Disclaimer:

I do not own the amusement park that is Hogwarts or the colorful characters J.K. Rowling has created for us. I've considered writing a transgender story for awhile now and have decided to try it. Like any story utilizing this premise, Harry will be different from canon but that can't really be helped considering her outlook on life and the things that happen to her. I hope you enjoy it.

#foreign language#, *parseltongue*, "spoken", 'thoughts', [telepathic messages]

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The Marauders' Daughter

Chapter Fifteen

The Warning, part I

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(Thursday, September 2nd, 1993, Afternoon)

"Welcome everyone, to Care of Magical Creatures," Hagrid boomed jovially as the students finished gathering around his hut. When he noticed Hermione and Ron in the audience, he smiled at them, but also couldn't help but wonder why they were standing so far apart from one another. Were they not friends anymore?

"I've got a real treat for yeh today, a great lesson. Follow me," the half-giant said before heading towards the Forbidden Forest. Most of the class looked nervous having obeyed the headmaster and stayed out of the forest. Heather and Hermione looked around and shrugged, it wasn't creepy like it had been that night and it reminded them of the woodland area behind their house.

Upon reaching a small clearing, Hagrid continued his instructions and said, "Right yeh lot, less chattering. Form a group over there and open your books to page 49."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Malfoy asked snidely.

"Just stroke the spine of course," Hagrid replied in exasperation as he walked into the clearing.

Several students nodded as they idly stroked the spine of their books before opening them to the required page. Neville, however, was too busy watching his nemesis to pay attention to the exchange between Hagrid and Malfoy. Without thinking, he opened his book without soothing it and promptly fell onto his back when it attacked him.

Ron sneered as he walked by while Malfoy said snidely, "Don't be such a wimp Longbottom."

The girls turned at the commotion only to roll their eyes in exasperation before continuing towards the area Hagrid had indicated. While neither knew Neville well, they thought out of all the boys in their year that he was the most approachable due to his shy and non-combative nature. Not that either of them felt they needed boys in their life when they had one another and a growing circle of girl friends.

"God, this place has gone to the dogs," Malfoy said disdainfully as he set his satchel on a nearby boulder. "Wait until my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson laughed as Ron scowled before snarling angrily, "Shut up Malfoy."

Several students 'oohed' as Draco casually turned toward the redhead and sneered, "What's it to you Weaselbee, figure you'll earn a knut every time you and your pathetic family stick up for Dumbledore? Even if your family was rich from all your brown-nosing, you'd still be an embarrassment to the wizarding world."

While the girls thought Malfoy had crossed a line with his horrid comments, neither of them wanted to get involved with the ongoing feud between the two boys. They looked at one another and sighed as they rolled their eyes in exasperation, glad to have separated themselves from the boy and could avoid being drawn into another pointless conflict.

Fortunately, Seamus and Dean came to Ron's rescue and were able to pull him back when he started moving towards Draco and his cronies.

Hagrid returned and cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention as a strange looking creature followed him into the clearing. The front half of the animal looked like some sort of avian, perhaps an eagle with its bird-like head and beak, talons on its forelegs and a large set of wings folded along its sleek body. The rear of the creature had hooves like a horse as well as an equine-type tail.

"Isn't he beautiful? Say hello to Buckbeak," the half-giant said as he idly tossed a dead ferret towards the large creature.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Ron asked, his voice trembling.

"That, Ron, is a hippogriff," Hagrid replied as he walked towards the students. Turning serious, he continued in a grave tone, "First thing you oughta know about hippogriffs is that they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended, yeh do not want to insult a hippogriff or it just might be the last thing yeh ever do."

Clapping his hands together and adopting a jovial tone, he turned around and asked, "Now, who would like to come say hello?"

As one, everyone but Heather retreated as she stepped forward and said sweetly, "Hello Buckbeak."

Hagrid turned around and smiled at the new girl as he said, "Well done Miss Black. Now, yeh have to let him make the first move. It's only polite. So, step up, give him a nice bow and wait to see if he bows back. If he does, yeh can go and touch him. If not, well, we'll get to that later."

"'We'll get to that later', Professor?" the ravenette deadpanned as she looked at her teacher as though he'd lost his mind. Knowing Hagrid as she did and the types of creatures he considered 'cute' and 'fluffy', she started wondering if she'd made a mistake volunteering. She loved animals, but looking at the creature in front of her which was easily eight times her size and ten times her weight class, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd even survive if things went badly.

"Yeh'll be fine, I promise," the half-giant said in a tone that was far from reassuring. "Now, take your bow."

She nodded and bowed. At Hagrid's prompting, she bowed lower while making sure to keep her eyes on the agitated animal before her. When Buckbeak started squawking and flaring his impressive wingspan, she backed off until she stepped on a small stick, snapping it in two and causing Hermione's heart to jump into her throat as many of the other students gasped. Keeping still, she watched nervously as the hippogriff settled down and eyed her suspiciously. Several tense moments passed before he slowly bowed back.

"Well done Miss Black," Hagrid said happily. Throwing another dead ferret towards the hippogriff, he continued, "Here, yeh big brute."

Heather slowly rose from her bow and breathed a heavy sigh of relief, her heart thundering painfully within her chest. Feelings echoed by Hermione, her hand covering her mouth as she anxiously watched her girlfriend interact with the potentially lethal creature.

"Right, now I think yeh can go and pat him now," the half-giant said cheerfully. At his student's incredulous look he continued encouragingly, "Go on. Don't be shy."

"Professor, Buckbeak looked like he wanted to rip me to shreds not two minutes ago and that was while I was standing here," the last Potter protested warily as she eyed the large animal twenty feet away. "Now you're suggesting I get closer?"

"You'll be fine, just make sure yeh move slowly," Hagrid said softly.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Heather nodded as she slowly moved forward with her hand outstretched. The next several moments were tense as Buckbeak squawked in fear and agitation, forcing her to slow her movements even more. About halfway, Hagrid suggested she let the hippogriff close the gap by coming towards her. Finally, after nearly an agonizing long minute of tension, anxiety and fear, Buckbeak lowered his head enough to brush up against her hand like a cat would someone's leg. As she gently petted the hippogriff's beak she swore she could hear the creature purring too.

"Yes! Well done Miss Black," the half-giant exclaimed excitedly as he burst into applause along with several of her classmates. "I think he might let yeh ride him now."

"What?"

"Come on," Hagrid said as he ignored his student's panicked shriek and picked her up.

"Professor! Put me down this instant!" Heather screeched indignantly.

"Put yeh over here, right behind the wing joint," the half-giant said as he continued to ignore his student's protests. "Don't pull out any of his feathers, because he won't thank yeh for that."

Hagrid swatted Buckbeak's hind quarters, causing the hippogriff to neigh before running the length of the clearing and taking off into the air. Heather felt her heart in her throat as she hung on for dear life, her only solace being if she slipped she'd be able to cast an Aresto momentum before splattering on the forest floor. It was a spell she had studied during the last term of second year, figuring if she were ever knocked off her broom while flying for fun or during a Qidditch match, provided she was conscious, she would have a way of saving herself from certain death.

Despite the fact she didn't appreciated being manhandled, she had to admit riding Buckbeak as he flew around the castle grounds was a thrilling experience. If only her girlfriend wasn't afraid of heights and was holding onto her from behind as they took a romantic flight around the grounds, everything would be perfect.

After flying for several minutes, Buckbeak returned to the clearing upon hearing Hagrid's whistle and several students cheered as the two of them landed. When they finally came to a stop, rather than allow the half-giant to grab her again, Heather leapt off the hippogriff's back and landed with a soft thud as her knees absorbed the shock of her landing. She stood with a beaming smile on her face as she straightened her skirt before walking towards the rest of the class.

"Well done Miss Black and well done Buckbeak," Hagrid exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh please," Draco muttered derisively as he climbed to his feet and marched towards the hippogriff on the other side of the clearing.

Heather frowned as she watched Malfoy stomp his way across the clearing towards Buckbeak and palmed her wand, certain the arrogant blonde ponce was about to do something monumentally stupid.

"Yes, you're not dangerous at all are you, you great ugly brute!" the Slytherin sneered as he continued to march towards the hippogriff.

Buckbeak took offense to the rude human fast walking towards him and reared up on his hind legs, towering over even Hagrid's impressive height and causing most of the students watching to scream.

In the few seconds remaining before Buckbeak would potentially slice Malfoy in half, Heather acted. As much as it galled her to save the idiot's life, she knew Malfoy senior would demand the hippogriff's head if any harm came to his spoiled child and that was something she could not allow. Just because the blonde was stupid enough to offend a hippogriff after Hagrid had explicitly warned them of the potential consequences did not justify executing the beautiful creature in her mind.

"Depulso!" Heather said as she pointed her wand at Malfoy, blasting the blonde away from Buckbeak and into a nearby tree. She winced at the sound of snapping bones and watched as the boy crumpled to the ground.

"Buckbeak!" Hagrid shouted in shock as he rushed in front of the angry hippogriff and attempted to calm the creature down.

"Malfoy!" Several Slytherins yelled as they rushed towards their downed housemate.

Heather sniffed imperiously as she stowed her wand before turning on her heel and headed towards the rest of the class. She noticed the shocked look on Hermione's face and winced, knowing her girlfriend would likely have some choice words for her despite what Malfoy had done to her over the years.

"Heather Dorea Black!" Hermione yelled sternly as she intercepted her girlfriend. Gripping the smaller girl by the shoulders, she demanded in a soft but heated tone, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I needed to get Malfoy away from Buckbeak as quickly as possible. Didn't think he would hit a tree though," the ravenette explained quietly as she tried to ignore the looks of shock, anger and fear on her classmates' faces. 'Great, they probably think I meant to hurt the moron. I did, just not quite like that.'

Once she had checked on her betrothed, Pansy Parkinson climbed to her feet and glared at the raven haired girl watching the scene impassively. Anger coursed through her veins and she drew her wand as she marched across the clearing towards her target. Crabbe and Goyle fell in step behind her and clenched their fists in an effort to look menacing.

Heather folded her arms across her chest as she watched the pug-faced girl and her entourage approach. Smirking lightly, she said, "Well met Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle. To what do I owe the displeasure of your repugnant company?"

The three Slytherins stopped and stared at her in confusion, uncertain what to make of the girl. While they had adopted an aggressive stance and were ready for a fight, their target appeared unconcerned they might try to harm her. Pansy didn't think Black would be so trusting, but what's more even Granger hadn't drawn her wand and seemed to be letting the ravenette handle the situation.

"You hurt my betrothed you bitch," the pug-faced brunette snarled angrily.

"Au contraire, I saved him from getting sliced to ribbons because he was stupid enough to insult a creature ten times his size," Heather countered calmly. "It'll be much easier for Madam Pomfrey to mend a few broken bones than it would have been to reattach his legs and torso."

"I challenge you to a duel, midnight tonight in the trophy room," Pansy growled.

"Oh honey," the last Potter said in a saccharine sweet yet condescending tone, "you really don't want to duel me, a witch you know absolutely nothing about."

"You don't know anything about me either," the Slytherin spat, her bookends nodding in agreement as they punched their left hand in a show of physical force.

"I know more than you think," the ravenette returned evenly. "Still, if you want to do this, I'll duel you, the bookends here, your precious Dracy-poo, and the rest of Slytherin's third years all at once. See if you morons can even make me break a sweat let alone defeat me in honorable combat."

"Well, well, now look who thinks highly of herself," Pansy sneered nastily.

"Of course, but I also know what I am capable of," Heather said sweetly.

"Heather, do you really think you can take on nine people at once?" Hermione asked in concern. "I know you've been training for multi-opponent fights, but nine?"

"Trust me Hermione, I'll be fine," the Ravenclaw said pleasantly. "Besides, I'm pretty sure some of the third year Slytherins will grow a brain and decide to sit out."

"Who?"

"Greengrass, Davis and Zabini will likely realize getting on the Black heiress's bad side wouldn't be in their best interest," Heather said as she grinned nastily at the Slytherin contingent in front of her. "I'm not sure whether Parkinson here, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and Bulstrode have enough brain cells combined to equal that of a single person, let alone enough to truly be a threat."

"You can't be the Black heiress, Draco is because his mother was a Black," Pansy shot back.

"Auntie Narcissa? You're basing Malfoy's claim to the Black family fortune on her?" the last Potter countered dismissively with a soft giggle. "Both she and Dracy-poo aren't even in the main line, there's no way they stand to inherit. Besides, I've already been to Gringotts and gotten everything in writing as it were. I am the Black Heiress and no amount of whining from either Dracy-poo or Lucy will change that. The Malfoy name is filthy and you would do well to separate yourself from their taint though it may already be too late. You do realize that the words 'mal foi', as the Malfoys used to be called, means 'bad faith' in French do you not?"

"You lie! The Malfoys are a hundred times the family the Blacks are! At least none of them were ever in Azkaban," the Slytherin returned angrily.

"That's only because Lucy bribed the Wizengamot and claimed Voldemort placed him under the imperious which is shite," Heather sneered. "Everyone knows the ponce is a Death Eater and one day you can be certain there will be a reckoning. He and his fellow boot-kissers will all get what's coming to them."

"That's enough you two," a red-haired girl said crisply as she marched towards the feuding pair of students.

Pansy turned towards the newcomer and sneered, "What's it to you Bones? This is between Black and me."

"You know the rules Parkinson," Susan said as though she were explaining a simple concept to a toddler. "There are to be no duels on the grounds unless sanctioned by either a qualified professor or your Head of House, in the case of honor duels. Since I do not see Lord Parkinson or Lord Black present and Hagrid certainly isn't qualified to oversee such a thing, you are not permitted to duel in accordance with wizarding law."

"Where was this last year when Harry was getting attacked constantly over the Heir of Slytherin shite?" Hermione demanded heatedly.

Susan lowered her eyes and turned red as she said, "I will make no excuses. I'm sorry to say I believed the rumors and turned a blind eye when I saw how the others were mistreating him. I may never have attacked him personally, but by doing nothing I was no better than everyone else."

"And people wonder why he decided to leave and never return," Heather interjected harshly as she glared at the Bones heiress while keeping an eye on the Slytherin contingent.

The redhead nodded and turned towards Hermione and asked, "Hermione, will you please write to Harry and tell him I'm sorry?"

"No," the bookworm replied frostily as she glared at the taller girl. "I will not help assuage your guilty conscience by doing what you should do for yourself."

Susan nodded sadly and said, "I'll talk to Hannah and we'll write Harry a letter of apology. Assuming that illusion of his was telling the truth, I'm not sure he'll even get it if he's truly left our shores, but we have to try. We talked about it over the summer and we both feel incredibly guilty for our part in the whole thing."

"Too little, too late I'm afraid," Hermione said as she shot her girlfriend a glance and noticed the stony look on the younger girl's face.

"Perhaps, but we won't know for sure unless we try," the Bones heiress replied.

"Well, as heartwarming as this has been, I need to go wash my mouth out from all this sickeningly sweet drivel," Pansy sneered as she turned and marched towards the other Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle quickly followed suit though with far less grace and nearly stumbled into one another in their haste to follow their fellow Slytherin.

"Class dismissed," Hagrid said wearily.

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An hour later, Heather and Hermione were busy studying for one of their correspondence classes in the back of the library when a pair of mischievous redheads walked up. Without waiting to be acknowledged, the Weasley twins plopped down in the chairs opposite them and cleared their throats.

When the girls looked up, already very much aware they were there, Fred placed a ratty piece of parchment on the table while George pulled out a quill and some regular parchment.

"Is this the famed Marauders' Map then?" Hermione asked as she looked at the blank piece of parchment on the twins' side of the table.

"It is, but before we tell you how to work it, we want the information young Miss Black here promised us," George said pleasantly as he readied his quill.

Deciding it wasn't worth potentially antagonizing the Twin Terrors, even though she was well within her rights to claim her fathers' creation without giving them anything, Heather nodded and said, "A deal is a deal, the map for information. Alright then, as you know, James Potter's nickname was Prongs but what you probably didn't know is that he was the one who originally came up with the idea. At the time, his three friends thought he was daft and that it would never work. My godfather was insistent and refused to let their doubts deter him. Eventually the others came around, though only two of them actually helped."

"Prongs was the originator?" Fred asked in awe.

The last Potter nodded sadly and continued, "The brain behind the whole operation, and indeed the Marauders in general, is none other than our newest defense professor Remus Lupin, a.k.a. Moony. Interestingly enough, Moony became a prefect during his fifth year which made it easier for the four of them to cover their tracks. Rumor has it, you two love to play pranks on people but did either of you ever consider trying to become a prefect in order to hide your activities?"

The boys groaned as they banged their heads on the table. Why hadn't they thought of that? Not that McGonagall would have ever offered them the chance, but that was because they were well known pranksters while the original Marauders had been a secret sect no one knew about.

"I'll take that as a no, not like our stern Head of House would have given you two the chance anyway," Hermione interjected with a smirk.

"No, she most certainly would not have," Fred lamented as he grabbed the quill and parchment in front of his brother and continued writing what their informant was telling them.

"Next we have Padfoot, Sirius Black and my father," Heather said with a smile. "Contrary to popular belief, he is not the mass murderer everyone seems to believe he is as Harry alluded to yesterday. What he said is true, James Potter was my godfather just as Sirius is Harry's and there's no way he could have betrayed the Potters without losing his life."

"Sirius Black…"

"…is your father…"

"…but also Padfoot?"

"Correct on both counts," the glamoured redhead replied with a soft giggle. "Now, given the fact he is still a wanted fugitive, despite being innocent, I will not tell you anything regarding his animagus form or whereabouts should I learn of them. His life is on the line and it's his secret to tell or not as he sees fit."

"Fair enough," George replied and tapped his quill against his chin as he considered what they'd been told. James was nicknamed Prongs, which fit perfectly considering he had been a stag animagus. Moony seemed to hint at some sort of wolf while Padfoot was obviously some kind of animal that had pads on their feet, such as a cat or dog of some type. That left Wormtail…

"Last and definitely least, Wormtail," Heather snarled angrily as she thought about her family's betrayer. The fact the man turned into a rat seemed appropriate considering his cowardice and craven actions. "I honestly don't know what James, Sirius and Remus saw in the man as he was all but useless and only caused the true Marauders problems. You'll recognize the name, assuming you were paying attention to Harry's little speech last night. His name is, or was if he is in fact dead like everyone seems to believe, Peter Pettigrew. His animagus form is that of a rat which is fitting considering he's a Death Eater and it was he who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort that horrible Samhain night twelve years ago."

"That bastard!" the twins shouted only to immediately get hushed by the girls sharing their table and Madam Pince who gave them a smoldering glare. There were very few people in the library as it was still the first day of classes, but that didn't matter to the strict librarian who enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was why she had become one in the first place as she'd always preferred books to people.

"Do you know what his rat form looks like?" Fred asked anxiously as he thought about Scabbers and the fact they'd had him for twelve years after finding him in their garden. A lifespan that seemed far too long for a common rat as the store clerk at Eyelop's Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie stated when their brother had brought him in. In recent weeks, Scabbers had started looking older and leaner, as though he wasn't eating and something was worrying him. If Scabbers was truly Peter Pettigrew in animagus form, news of Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban would certainly cause him to worry.

"What he looks like? A common grey rat with a worm-like tail I suppose, why?" Heather asked as she raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Scabbers!" Hermione exclaimed as she pieced the puzzle together. She knew her girlfriend had figured it out by the calculating gleam in her eyes but had asked the question in order to continue hiding who she really was. Turning to the smaller girl sitting beside her, she continued, "Percy Weasley, one of the twins' older brothers, gave Ronald the rat just before our first year after taking care of him for years."

The twins shook their heads as George lamented, "We should have known…"

"Why? You didn't even know Pettigrew was an animagus until a few minutes ago," Hermione asked, genuinely curious why the boys thought they should've known their pet rat was really a thirty-something year old man. A thought she desperately tried not to think about too closely. Glancing at her girlfriend, she noticed Heather struggling to do the same.

"No rat lives for twelve years…"

"So, that just meant Scabbers was unusual and possibly magical, not necessarily an animagus," the brunette countered gently, trying to assuage the twins' feelings of guilt over their situational blindness. "He'd been with your family since you were toddlers and you were used to him always being around."

"Still…"

"No, stop beating yourself up for not noticing what in hindsight is rather obvious," Hermione demanded as she reached out to take the boys' hands in her own. "You had no reason to believe your pet was anything but what he appeared. The question you should really be asking yourself is this: what are you going to do about it now that you know? Will you help Heather expose the man that betrayed her godfather's family and aid in clearing her father's name or will you bemoan the fact that you've been harboring a Death Eater who led Voldemort to Harry's doorstep and do nothing?"

The twins looked at Hermione in horror that she would think even for a moment they could do the latter. No, Pettigrew was going down, it was just a question of how and when.

"Right now all we have are suspicions," Heather said as she raised her hand to quell any opposition. "Sure, the evidence is pretty damning but it's also circumstantial. We need hard proof Scabbers and Pettigrew are really one and the same. We need to learn an animagus reversal spell, capture the rat and check for ourselves before getting the authorities involved. I know how corrupt the Ministry is and while Amelia Bones might be honorable, many are not and people out there like Lucius Malfoy would love to see our evidence mysteriously disappear so my father never regains his freedom or claims his lordship."

"A sound plan little Miss and one we will begin researching after dinner tonight," Fred said.

"Now, about the map," George started hesitantly, "I know we promised to give it to you in exchange for information about the Marauders, but given our suspicions, would you mind if we held onto it until this Scabbers/Pettigrew mess is dealt with? As Gryffindors, we'll be able to keep an eye on our younger brother and his pet easier. Once this mess is over with, we promise to give you the map as it is yours by right."

The last Potter considered the twins' request for a moment before nodding her head.

"Thank you Miss Black…"

"…you don't know what this means to us…"

"…but we will forever be in your debt."

"No, there will be no debts between friends and I would like to be able to count the two of you in that category," Heather said with a shake of her head. "Also, my friends call me Heather and so should you."

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Author's Notes:

I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter. I want to thank everyone who has read this story so far and I hope I can retain your interest. Please read and review. Comments and criticism are welcome, I just ask you to be nice about it.

Publish Date: October 8th, 2021