diclaimer: Yadda Yadda Yaddda-if it's not JKR's it's mine
Tuesday was the full moon, and Wednesday Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I worked more on the Animagus potion. It was coming along very nicely, but we still needed a few ingredients. Since I was going back to the orphanage on Friday night to visit Lydia, I told Hermione that I would ask the Potions teacher for some ingredients. She was a favorite teacher of mine, and probably wouldn't ask too many questions.
On Thursday, I got an owl back from Mrs. Tweedy saying that she would love to have me come back that weekend. She said Lydia had a lot of fun playing with my owl, and that Rainbow seemed to enjoy it too.
On Friday I told Hermione and Professor Lupin that I was leaving, and would be back Sunday night. Mrs. Tweedy had already talked to Dumbledore about it. I told Harry and Ron simply that I was visiting my sister. I left by floo powder through the common room fire, and arrived in Mrs. Tweedy's office at about seven o'clock.
"Hannah!" Mrs. Tweedy said, giving me a hug. "I've missed you! Lydia is bouncing in her bed, waiting to see you."
I followed Mrs. Tweedy to the Nursery, and the first thing I saw when I came in was a little girl I hardly recognized as Lydia jumping all over her crib.
"Lydia!" I squealed, running over to her. "You've grown so much!" I said, picking her up.
"Hannah, Hannah!" she said. "I like owly!"
I laughed, and said "I thought you would. You don't really want to go to bed now, do you?" I asked, knowing what she would say.
"No bed!" she said, smiling.
"Good. I want you to come with me. I have a present for you." I said, carrying her out of the nursery. I saw that Mrs. Tweedy had already gone back to her office, so I took Lydia upstairs to my old room. It was empty, and I guessed that it was probably a movie night for the older kids. I saw that my things were exactly as I had left them, after all, I still lived there in the summer and on holidays. I put Lydia on my bed, and looked through my pockets.
"Here." I said, handing Lydia a ball with a picture of me inside it.
"Hannah!" she said. "Play ball!"
I pulled my wand out, and put a spell on the ball, so that whoever was touching it had the tickling charm on them. As Lydia was still holding it, she burst out laughing. She dropped the ball, and stopped laughing, and then when she picked it up again, she laughed. When we both got tired of playing ball, I elevated her, and made her fly around the room. She loved every minute of it. All too soon, she was looking tired, so I took her back to the Nursery.
"Bed time!" I told her. "We'll play more in the morning.
I tucked her into her crib, and she curled right up with the stuffed rabbit I had given her for her first birthday.
"Night, Hannah." she said, and was asleep before I had left the room.
I went back into Mrs. Tweedy's office, and she smiled at me.
"Lydia is so cute!" I told her. "She has grown a ton!"
"I know." Mrs. Tweedy said. "Everyone is growing up so fast."
"Do you have a camera?" I asked her. "I want to take pictures of Lydia to show my friends."
"Yes." she said. "Here, and I've got more film, if you need it."
She handed me a camera and a roll of film.
"Thanks." I said. "Is tonight a movie night?"
"Yep." Mrs. Tweedy said. "People should be getting back in about an hour."
"Ok." I said. "Where is Professor Selden?" (The potions professor.)
"I think she is in her office making up a test." Mrs. Tweedy said. "Are you doing an illegal potion that you need ingredients for again?"
"Yes." I said. "How did you guess?"
"You have that look in your eyes." she said.
"I'm that obvious?" I asked.
"Only to me." she assured me.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning then." I said.
"Night Hannah." she said.
I went to Professor Selden's room, and sure enough, she was in there, making up a test. I knocked on the door.
"Come in." she said.
I went in, and she smiled, and stood up to hug me.
"Hi Hannah!" she said. "Long time no see!"
"I know!" I said. "It seems like forever since I was last in here!"
"What brings you here?" she asked. "To my classroom, I mean. I know you came to see Lydia."
"I wondered if you had some potions ingredients." I said. "I need Colampa root, May Noctricide, Alevinta root, and everything else on this list."
"Got it all." Professor Selden said. "It sounds like an Animagus potion to me."
"It is." I said. "Got any pointers?"
"Sure." she said. "Don't leave it unattended in the final 48 hours, for the last week never put out the fire. Add the Colampa root in little bits, or the potion will splatter a lot. All in all, I think you can handle the potion. You might want to ask Professor Reed for help with the charm though, and I want to give you some antidote so your friends don't end up as permanent animals. The potion antidote will fix any transfiguration problems."
"Thanks!" I said. I spent the next half hour telling her about Hogwarts, and Professor Snape. She also gave me more advice on the potion. After I helped her with making up her test for awhile, I left, in search of Professor Heardenlev, of Divination.
I was worried that I might be missing a new technique, or something. When I saw her, she hugged me, and said-
"Oh, Hannah, I don't think there's another Seer in the entire school! I'm getting so bored, telling people how to look into a crystal ball, and hearing the word 'fog' again and again. Can I please, please, teach you advanced Divination tomorrow?"
"You want to teach on a weekend?" I asked, astonished.
"I would teach over the entire summer break to be teaching someone who doesn't study tea leaves so they can get some good tea every week!"
"They do that?" I asked.
"Yes." Professor Heardenlev said. "And it gets so annoying!"
"Well, you can teach me anything you want." I said. "And I'm counting on summer break too."
"Great!" she said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning after breakfast then?"
"Sure." I said. "See ya' tomorrow."
After that, everyone was back from the movie, so I talked to my friends for a while, and then went to sleep. The next morning I was the first one up. I tiptoed down stairs to the Nursery, and got Lydia out of bed. I pushed her on the swing until breakfast time, and then took her to breakfast with me. Usually the little kids eat in the Nursery, but no one said anything to me. After breakfast, I took Lydia back to the Nursery, and promised her I would be back in a little while.
Then, I headed to the school, and upstairs to the Divination room. Professor Heardenlev was there, as promised.
I sat down, and she said "I think you are ready to learn the alternate future spell. It is very difficult, and requires-"
"Professor," I said. "I did those last year. Sorry."
"Really?" she asked. "I didn't expect you to have mastered them by the time you left tomorrow. Oh well, I get to teach you something harder. Do you have any ideas?"
"No." I said. "I know what I can do, but what I can't do, with the exception of changing future spells, I don't even know exists."
"You shouldn't know changing future spells exist." she said. "I don't even know the theory, just that they exist."
"I know the theory." I said. "But I have been researching it since I was five. I'm afraid it would take a while to explain."
"Goodness, it would take years to explain! I don't even want to know, it's too close to dark magic. Let's work on controlling trances."
We spent about an hour working on controlling trances, and then I went back to get Lydia. I took a lot of pictures with Mrs. Tweedy's camera, and then the muggle studies teacher taught me a spell to develop them, so that they would move, but you didn't have to make the potion. It saved a lot of time. I played with Lydia until lunch time
After lunch, I went to get tips from Professor Reed about the spells involved in becoming an animagi. He was very helpful, and wasn't the least bit surprised that I was working on the potion.
On Sunday, I went to mass, played with Lydia and talked to my friends and the teachers. When I was saying goodbye, I was glad to see that Lydia didn't cry. She just said "Bye bye Hannah."
When I popped out of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, I was surprised to see Hermione, Harry, and Ron standing right in front of me.
"Hi!" I said, surprised.
"Hi Hannah." they said in unison.
"How did you know when I would be back?" I asked.
"Amazing powers of divination." Harry said. "Actually, I just said 'let's go meet Hannah', and you popped out of the fire."
"Good job!" I said. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks." Harry said.
I turned to Hermione, and said "I have pictures of Lydia! She has grown sooo much!"
"Oo, let me see!" Hermione said.
I took my pictures out, put a few protecting spells on the whole stack, and passed them around.
"She's so cute!" Hermione squealed.
"Awwww." Harry said.
"She is cute." Ron agreed. "Who's that lady?"
I looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking about. I saw that he was holding a picture of Mrs. Tweedy holding Lydia.
"That's Mrs. Tweedy." I said.
"Who's that?" Harry asked.
"The head of the orphanage." I said. "Lydia is my adopted sister. Meaning she's not really my sister. She's an orphan, and I just spend a lot of time with her for this school thing. She missed me a lot, and I missed her, so I went back to visit."
"Oh." Harry and Ron said.
I smiled at them, and then handed out more pictures. I knew neither of the boys had really gotten what I told them, but they hid their puzzlement well, and continued to talk about how cute Lydia was.
That night, when Hermione, Harry, and Ron were in the common room, I looked into my mirror that shows Harry. I had a feeling that they would be asking Hermione some questions about me, and I was eager to see how she answered.
"What was Hannah talking about?" Harry asked. "She said Lydia was her adopted sister. Didn't her parents adopt Lydia?"
"No." Hermione said. "She said it was a school thing."
"Then why was she still visiting Lydia? She goes to Hogwarts now." Harry said.
"She loves Lydia." Hermione answered. "And Lydia loves her."
"Oh." Harry said.
When I heard Harry say 'Oh.' like that, my heart broke for him. He didn't know what it felt like to be loved. He had never had anyone to love before. He had his friends, but that was different. I resolved to tell him that I was an orphan that very night. I went down stairs, and interrupted the conversation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having about me.
"Hi." I said. "Mind if I join you?"
"No." said Harry.
"We were just talking about Lydia. She is adorable!" Hermione said.
"I know." I said. "I was lucky I got her. The names of every child at the orphanage under the age of 5 were put into a hat. On my fourteenth birthday, I got to draw a name. Lydia was about three months old at the time, and I have gotten to see the first time she did anything. The first word she said was Hannah. I watched her first step, gave her her first ride on a swing, and gave her her first birthday party. I got do everything a parent would be doing in normal circumstances."
"I feel sorry for Lydia. Her mom dropped her off at daycare one day, and never came back. I remember when the daycare lady brought Lydia to the orphanage. I was in Mrs. Tweedy's office at the time, being yelled at for predicting all the questions on the test we had. I remember asking myself how a parent could do that. Abandon their baby. I knew it had happened to a lot of the other kids in the orphanage, but I looked at Lydia, and asked myself how it was possible."
"For a long time, Lydia would scream every time someone left her. She had a fear of abandonment that she has just recently gotten over."
Harry and Ron just stared at me. Harry looked slightly puzzled, but Ron looked outraged. He had grown up in such a caring environment, that this kind of thing was nearly impossible for him to grasp.
"Compared to Lydia, I consider myself lucky. I'm going to bed now, goodnight."
"Goodnight." Harry, Ron, and Hermione said.
I went upstairs and looked in my mirror again.
"What did she mean?" Harry asked.
"I'm confused now." Ron said. "Is the orphanage connected to the school or something?"
"I assume so." Hermione said.
"But then..." Harry said.
"I'm going to bed." Hermione said suddenly.
"Wait!" Harry said. "You know something. Is Hannah an orphan?"
"Well spotted." Hermione said. "Goodnight."
Hermione walked out of view, and Harry and Ron just stared at each other.
"Well." Ron said. "That clears up a few things."
"Sure does." Harry said.
I looked away from the mirror just as Hermione walked in the room.
"Thanks for covering up for me earlier." I said. "But I want them to know, especially Harry. When you said 'She loves Lydia, and Lydia loves her.' and Harry just said 'Oh.' My heart nearly broke. How many people love him? About three." I answered for her. "It's sad."
"I know exactly what you mean." Hermione said. "How did you know what we were saying down there?"
"I have my ways." I said. "When is a Hogsmead weekend? Don't you normally have the first one before Halloween?"
"I think we have one in the middle of November." Hermione answered. "I don't know why it's late this year, and I am going to stop asking how you know things."
"Good idea." I said. "You know I will hardly ever answer you."
"Now I really am going to bed. Goodnight." "Goodnight." Hermione said.
The next full moon passed without Ron or Harry noticing anything odd. That weekend, Harry told us that Quidditch tryouts were going to be on November fifth.
When November fifth came around, I nervously headed down to the Quidditch pitch. I had told Harry the night before that I was trying out, and he had been surprised.
Just as I was sitting down on a bench, Harry walked up to stand in front of us, with Fred and George Weasley, seventh year Beaters. Harry started speaking.
"Hello, all of you, I am Harry Potter, and I'm the captain this year. Unfortunately, Quidditch started unusually late this year, so we are going to have to work extra hard. I don't know why we are just now getting around to try outs, but Dumbledore has been busy. Any ways, this is Fred Weasley, on my right, and George Weasley on my left."
"Hey, mate, you got us backwards. I'm George."
"I thought I was George!"
"No, you're Fred. You got confused because Mum calls you George."
"Oh."
"Wait, actually, you are George."
"No, I'm Fred."
"Don't mind them." Harry said. "That is why they didn't want to be captains. They like to play pranks, and they don't know left from right."
"Yes we do, I'm always right, and George is always left."
"No, I'm always wrong."
"Right."
"No, left."
"See, they are both always crazy." Harry said. "Now, starting with Ron, I want the Keepers to stand up and tell everyone your name, and year. Ron..."
"Ron Wesley, 5th year.''
"Colin Creevey, 4th year.''
"Ok, Chasers...''
"Katie Mosi. 4th year."
"Sara Qualken,2nd year."
"Dean Thomas, 5th year."
"Seamus Finnigan, 5th year."
It was my turn now, "Hannah O'Riley, 5th year." I said.
"Ok," Harry continued. "Is everyone sure that they know enough about the rules and positions to play some messed-up tryout-game Quidditch?"
A chorus of "yes" came from the players.
"Excellent!" Harry said. "Here's how we're going to do this. Fred and George will alternate being the Beater, and watching the game for skill. We will only have one Bludger, so that you can get the feel of it, but not be overwhelmed. There won't be a Snitch, so that I can watch the game. The Keeper will be on a team with the Beater, and the Chasers will have their own team, so you both can try out. We will have two games. Ron, you be Keeper the first game, Colin, the second game. Dean, Seamus, and Hannah, you can be Chasers the first game. Hannah, do you think you can play two games, since we have an odd number of people?"
"Sure," I answered.
"Ok," Harry said, "Then you, Sara, and Katie can be Chasers the second game. Everyone got all that?"
"Yes."
"Then lets get going. Ready, up!"
And we were up. Right away, I saw that Ron made an excellent Keeper, and with a little bit of practice, Dean, Seamus, and I could be really good.
When the second game started, I was disappointed. Colin was an awful Keeper (to put it nicely) and despite that blatant fact, I was the only one that scored at all.
After both games were over, Fred George, and Harry had a quick huddle. Then Harry started speaking again.
"Colin Creevey, you are the reserve Keeper, and would you like to be the official camera man?"
"Yes!" Colin squeaked excitedly. I really admired Harry's kindness.
"Great," Harry said. "We'll get your robes to you by the end of the week, and then you can tell me if you need anything for your camera. Sara and Katie, you are both reserve Chasers. Sara, tell Denise that I told you won the bet. You three can leave now, thank you for coming. We'll tell you which practices to come to.
A minute later Harry spoke again. "Ron, you are the Keeper, and Dean, Seamus, and Hannah, you are the Chasers. Congratulations all, let's practice tomorrow at four. You can leave.
Ron got up and went over to talk to Harry, I heard them say something about brooms. Dean and Seamus left together, smiling. I was just standing up to leave, when Fred and George came over to me.
"Man, you are an awesome flyer!" one of them said. "Yeah," added the other. "You fly like a Potter!"
When I heard that, I froze. Could the Wesleys know? I decided that they couldn't possibly, so I went back to the common room to tell Hermione. She congratulated me.
The next day I asked Harry if he had a game schedule yet.
"No." he said. "Why?"
"I want to see when the games are." I said. "But never mind, I'll just See when the games are. Better yet, you See when the games are. It will be good practice."
"Ok." Harry said. "Um, the 17th of January, the 26th of March, and the 2nd of May."
The second of May was a full moon. I divinated that Dumbledore would realize that in time, and change it.
"The game on the second of May will be moved to May 22." I said. "Sometimes when you don't have much experience as a Seer you make those kinds of mistakes, and don't predict what will be after everyone has made their changes. Good job though."
"Thanks." Harry said. "Are we going to practice more tomorrow?"
"Yes." I answered. "We'll work on the potion for a while, and then we can spend some time on Divination."
I continued to tutor Harry in Divination, and he started getting pretty good. Pretty good for a Potter, that is. He was really good compared to Professor Trelawny.
Before I knew it, it was the middle of November. I had asked McGonagall if I could go to Hogsmead, and she had put me on Filch's list. The first place we went to was Zonko's Joke Shop. It had everything a prankster could want. I bought a lot, hoping I could do something to Malfoy, who had started calling me a mudblood.
Next, we went to The Three Broomsticks and got Butterbeer, as it was cold out. Then we went to look at the Shrieking Shack.
"Wow!" I said when I saw it. "It looks awful from the outside. No wonder people thought it was haunted."
"Yeah." Harry said. "How did you discover it in the first place?"
"The shrieking shack?" I asked. "I went there on the first night at Hogwarts. The night of the full moon, when I missed the train..."
"But, but." Ron sputtered.
"Well duh." I said. "It took you long enough. Hermione found out the second week of school."
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Hogsmead, and then went back to school. When we got back to school, I got up the nerve to ask Harry if he had heard from Sirius lately.
"No." he said, surprised that I had asked. "Do you know all about that?"
"Yes." I said. "Do you think if I owled him he would answer?"
"Maybe if I wrote that it was ok, and you were my friend. We can use Hedwig."
"Good idea." I said. "My owl might attract a lot of attention."
"I've seen your owl." Harry said. "I think it would attract a lot more than a lot of attention."
"Right." I said. "I don't really need to talk to Sirius yet, but I want to know that I can."
When Christmas rolled around, I went back to the Orphanage. Lydia was waiting by the fire when I appeared this time. She had grown again, and I had an enjoyable time playing with her. On Christmas morning, I woke up to find Hedwig by my bed. She gave me a letter, and a small box. I opened the letter, and read:
Dear Hannah,
We didn't want you to think that we forgot you, but we also didn't want the other kids to get jelous if they saw you with a bunch of presents. We decided to shrink all of your presents. They are all in the little box, for you to open whenever is convenient.
Your Friends,
Hermione, Ron, and Harry
"That was sweet." I said softly."
I decided to wait until I got back to Hogwarts to unshrink my presents. It didn't seem like I had long to wait. I got back to Hogwarts to see that my presents were all exactly what I had wanted. I got a book on Animagi from Hermione, Divination stuff from Harry, and a broomstick servicing kit from Ron.
Tuesday was the full moon, and Wednesday Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I worked more on the Animagus potion. It was coming along very nicely, but we still needed a few ingredients. Since I was going back to the orphanage on Friday night to visit Lydia, I told Hermione that I would ask the Potions teacher for some ingredients. She was a favorite teacher of mine, and probably wouldn't ask too many questions.
On Thursday, I got an owl back from Mrs. Tweedy saying that she would love to have me come back that weekend. She said Lydia had a lot of fun playing with my owl, and that Rainbow seemed to enjoy it too.
On Friday I told Hermione and Professor Lupin that I was leaving, and would be back Sunday night. Mrs. Tweedy had already talked to Dumbledore about it. I told Harry and Ron simply that I was visiting my sister. I left by floo powder through the common room fire, and arrived in Mrs. Tweedy's office at about seven o'clock.
"Hannah!" Mrs. Tweedy said, giving me a hug. "I've missed you! Lydia is bouncing in her bed, waiting to see you."
I followed Mrs. Tweedy to the Nursery, and the first thing I saw when I came in was a little girl I hardly recognized as Lydia jumping all over her crib.
"Lydia!" I squealed, running over to her. "You've grown so much!" I said, picking her up.
"Hannah, Hannah!" she said. "I like owly!"
I laughed, and said "I thought you would. You don't really want to go to bed now, do you?" I asked, knowing what she would say.
"No bed!" she said, smiling.
"Good. I want you to come with me. I have a present for you." I said, carrying her out of the nursery. I saw that Mrs. Tweedy had already gone back to her office, so I took Lydia upstairs to my old room. It was empty, and I guessed that it was probably a movie night for the older kids. I saw that my things were exactly as I had left them, after all, I still lived there in the summer and on holidays. I put Lydia on my bed, and looked through my pockets.
"Here." I said, handing Lydia a ball with a picture of me inside it.
"Hannah!" she said. "Play ball!"
I pulled my wand out, and put a spell on the ball, so that whoever was touching it had the tickling charm on them. As Lydia was still holding it, she burst out laughing. She dropped the ball, and stopped laughing, and then when she picked it up again, she laughed. When we both got tired of playing ball, I elevated her, and made her fly around the room. She loved every minute of it. All too soon, she was looking tired, so I took her back to the Nursery.
"Bed time!" I told her. "We'll play more in the morning.
I tucked her into her crib, and she curled right up with the stuffed rabbit I had given her for her first birthday.
"Night, Hannah." she said, and was asleep before I had left the room.
I went back into Mrs. Tweedy's office, and she smiled at me.
"Lydia is so cute!" I told her. "She has grown a ton!"
"I know." Mrs. Tweedy said. "Everyone is growing up so fast."
"Do you have a camera?" I asked her. "I want to take pictures of Lydia to show my friends."
"Yes." she said. "Here, and I've got more film, if you need it."
She handed me a camera and a roll of film.
"Thanks." I said. "Is tonight a movie night?"
"Yep." Mrs. Tweedy said. "People should be getting back in about an hour."
"Ok." I said. "Where is Professor Selden?" (The potions professor.)
"I think she is in her office making up a test." Mrs. Tweedy said. "Are you doing an illegal potion that you need ingredients for again?"
"Yes." I said. "How did you guess?"
"You have that look in your eyes." she said.
"I'm that obvious?" I asked.
"Only to me." she assured me.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning then." I said.
"Night Hannah." she said.
I went to Professor Selden's room, and sure enough, she was in there, making up a test. I knocked on the door.
"Come in." she said.
I went in, and she smiled, and stood up to hug me.
"Hi Hannah!" she said. "Long time no see!"
"I know!" I said. "It seems like forever since I was last in here!"
"What brings you here?" she asked. "To my classroom, I mean. I know you came to see Lydia."
"I wondered if you had some potions ingredients." I said. "I need Colampa root, May Noctricide, Alevinta root, and everything else on this list."
"Got it all." Professor Selden said. "It sounds like an Animagus potion to me."
"It is." I said. "Got any pointers?"
"Sure." she said. "Don't leave it unattended in the final 48 hours, for the last week never put out the fire. Add the Colampa root in little bits, or the potion will splatter a lot. All in all, I think you can handle the potion. You might want to ask Professor Reed for help with the charm though, and I want to give you some antidote so your friends don't end up as permanent animals. The potion antidote will fix any transfiguration problems."
"Thanks!" I said. I spent the next half hour telling her about Hogwarts, and Professor Snape. She also gave me more advice on the potion. After I helped her with making up her test for awhile, I left, in search of Professor Heardenlev, of Divination.
I was worried that I might be missing a new technique, or something. When I saw her, she hugged me, and said-
"Oh, Hannah, I don't think there's another Seer in the entire school! I'm getting so bored, telling people how to look into a crystal ball, and hearing the word 'fog' again and again. Can I please, please, teach you advanced Divination tomorrow?"
"You want to teach on a weekend?" I asked, astonished.
"I would teach over the entire summer break to be teaching someone who doesn't study tea leaves so they can get some good tea every week!"
"They do that?" I asked.
"Yes." Professor Heardenlev said. "And it gets so annoying!"
"Well, you can teach me anything you want." I said. "And I'm counting on summer break too."
"Great!" she said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning after breakfast then?"
"Sure." I said. "See ya' tomorrow."
After that, everyone was back from the movie, so I talked to my friends for a while, and then went to sleep. The next morning I was the first one up. I tiptoed down stairs to the Nursery, and got Lydia out of bed. I pushed her on the swing until breakfast time, and then took her to breakfast with me. Usually the little kids eat in the Nursery, but no one said anything to me. After breakfast, I took Lydia back to the Nursery, and promised her I would be back in a little while.
Then, I headed to the school, and upstairs to the Divination room. Professor Heardenlev was there, as promised.
I sat down, and she said "I think you are ready to learn the alternate future spell. It is very difficult, and requires-"
"Professor," I said. "I did those last year. Sorry."
"Really?" she asked. "I didn't expect you to have mastered them by the time you left tomorrow. Oh well, I get to teach you something harder. Do you have any ideas?"
"No." I said. "I know what I can do, but what I can't do, with the exception of changing future spells, I don't even know exists."
"You shouldn't know changing future spells exist." she said. "I don't even know the theory, just that they exist."
"I know the theory." I said. "But I have been researching it since I was five. I'm afraid it would take a while to explain."
"Goodness, it would take years to explain! I don't even want to know, it's too close to dark magic. Let's work on controlling trances."
We spent about an hour working on controlling trances, and then I went back to get Lydia. I took a lot of pictures with Mrs. Tweedy's camera, and then the muggle studies teacher taught me a spell to develop them, so that they would move, but you didn't have to make the potion. It saved a lot of time. I played with Lydia until lunch time
After lunch, I went to get tips from Professor Reed about the spells involved in becoming an animagi. He was very helpful, and wasn't the least bit surprised that I was working on the potion.
On Sunday, I went to mass, played with Lydia and talked to my friends and the teachers. When I was saying goodbye, I was glad to see that Lydia didn't cry. She just said "Bye bye Hannah."
When I popped out of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, I was surprised to see Hermione, Harry, and Ron standing right in front of me.
"Hi!" I said, surprised.
"Hi Hannah." they said in unison.
"How did you know when I would be back?" I asked.
"Amazing powers of divination." Harry said. "Actually, I just said 'let's go meet Hannah', and you popped out of the fire."
"Good job!" I said. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks." Harry said.
I turned to Hermione, and said "I have pictures of Lydia! She has grown sooo much!"
"Oo, let me see!" Hermione said.
I took my pictures out, put a few protecting spells on the whole stack, and passed them around.
"She's so cute!" Hermione squealed.
"Awwww." Harry said.
"She is cute." Ron agreed. "Who's that lady?"
I looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking about. I saw that he was holding a picture of Mrs. Tweedy holding Lydia.
"That's Mrs. Tweedy." I said.
"Who's that?" Harry asked.
"The head of the orphanage." I said. "Lydia is my adopted sister. Meaning she's not really my sister. She's an orphan, and I just spend a lot of time with her for this school thing. She missed me a lot, and I missed her, so I went back to visit."
"Oh." Harry and Ron said.
I smiled at them, and then handed out more pictures. I knew neither of the boys had really gotten what I told them, but they hid their puzzlement well, and continued to talk about how cute Lydia was.
That night, when Hermione, Harry, and Ron were in the common room, I looked into my mirror that shows Harry. I had a feeling that they would be asking Hermione some questions about me, and I was eager to see how she answered.
"What was Hannah talking about?" Harry asked. "She said Lydia was her adopted sister. Didn't her parents adopt Lydia?"
"No." Hermione said. "She said it was a school thing."
"Then why was she still visiting Lydia? She goes to Hogwarts now." Harry said.
"She loves Lydia." Hermione answered. "And Lydia loves her."
"Oh." Harry said.
When I heard Harry say 'Oh.' like that, my heart broke for him. He didn't know what it felt like to be loved. He had never had anyone to love before. He had his friends, but that was different. I resolved to tell him that I was an orphan that very night. I went down stairs, and interrupted the conversation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were having about me.
"Hi." I said. "Mind if I join you?"
"No." said Harry.
"We were just talking about Lydia. She is adorable!" Hermione said.
"I know." I said. "I was lucky I got her. The names of every child at the orphanage under the age of 5 were put into a hat. On my fourteenth birthday, I got to draw a name. Lydia was about three months old at the time, and I have gotten to see the first time she did anything. The first word she said was Hannah. I watched her first step, gave her her first ride on a swing, and gave her her first birthday party. I got do everything a parent would be doing in normal circumstances."
"I feel sorry for Lydia. Her mom dropped her off at daycare one day, and never came back. I remember when the daycare lady brought Lydia to the orphanage. I was in Mrs. Tweedy's office at the time, being yelled at for predicting all the questions on the test we had. I remember asking myself how a parent could do that. Abandon their baby. I knew it had happened to a lot of the other kids in the orphanage, but I looked at Lydia, and asked myself how it was possible."
"For a long time, Lydia would scream every time someone left her. She had a fear of abandonment that she has just recently gotten over."
Harry and Ron just stared at me. Harry looked slightly puzzled, but Ron looked outraged. He had grown up in such a caring environment, that this kind of thing was nearly impossible for him to grasp.
"Compared to Lydia, I consider myself lucky. I'm going to bed now, goodnight."
"Goodnight." Harry, Ron, and Hermione said.
I went upstairs and looked in my mirror again.
"What did she mean?" Harry asked.
"I'm confused now." Ron said. "Is the orphanage connected to the school or something?"
"I assume so." Hermione said.
"But then..." Harry said.
"I'm going to bed." Hermione said suddenly.
"Wait!" Harry said. "You know something. Is Hannah an orphan?"
"Well spotted." Hermione said. "Goodnight."
Hermione walked out of view, and Harry and Ron just stared at each other.
"Well." Ron said. "That clears up a few things."
"Sure does." Harry said.
I looked away from the mirror just as Hermione walked in the room.
"Thanks for covering up for me earlier." I said. "But I want them to know, especially Harry. When you said 'She loves Lydia, and Lydia loves her.' and Harry just said 'Oh.' My heart nearly broke. How many people love him? About three." I answered for her. "It's sad."
"I know exactly what you mean." Hermione said. "How did you know what we were saying down there?"
"I have my ways." I said. "When is a Hogsmead weekend? Don't you normally have the first one before Halloween?"
"I think we have one in the middle of November." Hermione answered. "I don't know why it's late this year, and I am going to stop asking how you know things."
"Good idea." I said. "You know I will hardly ever answer you."
"Now I really am going to bed. Goodnight." "Goodnight." Hermione said.
The next full moon passed without Ron or Harry noticing anything odd. That weekend, Harry told us that Quidditch tryouts were going to be on November fifth.
When November fifth came around, I nervously headed down to the Quidditch pitch. I had told Harry the night before that I was trying out, and he had been surprised.
Just as I was sitting down on a bench, Harry walked up to stand in front of us, with Fred and George Weasley, seventh year Beaters. Harry started speaking.
"Hello, all of you, I am Harry Potter, and I'm the captain this year. Unfortunately, Quidditch started unusually late this year, so we are going to have to work extra hard. I don't know why we are just now getting around to try outs, but Dumbledore has been busy. Any ways, this is Fred Weasley, on my right, and George Weasley on my left."
"Hey, mate, you got us backwards. I'm George."
"I thought I was George!"
"No, you're Fred. You got confused because Mum calls you George."
"Oh."
"Wait, actually, you are George."
"No, I'm Fred."
"Don't mind them." Harry said. "That is why they didn't want to be captains. They like to play pranks, and they don't know left from right."
"Yes we do, I'm always right, and George is always left."
"No, I'm always wrong."
"Right."
"No, left."
"See, they are both always crazy." Harry said. "Now, starting with Ron, I want the Keepers to stand up and tell everyone your name, and year. Ron..."
"Ron Wesley, 5th year.''
"Colin Creevey, 4th year.''
"Ok, Chasers...''
"Katie Mosi. 4th year."
"Sara Qualken,2nd year."
"Dean Thomas, 5th year."
"Seamus Finnigan, 5th year."
It was my turn now, "Hannah O'Riley, 5th year." I said.
"Ok," Harry continued. "Is everyone sure that they know enough about the rules and positions to play some messed-up tryout-game Quidditch?"
A chorus of "yes" came from the players.
"Excellent!" Harry said. "Here's how we're going to do this. Fred and George will alternate being the Beater, and watching the game for skill. We will only have one Bludger, so that you can get the feel of it, but not be overwhelmed. There won't be a Snitch, so that I can watch the game. The Keeper will be on a team with the Beater, and the Chasers will have their own team, so you both can try out. We will have two games. Ron, you be Keeper the first game, Colin, the second game. Dean, Seamus, and Hannah, you can be Chasers the first game. Hannah, do you think you can play two games, since we have an odd number of people?"
"Sure," I answered.
"Ok," Harry said, "Then you, Sara, and Katie can be Chasers the second game. Everyone got all that?"
"Yes."
"Then lets get going. Ready, up!"
And we were up. Right away, I saw that Ron made an excellent Keeper, and with a little bit of practice, Dean, Seamus, and I could be really good.
When the second game started, I was disappointed. Colin was an awful Keeper (to put it nicely) and despite that blatant fact, I was the only one that scored at all.
After both games were over, Fred George, and Harry had a quick huddle. Then Harry started speaking again.
"Colin Creevey, you are the reserve Keeper, and would you like to be the official camera man?"
"Yes!" Colin squeaked excitedly. I really admired Harry's kindness.
"Great," Harry said. "We'll get your robes to you by the end of the week, and then you can tell me if you need anything for your camera. Sara and Katie, you are both reserve Chasers. Sara, tell Denise that I told you won the bet. You three can leave now, thank you for coming. We'll tell you which practices to come to.
A minute later Harry spoke again. "Ron, you are the Keeper, and Dean, Seamus, and Hannah, you are the Chasers. Congratulations all, let's practice tomorrow at four. You can leave.
Ron got up and went over to talk to Harry, I heard them say something about brooms. Dean and Seamus left together, smiling. I was just standing up to leave, when Fred and George came over to me.
"Man, you are an awesome flyer!" one of them said. "Yeah," added the other. "You fly like a Potter!"
When I heard that, I froze. Could the Wesleys know? I decided that they couldn't possibly, so I went back to the common room to tell Hermione. She congratulated me.
The next day I asked Harry if he had a game schedule yet.
"No." he said. "Why?"
"I want to see when the games are." I said. "But never mind, I'll just See when the games are. Better yet, you See when the games are. It will be good practice."
"Ok." Harry said. "Um, the 17th of January, the 26th of March, and the 2nd of May."
The second of May was a full moon. I divinated that Dumbledore would realize that in time, and change it.
"The game on the second of May will be moved to May 22." I said. "Sometimes when you don't have much experience as a Seer you make those kinds of mistakes, and don't predict what will be after everyone has made their changes. Good job though."
"Thanks." Harry said. "Are we going to practice more tomorrow?"
"Yes." I answered. "We'll work on the potion for a while, and then we can spend some time on Divination."
I continued to tutor Harry in Divination, and he started getting pretty good. Pretty good for a Potter, that is. He was really good compared to Professor Trelawny.
Before I knew it, it was the middle of November. I had asked McGonagall if I could go to Hogsmead, and she had put me on Filch's list. The first place we went to was Zonko's Joke Shop. It had everything a prankster could want. I bought a lot, hoping I could do something to Malfoy, who had started calling me a mudblood.
Next, we went to The Three Broomsticks and got Butterbeer, as it was cold out. Then we went to look at the Shrieking Shack.
"Wow!" I said when I saw it. "It looks awful from the outside. No wonder people thought it was haunted."
"Yeah." Harry said. "How did you discover it in the first place?"
"The shrieking shack?" I asked. "I went there on the first night at Hogwarts. The night of the full moon, when I missed the train..."
"But, but." Ron sputtered.
"Well duh." I said. "It took you long enough. Hermione found out the second week of school."
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Hogsmead, and then went back to school. When we got back to school, I got up the nerve to ask Harry if he had heard from Sirius lately.
"No." he said, surprised that I had asked. "Do you know all about that?"
"Yes." I said. "Do you think if I owled him he would answer?"
"Maybe if I wrote that it was ok, and you were my friend. We can use Hedwig."
"Good idea." I said. "My owl might attract a lot of attention."
"I've seen your owl." Harry said. "I think it would attract a lot more than a lot of attention."
"Right." I said. "I don't really need to talk to Sirius yet, but I want to know that I can."
When Christmas rolled around, I went back to the Orphanage. Lydia was waiting by the fire when I appeared this time. She had grown again, and I had an enjoyable time playing with her. On Christmas morning, I woke up to find Hedwig by my bed. She gave me a letter, and a small box. I opened the letter, and read:
Dear Hannah,
We didn't want you to think that we forgot you, but we also didn't want the other kids to get jelous if they saw you with a bunch of presents. We decided to shrink all of your presents. They are all in the little box, for you to open whenever is convenient.
Your Friends,
Hermione, Ron, and Harry
"That was sweet." I said softly."
I decided to wait until I got back to Hogwarts to unshrink my presents. It didn't seem like I had long to wait. I got back to Hogwarts to see that my presents were all exactly what I had wanted. I got a book on Animagi from Hermione, Divination stuff from Harry, and a broomstick servicing kit from Ron.