July 1988

"IT IS HERE!" Arianna Potter screamed as she ran into the kitchen of the Potter Manor, her Hogwarts letter in hand.

"That's brilliant!" James cried, pulling Arianna in for a bear hug. "I am so proud of you!"

"Okay, calm down." Alexandra said. "You have also been accepted at Circe's."

"I know, Mum." Arianna chirped, "But I really, really, really want to go to Hogwarts!"

"Oh, I know!" Alexandra said with a pout.

"Hogwarts is the best school. She is going to a great place." James said with a smirk.

"Excuse me!" Alexandra exclaimed, "Circe's has been around since forever. Hogwarts is juvenile compared to Circe's."

James and Arianna burst out laughing as Alexandra stuck her tongue out at James for good measure.

"What is going on?" Harry asked sleepily, as he took his seat for breakfast.

"My Hogwarts letter arrived this morning!" Arianna exclaimed excitedly.

"What? May I see it?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Wow!" He whispered, as held the letter with fervent admiration. "I want to go to Hogwarts too."

"You will go when you are of age." James reassured him .

"I want to go now!" Harry sniffed.

"Why do you hate me so much?" James asked dramatically.

"You are so funny, dad."

"Well, I am not getting you the new broom if you are going to be this disrespectful." James grumbled.

"Aww… I love you, dad." Harry amended with an angelic smile.

"When can we go shopping, though?" Arianna asked impatiently.

"I am busy all week, honey." Alexandra said apologetically. "We can go this Saturday. We have to write back to Hogwarts first. James, when are Alice and Neville arriving?"

"They should be here by lunch. And Harry, don't even think about sneaking off to the Quidditch pitch without me."

"You don't let me have any fun." Harry pouted, "I wish Sirius and Remus were back already."

"They said they would be back for your birthday. Now come on, go get dressed and start practising your spells with Anna."

"Are they coming back for good this time?" Alexandra asked, as soon as the children left the kitchen.

"Yes." James sighed.

"They didn't find anything?"

"There are traces of him all over the forests, but it has been impossible to locate him. He is too smart."

"He can't come back." Alexandra said confidently. "He hasn't even attempted coming back."

"Yeah." James said, "Merlin! I hate this. I hate that I would still have to tell Harry everything before he joins Hogwarts. He doesn't deserve this."

"I know." Alexandra said comfortingly, "He is good kid though, I am dreading the talk with Arianna. I guess Alice and Frank are afraid of talking to Neville too. It has been so easy to lie to the kids about your fame so far."

Harry, Neville and Arianna had been told that the reason Harry was famous was because people believed he had caused the disappearance of Voldemort, but in reality, he had merely survived a fatal fall as Lily and James fought him off. This story was one of Sirius' better ideas; Arianna and Neville had maintained the story throughout their magical education and treated Harry as if he was nothing special. James had wanted a normal childhood for his son. The children had accepted this story as a possibility because the three of them were children of war heroes themselves.

The others would have liked to let the children believe in this story all their lives, but Dumbledore had insisted that the children know the truth so that they are able to handle any prying questions better. James would not have agreed to this proposition, but it was as Alice put it, there was something in the way Dumbledore insisted which made her think he knew more than he was letting them know.


"Alice! What are you doing?" James asked alarmed. "You are not supposed to do that!"

"Relax, I got this!" Alice grinned as she sled down the banister, the children in tow.

She wobbled on her good leg while the children landed gracefully beside her.

"You are supposed to discipline the children, not become one of them!" James chided.

"Please Potter." Alice scoffed, "Don't pretend you don't want to do this."

The children giggled as James glared at Alice before running up the stairs, with the children in tow.

Alice laughed as they sled down the banister, shrieking with joy.

"I forgot how much fun this was." James said grinning.

"You have been busy being an adult lately."

James gave her a small smile.

"Come on, let's go get dinner. You must be tired. How was work?" Alice said lightly, letting Arianna lead her to the kitchen.

Dinner was a pleasant affair that night. Frank and Alice always had amazing stories to tell the children. Harry loved Alice as much as Arianna loved James because Alice and James always described a different side of their long deceased parents. And like most nights when Alice launched into a story of their adventures in school; James listened with as much rapture as the children. He loved these stories about Lily. The little things that he never knew about her; things they never talked about because there was a war going on, because there was always the threat of death. James never had a chance to know all about Lily before she was snatched away from him.

"No!" Arianna exclaimed giggling as Neville and Harry roared with laughter. "I can't believe she jinxed Uncle James! She always seems so sweet."

"Oh, Lily was sweet alright!" Alice said with a grin.

"But she had a fiery temper." James added shaking his head. "I can vouch for that."

"How come Uncle Sirius never protected you?" Harry wondered out loud.

Alice and James burst out laughing.

"Because he was scared of her." Frank said with a grin.

"Its hard to believe that Sirius would be afraid of anything." Neville piped up.

"Oh!" James exclaimed with a grin, "He was really scared of her. So were Remus and I, to be completely honest."

The children roared with laughter. Augusta tried to make a stern face about their table manners but everyone knew she secretly enjoyed such conversations. It filled her heart to hear their laughter. Eight years had passed since the end of the war and it was still hard to believe that all of them had survived to see this day. She hoped that Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius would find that vermin of a Dark Lord and stamp him out for good.


August 1988

"We are sorry, James." Remus said morosely, "We searched everywhere, but it's just difficult to catch air."

James nodded. They were in Dumbledore's office, listening to Remus and Sirius' reports of Albania.

"There is a good possibility that he won't come back." Frank said.

"Yes." Dumbledore agreed, "But there is also a possibility that he will and as far as I know Tom, he would never stop trying."

"I loathe the idea of telling the children about the danger we live in." Alexandra said. "I loathe the idea of their future being so uncertain. Harry is as good as my son, I wish there was something I could do."

"Don't we all." Sirius said with a sad smile.

"You cannot fight darkness by cutting it. All you have to do is light a lamp, however small." Dumbledore said, "Hope and love are two such persistent lamps. You can love and that's all you can do."

Nobody offered remarks, they were too deep in their thoughts to really offer anything.


"You ready to go?" Sirius asked entering the library.

Harry looked up from his book, as James and Remus frowned, focusing on their game of chess.

"Are we going somewhere?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Andromeda invited us for dinner." Sirius said.

"Tonight?" Remus asked, taking down James' knight.

"Yes! I told you last week."

"No, you didn't." Remus replied.

"Yes, I did."

"I can bet you didn't." James said, "Hah! Check and mate!"

"You weren't even there!" Sirius exclaimed, "And I did. Stop pouting Moony, we know you are a sore loser."

"I bet you didn't." Harry smirked.

"Not you too."

"Sirius, when did you tell me that Andromeda had invited us for dinner?"

"Last week, when I received her invitation. I remember it, because I thought you would like meeting her but you weren't in the room so I went looking for you and then-"

"Like we said!"

"Fine." Sirius grumbled, "But come on. Go get ready, she is expecting us nevertheless."

Tonks residence was a comfortable little home in a little muggle neighbourhood. James and Harry had spent a lot of time visiting Andromeda while Sirius and Remus were in Albania.

"Hello!" A young girl with acid green hair said as soon as she opened the door.

"Nymphadora!" Andromeda exclaimed as her guests settled in the drawing room. "Lose the hair, this instance!"

"Oh! Come on, Mum!" Nymphadora whined, "I am allowed to celebrate. I just got my O.W.L. results."

"That was a week ago!" Andromeda countered.

"Leave her be, Dromeda." Ted said, "I like her hair."

"Yeah, I like her hair too!" Harry chirped enthusiastically. "I think it's really cool. Wish I could do that."

"It's a bit bright!" Sirius said, "But I like your hair too, Nymphadora."

Nymphadora's eyes flashed in annoyance. "I told you, just call me Tonks."

"But why?" Sirius asked innocently, "Nymphadora is such a nice name."

"Sirius Black!" She exclaimed, her hair turning bright red.

"How did she fare at her OWLs, Andromeda?" Remus asked loudly.

"Oh, she did great! 9 OWLs!" Andromeda exclaimed proudly as Nymphadora groaned.

"Merlin! Who gets an OWL for History of Magic?" Sirius as ridiculously.

"You did." Remus pointed out.

"Lets not talk about the mistakes of my past, Remus."

"In fact, if I remember correctly, you got an Outstanding in History of Magic." James pointed out.

Nymphadora looked like Christmas had come early. "You were such a dork!"

"I wasn't!" Sirius exclaimed, "I was the height of cool."

"Sure!" Nymphadore said, grinning madly.

"Thank you for outing him!" She cried as she skipped forward, stumbled and fell into Remus' arms.

"Anytime." He said with a polite smile, before moving in to join a conversation with her father.

Nymphadora Tonks watched him go, wishing he was several years younger. Remus Lupin was a good looking chap but she was sure he was in a relationship with someone equally beautiful and older. So she stamped on her little crush on him and went ahead with entertaining Harry and bickering with Sirius.


September 1988

September could not have come earlier that year. The entire Potter-Black-Lupin-Longbottom clan had turned up at the station to see Arianna off and they were as noisy as the famous Weasleys. Alice had already greeted Molly Weasley and her family.

"Now, take care of yourself and hex anyone that annoys you." Augusta Longbottom said as she hugged the grandchild of her brother; Anthony would have been so proud of her.

"How come I never got that advice?" Frank asked.

"Because you were my responsibility." The old lady replied, "Alex, can discipline her. I plan to spoil these children. I understand why father egged you on so much."

The platform had started noticing the family by now. There were curious glances and outright pointing in their direction. Everybody had noticed that James Potter was on the platform.

"Why can't they leave us alone?" Neville asked grumpily, as Arianna hurriedly said Goodbye to her best friends.

"Because they are stupid!" Harry said.

"Okay. No more grumbling." Arianna said, "You two take care of each other and give them hell!"

"Anna!" James and Alexandra exclaimed, but she flashed them a charming smile and jumped on the train.

"Don't take her seriously." James cautioned Neville and Harry.

"Or…" Sirius started.

"There will be no 'or'" Alice threatened.

"You guys are no fun!" Neville exclaimed with a pout.

As the train blew its whistle, Alexandra burst into tears. The daughter she had protected all her life was now on that train, entering a world which was so dangerous. If Alexandra had it her way, she would ship off Arianna and Harry to Ilvermony or Circe's. Anywhere away from here, but that would be selfish of her and unfair on the children. So, she leant against Remus and cried for her daughter.

Before anyone had the gall to get near the family, they had disapparated. But news had spread like wildfire on the Hogwarts express; the first Potter was on the train. As students looked for the young Potter on the train, a kind red haired fifth year, by the name of Charlie Weasley let her hide in the compartment he was sharing with his brothers.


The feast at Hogwarts was a much excited affair. Much more excited than normal. Every table was discussing the Potter girl, wondering where she would end up. As the first years filed in, several people tried to locate the Potter girl. The girl in question was walking hand in hand with Amanda Bones, her best friend. Arianna had already read all that she could about Hogwarts, and while she sometimes wondered if she should have joined Circe like her parents, she never regretted accepting Hogwarts. She had grown up around people who had such entertaining stories of this place and now, here she was ready to create a story of her own.

Arianna didn't have to wait long. Amanda had already been sorted into Ravenclaw and Arianna was pretty sure that she would be somewhere. The whispers and stares she received as she walked to the stool was something she had been asked to expect but it made her feel strange.

"Ah! A little unsure of ourselves and angry at the world are we?" A voice said in her ear as soon as the hat was placed on her head. "There is bravery in you but there is also a need to understand every minute detail and loyalty and fairness. Ah! Is there latent ambition and cunning I see peeking at me through the folds? We are in a predicament then, aren't we?"

"Are we?" Arianna wondered, she honestly did not care where the hat placed her, it wouldn't make a difference to her family, but she was curious. She tried hard to curb her curiosity but she thirsted to know what magic made the hat so wise and knowing? Had the hat ever been wrong? With thousands of students the hat was bound by wrong sometime.

"I am never wrong!" The hat stated.

How would the hat know if it was wrong? Nobody would come and tell the hat about their choices as adults. The hat sounded conceited and over confident to her. It had no imagination!

"Is that so?" The voice said, "You have quite a curious little mind Potter and though you would flourish in Ravenclaw, your true talents might surface in- GRYFFINDOR!"

Arianna jumped as the hat shouted the name of her house. She wasn't really sure what happened, the hat said she would do great in Ravenclaw and then sent her to Gryffindor. She gave a small smile to Amanda as she made her way to the Gryffindor table. She sat next to Percy Weasley, she had met him on the train along with his brothers Bill Weasley and Charlie Weasley. She knew her aunt Alice was related to the Weasleys and that Neville visited them time and again but she had never met the Weasleys.

She grinned at Kate Shafiq, another good friend from grooming school; she made her way to the Gryffindor table. Arianna couldn't wait for her Hogwarts journey to begin.

AN: So, Arianna is in Hogwarts. And I wish to know what would you like me to do now? Describe her first year in the next chapter or jump to Harry's first year?

Let me know!

Thank you!

Happy reading.

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