Author's Note: I don't own anything Harry Potter related. It all belongs to JK Rowling.
Pronouns will follow character usage.
Quick warning: Though not terribly "dark", there are allusions to mental health issues later in the chapter.
The Hospital Wing doors closed behind Harry and Sirius, leaving them alone in the infirmary, with no Madam Pomfrey in sight. Sirius walked to the office just to the right of the entrance, lightly knocking on the wooden door, and taking a step back.
A few moments later, an exasperated medi-witch swung open the door, looking at a scroll of parchment she was carrying. Without looking up, the witch complained, "Can't go a single day without one of you lot either hurting yourself or getting hurt. Now what happened this time?"
Harry and Sirius both looked at each other, giggling to themselves. Apparently, they both thought the resident healer's behavior quite hilarious.
"Well, Madam Pomfrey, my poor heart was recently broken, and I was wondering if you had anything to heal it?" joked Sirius, unable to contain his laughter any longer. Harry joined in, not having this much fun in this part of the castle since Hermione dragged Harry on a journey through time back in third year.
It seemed the medi-witch was not fond of Sirius Black's humor; however, as he found his laughter cut short as she Silenced him with a quick spell. "Mr. Black, I should have known. I presume your misplaced joviality is not the reason for your visit?" Pomfrey kept the stare, but did drop her Silencio charm she had cast on him.
"Ah yes, well, young Harry and I are here on business. We just got out of the esteemed Headmaster's office, where Isolt Peverell removed a rather Dark curse from Harry's scar. We were sent to have you check it out, if you don't mind? We want to make sure there isn't any more residue of Dark magic in his scar."
"Hmph. Well, Mr. Potter, hop up on a bed. It seems you must be my patient once more before the school year officially ends. Hopefully this will not require an overnight stay, yes?"
Harry nodded, adding, "Believe me, Madam Pomfrey, I feel loads better now that its gone, though I do feel a headache coming along? Isolt did mention there might be some pain."
Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over her ward, running general diagnostic spells, before she turned to the cursed scar, "Oh, and where is this Isolt? I had hoped to talk to her?"
Sirius, who was leaning up against the wall, chimed in, "She said she was going to wait outside. Apparently, she has some bad memories of this room."
"I don't see why she would, I don't ever recall her stepping foot in here in the last few years. She certainly looks young enough to be a recent alumnus of this school."
"Well, she's the one who helped me and the others out last night. We talked, and it turns out she's a relative of mine. I don't know her full story, but she definitely carries a lot of hurt with her. I do know she's not my mother though, despite looking a lot like her." Harry's voice, which started out strong, finished as barely more than a whisper.
"Well, if she's a relative of yours, I hope she helps take better care of you than your muggle relatives. The sheer amount of nutrition potions I've had to subtly feed you these last five years has been staggering." Pomfrey said, matter-of-factly.
"Wait, you've been helping me? And you know about the Dursley's!?" Sirius and Pomfrey can tell that Harry was panicking. Any mention of Harry's life outside of Hogwarts seemed to be steeped in both mystery and pain, both of which Harry hid well.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Potter, I do. I've been doing what I can to help heal you, but between you not getting enough food here, and having to go back to them every summer, my work seems to be for naught, most of the time. I've held out hope that I've at least been able to help somewhat though." Pomfrey's tone carried with it an undercurrent of sadness and guilt, as if she felt she was personally responsible for Harry's mistreatment.
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, really. I'm glad you were doing your best to take care of me these five years. Hopefully you won't have to much longer though. Sirius and Isolt are going to take me in with them, so I won't be returning to the Dursley's any longer."
Sirius was deep in thought as Harry and Pomfrey spoke, the healer casting detection charms and diagnostic spells every so often. Sirius might have been a runaway, but he was now the Lord Presumptive of House Black, and had been trained in several of the Black Family Magicks and ways. Lils had grown to hate her sister, especially after the latter attempted to kill her in the summer between fifth and sixth year. It seemed some of the Black Family vengeance was necessary in the near future.
"Well, all done, Mr. Potter. There are no traces of anything Dark left in your scar." Summoning a potion from the phial cabinet, she handed Harry a phial. "This is a potion to help with your headache, make sure to have this with food, lest you want to experience mild nausea. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
"Well, um, you see…" Harry's Gryffindor courage seemed to evaporate. 'If only Isolt was here, she would know what to say.'
"Pup, if you don't want to ask, you don't have to." Sirius called from his post up against the wall.
"No, I want to ask, I just don't know how…"
Poppy Pomfrey was standing there, watching the two wizards converse. Feeling that her input might be helpful, she chimed in, "Well, if it's any help, my oaths as a healer prevent me from revealing any medical information to anyone without your express permission."
"Well, um, you see, I'm a girl."
"Alright, Ms. Potter, and I assume you are curious about the services offered to soul-swapped wixen?"
"Uh, what?"
"Soul-swapped. I believe the muggles use a different term, trans-something. But the concept is the same, at least in general. Some wixen find that their body doesn't quite connect with them, who they are as a person, so they take steps to get their body and soul to reconnect. For some, that involves potions and rituals that change their body to a different sex. For others, they learn cosmetic charms, or undergo magical surgery, to alter their appearance more to their liking. There are numerous ways soul-swapped wixen alleviate the discomfort they feel."
"Oh, well, definitely that then. I've never really felt comfortable being the 'Boy' who lived. Or the 'Boy Who Lived', either, for that matter. What could I do to be more comfortable as a girl?"
"Well, as I said before, there are potions and rituals, though I don't recommend the rituals until after your magical maturity, but potions and charms can definitely hold you over until then. There are potions to alter your parts to the desirable ones, to alter your voice, to reduce facial hair growth, to increase hair growth, all sorts of things, really. Would any of that appeal to you?"
"Definitely! Oh, that would be grand! Thank you so much! How do I start?" Harry was practically jumping off the bed, and Pomfrey and Sirius could only smile at how eager Harry was acting.
"Let me go grab some of the preliminary potions, as well as a pamphlet that contains instructions on how best to take them and when. But before I do, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Madam Pomfrey, Healer of Hogwarts. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms.?"
Harry thought this was a bit strange, but she felt like a fresh new start, with someone who was supportive, would be quite nice. She had given a new name some thought, and in her brief study in the Black Library of the Potter family tree and Black family tree had led her to a name that she absolutely loved, and felt completely encapsulated who she felt she was.
"Ms. Aster Potter, at your service." Aster giggled, feeling how pleasant hearing her name felt, coming out of her own lips.
"An excellent name, Ms. Aster Potter. And if I'm not mistaken, 'Aster' means star, in Greek, no?"
"It does! I figured this way I could honor my Black ancestry with my first name, and carry on honoring the Potter name with my last name." the young witch responded.
Hearing this, Sirius beamed. He looked at his goddaughter, who had her back to him as she was conversing with the medi-witch, and felt pride in his chest for her, and for the first time, for his family. 'So this is what Isolt meant by supporting Aster, no matter what she chose.'
Sirius walked up to his goddaughter, before doing a polite bow, giving her a smirk as he did so, "Well it is an honor to meet you, Ms. Aster Potter. I am Lord Presumptive Sirius Black, but you can call me Sirius."
"I'd be delighted, Sirius."
Chuckling was not a sound that many people heard coming from Madam Pomfrey, but both Aster and Sirius heard it that day, as the medi-witch went off to fetch the aforementioned potions and pamphlets. She came back, moments later, with a small phial-rack and a foot long parchment, giving them to Aster.
"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey! I guess we'll be going now! I imagine Isolt is worried about us!"
With that, Sirius and Aster left the Hospital Wing.
~Twenty minutes earlier, back outside the Hospital Wing~
Once the doors to the hospital wing had closed, Isolt sprung into action. She cast a Notice Me Not charm on herself and a Muffliato on her feet. Donning the Invisibility Cloak, she rushed up the stairs up to the seventh floor. Luckily, she had done a lot of conditioning the last three years, otherwise she probably would have lost her lungs on the fifth floor.
Reaching her destination, the Room of Requirement, in just a few minutes, no thanks to the Grand Staircase, she paced back and forth against the blank section of wall three times, desiring a place where lost things were stored. The unassuming door appeared on the wall, and Isolt rushed inside, taking off the Invisibility Cloak as she entered, and cancelling the Muffliato.
'Now, let's go hunting for a horcrux. The Diadem is around here somewhere, and I'm keen to see if the method of removing and destroying horcruxes works on non-living vessels.'
Casting a Point Me spell, Isolt spent the next five minutes following the point of her wand, scouring up and down piles of lost items.
"Seriously, how the fuck did someone lose a whole couch! Like for reals, that takes unprecedented levels of forgetfulness!" she exclaimed as the wand seemed to be pointing her directly into the pile, just past the couch.
Snapping her fingers, the couch levitated up and away from the pile. Isolt didn't always resort to wandless magic, as it had a certain tactical advantage keeping that skill hidden, but she preferred to keep her wand ready in case the pile of stuff came crashing down on her and she needed to quickly protect herself.
As the couch floated away, Isolt noticed a bust of a faceless person, with a shining silver diadem encrusted with several gems of various shapes and colors, resting atop its head.
'Well here goes!' Stowing the holly wand, Isolt drew the elder wand, and raised the tip of it up against the center gem of the diadem. Focusing her will and intent, she twisted the wand clockwise a quarter turn, and began pulling, feeling a small amount of resistance from the soul fragment contained within, before the fragment yielded, getting pulled out of the diadem.
Quickly muttering a spell in Goblin Speech, Isolt flicked the wand in a counter-clockwise circle, and the soul fragment disappeared. Re-focusing the point of her wand at the diadem, she cast a diagnostic spell to determine if any residue was left lingering on the diadem. Finding none, she grabbed the diadem and stored it in a pocket which had a space-expansion rune sewn on it.
'This will be useful later, I hope!' Isolt cast a Tempus charm, and seeing that fifteen minutes had elapsed, she rushed back down to the Hospital Wing, only getting there seven minutes after she left the Room of Requirement. Fortunately, it seemed the two wixen she had sent into the Hospital Wing hadn't emerged yet.
Deciding that the best course of action was to wait, Isolt sat down on the chair that Sirius had left just outside. She didn't have to wait long. Just five minutes after she had sat down, the door opened, and Isolt could tell that whatever had transpired within had been just what her younger self had needed, if the smile was anything to go by.
"Well, how'd it go?" Isolt called out, standing up and grabbing the chair.
Sirius Black approached her, holding a hand out to the young Potter heir, and proclaimed in a faux-snooty voice, "Ms. Isolt Peverell of House Peverell, may I have the pleasure of introducing you to young Ms. Aster Potter, of House Potter."
Aster laughed at her godfather's antics, and quickly went to Isolt, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug.
"Well Aster, I'm pleased to meet you, more formally this time. You ready to go home?"
"Yup! Wait, Ron and Hermione! I need to tell them! Wish them a good summer!"
"Aster," Sirius called out, a twinkle in his eye, "do you wanna play a prank? We'll call it your induction to the Marauders."
"And what was Mr. Black thinking, in regards to this prank?" Isolt said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"I propose that young Aster here goes to tell young Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger the good news, but that she shall not be taking the train tomorrow. Then, tomorrow, the three of us go to meet them as they get off the train in London, and bring them to Grimmauld Place with us for the summer!"
"That's brilliant, Sirius! Getting to spend time with them all summer would be great! We could finally relax, and not have to worry about professors trying to kill us or anything!" Aster's excitement was rising by the minute, it seemed. She had a pep in her step, as the group went up to the Gryffindor Dorms to put their plan in action.
It was several minutes later that the trio of wixen finally found themselves at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Rooms.
"Portcullis and moat!" Aster proclaimed as the group neared the portrait, and it swung wide open. Walking in, they could see the sheer chaos that was Gryffindor House. Students were lounging about, practicing spells and jinxes, running up and down the stairs making sure they had everything packed for tomorrow, some where playing chess, others reading, and for some reason, a snitch had been let loose in the Common Room.
One of the students playing chess stood up. His red hair a dead giveaway as to who he was. Ron called out, "Hey Harry mate, come watch me thrash 'Mione in chess one last time!"
Aster flinched, then made her way over to the pair. Sirius; however, noticed that Aster wasn't the only one who flinched. Turning to Isolt, he asked in a quiet voice, "I take it you miss yours? If there's anything you need, I'm here for you." He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a grim smile, before removing his hand.
"Thanks, Padfoot. Both for your words earlier and your words now. I'm not sure there's anyone who can help me. If I can help Aster not share my fate, I'll continue to do so. She deserves a life well-lived, with love and friendship."
"You know she's you, yeah? If she deserves love and friendship, you do too."
"Not true. I've seen and done things that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Trust me, Padfoot, she's not me yet, and hopefully never will be."
"Fair enough, but you do deserve a good life. Especially after what you did, and what you've gone through."
"I deserve nothing, Sirius. I just want to help her, and then I'll get out of everyone's hair."
"Surely you don't mean that!? We've only known you for a day, sure, but you've already proven to be a good person, and a great friend! To me, and to young Aster!" Sirius pleaded.
"Please, Sirius, I let you watch my memories. I'm far from a good person. But she", Isolt pointed to Aster, "is a good person."
"I'm not going to argue, Isolt, especially here, but I do believe you to be a good person, and I hope you can heal enough to see that."
Isolt closed her eyes, occluding her emotions. She would not cry in front of Sirius, in front of anyone. They didn't understand what she had gone through, the scars on her body and in her mind a roadmap for each and every trauma inflicted on her, both by her hand and by the hands of her enemies. She opened her eyes after a moment, feeling herself regain control of her mask once more. Deciding on a course of action, she walked over to young Aster, who had just told Ron and Hermione of her new name and pronouns.
"We're so proud of you, Aster! Though I'm a bit upset you didn't tell me you were going into a library!" Hermione groaned, and both Ron and Aster laughed, both rejoicing being spared one of Hermione's library trips.
"Yeah, Aster, let us know if you need anything from us, alright? We'll be by your side, like we always have." Ron puffed his chest out, in a show of pseudo-masculinity.
"Well, Pomfrey's given me some potions, and some reading, so I should be good. But thank you!" Aster replied.
"Young Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley, I'm pleased to see you both well! Thank you for taking care of young Ms. Potter here." Isolt said, motioning to Aster. "Though, I must regret to inform you that Ms. Potter will not be on the train tomorrow, as she will be heading with her godfather and I back to Grimmauld Place today."
"Wha-?! You can't do that!" Ron nearly yelled.
"I'm sorry, truly, but after the events of last night, Sirius and I feel its best that Isolt be protected as much as possible. The Dementors in your third year have proven that the Hogwarts Express isn't as safe as we'd like it to be."
"Fine, but you better write, Aster!" Ron exclaimed.
"Checkmate!" Hermione called out, causing Ron to turn back to the chess match, face aghast.
"What! No, I never lose! Impossible!"
Isolt chuckled to herself. Apparently only Hermione had noticed that Isolt had sneakily cast a spell on Ron's chess pieces with her holly wand. Hermione gave Isolt a small smile, and Isolt could see Hermione's laughter in her brown eyes. She nodded in response, and went to go collect Sirius, who was currently trying to catch the snitch with his bare hands.
"Really, Mr. Black? You're a wizard." Isolt joking called out to the wizard.
"Hey, I was a beater, not a seeker. Snitch-catching was never my forte!" Came his response.
"I meant use your wand, you neanderthal." Laughing, she pointed her wand at the snitch, her trained seeker eyes keeping track of the gold blur as it flitted about.
"Immobulus!" she called out, and immediately the snitch came to a dead halt, right in front of Sirius' eyes. Grinning, he took it in his hand, before holding it out to everyone.
"See! Told you all I'm the oldest seeker in a century!" he called out, causing him and several students to roar with laughter.
Mentally sighing, Isolt called Aster over, and the pair grabbed Sirius, who returned the snitch to a seventh-year, and they said their goodbyes to those in the room, before heading out to the Hospital Wing, where they had left the chair.
Reaching the Hospital Wing, Isolt checked the chair for any charms, compulsions or otherwise. Finding none, she pointed her holly wand at it, muttering Portus and causing it to glow a now-familiar faint blue. The group took hold of the chair, and felt themselves get pulled back into the dining room of Grimmauld Place. As they landed, Isolt quickly sat down on the chair, before her body betrayed her to the floor one last time.
Author's note: Well there we go! The youngest Potter now has their chosen name, which from personal experience, is its own sort of magic.
Author's note: For all my LGBTQ+ peeps, know that you're valid and loved. I'd hug all of y'all if I could. :)