Hello all

So during lockdown I began to reread the Harry Potter books and forgot how much I loved them. This has been a story I've always toyed with and thought why not just write it now?

I've been writing as I read and have written some chapters already and plan to post once a week but please bear with as I have a demanding job.

This story will be moments from the books where I feel things may differ if Harry was a girl, focusing on a FemHarry/George Weasley pairing in later chapters. So unless otherwise stated, following canon.

Let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy.

Vex

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter and this is purely for fan enjoyment

Harriet began to panic as she looked around the bustling platforms of Kings Cross. She had no idea where she was going and all she could picture was the cackling faces of the Dursleys as they had driven off laughing at her. The guard had been no help either. A bubble of anxiety was rising in her as Hedwig began to squawk at passer-by's, she only had ten minutes to find the train before it left.

She anxiously tightened her pony tail, which was only just managing to tame her thick black hair. Aunt Petunia had always insisted she wear it up so no one could see what a bird's nest it was, as her aunt would put it.

As the clock continued to tick down, Harriet knew this had all been too good to be true, and sooner or later her bad luck would catch up with.

She was stuck between platforms 9 and 10 trying to work out what Hagrid had forgotten to tell her, wondering if she should get her wand out to tap on brick like he had done at the Leaky Cauldron. Just as she was about to pull her wand out, the conversation of a large group of red heads walking past caught her attention.

"-packed with muggles of course-"

Muggles? Wasn't that the word Hagrid had used to describe the Durselys?

Harriet was quick to push her trolley to follow and try and see if they too were struggling to find the train to Hogwarts. She looked closer at the family as she did, seeing they too had trunks and owls like her. Confidence building in her, she at least knew she was following the right people.

They came to a stop and Harriet stood close by enough to hear what they were saying. She heard the youngest boy out of the four ask what the platform was to the older woman, she assumed his mother. When the only young girl said 9 and ¾ Harriet almost gave a cry in relief. She watched closely as the woman instructed what looked like the oldest of the boys, Percy, to go first. Harriet watched him march towards platform 9 and 10 but then a group of tourists got on her way and next thing she knew, he was gone.

The next two boys were up, twins. Harriet found a smile come to her lips as the pair mocked their mother for not being able to tell them apart. This time, Harriet was determined to see how to get on to the platform. Both boys went one after the other but she was amazed to see as they approached the barrier between 9 and 10, they just seemed to vanish. It didn't make sense, where did they go?

Plucking up what courage she had Harriet decided it was time to ask for help and approached the plump woman with the remaining boy and little girl.

"Excuse me." Harriet managed to say once close enough. The woman turned to her and immediately her eyes softened as she gave a small smile.

"Hullo dear. First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new too." The kindness in her eyes was so foreign to Harriet after years at looking at Petunia's cold ones. Harriet turned her attention to the last boy, Ron, after his mother's introduction. He was tall, Harriet could tell because he was the same height as her and Dudley loved to make fun of how tall she was. He had freckles and a long nose with big hands and feet, and he too was thin like her, but she doubted it was for the same reasons.

"Yes I am." Harriet gave the older woman a smile. "I just—I just don't know how to find the train. And I don't want to miss it."

"Of course not dear." The woman again gave a friendly smile. "Not to worry. All you have to do it walk straight at the barriers between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit or a run if you're nervous. Go on now, before Ron."

"Thank you." Harriet gave them one last look before she put all her effort into pushing her trolley and running towards the wall.

Her face automatically scrunched up in anticipation of meeting a brick wall but instead no such thing happened. The noise around her changed and the sound of owls screeching and parents saying good bye to children surrounded her. She opened her eyes to see a glistening scarlet and black steam train sat at the platform. Her eyes looked up and saw the sign for platform 9 and ¾. Harriet was in awe as she walked alongside the train listening to a Neville boy talking about losing his toad. Another boy named Lee was being asked to show something. Harriet's eyes were wide as if trying to see everything.

She continued down the train until she came across an empty carriage. She made sure Hedwig was on first, the first birthday present she had ever truly loved. Make that the first of any type of present she had truly loved. Next she went to her trunk but no matter how much she heaved and pulled, she could not get the great thing up on to the train.

"Need a hand?"

Harriet looked up to see one of the red hair twins before looking down on her with a smile, trying not to laugh at her predicament.

"Yes please." She admitted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!" The boy shouted over to his twin.

With the help of the two older boys, the trunk was quickly placed in the compartment. Harriet gave a sigh of relief. She moved her hand up to her face to wipe the sweat on her forehead, inadvertently pushing her fringe to the side and revealing the scar underneath to the twins.

"What's that?" One of the boys asked, pointing to Harriet's scar.

"Blimey" The other one said, also transfixed on Harriet's forehead. "Are you-"

"She is" said the first twin. "Aren't you?"

"Am what?" Harriet asked with worry. Her hand quickly coming to fix the fringe on her forehead to try and hide her scar. The Durselys had always made sure she had a fringe to hide the lightening shaped scar on her head and Harriet was only too happy to keep it covered thanks to all the teasing she got from Dudley and his gang at school about it. Looking at the twin's reaction to it, she was glad her fringe would continue to hide it from onlookers.

"Harriet Potter" The twins chimed together.

"Oh…yeah, I am." Harriet mumbled. Her eyes looked to the floor, uneasy with the attention they were giving her. Thankfully she was saved though by the voice of their mother calling to them.

The pair quickly departed from the carriage and Harriet took a seat by the window. She listened to the family, unseen by them, as the group talked about leaving for Hogwarts and the twins threatening to send a toilet seat home to their sister.

Soon though the conversation turned to the twins as they described meeting her. She heard the young girl ask to come meet her on the train and Harriet could practically feel herself squirm in her seat. Though Hagrid had explained why everyone knew her, she didn't exactly want the attention. She had only been a baby after all when she had supposedly defeated You-Know-Who.

There was something else buggering her and she couldn't put her finger on it until she listened to the red-headed family talk about her, and that was her name. She didn't like that everyone seemed to know it, but it was more than that. When she had been at the Leaky Cauldron and everyone had come up to her, she couldn't help but flinch every time someone said her name. It made her think back to her Aunt ordering her to do something, or her Uncle chastising her for being stupid. Initially she thought she was being silly, but then it had happened again when the twins had stated who she was. And it was at that moment Harriet realised, she didn't really like being called Harriet Potter.

As the train began to move, Harriet looked at the window to watch as the kind woman from before waved after the train, and the young girl ran down the platform to run alongside for as long as she could. Harriet gave a sad smile and wondered if her parents would have done that if they had been alive to drop her off. She liked to think they would.

As houses swept past the window, the sadness was soon replaced by excitement as it finally seemed to sink in that she was going to Hogwarts. Harriet was going to learn magic and she wasn't going to see the Dursleys until Christmas, though she somewhat hoped there was a chance she would be able to stay over the Christmas break.

The door to her compartment sliding open caught her attention and she turned to see the youngest red-head boy from before stood at the entrance.

"Anyone sitting here?" He asked, pointing to the seats opposite her. "Everywhere else is full."

"No" Harriet replied with a shake of her head. The boy nodded and took a seat. She looked back at the window but when she felt him staring she turned to look back. The boy quickly looked out the window, blush creeping across his cheeks after being caught looking at her. Harriet gave a quiet sigh and hoped the rest of Hogwarts wasn't going to be like this.

"Hey Ron." One of the twins said as he approached the compartment door. The other was stood next to him. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right" Ron mumbled. Harriet was pretty sure he was as uninterested about seeing a massive spider as she was.

"Harriet did we introduce ourselves?" The other twin asked. She shook her head. "Well I'm George."

"And I'm Fred." The other said. The two just seemed to be like two sides of a coin, completely in sync with each other. "And this is our little brother Ron. See you later then."

They slid the compartment door shut and left the two first years alone.

"Are you really Harriet Potter?" Ron blurted out. A pink tinge once again came across his cheeks as the black-haired girl looked at him, embarrassed by his outburst.

"I am….though I'm not sure I like to be called that." Harriet gave a shrug.

"Well what do you like to be called?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I've only just realised I don't like Harriet." She told him honestly.

"Why don't you shorten it?" Ron suggested. "I'm actually Ronald and my older brother is named William but everyone calls him Bill."

"Yeah that could work…but how do you shorten Harriet?"

The two were silent for a moment as they thought about a new name for her. Suddenly Ron's eyes went wide as it came to him.

"What about Harri?"

"Isn't that a boy's name?" The girl responded, pushing her round glasses up her face with a finger. It was a slightly sensitive subject for Harriet. The only reason people thought she was a girl was because of her hair, otherwise they wouldn't know. It wasn't exactly like she was in to the colour pink or wearing dresses, but always being stuck in Dudley's hand-me-downs didn't exactly let her express her own style or make her look like a girl.

"Not if you spell it with an 'i' instead of 'y'. There was a girl in my village that did that." Ron explained.

Harriet thought it over, her face scrunched up in concentration before it began to relax and she nodded her head.

"Harri…Harri Potter. I like it." Harri's face lit up with a smile. "Thanks Ron."

"You know when Fred and George said they had met you, I thought it was another one of their jokes." Ron admitted. He gave her a nervous glance before continuing. "And have you really got—you know…."

Ron pointed towards her forehead. Harri paused, she had learnt to be ashamed of her scar and her automatic response was to make sure her fringe wasn't leaving it exposed whenever anyone mentioned it and quickly move the conversation on. However, something in Ron's face stopped her, he wasn't here to make fun of her but was genuinely curious and after being so helpful with coming up with a name she liked, Harri felt she wanted to show Ron her scar.

"Oh yeah I do." She swept her fringe back and heard Ron give a small wow under his breath. For the first time in her life she wasn't ashamed of the lightening shaped scar, and even shared a small smirk with her companion.

"And that's where You-Know-Who-?"

"Yes, but I don't remember any of it. I actually thought I had got it from a car crash until a month ago." Harri said with a shrug, her hand coming down to let her fringe hide the scar once again.

"You don't remember anything?"

"Nothing, well maybe a green light but that's about it." Harri admitted. Ron continued to stare at her but she was less uncomfortable with it this time. Ron seemed to realise what he was doing and quickly averted his gaze to look at the window. For a moment Harri wasn't sure if she should speak, throughout school no one had really talked to her like this without fear of Dudley picking on them. She didn't think anyone would want to be her friend. But then again that had been Harriet, the girl who lived with the Dursleys and wasn't a witch. Now she was Harri and she would be damned if she didn't at least try and make friends.

"Are all your family wizards?" Harri found herself asking.

And so the young 11 year olds began to chat about their families. Ron told Harri about all his siblings and Harri told him about the Dursleys and how she didn't even know she was a witch until recently. At the subject of pets Ron seemed to become embarrassed when he mentioned about not being able to afford an owl but Harri didn't care. It wasn't exactly she had been swimming in money before and it was only recently she had come in to some when Hagrid had taken her to Gringotts. Harri explained all this to Ron and told him about all the hand-me-downs she had from Dudley and how she didn't even think she had any clothes before that had specifically been bought for her.

They two continued to bond and it was the longest conversation Harri had ever had with someone her own age. When she had said Voldemort's name, Ron had gasped and Harri realised there was so much she didn't know about the wizarding world.

"I'm going to be the worst in class. I don't know anything about magic." Harri said, revealing her biggest fear at going to school.

"I wouldn't worry, no one really knows much about magic, even if they did grow up in a wizarding family." Ron reassured her. The two shared a smile and began to talk about what they were most looking forward to when a lady with a trolley appeared.

Harri couldn't help herself and ended up buying as many sweets as she could and sharing them with Ron who went on to explain all the different types of sweets to her. The train journey was going better than she hoped. She now had a small collection of chocolate frog cards and hadn't eaten anything too nasty from her Bertie Botts every flavour beans, though she hadn't been a fan of the broccoli one.

The outside scenery turned into woods and twisting rivers but Harri didn't seem to notice the time passing. The door to the compartment opened and a boy with a round face stood at the door and enquired about a missing toad. When both her and Ron said no, the boy left before either could ask anymore. Ron and Harri shrugged at one another before continuing their talk on pets.

Ron started to tell Harri about a spell his brothers taught him on how to turn his rat yellow when the compartment door was opened again and this time a girl with brown bushy hair stood there. She was already dressed in her school robes and Harri wondered if she should be the same.

The girl was rather bossy and she wasn't impressed when, after sticking around to see it, Ron's spell failed. She then went off on how she had memorised all the books they had been required to buy. Harri gave a nervous gulp, wondering if she should have done the same too. But by the look of horror on Ron's face, she knew this other girl seemed to be the only one in their compartment to do that.

"I'm Hermione Granger, who are you?" The girl said after her rather intimidating and fast speech.

"I'm Ron Weasley." Ron replied sheepishly. Harri went to open her mouth to speak when recognition crossed Hermione's face.

"Oh you're Harriet Potter."

"She prefers Harri." Ron said immediately. Harri couldn't help but smile for it was at that moment Harri realised she finally had a friend.

"Ohh none of the books mentioned that." Hermione said with surprise. The bossy girl then went on to explain about all the books she had read which included Harri and then within the same breath started to talk about which house she wanted to be sorted in to. Harri decided to keep her mouth shut thinking it was best to just let her speak.

The girl soon left but not before telling Ron and Harri to change into their school robes. After her departure, the two's attention turned to discussing which house they wanted to be in and by the sounds of it Harri had decided she really didn't want to be in Slytherin. The conversation then turned to the news about the break in at Gringotts before Quidditch came up. Ron got excited and began to launch into telling her all about the wizarding sport when the door opened again and this time three mean looking boys stood there. Harri and Ron stood up to face them.

Two looked like big thugs, reminding Harri very much of most of Dudley's gang. The one in the middle though with platinum blonde hair was thin and pale. Harri recognised him from the robe shop when he had been insulting Hagrid. She hadn't been very fond of him then and she doubted whatever was about to happen was going to change her mind.

"Is it true?" The blonde boy asked. "They're all saying down the train that Harriet Potter is in this compartment. So it's you is it?"

"It's Harri actually." She told him, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes darted towards the boys stood behind the pale one.

"Oh this is Crabbe and Goyle." He said nodding his head towards each. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron gave a cough which was clearly trying to hide a laugh. Draco's eyes immediately narrowed as he stared at the red head. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father's told me all about the Weasleys with red hair and freckles and more children than they can afford."

Ron's ears turned pink at the insult.

"You'll find Potter that some wizarding families are better than others and you don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." Draco continued. "I can help you there."

The boy held his hand out to her but Harri had already decided what she thought of Draco Malfoy the moment he had spoken about Hagrid in Diagon Alley.

"You know I'll think I can tell for myself thanks who I want to be friends with." Harri said with a smug smirk, her arm going to rest on Ron's shoulders. Ron gave her a look of awe as if he couldn't believe this girl was sticking up for him.

"I would be careful if I were you Potter." Malfoy said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either. You hang round with riff-raffs like Weasley and Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."

Ron's face went as red as his hair but Harri was quick to jump between the two.

"Good I hope it does. They have more personality than someone who looks like a ferret." Harri replied. She had learnt over the years with Dudley's gang you couldn't show weakness and sometimes you had to give as good as you get. She took a step closer to Draco and the boy only laughed at her.

"You're going to fight us now? You're just a girl." Draco sneered.

"A girl who knows how to aim a good kick." Harri warned though she wasn't entirely as confident as she made out when she realised how much bigger Crabbe and Goyle were. "So I would suggest you get out."

"But we don't feel like leaving just yet do we boys? We've eaten all our food and you seem to still have some."

As Goyle reached down to take the last remaining sweets, he gave a howl. Harri had thought Ron had reached him in time, instead Scabbers the rat had taken a bite into the would-be thief which had sent the trio running. Ron and Harri burst into laughter and even Hermione running into the compartment scolding them for fighting couldn't stop them. Ron explained the dark family history of the Malfoys before the pair were laughing again at finding Scabbers asleep.

Hermione once again reminded them they needed to put on their robes so Harri briefly left Ron to find a toilet to change in. When she came back she found Ron dressed, his trainers peeking out at the bottom of his slightly too short robes. They crammed their pockets with the last of their sweets before the train came to a halt.

With a mixture of excitement and nervousness, Harri stepped off the train and followed the sound of Hagrid's voice. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she did know that no matter what house she was sorted in to, she had made a friend in Ron Weasley and did not intend to let anything get in the way of that.