Author's Notes: As before, I'm not sorry for the cliffhanger. I've got to have some fun with you all, after all. So comes the end of the Order of the Phoenix section of my story. Again I want to give a big shout out to the Harry Potter Fandom Wikia as a wonderful resource in my writings trying to keep characters, events, and locations in order. I also want to thank each and every one of you who has been with me since I started writing this a few months ago, and those who have joined along the way. I still have two more "books" to write and will probably continue the story in some fashion after Heather leaves Hogwarts. So sit back and enjoy, and know there's plenty more still to follow.
Chapter Eighteen
Heather's heart pounded as the door to the Room of Requirement opened. Through the crack in the door, she could see Hermione and Ginny leading a very confused looking Ron into her haven. A large lump formed in her throat at the thought of what was about to happen, but Heather knew it was time. One way or another Ron needed to know the truth about his best friend.
"Ok, Ron. Harry needs to tell you something." Said Hermione to Ron, leading him into the ring of armchairs.
"Well, where is he?' Ron asked, looking around.
With shaking hands Heather pushed open the door from the closet and walked into view. Ron's eyes flew to her at the movement, and when they saw her, they went wide as dinner plates. Heather let her hands fall to her sides and had to exert a great deal of willpower not to let her hands visibly shake. No one spoke for several moments, Ron stood rooted to the floor, and the three girls were all holding their breath waiting for his response.
Hoarsely, Ron finally croaked out, "Harry? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me Ron." Heather answered, trying to gauge what he was feeling by his face.
"Blimey" was all Ron was able to get out.
Heather hesitated, somehow, she had expected more from him.
"Why are you dressed like a girl?" asked Ron.
"I am a girl, Ron. Or at least, I'm going to become one." Heather responded.
"What do you mean, you're a girl?"
"That's who I am. It's taken me a while to figure it out, but this is who I really am." Heather said, waving her hands to indicate how she looked.
Ron went silent again, eyes darting to Ginny and Hermione as if asking if this was real. Both of them had drawn back slightly, leaving Heather and Ron alone in the center of the room.
"How long have you been doing all of this?" Ron asked, finding his words again.
"Since third year." Heather admitted
"And you never told me?" Ron asked, almost looking hurt.
Taken aback by the question, Heather paled. "Ron, how could I? I was afraid you would think I was a freak, or worse. And after the beginning of last year, I was afraid I'd lose you as a friend again."
Ron's face turned red with embarrassment as he recalled the words he'd flung at her the night her name came out of the Goblet of Fire. For so long he'd tried so hard to forget them. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I deserved that."
"Are you mad?" asked Heather.
"I'm not sure how I feel right now." It was an honest answer, Heather could see it in his face. She also took this as a small glimmer of hope. At least Ron hadn't gotten angry and stormed out at the start.
"So, what does this mean?" Ron asked, looking away from Heather and around the room.
"It means that I'm going to start becoming a girl next year. There are potions I can take that will help with it. It also means that I'm not Harry Potter anymore." Heather said.
"So, who are you going to become?"
"Heather Potter. That's my new name for the people who know the truth."
"Who else knows?"
"Just us three, and…. Sirius." Her godfather's name came out as just the barest whisper that still managed to be heard by everyone present. Thinking about him brought all of the emotions since his death flooding back, and tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.
Seeing his best friend starting to cry seemed to be what got through to Ron and broke him out of the freeze that had taken hold of him. He visibly relaxed, releasing muscles he probably wasn't even aware were tense. "Harr…Heather," he started, tripping up on the new name, "mate, you're my best friend in the world. I get it, why you didn't tell me sooner. I was a prat last year and sometimes put my foot right in my mouth. If you say this is who you really are, then I've got to accept it."
Heather looked up into the redhead's face, "You mean that?"
"'Course I do. Besides, the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Like I said to you last year, you've changed from who you used to be. I'm not gonna say I totally understand yet, but you've been my best friend for five years, and as long as you're still my friend I will be yours."
Without even realizing it, Heather flung herself at Ron and threw her arms around his neck. Ron stiffened at the contact, unsure of what to do, then cautiously hugged his friend back.
"It's alright, mate." He said quietly.
Blushing furiously Heather released him and backed up. Ron was still her friend. She looked around at the three people who were closer to her than anyone in the world. Maybe Dumbledore was right, that love is the most powerful force in the world.
Before any of them knew it the school year had come to a end. Ginny passed all her exams with flying colors, and Heather, Hermione, and Ron would be finding out their results in the next two months. Umbridge, who had been rescued from the forest by Dumbledore after he returned, tried to quietly leave the castle one night at dinner. In one last attempt to carry out the orders of the Weasley twins, Peeves chased her down the lawn with a bag of chalk and a walking stick. As she was packing her trunk, Heather considered giving her clothes back to Hermione and Ginny as she had the previous two years.
She sat down and pulled out the mirror, which was still trying to reach Sirius. Everything was going to be different, and not just for Heather. The world knew the truth now about Voldemort, there were already calls for Fudge to resign, uncertainty filled the air, and wherever she went Heather heard the change in everyone's tones. Gone were any doubts about her or thoughts she was a liar. No, she decided, Heather's clothes are mine for good now.
As she turned back to her trunk, the small two way mirror she'd been holding slipped from her hand and fell. On impact with the floor, it shattered into several shards and a fine powder. Heather didn't move, not believing she had just done that. The last thing Sirius had ever given her, and now it was gone. Being careful not to slice her hand open, she picked up the shards as best as she could and put them into a pocket of her bag. Perhaps it would be possible to fix it, even though she had no idea what had become of its mate.
Reaching to close the trunk she saw the corner of Sirius's last letter poking out. Tugging it free she remembered what it had said. Heather ran a hand through her hair as she considered his words to her. Halfway through her hand stopped and she looked up. She'd left her wardrobe door open for packing and her reflection looked back at her from the mirror on the back of the door. Harry's reflection, she thought. Picking up her wand she stood, with a silent thrill she cast the hair growth charm and watched as her hair flowed out her scalp. When it reached her shoulders she stopped the spell, a feeling of defiance filling her. "This is how I'm going to wear my hair." She said to herself in the mirror.
One the train the next day she sat with her friends and watched the mountains go by. No one had commented on her new look beyond smiles of approval from the girls and Ron. Ginny was just telling them all that she had broken up with Michael Corner after the Ravenclaw Quidditch match, prompting Ron to tell her to choose someone better next time.
"Well, would you consider Dean Thomas better?" Asked Ginny with a smirk, watching Ron's face turn a mixture of pale and deep red.
Everyone had a good laugh at his expense, until he calmed and joined in the laughing himself.
"It hasn't started yet" said Hermione, folding up a copy of the Daily Prophet, "but it will soon."
"We'll just have to face it when it does." Said Heather, who wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible. Here she sat with her friends, and for a moment the cares of the world could wait. For just a moment she could just be a normal teenager, well as normal as Heather ever was.
Ginny tapped her on the shoulder and brought her out of her reverie
"I just thought you should know; you remember that boy we were talking about?" Ginny asked
"Yeah," Heather hadn't thought about that conversation in months, and since the end of the D.A. he hadn't seen much of Justin outside of classes.
"Well, turns out he's your type after all." Said Ginny with a wink before turning back to her chess game with Ron.
Heather looked back out the window and began to wonder just how different her next year at school was going to be.