Author's Notes: I had to go back and retcon a previous chapter because of a plot point I had forgotten. It was Year 6 Chapter 14.
Harry Potter and all its associated trademarks are not my property, I'm just borrowing them.
Chapter Seventeen
Looking back later, Heather was astonished at how quickly January and February flew by. Her first week back to Hogwarts, large signs went up announcing Apparition lessons for sixth-years. These would take place for the next twelve Saturdays for any student who already was seventeen, or would be before the start of the next school year. On top of these, her assignment from Dumbledore, trying to figure out what Snape and Malfoy were up to, and quidditch practice, Heather hardly for her homework, let alone sleep.
This match in particular had her and the team practicing more intensely then ever. It was perhaps unfair to take her emotions against Justin out on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, but she was determined that her team would not just win, but crush Hufflepuff. After one practice session, Ron compared her to Oliver Wood, which she took as a compliment whether he meant it that way or not.
She made one attempt to retrieve the horcrux memory from Slughorn during her first week back to school. To call it an absolute failure would be an understatement, thought Heather as she watched Slughorn dash from the dungeon. It didn't help that Hermione wasn't feeling too inclined to be sympathetic. Heather had avoided doing any work during that lesson, mostly for lack of understanding Golpalott's Third Law, and had instead handed in a bezoar stone, something Slughorn had found highly amusing rather than impertinent.
Deciding it would be best to let Slughorn think she had dropped the subject, Heather kept her head down, focusing on Malfoy. At least once a day she opened the Marauder's Map to track his small black dot. She noticed that Crabbe and Goyle, who she had heard arguing with Malfoy during the first apparition lesson, could be found off on their own more than she could ever remember them doing before. Perhaps, like Hermione and Ron, they were simply growing apart.
In the middle of all of this, Heather started to notice the changes to her body. For months now her body hair had been softer than it had before, which made shaving much easier, but that was the only marked change she's seen so far. One evening in early February, she was standing in the shower under the scorching hot water, and took the time to examine her body. Her hips had started to widen while her stomach flattened. On her chest two small round bumps were forming nicely, and her body tingled when she touched them. Running her hands over her changing body gave her immense chills of pleasure, which intensified on closer inspection of her face over the sink when she got out.
She knew that Mrs. Weasley had been able to tell over the Christmas holidays that her face was becoming more feminine, but this was the first time that Heather herself had really noticed. Framed by her shoulder length hair, Heather had a hard time seeing a boy looking back at her. Amazingly, the features she had known for her whole life had softened and smoothed. Last summer she had seen the beginnings of hair growing on her chin, but that was gone now. Instead, the skin was soft and unblemished. She had been religiously using the pimple remover she had brought from Fred and George's shop over the summer, and it had worked like a charm. Her joy at finally becoming the girl she was shifted in an instant to fear as she realized again that soon this wouldn't be able to be hidden, certainly not by the beginning of the next school year.
By the end of January, Heather had long since given up on ever hearing from Justin, even going so far as to throw away her enchanted galleon. In a way she was glad to not be in a relationship anymore, as it seemed that all of her friend's pairings were stressful enough. Ginny and Dean were on the outs again, and as the middle of February arrived, so were Ron and Lavender. During a girl's session, Ginny spent most of the time ranting about Dean, saying he treated her like she was helpless. Both Hermione and Heather were sympathetic but didn't have any good advice on what she should do.
"If it's that bad, why don't you just end it with him?" Heather asked.
"Because I still like him, or I think I do anyways." Ginny said, dropping her head into her hands.
"Well, if you aren't happy then you'd be better off to leave it sooner rather than later" added Hermione, who was cutting up a fresh batch of potion ingredients.
"I just guess I'd rather be with someone than be alone" Ginny replied, looking up at her.
"Better to be alone than to be with the wrong person" said Hermione, sagely.
"Oh, what do you know" retorted Ginny, anger flashing across her features. "Besides, seeing as how you're pining after my brother but won't say so, I don't think you've got much room to talk, Hermione."
Heather was smart enough to stay out of this. She hadn't risked bringing up Hermione's evident crush on Ron since before the Christmas holidays, and internally applauded Ginny's daring, even if her delivery might not have been the best. Hermione paled then blushed.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said crisply.
"Uh huh, right. Well, whenever you finally get around to getting him away from that girl he's with now, I'll remember to tell you 'I told you so" It was clear that Ginny would have preferred to use a word other than 'girl' to describe Lavender, but had restrained herself.
Abruptly, Hermione changed topics, dragging Heather back into the conversation. Ginny met Heather's gaze at this, rolled her eyes, then suddenly blushed and looked away again. Heather watched her for a moment before the words Hermione asked her filtered through her brain.
"What?" she asked
"I asked, how are your breasts doing?"
"T-they're…growing." Heather stammered, caught completely off guard.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Said Hermione passing over Heather's embarrassment. "It means that the potion is working. Those are going to be the most notable change until you start taking them full time."
"You'll have to be careful about getting your shirt wet" joked Ginny, before blushing again for reasons Heather still wasn't sure about.
It was her turn now to switch subjects. As happy as she was about the changes she was going through, it still felt odd talking about them, even with two of her best friends. "Are you and Dean going to Hogsmeade together in a few weeks?" she asked Ginny.
"Probably" Ginny shrugged. "How about you Hermione? Planning on asking out Cormac again?"
Hermione scowled. "If either of you bring that up again-" she threatened, wagging her silver knife at each of them in turn. Ever since Slughorn's Christmas party and her disastrous date with Cormac McLaggen, Ginny had been giving her no end of grief about it. The fact that the only reason she had gone with him was to annoy Ron hadn't helped Hermione's situation either.
The next afternoon the news came down from the teachers that the upcoming Hogsmeade trip had been cancelled. Many Gryffindor's were disappointed, but no one was very surprised. With Katie Bell still at St. Mungo's and the culprit of her attack still at large, it had been assumed that Hogsmeade trips weren't going to happen. Ron was perhaps the most unhappy at the news, the trip was supposed to be on his birthday. He grumped for about a week, which wasn't helped by him having a row about something with Lavender that he wouldn't talk to anyone about.
The morning of the first day of March, Heather woke to the noise of Ron tearing into his birthday presents. As was her normal morning routine these days, she got out of bed and dug through her trunk to find the Marauder's Map, looking for Malfoy. In her haste to find the map, she mindlessly chucked several of the trunk's contents out onto the floor, including the box of chocolate cauldrons that Romilda had given her months ago. Behind her she heard their roommates getting dressed and leaving for breakfast.
"Nice haul this year!" exclaimed Ron, trying on the new keeper's gloves Heather had gotten him.
Heather searched the map, only paying a little attention to Ron. Finally, she found Malfoy's dot in the Great Hall sitting at the Slytherin Table. She was just wiping the map when she saw Ron stiffen out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a dazed expression of pure bliss fill his face as he started off into nothingness.
"Ron?" she asked.
"Heather" Ron practically moaned in a way that made her skin crawl, "I think I love her."
The following conversation would live in Heather's memory as the oddest she would ever have with Ron, and that was saying something. Ron professed his undying love for Romilda Vane, and it didn't take long for Heather to put two and two together once she saw the open box of chocolate cauldrons. Thinking quickly, she got Ron dressed before leading him down the stairs and out into the Common Room. Lavender was waiting with her present for them emerge, and simpered up to Ron with a loud "Won-Won!"
"Leave me alone," Ron replied pushing past her, "Heather's going to introduce me to Romilda Vane."
Lavender looked extremely put out, but a moment later that emotion was replaced by a puzzled expression.
"He's been dosed by love potion, he's completely out of his mind." Whispered Heather to her, doing her best not to look terrified at Ron's slip up. Before Lavender could say anything else, Heather tugged Ron out of the portrait hole.
She led him down one of her secret passageways to the sixth-floor, then along a mercifully empty corridor to Slughorn's office. When the Potions Master opened the door bleary eyed, Heather quickly explained the situation. Ten minutes later Slughorn was handing Ron a small vial filled with a clear potion. The effect was immediate. Ron's glassy eyes returned to normal, and his smile faded, then turned to shock.
Slughorn chuckled and walked over to his sideboard. From it he retrieved a bottle and three glasses. "What you need, Rupert, is a pick me up."
"Ron" whispered Heather to Slughorn, but Ron was too oblivious to notice.
"Here you are then, bottoms up!"
Before Heather or Slughorn could take a sip of their wine, Ron threw his back and drank it in one go. For a moment Heather knew something was wrong before anyone else did. The wine, which Slughorn had meant as a Christmas present for Dumbledore, was poisoned. As Slughorn sputtered and wrung his hands, Heather dived into the potions master's bag, extracting the small bezoar stone she had given him during class weeks before. It was pure luck he still had it.
After shoving the stone down Ron's throat and seeing his body visibly relax, Heather sent Slughorn running from the room to get help. Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall emerged a short time later from the fire place, quickly summoning a stretcher and transporting Ron to the Hospital Wing. Heather was barred from following him inside, and spent most of the morning pacing outside the double doors. Hermione and Ginny, who had heard what had happened with the usual speed of the Hogwarts rumor mill, joined her after breakfast. While Ginny and Heather used their time to speculate on who had poisoned the wine, Hermione said nothing, staring unceasingly at the closed doors to the ward, worry etched into her face.
Around lunchtime Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came running up the corridor towards them, followed by Fred and George. Pausing only briefly to greet the three of them, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shoved their way into the Hospital Wing to see their son, leaving the twins outside with Heather and the rest. Ten minutes later they had left again, bound for Dumbledore's office and escorted by Professor McGonagall. Sometime after three o'clock, the doors opened and the group was allowed to enter, on the promise that they would remain quiet. Ron was fast asleep and Madam Pomfrey expected him to make a full recovery.
As they sat around his bed on conjured stools, the speculations resumed. Speaking for the first time in hours, Hermione pointed out that whoever the poisoner was, they didn't know Slughorn all that well. "If they had," she reasoned, "they would have known that he would have most likely kept something that good for himself."
Ron shifted in his sleep. In a whisper almost to faint to hear he said "Hermione." Everyone present heard it, and they all pointedly ignored the shade of bright red that Hermione's face had taken on. To cover up the awkwardness, Fred started explaining their plans to purchase the now closed Zonko's Joke shop, though if students weren't allowed to come to the village anymore there wasn't any point.
With Ron in the hospital for, at the very least, the next week, Heather had little choice but to offer the position of Keeper in the upcoming match to Cormac McLaggen. That is, she intended to, but he beat her to the punch. As she was entering the tower that night coming back from seeing Ron, Cormac waylaid her on the stairs to the dormitories. "Saw them taking Weasley up to the hospital wing. He didn't look like he'll be fit for the match this weekend."
"Yeah, I expect he won't."
Grinning with self satisfaction, Cormac replied "So it looks like I'll be your new Keeper."
"Suppose so. At least until Ron comes back." Heather said pointedly. She wishes she had another option, but he had come in second place during trials.
"We'll just have to see about that won't we." He replied, his grin growing even more smug as he passed her and disappeared from sight.
Cormac McLaggen's duration as Keeper for the Gryffindor Team lasted one week. It was the shortest and most notorious of anyone who had ever played Quidditch at Hogwarts. In their three practice sessions before the match, he spent most of his time ignoring the goal posts, preferring instead to criticize Heather's coaching or give the other players advice that no one asked for. Twenty minutes into his first session, everyone was already read to be shot of him. In many ways his presence robbed Heather of much of her ire towards Hufflepuff, and by extension Justin, and instead of relishing the chance to thrash them, was just ready for Saturday to be over.
The morning of the match Heather made her way down to the Quidditch pitch after breakfast with the rest of the school. She had dawdled over her toast and eggs, shooting venomous glares at Cormac, who was eating with gusto. Up ahead, walking against the flow of the crowd, was Draco Malfoy trailed by two small girls in Slytherin robes that Heather had never seen before. Heather stopped in her tracks to watch him pass, wondering why he was yet again missing a quidditch match to spend time inside the castle. For a full ten seconds she considered skiving off the match to follow him, but knew that wasn't an option. An hour later she wished she had.