"Lily, slow down!" Ginny Potter called to her daughter as she ran through Kings Cross Station, pushing a luggage cart loaded down with all of her school supplies. The red-haired girl, over come with excitement, ignored her mother and swerved out of the way of a cart coming the other way. She probably would have kept going like that if Ginny hadn't caught up with her and managed to slow her down.
"Mom!" Lily whined. "I wasn't going that fast!"
"You almost ran into five different people," Ginny said, giving her daughter a pointed look. "You were going fast enough."
"Oh, give her a break, dear," Harry Potter said to his wife as he and their sons James and Albus, (fourth and third year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry respectively) each of whom had a loaded cart, caught up to them. "She's just excited, that's all. Surely you remember what that's like," he added with a grin.
Ginny smiled back in spite of herself. "Come on," she said, leading the family to platforms nine and ten where the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ was. Harry led the way through the barrier, followed by the boys and their carts. Ginny and Lily took deep breaths and then followed.
After the Potters loaded their luggage into the nearest baggage car, they congregated by the first passenger car to meet with Ginny's brother Ron, his wife Hermione, their daughter Rose, who was in the same year as Albus, and their son Hugo was a year younger than Lily. There, they all did the usual exchange of well wishing and good lucking that accompanied every September 1st since James had started at Hogwarts.
It was at that moment that Lily saw Professor Longbottom helping a girl with short, light brown hair load her trunk into the baggage car. She eyed the pair curiously. She had never seen Professor Longbottom on the platform before, and as far as she knew he didn't have any children. So who was this girl, and why was he with her?
Before she could point them out to her parents, the train whistle blew, signaling that it was going to be leaving in five minutes. Lily, her brothers, and her cousin quickly gave their final goodbye hugs to their parents and aunt and uncle before scrambling onto the train. Lily looked down the platform and saw the brown haired girl getting in to the next passenger car while waving goodbye to Professor Longbottom. Her curiosity aroused, Lily decided to find the girl and find out exactly who she was.
"Did you guys see the girl who was with Professor Longbottom?" Lily asked her brothers.
"What are you talking about Lily?" Albus said. "Professor Longbottom is at school getting ready for us."
"I saw him on the platform!" Lily said. "He was helping a girl load her things in the baggage car. She had short, brown hair and she was wearing a red shirt and a green jacket."
"Sure she was," James said, the sarcasm clear in his voice. "Come on. Let's find a seat already."
Lily opened her mouth to protest, but James, Albus, and Rose took off to find their friends. Left on her own, Lily decided to find the girl from the platform.
She walked past several full compartments before finding the girl. She was sitting against the window with her feet on the seat reading one of their school books. Slowly, Lily opened the door. "Can I join you?" she asked.
"I guess," the girl said, looking up from her book.
Lily entered the compartment and closed the door behind her. After putting her bag on the luggage rack, she turned to the girl. "I'm Lily Potter," she said, extending her hand.
"Esther Jenkins," the girl said, shaking it.
"Is this your first year?" Lily asked as she sat down next to Esther.
"Yeah. It's kind of weird. I didn't know I was a witch until a few months ago and now I'm going to a school full of them."
"Your parent's are muggles then?" Lily guessed.
"What?"
"Sorry. I mean they can't do magic."
Esther let out a derisive snort. "They most definitely cannot. And if they had their way, neither could I."
"Why?"Lily asked.
"Because witches burn in hell," Esther said, the contempt clear in her voice. This only confused Lily further, which must have showed, because Esther then explained. "My parents are very religious. When Professor Longbottom showed up and told them I was a witch, they raised bloody hell and practically threw him out of the house. When I told them I wanted to go to Hogwarts, they reacted in the way any parent would—by disowning me."
"They didn't!" Lily gasped.
Esther nodded. "We had a fight which ended with my dad telling me that, and I quote, 'if you go to that devil school, you'd better not show your face around this house again.' That was when I decided I'd had enough of them and their judgement. I packed a bag, went to London and met with Professor Longbottom at the Leaky Cauldron. I explained what had happened and he arranged for me to stay there for the rest of the summer. He helped me buy my school supplies and everything. He was a god-send, if you'll pardon the expression."
"That's Uncle Neville, alright," Lily said.
"Uncle?"
"Well, he's not really my uncle. He's just a friend of my dad's."
"Wait, you said your name was Potter?" Esther said, sitting up. "Is your father Harry Potter, by any chance?"
"He is!" Lily said, excitedly.
Esther nodded. "Professor Longbottom talked a lot about your dad. He said that your father was also raised by people who didn't care for magic."
"His aunt and uncle," Lily said. "I've never met them, but I've heard they were horrible to my dad. He talks about his cousin Dudley in a good way though. I'd like to meet him someday."
They sat in silence for a moment before Esther changed the subject. "So what house do you think you'll be in?" she asked. "Professor Longbottom told me a lot about Hogwarts," she added when Lily gave her a quizzical look.
"Well, my parents were both in Gryffindor, and my brothers are both in Gryffindor, so I think that's where I'll be as well. What about you?"
"I don't know. I guess Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, but it's not really up to me, is it?"
"No, but whichever house you're in, you will fit in just fine. That's the beauty of Hogwarts, according to my dad. There's something there for everyone."
Lily and Esther spent the rest of the train ride talking and laughing as though they had known each other for years. When they reached Hogwarts, they were led to the boats by Hagrid, who turned them over to professor McGonagall at the dock. They were then led into the great hall along with the other first years to be sorted into their houses.
When Esther's name was called, she was sorted into Gryffindor. She and Lily exchanged excited glances as she walked to the Gryffindor table. A few minutes later Lily joined her.
On a bright Tuesday afternoon the following May, Harry Potter knocked on the door of David and Regina Jenkins. When Mrs. Jenkins answered the door, he said, "Good afternoon ma'am. My name is Harry Potter. My daughter Lily goes to school with Esther. I'd like to talk with you and your husband about your daughter. May I come in?"
After a moment of hesitation, during which she eyed his robes, Mrs. Jenkins stood back and allowed Harry to enter. She led the way into the living room where her husband was sitting reading the day's newspaper. The living room was modestly furnished with a couch, two chairs, a television and a coffee table which held a large bible. There were a few pictures of the family on the mantle, but only one of them contained Esther.
At the sound of someone entering the room, Mr. Jenkins turned to see who it was. "David, this is Harry Potter," Mrs. Jenkins said. "He's here to talk about Esther."
Mr. Jenkins brow furrowed. "What about her?" he asked.
"As you may or may not be aware," Harry said after taking a deep breath, "the school year at Hogwarts is coming to an end at the end of the month and the students will be coming home for the summer."
Neither of the Jenkins said anything, so Harry continued. "Your daughter and mine have become very good friends at school this year. So much so that my daughter Lily has asked if Esther could spend the summer with us—"
"And you're here to ask for our permission, is that it?" Mr. Jenkins asked, not trying to disguise the contempt in his voice.
"No," Harry said shortly. "I am here to ask you to consider taking her in yourselves. You are her parents, and as such you should be there for her."
"Don't tell us about being good parents," Mr. Jenkins said. "We were good parents until that so-called professor showed up and started putting ideas in our daughter's head. He turned her against us."
"David," Mrs. Jenkins cautioned, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"It's alright, Mrs. Jenkins," Harry said. "I understand. I really do. I was raised by two people who despised magic as much as you do. But believe me when I tell you that your daughter is not cursed, nor did Professor Longbottom turn her against you. She has a gift. A gift that only a fraction of the world's population has."
"Don't pull that on me," Mr. Jenkins said, standing. "Witchcraft is the devil's work, and anyone who takes part in it is going to burn in hell!" he shouted.
"Then why didn't you stop her from leaving?" Harry asked, not breaking his gaze with the man. "She's an eleven year old girl. Surely you could have stopped her if you had wanted to."
"Don't twist the truth!" Mr. Jenkins shouted. "That professor of yours kidnapped her!"
"Tell yourself that all you want," Harry said. "But the fact is that you couldn't stop your daughter from leaving to follow her destiny."
Harry took a step back and sighed. "I feel sorry for you Mr. Jenkins. You're so blinded by your hatred of the unknown that you won't take your daughter back. Even my aunt and uncle, as much as they hated me, let me come home every summer." He pulled a piece of paper out of his robe and placed it on the coffee table next to the bible. "If you change your mind, this is where you can find Esther." With that he turned and walked out of the house.
Esther spent that summer and every summer after at the Potter's house. Every year Harry would ask her parents to take her back, but every year they never replied. Esther missed her parents, but was happy that the Potters were so nice to her, always making her feel welcome. Even after she moved to America to work as an herbologist, she stayed in touch with Lily and her family.
Esther never gave up on her parents. She wrote them every year on their birthdays and Christmas, sent them an invitation to her wedding, and informed them each time they became grandparents. They never responded, but Esther never stopped writing. She was often asked why she bothered if they never wrote back, and her reply was always the same: "I guess I'm just as stubborn as they are."