A/N: Welcome to my new (and first) Fic! Harry Potter is a huge favorite of mine, my first fandom, and I've often wondered what a fem!Harry would be like. This story is sorta inspired by 'Looking Beyond', but in no way am I copying that story. I hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Harry Potter series. They belong to Queen Joanne Rowling, and I would never pretend to be at her level of literary genius.

.oOOOo.

Chapter 1: Trunks, Traveling and Twins

Hadrea Lily Potter was sick of it. She was sick of her life, or lack thereof. Eight years, eight miserable years she had spent here, without any friends or family, at Number 4, Privet Drive. That wasn't to say she lived here alone, no indeed. Three others lived here with her, the Man, who looked at her with fear and hatred, the Woman, who sent jealous glares her way but couldn't look her in the eyes, and the Child, who viewed her as nothing more than his personal punching bag.

Of course, they had names. The woman was Petunia Dursley, Hadrea's mother's sister. The Man was her husband, Vernon, and the Child her son, Dudley. Hadrea had lived with them since her parents died, when she was but a year old. Hadrea hated them, and she was quite sure the feeling was mutual.

She would do anything to go somewhere else, to be someone else, but she knew nothing of her parents, of any family or friends they could possibly have had. She had considered running away, but a nine year old girl living on her own, however happily, was sure to draw attention, and then the police would be involved and she'd be back to the Dursleys within a week. No, it was best she stuck around, for now.

"Girl! Where are you, I want you to clean out the attic!" her Aunt's screeching voice jarred Hadrea out from her musings. It was a sunny day in late June, and she'd been sitting on a grassy spot under a large Hydrangea bush, drawing with a sketchbook and pencils she had stolen from her cousin. (Well, she said stolen, but he was never going to use them anyway, they were just collecting dust like the many other things in Dudley's second bedroom.) She was drawing a fox. Foxes had always fascinated her; quiet but clever, seemingly shy but still vicious. 'Sorta like you.' a little voice in her head said. 'Shut up! ' she told it.

"Get in here, Girl!" she heard her aunt calling again. Hadrea sighed, stood up, and brushed the earth and leaves off her body. Quickly She closed the sketchbook and box of pencils, and hid them in amongst the branches and leaves of the hydrangea bush. However little 'Ickle Diddykins' cared about them, it would not do for her aunt and uncle to find them.

Hadrea moved into the kitchen, where her aunt was waiting. Petunia was thin and blonde, but that was where the attractiveness ended. She had a horsey face and an unusually long neck, and her chin jutted out rather farther than average.

"I want you to clean out the attic." she said again, glaring and Hadrea (but still refusing to meet her eyes).

"Why?" Hadrea asked insolently "no one ever goes in there!"

"Don't ask questions!" her aunt snapped, the glare becoming, if possible even sharper. Don't ask questions. That was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. It was also the reason for what Hadrea considered her most impressive quality.

From a very young age she'd understood that she wasn't going to learn anything from the Dursleys (besides how to clean their house, cook their food and spend the rest of the time pretending she didn't exist), so she'd decided she had to start figuring things out for herself.

She'd learned to observe people. She could tell just by watching someone whether they were lying or telling the truth. She could learn a lot about a person just from watching them. An example of this was her aunt. Petunia always looked at her with jealousy. She also refused to look her in the eyes. She refused to talk about Hadrea's mum. This lead Hadrea to the conclusion that Petunia had been jealous of her sister for some reason,and something about Hadrea (probably her eyes) reminded Petunia of her.

"Get going upstairs, brat!" her aunt screeched. The Dursleys never called Hadrea by her name, in fact, she hadn't even known her name until she'd gone to school. It had always been 'Girl' or 'Brat'. When Hadrea had asked her aunt aibout it, her aunt had replied "Hadrea! What a freakish name! As if we'd be seen calling you that!"

Hadrea quickly took a broom, a cloth and a bucket of soapy water and retreated to the dusty, smelly attic. Hadrea had never been up here... in fact, it looked as if nobody had been up here for several years. She quickly set about shifting the boxes and trunks to one half of the room, so that she could begin cleaning the other half.

As she worked, a certain trunk caught her eye. It appeared expensive, and it had a name embossed across the top in gold lettering.

Lily Evans Potter

It read. Hadrea's heart leapt. She knew her last name was Potter, and Petunia's maiden name was Evans. Could this be her mother's? Abandoning her cleaning, Hadrea pulled the trunk out of the corner and directly under the single naked lightbulb, so that she could see clearly.

She undid the two latches and heaved the lid open. Hadrea's eyes widened in surprise. The trunk appeared to be a good deal bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. The first thing she saw was a mass of black fabric. She lifted the thing out and discovered that it was some sort or robe, black with scarlet trimming. Underneath it was what Hadrea recognised to be a girl's school uniform. A white blouse, black skirt, stockings and shoes, and a striped red and gold tie, along with a scarf, also striped with red and gold. There was some sort or crest on the blouse, as well as on the robes. A lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake, surrounding a big letter H. Hadrea was surprised to find that none of the clothes looked worn, or holey, or dirty at all, despite having been there for a long time, judging by the amount of dust on the trunk.

Under the clothes were books. Loads of books whose titles made no sense go Hadrea. Titles like 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration', by Emeric Switch, or 'The Standard Book of spells, Grade 4' By Miranda Goshawk. One book, a small, silver one without any title or writing caught her eye. It looked like a journal. Hadrea picked it up and opened the cover. On the inside, in neat lettering much like Hadrea's own It read:

This Journal is the property of Lily Evans

Hadrea quickly slipped the journal into her pocket, stuffed the clothes back it to the trunk and shut the lid. I'll come back. She promised, before continuing on with her cleaning.

.oOOOo.

Later that day, Hadrea sat in her room (which was actually just a cupboard) looking at a mirror portrait she'd done herself, and wondering if she looked anything like her parents. She had a thin face, with high cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. Her eyes were wide, almond shaped and framed by thick, dark lashes. They were a bright, emerald green and sparkled with mischief. Her lips were thin, and seemed to be set in a perpetual sly smirk that, combined with the mischievousness of her eyes, made any teacher check their seat for tacks and swear never to take their eyes off her. Her hair was wavy and black, the sort of black that almost looked blue, and was cut to not quite touch her shoulders with a long fringe that tapered out just below her left ear. It was choppy and slightly uneven (which did nothing to help her troublemaker look) because she'd had to cut herself. It was dangerous to have long hair. Long hair could be pulled, long hair could get caught when climbing trees. It was simply impractical.

Hadrea also had a scar on her forehead. Scars were nothing special, at least, not to Hadrea. She had one on her right forearm, (a large burn from when she was six and had spilled a pot of boiling water on herself when cooking dinner) and another which wrapped around her left ankle (she'd been running from Dudley's gang, and had gotten caught in some old barbed wire fencing), amongst many others. But this scar was different. She'd had it as long as she could remember, and the first question she could ever remember asking her Aunt Petunia was how she had gotten it. ("In the car crash when your parents died. and don't ask questions!" her aunt had said, but Hadrea knew she had been lying) it was long, on the left side of her face, running from her hairline down to the corner of her eye, and was shaped like a bolt of lightning. This scar was the reason for her long fringe. Not the thought it made her look ugly, no, Hadrea was actually rather proud of her scars, they showed that she was a fighter. But this one she disliked. She'd had it for eight years, and it hadn't faded in the slightest. It garnered her a lot of unwanted attention.

Hadrea was small and wiry, because she spent a great deal of her time running. She looked even smaller than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was a boy, and about four times bigger than she was. She also wore round glasses, held together by a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched her on the nose.

She wondered if either of her parents had worn glasses. This brought her back to her mother's diary. It was late, the Dursleys wouldn't bother her now. She slipped the little book out from under her tiny mattress and opened it up to the first entry.

'Jan. 30, 1970

Dear Diary,

Sev got me this book for my 10th birthday! He says he got it from a wizarding shop called Flourish and Blotts. He says it's magical, and it'll keep adding pages so I'll never need a new one! Isn't magic amazing?! I can't wait to go to Hogwarts and learn everything!...'

The entries went on and on, and Hadrea read late into the night. You might have thought she'd be guilty about reading another's diary, but her mother was, after all, dead.

Hadrea learned that 'Sev' was Severus Snape, a boy that lived near the Evans'. She learned that her mother was a witch, and that there was a school called Hogwarts that sent you a letter when you were eleven and told you to come learn magic. She learned that there was a wizard called Lord Voldemort who thought that wizards were better than muggles, and wanted to take over the world.

Certain bits stuck out to her, such as 'Tuney still hates me. Sev says it's because she's jealous I'm a witch' which confirmed Hadrea's suspicions of her Aunt's jealousy, or 'Severus has done something awful. That toerag Potter and his friends were bullying him again, and I went to help, but he called me a mudblood. We aren't talking anymore. He's gone too far.' this entry's pages were smudged and wrinkled with what looked like tears, and the word 'Mudblood' was written in an angry scrawl. Hadrea read and read. She read through her mother's school years, she read about her marriage, and about her becoming pregnant, until she saw an entry that said:

'April 13, 1980

Bad news. Dumbledore says we must go into hiding. He says Voldemort is after the baby, though he won't tell us why. We're moving to the cottage in Godric's Hollow, and going under the protection of the Fidelius Charm. James wants Sirius to be secret keeper, but Remus and I think it's a bad idea. Not that Sirius would ever betray us, Never! But everyone knows that he's James' most trusted friend; it's just too obvious.'

So Voldemort had been after her? That didn't bode well, from what she'd read of him so far. The next entry that really interested her was a few months later.

'July 31, 1980

It's a girl! We've decided to call her Hadrea Lily, after James' Grandmother Dorea and my Father, Harold. And me, obviously. James has named Sirius as her godfather. There was this great magical ceremony and everything. James says it means that Sirius can never do anything that will harm her. She's already shown to have some Black traits, as soon as we got home, her hair changed color to as orange as the cat's! She's a metamorphmagus alright. Her eyes are like mine, and her hair was black like James' when she was born (though now I think it's purple!)'

Hadrea smiled. So, she had her mother's eyes, and her father's hair? And she was a metamorphmagus? She'd read an entry about them before. But why couldn't she do it anymore? Perhaps she'd find out if she read more. Hadrea glanced at the old alarm clock which she'd repaired herself. It was nearly 2am. She'd read more tomorrow.

.oOOOo.

The next day, she sat once again under the Hydrangea bush. Her 'family' had gone out, and she had the day to herself. Her mother's journal lay open once again upon her lap, and she'd just reached another important date.

'July 31, 1981

It's Ree's first birthday! Sirius got her her first broomstick. It hovers barely a foot off the ground, but we've had to move all the furniture, and the poor cat has been terrorized! Now that she's a year old we've decided to get her magic restrained. It's becoming a problem, especially her metamorphosing, old Bathilda says she hasn't seen a child this powerful since Albus Dumbledore himself! On other news, I've finally convinced James and Sirius to switch secret keepers. Sirius and James decided on Peter rather than Remus. I'd never have believed it, but they think Remus is the spy! It's just more wizarding prejudice against Lycanthropy and I can't stand it!'

These months while the Potters were in hiding were dull to read for the most part, with occasional bits of sad news, such as 'the Bones' have been attacked. Amelia and little Susan survived, but everyone else is gone.' or 'The Death Eaters found poor Marlene. Evidence says she put up quite the struggle, but they've found her body, with the dark mark set over the house.' or 'The Prewett Twins were finally found today. Dead. It was in the paper.'

Finally on the date of Halloween, 1981, There were three words, written in what was clearly a hurry, if the ripped paper and ink blots were any indication. All it said was 'HE FOUND US'. Hadrea took this to mean that Peter had betrayed them, Voldemort had found them, and this was the day they died.

Hadrea didn't think she could stand being here for one more moment, knowing what she did. But the fact remained that she was a nine year old girl, and she wouldn't be allowed to live on her own.

Wait a Minute...

.oOOOo.

It was August when there was finally a day that the Dursleys were out for the day and Hadrea was able to slip away.

As soon as the Dursleys had left, Hadrea put on her best pair of clothes, which actually fit- she only wore them when her relatives weren't around as she got them under somewhat suspicious circumstances (also called pickpocketing bullies at school and buying them when the Dursleys were out- she didn't feel guilty, those jerks deserved it). It was a Star Wars t-shirt, some ripped jeans and a leather jacket, along with some ratty trainers of Dudley's. She looked, in short, even more of a rebel than normal. She also carried a bag with some important things in it.

Then she stepped out of the house, walked down the street a ways to Mrs. Figg's house. She wasn't home, as Hadrea knew. Hadrea also knew that she had a window on the second floor near a tree, which she left open so her cats could come and go as they pleased. 'Crazy Lady!' Hadrea thought. She climbed the and slipped in the window, before walking downstairs and into the sitting room. By the fireplace was a pot of some strange looking powder, as Hadrea knew there would be. Mrs. Figg was her babysitter, and she'd noticed the flower pot before knowing what it was. Floo Powder.

Hadrea took a handful of the powder and threw it into the flames which turned bright green. She then stepped into the fire place and called out:

"Saint Mungo's!"

And then she was spinning as fast as a top. She soon had to shut her eyes as she felt sick. The fire felt like warm hands, slapping her face gently. Then, as suddenly as it had started, she slammed down into an empty fireplace, and had to stumble forward before her momentum pulled her to the floor. Coughing, and brushing ash off herself, she looked about.

She was in a large, white room lined with fireplaces. A sign in front of her read:

ST MUNGO'S HOSPITAL FOR MAGICAL MALADIES AND INJURIES

Sterilizer -

Visitor's Directory

Help Desk -

First Hadrea went to the sterilizer, where she was given a near instantaneous shower and dried off, clothes and all.

Then, she walked in the direction of the help desk. A bored looking blonde lady was sitting behind it reading a magazine called Witch Weekly.

"Excuse me," Hadrea began, and the woman looked up at her. "Can you recommend a Healer for me to go to, to remove magical power restraints?"

"Of course, dear." The woman said, smiling. "For Magical Restraint Removal, go to Healer MacMillan's office. Here, take this. It's a voice activated portkey. Just tell it what office you want, and it'll take you straight there. All I ask is that you return it when you're done."

"Thank you!" Hadrea replied, giving her a smile.

"You're welcome. I'll let them know you're coming. What's your name, dear?"

"Oh.. er.. Hadrea Potter." She replied, before accepting the small wooden cube the woman offered, and telling it "Healer MacMillan's office." She just had time to see a dumbstruck look come over the Woman's face and her eyes flick up to where The lightning scar was hidden under her fringe before she felt a strange pull at her navel, and once again she was spinning. This time, the trip was shorter, and she landed staggering, on yet more white tiled floor with white walls. There was a door in front of her, which read, 'Elizabeth MacMillan, magical restraints'.

Hadrea took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A kind voice said. Hadrea entered the room to see a fancy doctor's chair and a woman in white robes.

"Ah.. Hadrea Potter I presume?" the woman asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Yes Ma'am." Hadrea replied. "I've just found out that my mother had magical restraints put on me when I was a year old, and they never got removed. Can you do that?"

"Indeed I can Miss Potter."She replied, smiling. "Just step over here, please."

.oOOOo.

An hour later found Hadrea stumbling out of the floo once again. It was only 11:30am, she had plenty of time to visit Diagon Alley.

She was in a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, which her mother had said was the entrance to the magical shopping area. You had to walk through to the back of the pub where there was a solid brick wall. Tapping a certain brick with your wand would make them move and open the entrance. The trouble was, Hadrea didn't have a wand. So she had to wait until someone else was wanting to come in or out of the Alley.

She remembered her mother's description of the bank; made of white marble, with golden doors flanked by goblins. Hadrea also remembered what her mum had written about goblin culture, so when she arrived at the bank and the goblins bowed to her, she stopped and gave a small bow to each of them in return. They gave her a surprised look, nodded to each other, and one of them disappeared into a smaller door Hadrea hadn't seen before. Hadrea didn't know it, but the goblin was quickly informing the tellers inside to treat this witch with respect. She walked up to the golden doors and read the inscription upon the door:

Enter, Stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

'Well that's not unnerving at all.' Hadrea thought wryly. She stepped into the bank and was immediately impressed by how grand the room was. She stepped up to the first free goblin, who, after looking up from his parchments and papers, said "Greetings and welcome to Gringotts Bank. What service can we provide you today?"

"Greetings. My name is Hadrea Potter. I'd like to see Account Keeper Gornuk please" she said politely, after the goblin had looked down at her.

He nodded. "I'll have someone take you to him. Belnok!" Another goblin stepped forward.

"Follow me, please." He said, gesturing with his clawed hand. Hadrea followed him into a passageway off the main room, down a hall, and up to a door labeled 'Senior Account Keeper Gornuk'. Belnok opened the door and gestured inside.

"Hadrea Potter to see you, Senior." he told the goblin inside. Hadrea stepped into the room.

"Greetings, Senior Account Keeper." she said, bowing respectfully.

The goblin raised a single eyebrow, which was the only clue Hadrea needed to know that he was surprised. From what she had read in her mother's journal, the Goblins probably weren't used to being treated with respect.

"Miss Potter." The goblin greeted, bowing as well. "We weren't expecting you for two more years, but no matter. Do sit." He continued, gesturing towards a desk with chairs on either side.

Hadrea sat, and the goblin walked around the desk to sit as well. Hadrea noticed with a little amusement that his chair was extra high so that he sat level with the much taller human on the other side of the desk. (Though because Hadrea was a rather small nine year old, she wasn't much bigger anyway).

"Now, the first thing to do is to verify that you really are Hadrea Lily Potter." Gornuk began, and seeing the look of indignation that began to show on Hadrea's face, he quickly reassured her, "Not that I doubt who you are, but it is procedure. If someone else were to get their hands on your fortune, it would be very bad news for this bank, not to mention yourself."

Hadrea couldn't disagree with this, so she willingly complied with what the goblin wanted her to do. First, he took a piece of parchment from a drawer in his desk and set it in front of her. Then, he took a small silver knife from the same drawer, and held it out to her. "Just cut your palm and drip a bit of blood onto the parchment." he instructed.

Hadrea did as he asked, and as soon as her blood hit the parchment, words began appearing on it. She was so interested in the words that she didn't notice as her hand healed from the cut. The paper read:

'Hadrea Lily Potter

Parents: James Charlus Potter and Lily Anne Potter neé Evans

Paternal Grandparents: Fleamont Cygnus Potter and Cassandra Elizabeth Potter neé Greengrass

Maternal Grandparents: Thomas Benjamin Evans and Abigail Sarah Evans neé Hodgkins'

The family tree continued with Hadrea's great, great-great, and even great-great-great grandparents, but Hadrea stopped reading when Gornuk spoke again.

"Very good." The goblin said. Now, to business. Your parents' will-"

"My Parents had a will?" Hadrea interjected, before realising she had been rather rude and apologizing sheepishly.

"No matter Miss Potter. Now, to continue, your parents' will was sealed until the time of your majority, or when you turn seventeen. The Family vault with all of your assets as well as certain family heirlooms is also sealed to you until you reach seventeen, but you have a trust vault which will refill to 100,000 galleons every year."

"Okay… Sorry, but what's the conversion of galleons to british pounds?" Hadrea asked, feeling unsure about how much money that really was.

"Currently, 1 galleon is equal to nearly 5 british pounds." The goblin answered.

Hadrea's eyes widened. This was her trust vault?! Well, she supposed she didn't need to worry about starving anymore, and she'd never have to pickpocket again. Her family really must be rich to be able to allow a child that much money.

"There isn't much more I can do for you at the moment Miss Potter, as your magical guardian wants you to not have to worry about your family's business until you're older."

"Who is my magical guardian?" Hadrea asked.

"Your magical guardian is the same as all those who grow up in non-magical families. It is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. As I was saying, I can't give you access to the family vault, but I can give you the key to your trust vault, as well as this." and here Gornuk held out a small black pouch, about big enough to just barely fit Hadrea's fist inside. "This is a Gringotts money pouch. With it, you can draw any amount of gold from your trust vault without having to worry about carrying it all with you. You can take any currency from it, including non-magical money. Also, it is keyed to you, so only you can draw money from it."

"That's great! Thank you." Hadrea said, smiling at Gornuk. She took the pouch and key and stood up. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Gornuk. I look forward to when we can do more business together."

.oOOOo.

It was 1:00 p.m., and Hadrea was back in Diagon Alley, now equipped with enough money to last her a lifetime. She stopped for a quick lunch in the Leaky Cauldron, and amused herself by observing all the different people inside the small pub. At one point a large family came pouring out of the floo, six kids all with flaming red hair. The mother, a plump lady whose hair was as red as her children's, guided her brood through the pub and bustled out into the Alley beyond. As they passed, Hadrea noticed that two of them were twins; tall, freckled boys who looked about eleven years old. One of them saw her watching and threw her a wink and a little wave of the hand. There was a glint of mischief in both the twin's blue eyes that reminded Hadrea of her own.

Before leaving the pub, Hadrea quickly ducked into the bathroom and stepped up to the mirror. 'right' she thought, 'time to see if this works.'

She began to concentrate on her appearance, and gasped in surprise when she saw herself begin to change. Her hair lightened to golden blonde, straightened out and grew to her mid-back, with her fringe shortening to fall evenly over her forehead. Her eyes eyes lightened to more of a pale blue-green. She discovered that for some reason, she couldn't remove the lightning scar. But she could change its location, so she moved it to her back. She didn't like or understand the attention it garnered. She had noticed it first in St. Mungo's, and then again on her way to the bank. Wherever she went, people were gaping and gawking at her. Finally, she stripped off her clothes before growing taller and wider until she was about the size of her aunt. Then she slipped on her mother's old school uniform. She looked like a seventeen year old girl now, and she'd fit in with all the other kids out getting their school things. She stepped back out into the pub, and waited patiently for someone else to open the entrance into Diagon Alley.

After her delicious lunch, the first place Hadrea went was Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where she picked up a set of casual Blue robes to change into. Next, she went to the luggage store, where she purchased a small blue backpack, which had an undetectable extension charm, which made it much bigger on the inside, as well as a feather light charm, so that it wouldn't get too heavy. It would be frightfully useful.

Now to Flourish and Blotts. Here she really spent money. Books upon books she bought, on every subject imaginable. She didn't bother getting the basic school course books, because she could just use her mother's (which conveniently also contained all of her mother's notes). But she bought books on every subject she could find. Hadrea enjoyed nature and the outdoors very much, so she was particularly interested in Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Astronomy. Another thing that piqued her interest was Occlumency, the art of protecting one's mind against intrusion. This seemed like a very useful skill to Hadrea, so she took every book she could find on this subject as well. She also bought a book called 'Hogwarts: A History' which could tell her all about the school she'd be going to when she turned eleven.

Finally, when she was getting ready to check out, she noticed a shelf with a sign over it reading 'Hadrea Potter'. Understandably curious, she walked over to the shelf and began to peruse the tomes. Some were clearly a fictional series, with titles like 'Hadrea Potter and the Dark Dungeon, 'Hadrea Potter and the Ridgeback's Revenge', or 'Hadrea Potter and the Mysterious Mountain', but some seemed to be nonfiction, such as 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century', The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and 'Modern Magical History'. Hadrea chose all of these, as well as a couple of the fictional ones, before taking her load to the front and paying for them. The saleswoman's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets at the amount of books Hadrea was buying, as well as the amount of money it was costing her, but Hadrea just handed over the gold and began packing the books into her backpack.

Realising that it was approaching 4:00p.m., Hadrea quickly made her way back to The Leaky Cauldron and slipped into the bathroom to change back into her nine year old self and clothes. Then she flooed back to Mrs. Figg's house (who was still, luckily, not home). She climbed back out of the window and into the back garden, before walking back to the Dursley home. It was nearly five o'clock, they'd be home any minute.

Quickly, she entered her cupboard and changed into the old clothes of Dudley's, before packing her own in the backpack and hiding it behind a loose wallboard. 'Just in time, too!' She thought, as she heard the crunch of gravel on the driveway that signaled the Dursley's return. She didn't plan on spending much more time here. She'd go through her mother's trunk and take what she wanted out of it, and find somewhere else to stay. Then, she'd be out of this house, and out of her relative's lives, permanently.

After dinner, when she was sure the Dursleys wouldn't bother her any longer, she sat awake in her cupboard with the light on and a book open on her lap. First she had read 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts' which told her about the dark wizard Voldemort and why he had killed her parents but not her, where she had really gotten the lightning scar, and why the witches and wizards in Diagon Alley and at the Hospital seemed so interested in her and her scar. Then, she began a book on occlumency, called 'The Power of the Mind: A Guide to Learning Occlumency'. She learned that the first step to learning Occlumency was to meditate and learn to clear and organize her mind before going to sleep.

She began this process that very night. She focused in on herself, and began to imagine what she'd like her mind to look like. It was like a jungle, with different fruit-bearing trees, which were her memories and knowledge. She began to put up defenses around her jungle. A large river surrounded it first, becoming filled with crocodiles and hippopotamuses, and inside the jungle she created tigers, elephants venomous snakes and many other creatures to protect her mind with. She didn't go much further than this that night, because it was late, and she needed to have a clear mind before sleep.

Tomorrow was Sunday, so, with luck, the Dursleys would all be out of the house again at some point during the day, and she'd be able to go up to the attic, and maybe use Dudley's computer to find a flat or something to stay in. It was this happy thought that comforted her as she drifted off to sleep that night.

.oOOOo.

The Dursleys were indeed gone all day on Sunday. It was the perfect opportunity, the perfect time for Hadrea to make her escape (not that the Dursleys would complain of her leaving anyway). She first went to the attic and went through the rest of her mum's trunk. She took all the books and put them in her backpack. There was also a nice telescope, which she packed, but it seemed that most of her mother's school things had been moved to out of the trunk when she left Hogwarts.

Next she sat at Dudley's Computer and searched for a flat far away and not in a very populated place. She found just what she was looking for in a town called Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon. The flat was a small, one person flat over a shop. It was perfect.

Now, finally, she changed into her nicer clothes and packed everything into her backpack, before leaving the house for the last time. The first thing she needed to do was get herself some adult muggle clothes to wear when she was disguised. She took a train to London and went on a shopping spree. Hadrea found herself buying clothes in a similar style to what she was wearing now. She bought her first outfit- A navy blue t-shirt, ripped shorts and and black leggings underneath, with black combat boots, before retreating to the fitting room to disguise herself. This time she put more effort into the particulars of her look because this was who she was going to be, most of the time, for the next two years.

She realized afterwards that what she had done was really just creating a future version of herself. Her hair she kept black, but made it shorter and spiky, and added blue streaks into it. Her eyes she did change a bit, because the color was very noticeable, and they became an icy blue-green. Her scar was moved to her lower back once again. Her other scars she left as they were, she wasn't ashamed of them. She ended up fairly tall, about 5'9 (A/N I'm not using the metric system- I'm American sorry!) and she was still quite skinny. She looked like a girl about 19 years old.

Hadrea spent the next several hours buying clothes for herself, and also going to an optometrist to get contacts so she no longer had to wear those hideous glasses. She also let her mischievous side out to play and acquired a fake ID, drivers license and Birth Certificate. She called herself Iris Vulpecula Black. Her parents were random people who had died years ago, had no connections, and would be impossible to either find any information about or prove nonexistent. She then hired a cab to drive her all the way to Ottery St. Catchpole (and boy was it expensive).

Upon arriving in the small village, Hadrea located the woman who was renting out the flat, and paid up front for two years rent of it. Inside, it was already completely furnished. The kitchen was stocked with dishes, pots and pans, the bathroom had a working sink, toilet and shower, the sitting room was complete with couches, bookshelves and a TV, and the bedroom had a chest of drawers, bedside table and bed. Hadrea quickly unpacked all of her things, before changing back to her nine year old self and going out to explore the village. It was very small, with only a few homes, and some basic stores, but it was scenic and Hadrea enjoyed walking around it.

She was walking back down the street, just passing the Paper Shop, when she noticed two boys a little ways ahead of her. Two boys with identical heads of flaming red hair. 'Oh crap!' She thought. She'd been attempting to not be noticed. She'd even kept the scar placed on her lower back to attract less attention. She quickly ducked her head down and made to turn into a nearby shop before they noticed her, but-

"Hey! Aren't you that girl from The Leaky Cauldron?" It was the twin who had winked at her. She gave up her attempt to escape and turned towards the boys.

"That depends on who's asking." she replied, eyeing the boys warily.

"So thats a yes then?" The other twin (on the left) asked, flashing her a mischievous grin.

"I suppose so. What does it matter?" She asked cautiously. She wasn't looking to make friends (or enemies either) while she was staying here. It wouldn't do her any good, she'd be going to Hogwarts before too long anyway.

"It matters because we don't get to see many other magical people here! It's only us and the Lovegoods in this area. Are you moving in?" The twin on the right asked. His grin was infectious, and Hadrea found herself struggling not to return it.

"Why should I tell you? And are you always in the habit of winking at random people in pubs?" She asked. She was trying to act hostile, maybe then she could dissuade them from wanting to talk to her.

"That was me that winked at you." Left Twin said, "And there's no need to be so defensive. It was just a question."

"It wasn't you! It was the other one. I can tell you apart you know." Hadrea snapped, folding her arms across her chest.

The twins looked at each other in astonishment. Nobody, not even their own mother had ever been able to tell them apart. Communicating in the nonverbal way that only twins could, they came to a decision.

"I'm George Weasley," Right Twin said, "And this is Fred, my brother. Are you going to tell us your name, or is that none of our business?"

Hadrea, who had been about to tell them that it was none of their business, found herself opening and closing her mouth, with no sound coming out. George grinned and Fred sniggered behind his hand. Finally, Hadrea settled on scowling at the twins and giving a huff of annoyance. "I'm Iris."

"Well, Dear Miss Iris", replied George in a pompous voice, "To answer your earlier question, No, I do not make a habit of winking at random people in pubs. Just the pretty girls!" If he'd been hoping to make Hadrea blush, he didn't succeed. All he got was a twitch of the lips. "Wow! That was almost a smile! I'll win you over someday!" George cried. The scowl returned, but the twins just roared with laughter and ran off down the street.

"See you around, Iris!" They yelled in unison. Once their backs were turned, Hadrea found herself grinning. She hated to admit it, but she had liked the twins a lot, and she hoped she would see them around again.