"They'll be famous - legends - I wouldn't be surprised if
today was known as Potter Day in the future -
there will be books written about them -
every child in our world will know their name!"
—-
Year 1
Lydia Potter shivered as she clung onto her brothers hand and walked into the Great Hall. She was so nervous she couldn't She even stop to admire how the candles seemingly floated in midair or the fact that the ceiling of the Hall was open to heavens. She barely took any notice of the four long house tables, the way that everyone seemed to be staring at her and Harry and the fact that there was a hat singing to them. Her bright green eyes skirted around the room and she nervously tried to keep her hat from falling off her mane of unruly black hair. Whoever had designed these hats hadn't taken uncontrollable hair into consideration.
Someone sat at the table closest to them nudged her hard in the side. She turned her head to look at him.
"Are you the Potters?"
He pointed to the scar on her head and she quickly nodded and looked away. Aunt Petunia had brought her up to be ashamed of the scar on her head because it wasn't 'ladylike' - as if she had any control of whether or not she wanted it to be there or not. If it were up to Lydia, she would get rid of as soon as humanly possible. She could not remember a time when she had looked in the mirror and not flinched at the sight of it. She and Harry discussed their identical scars a lot and had both come to the conclusion that they probably wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't so big. It started at the very top of their foreheads, zigzagged down their noses in a lightning bolt shape and stopped just at their cheekbones. The scars were impossible to cover up and always earned both her and Harry funny looks off people.
Lydia turned her attention to Professor McGonagall and watched the sorting take place; Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones both became Hufflepuffs whilst Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom because Gryffindors. Draco Malfoy, (who Lydia already disliked) Daphne Greengrass, Vincent Crabbe and Greggory Goyle all became Slytherins. Once Pansy Parkinson joined them at the Slytherin table too, Harry's name was called.
A silence fell over the Hall and all eyes were on him as he slowly made his way to the three-legged stool. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on is head and there were a few moments of silence until-
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table exploded in applause. Percy the Prefect leapt up at once and because to shake is hand whilst Fred and George Weasley were shouting, "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!" over and over again. It took a few moments for the Gryffindor table to become quiet again and Lydia began to panic. What if she wasn't sorted into Gryffindor? She didn't really like the thought of being away from Harry for they never had been apart. She supposed that being in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad...
"Potter, Lydia!" McGonagall called.
Feeling as the her robes were too heavy and weighing her down, Lydia pushed through the crows and slowly lowered herself onto the stool. McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat on her head and it fell over her eyes. The fact that she could no longer see the Great Hall and everyone staring up at her put her a little more at ease.
"Ah..." a small voice said in her ear, "Now, this is interesting...your brother begged to not be put in Slytherin but I don't heard that here...no..." It fell silent for a moment, "You've a good brain...loyal...brave...but there's just something about you...there something more to you-"
Lydia screwed her eyes shut and gripped the edge of the stool. She had the nastiest feeling that she knew what was coming before the Sorting Hat said anything.
"-SLYTERIN!"
There was not shouts of applause. No one stood up to chant, "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!" Instead, people began to mutter to themselves, leaning closer to their friends and looking at Lydia in the same way that her Aunt, Uncle and cousin did. Automatically, she sought out Harry and their eyes met. He was sat opposite Percy Weasley and looked very shocked, but then he smiled at her slightly and nodded his head. Feeling reassured, she carefully jumped off the stool and made her way over to the Slytherin table. The moment she sat down, Draco Malfoy turned to her, smirking.
"See, I told you you didn't want to go making friends with the wrong sort,"
"I think I have a good idea of who the wrong sort is, thanks," Lydia said.
Opposite her, Daphne Greengrass gave her a funny look and Lydia wasn't sure if Daphne liked her or not. When Ron Weasley got sorted into Gryffindor and Lydia made a great show of clapping for him, she was quite sure that no one on the Slytherin table liked her or not. When George Weasley waved at her from the Gryffindor table, she felt as though things might not be so bad for her.
Though, Harry did settle into life at Hogwarts much more graciously than Lydia did. He seemed to become the Gryffindor Golden Boy quite quickly; he was just the right amount of mischievous, kind, clever and a ridiculously good Quidditch player, and everyone talked about how much he looked like their father, but had the spirit of their mother. Most importantly though, he was in Gryffindor. Lydia was clever and kept herself to herself, and so her full academic potential was never discovered. She developed a reputation for being cold and dismissive, even though what she really was was lonely. She quickly learned that no one liked Slytherins. When the First Years got lost in the gigantic castle, people sneered and turned their backs on them. Not that Lydia blamed them. Even she didn't like the Slytherins and tried not to spend too much time in the frightfully depressing common room that sat underneath the Black Lake, and instead sat in her dormitory - but only when the other girls weren't there. In the first night, they made fun of a girl called Hermione Granger, and so Lydia became friends with her the next day before Potions. And it was a rather good thing that she did - Lydia was hopeless at Potions and Hermione was not.
Indeed, if it weren't for Harry, Ron and Hermione, Lydia thought that she might have been rather unhappy at Hogwarts. Ron was a bit slow to get over his prejudice towards Slytherins at first, but once he realised that she was as much of a Potter as Harry, he no longer cared. Lydia was probably the only student who paid no attention to the house tables and defiantly sat at the Gryffindor table at meal times. The other Weasley's were quick to adopt Lydia as one of their own and other Gryffindors affectionately referred to her as the 'Slytherdor,'. When Christmas rolled around, Fred and George 'rescued' her from the Slytherin common room because it was far too depressing of a place to spend Christmas. Mrs Weasley even sent her a Gryffindor red Christmas jumper with a silver snake on it.
At the end of the school year when Gryffindor won the house cup, Lydia took on glorious moment to pretend that she was in Gryffindor and imagined the tie around her neck being scarlet and gold instead of emerald and silver.
Year 2
"Oh, it's definitley her,"
"Do you think?"
"Yes! Why else would she be sorted into Slyhterin?"
"I heard she put a curse on Harry so now he just does whatever she says,"
"But she's best friends with a Muggle born!"
"Puh-lease, that's just to throw everyone off the sent of her being Slyhtherins heir,"
Lydia grit her teeth and walked past the fourth year Ravenclaws who had been gossiping about her. She wouldn't have minded it so much if they were more quiet about it. Everywhere she turned, people were saying that she was the Heir of Slytherin. Older siblings dragged their younger siblings out of her way as she walked down corridors. Some people even came up to her just to tell her that they were Pureblood.
"I truly could not care less about your blood status," she snapped, "My best friend is Muggle-born!"
She arrived in the girls bathroom in a bad mood. Hermione was sat cross legged on the bathroom floor tending to the potion whilst Ron and Harry were throwing a screwed up piece of parchment at each other. Somewhere in the depths of the bathroom, Moaning Myrtle was crying.
"Bad day?" Harry asked.
"Why do people feel the need to tell me there blood status as if I care? I'm not even Pureblood!" She exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter," Hermione said firmly, "Once we get into the Slytherin common room, Malfoy will confess and he'll get expelled,"
"I still don't know why Lydia can't just let us into the common room," Ron said.
"Because Malfoy isn't going to tell us anything," Lydia said, "I can tell you the password but that's it. I can't be in the room when you're questioning him, either."
"What is the password?" Harry asked curiously.
Lydia made a face.
"Pureblood,"
As Lydia could have predicted, the entire plan went wrong. Hermione somehow turned herself into a strange cat-human hybrid and the sixty minutes went by faster than Lydia could have ever imagined. Out of pure curiosity, Lydia left her dormitory to see what was happening in the common room just as Harry and Ron fled, slowly turning from Crabbe and Goyle and back into themselves. As always, Malfoy sneered at her when he walked past her and muttered something about how she was a disgrace to the name of Slytherin.
It was only when Hermione became one of the petrified muggle-borns that the rest of the school seemed to realise that she was not the Heir of Slytherin. Some even found her to apologise to her but Lydia couldn't care less what people thought about her anymore - all she wanted was to have her best friend back. This longing somehow lead to her and Harry being trapped in the Chamber of Secrets with Ginny Weasley and, even stranger, somehow surviving.
"Do you know what this means, Lydia?" Dumbledore asked her.
She was sat in his office with Harry. She was tired and achy from the nights events and it was all she could do to not drop her head onto Harry's shoulder and fall asleep.
"I can kill big snakes with swords?"
"Not quite," Dumbledore smiled, "That sword belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. As did the Sorting Hat. The Sword of Gryffindor will present itself to a Gryffindor in a time of great need. Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that sword out of the hat,"
"But I'm in Slytherin,"
"That may be true - but we are not just our houses," Dumbledore said, "For example, your friend Hermione Granger would do just as well in Ravenclaw as she does in Gryffindor. Ronald Weasley would be an excellent addition to Hufflepuff House as much as he is to Gryffindor. And you would be a terrific Gryffindor, if it weren't for the fact that you excel so much in Slytherin,"
Lydia ended her second year feeling the proudest she had ever done of being in Slytherin.
YEAR 3
"So, how did you end up in Slytherin?" Professor Lupin asked.
Harry was still in the hospital wing from falling off his broom in the last Quidditch match and Lydia was trying to spend as much time away from the Slytherins as possible. None of them had been particularly nice about the fact that her brother had nearly died and she had to leave before she was accused of trying to kill the entirety of Slytherin House. Lupin had found her wandering the grounds and invited her into his office for a cup of tea.
"Why - is there a problem with that?" Lydia asked, her green eyes flashing in the way hat they did when she was gearing up for a fight.
Lupin laughed pleasantly. "No, of course not. I just find it strange, that's all. Your father was the most Gryffindor person I could think of, as was your mother,"
"Oh," Lydia said quietly. "I don't know. The Sorting Hat said there was something more to me and decided on Slytherin. I didn't ask to be put there...but I also didn't ask not to,"
Lupin nodded and took another sip of his tea. He looked like he was in deep in thought and Lydia didn't want to interrupt him. Then he said-
"You remind me a lot of your mother, actually. And it's not just the eyes," He smiled at her, "You're just the right mix of quite terrifying and abnormally kind whilst Harry is a much more toned down further of his your father,"
"Toned down?" Lydia asked, frowning.
"James Potter had all the energy in the world and it never seemed to run out. It was fantastic when he was on the Quidditch pitch but a nightmare elsewhere. Harry seems to be able to control it a lot better than James ever could," Lupin explained, "They'd be very proud of you both,"
"Even though I'm in Slytherin?"
"Even more so because you're in Slytherin," Lupin said, "Your mother did not come to Hogwarts with any of the prejudices of the Wizarding World and James very quickly unlearned them when he met m-different people. I think if he knew you were in Slytherin, he would learn to love Slytherin as you clearly have,"
"I don't know if I love-"
"You love Slytherin traits," Lupin corrected, "You're proud to be cunning and determined. You're proud to be resourceful and clever. You're just not proud of the way your fellow Slytherins conduct themselves, but that's OK because you haven't given into them. The easy way out for you would be to friends with Draco Malfoy and entertain his own prejudices, but you don't. You don't realise this, Lydia, but the rest of the school see you for who you are-"
"A Potter?"
"No, they see you as the one Slytherin who decided you were going to show your house in a better light. The teachers see you shout down your fellow students when they're being cruel to a second year Muggle-born. They see the friendships you've formed with the Ron and Hermione, but also someone like Neville Longbottom,"
"I also like the colour green,"
Lupin laughed.
"That too,"
Months later, when Ron was pulled into the Whomping Willow by that great big black dog, Lydia felt like she finally understood the concept of fraternity. Without so much a second thought, she took her wand out and ran after Ron, somehow dodging the trees thrashing branches and dived after him. She arrived in the shrieking sack and ran up the stairs, finding Ron with none other than Sirius Black.
What happened over the next hour was a blur; Sirius Black wasn't the man she thought he was and neither was Peter Pettigrew. It then turned out that Professor Lupin hadn't been nothing close to truthful with them and Lydia very quickly decided that she never wanted to come face to face with a werewolf ever again. There had even been a glorious half hour in which Lydia thought that she and Harry would finally get away from the Dursley's but, like always, things didn't quite work out in their favour. Lydia wasn't sure why she still got upset when things went wrong anymore.
Days later, Lydia was waiting in the common room before the end of school feast that she didn't even want to go to. She was sat in the armchair by the window that looked out into the Black Lake. This was her favourite place to sit in the common room; she found nothing more comforting than looking out into the depths of the lake, occasionally spotting the squid and even a mermaid once in a while. She'd even argue that it was more comforting than sitting in those really comfy chairs by the fire in Gryffindor common room.
"I can't believe Dumbledore ever appointed that filthy Werewolf to teach us!" Malfoy sneered from the other side of the room, "I can't believe we were taught by that oaf Hagrid and Loopy Lupin in the same year!"
Before she knew it, Lydia was on her feet and had taken a leaf out of Hermione's book and slapped him full in the face.
"What do you think you're doing?" He bellowed.
"Professor Lupin and Hagrid are better men then you'll ever be," She yelled, "This is the first year we've ever had a decent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, so don't you dare insult him,"
Malfoy stood up and towered over her, so Lydia did what anyone would do and stood on the table behind her. Some people laughed but quickly shut up when they saw her withering glare. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at her.
"You just wish you were in Gryffindor, don't you? You have no sense of house pride," He spat, "You're a disgrace,"
"Oh no, I have a lot of house pride. Just not for the same Slytherin as you," She hissed, "And, for the record, I'm a very proud disgrace,"
Even Malfoy didn't have a comeback for that one. If there was one thing you couldn't take away from a Slytherin, it was how proud they were.
YEAR 4
"Miss Potter! What on earth are you doing? It is way past your curfew!" McGonagall yelled.
Lydia glanced at her watch. It was midnight and she hadn't even realised. It was night before their classes started and she was slowly making her way back to the dungeons.
"I'm sorry, Professor, it's just that I can't get into my common room," Lydia said.
"Why? Do you not know the password? Has no one told you?"
'Oh no, they told me," Lydia said, "With quite a lot of glee, actually. I just don't like it,"
"Miss Potter, just because you dislike a password doesn't mean-"
"No, Professor, I mean...I don't like to say the word. It's awful," Lydia said quickly, not wanting her to think she was being childish, "It's the m word,"
McGonagall nodded at her.
"I understand, Potter," She said, "I can let you in without using password now and I will talk to Professor Snape in the morning."
"Thank-you, Professor,"
"I must ask you this though - how do your fellow housemates treat you? I never see you with any other Slytherins outside of class hours. I know you talk to the younger Slytherins, but I never see you with Miss Parkinson and her group," McGonagall said.
"Honestly, Professor, they don't like me very much," Lydia shrugged, "But I don't mind. I have Harry, Ron and Hermione. That's all I need,"
"Very well, Potter, I shall see you in class tomorrow,"
Lydia had spent her first three years at Hogwarts thinking that there was nothing scarier than Lord Voldemort. But that was before she was introduced to the concept of the Yule Ball. If she wasn't a school champion, she probably wouldn't have given the entire thing much thought, but because she would have to open the Ball with the other champions, she spent most of her day worrying about it. Suddenly, there seemed to be a lot more boys in the school than usual and every single one of them were so annoying. There were no Slytherins who she wanted to give the time of day, most Gryffindor boys were just too loud, the Ravenclaws were intimidating and all of the Hufflepuffs seemed to have already asked someone.
"It's easy for you," Harry muttered, shoving his hands in his robes against the cold, "Girls don't have to ask - boys do!"
Lydia rolled her eyes.
"That's all well and good but if no one asks me then I'm going to look like a right prat dancing with myself," Lydia snapped, "The Slytherin thing doesn't help either,"
"Maybe it's just your face," Harry joked, "You can't blame everything on being Slytherin,"
"Jokes on you because we're twins," Lydia sighed, "Although, I will admit that the hair might put people off,"
"Most likely," Harry agreed, "I will be honest though, I think you mess it up even more by sticking your wand in it,"
Lydia made a face at him. She had very quickly discovered that the best place to keep her wand was in her bun. Not only did it make for easy access should someone try to attack her, but it also kept her hair in place. The only problem was that when she actually took her wand out in class, she would have to spend fifteen minutes in the next class trying to make it look socially acceptable again.
"It's practical," Lydia shrugged.
"Until someone comes and grabs it out of your hair from behind," Harry pointed out.
"Don't give anyone ideas!" She said. The bell rang and Lydia sighed. "Gotta go to Ancient Runes. See you later,"
Hermione was already in the classroom when she got there and looked very happy. She was grinning at everyone who walked in. Worried that Hermione might have finally cracked, Lydia slowly sat down next to her and turned to her before Professor Babbling arrived.
"What's up with you?" Lydia asked.
"I...I have a date to the Yule Ball," She said quietly.
"WHAT?" Lydia screamed so loudly that people turned around to stare, "Sorry. Who?"
"Don't tell anyone," She whispered, "And I mean it. Not even Harry or Ron,"
"Oh my god, it's Malfoy isn't it?" Lydia whispered.
"What? No? Don't be silly!" Hermione said, "No...it's Viktor Krum,"
Lydia almost shouted again but she very quickly stopped herself by clapping her hands over her mouth.
"He's an international Quidditch player, 'Mione!" Lydia hissed, "Merlins beard!"
"Don't tell anyone," Hermione repeated.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Lydia said, "Pinky swear and all that,"
When the bell rang, she and Hermione parted ways. Hermione was going to meet Ron and Harry for lunch whilst Lydia was going to sit in an empty classroom to catch up on all the work she missed because of the Triwizard tournament. She tried to avoid going to the library due to the fact that people stared at her and asked her stupid questions about dragons as if she was suddenly an expert on them.
Ignoring the fact that she was absolutely starving, Lydia closed the door of the classroom behind her and she piled her book next to her and began to work. In forty five minutes, she had managed to write an essay for Professor Snape and answered the five questions that Professor Sprout had set them about Bubotuber pus which still remained one the worst things that she had ever had to deal with in Herbology.
"Lydia?" Someone called.
She peered over the top of her books and saw George Weasley hovering near the door. He looked quite akward on his own without Fred or Lee Jordan.
"What?"
"Oh, you're there," he said, bounding over to her. He pulled a chair up to her desk.
Lydia narrowed her eyes at him.
"I've already told you the password for the Slytherin common room and planted Dungbombs in Marcus Flints bag. What more could you possibly want?"
He grinned at her.
"And I am more than thankful for you doing that but I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to the Yule Ball with me,"
Lydia accidentally blotted her parchment as she jumped slightly at the question.
"Yes,"
"Yeah?"
She couldn't help it but she started to giggle.
"Yes," She repeated, "I will go to the Yule Ball with you,"
He laughed and high-fived her, jumping up. "I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall at quarter to eight," He said, before he closed the door behind him, he popped his head back round. "I should warn you though, I'm a terrific dancer,"
Before dinner that evening, Lydia, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on the stone steps of the Entrance Hall wrapped up in their cloaks and scarves. It was just beginning to snow but the four of them were so frozen that they couldn't bring themselves to move. Ron was in a fowl mood - he still hadn't been able to find a partner for the Yule Ball and was beginning to panic. Harry was doing what he always did when faced with an important task and was going out of his way to ignore it. Lydia still hadn't told Harry or Ron that she was going to the Ball with George but had wasted no time in telling Hermione who had squealed and accidentally hit Neville in the stomach due to the fact that she was flapping her arms about.
"I have an idea!" Ron exclaimed, "There's four of us, isn't there?"
"Congratulations, you can count," Lydia said.
"Hermione can go to the Ball with Harry and I can go with you!" He said, looking immensely proud of himself.
Lydia and Hermione exchanged looks whilst Harry nodded and said, "That's not a bad idea, actually,"
"No, it's not," Hermione agreed, "Except that it wouldn't work,"
"Why?" Ron asked.
"Becuase we both have dates," Lydia said.
"Who?" Ron asked.
"I'm not saying who I'm going with because you'll laugh," Hermione said.
Harry turned to Lydia.
"Who are you going with?" He demanded.
"George,"
Ron yelped and almost toppled down the steps. Harry had to reach out and grab him, pulling him back up.
"George?" He exclaimed, "As in George Weasley?"
"How many other George Weasleys do we know?" Lydia asked.
"But he's my brother!"
"He is,"
"And you're my best friend!"
"I am,"
"It's weird!"
"I'm sure you'll move on from it, mate,"
Lydia gasped for breath as she finally broke the surface of the Black Late and spat water out of her mouth. She muttered the counter-spell for the Bubble-Head Charm just as George opened his eyes and yelled. He looked around for a moment before he spotted Lydia.
"I did not sign up for this!" He yelled.
"And you think I did?" She shouted back, laughing.
They swam back to shore together to raucous cheers from the crowds. Percy ran to the edge of the lake and dragged them both out, wrapping them up in thick fuzzy blankets. Lydia looked around but she couldn't see any of the other Champions.
"Am I first?" Lydia asked Percy.
He nodded, grinning.
"Yes! You got back in forty minutes!" He bustled off back to the judges.
"Who knew snakes could swim?" George said behind her.
"Oh, shut up you," Lydia laughed, wiping her face on the blanket.
"There's a Hogsmeade trip in two weeks," George said, "I think we should probably go together,"
"I think we probably should go to Hogsmeade together," Lydia agreed.
"Avada Kedavra,"
Lydia tried to scream but no sound came out. All she could do was watch in horror as Cedric was murdered right before them. He lay spread-eagle on the floor, staring up at nothing. She tried to get towards him but Harry launched himself forward and dragged her backwards.
"Don't," He whispered in her ear, "Your ankle is broken. Don't move,"
Tears spilled over her cheeks and she whimpered slightly, collapsing against Harry. He put his arm around her again and started whispering for her to stay calm but that was seeming quite impossible as Wormtail moved closer and closer to them. Lydia wanted nothing than to just go back to Hogwarts, but they were miles away from the castle now and she was quite sure that she would probably never see the place again.
Wormtail grabbed them and tied them to a headstone. Lydia couldn't care less about anything anymore, she was just hoping for a quick death. What happened over the next half an hour seemed to have been pulled from her worst nightmares. Lord Voldemort rose from the dead and his Death Eaters came to his side once more. Lydia's broken ankle was throbbing and her scar was hurting so much that she thought her head might explode.
Lydia turned her head to look at Harry and tried to take in every detail of his face in case it was the last time she ever saw him. As Lord Voldemort spoke, Lydia screwed her eyes shut and tried to think of her happiest memories; Harry's reassuring nod when she was sorted into Slytherin, laughing with Harry, Ron and Hermione after watching Draco Malfoy desperately try to save his potion from melting his cauldron and George Weasley leaning closer to her after the Yule Ball-
"Take them down, Wormtail," Lord Voldemort said, his read eyes narrowing dangerously, "We shall duel,"
Lydia was ripped from her memory as she fell from the headstone and landed on her ankle. She yelled out in pain and Voldemort laughed along with his death eaters. Wormtail shoved her wand into her hand and pushed her forward. She tripped up again and laughter rose up around them again.
"It seems that Slytherin House isn't as honourable as it once was," Lord Voldemort sneered, gesturing to Lydia who now clinging onto Harry. "They seem to let just anyone in now,"
"Fuck off," Lydia snapped.
Harry groaned, "Shut up, Lyds,"
"Does Dumbledore not teach his star students manners anymore?" Voldemort said.
"Expelliarmus," Harry whispered in her ear, "Disarming spell. You got that right?" He put his arm around her waist to stop her from falling over, "Wand up, come on, Lyds, we can get out of this,"
Lydia nodded, "Yeah..." She whispered back, "Expelliarmus," She raised wand "Yeah. I've got it,"
There was one cry of "Avada Kedavra!" and two cries of "Expelliarmus!"
In months to come, Lydia would forget most of what happened that night. All she could remember was seeing the figures of people she thought she might have known and then the sound of Harry shouting, "Accio Portkey," and suddenly being back on the Quidditch pitch. The sounds of cheers at a Hogwarts victor were quickly replaced with the sounds of screaming when they realised what had happened.
Dumbledore was suddenly at their shoulders and Lydia gripped onto Cedric's arm, sobbing.
"He's back!" Harry yelled at Dumbledore, "Voldemort is back!"
YEAR 5
Lydia was trying to stay as calm as possible but it really wasn't going very well. Harry had left for his hearing that morning and the fact that he wasn't back yet was panicking her. She still felt ridiculously guilty for the fact she hadn't gone on that walk with Harry the night that the Dementors attacked. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with it alone. Hermione told her that she was being ridiculous for feeling so guilt but Ginny did say that she understood where she was coming from. In the end, Lydia couldn't deal with Hermione muttering about their upcoming OWL exams and went to see what Fred, George and Ron were up to.
"Have you stopped panicking yet?" George asked.
"No," Lydia said, dropping onto the bed next to him, "I'll stop panicking when I die,"
"I love Slytherins and their optimism," Fred sighed.
The day passed slowly. Leaving Lydia to not do much but watch Ron beat everyone at Wizards chess and wonder why on earth she chose to take Arithmancy whilst struggling through her essay. It was at times like this when she had wished she chose Divination instead because at least then she could do what Harry and Ron did and make up everything they wrote in their essays. At least she had Hermione to copy off.
At around midday, the doorbell rang and Mrs Weasley shouted, "Harrys back!" Before the others had even registered what had been said, Lydia vaulted over the bed and bounded down the stairs. She didn't care that she had awoken the portait of Mrs Black who was now screaming so loudly that the very walls of the house were vibrating. Not being able to contain herself, Lydia reached out and grabbed the back of Harry's jacket so forcefully that he turned around and looked quite ready to punch her.
"Well?" She asked.
"Cleared of all charges,"
Lydia's screams of delight mixed with Mrs Blacks screams of horror as she launched herself at her brother, wrapping her arms around his neck. He staggered backwards and awkwardly patted her back.
"I'm very happy and all but I can't actually breathe," Harry gasped.
"Sorry!" She said, backing away but then she started screaming again.
Fred, George and Ginny burst into the room. "HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OF! HE GOT OFF!" They chanted, jumping around the room. Mrs Weasley tried to shush them but they were paying no attention and carried on dancing around them. Sirius came into the kitchen moments later and made a great show of shaking Harry's hand, though Lydia thought there was something insincere in the way that he was doing it.
That day, their Hogwarts letters came that day. Lydia had barely opened hers before Hermione screamed causing Lydia to fall off her bed and jump back up, her wand drawn. She looked around, expecting to see a death eater but Hermione was just stood on her bed, holding her letter.
"What is wrong with you?" Lydia asked, holding a hand to her heart.
"I've been made prefect!"
"Oh," Lydia said, dropping her wand back onto her bed. "And you're surprised...because?"
"Oh, shut up!" Hermione said though she was grinning.
Lydia snorted and opened her own letter. Something fell onto her lap and she looked down, screaming herself for it was a small green badge with a silver serpent curling around the letter 'P'.
"I'VE BEEN MADE PREFECT!" Lydia yelled, "HERMIONE! I'VE BEEN MADE PREFECT!"
Hermione looked at her and they both screamed again, jumping up and down and holding their badges above their heads like Harry did when he caught the Golden Snitch. The door banged open and Fred and George walked in, looking slightly pissed off.
"What in the name of Merlin are you screaming about?" Fred asked.
"Prefect! I'm a prefect!" Lydia screamed, jumping up and down again and waving her badge in George's face, "I'm a prefect!"
"Oh no...my girlfriend...is a Slytherin and a prefect," George whispered, looking as though he had just been told his childhood best friend had died. "This is not how I though my life would turn out," He then brightened up and kissed her, "I'm very happy for you though. I mean, that's one less person who's going to try and give me detention,"
"She's not going to abuse her power as prefect!" Hermione said crossly.
Lydia quickly looked away from Fred and George and busied herself its opening the rest of the letter whilst Hermione tutted behind her. Harry and Ron wandered in moments later and Hermione screamed again. Harry was holding a prefect badge and Hermione ran over to him, hugging him.
"Oh, Harry!" She yelled, "I knew it would be you!"
"It's not me," Hary said gruffly, "It's Ron,"
"Ron?" Hermione asked quietly.
Lydia clapped her hand over her mouth and moved to hide behind Fred and George. This was very clearly turning into a very awkward moment. She peered over Fred's shoulder just as Hermione was turning bright red and Ron's ears were steadily turning red. Harry was staring between the two of them.
"Yeah!" He said defensively, "Why wouldn't it be me?"
"I mean - no - I thought - no -Ron, this is amazing!" She said, forcing a smile onto her face. "Well done!"
George sighed loudly.
"I definitley should have asked the other Potter to the Yule Ball...I mean, he's a Gryffindor and not a prefect,"
Harry turned bright red and looked away, which Lydia thought strange but then his head snapped up.
"Wait - Lydia's Slytherin prefect?" He asked, genuinely sounding shocked.
In response, Lydia held the badge up again.
"Dumbledore's gone mad in his old age," Lydia said, "It's the only explanation,"
All attention soon turned to Ron when Mrs Weasley came into the room and realised that Ron had became Prefect.
"Harry? Lydia?" Mr Weasley popped his head into the room, "Professor Dumbledore is here to see you,"
"He's taking away your prefect badge already," Fred said.
"Probably," Lydia said, standing up, "I'd take it away too,"
Lydia expected to follow Mr Weasley into the kitchen but instead he lead them to one of the living rooms in Grimmauld Place. She thought that he was acting strange, though that could have just been because he was very tired. One things that Lydia always noticed about the members of the Order of the Phoenix was that they never looked as though they had had a full nights sleep.
Professor Dumbledore was stood outside the door of the living room with his hands clasped in front of him. He looked unusually serious though the usual twinkle was still there. He smiled pleasantly at them both and Lydia had to remind herself to smile back for a sense of foreboding settled over her. Harry was tugging at the bottom of his t-shirt in the way that he did when he was nervous.
"Now, what you are going to see behind this door might upset you, it might even scare you," He said grimly, "But please understand me when I say this - there is no dark magic at play here and even if you want to attack, please do not,"
Lydia and Harry glanced at each other and automatically moved closer together, expecting the worst. Dumbledore waved his hand and the door opened on its own accord. Together, Harry and Lydia leaned forward slightly. At first, Lydia was very, very confused for Harry was stood both next to her and in the room between Sirius and Lupin. Then she looked a little closer and realised that this person could not be Harry because his eyes were hazel, he looked a little bit older and there was no scar on his head.
Harry cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed. He opened his mouth as though he was going to say something but then closed it again. He turned and looked at Lydia as though he was expecting her to say something. She looked at Remus and Sirius both of whom looked like they were torn between laughing and crying. Finally, she turned to look at Dumbledore who was looking very solemn.
"I don't get it," Lydia said loudly.
Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"This is James Potter, your father,"
"No he's not," Lydia said, "Our dad is dead. There was a whole thing about it," She gestured to the scar on her head.
"That is true," Dumbledore said, nodding his head, "However, certain magic has come into play,"
"I thought there was no spell to bring back the dead," Harry interrupted, "That's what you said to us last year,"
Lydia turned and looked at the man who was claiming to be her father. She couldn't help but distrust him. It was a cruel thing to do, really, pretend to be orphaned children's father. Especially after everything that they had been through the previous summer. He smiled at her but she didn't return the smile and quickly looked away.
"There is no spell to bring back the dead, Harry, you are correct," Dumbleore said, "However, there is old, ancient magic that has not been brought into play for hundreds of thousands of years," He glanced around, "Perhaps we should sit down whilst I have this conversation. It is very confusing,"
Lydia thought that if even Dumbledore found it confusing, there was probably no point in him even trying to explain it to the rest of them. Dumbledore lead the way into the living room and Lydia and Harry sat on the couch furthest away from 'James' who was now looking very uncomfortable.
"Last summer, when Lord Voldemort returned from the dead, he murdered Cedric Diggory. When you two duelled Lord Voldemort, you were faced with the echoes of those he killed. Cedric Diggory being one of those people and, from what you have told me, he asked you to bring his body back to his parents and that is what you did-" Harry opened his mouth to interrupt but Dumbledore waved him down, "-in doing so, you did a good deed. A deed that others might have ignored given the circumstances, and so you were rewarded. A male soul, for a male soul,"
"That makes no sense!" Lydia protested, "That means that he should have come back after Quirrel died!"
"No, no," Dumbledore said gently, "You misunderstand me. Both your father and Cedric were innocent. Professor Quirrel was not. You could not save Cedric Diggory - no one in that situation could have done - but you avenged his death in the best way that you could and so you were rewarded. Do you understand?"
"A little bit," Lydia said.
"That is enough," Dumbledore said.
"So," Harry said, speaking for the first time, "That man there...that's our dad?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said, "I shall leave you to bond. I need to go to the Minstry and explain this,"
Once Dumbledore left the room, silence fell. 'James' was staring intently at Lydia and Harry whilst Remus and Sirius were determinedly looking away from each other. Harry jumped up and walked to the window, looking out of it. Lydia stared at her hands, trying to think of something to say. She had always imagined having parents, but now that she had one, she didn't actually know what to do with herself.
"Are you two okay?" Remus asked, "I know this is a lot for you to take in-"
"Understatement," Lydia muttered.
"-but it's best if we just talk about it,"
"I know it's a lot for you two," James said quietly, "But it's a lot for me, too. The last time I saw you both you were babies and now you're teenagers,"
Before she knew it, Lydia burst into tears. Harry raced back over to her and sat on the couch next to her and put his arm around her. That only reminded her of the fact that they had missed out on so much together. Lydia could think of a million different times in her life when all she needed was a parents advice. The sorting ceremony, for example, would have been a nice time to have gotten advice of someone who had already been through it.
"It's alright," Harry whispered, "We'll get through this together. We always do,"
Lydia nodded and wiped her eyes. She tried to pull herself back together and faced James again. There were tears rolling down his own face. Remus was leaning over the back of the couch, his hands interlocked. Sirius was leaning back against the wall, his arms folded. Harry was jigging his knee up and down.
"I'm sorry..." James whispered, "I'm sorry that I was never there for you. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to leave you to fend for yourself and not have any idea of what the Wizarding world was like...I didn't want your lives to be like this,"
"I know," Harry said, "We both know. We didn't want you to die and..and-" His voice wavered an then he burst into tears which only made Lydia cry even harder. Remus placed his hand on Lydia's shoulder and squeezed it in a way that was strangely comforting.
"You've both been through a lot," Remus said, "I know this. Sirius knows this. James...will come to know this," He cleared his throat, "But this is a good thing in your lives. For the first time, I think you've both found something good,"
"You're right," Lydia whispered, "This is something good," Lydia looked up at James and smiled at him. She saw him physically relax at this
"This is definitley one of the better things that has ever happened to us," Harry said thickly through tears.
James tentaviely walked towards them and before they knew what was happening, the three of them were sobbing in each other's arms. Behind them, Lydia heard Sirius and Remus let out sighs of relief.
"So," James said, finally pulling away, "Lydia, you're in Slytherin,"
"No, I just like to wear this Slytherin jumper for the fun of it,"
"That's me told," He muttered.
Lydia sat in a stony silence as Harry ranted at Professor Dumbledore, walking around his office and smashing things. James sat next to her with his arm around her. He hadn't really shown any emotion since they had watched Sirius fall backwards through the veil, though that could have been more to do with shock than anything else. He didn't even try and control his son as he swore at the Headmaster. The portraits that hung around the office were the only ones who seemed to be reacting to anything.
She had had too hard of a year to care about anything anymore. Between Professor Umbridge, those awful quills, half the school thinking she was mad, the DA and now Sirius dying, nothing effected her. She felt as though she had been sucked dry of any emotion that she could have possibly felt.
Harry finally fell silent and Lydia saw this as her chance to get everything across to Dumbledore.
"I want out," she said, "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't care about Voldemort. I want to be a normal kid,"
"Lydia-" Dumbledore began.
"No. I don't care. I really do not give a shit. Don't tell me about the power of love or some other bullshit because that's gotten me no where!" she napped, "I just want to be normal. I want to go to class and watch Quidditch games and not have to worry about anything else. I don't care about Voldemort anymore."
"Lyds...come on.." James said quietly.
"No, dad, no! You have no idea what it's been like for us! Between getting sorted into Slytherin, killing a Basilisk and thinking there was a mass murderer after us for a whole year, I'm done! I don't want special treatment! I don't want to be part of the Prophecy! I don't care about my fucking 'destiny'! I'll change my destiny! I'll off myself if I have to! I just don't want to be part of this anymore! I don't want to have meetings with you, I don't want to be a part of the Order! I don't want any of this! I just want to graduate Hogwarts and start again! I'll never cast another spell in my life if I have to! I'm not doing this bullshit anymore. I'm done,"
Dumbledore regarded her for a moment and Lydia geared herself up for another argument but in the end he just nodded.
"If that is your wish..."
"It is," she said bluntly.
"Then I shall keep that in mind for next year,"
Lydia narrowed her eyes at him.
"Good,"