A sister and brother sat together in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. A new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was about to begin. The girl, who looked about thirteen, wore glasses on her round, serious face, and her straight dark-brown hair hung down in two long braids. The boy appeared to be about two years younger, with black hair and eyes and a definite chin. The door opened and a girl with bushy red hair bounced in.
"Hi, I'm Veronica Weasley. Ronny for short. May I sit with you?" she asked.
"Go ahead," said the brown-haired girl. "I'm Iris Longbottom and this is my brother Severus. It's his first year at Hogwarts."
"Mine too," said Veronica, sitting down opposite the other two.
"Iris is starting her third year," added Severus. "Do you have any brothers or sisters at Hogwarts?"
"No, I'm the eldest," said Veronica, "But Art will probably be coming next year. And I have lots of cousins there on the Weasley side. They're all Gryffindors and I expect I will be too. Both of my parents were. What House are you in, Iris?"
Iris smiled in a friendly way. "I'm a Hufflepuff, like our Granny who died before I was born. Our father's from Gryffindor, and Mum's a Slytherin."
Veronica's eyes grew round. "A Gryffindor and a Slytherin married each other?"
"Why shouldn't they?" asked Severus, jutting his chin. "Just because Gryffindor and Slytherin have never got along?" That silenced Veronica for the moment.
Severus knew a fair amount about the four Houses at Hogwarts. Iris, who had a good head for poetry, had memorized the Sorting Hat's verses from the two Sortings she had attended, and repeated them to him when she came home for the holidays. She had told him that the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws didn't care one way or the other about her parentage, but she had got some funny looks and awkward questions about it from various Gryffindors and Slytherins.
Severus had an odd feeling he would be joining Gryffindor or Slytherin. But he didn't know which. Indeed, he wasn't at all sure which he would prefer. Many wizards seemed to think that Gryffindor was the best, but he passionately admired his Grandfather Octavius; and Great-Uncle Severus Snape (for whom he was named) had certainly given him the impression that Slytherin House had come unfairly by its bad reputation.
Iris thought most fondly of Grandfather Longbottom, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. His hair had gone completely white, though he wasn't quite sixty. Grandfather was a perfect duck and spoiled his grandchildren whenever he got the chance, and ordinarily he wasn't a bit strict with his students. The only thing that made him really angry was any kind of cruelty. When he caught any student, in his class or out of it, bullying another, he got a look in his eyes that the bravest would want to run from. He hardly had to say anything.
Iris worried that her brother Severus would not have an easy time at Hogwarts. She hoped that Professor Longbottom would be able to help, and she was ready to do anything she could. But in the end he would have to find his own way.
Veronica had collected herself. "Well, that's what I've always heard. And Dad says that all the wizards who went over to the Dark side came from Slytherin."
"Is he absolutely sure of that?" Severus demanded. "Has he made a list?"
"I don't know," Veronica admitted. "Mum isn't as sure. She was Muggle-born, but she knows an awful lot. She teaches History of Magic at Hogwarts, you know."
"Oh, so Professor Weasley is your Mum?" said Iris with interest. "Yes, she really knows her stuff. She gives us loads of reading and writing to do."
It was morning. Harry opened his bed curtains and looked across at Neville, who was sitting on the edge of his bed looking flummoxed. "What's up, Neville?" Harry asked.
"Harry, I just had the strangest dream!" Neville said dazedly. "About the future. I saw my children on the Hogwarts Express."
"Yours and Ivy's?" Harry guessed.
Neville nodded, looking sheepish. "I didn't do it on purpose," he said. "But there was someone else in the compartment too."
Ron poked his head through his own curtains. "Someone else? Who was it, Neville?"
THE END
AN: Yes folks, this is really it. Back in November of 2001, inspired and moved by GOF, I sat down to write a fanfic "short story." But I got carried away, and nineteen months later, after numerous tinkerings and revisions, I passed the 100,000 mark, finally achieving a complete draft less than two weeks before the release date of OOTP. Although by that time I had about 20 friends cheering me on, I couldn't bear to go public with it until I'd done a little more editing … it's so tricky to get the dialogue to sound right.
The turns the story took continued to surprise me. When I introduced Salazara, I had no idea how important she would be to the story, but her three-headedness came in unexpectedly handy; same with the Marauder's Map, and the mirror-double idea (which did get a bit confusing) and the scar on Harry's wand. And when I thought of Ivy (of whom I am very proud), I had NO IDEA I was creating a mate for Neville. Honest!
Although I borrowed her name, I don't identify that strongly with Iris Longbottom, the Auror's granddaughter. I think of myself as more of a Ravenclaw.
Having been desperate to finish the thing for the last six months, I ended up leaving a lot of loose threads hanging. Naturally the question of a sequel comes up. DOES Aurelle actually give her life for Barty? When and how? (Don't blame me, talk to Fudge!) What about Iris Lefay? I have an idea about who is appointed to save her. Another thought: maybe Neville's sister wasn't miscarried, but was later born alive and, unknown to both parents, survived, to be spirited away by dark wizards to be trained for some nefarious purpose. Sort of a Rosemary's Baby scenario. Voldemort will probably try to steal the Snape-Potter-Longbottom Trempath.
But it is really time I got back to my long-neglected original fiction. Pouring my heart out in a Harry Potter story wasn't part of the plan! But I've loved every minute of it, and learned a great deal.
When I'm really knocking myself out to create something authentic and true to the original Harry Potter (as opposed to just fooling around), I feel a strong sense of being on holy ground. Certain liberties with the story are just off-limits, and that's what the disclaimer really means to me. I'm just borrowing these people and I want to return them in good condition and still recognizable.
Thanks for all your interest and support. I love to write reviews too, so see you there!