What if Harry Potter Was a Girl?

"That's the last of it, CeCe," Hermione Granger said, passing an armful of clothes to her best friend.

Cecilia Potter put the last of her clothes into her trunk, which was already filled to capacity. "I never thought I'd say this, Mina, but I think I have too many clothes."

The girls laughed for a few moments, then they fell silent. Hermione sighed. "Gosh CeCe. Can you believe all the stuff we've been through over the years?"

"Yeah," CeCe agreed. "It's hard to believe that it's been six years."

"Remember when we first met?" Hermione asked.

CeCe nodded. It seemed like only yesterday when she had been on the Hogwarts Express with Ronald Weasley, and Hermione had burst into their compartment, looking for Neville Longbottom's toad. At first, both Cecelia and Ron had found Hermione bossy and off-putting, but over the course of the year, the three of them became best friends as they battled together to stop the Dark Lord from returning to power.

"And remember when you were Petrified?" CeCe asked.

"That was one of the worst experiences of my life," Hermione told her. "I felt like I was stuck inside a dark room; the exit was just out of my reach, and I couldn't move toward it. It was the loneliest, most maddening feeling ever."

CeCe felt bad for her best friend. In all the time that had passed since the Basilisk had attacked her, Hermione had never told her what it'd felt like to be Petrified; it sounded just plain awful.

"Remember when you found out that Sirius was your godfather?" Hermione asked, continuing their trip down memory lane.

CeCe nodded, giving a sad smile. Sirius Black had been her living relative, apart from the Dursleys, but they didn't really count. He had promised to take her out of the hellhole that she currently lived in, but he'd been killed by Bellatrix Lestrange at the end of the previous year. "I really miss him," she said. "When did this become a trip down memory lane?" she asked suddenly.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know, but me may as well continue the journey. Remember our fight over Ron?" CeCe groaned. "Too soon?" Hermione asked.

Both Cecelia and Hermione noticed Ron at the same time. He'd done a lot of growing up after Voldemort's return, and it didn't hurt that he'd joined Cecelia on the Quidditch team at the beginning of 5th year, making him more popular than ever before. By sixth year, both girls had developed a crush on their friend; it was the first major fight that the Hermione and Cecelia had shared. It seemed like their friendship wouldn't survive, until they witnessed him snogging Lavender Brown. After they realized that Ron didn't see either of them in a romantic light, the two girls reconciled. CeCe patched up her pride and moved on to Seamus Finnigan, while Hermione decided to wait for Ron to notice her. Her efforts finally paid off, and following his break-up with Lavender, Ron turned his attentions to her.

"What are we going to now that Dumbledore's gone?" Hermione asked.

Cecelia shrugged; she had been trying not to think about the Headmaster's recent death. "We don't really have a choice. We have to find and destroy the Horcruxes, then go after Voldemort."

"I'm not coming back next year, am I?" Hermione asked, more to herself than to CeCe.

"You don't have to come with me, but there's nothing more important to me than destroying those Horcruxes."

Hermione nodded. "You're right, of course you're right, and of course I'm coming with you."

Cecelia looked at her watch. "We'd better head down to the common room, or Ron'll send a search party up here after us."

With another nod of agreement, Hermione hoisted their trunks into the air with a wave of her wand, then followed her best friend out of the dorm.

FIN