them are Wizards who dropped out of school or just

felt that this is what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives.

The large chunk of our staff are what you call squibs? I think that is

the term you guys use. We call them the less-magically inclined."

Once Heather pulled up to the gate, Heather motioned for them to

hand her their invitations. "When Hector and Rachel were alive, they

had passes to get into the gate. All I have to do is to put my hand

on the panel like so." Heather showed them how to get pass the

security charms on the gates. The cast iron gates parted and the

the car drove up to the house. Heather turned off the car and soon

several servants came out to help them unload.

Harry got out of the car and looked into the paradise. "Are those

horses I see out there?" Harry pointed at a rider exercising a black

Arabian horse with a white star on its nose.

"Stargazer!" Heather ran toward the direction of the horses.

She stopped short of the fence and the rider brought the horse

over to her. She gave the horse and enthusiastic hug and

then petted her nose. "Hey, girl. I missed  you."

"And she you." The black-toned man said as he sat

on the horse. "She has missed you greatly since you

have been away. I took the liberty to ride her while

you were away."

"You know you can ride her anytime you want Shane

Montague." Heather grinned. "As long as you keep Supernova

trained too."

Shane grimaced. "That horse has baggage, Heather. It

had to have been abused before your father saved it from

that horse farm. That is the reason why he does not like

people."

"I guess so." She patted the nose of the horse and then

turned to her shivering guest, who had followed her out

to the barn. "We'll ride them later. Come on! Let's go

inside and get warm."

*****

14. Ice Skating

Chapter Fourteen

Ice Skating

"Slap Happy!" Heather called to her cat as she entered

the home of her adoptive parents. The male gray American short hair

meowed at his master and jumped into her arms. Heather patted

him on his head and Slap Happy made a swipe at the basket

Hermione had Crookshanks in. Slap Happy gave a quick hiss

and jumped out of Heather's arms to land on the stairwell.

He raced up the stairs and out of site.

"Slap Happy?" Ron asked.

"When he plays with the balls we buy him, he bats them

around the house. So we called him Slap Happy." Heather

turned around to face Hermione. "You won't have to worry

too much about Crookshanks and Slap Happy fighting because

Slap Happy is not allowed in the guest wing." Heather

gave the four of them a reassuring smile.

"Ah, Miss Potter, welcome home." a woman in her mid-

sixties greeted her. She was a tall woman, who had a

bit of an unhealthy thin body weight to her. Her eyes

were a light blue and her lips were thin. In fact,

the word thin seemed to describe most of her. She

wore a dark blue suit dress and a bright yellow

sunflower flower on each dark blue high heeled shoe.

"I see my mother and father are out, Louise." Heather huffed

and rolled her eyes. Then muttered under her breath, so

only Harry could hear her. "Why does it not surprise me?"

"Completely unavoidable." Louise commented. "The governors'

ball is hardly something you cannot just merely not attend,

Heather."

Heather sighed and decided it was better to glance around

at the room rather than face her at the moment. "Have my other

guest arrived?"

"Yes, Miss Potter. They are settling down in their rooms as

we speak."

"Good that will be all." Heather dismissed her with

a rather harsh tone to her voice. "Damn that woman is such

a bitch!" she commented once the five of them were out of

ear shot.

"Who was that woman, Heather?" Harry asked, as he climbed the

stairs and traveled with them down the hall to the left.

"Louise Goodie. Her family was one of the first rich families

over here to America. Some of her muggle ancestors where burned

at the stake and the father, who was a wizard, placed a curse on

the other family, the Fears. It was in series of novels by an

author known as R.L. Stine. He documented it in a whole bunch

of muggle fiction books known as the "fear street sagas."

The Nelsons are related to the Fears by marriage, so she

thinks we are out to get her too."

"But your not really a Nelson are you? Your a Potter."

Hermione pointed out.

"But I am good as to her. I am adopted by the Nelsons,

but they allowed me to keep my family name. To her,

I am a blood traitor because the Potter line belongs

to the Goodies." Heather guided them through a

series of corridors before stopping at a rather large

wooden door. Heather pointed at the door with her

index finger and chanted. "Alohamora." and the door

opened. She guided them through the doorway and down the

hall. Harry guessed this was the guest wing because each

room had a name on the door and a set of keys taped to it.

"You each get your own room. Harry, you get the room furthest

from the door and Hermione is next to him. next is Ron and then

you Ginny. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley is down the hall on the other side

and then it goes, Bill, Sandra Watson, George, Fred, Charlie,

and then Percy. We dress for dinner, so you will find appropriate

attire in your closet. I will leave you to get settled." Heather

paused at the door and then turned around. "Oh, by the way, my

room is down the other hall way and to the left. You will find

it...it has my name on the door on a small silver plaque."

Once Heather had left, Harry went into his room to unpack.

His room was as large as it was at Hogwarts, but he did not

have to share it with anyone. It was decorated in a rather

ornate fashion with gold trim and white walls. The bedding

consisted of a dark blue satin comforter, which was thick

and fluffy, and large amounts of pillows at the head of

the bed. There was a large closet off to one side and to the

other was a bookshelf and a desk. On the opposite side of

the door was a rather large wrap around balcony to where

he was tempted to go to Hermione's room once everyone turned

in for the night. Harry laughed at the thought and went back

into his room to unpack. He carried his personal items into

the bath room and found it rather nice to not share the

same bathroom as the rest of the school. The towels were

white and warm with the sent of freshly laundered linen.

A knock on his door told him that he would not be alone

for too much longer. Harry opened the door and found

Hermione on the outside of the door. "Allo, can I come in?"

Harry smiled and escorted her inside of his room. "Oh,

I had this room the last time I was here." Hermione

commented as she took a place on Harry's bed. "The view

in the early morning is really quite extra-ordinary. You

can see for miles!"

As Hermione rambled, Harry grew closer and soon they

were only a few inches apart. Hermione looked up at

Harry as her ramblings died off once she realized he

was that close. He leaned down closer and soon his

soft pink lips were against hers with such hunger,

it was if he had been starving not being able to do

kiss her like he wanted to. As the kiss deepened, she

laid down on the bed. Harry let go of the kiss to

look deep into the chocolate depths of her eyes. He

smiled affectionately as he combed her hair with his

fingers. "Now, I think this view is quite lovely."

Hermione blushed and Harry captured her lips once

more. He opened his mouth and the kiss deepened.

Harry had longed to do this for a while, but Hermione

did not allow them to because of being head boy and

girl. They still had to keep Dumbledore's trust,

but being on break it was tempting to give into

their desires.

A knock on the door broke them apart. "Harry,

you in?" It was Ron.

"Come in, Ron." Harry said once he and Hermione

sat up on the bed and she tired to fix her hair.

The door opened and Ron's red hair was the first

thing noticeable through the door way. He was

wearing a full black tuxedo with tails. His vest

was black and so was his tie.

"Wow, Ron. You clean up well." Hermione commented

and grinned.

"Oh, allo Hermione." Ron looked over and wondered

why the two of them were not dressed. "Why aren’t

you guys dressed yet? Dinner is in a few minutes."

"Oh, I didn't know that." Hermione practically

jumped off Harry's bed and walked out the door.

"I have to go get ready. I will see you guys later."

Ron's attention went back to Harry after Hermione

had left the room. "Did I just miss something, Harry?"

"Bloody Hell, Ron. I thought you knew about me and

Hermione." Harry went over to his closet and opened

it to find a tuxedo to match Ron’s. He stripped off

his shirt and began to change his cloths.

"I did, but did I just walk into what I think I

just walked into?" Ron grinned knowingly.

"We were only kissing, if it is any of your

business. Which it isn't." Harry didn't look

at his friend...he knew he had been caught.

"Touché. Sure. That is all that happened.

You sure you and Hermione didn't just have

a snogging session?" Ron was digging

for information and to Ron it seemed to be

working.

"Ron, if it were any of your business, I

would tell you, but it's not, so get over it."

Harry pulled the pants of the tuxedo. The jacket,

with tails had to come last because of the green

vest and bow tie had to go over the shirt. Once

Harry was finished, he looked himself into the

mirror. "Heather must have picked this one

out special."

"Yeah, must have." Ron looked down at his

tuxedo. It was plain black, nothing like

Harry's. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so. We probably should wait

for Hermione, though."

"Its just dinner, Harry, not the bloody

Quidditch Cup! Its not like she won't be

there. Come on! Before dinner gets cold."

Ron dragged him by the arm down the hallway.

"Do you know where the dinning hall is?"

Harry asked his friend as he climbed down the

main stairs they had walked up a hour before

to get to their rooms.

"No, do you?"

One of the servants walked by the two of

them and said not a word to them. "Well, then,

do you think we should go and ask then?"

"No. I think we can find it on our own."

Ron assured him. "How big could this bloody

house be?"

"Big enough for the two of you to get lost

in a matter of seconds." Hermione's voice floated

through their ears and they turned around to her.

Ginny was with her, dressed in a rather lovely powder

blue full length dress. It had no straps, but a

nice shawl to cover her arms and a pair of white

full length gloves. Her hair was off her face

and it was done in a French roll with a diamond

studded comb to hold it in place.

Harry went speechless when he noticed Hermione's

dress. She also had a full length dress like Ginny

did, but Hermione’s was emerald green and more form

fitting. The straps consisted of clear beads on clear

string and the dress trained along behind her. Adoring

her neck was a black beaded necklace in which to its own

right was regal, but upon her head she wore a small tiara.

To Harry, she was stunningly beautiful. When Harry

finally was able to say something, she smiled. "Umm...

yeah, we got lost."

"I figured you would. Heather really didn't give you

guys the grand tour. Not that I blame her really.

She's just excited to be home for the first time

since the attacks." Hermione laughed with Ginny heartedly.

“I don’t think excited is the word I would use,

but close enough.” Harry offered.

"Well, come on. Dinner's ready." Ginny grabbed her

brother's arm and the four of them walked regally

down the hallway. When they entered the dinning

room, Heather had not arrived yet. The rest of

the Weasleys were there, dressed in the attire

Heather found appropriate.

Mrs. Weasley wore a dark blue full length ball

ball gown and to Harry's surprise, it was strapless.

She wore white gloves just like her daughter and

her hair matched her daughters perfectly.  She wore

a blue colored stone around her neck, to which Harry

guessed it to be a sapphire. Mr. Weasley wore a tuxedo,

like the rest of the men, except for his bow tie

and vest was dark blue to match his wife's dress.

"Where's Sandra?" Arthur asked his son, before he

noticed the four of them.

"She has bit of jet-lag, so she doesn't feel up

to eating. She went straight for bed." Bill commented

and looked over at the door.

"Hiya Harry." George announced to the group and the

group of them turned to greet them. Harry, Ron, Ginny,

and Hermione claimed their seats (there were place cards

on the table to tell them where they were suppose to be

seated at.).

"Heather isn't here yet." Fred mentioned.

"She always has to be fashionably late." Ginny

commented as she took a sip from her water goblet.

"What about me being fashionably late?" Heather

stepped into the room and all heads turned in her

direction. Once Ron looked at her, his mouth gapped

open. Now he knew why she had chosen black for his

tie and vest. Heather chose a black floor-length skirted

dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was accented

with jewel studded barrettes and around her neck

was a rather large diamond choker necklace that

started from her neck and cascaded down past her

collar bone. "Good evening, everyone. I'm ready to

eat, what about you?" Heather stood behind the

seat next to Ron. She seemed to be waiting for

something.

"Ron, get up and pull out her chair, you dolt!"

Charlie rolled his eyes at his younger brother's

lack of courtesy. Ron quickly overcame this and

stood up and pulled out her seat for her. She

nodded and she sat down in the chair. He sat

back down next to her and the meal began. The

first course consisted of a cream of chicken

soup. Harry laughed quietly as Heather looked

horrified by Ron's "good table manors".

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked him as he

continued to chuckle. Heather and Ron were

sitting across from them and they did not seem

to notice Harry's fit of laughter.

"It's like she has never seen him eat before!"

Harry told her as he took a spoonful of soup and

ate it.

"Yes, but I think she was hoping for him to use

his best manors here at the dinner table." Hermione

chuckled. "The problem is, those are his best table

manors." The two of them laughed together and then

the second course was served, a salad with their

choice of dressing. The third course consisted of

rolls and the fourth was their main course: An Italian

Marinated Chicken breast, Green beans and almonds,

a pepper stuffed mushroom and a potato.

"Heather this chicken is excellent." Molly commented.

"I will pass along the comment to the chef. He

always enjoys hearing good things about the things

he prepares." Heather smiled. "I could get him to

give you the recipe if you like, but I don't think

it is anything compared to your fried chicken of

course."

Molly blushed. "Thank you."

"Am I not right, guys?" Heather asked the group

and a chorus of agreement came from everyone at

the table. "I only wish I had half the talent in

the kitchen as you, Mrs. Weasley. Maybe then I

wouldn't burn water."

"You burned water!" Ginny laughed hysterically.

"How on earth did you accomplish that?"

"I dunno. I just did." Heather looked as lost

as the rest of them on how she managed to burn

the water. The sixth course was a round of sorbet

before dessert.

"Why do we get ice cream before dessert?" Ron

was completely lost, as he dug his spoon into

the dish. It wasn't Heather who answered this

time, it was his father, Arthur.

"The sorbet is to cleans the pallet so we can

enjoy the dessert."

Suddenly the phone rang and one of the servants

answered it. "It's for you, Miss. It's your

ice skating coach."

"Thank you, could you put it on speaker phone

please?" the room quieted down and she talked to

the person on the phone. "Hey Jennifer. What's up?"

"I am calling to tell you that you have practice

tomorrow. We have only a few weeks before competition,

and I think I can get you a new partner for the

event."

"Do you think I could be ready in a couple of weeks,

I haven’t had any real practice since last season. I

have been busy with the dance team and all. Not to

mention, I have one of my big tests this year."

"If I know you, like I do, you will be ready."

"I dunno, Jen. I don't think I can." Heather

sighed. "I am going to have to get back to you,

Jen, I have guest over. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Bye." Heather hung up the phone and sighed. There

was a still silence from the group as they finished

their mint sorbet and their desserts were passed out.

It didn't exactly bring a smile to her face.

"Blueberry cheesecake. That was Hector's favorite."

Heather poked at it with her fork and then excused

herself from the table. Harry and Ron both stood

up to go after her. "Ron, let me get this one."

Ron, obediently, sat back down and Harry raced

after her.

Harry found Heather outside by the stables.

She was over petting Stargazer on the nose. Harry

said nothing as he approached her, but she knew it

was him anyway. "Hi, Harry."

"How did you know it was me?" Harry asked as he

came closer to where she was standing, next to the

fence.

"I figured it would be, my big brother." Heather

sighed as she glanced over in his direction. The

full moon shone brightly over them and a strong

winter breeze made Heather shiver.

"Here, Have my coat."  Harry placed the coat

over her shoulders and her shivers subsided a

little. There was a long pause before Heather

spoke again.

"I'm quitting skating."

"For how long?"

"For life." Heather glanced at what her

brother's reaction was. It was a blank

face as he looked at her. She could tell

that he was waiting for what her reasoning

was. "It reminds me too much of Hector and

I need to move on with my life. There is a

lot of things I'm going to give up not just

because of that, but because I have my owls

this semester and then in two years I have

my Newts. I just won't have time for any of

it."

Harry looked at her and then patted the

horse. "What else are you wanting to give

up?"

"Well, I was thinking definitely my

Ice Skating, surfing, and archery."

Heather sighed and then laughed out loud.

"I was thinking basically pretty much

everything, except for the Dance Team

because I think I can keep busy with

that and with my duties of being a Prefect."

Harry said nothing for a long while,

but then he looked at her. "If you

think that is what you need to do,

Heather, then do it. You are the

only person who can tell you what

you need to do, but we better be

getting inside because I am freezing

and you must be too."

"Actually, I have worn less than this

when I been Ice skating. " Heather

smiled. "You think you guys would like

to go with me to my last practice?

For moral support?"

Harry almost laughed, but didn't because

she was being serious. "I think that would

be nice."

*****

The next morning, Heather woke

at a quarter 'til ten and dressed

for her last ice skating practice.

She decided to wear a pair of gray sweat

pants and underneath, she wore a dark

red long-sleeved leotard. She put on

her earmuffs, just as a knock came

on the door. She yelled for the

person to enter, and in stepped Ron.

"Hi."

"Hi." Heather put her shoes on

and began packing her bag. She

would not go the day wearing this

particular outfit and especially

in public. She packed a pair of blue

jeans and a dark blue sweater. When

she placed her "skating gloves", which

were really just a pair of red winter

gloves, Ron spoke.

"Harry told us your quitting

skating."

"It's just something I have to do, Ron.

It reminds me too much of Hector and I

need to move on with my life."

"Why are you throwing away the things you

love, Heather? Just because you think you

can't do them anymore? Because your boyfriend

died, just can't? You can always find another

partner, Heather."

This made Heather angry and Ron thought he

felt the house shake. "You just can't pick

any person  to be your partner, Ron. It takes

special care to find the right one and when

you do, it takes years of practice, tears,

and victories to make you a team." Heather

put her towel in the bag and zipped it up.

"It's kind of like marrying someone. Its a

commitment the both of  you are making not

only to your coach, but to each other. I

have to put a lot of trust into a person

not to drop me when they lift me in the air."

"So your just going to quit on trusting

people now? Now that Hector is dead?"

Heather slapped him, hard.

"Don't ever say that about Hector! You

never knew him!" Heather stormed out of

the room and headed down the stairs. He knew

he shouldn't have said that about Hector

but Heather made him so mad about giving up

on something she was really good at. "Me and

my big fat mouth." he thought out loud as he

went back down the hall, toward his room.

"Aren’t you going to come with us, Ron?"

Hermione asked as she and Harry walked down

the hall past him. Ron said nothing, but slammed

the door loudly and locked it. "I'll take that as

a not."

"Come on, we'd better see what is up." Harry

sighed as he pounded on the door. "Ron, its us."

"Go away."

Hermione rolled her eyes, pulled out her wand

and chanted, "Alohamora!" The door obediently opened

and allowed them entrance. Harry and Hermione went over

to the bed, expecting to find him there, but didn't.

Instead, they found him out on the balcony. Harry

gave Hermione a look and she nodded. Once they came out

on the balcony, they literally dragged him to the car,

kicking and screaming.

"You promised that you would go and lend

moral support." Hermione reminded him and

you are going to be a bigger person and

do that whether you want to or not. So

you might as well stop before Heather

gets here."

Ron moaned, but stopped his complaints

as Heather came out to the car. She said

nothing as the four of them claimed their

usual seats in the car. She said nothing

the whole way to the arena either, but

she played a burned cd with the muggle groups

Limp Bizkit and Korn.

When they finally arrived at the ice skating

arena, Harry, Ron, and Hermione trailed behind

Heather. Once inside, the four of them met

Jennifer. "Jennifer Steele, this is my brother

Harry Potter, and our friends Hermione Granger

and Ronald Weasley. Guys this is my coach."

Heather turned back to Jennifer. "I just wanted

you to know that I am quitting after this practice."

"WHAT?! Heather, you can't!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"We have competition in two weeks from today!"

"Of which, you scheduled for me with out my

permission."

"Since when have I needed to see you to schedule

things for you, Heather?"

"Things have changed and I don't think

I will continue this anymore." Heather paused.

"Then why bother with the practice then?"

Jen asked.

"I owe it to my father to at least be on the

ice today. I mean, he did pay for these lessons,

so I think I owe it to him to be at my last one."

Heather put her ice skates on and went out on the

ice.

"I'm not going to teach you anything, Heather."

Jen crossed her arms. Heather smiled as she went

to the other side of the rink and everyone watched

with interest of what she was going to do. She

raced fast over to where she was  and then suddenly

stopped and let all the ice spray onto her former

coach.

"That's fine. Then I won't waist my time." she

turned toward the group. "Come on guys, let's

leave and go to Bill’s Diner for an early lunch."

*****

End of chappie 14...

Yep that did take less time than 13.

Here is what to look forward to in the

next chappie for the gwl:

a ball

a date with the dead

a prank at an open house at the ciww

a graveyard scene

FYI: I don’t own the fear street sagas or

anything related to that either.

God bless,

S'Eleene Paris

15. To Love A Woman

Author's note: Sorry guys, but this title

seemed to go with the piece a little better,

but sometimes stories take

on a life of their own. Like this one

for example. Did you know the outline

for this particular story I have had

to change for like the 3rd or 4th time now?

Another thing, in case you have not noticed,

or if you had and needed confirmation, I am

an American and sadly am not British; therefore,

am idle to use American terms and slang. Our

"biscuit" is more like a dinner roll sort of

thing, where as a European would think a "biscuit"

is more like a cookie. Sorry for confusing people

or stating the obvious which ever applies to you.

If you still don’t know by now the disclaimer is

In Chapter one. If you read it you will know.

;-)

God bless,

S'Eleene Paris

*****************************************************

Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman

Performed by Bryan Adams

Written by Adams/Lange/Kamen

Published by: Badams Music ltd./Zomba

Enterprises inc./ K-man courp/ New line

music co.

Produced by: Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Ba

(from the album '18 til I die.')

Mixed by Bob Clearmountain

spanish guitar performance by paco de lucia.

Copyright 1996 ltd/a&m records inc.

To really love a woman

To understand her-you got to

know her deep inside

Hear every thought-see every dream

n' give her wings when she wants to fly

Then when you find yourself lyin'

helpless in her arms

Ya know ya really love a woman.

(Chours)

When you love a woman you tell

her that she is really wanted

When you love a woman you tell

her that she's the one.

cuz she needs somebody to tell her

that is gonna last forever.

So tell me have you really loved

a woman?

To really love a woman

let her hold you-til ya know how

she needs to be touched

You've gotta breath her-really taste her

til you can feel her in your blood

n' when you can see your unborn

children in her eyes

Ya know you really love a woman.

(Chorus)

You got to give her some faith-

hold her tight

a little tenderness-gotta treat her

right

She will be there for you takin' good care

of you.

ya really gotta love your woman...

(musical interlude.)

and when you find yourself lyin'

helpless in her arms

You know you really love a woman.

(Chorus)

Just tell me have ya really

really, really ever loved a

woman?

Just tell me have you really

really, really ever loved a

woman.

******************************************************

Chapter Fifteen

To Love A Woman.

The next day, Rodger and Virginia Nelson arrived back

at their home to greet their daughter after a long

time apart. "How's Hogwarts?" Virginia asked her

daughter as she stroked her head as she embraced her.

The group was at breakfast and was enjoying the pancakes,

biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs, and bacon. Heather raced

from her freshly squeezed orange juice (with pulp.) to

greet them.

"I'm glad your home."

"I'm glad we are too. Your coach called us. She said

you quit taking lessons?" Roger Nelson escorted their daughter

back to her seat and took theirs at the heads of the table.

"Yeah, I wanted to quit because I have Owls this year

and I have a lot of competition in the race to be Head

Girl. Studying would take up too much of my time."

Heather was sure this would work on her parents, but

apparently, it didn't.

"Heather, when in your entire lifetime have you

actually been able to sit down and study? Your

just write it down once and you got it." Her

mother cut into her sausage on her plate.

"Not with the life application stuff."

"Well, if you feel that you need to stop taking

the lessons, then so be it. I want you to do well,

so make sure we don't get too many calls from

Professor Gaddis about any pranks on the Western

House girls any time soon, comprende vous?"

"Oui, papa."

"We have a long day a head of us because we

have to finish making preparations for the

ball tonight." Virginia then noticed the

Weasleys sitting there. "Molly, your daughter

is beautiful."

Ginny blushed. "Thank you."

"What's your name, dear?" Virginia asked

her.

Molly answered for her. "Her name is

Virginia. I named it after a best friend

of mine from school." Molly smiled knowingly

at Virginia Nelson.

"Wait a minute, your friends?" Hermione seemed

to be the only one to catch on. "You guys went

to Hogwarts together?"

"We did. We also were friends with Harry's mum

and dad. Virginia was Lily Evans' best friend.

Once Lily and James were in their seventh year,

Molly and Arthur were in their Fifth." Rodger

finished this statement by looking at Mr. Weasley.

"Virginia and I were in the Sixth year as I recall."

The phone rang and Jonathon answered it. "This

is the Nelson residence, James Celtic speaking...Miss

Potter is having breakfast right now, may I take a

message?" James wrote the message and carried it

over to Heather. " Your boss, Jessica Branam called.

She said she is worried about you and she needs you

to come in to work today to discuss matters of you

staying."

"I was afraid of that." Heather sighed and she

turned to the group. "A.K.A I am getting fired."

"Well, do you want to go and get it over with?"

Ron asked.

"That might be a good idea. Let me go and

get changed and then we could hang out at the

mall for a few hours. We could go and see

a movie." She turned to her mother and father

"You wouldn't mind entertaining the others

would you?"

"Oh not at all. Today would be a lovely day

to take them up to Chicago to the Museum of

Science and Industry, don't you think?"

"The what?" Arthur looked interested.

"A muggle museum. Its really fascinating

what muggles can do with out magic." Rodger

smiled and remembered. "Heather, make sure

you attend the open house for the Chicago

Institute this afternoon."

"That should be fun." Heather rolled her

eyes. "You guys better not stay out too long

either. You have that ball to finish planning

today." Heather stood up to leave and

her parents stood up too, which lead everyone

else to follow suit. "May I be excused."

"You may." Her father said as they sat back

down. Heather ran out of the room to get

dressed for the day.

*****

After a few hours at the mall, the group

headed toward the Chicago Institute. "Its

too bad that Jeanikie's isn't open. I would

say hey, let's go grab a hot dog." Heather

drove to Subway to grab sandwiches before

heading to the school. Heather went inside

and came out with several bags of sandwiches

and chips. She plopped back into her father's

car and passed out the sandwiches. "I bought

the "Subway Club" for us all, so if there is

anything you don't want, just peel it off.

I am not too picky myself. Although I told them

no hot peppers."

They began down the road once again and didn't

stop until they got to the school. Douglas was

at the gate, again. Heather rolled down the

window of her father's car. Douglas spoke.

"Does Miss Potter have her I.D.?"

Heather dug into her pants pocket to produce

the form of Identification. "Will my guest need

identification, too, Douglas?"

Douglas said nothing as he handed Heather

four more badges. Each were labeled "Visitor's

Pass" and Heather gave one to each of her

passengers. Douglas handed Heather back her

identification card and she slipped it back into

the id holder around her neck. Douglas opened

the cast iron gates to the school and

the car drove through. Harry searched

for a building that could be the school. He

didn't see it until they passed the large

maple trees in the drive. There stood a

large white stone building. Majestically

inviting the group toward it were large

outdoor ribbon in the colors of the

Sifto-Salt and Western house.

"Is that your school?" Ginny asked.

"No silly. That is just the Student

union." Heather giggled. "We have

several buildings around the campus

in which are classes are held. Its

more like a college or a University, really."

Heather drove the car down the corner

and down "Phoenix drive" to get to

the Sifto-Salt house dormitories.

"Here we are. My home away from my

home." Heather parked the car in

front of a red brick building. Outside

of the building where two silver

phoenix statues, guarding the entrance.

Similar were the boys dormitories of

which were next door, across from the

walk way. Everyone exited the car and

took a look around.

"What are those buildings across the

street there?" Of course it was Hermione

who asked this question.

"Well, those over there are our

Charms, Transfiguration, and Potion

buildings." She pointed at several

white stoned buildings. Then she

pointed behind the group. They

turned around to look at the red bricked

buildings behind them. "Those are the

Ancient Runes and Divination buildings."

"Where is your Quidditch Pitch?"

Ron asked out loud and Hermione rolled

her eyes.

"They don't play much Quidditch here,

Ron. They play Quadpot, remember?"

"And here it’s not a pitch; it’s a field."

Heather added for good measure. "Its over

there across the street from the hospital.

There are two on campus of course." Heather

pointed to the large ovular shaped arena.

"We are fortunate to have a large indoor

arena. So the teams can play year round.

The one at the Cottage grove campus isn't.

"Haunting Field" is nothing compared to

the "Battle Grounds"."

"Haunting field?"

"The pitch at Cottage Grove is called

"Haunting Field". Ours is called the

"Battle Grounds" and the one at

Diversetech, which isn't an indoor field

either, is called "Omega Field."." Heather

informed them. "Its a tradition to name

all the buildings and areas on campus.

I don't know why, but it keeps things

organized I guess."

"I want to see your room, Heather."

Ginny bounced up and down in excitement.

"Me too." Hermione agreed.

"Come on then." Heather went up to

the twin phoenixes they twisted to look

at her and this opened the doors to

the dormitory. Her guest followed

her inside the dormitory until they

came to a flight of stairs. "I live on

the second floor. Room 214 and

unfortunately our stairs don't like to

change. They are just normal every

day boring stairs." Heather was halfway

up the stairs when she said this.

The four of them climbed the stairs

until they came to the second floor.

They went through the study/ television

room and then walked through the hallway until

they came to the room catty-corner to the

bathroom, of which was in the center of the

building. Heather took out her wand and

said a password. "Animagi." The door swung

open and everyone went inside. "We have to

keep the door open if the opposite sex is

in our room." Heather explained as she

kept the door open with a door stop. "Take

a seat. You guys want anything? I think the

house-elves put stuff inside already."

Heather indicated a small blue  refrigerator

on top of one of the dressers. She opened it

up and took out a Diet Pepsi. She tapped the

lid, to make sure the contents didn't squirt

out at her, and opened the can completely open.

Harry opened the blinds for the window to

look out behind the building. He was quiet, as

if he was trying to take it all in. Harry was use

to the magical surroundings Hogwarts had to offer,

but this was surreal. "What's that beyond those

buildings?"

"Where is what?" Heather went to the window to

see where he was indicating. He pointed to a

garden like place in the center of the campus.

Where currently Danielle MacNeal and her posse

stood playing loud hip-hop music to dance to.

"Oh they so didn't! This is going to be too damn

easy."

"What?" Hermione asked as Heather left the room

and then a few minutes later, came back with some

of the other girls from Sifto-Salt house. Specifically,

Mika Salena, Amanda and Amber Miller. "It's going to be

too damn easy, guys. Look! They don't even have their

wands with them!"

"How stupid can they get! You'd think they would

have learned by now." Mika had an expression on her

face Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione had only seen

a couple of times and that was when the Sifto-Salt

girls where planning something.

"Don't underestimate them." Heather closed the blinds.

"I think they are expecting something. So we should not

disappoint them, now should we?"

"Heather, no way! You can't!" Hermione told them. "No

way! Besides, you promised your father that you wouldn't."

Heather rolled her eyes. "Do you actually think I am going

to pass up something like this? Me? Chaos? I don't think

so."

"But you promised your father." Harry added.

"How is he going to find out?" Heather glared at him.

"Especially, if no one tells."

"But Heather, you promised your mum and dad!" Ginny whined

as Heather went over to her closet and opened the door.

Heather pulled out a few vials of a bright blue potion.

"Heather, you have to be joking! A Mosquito Draft!"

Hermione blurted out. "You’re awful!”

"Heather, you're evil, you do know that." Ron

admitted. "Brilliant, but evil."

Heather grinned and then turned to Mika. "Do you

have their new password? They probably changed it,

again."

Mika smiled evilly and pulled out her laptop computer.

"Actually, they have not changed it. I guess

they thought they would think we would think that

they did and leave them alone."  She turned it on

and showed them what she meant.

"You hacked into the school's system?" Amber smiled,

"I was wondering who you got as your source. Who's

computer did you hack into?"

"Who do you think?" Mika rolled her eyes. "Who

is the only one with the passwords to all the buildings?"

"Professor Gaddis'?" Amanda looked impressed. "How

did you do it?"

"It's easy. Apparently, our headmaster maybe a complete

genius when it comes to magic, but when it comes to

common sense he's at the shallow end of the dream pool."

Mika explained. "All of his passwords to everything on

the computer systems, his office, everything is the same

password."

"What is it?" Amber asked expectantly.

"Now that is between me and Professor Gaddis." Mika

laughed. "Anyway, their password is still: Sifto-Sluts."

"How thick could you get?" Ronald added his two cents

worth. "I could have guessed that, with how often they

say that."

"So, how are you getting inside?" Harry asked as he

looked out the window. There was no obvious route

with out the group of Western house members noticing.

Heather thought about it for a second and then laughed.

"I know! Follow me!" Heather raced out of the room and

everyone one followed down the stairs to the basement.

"There is a series of tunnels buried under the dormitories.

Most people don't know about them, but they were build during

what the muggles call the "Cold war". They were to prevent

the magic students from being killed by a nuclear attack.

They are just filled with cob-webs and spiders now. I found

them last year when I was in the Headmaster's office,

going over the blueprints with him. All Prefects know about

them."

"If all prefects know about them, then how come

Danielle MacNeal isn't near-by, guarding the other

entrance?" Mika asked pulling out her wand from her

belt and uttered "Lumos."

"She has arachnophobia to the extreme. Besides coming

down here would ruin her "clothes." Heather rolled her

eyes as she opened the entrance to the tunnels with

her key. The doors obediently opened and the group

headed down the corridor.

Ron gulped and Harry pushed him inside. Heather noticed

they were trailing and asked. "What's wrong?"

"Ron hates spiders." Hermione told her. "To the

extreme."

"Granted in our second year we had to deal with

a couple hundred giant ones in the dark forest."

Harry mentioned.

"I thought the dark forest was forbidden."

Heather noted.

"It is normally." Hermione laughed. "But

since when do you have a giant snake

terrorizing the school and call normal?"

Heather grabbed Ron's hand and he started

to shake. "Get a grip, Ron. They're tiny

spiders. These don't have enough venom

to kill you, unless you come across a black

widow like the one on your shoulder."

Ron's eyes got big and he screamed. "WHERE?"

He began racing around, swatting at an invisible

arachnid. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF ME!"

Heather laughed. "Its okay, Ron, I was

only joking."

Ron's ears grew red with embarrassment

as everyone laughed. "Sometimes, I swear

you are as bad as Fred and George."

"No Ron, your wrong." Heather smiled

as she turned around to walk down the tunnel.

"I'm much worse."

Once they reached the end of the tunnel, Heather

pointed her finger at the door. "Alohamora!" The

door obediently unlocked and opened to allow them

entrance.  Quickly, Heather transfigured their

clothing to look like the ones the Western house

members wore and raced up the stairs to the

main floor.

"Danielle and her gang live in the first floor.

I know exactly which room." Mika motioned to the

room closest to the other entrance. "Hermione, you

and Harry stand here to keep a look out. Ron, you, me

and Heather needs to work fast otherwise their party

in the quad might get interrupted and they will find

us."

"Amanda and I watch the other entrance, Ginny, so you will

need to keep and eye out in the bathroom. If anyone sees

anyone. Come and find us, we will quickly leave." Amber

planned. "Everyone got it?"

Everyone nodded and they went to work. Quickly as they

as they had come, they poured the liquid in the cloths,

the bedding, and bathrobes of all those who made Heather's

life a real pain. First Danielle, then her two lapdogs,

Dana and Dawn Mist. It was Amber and Amanda who

interrupted them in the last room. "Guys! They are coming up

the back. Let's get Ginny, Harry and Hermione,

and get out of here!"

Heather put the potion away and the four of them raced

through the door and to the other side of the bathroom

to get Ginny with out being seen. Then they raced down

the hall through the doors to get Harry and Hermione.

Carefully the group of them quickly ran for it back to

the Sifto-Salt Dormitory. "We better be getting out of

here." Heather explained. "Otherwise we might get into

trouble. Anyone else up to go to the dedication ceremony?

Granted they have to read that stupid list again."

The group nodded and quickly went to the dedication,

of which was being held in the student union. The

interior of the building mirrored its Gothic origins

on the outside. Giant glass doors hung in the entrance

ways on the main floor. Glass walls offered a look into

the dinning room. The upper floor, of which you could

see from the lower floor through the balcony looked like

it contained offices of some sort. Hermione squealed with

delight as she found out the school carried its own

book store. "Most of us don't buy our school books here.

Infact, they don't even carry our text books. You have to

buy them on Roger dive." Mika explained. "The store is full

of books that assist us with our learning and with books

that would interest us. I am a bit of a fan of the wild

west myself."

"We'd better be heading inside the cafeteria. It looks

as if it already started." Amanda pointed to where Professors

Gaddis and Dumbledore sat on the platform. Harry and Ron opened

the doors to the cafeteria and the group went inside and claimed

seats in the back.

*****

The sun fell and then rose again giving daylight once

more and showered again through the glass window of the room

which Harry slept. He squinted and rolled over to be greeted

by the sleeping form of Hermione who had claimed that spot from

the evening before when he had another one of his nightmares.

Harry watched Hermione sleep, but decided that it would be a

good idea if he woke her before Heather came inside to wake

him up.  "Hermione, you'd better get up. Heather likes to

take it upon herself and wake me up."

Hermione looked at her watch. "It's 8 in the morning."

"Exactly my point." Harry kissed her on the forehead

and aroused her out of bed. "You know how Heather would

love to come in here and make a fuss over the two of us

in bed together."

"Its not like we did anything." Hermione gathered her

bathrobe from the floor and placed it over her white

cotton nightgown.

"I know, but she would just to drive me crazy. I suppose

its something siblings do." Harry sighed and rubbed the

sleep out of his eyes. "I've never had any before. Its

all new to me."

"I know." Hermione came back over and sat down next to him

on the bed. She kissed him on the cheek and then went to

her room. "I will see you downstairs for breakfast."

Harry sighed and went into his closet to get something

to wear for the day. He headed down to the dinning room

where he found Hermione, Heather, and Ron already there.

"Hey Harry." Heather greeted and Harry claimed his

seat across from Hermione.

"Heather was just asking if we wanted to go horseback

ridding today." Ron explained. Harry knew full well that

Ron had never set foot on a horse and knew nothing of the

sort. "It sounds like fun."

"It does, doesn't it?" Hermione agreed as she took a bite

from her toast. Harry helped himself to the sausage gravy

and the biscuits and said nothing as he dove into his

meal. Hermione watched and then decided it would be a

good idea to change the topic. "Are you excited about

the ball tonight?"

"Not really. Like I said before. It’s a major snob fest

and I really don't know why my parents insisted that I go.

They left a message for me this morning that I had to

appear in full crown and sash for this particular event."

"Full crown and sash?" Ginny asked as she sat down

on the chair next to her brother.

"You know how I am Miss Junior United States?"

"Yeah."

"I have a crown and a sash that I have to wear to

any official gathering of which is formal." Heather

sighed. "Yet another reason to show off. You bet

your buttons though that I will get away from there

as soon as I can."

"Don't you think it is awfully rude to leave your

parents party?" Hermione pointed out.

"Not really." Heather dug into her breakfast and

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think you should attend this party

no matter how boring it is?" Hermione asked,

egging the conversation on. "Especially since

it is these people who took you in after your

parents died. They after all have been your

parents since before you could remember."

Heather rolled her eyes and volleyed back

to Hermione. "If I wanted your opinion,

Hermione, about being "proper" I would have

asked you."

Hermione said nothing, but Harry seemed

insulted. "Heather!"

"Harry!" Heather mimicked.

Harry sighed to compose his thoughts on

the current situation. "Heather, your temper

is not helping the situation much."

"Well, I just don't appreciate 'Little

Miss Manors' over here telling me to

mind mine." Heather tossed to Hermione.

"Isn't it rude to correct people with

their manors in public?"

Before Harry could answer, Mr. and

Mrs. Nelson came through the doors to

breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Good morning, gang. We have a long

day ahead of us. We have to help

decorate today and get things going

for tonight." Virginia sat down at the

table next to her daughter. "Now, Heather,

you must attend at least half of it tonight

because there is a lot of people that

we have to introduce you to."

"Do I really have to?" Heather whined

as she took a sip of her grape juice.

"Yes, Heather Lillian, You do." Roger

looked at her with an expression Harry

had never seen before. Harry got the

feeling that this was not an expression

Heather did not want to cross. Heather's

response was to say nothing, but she

stood up and left the room, pouting.

"That's part of our fault." Virginia

exclaimed once Heather left the room.

"We were never able to have children

before, so we spoiled Heather and gave

her what ever she wanted."

"She's not really that bad, ‘Ginnia."

Roger said. "I have actually met worse."

"But her attitude problem..." Virginia

continued. "Lily never acted like that."

"That would probably be James." Roger

smiled. "He was a little self-centered."

Virginia huffed at the comment, but smiled.

She looked at her watch to check the time.

"Oh my! The decorators and the caterers will

be here soon to begin setting up for the

party tonight. The orchestra that is lined

up for tonight is the best in the area."

Contentedly, Mrs. Nelson sighed and Harry

caught something in her eyes that he could

only seem to define as pure pleasure.

"She missed her calling." Harry thought.

"She should have been a wedding planner."

After finishing her glass of grape juice,

Mrs. Nelson stood up and left the room.

"I must apologize for my wife." Mr.

Nelson exclaimed. "She gets a little

excited when we throw parties. She

probably is going to go and meet

with the servants to discuss how she

wants the ball room decorated. I don't

know why she insists on having a designer.

She won't follow any of the designer's

suggestions because she has in her own

head what she wants it to look like."

Mr. Nelson chuckled and went back to

his French toast. "It might be a

good idea after breakfast if you guys

went horse back ridding or something.

When in 'party planning mode', Mrs.

Nelson can get to be pretty demanding."

*****

After hours of avoiding the interior

of the house like Mr. Nelson had suggested,

it was finally time to begin dressing for

the ball. Harry straightened his dress

robes and looked at Ron. Ron combed his

hair, trying to tame it, but it did not

want to sub come to his owners' demands.

"You alright there, Ron? You aren’t

nervous or anything?"

"No, no problem." He dropped the comb

when he had jumped from hearing his own

name.

There was a knock on the door, and Hermione

and Ginny walked into the room. "You guys

ready to go?"

"Yeah." Harry smiled at Hermione and greeted

her with a small peck on the cheek. He then

noticed someone was missing. "Where is my sister?"

"She's meeting us in the stair well before we

enter the ball room." Harry walked with Hermione

outside the door and Ron and his sister followed.

The walked down the hallway, up a flight of stairs

and found Heather outside the doors that lead down

into the ball room.

Heather was dressed in a plain, white satin gown.

The only decoration adorning the dress was at the

train where a small snowflake pin adorned on her mid-

back. Her hair was pulled back, off her face and into

a French roll except for a few ringlets that draped

around her face. Upon her head was a rather large

diamond tiffany style tiara. Around her

shoulder and connecting at her waist was a sash

that read: Miss Junior United Sates.

"You guys ready to get board out of your mind?"

"We're still going with you and Mika to meet

her father, right?" Hermione mentioned.

"Yeah, I have a feeling we are going to have

to sneak out this time." Heather sighed. "Meet me

in my room in about an hour. I have plenty of

floo powder, but I need to find a moment where

I can get away from my parents." Heather opened

the doors and the group walked down the hallway

and then down the central stair way in the ball

room.

The room was circular in shape, with rather

large French windows from the ceiling to floor,

which was approximately 15 to 30 feet. The

windows and the doors where adorned with green

sashes and synthetic holly. In the middle of the

room, a rather large Christmas tree stood proudly

decorated with silver presents, doves, and balls.

As Harry was trying to take it all in, he

noticed the orchestra was playing the same

piece Heather had the night they had meet.

Heather's parents spotted the group immediately

and Mrs. Nelson rushed over to them from where

Mr. Weasley and the Minister of Magic, a certain

Cornelius Fudge, were busily talking about everything

and nothing at the same time. "It looks as if

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Fudge are getting along nicely."

Mrs. Nelson noted to Ron and Ginny. Then she turned

to Heather. "You wouldn't happen to know about a

certain itching potion at the Institute yesterday, do

you?"

"No," Heather smoothly said, but almost too quickly.

"Why would I?"

"Because Mr. MacNeal had to take his daughter to

Saint Alexandra's hospital today to get the medi

witches to get her to stop itching. Along with her

was Mr. and Mrs. Mist, whom of which you know your

father thinks very highly of, had to take their

daughters as well." Virginia sighed. "I know you

don't care for either one of their daughters, but

your father was hopping to talk to them about

supporting his campaign next year."

Heather said nothing, but looked off toward

the crowd. "Why are they here?" Heather motioned

to where she noticed Lucius and Narissa Malfoy

with their son Draco.

"The Malfoys are some of the most richest and

most influential families in England." Virginia

watched as Draco Malfoy shook hands with Mr. Nelson

once he had peeled himself away from Mr. and Mrs.

Weasley where they were talking to the Minister

of Magic.

"They are also allied with Voldermort." Harry

admitted. "Lucius is practically his bloody

lap dog."

"Harry, that is an awful thing to call

someone as generous as the Malfoys are!"

Virginia exclaimed; shocked Harry could

accuse someone of something that horrible.

"But its true, Mrs. Nelson." Hermione

countered. "Harry saw him in our fourth

year when Voldermort rounded up his death

eaters when he tried to come back to power."

"Yeah, it was like a bloody family reunion."

Ron rolled his eyes, but before Mrs. Nelson

could answer Mr. Nelson made an announcement.

"Good evening friends, family, fellow magically

inclined, and honored guest. Tonight is a special

night..." The Secretary of Magic continued

on explaining why the night was so special.

Heather rolled her eyes and leaned

over to Ron. "He's a bit long winded

sometimes." Ginny overheard her and

giggled softly. "He says the same

thing every year! I swear! It’s momentous

really."

"When will we be leaving for the séance?"

Ron asked, fidgeting nervously with his

dress robes.

"Soon." Heather smiled. "Thank Merlin, but

before that though, you guys need to open

your Christmas presents. We can do that

before we floo over to Mika's house. By

the way, where is she?"

"She's over there." Ginny pointed to

Mika, whose attention went to Mr. Nelson.

"I don't know  how she does it." Heather

admitted. "Every year it is the same speech

and every year she listens more and more

intently. She either has to be very crazy

or has a really short memory."

"I think it is the later." Ginny smiled,

then broke out into giggles once again.

"You know sometimes how she repeats herself

and all. India once told me that it was

because of an accident that happened quite

a few years ago. Something about a memory

charm and an old hag that use to books that

she took all the credit for."

"India has a really active imagination."

Heather rolled he eyes, again. "So you

guys ready to go open presents in my room?"

Ron nodded his head, but Mr. and Mrs. Nelson

had other plans. "As you may or may not know,

my only child, Heather is adopted," Mr. Nelson

mentioned, "and after what happened this past

fall at the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft and

Wizardry, family and friendships have become

more meaningful than before." he paused to smile

at his family then turned to the direction of

the Weasleys as the crowd nodded agreement.

"My daughter has a brother and of which either

one of them had last seen each other the night

their parents were murdered by the-most-evil-one."

there were a few shudders and screams at the mention

of this, but Mr. Nelson pressed on. "Tonight he,

her brother, and several of her friends of late

of old are here with us tonight to celebrate

this season of love and to her new friends and

to her brother, Heather and my wife and I

have presents to give them, so if you will

enjoy yourselves amongst yourselves and

the live orchestra we have for you tonight."

Miles, the Nelson's driver, walked out of

the crowd carrying a small white box. The

present was decorated with a silver ribbon

and a small silver bow up on top. Miles

handed it to Heather who had walked to where

her parents where at, in the center of the

room, and then Miles walked away quietly.

Heather then spoke. "I actually hoped we

could have done this when we had a little

more time to ourselves, but oh well..."

Heather glanced down at the box when she

said this but looked up to look at

Hermione. "Hermione would you come here?"

Hermione cautiously walked up to where

Heather stood and smiled.  She gave

Hermione the box and Hermione opened it.

Inside lay, in a cushion of white leather,

was a silver Irish cladduah ring. It was made

of sterling silver and there was one emerald

chip inside of the center of the heart.

"The emerald, respectively, is suppose to

give the wearer wisdom. Even though your

the most clever girl at Hogwarts, I

thought even you could use more wisdom."

Hermione looked up and smiled. "Silver

is an usual choice, Heather. Especially

for something special like this. What

made you chose the sliver instead of

gold?"

"Gold is a soft metal. Inscriptions

rub easier over time on a gold ring

rather than a silver. Read the

inscription I had them put on it."

Hermione took the ring out from the

box and read in inside of the ring.

"H.G. and H.P. forever."

Heather winked at Hermione, then the head girl

of Hogwarts slid the ring on her finger

and vowed. "For as long as I breath, I

won't take this off."

"Okay, sounds good." Tears stung in

both of their eyes and everyone who

cared to watch clapped as the two girls

hugged. Once Hermione let go of their

hug, Heather turned to look at Ron and

Harry. "You guys' presents are too big

to get inside the house, so we have to

go outside. Right Dad?" Heather turned

to her parents who stood next to her.

"That is right. Follow me." Mr. Nelson

lead the way out the door, followed by

Heather and her mother, Harry, Ron, Hermione,

Ginny (who of which was towing Mika Salena

who carried a cup of punch) and then Mr.

and Mrs. Weasley.

Once outside, Harry and Ron stood on the

front porch with their mouths agape. Heather

smiled at the reaction to their Christmas

presents. "Harry, you get the 'stang and Ron

you get the bike."

Harry went to the forest green Ford Mustang

convertible with a tan top and leather interior,

still quite in shock and unable to put his thoughts

to words. For once, Ron stood in utter speechlessness

as he sat down on the Harley Davison. Mr. Nelson

smiled and mentioned. "Heather, Mrs. Nelson and I

hoped you two and Hermione would come and stay with us

this Fall when you begin your auror training at

the local academy." Harry, Ron, and Hermione glanced

sideways at each other; looking in shock and trying

to see what each other's reactions would be. "I pulled

a few strings with my brother, Wheaton, who

is my advisor and he pulled a few strings with the

right people and next fall the Great Lakes Academy’s

auror training department will be adding three new

fresh aurors. That is, if you want to."

Before any of them had a chance to voice their

opinions, Mrs. Weasley spoke up. "Mr. Nelson, this

is way too big of a gift. I am afraid they cannot

accept them."

"Like bloody hell they will." a voice

called from a dark corner of the courtyard

where they stood. Out of the shadows came

a dark black shaggy haired dog. The dog

walked towards them, but Ron, Harry and

Hermione met the dog  half-way.

"Sirius!" the trio exclaimed as the wizard

transformed back into his human form to greet

them. Hermione reached him first and hugged him

affectionately. As she did, Sirius patted Harry's

head and shook the hand of his godson's hand.

Once Hermione let go of her hug, Mr. and Mrs.

Nelson greeted each other. "Long time no see,

Rog, Gin."

"Way too long, Sirius." Virginia beamed, then

turned to Heather. "Come and meet your Godfather,

Heather." Heather obediently glided over, taking

off her sash and crown on the way and handing it

to Mika to hang on to. Heather took note of

Sirius' shaggy clothing and wondered why on earth

this man would be the choice of her parents for

him to be her Godfather.

Sirius smiled and breathed. "You look so much

like Lily." He chuckled and grinned. "You probably

get tired of hearing that, but I was your father's

best friend and best man at your father's wedding.

Not to mention, I am your Godfather, so I should be

allowed to say such things."

"She may have her features, but she has her father's

knack for 'finding trouble' as Professor McGonagall

often put it." Roger sighed. "The worse thing about

it is, she knows it."

Sirius chuckled and then handed a book to Heather.

"If you have a single drop of your mother in you;

you may enjoy this book."

Heather took the book and read the royal purple

leather bound cover. "Hogwarts: A History."

"Oh, that's a good book." Hermione piped up.

"I have read that one at least a half-a-dozen

times this last year for a bit of light reading.

It takes you on a complete history of the school

and the headmasters of it."

Heather looked at the rather large volume and

about laughed. "You call this light?"

"But Sirius, they can't accept those gifts!"

Mrs. Weasley complained, back on the topic at

hand.

"And why not?" Mr. Nelson asked her as he reached

behind Ron and embraced the boy. "You do want your

son to attend the best schools, don't you? I rather

think of your children as my own, since Gin and I

couldn't have any of our own." Roger went over and

embraced Molly, before she could protest. "Please,

Molly, let me do this. If anything, think of your

son's future. He could be one of the best aurors

there is and why would you want to deny him the

future he could have all because you think its

"too big of a gift"?"

Molly, this time, did not say a word. She only

looked at her husband and he nodded. "Ronald

would be more than happy to accept your invitation

to stay at your place next year."  Arthur smiled

at his son. "We already know he will be one of

the best aurors there is."

Ron looked at his parents and then embraced them

to thank them. "You mean it! I can come?"

"Yeah," Arthur Weasley smiled. "Now why don't

all of us go inside and have fun at the party?"

Heather, Ron, Hermione, and Harry waited behind

with Mika to make sure all of the adults were

out of earshot.

"You guys ready to go?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Ron agreed eyeing his

new bike.

"Alright then. We'll go upstairs, change,

and meet back into Heather's room where we

can floo to my dad's house." Mika pulled her

hair behind her ear.

*****

Once Harry had changed, he walked down the

hallway toward Heather's room. The sounds of

the ball were still playing down on the other

end of the house, so the five of them should

not been interrupted. Harry had grabbed his winter

Hogwarts cloak on the way out along with his scarf

to keep warm in the cool night air.

He knocked on the door and Heather opened it.

"Hi, Harry. You ready?"

"Yeah." As Harry entered his sister's bedroom fully for

the first time, he noticed the fireplace had

two wooden bookshelves mirroring one another.

Not to his surprise, hundreds of books littered

them, but they were not completely covered in

books. Several expensive looking jars, filled

with only Harry could guess what, contently

sat on a few of the shelves. "What's in those

containers?"

"They are potion ingredients. My dad brought

them back from India and Egypt on his last visit

to them. I think the one from Egypt is ground

up bones or something. I'm not too sure what they

contain because all my dad said that they were

potion ingredients. I was going to show Professor

Shift this fall, but I forgot about it." Heather

seemed to have read his mind.

"Maybe you could take it back wit you."

Ron commented as he walked into the room

with Hermione in tow. "Are those your trophies?" He

pointed to a couple of the shelves and decorations

on the wall.

"The most recent ones because the others are

o display in the library." Heather grabbed a

cobalt-blue glass container. The lid was decorated

with several silver engraved roses. She opened

the container and offered it to Mika.

Mika took a handful and entered the fireplace.

"777 Campbell Avenue." She threw the gray dust on

the floor of the fireplace and disappeared in

a wall of green flames.

Heather offered the floo powder to Hermione

and she copied Mika. Ron came next and then

Heather turned to Harry. "Your next."

Harry took a handful of the powder, and

spoke the location. "777 Campbell Avenue."

Then the familiar tug at his head spin

and he disappeared through the same wall

of flames. Harry closed his eyes and soon

he arrived at Mika's home.

Once the dizzy sensation stopped, Harry's

vision blurred. He took off his glasses and

wiped them. Once he put them back on, they

still looked blurred. "It's just really

foggy in here because of all the incense

Mika father burns." Heather's voice floated

into his ears as she stopped next to him.

"Her father is probably outback in his teepee.

That's probably where the rest of them are at."

Heather led the way, through the living room,

the kitchen, and back door. Along the way, Harry,

through the fuzzy din, noticed several Native

American artifacts including dream catchers,

medicine wheels, and arrowheads. There was

also several artifacts that he was not familiar

with and assumed that they were only for

decoration.

Once outside of the house, Harry and Heather

made towards the teepee. As the crossed the yard,

he noticed Ron and Hermione had made it safe and

were entering the teepee. Harry pulled back the

curtain and allowed his sister to enter first.

A black haired, closed-eyed man sat cross-legged on

the floor; meditating. He wore the traditional garments

of an Indian Shaw man and his peace pipe smoked in its

holder. He was chanting a song in his native tongue,

in which the only person who seemed to know what he

was saying was Mika. "It's a blessing of peace and

prosperity." Mika whispered and once the song ended,

he smiled. "The spirits told me you would come again,

my Mika. You have brought friends with you, I see."

Mr. Salena turned to Heather. "Welcome Little Eagle

Feather. The spirits were smiling on you, on your

quest for your blood brother. Your parents are pleased

or at least they will be once we contact them again

tonight."

"Yeah, this is Harry." Heather gestured to the boy

standing beside her.

"Pleasure." Harry shook Mr. Salena's hand.

"Please, call me by my name: Cloud Dancing." He

smiled. "And I think I will call you "Swift as Eagle"

because my Mika says you fly faster than one."

Cloud Dancing turned to Hermione. "I will call you

Snow owl, for you are as rare as a Snow owl and twice

as lovely." He turned to Ron. "I will call you "Red bear"

for your hair is as redder than a berry, but you are

strong like bear. " He gestured them to sit around

the fire in the center of the teepee and the five of

them reclined on the five Indian blankets surrounding

the fire.

"We're going to contact Harry and Heather's parents

right?" Ron asked out loud.

"Patience, Red bear. You will see." He grabbed his

daughter's hand and she followed suit and took Heather's

hand. The group joined hands and Cloud Dancing began

chanting and throwing dust onto the fire. Soon, the

room filled with a cloud of blue smoke and two figures

formed above the fire. The figures of James and Lily

Potter."

Lily looked over at Heather, then at Harry. "I see

you found him." Lily smiled and gestured to James.

"James, look, its Harry."

Harry smiled back at his parents, who beamed with

pride at their children. "We are so proud of the two

of you." James began. "But you two must live. You can't

stop because we died. These meetings must stop, you see,

we will see you guys again, when it’s your time."

"I hope not too soon." Lily countered, then smiled at

Harry. "You have a fine girl, Harry. She's the one. Keep

her and she will honor you. Love her and she will keep you."

James turned to Ron. "Ronald, please let your brother's know

about the real identities of the Marauders. Also, please thank

them for finding our map. I hated seeing it in Filtch’s office

wasting away."

Lily turned to Heather. "My child, your young and most

people do not find their true love at such a young age,

but you have. Do not let the past take that away from you."

James looked at his wife. "Hector and Rachel, by the way,

would have like to speak to you, but was not able to join us."

Lily looked at the reaction of her daughter and smiled, but

said nothing. "Now for the thing we need to tell you."

Lily took this moment to speak. "This prophecy, spoken

several years before you two were born is your destiny,

Harry, Heather. You, I think might of heard of it spoken

by house elf named Douglas."

James spoke up. "Two children of half breeding, born

in the death of June and the death of All Hollows Eve,

will be the only key to battle the most evil wizard

of the age. Only they can defeat him, once they have

been reunited through tragedy. Separated by sea, the

two children cannot defeat him, for they must be together

to defeat him." Once he had finished, his parents began

to fade. "We love you, Harry, Heather. Remember that together

and you can do anything." Then the two vanished from

their view.

******

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather returned to the

Nelson's house. It was almost midnight and the party

was still going on. "I don't know about you, but I am

pretty tired." Heather yawned. "I think I am going to

turn in."

"Sounds good to me." Harry agreed. "We have a long

day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah, after tomorrow we have exactly on week

before we head back to Hogwarts." Hermione calculated.

"Well, good night everyone." Hermione grabbed Harry's

hand and they walked out of the room, leaving Ron

and Heather there together.

After a few minutes of silence, Ron walked over

to Heather and kissed her on the cheek. "Good

night, Heather. I will see you in the morning."

Ron walked out of the room, leaving Heather touching

the spot where he had kissed her, not really

caring that the cloths she was picking out to

wear to bed didn't match.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she had fallen

asleep. The surroundings around her changed and

then it was all white. Heather gasped for air

once the image of her dead Hector stood in front

of her. She ran to him and he opened his arms

to collect her into his embrace. Tears filled

her eyes as she looked up into his eyes. "I

miss you." She admitted.

"I know you do and I miss you too." Hector

looked down at her, into her eyes. "Heather,

do me a favor."

"Anything, Hector."

"Take off my ring. You don't need it anymore.

You have to move on with life before Ron pushes

you away."

Heather backed away from him and looked at

him. "But, I loved you, Hector."

"And that is exactly it, my love." Hector

came toward her and held her hands in his.

"You have to let me lie in peace. You can't

be living like this! Move on, Heather."

She looked back up into his eyes and smiled.

"I will do what you ask." Hector smiled back

at her and she woke up from her dreams. Heather

knew what she had to do. She took her set of her

Mom's car keys and she put on her bath robe to

leave for the graveyard.

*****

Ron was not having an easy time, like Heather

had falling asleep. He lay in his bed wide awake

and after a few minutes, he rolled over in his

bed on to his side. After about fifteen minutes

of trying to fall asleep, Ron decided to put

on his bathrobe and walk the halls.

He wandered down the hallway toward Heather's

bed room, but stopped by Harry's room to see if

he was already asleep. To his great surprise,

Harry's bed was empty and not even turned down.

Ron grinned ear to ear and knew exactly where his

best friend was. Ron walked down the hallway to

Hermione's room and first listened through the

door to see if his friends where "busy" with

certain activities. When he heard nothing, he

opened the door slightly to peer inside. When

he saw Harry and Hermione peacefully asleep

under the covers. He was too far away to notice

if any other evidence of them "not doing anything"."

Ron closed the door quietly and then heard another

close rather loudly. At first, Ron thought he had

closed Hermione's bedroom door too loudly, but once

he saw Heather cross the hallway to go down the stairs,

he gave a sigh of relief.

Ron then wondered what on earth Heather was doing

up this late at night if she was so tired a hour ago.

So, quietly, Ron followed her down the stairs, through

the hallway and outside. She went over to the garage

and opened the door to get one of the cars. She pulled

out her mother's car and sped away from the gate. He

decided to follow her, so he put on his helmet, turned

on his bike and sped off after her.

After a while of driving, Heather pulled up to a

cemetery and drove inside of the cast iron gate. Ron

watched as she pulled up next to some newly buried

graves and decided to follow her inside. Heather

stepped out of the car and went toward some of the

trees next to a small creek, not too far from her

car. Quietly, Ron walked his bike to where Heather was

and hid behind the car slightly to make sure she didn't

see that she was followed.

Heather looked down at the twin graves before her

and the moon loomed above them. The trees swayed in

the gentle breeze and that was when Heather knew this

was the place her two best friends were laid to rest.

Heather smiled at the graves and knew in her heart

her friends were at peace laying side by side one another

With Hector on the left and Rachel on the right.

Hector Michael Grey III

Beloved Son and Friend.

Died defending his people

August 24, 1981-September 11, 1996

Rachel Catherine Wido

Beloved Daughter and Friend.

Died defending her people

April 15, 1981-Septermber 11, 1996

Tears filled her eyes as she read her friends

lasting words. She fell to the ground and wept

for their death; finally allowing those bottled

feelings out into the open. Once she stopped

shaking, Heather knelt down beside Hector's

grave and placed his school ring on the small

tombstone. Heather stood up and stared at the

grave. "Good-bye, Hector."

By this time, Ron had moved toward her.

Once she stood up, he watched as a single

tear left her eye and fell down her crimson

cheek. Ron reached out and embraced her. "It's

going to be okay, Heather. I promise." He escorted

her back to her car and she stopped.

She opened her car door and he thought she was

going to start the car and drive home. Instead,

she turned on her car and turned on the radio.

"I owe you a dance." She stood up out of the car

and shut the door. The song "Have You Ever Really

Loved A Woman?" by Bryan Adams began to play.

"Dance with me?"

Ron stared into her deep chocolate brown eyes

to see if she was thinking straight. Heather gazed

back into his and he knew his answer. He took her

hand and they began to dance to the song, slowly

All the while, never breaking the look in each other's

eyes. As the song entered the last refrain,

Heather tilted her head upwards and kissed him on the

lips. He closed his eyes and kissed back.

*****

End of Chapter Fifteen.

Here's what's to come:

Surprises for Hermione and Harry.

A Kickboxing Hermione?

A talent/ Fashion show.

And a Kidnapping.

That is all for now peeps. Catch ya

later!

God bless,

S'Eleene Paris

16. S'il vous plaît, élévation à vos pieds

Merci beaucoup va à mon dictionnaire de Français.(Very many thanks goes to my French dictionary.)

With out it, I wouldn't have come up with such a cool title as this. If anyone knows if I messed

up on my grammar, let me know. I really stink at  French grammar, so if anyone knows what it should

say, email me.

I hope you like the chapter addition.  C'est à vous à décider.

God bless,

S'Eleene Paris

Chapter Sixteen

S'il vous plaît, élévation à vos pieds.

(French for: If you please, rise to your feet.)

Classes at Hogwarts started back up as soon as they arrived back at the school.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather suffered from a severe case of jet lag.

Ron had to be woken up in all of his classes and Harry could barely keep his eyes open

in potions. Heather was having problems just walking down the hall in a straight

line and especially Hermione was suffering from the lack of sleep in the worst way

possible. "An E!" Hermione moaned as Professor Binns handed back their pop

quiz from the day before. "I can't believe it! I put the answer for number

twenty down for twenty-one! How could I have been so stupid?"

"Its just because you're tired, Hermione."  Harry reassured her once they had stepped

away from the classroom door. He put his  arm around her as they stopped down the hall

a few meters away. He reached up and caressed her cheek with one of his hands and he reassured

her with a smile. "You just need to get some sleep tonight."

"But I have to study, then go to the prefect  meeting tonight with you, Ron, and Heather, then

I have homework I have to do, and then we have to  do rounds." Hermione moaned as tears of frustration

filled her eyes. "There is very little time to sleep, Harry."

"You're definitely getting some sleep tonight after you finish your homework tonight. You can't

stay like this! You need to sleep." He kissed her  forehead and then escorted her to the Great Hall.

"And don't worry about doing rounds tonight. I can do them on my own tonight. You need to sleep."

"And what about you, Harry? You've been falling asleep in class too." Hermione smiled. "Are you

going to make Heather and Ron go to sleep too?"

"Nah, they're skipping class today. Heather got Madame Pomfrey's okay to do it because

Heather's been having those dreams again. "Harry sighed as he ran his hand through his

messy black hair. "Hopefully, they'll be down for lunch."

"What about you? You've been taking that  dreamless sleep potion. Have you had anymore

dreams?" Hermione asked as she stopped at the doors of the Great Hall.

Harry stayed quiet as if debating as to answering her. "Yes."

"Have you seen Professor Dumbledore about them?"

"He says there is nothing we can do at the moment, but wait and see

what Voldermort is up to." Harry  sighed and smiled down at her. "Don't

worry about me, 'Mione. I'll be fine."  He took his fingers and lightly brushed

her hair with it. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and then led her into

the Great Hall. He sat down at the table and noticed Heather and Ron weren't there.

Mika must have read his mind because she  noted. "He's probably helping Heather." then

she giggled.

"You know, he's been 'helping' her a lot recently." India commented, but before she

could say anything more, Ron and Heather  entered the Great Hall. Heather wore a pair

of thick, red, oval-shaped lens glasses, something any of the Hogwarts students have

never seen her wear before.

Harry was the first to say something about them. "I didn't know you wore glasses."

"Yeah, I always thought you had perfect vision." Hermione commented as she dove into her sandwich.

"I normally wear a pair of contacts, but someone here stepped on them when they fell out this morning

and tore them." Heather motioned and pointed to Ron over her shoulder. "That set was my last pair, so

I was lucky that I had my glasses, otherwise, I can't see  a damn thing. I already owled my mom and I will

probably get my replacement either by the lunch time tomorrow or the next day. That is if she can

find my other boxes in my bathroom because if she can't I have to wait like one to two weeks for the

doctor to send me another pair."

"Did Professor McGonagall mention why she called another prefect meeting? None of the other

houses are going." Ron asked as he dove into  a back of brownies and ice cream; trying to

change the topic.

"That is for our house only, Ron. You know, I think this meeting is about our fashion show."

Hermione stole a strawberry off Harry's plate. When he noticed it was gone, she grinned at him.

"You know, maybe instead of just a fashion show, maybe we could have some talent acts." Harry

yawned and rubbed his eyes sleep fully. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I am going to skip out

on classes this afternoon. Maybe then I can get caught  up on some sleep."

"That sounds like a good idea, Harry." Heather grinned  evilly at Hermione. "Why don't you join him,

Hermione."

Hermione grinned back, but said nothing because Ron  beat her to it. "Yeah, right. Hermione never

misses

class because I think it would kill her." Ron yawned and took a drink of his pumpkin juice.

Heather yawned in response to Ron, and then slapped her brother. "What did I do?"

"You yawned and started this whole thing. Don't you know yawning is contagious?"

"So, Hermione. Can I copy your notes from class this morning?" Ron asked as he pulled

out his notebookand quill.

"I figured you might have wanted them." Harry handed Ron his notes. "Make sure you copy them

exactly. My notes for it are on the next page."

Heather looked over at her brother's notes and  noticed the margins were filled with detailed

drawings of animals and magical beings. "Wow, Harry, you should be an artist. I think

I just found the person to help with designing the sets for the show."

"Let me see." Hermione pulled at the note book and flipped through the pages. "These are very good."

Harry blushed once Hermione handed Ron Harry's notebook back so he could finish copying the notes.

"Thanks." Harry continued to blush crimson. "Being locked in a small room all summer, I had a lot of time

on my hands."

Heather looked at her brother. "Are you serious?"

"About what?"

"Being locked in a small room all summer." Harry turned pink again and Heather got the feeling

that she had touched on a sensitive topic. When Harry said nothing and acted as if his food was the most

important thing in the world. "Oh, Harry! That's awful!"

"Your Aunt Petunia and her husband Vernon got a divorce this past summer." Hermione

informed her. "Things have changed since your Aunt Petunia was under the Alzheimer’s

curse."

Feeling uncomfortable, Harry stood up and walked out of the room and headed toward the

Gryffindor tower. Once at the picture of the  Fat Lady, Hermione caught up with him. "I don't

want to talk about it, Hermione."

"That's the problem, Harry. You don't talk about it and its really controlling your life."

"Controlling my life!" Harry exclaimed. "How the bloody hell is it controlling my life. My

life is here at Hogwarts not there with them!  It always has been...I can't blame them for

being scared of me, Hermione."

Hermione said nothing as she took her hand and ruffled his messy jet-black hair. "Why don't

we go to bed and get some sleep. We've had a long couple of weeks and I think both of us could use

some."

"What about your classes. You'll miss them."

"I'll get the notes from Heather." Hermione said as they walked hand-in-hand into the common

room after saying the password. "I'll set my alarm so we can get dinner and then we can go to

the meeting after."

Harry kissed her forehead and together they entered the head common room. "I just hope that

I can sleep." He thought to himself.

*****

Harry stirred in his sleep and his eyes fluttered open. He rolled over to put his glasses

on and felt around for them on his side table. When he couldn't feel them, he sighed and rolled

back on to his back.

"What's wrong?" Hermione's voice floated into his ears and Harry turned in the general direction her

voice floated from.

"I can't find my glasses. I usually put them on the table over there, but they aren’t there." Harry

gazed upward toward the canopy top of his four-poster bed.

The bed gave some and a few minutes later, his vision cleared. Hermione had found his

glasses and put on his face. "When was the last time you saw an optometrist?"

"When I was six," Harry sighed, "My eye sight really hasn't changed much, so there really

hasn't been a need to get new ones."

Hermione laid back down on the bed on her side. "You know, you may want to get your

eyes checked anyway, after we graduate. You could lasers optic surgery and don't have

to wear any at all anymore. Not to mention, there might be something hidden we don't know

about yet." She tousled his hair as she could tell he was growing a little irritated with her.

She smiled fondly at him. "You know I'm just trying to help."

Harry decided to change the topic before her nagging bothered him further. He looked at

his watch,  looking for help, and mentioned. "If the meeting is at seven, we'd better be getting

up if  we want dinner."

"Sounds like we'd better be getting up." Hermione mentioned out loud as she moved from

the bed to the Head boy's  bathroom to fix her hair and her uniform.

"I really don't want to get up." Harry whined and Hermione laughed as she came back over

to the bed to lean down to kiss him.

There really wasn’t anything passionate about this kiss, just one to encourage him to get up.

"Come on, silly. We need to  get a move on."

Harry behaved and stood up. He "fixed" his hair as best as he could and in actual sense making

it messier than before. Hermione took the liberty of fixing his tie and straightening his Head boy pin.

As they made their way down the hallway, the voice of Draco Malfoy called out to them. "Oh,

look Danielle, its Potty and Mudblood coming from a pre-dinner shag, I see."

"I'd shut it, Ferret, if I were you," Harry threatened as Hermione and him turned around and

tightened his grip on his wand.

"And whose going to make us, Potty? Danielle chastised. "I don't think you have the balls

to do it with."

"Well, if he doesn't," Hermione countered, pulling out her wand, "I do."

“That’s sad, Harry.” Danielle countered with a sly smile. “You have your girlfriend fight for

you! In a way though, I guess its kind of romantic.” Danielle circled Hermione as she said

this. “I hear, Harry, you’re rich. Why don’t you go out and buy some clothes that are actually

in style.”

“Because I don’t want her looking like a cheep arse harlot like you!” Harry countered.

Instead of saying anything in response, Danielle slapped Harry across the face, leaving a

bright pink hand mark on it.

“Bitch!” Hermione screamed and clawed Danielle’s face. Danielle countered by

punching her hard on Hermione’s upper cheekbone, near her eye, knocking Hermione on

to the ground.

Draco Malfoy took the moment to take out his wand and point it at Harry. “Furuncuclus!”

Fortunately, Harry anticipated his rivals’ decision and he was able to dodge the spell.

“Expelliarmus!” Harry cried and Draco’s wand flew out of his hand. “Accio Draco’s wand.” With

that, Draco’s wand flew from where it lay a few feet away and was just about to reach Harry when

Professors Shift and Moon came running down the hallway. Professor Shift pulled the two girls away

from each other, albeit in the process getting scratched by Danielle’s long manicured nails.

“Fifty points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin.” Professor Moon sighed. “And detention for

all four of you. Sierra, please escort Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger to Professor McGonagall’s office

and inform her as to what happened.” Celestial Moon sighed and made a gesture to Harry to hand

her Malfoy’s wand. Harry gave it to her and then she continued. “I will take Mr. Malfoy and Ms. MacNeal

down to see Professor Snape.

“Alright.” Professor Shift replied and escorted the head boy and girl to the transfiguration

department office. Once there, Ron, Heather, and Professor McGonagall went wide-eyed at the

condition of the head boy and girl.

“Please tell me, Professor Shift, that this isn’t what it looks like.” Professor McGonagall

almost moaned.

“Unfortunately, Minerva, it is.” Professor Shift sighed. “Professor Moon and I found these

two engage in an all out brawl with Mr. Malfoy and Ms. MacNeal. The four of them have been given

detention and house points have been taken away. These two are going to take their detention with

me and the other two with Professor Moon for the next week.”

“That’s fine, Sierra. If you would like you could join us. We were about ready to discuss the

charity project.”

“Well, I would love to, but I have to go and put together a report now for Professors Dumbledore

and Gaddis. Not to mention to go and see how Professor Moon is fairing with Professor Snape.”

“Understood.” Professor McGonagall turned to the group of adolescents seated across from

her as Professor Shift left. “Well, Miss Granger, Mister Potter, I do hope your little fight was well worth

loosing house points over. Another stunt like what just happened in the hallway and the both of you

could loose your head boy and girl ships. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” They said in almost unison.

“Now, let’s get on with the topic of interest.” Professor McGonagall turned to the other two in

the room. “I have asked Professor Dumbledore about where to hold this event and he has granted

permission to use the Great Hall once he and Professor Gaddis has modified the room; set

construction and practicing can commence.”

“Where will the meals be served?” Hermione asked, pulled out a quick notes quill and several

pieces of parchment.

“In the house common rooms. Professor Gaddis suggested on the day of the event to hold an

all school picnic outside. Weather permitting, of course.” Professor McGonagall flipped through her notes

to see what she needed to cover next. “Do you know where you are going to get the outfits from?”

“I already owled Madame Cross at Rodger Drive and she has already agreed to help us. I’m

also looking into other robe shops in the area.” Heather flipped through her notes on her clipboard.

“There is a shop in London in Diagon Alley that has agreed to help us out, too.”

“Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions?” Harry asked in her direction.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Good.” Professor McGonagall smiled. “Let me know when you have the line-up of events

and who’s going to host.”

“Actually, I’ve given that some thought to it, Professor. I’m going to need their approval

for it first, but I was thinking Ginny Weasley and Cosmo Cyrus to be our hosts.” Hermione dipped

her quill in the ink for it to continue to write.

“Sounds good. Anything else?”

“Well, I was thinking we could get some of Hogwarts alumni involved.” Heather said,

while glancing down at her notes again. “I have a few names of former Hogwarts students and they

were interested when I owled them.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Ron said, while he looked down at the paper he was doodling on.

“That does sound like a great idea, Heather.”

“Yeah, that does sound like fun.”

“Well, if no one has anything else to add.” Professor McGonagall stood up and collected

her notes. “The four of you are dismissed. Remember what I said, though.” Her glare went to the

faces of Hermione and Harry. She winked and then she walked over to her desk from where the

five of them sat in rather large armchairs.

*****

The scents of paint, paint thinner, and wood made Harry Potter light-headed and dizzy

as he made entered the magically modified Great Hall. The constant pounding of hammers,

snipping of scissors, and drilling of screws was in the process of giving Harry quite a headache.

A gentle squeeze on his left hand assured him Hermione felt the same way.

“Now tell me again, why we’re not using magic to do this again?” Ron complained as he

and Heather walked in from behind Harry and Hermione.

“Because Professor Moon mentioned to Professor Shift, who mentioned it to Professor

McGonagall that she’d be awarding not only house points, but extra credit to each person who

helped out this project.” Heather explained as she went to the supplies and grabbed the hot glue

gun. “That is, if we built the sets the muggle way.”

“How many house points?” Ron’s eyes lit up like fireworks on the fourth of July.

“Let’s just say it’s worth it.” Heather’s eyes twinkled and Ron’s eyes grew large.

“I think I just found a new appreciation for Muggle studies.” Ron said in awe as he

grabbed a paintbrush.

“Harry, you did a really wonderful job with stenciling the set.” Hermione said as she picked

up a paintbrush to begin putting color to the background Harry had finished drawing the previous night.

“Yea, Harry, its really wicked.” Andrew Ambrose came over to get a better angle of it

and see how the progress was coming on them. He, then, noticed Heather hot gluing red, orange,

and yellow crape paper leaves on to the limbs of a tree. “Whoa! Blair, Heather’s got a glue gun!”

“Oh, no!” Blair shouted mockingly. “We’d better go and get Madame Pomfrey since

Madame Johnstonia can’t do it anymore because of what happened at the Institute. I guess

she went crazy with all the stunts you pull, Heather.”

“Especially when you have a hot glue gun in your possession.” Andrew, Blair, and

the Chicago Institute students on the stage roared with laughter.

Heather put her hand on her hip. “Hey, that was only one, single occurrence.”

“Yeah and the time you almost burnt down the Muggle studies auditorium when you

didn’t unplug the curling iron in the girl’s dressing room.” Andrew counted on his fingers. “And

the time where you knocked the lamp over on the set of Les Miserables. If it hadn’t been for

Hector, the whole set would have been fried.”

“Could you imagine Professor Moon and Shift’s face if they would have found out?” Blair

laughed and Andrew joined them.

“Okay, okay. I got the point, quit hexing me okay?” Heather stood up and rolled her eyes.

“So I made some minor miscalculations, big deal; a lot of people have them. If it makes you feel

any better, Andrew, I still have the scar from where the hot glue gun burnt me.”

“And remind us, again, Heather where you had the glue gun again?” Blair pointed to Harry,

Ron, and Hermione. “Because I don’t think they have heard this story, yet. Especially since your not

really into telling your “brightest” moment stories.”

“Here.” Heather pointed to a spot on her upper thigh.

“And pray tell, where did you have the mentioned glue gun when this incident occurred?”

“Okay, Okay! It was in my pocket tip faced down…so it’s wasn’t exactly my brightest moment…”

“Brightest moment, Merlin Heather, it was still plugged into the electrical outlet through

the extension cord.” Andrew laughed. “Come on, Heather. You know you want to laugh at your

stupidity.”

Heather stayed still-faced for a minute and when she could not contain herself anymore,

she laughed out loud. “ You know sometimes, I wonder if I should have been born blonde.”

“Hey!” I resent that remark!” Amanda Miller called from where she wrote down some of

the cast members’ sizes for clothing.

Heather didn’t apologize, but yelled to her. “Is Madame Cross still going to let us use the

clothing for next season?”

“Yeah, she and that store in London. What was it called again?” Amanda asked her

sister who had the clipboard, writing down the measurements.

“Madame Malkin’s.” Amber looked down at her sheet to get the name right.

“Yeah, that one. They both said they would floo the crates with the garments in them

tomorrow, so we can make sure the sizes are right so incase they aren’t they can be sent back

before the show to be corrected.”

“I thought it was really nice of both of the stores to loan us the robes and the clothes for this

occasion.” India mentioned from the ladder from where she stood painting.

“Especially since its for charity.” Hermione agreed. “I don’t think we should have been able

to pull this off with out their help.”

“You know, tickets go on sale today, so we need volunteers to give out tickets during meals.”

Mika noted. “Zunko’s in Hogsmede is going to sell a limited amount of tickets to the public and

Professor Dumbledore confiscated a good couple hundred. Something about Professors Gaddis

and Dumbledore wanting to send them somewhere, but I don’t remember where.”

“Where do you think he might have sent them to?” Hermione asked out loud to no one

in particular.

“There’s no way for sure, but I am getting an idea.” Heather mumbled as she grabbed a

paintbrush to help paint the set.

“Heather! The glue gun is still plugged in!” Mika noticed the orange extension cord still

attached to the white cord of the dual temperature glue gun. “You really don’t want to repeat of

what happened…”

Heather unplugged the hot glue gun and set it down for it to cool down. She grinned at

Harry and they went back to work.

*****

When set construction was finally completed, the groups for the talent portion of the

show could finally practice on the stage. As Heather organized the costumes with Hermione,

Ron and Harry put the sets in order with Parker Aubrey, Robert Smart, Jasmine Brown, and

Jessie Phillips. Blair Blake and Cosmo Cyrus were in charge of the music and audio enhancing

equipment for the practice session.

Mika Salena stepped out on stage wearing a red dress and a pair of black high heals.

Andrew Ambrose joined her wearing a pair of black dress pants and a loose fitting red dress

shirt. When Heather heard the music began to play, she dragged Hermione to watch. “They’re

doing the “El Tango de Roxanne” from “Moulin Rouge”!” Heather smiled. “I saw this particular

dance one time when they performed it for another show. Its really cool!”

Soon Ron, Harry, and the rest of the set crew joined Hermione and Heather and they

watched the couple dance their tango. Harry put his arm around Hermione’s waist and she

smiled over her shoulder at him. When the dance was completed, the entire auditorium roared

with applause. Heather grabbed Ron’s hand and dragged him on to the stage. “Since you already

have the cd in, why don’t we go over the duet?” Heather asked once she stepped over to the

microphone. Blair nodded in the sound booth and the introduction to “Come What May” played.

Ron began to sing, but all through out the song, his eyes rarely left those of Heather’s.

Heather joined him in song when he cue came and her eyes twinkled with something

Harry couldn’t quite recognize. As they continued to the end of the song, Harry knew what ever

shown in the duo’s eyes he didn’t like too much. Once Heather and Ron finished, Harry, Hermione

and them went back to work. As she worked, Heather listened to India’s rendition of “My Immortal”

and Isaac, Ishmael, and Samuel Yoder’s original rap song. “I’m hungry.” Heather commented a little

while later. “You guys up to some food?”

“Definitely.” Hermione pug her clipboard and quill down. “Should we go and get the boys?”

“I dunno.” Heather looked at the boys; who had shed their shirts under the hot stage lights.

“They look kind of cute with their shirts off.”

Hermione took a moment to enjoy the rare site of Harry’s well-toned abs. “Quidditch has

been treating him well.” Hermione thought as she noticed a rather long scar from his shoulder

blade to the middle of his spine. She knew she would have to ask him about it at a later time.

Heather broke her brother’s girlfriends trance as she exclaimed. “For Merlin’s sake, Ron, get a

shirt on!”

“What? You don’t like to watch me sweat? I could have sworn you did.” Ron walked over

and wiped some of his sweat on to her face.

“Ew!” She swatted his arm playfully. “You’re going to get it!”

“Later.” He grinned as he leaned in closer and Hermione couldn’t hear what else he told

her, but she figured it wasn’t anything real appropriate because Heather swatted his arm, much

harder than she did before.

“Ready to go?” Harry asked her.

“Yeah.” Hermione smiled as the two of them made their way across the stage.

“Let’s go get the children.”

“You guys ready to go to the common room to get something eat?” Harry asked his

sister and his best friend. They nodded and the four of them traveled up to the Gryffindor house

common room to get something to calm down the hunger welling inside them.

“So what do you guys think of the uniform portion of the show?” Heather asked. “I thought it

would add something kind of funny to the show. Not that it’s not funny anyway, but our talent/fashion

shows never were too serious.”

“It is rather fun, Heather, but I am wondering if the “Thong Song” is an appropriate

song choice.” Hermione thought out loud.

“What’s wrong with the “Thong Song”?” Heather asked.

“Yeah, what is wrong with the “Thong Song”?” Ron asked Hermione. “I don’t see anything

wrong with it.”

“Yeah, its just about underwear.” Heather rolled her eyes.

“Its about sex, Heather.” Harry blushed slightly.

“Yeah, so when did you get a Victorian attitude about sex?” Heather rolled her eyes.

“So its about sex, big deal. You see more sex on muggle television than most people actually

get to perform the action.”

“That’s not the point.”

“So then, what is the point?” Heather shrugged and continued down the hallway to the

portrait hole to get into the Gryffindor common room. Once she reached the entrance, Heather

said the password. “Voldermort Sucks,” and the painting opened up like a door to allow entrance

into the Gryffindor common room.

Before Heather could say anymore a voice called to her from the common room couch.

“Heather.” A short brunette haired girl with chocolate colored eyes called from the couch where

she and a few others from Sifto-Salt reclined in front of the fire.

“Yeah.”

“A little birdie tells me you need help finding groups to fill some talent spots.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, our cheerleading squad has a routine down.” She commented. “We could fill one of

those spots for you.”

“You guys have a cheerleading squad?” Hermione asked laying her arms down on the back

of the sofa.

“Its first thru third years only. Its too bad it didn’t continue here officially when we came over

here. We’ve been practicing though for next year and we have something together so we need to

practice it in front of an audience.” The girl replied. “My name is Emily-Anne Post. I’m the Captain.”

“It’s like how in tradition our dance team is fourth thru seventh years only.” Heather tried to

explain. “The cheerleading squad allows members to get down some basics so if they wish they

can try-out for the dance team when they get to the Shapiro campus.”

Heather turned to Emily-Anne. “Sounds like a good idea. What’s the song?”

“ ‘Don’t Go There’ by 24-K.”

Heather grinned evilly. “Yeah, I think we can pencil your group in.”

*****

“For today’s lesson, class, who can tell me what is the proper way to eat bread in a high

class muggle social setting? Let’s say your out to dinner with your muggle neighbors and they just

so happen to be rather we-to-do.” Professor Moon asked her seventh years and her lone fifth year

as they began their section on table etiquette. Hermione and Heather raised their hands in response

to their professor’s question, but a few seconds later Harry raised his hand. “Yes, Mister Potter. I don’t

think we’ve heard much from you this past class session.”

“The proper way, Ma’am, to eat bread of any form is breaking it into bits and smaller pieces with

your fingers and eating it like wise.” Harry sighed as he relayed the information to his teacher. “Usually a

finger bowl is provided after the course with water and lemon juice to wash your fingers with.”

Professor Moon smoothed the front of her red roves before he finished. She smiled at Harry and

walked closer to him. “Why do I get the feeling that you didn’t read the Chapter in the book I assigned for

class today?”

Harry caught Hermione’s expression as she fully knew not only they had read the chapter, but took

notes on it. Before he responded, he stole a glance at Ron and Heather whom of which acted rather

shocked he didn’t provide the right answer. Or at least the answer the Professor wanted to hear.

Professor Moon tapped her shoe to indicate she was still waiting for an answer out of him. Harry

hated when teachers put him on the spot like she had especially since Professor Snape did such a

good job of it. Harry ran his hand through his messy natural black hair. “Well, did you Mister Potter?

Or have you come unprepared to my class?”

“I read, but the book isn’t entirely accurate.” Harry said finally. “It reads on page 165 that if

you butter your bread it’s rude not to use your knife to cut it into smaller pieces, but actually, it is

better if you use your fingers.”

“Really,” Professor Moon smiled, “and how do you know this, Mister Potter?”

“I use to live with muggles.”

Before Professor Moon could elaborate the reason why she asked him, the bell rang

for the class to end. “Class, be sure to read the next chapter for class tomorrow. There will be

a quiz on this chapter and the next on Friday.”

After a collective moan from the class, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather collected their

books and the rest of the seventh years left the Muggle Studies classroom. “You know I think I have

finally figured out why Professors Gaddis and Dumbledore wanted those extra tickets.” Heather

commented as they walked down the hallway toward the Great Hall.

“Oh, really?” Hermione asked as they rounded the corner to the corridor where the Great

Hall was located. Strangely enough, the halls began to fill with students. Once they entered the

foyer, the Hogwarts and Chicago Institute students welcomed the new comers.

“I knew it!” Heather yelled as she raced over to greet a blonde haired and blue-eyed girl

in Franklin house uniform. “Anete!”

“Oh, Merlin! Heather Potter!” Anete raced over and met her halfway. They embraced in

a warm hug then lead her over to where Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood. “Its good to see you!”

“Where have you been?” Heather asked her ecstatic her friend had survived the attack.

“How did you get here?”

“Professor Alexander, the headmistress at Salem Academy received an owl from

Professors Gaddis and Dumbledore. They had sent a couple hundred tickets of which they said

would be paid for to see the show. I heard it’s for a really awesome cause this year.”

“Its for the lifelong resident ward at St. Mungo’s hospital.” Hermione mentioned. “I’m

Hermione Granger, by the way, this is Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter. You are?”

“I’m Anete Zagare.” The newcomer shook the trio’s hand. “I’m a fourth year, and you?”

“Seventh.” Harry said as he shook her hand. “You’re in Franklin house.”

“And a prefect, none of the less.” Heather noticed the badge on her friend’s robes.

“Yeah, unfortunately, our house prefects ended up here and there was no one to represent

our house when we were re-sorted. It was actually kind of weird to have the majority of ours and

Milner house at Salem and our prefects at another.”

“I noticed that too.” Heather tucked her hair behind her ear. “Did anyone from Sifto-Salt

or Western end up there?”

“There was like two from Salt and four from Western.” Anete counted on her fingers.

“Christina and Emily Wonder from your house and Alexia Smith, Jayna and Kayla Hyde, and

Jessica Bowinski from Western.”

“So all the rest is from Franklin and Milner house?”

“Yes, Ron. Thank you for restating the obvious.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“So who else is here?” Heather practically jumped up and down from the excitement.

“Me!” A voice floated from directly behind Heather. Heather jumped and turned around

to face a short-cropped blond haired blue-eyed girl stood wearing a Franklin house uniform.

“Erin Elizabeth McCullough!” Heather embraced her fellow schoolmate. “What’s new, Big

E.?”

“She finally got the nerve to dye her hair blue for homecoming, Heather. It even had silver

tips. It was really great.” A dark black haired, brown-eyed girl said. She also wore a Franklin house

uniform, but the girl stood only five foot one inch. Compared to Erin, whom Harry guessed to stand

five foot eight; the new girl looked like a dwarf. “Hi, I’m Dawn Hagenbarth-Raymond.”

Harry looked at his sister, confused at the hyphen in her name. “Her betrothed is in Milner

house. She and Casey’s parents arranged their marriage. Its kind of old-fashioned, I would say, but

at least she knows she isn’t going to be alone.” She turned to Dawn. “Anyone else from our lunch

group from Cottage Grove here?”

“Shannon Berry, Megan Boudreau, Nadira Williams, Hayden Michaels, and Harry Dickinson

are here from my house.” Dawn counted off on to her fingers. “I thought I saw Julie Russ, Tom

Simmons, Mary Herbert, and Cassandra England from Milner talking off in the other corner.”

“You know, I think I did too, but I also saw Madeline Madison and Gregory Thompson from

Milner, too, down the hallway talking to Professor Phillips a few moments ago.” Erin pointed down

the foyer to where the three people she mentioned were standing next to the doors to the Great Hall.

“I think that is Troy Alexander, Celeste’s brother. He’s in Franklin house along with the two

guys next to him.” Dawn mentioned casually as the group looked down the corridor as she pointed

to a boy vaguely looking familiar. “The boys with him are Brian Campbell and Nicholas Pfotenauer.

All three of them are on the Quadpot team for Franklin house.”

“Is that Annika Williams talking to Jackson Levitra? The rumor mill at school has them going

to the winter ball this year. Gotta love Sadie Hawkins style dances especially since Franklin house

is the one that throws them.”

“What house are Annika and Jackson in?” Hermione asked.

“They’re both in Milner. Jackson is on the house Quadpot team as captain.” Erin smiled.

“I hope they do get together. They make a really nice couple.”

Dawn’s gaze went down the other hallway a ways. “I see Danielle and her evil minions

are still at large.”

Erin rolled her eyes, but Anete was the one who commented. “Are you serious? I hoped

that little snot nosed bitch died in the attacks.”

“Yes, but you see if she did, we would have to put up with a building on the campus named

after her.” Heather huffed, then sighed. “We definitely wouldn’t be that lucky, though.”

“I hear you got homecoming queen this year, Heather.” Erin mentioned as she took a sip

of the bottle of I.B.C Root beer

“Yeah.”

“Did you disinfect the crown before they placed it on your head?” Anete giggled. “I just hope

you didn’t catch whatever put the stick up her ass.”

“I didn’t wear it too long.” Heather’s gaze went to Ron. “Some things came up. It’s stored

away safe, though.”

“Heather!” Professor McGonagall called down the hallway. Once the Professor caught up

with the group, she continued. “Thank Merlin I found the four of you all in the same place! I need you

to spread word to the other prefects we need to clear the foyer and escort the students who just arrived

from Salem Academy to their respected dormitories so they may rest before dinner.”

The four of them nodded and began clearing the foyer. Some listened and listened and

went to their common rooms while others like Danielle MacNeal, Draco Malfoy, and their “minions”

decided going outside suited them better.

*****

Soft ticking of the clock slowed, it seemed anyway, time in detention with Professor Shift.

Harry never really had detention quite like the ones Professor Shift gave. It seemed the Professor

preferred just to have the company rather be harsh on them like making them clean the trophies in

the trophy cases. Hermione and Harry were made to clean the empty cauldrons by muggle means.

“After you’re done with the cauldrons and the test flasks, you may leave. I know you guys still

have a lot to do before the talent show.” Professor Shift said from her desk, while grading papers. She

sniffed and blew her nose with one of her handkerchiefs; sick yet again from the dampness of the

dungeon. She pulled the blanket on her lap higher and pulled tight her sweater and her scarf around

her neck. “I really need to talk to Professor Dumbledore about moving out of the dungeons until the

summer like weather returns. February is really going to be horrible if the winters here are anything

like they are in Illinois.”

Harry glanced up from his cleaning of test flagons to look at Hermione, whom of which was

cleaning the size two pewter cauldrons required by Hogwarts for all its students. Her white shirt

sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and she long ago lost her sweater to keep it from getting too

much potion or cleaner on them as it was the same with her robes. Her face, concentrating on the

task, was scrunched up and free from any loose falling hair for she had tied it up in a ponytail to

keep the curly-locks out of her face. Once she realized he watched her movements, she looked

up and smiled at him from where she sat across the room.

He stood up and walked down the row to sit next to her; Professor Shift either not noticing

or not caring he moved closer to her to talk to her. “You ready for the show tomorrow?”

Hermione nodded. “I’m kind of nervous.”

“Why? You’ll be spending a lot of your time backstage.” Harry smiled. “You’ll be doing

something your really good at.”

Hermione smiled back at him. “Yes, but I will also be the one everyone comes to when they

need to know what time they need to head on stage and where their costume is at. Not to mention

nameless other things needed to keep the show going.”

“Yes, but it’s a very important job and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.” Harry nuzzled his

head against hers. “With how much your on Ron and my case through out the years, you have gotten

very good at it.”

Hermione did not know if she should be angry or laugh. “What can I say…you and Ron love to

procrastinate to the very last minute so you never really could show your full potential.”

Her elbow almost knocked him out of his seat. “It’s a really tough spot.”

“Here let me help.” Harry said and she handed the cauldron over to him. He scrubbed

the bottom of the cauldron with a lot of effort and finally able to get the particular spot clean.

“Three more flagons and we are done.”

“At least we’re not with Professor Snape.”

“You can say that again.” Harry smiled and continued to wash out the flagons.

*****

The crowd whispered with excitement as the lights dimmed to the magically modified

Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore took the moment to tell Professor McGonagall some reminiscing

memories of James and Lily Potter and how much their children acted like their deceased parents.

The enchanted ceiling gave off a soft star glow and it was just enough of a glow the professors of

Hogwarts and the Chicago Institute could keep a watchful eye on their students.

Several hundred wizards and witches returned to their Alma Martyr to witness the charitable

show. For as a wonderful cause it was, the show promised a light-aired after dinner entertainment of

which no one had ever seen. Not to mention most of the wizards and witches had not returned to

their beloved school in years and wanted to see how much it had stayed the same.

“Good evening and welcome to the first ever Hogwarts and Chicago Institute of Witchcraft

and Wizardry charitable event.” Ginny Weasley announced once she and Cosmo Cyrus stood on

stage right. The two red heads shared the podium where their script for the evening sat obediently.

Ginny’s dress was a strapless full length gown and it was mostly black except for a slit on each side

that had a white section where black and embroidering with been work glistened once the stage light

hit it.

Cosmo wore a full tuxedo including tails and a top hat, of which he tipped to the women

of the audience. “Tonight is sponsored by several retail locations which provided the attire

you will see on us tonight.” Cosmo gestured grandly at Ginny. “This delicious looking witch

is our hostess with the mostest: Ginny Weasley.” Everyone clapped as Ginny curtsied.

“And this smashing looking wizard to my left is our host: Cosmos Cyrus.” Cosmo tipped his

hat again as Ginny finished her sentence.

“Do you really think I’m smashing?”

“I’m just reading the scrip, Cos.” Ginny countered and everyone I the audience laughed.

“Tonight, we’ bedazzle and even charm you with the greatest talent belonging to both

Sifto-Salt and Gryffindor houses.”

“We have singing, dancing, and we even have a little time to show you the latest fashions

from both the wizarding and muggle worlds.” Cosmos Cyrus counted on his hand.

Ginny slapped his arm playfully. “Don’t go and tell them everything!”

“I didn’t!” Cosmo turned to the audience and asked. “You guys ready for the show to begin?”

A large round of applause rang from the audience. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Ginny said as her

curly hair bounced behind her. “I guess we should get the party started then, huh?”

“Yeah, but we’ll be back everyone.” Cosmo mentioned as he waved to the audience.

“Everyone sit back and enjoy the show.”

Meanwhile, the backstage went frantic as the show’s first group, the duet of Sandra Farr

and Hannah Yoder went on stage. The duo sang their piece, a song in Latin, and left the stage

after the audience clapped. Hermione Granger stood in the middle of all this and seemed to be

in her element “bossing people around”. “Next up are the Johnstone jugglers.” She called to

the members in the backstage green room through the door and three of the jugglers wearing

brightly colored outfits.

Harry made his way toward Hermione wearing a pair of bright red Hawaiian print

swimming trunks and a pair of red thong sandals. His hair was disarray, like usual,

and he hurriedly ran his hand through it, trying to make it look straighter. “Hermione, I

know you’re busy at the moment, but I have some bad news.”

“What is it?” Hermione sighed, not sure if she could take anymore.

“Heather asked me to tell you Alice Ari can’t do the show tonight because

she’s sitting in the hospital wing.”

“What?” Hermione exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Heather said something about having a nervous break down because of her

O.W.L.s this year. Madame Pomfrey is tending to her now, but she thinks Alice won’t be

in any real condition to do the show tonight.”

Hermione sighed again, this time with frustration ringing through out her. “How the

bloody hell does Heather think we’re going to be able to do the fashion portions of the show? Many

of Alice’s outfits go with yours and it would just look odd if we just did without those fashions. Does

she have anyone in mind to replace her?”

“Actually she does. Heather was kind of hoping you would step in.”

“What the bloody hell is she thinking? I can’t do that. I have a lot on my plate now as

stage manager!”

“But you’re the only person on this project small enough to fit into her outfits that isn’t

already in the show.” Then he whispered in her ear. “Where’s your Gryffindor courage, huh?”

“I was supposed to be in Ravenclaw.”

“And I was suppose to be a Slytherin.” He whispered back to her and she looked at him

rather shocked. “But what difference does it make? It’s the decisions we made who make us who

we are. Please, do it for me.” He gave her a rather pathetic attempt to give her the “puppy dog” face.

Harry looked deep into her eyes with his emerald green full knowing she couldn’t resist them. “I’ll make

It worth your wild.”

“Fine,” Hermione smiled, “but just remember what you said just now.”

“Agreed, Heather is in the dressing room waiting for you.”

A few minutes after Hermione entered the dressing room, a loud voice rang throughout

the green room. “I am not wearing that!”

“But Hermione, you have to.” Heather pleaded. “You’re the only person who can.”

“But it shows way too much!” Hermione shook her head. “Why can’t you wear it?

You get to wear a two piece wet suit, which by the way is way more covering then that.”

“I just can’t, Hermione. I have scars from body acne on my back I’m really fond of showing off.”

Heather sighed in frustration. She had been hoping this situation wouldn’t have played out like she had

formed in her head. “You’re the only one who can, Hermione. The only other person would might be able

to fit into it is Ginny and she’s already on stage during this besides Harry doesn’t seem to mind the idea

of seeing you in this.”

“But it shows way too much!”

“Look if it bothers you that much to wear a string bikini, then wear the wrap with it.”

“That’s not a wrap. Its see through.”

“Just go and put the suit on. I’ll get Sandra’s wrap because we’re up next and I really don’t have

time to fight with you.” Hermione huffed and went to change into the black swimming suit. A few

moments later, Hermione stepped out in the halter style top and the string tied thong. Heather handed

her a turquoise blue wrap. “Better?”

“Much.” Hermione giggled. “So you really think Harry will like me in this?”

“He’s gay if he doesn’t.” Heather grinned at Hermione and they went together to await their

entrances to go on stage.

*****

A little while later, after the muggle borns “oo-ed” the audience with a line-dance to the

“Electric Slide” and “Down on the Farm” by Tim McGraw. Mr. Weasley, the alumni of choice,

joined the dance team perform a rendition “Thru Heaven’s Eyes” from the muggle movie “The

Prince of Egypt” and not too soon after Heather and Harry Potter gliding out on the stage.

Heather wore a long sleeveless black concert dress with her hair pinned up with a diamond

clip in a French roll. She wore full-length black gloves and a pair of diamond earrings. Harry matched

her in his black tuxedo with tails. He immediately headed over to the black baby-grand piano and sat

down on the bench, but Heather walked over to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, the piece I

am going to be performing for you tonight holds something dear to me. You see, the very first night I

came here from the Chicago Institute I played it in the Gryffindor common room in a time of worry over

the fate of my friends Rachel and Hector. The piece also summoned my brother from his bed to me in

that time of need.” Heather paused to breath and then continued. “I’ve also recently found out this song

was my parents wedding song so, it is to them I dedicate tonight’s performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight

Sonata number 14 in C sharp minor to James and Lily Potter. With out their constant dedication on fighting

forces of he-who-must-not-be-named some of us, including Harry and I, would not be here now.”

Heather stepped away from the microphone and went to the piano to sit down. She began to

play the song while Harry turned the pages for her. The audience was silent while she played, except

for a few whispers amongst Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall. Once she finished, Heather bowed

and walked off stage leaving the audience in a stone silence. It was only after they exited, the audience

stood in cheer in awe.

*****

Once the sets were picked up and the room was cleared Hermione laid down on the stage

floor in complete exhaustion. The empty room, except for a few stragglers, echoed with people tearing

down the room for breakfast in the morning. “Come on, ‘Mione, Let’s go to bed. Professor Dumbledore

said he would get the rest in the morning.” Hermione nodded in agreement, but yawned instead of

saying anything. Harry chuckled a little. “Let’s get you upstairs before you collapse here.”

Together the two of them climbed the staircase to the Gryffindor common room and

once they were safely through the barrier between the head dormitories and the common room, Harry

escorted her into her room. As she went to get her nightgown out of her closet for the evening, but instead

of finding her nightgown, she found Ron and Heather in the midst of a deep and heavy snog and moving

quickly to shagging. Once they realized they were being watched, the both of them stopped abruptly and

turned a deep shade of pink.

“Ron, I’ll give you until the count of ten to get your hands off my sister’s arse and run the hell

out of here.” Harry’s face changed to a deep shade of crimson that would have made Vernon Dursley

envious.

“But…”

“One...”

“But…”

“Two...”

“But Harry...” this time it was from Heather.

“Three, four…” Harry’s grip on his wand tightened.

“But Harry…” Ron tried again, but Harry’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, a feat

which Hermione thought could not happen. Ron glanced over at Heather for a second, and then made

a run for it.

“Five.”

“Harry, remember; he is your best friend.” Hermione reminded him.

“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.” Harry finished quickly and he raced after Ron, followed by

Heather and Hermione. Ron raced through the common room, the portrait hole, down the corridor, and

to the third-floor corridor, trying to escape Harry and his ill temper.

Hermione caught up with the two of them and pulled out her wand to utter a spell. The

two of them froze in place and Heather finally caught up with them. “Harry would you just calm

down and let them explain.” Hermione rolled their eyes. “Granted they might possibly be in love,

Harry, but I’m wanting to know why they were doing what they were doing in my closet.”

“Mm…hm…mm.” Ron tried to explain, but the spell Hermione had cast kept his mouth shut

tight. Heather glanced over at Hermione and gestured for her to lift the spell binding Ron. Hermione

waved her wand and the spell Ron was under lifted.

Hermione walked over to Harry and he watched her glide over. “If I lift the spell, will you behave?”

“Hm…Hm.” He mumbled, unable to clearly state his answer. She lifted the spell and his body

relaxed.

“Now what in Merlin’s name possessed you guys to do that in my closet?” Hermione demanded.

“Sorry Hermione, but when you get going you can’t really tell where you’re going. What matters

is how you get there.” Harry lunged at Ron, forcing Hermione to hold him back.

“Cool it, Harry.” Hermione yelled at him.

“But that’s my sister he’s talking about.” Harry yelled back. “My blood! My only real family and

this one here wants to shag her brains out.”

“And shouldn’t you want your family to be happy?” Heather asked. “I love him, Harry.”

“Your sixteen years old, Heather. You don’t know what love really is.”

“Oh and I guess you do.” Heather egged on.

“Maybe I do.”

“You’re only a year older than me, Harry.” Heather volleyed back.

“A fact of which I know very well, Heather.” Harry growled.

“Harry James Potter, your sister’s love life really isn’t your concern. It is Ron of all people!

Of all the people in the world, she could possibly fall in love with and its Ron that she does. You

really should be grateful that it’s him and not someone like Draco Malfoy or something.” Hermione’s

face turned red with anger and her nerves were wearing thin with her boyfriend. She huffed and

abruptly left the three of them standing there. Not quite sure what to do, Harry stood there in silence.

“Look, Harry. I do love your sister and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.” Ron began taking

a calming breath.

“I know.” He said. “Look, Ron, Heather, I know I really am happy you guys became a couple.

I just was trying to protect you Heather.”

“My big brother came to my rescue, as sweet as what it is, I am a big girl now and I can

take care of myself.” Heather hugged her brother. “I promise though, the next time I need saving I will

let you know.”

Harry kissed the top of Heather’s head and looked at his best friend with his anger subsiding.

“You better treat her well or I will have to come after you.”

“I don’t think you will have anything to worry about.” Ron sighed. “Now go after Hermione.”

*****

Harry had searched for Hermione the entire day and was not able to find her. Finally

giving up, Harry headed to the astronomy tower and he found the object of his search. Dressed in

a tight pair of black workout pants and a blue sport bra Hermione kicked the target with her leg.

Harry said nothing as he watched Hermione kick the target with her foot about twenty more times

then moved to a punching bag and pounded it with the gloves she had on her. “Are you just going

to stand there? Hold the bag for me.” Hermione called as she moved to another bag. Harry walked

over slowly and took hold of the bag. After a few good punches, Hermione tornado kicked the bag

face level to Harry.

“Look, Hermione, I know your angry.”

“Angry doesn’t cut it, Harry. Completely pissed off ”

“Okay, so you’re completely pissed off at me.”

“Damn straight.”

“Okay, but why are you mad at me?”

“Why am I mad at you?”

“Yeah, why are you mad at me?”

“Because of what you said to Heather.”

“Well that’s reason why I apologized, Hermione.” Harry sighed. “Why are you really

mad at me?”

“Because, “ Hermione’s eyes filled with tears and on the verge of falling onto her cheeks

when she stopped punching the bag, “because the only reason your with me is because I changed

the way I look.”

“What?” Harry exclaimed. “That’s not it at all!”

“Then how come you only took an interest in me after the girls gave me a make over?” Hermione

asked as she turned to pick up her towel on the floor. “It seems rather funny as soon as I come back from

the dance team retreat and changed in the way I dressed you would take notice in me and then ask me out.”

“Hermione, look at me.” Harry took her by the shoulders. “I’ve loved you for a long while now, not

just when you changed. I can’t say when I started to love you, but I do.”

“Don’t you think you’re a bit young to know what love is?” Hermione indirectly quoted him.

Harry looked deep into her eyes. “Maybe, but you know what?”

“What?”

“No matter what happens, I know if I have to choose between your life and mine, I would

gladly die for you.” Harry wrapped his arms around her. Then he leaned down and kissed her. “I

mean what I said, remember that.”

*****

With the excitement of the talent/fashion show, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather almost

completely forgot about their upcoming examinations until Professor Dumbledore mentioned a few

days prior there would be a Hogsmede day before cracking down on their books would start like a

calm before the storm. Hermione and Heather separated from the boys to do some shopping and Harry

was rather grateful. Ron and him made their way to the Three Broomsticks and claimed a table far from

the bar. “Ron, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Sure, Harry, what is it?”

“You know how we’re leaving Hogwarts this year and you know after graduation sometimes

friends don’t see each other again until reunions and stuff…”

“But that won’t happen to us, Harry.” Ron sipped at his butter beer. “You, me, Hermione,

and Heather will always be together.”

“You see that’s just the thing.” Harry paused as he fiddled with something in his pocket. He

was frustrated he could not just get out what he wanted to say, but then he just blurted it out. “I want

to ask Hermione to marry me.”

“What?” Ron went wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Ron smiled and shook his head, still trying to get over the shock. “So, when are you going

to ask her?”

“I thought I might do it today if I find the right opportunity.” Harry sighed, pulling his hand out

of his pocket. “If she does say yes, I wanted to ask you to be my best man.”

Ron clapped his hand down on his back. “I’m sure she’ll say yes. Congratulations, mate!”

“Don’t congratulate me yet; she still can say no. Especially after what just happened.” Harry

chuckled, but before the two of them could say anything, more a real commotion was brewing outside.

Harry and Ron ran to the doors of the Three Broomsticks and witnessed the disturbance. Several

hooded figures Harry took to be Deatheaters, flung spells back and forth with several students and

a couple teachers. A couple Deatheaters were trying to take a couple of students with them. “Harry!”

Hermione screamed as one of the Deatheaters full-bodied binded her to carry her off.

“Hermione!” Harry yelled as he pulled out his wand.

“Ron! Get this fucking son of bitch off me!” Heather commanded as two Deatheaters

binded her as well. Ron pulled out his wand and Harry and him raced after her and Hermione.

After stunning a few Deatheaters, but not making any real give way, Harry and Ron watched

helplessly as both Hermione and Heather apperated with a couple of Deatheaters to an unknown

destination.

As soon as the Deatheaters took Heather and Hermione, the rest of the Deatheaters left

as quickly as they came. Professor McGonagall stood from where she had ducked behind a rock

across from where they had fought the allies of Voldermort. “All students.” She croaked aloud. “Please

report back to the carriages at once, this is an emergency. Teachers get a head count. Professor

Dumbledore isn’t going to like this.”

*****

17. A Prophecy Once Foretold

Chapter 17

A Prophecy Once Foretold.

Harry and Ron raced down the hallway toward Professor Dumbledore’s office. “Reese’s Peanut Butter

Cup.” Harry told the gargoyle and up the staircase, he went to his headmaster’s office. He did not knock on the

Headmaster’s door, but barged inside. Professor Albus Dumbledore, expecting the boys, reclining in his chair

at his desk. Several of the Professors joined him including Professors McGonagall, Snape, and the former

Professor Lupin.

Before either Harry or Ron could say a word, Professor Dumbledore stood up. “The attack today in

Hogsmede was just the excuse to kidnap you sister, Harry, and Hermione Granger. It comes to no surprise to

you I am sure because your sister’s wandless magic powers and Miss Granger’s knowledge is something Lord

Voldermort was in search of. I do believe the four of you have been warned of things to come.”

“Warned?” Harry asked aloud. “I don’t understand.”

“The dreams!” Ron exclaimed. “You mean they were premonitions.”

“Premonitions can occur when equally powerful wizards begin to have emotional ties and in your case

when there are four.” The Headmaster of the school came around the desk to meet them where they stood.

“That is also the reason why it can only be the two of you to go in after Hermione and Heather.”

“The prophecy.” Harry asked and the Professor nodded. Harry took in a deep breath then asked.

“Where are they at?”

“I believe only you two can answer that.” Professor McGonagall answered as she took a bowl

and put it on the desk in front of them. “This is a pensive. It helps wizards store their memories. To find out

where they are if one of you would remember you dream, you can place it inside and one of us could

examine where they are located.”

“I’ll do it.” Ron said stepping up to the pensive. Once Professor McGonagall finished explaining

how to use it, Ron dipped his face into the bowl to relive his dream. A few moments later, Ron pulled

his head away from the pensive. “That was wicked!”

Professor Snape took the pensive and placed his face in the bowl like Ron did and searched

the dream for any indication of the hideout location. After several minutes, he pulled away from the pensive.

“I believe they are in the house once belonging to Tom Riddle.”

“Then it is no surprise then he would choose the house of his father to be the place he would

take them.” Professor Dumbledore concluded as he rummaged through his desk. He pulled out the

sword of Godric Gryffindor and tapped it with his wand. “This portkey should take you a few feet from

the house. This is a simple mission boys, get in, get the girls, and come back. Do not use force if you don’t

have to. I will send Professors McGonagall, Snape and Lupin along with myself with you just incase things get

a little rough, but when it comes to confronting Voldermort, Harry, only you and Heather stands any chance

against him due to the prophecy.”

Harry and Ron nodded and they took hold of the portkey. Once everyone had hold of the portkey,

the familiar pull at Harry’s navel washed over him. After the sensation subsided, Harry, Ron, and the other

members of the “rescue” team were greeted with spell shots aimed at them, while one almost hit Harry, but

he dodged it before it hit him and had kept the sword with him. “Everyone take cover. Remember what I

said before.” Professor Dumbledore yelled over the statues, separating him from the other members.

After a spell hit the hedge where Harry and Ron hid behind, Harry shot a curse in the direction of

one of the Deatheaters. “Damn it, why don’t you stand still?” Harry yelled aloud as his spell missed the

Deatheater.

“What, Potty? Can’t aim correctly?” the feminine voice called over the hedge across the way.

“Why don’t you let me kill you, little potty?”

“Never.”

“Good, I rather enjoy challenges.” The woman took off her hood. “Belatrix Lestrange, remember

my name at your death.”

“Not if I kill you first.” Harry said, making his way toward her, all the while the bushes stayed

between him and her. Ron followed behind him, surprised at his best friend’s boldness. Then both Ron

and Harry shot disarming spells over the hedge and it hit her wand out of her hand. “Accio wand!” Harry

called and Belatrix Lestrange’s wand few from where it lay a few feet from her and landed into Harry’s

hand. As Belatrix lunged at Harry, he threw her wand to Professor Lupin, who passed it on to Professor

McGonagall since she sat next to Professor Dumbledore, waiting to take a shot.

Harry lunged out of the way from Belatrix’s reach and he and Ron dodged their way through spells

to get inside the manor. Stealth fully, the two made their way through the house, looking for Hermione and

Heather. “Let’s try the basement.” Ron suggested.

“Why the basement?”

“Remember our first and second years? He had a thing for being in the basement.”

“Good idea.” Harry nodded and the two of them made their way down the steps in the hallway

to make their way down to the basement. Instead of finding a cellar style basement like they had thought,

they found a series of endless tunnels. “Where now?”

“Maybe down that way.” Ron pointed into the dampest and darkest part of the tunnels.

“Ron, you watch way too many muggle movies.”

“Yes, but ever notice how often they’re right about villains?”

“Yeah all of them dumber than a stick of mud and slower than molasses in January.” Harry laughed

as the two of them made their way down the hallway. The two of them came to a fork in the pathway. “I

think we go this way, or at least that’s what we did in our dream.”

“Yea, that way.” Ron pointed to the right passageway. “I just hope we find them in time.”

“I think we will, Ron. I’m just worried about what’s happening above ground.” Harry sighed. The

sound of footsteps came closer to them and the duo became silent. In the particular tunnel there really was

not many places they could hide. Thinking quickly, Harry uttered an invisibility spell and the two of them

disappeared against the tunnel ledge to those of the naked eye and hugged the sword close to him to keep

it from clinking onto the floor.

Suddenly, the voices were upon them and Harry could make out whom they belonged to. The

shorter of the two was Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco Malfoy his archrival at school. Harry had known

for a while the elder Malfoy had been up to no good and since fourth year was a Deatheater; practically

Lord Voldermort’s lap dog. “But, my lord, we have to kill them otherwise Potter and his good for nothing

friends will try to help them escape. Potter’s daughter is a rather feisty one. If we kill her first, maybe the

mudblood will tell us about what she knows about the prophecy.”

“No, we will use them to lure Potter away from the others. He will come in trying to save them if I

know him. Then we will crush the last line of the Potter clan and use them as an example to the rest of the

wizarding world if they dare oppose Lord Voldermort.” He laughed evilly as they continued down the

hallway. Harry gestured to Ron to stay close by as the two of them made their way down the corridor

from where the duo came from. Once they reached the end of the tunnel, a large wooden door greeted them.

Harry opened it slightly to see what was on the other side to see if they were in any danger of being attacked.

Once Harry determined it was clear, the duo made their way through the room to the other side

while Harry attached the sheath to his belt. “Which door?” Ron asked as they were now faced with four

doors; each one a different color. It seemed there was one door for each house of Hogwarts; the red door

had a large gold lion on the doorknob, the blue door had a bronze knocker, the yellow door had a black

badger on it, and the forest green one had a silver serpent on the doorknob. “Let’s try this one.” Ron said

as he pointed to the red door. Ron opened the door and was greeted with a set of young roaring lions. As

the lions made their way toward them in attack mode, Ron slammed the door shut and the lions lunged against

the door. “Definitely not that one.”

Harry looked at the other doors and each one held their significance to the evil wizard.

Unfortunately, each door had the possibility of having the house mascot wanting to kill them. “Let’s

try this one.” Harry gestured to the green door as he made his way toward it. Harry carefully opened the

door and found another empty tunnel. “Come on, I think this is it.”

The two of them carefully walked down the corridor and came upon another door. When they

opened the door, they were greeted by soft fire light of the lamps in the room. No sooner as they closed

the door, a voice called to them. “Oh, little bitty potty!” the feminine voice of Belatrix Lestrange called from

in front of them. “Are you scared, Potty?”

“You wish.” Harry called into the shadows to where Belatrix’s voice carried from and a bolt of l

ight from a spell raced toward them. “Accio Wand!”

Harry and Ron tightened the grips on their wands as they dodged the spell. “Expelliarmus!”

Ron shouted and Belatrix dodged the spell.

“You thought I would fall for that one, again didn’t you?” Belatrix laughed coldly.

“Cruciatus!” she yelled and Harry was able to dodge it, but Ron wasn’t. He screamed in pain

as the curse continued to bind him in torturous pain.

“Ron!” Harry screamed as two more Deatheaters joined them. He hit the two of them with

disarming spells and went to help Ron. “Furuncuclus!” Harry pointed at Belatrix and her face puffed

out with boils. She screamed in pain and Harry flew another spell in her direction. “Waddiwasi!” and

a piece of gum shot out of nowhere and flew into her eyes, causing her eyes to water and the Cruciatus

curse to stop. Ron lumped to the floor and Harry raced over to his friend.

The two Deatheaters hit with disarming spells picked up their wands from where they had

fallen and Harry quickly revived Ron. “Confundus!” Harry pointed at the twin wizards and soon they

were so confused, they were playing tick-tac-toe with the lightened end of their wands. “Let’s go.” Harry

pulled his friend up and together they made their way to the doors of the next room.

The boys heard a scream coming from the next room and knew they were on the right track.

“Hermione or Heather?” Ron asked groaning under the pain he was obviously experiencing.

“Hermione. Heather has a higher pitch when she’s screaming.” Harry mentioned as they ran down

the small connecting corridor and into the next room. “Now this scene looks definitely familiar.”

Heather and Hermione were on the other end of the room, hanging from the ceiling dangling from

a rope over two pits of boiling hot lava. Both were clothed in white garments as if they were a sacrifice to

some unknown god. “Harry, it’s about bloody time you got here.” Heather yelled from where she dangled.

Heather had a black eye and several cuts and bruises on her face and arms and Hermione showed the same

effort to get away from their captors. Hermione had a split lip and her head was bleeding from a cut on the right

side of her forehead.

“Sorry to keep you guys waiting.” Ron grinned, heading toward them with Harry slightly in front

of them, not really paying any attention to the movement behind them.

“Harry, Ron! Look out!” Hermione screamed, but Ron was hit with a curse just before Harry dodged

out of the way. Ron lumped to the floor where he lay in a coma.

“Glad you could join us, Harry Potter.” The snake-like voice called from the darkness. “I was almost

afraid you’d miss my party.” A hooded figure came from the darkness and Harry knew exactly who he was

before he took off his hood. The disfigured face of Lord Voldermort glowed in the soft red light. “Sorry that

you won’t be able to stay too long, for you will be joining your parents soon.”

“Not before I send you straight to hell, Tom Riddle.” Harry hissed, knowing the wizard hated his

real identity. Harry readied his wand because he knew he wouldn’t leave the mansion with out a fight.

“Don’t ever say that pathetic name!” Voldermort hissed and he pointed his wand at Harry and

Harry went to his knees in pain. Lord Voldermort circled Harry and after a while, Harry stood up even

though the curse was causing him a great deal of pain. “Impressive, Potter, but you too will soon fall to

my power. I give you a choice, Harry.” He gestured toward the two girls. “Your lover or your sister.”

Voldermort teased. “Choose wisely.”

“Harry!” Hermione screamed as they were torturously lowered to the pit of lava.

Voldermort laughed manically as Harry began to pull out the Sword of Godric Gryffindor out

from the sheath he had on his belt. As he did, Voldermort used a spell to pin him up against the wall.

“Now you will watch as I kill them both, then I’m going to use the Imperious curse upon you. Then

I will make you kill the rest of your friends.” He grinned evilly and told him the rest of his plans. “Especially

that annoying Ron Weasley. After you kill all of them, you will be thrown into Azkaban and there you will

live the rest of your days knowing you killed them and go mad doing so. Then no one will be able to stop

me!”

Voldermort came closer to him and gripped him by the neck of his shirt collar. As Harry thought

he was about to take his last breath of his own accord, Voldermort leaped backward, pinned to the floor

by a spell. Harry looked up and smiled at his sister. “He forgot I could do wandless magic. You’d think

after all these years he would remember.” Heather laughed heartedly. “Could you help us down from

here, Harry?”

Harry uttered as spell. “Why couldn’t you have done that before?”

“My hands were all tied up before. I was cutting them free with my nail file.” Heather brandished

the file as soon as she was safely on the floor.

“No hurry, Harry, but can you get me down from here?” Hermione called from where she was still

being lowered toward the lava. Harry pointed his wand to stop the descent into the lava and he untied her

once she was safely on the floor. Heather continued her concentration on the spell she had on the older

wizard.

“Now what should we do with you?” Heather asked aloud to no one in particular. Voldermort s

quirmed under her spell. “Tartantallegra!” Heather cast the spell and the old wizard’s legs began dancing

beneath him.

Voldermort broke the hold Heather’s hand on him. His wand hand pointed at Hermione

and he cast the Cruciatus curse on her. Hermione fell to the floor in extreme pain and then she suddenly went limp.

“Hermione!” Harry sprang to where his girlfriend lay limp. Complete anger rose in Harry, like a flame becoming a

great inferno. Harry pointed his wand at Voldermort and he spoke the only spell he knew brought death

to wizards. “Avada Kedavra!” Voldermort slumped to his knees as a bright green light flashed in front of him.

“Avada Kedavra!” Heather unsheathed her wand and pointed it at him, in hopes her powers

could help Harry defeat the most evil wizard of all time. After fighting the spell a little, Voldermort lay on

the ground with blood coming from his eyes, nose, and mouth as death consumed him. To make sure he

was dead, Harry took the sword he had in his hand and stabbed the wizard in the heart.

“That’s for hurting the people who mean the most to me.” He said, and then he turned the

sword in a complete circle, the dark wizard’s blood spluttered every where.” And that’s for killing

my parents.” The stabbed the large sword again into the body and blood spurted onto his cloak. “And

that’s for hurting Neville’s parents to the point they went crazy.”

“Harry!” Heather called, but she wasn’t getting through to him.

“And that’s for all the lives you have messed up through out the years.” Harry stabbed the wizard

hard again, and then turned the sword.

“Harry, that’s enough.” Heather pulled the sword out of his hand and he had tears in his eyes.

“Harry, its over.”

The tears ran fully down his cheeks at this point and he went to hug his sister hard. She consoled

him and then shook him. “We have to get Ron and Hermione help. We’ll have plenty of time to worry about

what’s going to happen to us when it happens.” Heather grabbed Hermione’s lump body and gestured Harry

to do the same. “For now, let’s get out of here.” Harry nodded and with the help of Heather, they carried the

limp bodies of their friends up to the surface.

*****

Author’s notes: Please be advised that I’m not too much into writing gore and fighting scenes, that’s

probably why this chapter went as fast as it did. I just hope I didn’t lead you people on about how great this

scene was going to be. Keep in mind; I was trying to keep with in the Pg-13 rating and I hope it really stayed

that way. My idea consultant, weather tracker, wanted to remind me a while back to try to keep my chapters

down and not make another Chapter 10 ever again, so I do hope you forgive me for cutting off here. There is

one more chapter in the works, and then I’ll post that one and the Epilogue, which the title of that chapter was

given to me by Anete Zagare

God bless,

S’Eleene Paris

18. N.E.W.T.S. and O.W.L.S.

Chapter 18

N.E.W.T.S. and O.W.L.S.

Hermione Granger reclined on the bed shifting through her notes on transfiguration a couple days

after the incident at the Riddle house. Madame Pomfrey insisted she and Ron lay in the Hospital wing to

recover from the Cruciatus curse Voldermort had used on them. Harry and Heather had come to visit

everyday for the past two weeks, making sure the two of them were recovering from their encounter

with the former most evil wizard. The cut on her forehead that she received from struggle scabbed over

nicely and Hermione smiled at the thought of her scar could be something she shared in common with

her boyfriend. She ran her fingers over her forehead, thinking about all that had happened with in the

time in the time she had been rescued.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor Gaddis had allotted them extra time to review the exams

they missed of which they would take as soon as they were able. Harry had told them the Minister of

Magic wanted to throw Heather and him into Azkaban prison when the ministry had been informed the

unforgivable curse had been performed, but once Cornelius Fudge learned of the details associating with

the usage of the curse, he practically danced around the Headmasters office. “Praise Merlin!” He had

exclaimed as he shook Harry and Heather’s hands. “There will be a big reward for the two of you!”

“Well, we didn’t do it alone.” Heather had smiled. “We had help from Ronald Weasley,

Hermione Granger, and several of our professors.”

“But the two of you were the actual ones to do it, so you two deserve a big reward. I’m sure

the Daily prophet will want an interview with the two of you and of course I think a thanksgiving party

is in order.”

Hermione smiled at the thought of the party in honor of Harry and Heather occurring as soon

as they finished taking their N.E.W.T.S. and Heather’s O.W.L.S. Her thoughts were interrupted when

Harry stepped into the hospital wing. “Hey, how goes the studying?” He asked her as he slipped behind

her and began to rub her back.

“It’s going.” Hermione’s gaze went back to her books. “How was your testing?”

“I think I did well. At least on the Defense Against the Dark Arts portion and the Charms portion.

Heather thinks she completely bombed the Divination portion of her O.W.L.S, but she thinks she received

“O’s” on the rest. Then, again, her definition of bombing the exam is getting an “Acceptable” on her exam.”

Hermione moaned under his attentions. “Does that feel good?”

Hermione moaned her response and Harry laughed. “You sure you’re going to be up to taking

your N.E.W.T.S. tomorrow? Ron isn’t going to be taking his until the day after tomorrow.”

“Keep it up with that back rub and I will.” Hermione smiled and Harry moved his attentions to

her middle back. “So how did the interview with the Daily Prophet go?”

“It went, but you never will guess they had interview Heather and me.”

“Rita Skeeter.”

“How did you know?”

“Who else would they send?” Hermione looked up from her books. “How did it go?”

“She’s still the same. You should have seen Heather go off on her. It was priceless.”

Hermione giggled. “I figured the two of them would have hit it off like they did. Did she make

you out to be a grand hero?”

“Unfortunately yeah. I just hope she mentions you and Ron. We will be lucky if she mentions

Heather after her ill-tempered moment with her.” Harry laughed. “You know, if you’re not up to it, you

don’t have to come to the feast Saturday.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Hermione sighed. “Professor McGonagall mentioned we have to make a

speech at graduation. I just hope I am well enough to handle standing for that long. Professor Gaddis

mentioned to me I could conjure my testing in a chair while taking my N.E.W.T.S. tomorrow, so there

will be no need to stand then, but the speeches are made standing.”

“You’ll do fine.” Harry rubbed her shoulders as he quit the administrations to her back. “You

always do.” Harry kissed the Head girl’s shoulder blade, and then hugged her from behind.

“Do you have something together already?” she asked. “I just wanted to make sure I don’t really

repeat anything that really isn’t necessary.”

“Not really, obviously, I’m going to talk about my fond memories of the place,” both Harry and

Hermione laughed at this last statement, “and how much I am going to miss a few people.”

“Sounds like a real sappy moment, Harry.” Hermione giggled. “So, are you going to take Mr.

Nelson up on his offer?”

“Are you?”

Hermione reclined against Harry a little to lay her head against his shoulder. “I want to be an

auror, Harry, and I know you do too.”

Harry smiled a little. “Oh, do I?”

“Yea,” Hermione turned around in the bed to face him, “Harry, every time I hear you talk

about your parents and why they died, you are filled with this fire. Why not use that fire to keep other

kids from having to go through the same thing you had to?” Hermione caressed his cheek and then

tousled his hair. “Why not do something worth wild?”

Harry grinned from ear to ear. “I’d figured you’d say as much. Must be why I sent Mr. Nelson

my acceptance a couple of days ago.”

“Really?” Hermione’s eyes brightened up and she enveloped him in a hug. “That’s wonderful!”

“Now all you have to do is get better.” Harry whispered into her ear and she let go of the hug.

Harry smiled at her and caressed her cheek with a lingering finger. “Promise me.” Hermione shook her

head and Harry stood up. “I have to go. Heather does not want to be left alone for too long especially

around those news reporters. She’s afraid she might tell one off again.”

“Tell her the next time she does, I want to be there.” Hermione smiled evilly.

“Will do,” Harry walked out of the Hospital wing, but not before looking over to see how Ron

was doing. Ron peacefully slept against the white sheets of the hospital bed and Harry did not have the

heart to wake him, so he stood there quietly for a moment, then left.

As Harry walked out of the hospital wing, he was greeted with the blonde hair and blue eyes of

Draco Malfoy. “You will pay, Potter.” He had his wand at the ready.

“Why, because I named your father as a Deatheater? Isn’t that the truth, Draco? Your father was

practically his lap dog.” Harry poked at Draco’s flame and Draco lunged at him. Harry pushed him off him,

albeit receiving a hit to his stomach first and only temporary. “I hope he stays in Azkaban for a really long

time.”

“Mr. Potter!” the voice belonging to Daniel Gaddis called down the hallway as he ran toward the

two of them.

“This isn’t done yet, Potter.” Draco announced and he took his exit down the hallway.

“What’s wrong, Professor?” Harry asked the headmaster of the other school.

“There’s nothing wrong, son, but I was wondering if you would do something for me.”

Professor Gaddis clapped his hand on Harry’s back.

“Sure.”

“Would you be so kind and deliver this message to Professor Moon for me. I am sure she will

be glad to see it.” Professor Gaddis handed him a sealed blue colored parchment to give to the

mentioned Professor. “Professor Dumbledore and I must go to a press conference with the Cornelius

Fudge and Roger Nelson about what happened a couple of weeks ago. The wizard wireless is going to

be there to document this extraordinary event.”

Harry nodded his head and turned to walk down the hallway, but the Chicago Institute of Witchcraft

and Wizardry stopped him. “What should I tell the press when I tell them you won’t be there?”

Harry smiled, knowing the Professors knew his like for talking to the press. “Tell them I am finishing

my exams and helping my friends recover.” The professor nodded and Harry walked down the hallway to

deliver the message.

******

The night after Ron finished his testing the party to celebrate the defeat of the most evil wizard

alive had finally been planed. As Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hosted the event, several

of the more prominent members of the wizarding community made an appearance including Roger and

Virginia Nelson. Harry and Heather decided to stay close to Ron and Hermione until they grew too tired

to stay rather than mingle with the guests too much.

About halfway through the evening, Professor Dumbledore stood up to purpose a toast. “Tonight

is about family fore it was the love between a brother and a sister who had gone through many trials

before they would be able to defeat Lord Voldermort. It is also a night of friendship because without

with their friends, they would not have been able to do as they did as well. So to Harry and Heather

Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley the entire wizarding community thanks you.” The

professor raised his glass to them. “To family and Friendship.”

“To family and Friendship.” The room echoed and glasses clinked. Everyone but the four being

honored took a sip of their drinks.

Harry stood up and spoke. “The four of us drew straws to see who would make the speech

tonight and its rather obvious who won that.” There were a few chuckles and then Harry continued. “I’m

not a real big fan of speaking in public, so this will be short. Heather and I agreed along with Hermione and

Ron; we did absolutely nothing of which deserves any of this. We were just in the right place and had a lot

of luck. I cannot say for my sister, but I can say for myself that if we could we would have done anything in

our power to bring the man who murdered our parents to justice, but even then, it does not bring them back.

I know I feel a small sense of closure now that I don’t have a mad man trying to kill me.” A small cluster of

people chuckled and Harry sat back down.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and clapped, “with that said, tuck in,” and the food appeared before

them magically. Cornish hens, corned beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pumpkin pie were among

the favorites served.

As the dinner finished, Hermione leaned over at Harry and whispered into his ear. Together the two

of them exited the Great Hall and down the corridor, but not before there were whispers amongst the guests.

Professor Gaddis took the cue and mentioned to the crowd. “Some of our honored guests are still recovering

from the incident we are celebrating, but still enjoy the evening anyway.”

Not too much later, Ron leaned over to Heather and they too left the party. As the two of them walked

down the hallway, silence enveloped them. It was not until they reached the Third-Floor corridor, Ron said

something; “marry me.”

“What?” Heather inquired, making sure she heard him right.

“Nothing.”

“No, you said something.” Heather stopped him. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”

Ron nodded his head, sheepishly, “but I understand if you didn’t want to. I mean, I know there are

going to be times I won’t be around as much as I should.”

Heather looked distant for a moment then replied, “Let me think on it okay? I mean, I almost lost

you with the whole thing with Voldermort…I do not know if I can handle doing that every time you have to

go to work.”

“I’d be willing to give up being an auror for you.” Ron took her hands. “I love you.”

“There is no way I would let you do that.” Heather caressed his cheek with his hand. “You would

be miserable and not to mention hate me if I did that. Just give me sometime, okay?” Ron nodded and they

continued down the corridor. Once they walked down the hall a little ways, she took a hold of his hand.

*****

At the blink of an eye, Hogwarts graduation rites were upon the whole school and several of the

underclassmen at Hogwarts found themselves buried deep in their examinations. Harry, Ron, and Hermione

found themselves donning on the ancient black robes and brimmed hats every Hogwarts students had worn

upon their graduation, of which was held in the Great Hall. Hermione and Harry pulled their red and gold ropes

over their shoulders as symbol they were the Head boy and Head girl along with their medals around their next

they received from being the heads and their metals for defeating Voldermort. Their head badges shined in the

sun light through the windows once Hermione looked over at Harry where they had donned their gowns in their

shared common room.

“Where’s Ron?” Hermione asked impatiently as she fixed her brimmed hat for the umpteenth time.

“He should have been here by now.”

“I’m right here.” Ron entered the room with Heather in tow. He wore a black gown much like Harry

and Hermione’s gown, but his did not have the large head metal on it. He wore his honors from the Ministry

and Secretary of magic just like Harry and Hermione had and his prefect badge.

“Heather, I thought you had to be practicing with the color guard.” Hermione noticed Heather wore

he captain’s marching uniform. Her tight fitting black pants with silver, red, white stripes down either side clung

to her with out revealing too much. She wore a red marching band jacket with silver buttons and silver and white

accents. Her hair stayed out of her face with the help of her black beret. Upon her chest, she wore the metals of

honor, her prefect’s badge and her captain’s badge. Her black belt sheathed a sword of command and her

hands were covered with white cotton gloves.

“We practiced really hard this morning and since most of the guard has held a flag, rifle, or saber

before, we really didn’t need to practice too much.” Heather smiled slyly. “But I promise an entertaining

show for you guys. Graduation rites are always boring if you don’t make it interesting.”

“Heather, for once, could you leave it alone with the pranks?” Hermione asked. “My parents are

going to be here.”

Her eye twinkled. “I promise I won’t cause too much mischief.”

“We’d better be going if we want to make the ceremony on time.” Harry looked at his watch and

together the four exited the Gryffindor tower to make their way down the Great Hall. Harry sighed and then

said his bittersweet thoughts aloud. “You know, this is going to be the last times we travel down to the Great

Hall.”

“Yeah, I know, but we still have the good-bye feast.” Ron mentioned as he took hold of his

girlfriend’s hand.

“Yeah, I know, but it’s not the same.”

“At least you won’t have to worry about an evil possessed wizard chasing after you.” Hermione

offered once she took Harry’s hand.

“True.” Harry smiled. Once they reached the Great Hall, the four of them let out the breath that

they did not realize they were holding. “Here we go. Heather we’ll meet you in the foyer after we’re

done, is that okay?”

“That’s fine.” Heather kissed her brother on the cheek. “Good luck.”

“Break a leg.” He hugged her back.

“Harry, that wasn’t very nice.” Ron scoffed.

“Ron that means good-luck in the muggle theater scene.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you pay

any attention in Muggle Studies?”

Ron huffed and together the three graduating students walked down the hallway to the room they

were to meet. “Good luck.” Heather waved before walking down the hallway in the other direction to meet

with her color guard.

“If I remember correctly, this is the room we were put in before our sorting our first year.” Hermione

mentioned casually once she, Ron and Harry walked into the room.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Ron said as he glanced around the room. Harry was not sure if he was

just agreeing with her to keep her from going off on him again or if he really remembered which room they

were put in before they were sorted.

Professor McGonagall entered the room briskly. “Attention, attention. Everyone get into alphabetical

order and into four separate lines, one for each house. Mister Potter, Miss Granger, you come with me. I’ll be

back for you once Mister Potter and Miss Granger are seated up front.” She gestured toward the door and

the three of them stepped out of the room. “Wait here until Professors Dumbledore and Gaddis come here.

I have to go and get the rest of the graduates. Good luck.”

“Hey, Harry and Hermione.” Dudley Snape had stopped in front of the Great Hall on his way from

his potions final.

“Hey, Dud.” They chorused.

“What are you doing this summer?”

“I’m staying with my sister’s family and then her father got me, Ron, and Hermione into the auror

training over there for next fall.”

“Well, the reason why I was asking was because mum and dad decided to get married this summer

and I was wondering if you would be available to come.” Dudley decided his knuckles were the most important

things to look at that particular moment and while he invited the two of them to the wedding, he watched them

very carefully.

“We would love to.” Hermione answered as she inaudibly made sure her answer was right. “Just let

us know when.”

“Of course if you could, invite your sister and her boyfriend. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind being there.”

Dudley continued nervously watching his knuckles.

“They wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Harry nodded.

“Good. I’d best be off then. I have to find mum and dad because they are saving me a seat.

Good luck, Harry, Hermione.” Dudley opened the doors to the Great Hall and made his exit to watch

the ceremony.

Harry groaned and Hermione laughed. “It’s going to be okay, Harry. At least the two of you

will be on the opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.”

“It’s not far enough.” Harry leaned his head against the wall behind him and groaned. “I am going

to have to quote Neville. “Why is it always me?””

This made Hermione laugh even harder. “Don’t worry, Harry. I am sure Uncle Severus won’t

bother you unless he has to.”

“Are you two ready to get the show on the road?” Professor Gaddis asked them as he and

Professor Dumbledore along with Cornelius Fudge and Roger Nelson came up behind them.

“More than you will ever will know.” Hermione smiled at them.

“Let’s do it then.” Mr. Nelson said and opened the doors to allow the two headmasters through them.

“Here we go.” Hermione muttered under her breath as she and Harry entered the Great Hall

for the graduation rites. The room was filled with on-lookers and well-wishers and they clapped as the

six of them walked out onto the stage. Soon after, the song Pomp and Circumstance began to play and

the houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin soon followed in and filled the empty seats

on the right side then the members of Franklin, Milner, Sifto-Salt, and Western filled the left side. All the

students continued to stand as the Headmaster of Hogwarts told the audience to continue standing as the

color guard presented their countries flags.

“Mark time-hut!” Heather commanded as she and the rest of the color guard began marching

forward and the room filled with silence except for Heather counting the beat off. The team of ten students

each was carrying an element of the guard. Heather marched behind them so all of them could hear the beat.

The two in front, India Jade and Mika Salena, carried sabers. The two behind them, Parker Aubrey and Cosmo

Cyrus, carried the British and American flags. After them Jasmine Brown and Amanda Miller carried Hogwarts

and the Chicago Institute’s crests on flags to represent their schools and they were followed by Amanda’s twins

sisters, April and Amber (with out her various rings on.) carried rifles.

Once the entourage came to a halt in front, they waited for the command to put the flags in the stands.

Once they did, the entire group came to attention or saluted during the national anthems belonging to the two

countries. Once they finished, Heather counted time again and they exited the same way they came minus the

flags. “The time has come again for another graduation rite here at Hogwarts and this year has truly been a

special one. Amongst the students you did very well, or so I am told on your N.E.W.T.S. more so than any

other year to date.” Professor Dumbledore announced. “A fact of which should make you all proud, speaking

today are the two of your own. Your Head boy and Head girl wish to have a few words with you before you

disembark your journey here at Hogwarts.”

Harry and Hermione both stood up and walked toward the podium while the audience clapped

excitedly. To get a laugh, Harry and Hermione did paper, rock, and scissors to decide who would speak

first. Once Hermione lost, she went stood at the podium and spoke. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

fellow students, honored guests, teachers, and of course Professors Dumbledore and Gaddis. This year has

been a remarkable year like Professor Dumbledore mentioned as a student body, we have done it all. From

arrival here at Hogwarts, it was filled with many complications. We never would have known that our student

body would almost triple in size when we stepped off the train this year when the students from the Chicago

Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry joined us when their schools were attacked by Lord Voldermort.”

Hermione took the moment to breathe, look down at her notes, and continued. “How could we have known

our very own school, students, and faculty would be tested by an attack in Hogsmede where me and another

student were held against our will? How could we have known several of our student body would have ended

up defeating Voldermort at his own game?” There were lots of cheering and screams of excitement after she said

this, “but I learned something much more important than how to transfigure a bird into a water goblet. I learned

the most important things in your life are: love, family, and friendship, but the most important of these things is love.

My challenge to this class is to love. Love someone like you have never loved before. Love like you are never

going to love again. Love someone like you will not wake in the morning. Love someone until you cry. For it was

love that defeated Voldermort and it’s only if we do love he will never be able to regain power again. Thank you.”

Hermione backed away from the podium, but not before, she gave Harry a quick kiss.

Harry took the podium and looked out at Ron sitting amongst the Gryffindors, then to find Heather

was not in the Great Hall. “I was going to say something about love, but since Hermione already spoke about

it, I won’t, so this will be again a short and sweet speech from me.” The graduates cheered gratefully and

Harry smiled. “I don’t think any of us could have gotten to this point without the help of a teacher somewhere

down the lines; therefore, it is to them I say thank you for all your hard work in and out of class. I know my

N.E.W.T.S. scores are better because of the faith some of the teachers gave me such as Professors McGonagall,

Hagrid, and Lupin had shown in me and I thank them.” Everyone clapped with courtesy. “Then there are the

teachers whom of which are glad to see me go and I agree.” All the students knew whom he was talking about

and cheered. “Hermione and I were talking a couple nights after she was recovered from what happened in

Hogsmede and we agreed on three things. We learned the most important lessons in life are not necessarily

found in a classroom with teachers and books. That the most important things in life are: love, family, and

friends.” Harry paused. “Family and Friends is the most important people in your life. I unfortunately was not

able to know my parents and just recently learned to love my sister for all her faults and accomplishments. Your

family and your friends, the real ones and not the ones who just pretend to be, will no matter what you will

do affect you in some way and when they are taken from you forever will leave a piece of them with you.

Therefore, my challenge to my fellow students today is look at your relationships with your friends and family

and dig a deeper relationship with them. They may mean more to you than you will ever know and stand by

you when no one else will. Thank you.”

The rest of the ceremony went by like a blur to Harry until Professor Gaddis stood up to tell this years

class at Hogwarts they had graduated. Instead of saying anything, he was interrupted by some rather

impressive magic. Heather Potter’s head appeared on the wall behind him and she spoke. “Hey, everyone,

Heather Potter here. Sorry Professor Gaddis, but I had to pull one more prank before I leave Hogwarts and

have fun during the summer. I think my father would have been rolling in his grave if I didn’t do something at

such teary-eyed moment to liven it up a bit.” There was some laughter amongst the audience and Professor

Gaddis grew red with fury. “Anyway, I have some unfinished business to take care of. First off, I would like

to say two songs would be played through out Hogwarts. I mean seriously, the entire school will hear them

and the Professors cannot do anything until they are done. It’s a really powerful spell I found in the restricted

section when I was browsing them for a report like a month ago. The first song is dedicated to Harry and

Hermione. It goes along with what they had to say about their challenges to this class. The other song is for

Ronnie. The refrain is my answer to his question he asked me a few days prior.” Heather’s face faded away

and soon the song “Crash and Burn” by Savage Garden played with highlights of the prior years. When the

words of the next song played, the smile Ron had on his face grew. “Yes I will.” By the Backstreet Boys

was Heather’s answer. An uproar amongst the crowd occurred and Heather found her way back through

the Great Hall to hug her fiancé. He enveloped her in a hard hug. He unzipped his graduation gown and

gave her the ring he carried in his pocket. She held out her hand and slid it onto her finger.

*****

The following morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Heather packed their things to returned back

to the United States. Thick bitter sweetness clung to the air as the four of them packed. “Heather, you

have your passport?” Harry called his room once he had finished packing; knowing she had probably

finished packing the night before.

“My back pocket.” Heather patted her right back pocket. “You got your student visa?”

“In my purse.” Hermione patted the hemp purse hanging from her left shoulder down to her right hip.

“Heather, have you seen my visa?” Ron called from the doorway.

“Yeah, its in my purse.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “You told me to put it there last night so you

wouldn’t forget it.”

“I guess then we’re ready to go then.” Heather said with an excited tone in her voice.

“Yeah.” Harry smiled and the four of them. “Let’s go down to the carriages.” The four of them

exited the Gryffindor common room and said good-bye to the various paintings along the way. They

traveled through the Third-Floor Corridor and said several good-byes to students passing by. As soon as

they reached the front doors, a carriage waited for them and Harry was a little hesitant to enter it. “I can’t

leave with out saying good-bye to Hagrid.”

“He’s probably already there, Harry.” Hermione told him to hurry. “We’d better be going or we’re

going to miss the train.”

“In a minute.” Harry sighed, taking in and remembering what all had happened during the previous

years. “Okay.” Harry entered the carriage and it took them to the station at Hogsmede. Once on the

railway platform, the large site of their former Care of Magical Creatures Professor stood like a proud

pillar amongst the sea of students boarding the train. Harry ran up to the half-giant and hugged him tightly.

“Ya din’ think I’d let ya go off wit out say’n good-by, did ya?” Hagrid hugged him back.

“Of course not.” Hermione hugged the large man and the four of them took turns to say good-bye

to the man.

The large became teary-eyed and stepped away. “Be good now, ‘Arry, Ron, ‘Ermione, ‘Eather.”

“Mischief managed.” Heather smiled as she quoted her favorite pranksters.

“And if Malfoy giv’ ya any problems, giv’ em a really good curse fo’ me.” Hagrid smiled. “I guess

I shouldn’t have’ told ya that.”

The four of them laughed, then Harry hugged the man who brought him into the world he belonged

to after all those years with the Dursleys. “Thanks, Hagrid.”

“Fo’ what?”

“For bringing me here.” Harry said as he let go of the hug and stepped onto the Hogwarts express

for the final time followed by Heather, Ron, and Hermione. Soon the train’s engine let some steam out of its

brakes and soon it was headed back for Kings’ Cross.

*****

End of chapter…Yes there is an Epilogue. Don’t worry.

I wouldn’t keep all of ya hanging like that…wait a minute…

Yeah you bet I would. See what happens when I get all this

time away from the Internet? I get things done with out all the

wonderful distractions! LOL.

God bless,

S’Eleene Paris

19. Epilouge

Epilogue

Lasting Changes

The bright yellow sun warmed the backs of all the witnesses in the garden as the sweet

chirping of a single bird’s song floated into their ears. Several hundred, in fact, watched as their

beloved couple took their vows of marriage.

Heather Lillian Potter’s simple white dress floated around her in the warm, late June breeze.

She looked down at her yellow rose and lily-of-the-valley cascading bouquet for a moment to

savor its sweet aroma. After a moment, she felt eyes were watching her and she caught the hazel

eyes of her fiancé Ronald Weasley watching her, deep in thought. Heather smiled bashfully at him

and he quickly saw he had been caught. He grinned back at her once he realized people were

watching them.

The voice of the judge brought them both back to the present from where their minds had

strayed. “Now by the power invested in me by the state of Illinois, I pronounce you man and wife.

You may kiss your bride.” After the kiss, the judge continued. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like

to present to you Mr. And Mrs. William Weasley.” The audience applauded cheerfully and soon Ron,

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Heather, and the rest of the bridal party exited the area by the Nelson’s lake

reserved as the wedding site and traveled back to the Nelson’s ballroom for the reception.

“Did you see mum, Ginny. She was horrible!” Ron complained about his mother crying over

her oldest son getting married. “I can only imagine what it’s going to be like when I get married.”

“I thought it was rather sweet.” Ginny wiped her eyes with her handkerchief then she turned to

Heather as she sat down at the head table next to Charlie and Ron. “It was really nice of your

parents to hold Bill and Sandy’s wedding here.”

“Well, it only seemed logical since they had to move Ron, Harry and Hermione here for

the auror training and not to mention the weather was perfect.” Heather took a sip of her ice water.

“Besides, you know my parents enjoy entertaining. This was just the tip of the ice burg for them.”

“Your parents must be then ecstatic about your wedding then.” Hermione smiled and Ron

nodded vigorously. “Have you set a date for your wedding yet?”

“Not really.” Ron began and Heather interrupted.

“We’ve decided to wait until at least Ron’s done with his training and when I am out of

Hogwarts.”

“You’re going back to Hogwarts?” Harry asked, surprised. “Do your dad and mum know?”

“Not yet.” Heather pulled out her nail file and began working on her nails. “I thought it

would be best if I waited until after the excitement of the wedding die down before telling them.”

“Although we’re waiting…” Ron began taking a sip of his punch, and diving into his

dinner as soon as it appeared before them, “when are you guys getting married?”

Harry choked on his food as Ron asked this. After taking a drink of water, he glared

at Ron as Hermione spoke up. “We’re not engaged, Ron, you know that.”

The best man, Charlie, stood up and chimed his glass and everyone in the room quieted

to listen to the speeches being made about the bride and groom. After the speeches, the

wedding-goers danced on the marble floor to caries tunes played by the D.J. team of Transfig-UR

and Harry took the moment Hermione and Heather danced to the “Cha-Cha Slide” to fumble with

the contents of his pocket.

“So, you still haven’t asked her yet.” Ron pulled out the chair next to him to sit down.

“Bloody hell, Harry, why haven’t you asked her?”

“Well, we’ve kind of been busy lately, Ron. You know like defeating Lord Voldermort.”

Harry ran his hand through his hair. “Damn, I can defeat the most evil wizard alive, but I can’t ask

the girl I love to marry me. I’m a bloody coward.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Take her outside and ask her now.”

“But what if she says no.”

“You’re freaking Harry Potter: the youngest seeker in a century, no to mention the

boy-who-lived.” Ron sighed. “In reality, what girl wouldn’t want you?”

“That’s just it, Ron, this is Hermione we’re taking about. She never really cared about

those things. I know she does love me because she said she does, but what if she doesn’t want

to get married? We are kind of young.” Harry fumbled as he pulled a small ring box out from

his tuxedo pocket. He opened the box and gazed at it like he had at least a hundred times before

through out the duration of the day. He gazed at the one-karat sapphire on a platinum band.

“Wow, Harry, a whole karat. If that doesn’t say you love her, I don’t know what will.”

Ron looked out the French windows over-looking the balcony searching for inspiration. When he

found none, he sighed with frustration. “Would you just ask her already? Look, she’s finished

dancing already. It’s the perfect moment to ask her.”

“Your right,” Harry closed the ring box and put it back into his pocket, “but you realize

that if she says no, I’ll hate you forever.” Harry smiled back at him.

“And if she says yes, you’d better name your first child after me.”

“Yeah, we’ll call her Ronda.” With that said, Harry went off to where Hermione

stood on the balcony, looking at the stars in the heavens.

*****

Heather Lillian Potter’s eyes swelled with tears as she looked down on to the graves of

her two former best friends. “And that’s what’s been happening in my life right now.” She smiled.

“Ron’s really great. You guys would have liked him. Harry, my brother, and I along with Ron

and Hermione, that’s Harry’s fiancée, helped defeat Lord Voldermort and put some of his followers

in prison. They’re still tracking a few, but at least Voldermort is gone…for now at least.”

“Heather, honey.” Ron came up behind her and held her. “We have to get going now.

Your plane for England is leaving and you don’t want to miss the Hogwarts express. Trust me,

I know.” She paused before answering him to savor the bittersweet moment. The tears fell down

her cheeks as she whispered good-bye. She took her index and middle fingers, kissed it, then

placed them on their graves.

Once she stepped back away from the graves, Ron escorted her back to her brother’s

car. “Mum will be waiting for you at the airport.” Heather nodded in acknowledgement, but her

thoughts strayed to the memories of Hector and Rachel and wishing they were with her now. As

if he were able to read her mind, Ron pulled his arm around her tighter. “In some ways, Heather.

They are, they are.”

*****

I am finished, finally! A thanks goes to Anete Zagare for the name of this chapter. She

won the contest and her name appeared in Chapter 16. Look, I will be back with some

more fun stories of our favorite pairing. Just chill and be patient.

Rumor has it that I have a sequel planned for this series…well…I don’t want to give too

much away now do I? So, here is a bit of a teaser for you. I can’t give away too much,

but I am sure you will understand.

God bless,

S’Eleene Paris

“But Professor, I already destroyed his journal. In second year, in the Chamber of Secrets.”

“Yes and that is only the beginning I am sure of the books that brought him Dark magic. The

Onyx Spell book must be destroyed or we may face another resurrection of the Dark Lord.”

Professor Dumbledore began to pace the floor of his office. The seven members of the red

Squadron watched him as they stood there, at ease, while he gave them the history behind

their mission….