Heather woke up and felt like a garbage truck had hit her. The last thing she remembered was being taken from the cell that had held her and her friends. She wasn't sure what had happened after that. She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself in an armchair; she looked over and saw her friends Haley and Hermione Granger, orphans as she was, the sisters still didn't manage to keep out of trouble.
"W . . . what happened?"
"I believe I could answer that Miss Porter." A man's voice said. She looked up, and saw a very old man sitting at a desk.
"W . . . who are you, and what happened to me, am I dead?"
"My name is Albus Dumbledore; you my dear were taken from the orphanage where you were raised, by a group of people that call themselves Death Eaters. They follow a single person; he calls himself, Lord Voldemort." The old man said.
"Where am I?"
"You are currently inside my office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The man said with a chuckle, "Don't worry your friends will be waking up shortly. You were rescued from their clutches, when you somehow appeared inside these grounds."
"I must be going mad, Witchcraft isn't real."
"Don't worry all muggle-raised children think the same at one point or another." She then noticed a big book on his desk.
"Muggle? What's that?"
"Muggle is the wizarding world's term for non-magical people. You however, are not a Muggle, you were merely prevented from coming, I believe when our Deputy Headmistress came to tell you about the world which you belonged to, the door was shut in her face."
"How long ago was this?"
"Almost 5 years ago?" He said, pulling out an envelope. "Have you ever seen one of these?"
"About 5 years ago, I was on mail duty, I went to get the mail, and found three letters, one for me, one for Hermione, and one for Haley. I really thought about taking them up to the room I was in, but decided against it. As soon as I got into the kitchen, the letters were taken, and thrown in the fire, by the person who ran the orphanage. He said it was a bunch of nonsense, just someone wanting to sell something. None of us were allowed on mail duty since." Heather said, "What happened to the orphanage?"
"It was destroyed in the attack. I think that the only reason Voldemort spared you, was because he himself was raised at that very same orphanage, over thirty years ago, and he sensed the magic in you, that was being withheld. I believe he wanted to turn you into, for the lack of a better word, an apprentice."
"Why?"
"He has always held a deal of respect for those orphaned at birth, and left at orphanages, especially if they are magical. If Mrs. Cole had still been the owner, I believe the letters may have gotten to you, but it appears they didn't."
"But Hermione and Haley weren't orphaned at birth; they had only been there a few years before the letters came."
"He didn't know that, and I believe he wanted to question each of you find out what you knew about your parents." Dumbledore said, "Now, as I said, you are a witch, and despite what Muggles think, witches aren't all evil, in fact very few go evil. Most live out their lives in plain view."
"Plain view?"
"Yes, they wear normal clothing except at wizarding world functions or in strictly wizarding world places."
"Oh, I see." There was a noise from behind them that made Heather jump. She looked around, and saw one of the twins waking up.
"Hermione, are you alright?" The girl woke up all the way suddenly, and jumped at where she was.
"Where am I, the last I remember was that dingy cell." She said.
"You were rescued, by someone who wasn't evil."
"That would be?"
"Me." Dumbledore said.
"And just who are you?"
"My name is Albus Dumbledore, I am the headmaster here at this school." He waved his wand, and three cups of tea appeared in front of them.
"How did you do that?"
"It's magic, Mione. Magic is real."
"Magic can't be real, everything has a logical explanation behind it, and magic doesn't have an explanation behind it." Hermione Granger said.
"Miss Granger, please sit down." Dumbledore said. Hermione realized that she had subconsciously gotten up from her chair.
"How did you know my name?"
"Well, there is a book here, that lists each and every witch or wizard who has shown enough magic to come, as it did, it showed yours, Miss Porter's, and your sister's. For example, have you ever done anything that was unexplainable?"
"Like, changing peoples hair color from brown to black in a split second?" Hermione countered with her own question.
"Exactly."
"So what is the explanation behind magic?"
"As you said, there isn't one. You can choose to come back here, and join the soon-to-be fifth years, next September, or I can Obliviate you, and send you back to Muggle society."
"Muggle is the word for non-magic folk." Heather said before Hermione could interrupt.
"Oh . . . so what do we do if we choose to accept?"
"You will have to come here during the summer, and will have to take classes in order to catch you up with your classmates." This was met with a snort from behind.
"Classes during the summer. What else did I miss?" Haley Granger said when they looked at her.
"Oh, just the fact that magic is real." Heather said.
"Yeah, and the tooth fairy is real . . ."
"The tooth fairy is just someone Muggles made up. However magic is real." Dumbledore said interrupting.
"Oh, and are words going to prove that?"
"Absolutely not, I have already shown your sister, and your friend proof, so I indeed, have to show you, you would have come here almost 5 years ago, however the owner of the orphanage prevented my deputy headmistress from retrieving you, since he had heard the stories of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, who used to live at the very orphanage you were living at." He waved his wand, and produced another cup of tea out of thin air. "Now, do you believe me?" They looked at her, and saw her mouth was opening and closing.
"Now, Heather Porter, earlier I took you to a place so that we could stabilize your condition, as you had been tortured under the Cruciatus Curse for several minutes, any longer, and you probably would not have been completely sane.
"Before you ask, yes, there is such thing as Dark Magic, and the Cruciatus Curse is an example of that." Dumbledore said, "Heather do you remember the place; you were awake, and screaming at the pain."
"I think so, although I only remember a bedroom, before I blacked out now."
"That particular curse has that effect; I cast a memory charm on you when I got you here, to prevent you from remembering the torture you had gone through, although it is very likely that you will experience that same curse again." Dumbledore finished, "I can have the Potter's show you around, as they have graciously extended house room to all three of you, until a time when you feel comfortable around others."
"Th . . ." they were interrupted by the fireplace erupting in flames.
"Harold and Miriam, could I talk to you for a second, about the girls. Privately." He said. The girls quickly made their way to the door, and found themselves in a short hall, with moving stairs at the end. They waited there, until the door opened several minutes later.
"You can come in now, Harold and Miriam Potter, I trust you know our guests, Miss Porter, and both Miss Grangers, these are the Potters, they have a son your age, and he is here at the moment. Just in one of the common rooms. I should hope."
"Knowing those boys, they're up to something." Mr. Potter said.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter."
"Heather, am I right?" asked Miriam. She nodded, "Albus has told us about you and if you would like, after you get to know us, and our son, would you consider having us adopt you, we were talking to some friends, and they said that they would be happy to adopt your friends."
"I would consider it." Heather said, "Thank you for allowing us houseroom."
"It was nothing, now, we would like to take these girls and show them their rooms, is that okay Albus." Harold said. The old man nodded.
"Then lets go, we have no time to waste, Miriam you did bring the Floo Powder, right?"
"I always keep it with me."
"Girls, the first and foremost thing you should remember when you use the Floo Powder, is to speak loud and clearly, and to throw the Powder in first, it freezes the flames so that they won't hurt you. Make sure you speak loud and clear, or you might end up in the wrong area. All you have to say once you're in is Godric's Hollow." Harold said, he then took the Powder from Mrs. Potter, and threw some in, stepping in seconds later, and then he vanished.
"Now, hurry up, and I'll go last." One by one the girls left the office, and once even Mrs. Potter was gone, Dumbledore chuckled to himself; things were going to be chaotic in the Potter household. Especially with the Marauder's around.
Only a few weeks later, the Granger sisters left to move in with the friends that the Potter's had spoken to. It was, as they said, to get to know the people a bit better.
"I promise, you'll still see us, Heather." Hermione said, "We'll be going to the same school."
"Not to mention we're neighbors." Haley chipped in. With that the sister's had left, and Heather was left to the torture of the Marauder's. She probably would have given up the first day, had it not been for the tutor that Dumbledore had assigned to her. The teenage girl that was helping her keep up with the work was Lily Evans, and so she had taught her a few tricks that she could use to keep out of the Marauder's way. When Lily had heard where she was staying, she had given her a list to help her stay out of James' way.
So far she had only done theoretical work, and was looking forward to the practical stuff. But it seemed that they were not going to waver. Only a few days after the two girls moved out, she approached the Potter's about them adopting her. As she approached the den, where she knew the two to be, she heard James shouting at his parents.
"But, Mum, I don't want a sister, I hope she chooses not to have you adopt her, I like being an only kid."
"James, you will not speak to your mother that way." Mr. Potter exclaimed.
"It's up to her, your father and I have both had our say in this now please leave." Mrs. Potter said. James stormed out of the room, and as he passed her, she heard him mutter under his breath, "I'm just going to have to find out how she manages to avoid my pranks."
"I heard that." She said. She opened the door, and saw the Potter's relaxing on the couch. She approached them, "Um, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." They jumped a bit, she'd scared them a little bit.
"Yes, dear."
"You know how you said, that you wanted to adopt me."
"Yes."
"Well, I've decided to accept your offer. I don't care what James thinks, I heard him yelling at you as I approached the room. I think he's mad because I've learned how to avoid his pranks, it's not my fault Dumbledore set Lily as my tutor."
"So that's how you do it. She's made him fall in love with her, but she doesn't want him, or at least she doesn't show that she wants him. I think she does want him, but she doesn't want him to be so childish,"
"I think so too, but as I said, I've accepted your offer."
"That's wonderful, there's just one think we wanted to ask you."
"What's that?"
"Um, would you want to do it the Muggle way, or the Wizarding way?"
"What's the wizarding way?"
"It's almost just like the Muggle adoptions, but with an extra, for a wizarding adoption, you add in a blood bond."
"A blood bond?" Heather asked curious.
"Yes, we would have to take some of James' blood, and some of your blood, and put them inside the opposite's body, and then some minor spell work is included. It seals the bond and causes the body to accept the blood and in turn causes you to be of blood relation to the person, so you would be our daughter of blood, a lot of pureblood families choose to do things this way, as it makes things a lot simpler."
"I would love to do it the wizarding way." Heather said.
"You also have the option of keeping your last name or changing it to ours."
"I think Potter sounds better than Porter with the name I have."
"We'll take you to the Ministry so we can do it then, tomorrow."
"Well it seems that we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, I'll tell James, and we all better turn in early, I'll expect you up about 6 o'clock." Mr. Potter said. They all said their good nights, and Heather left to go to her room, as she turned the corner, she heard something move, and for a second caught a glimpse of a foot.
"James, I know you're there, do you really want to know how I manage to avoid your pranks?" The boy pulled off the cloak in frustration.
"Yes, I want to know."
"Fine, its Lily Evans, she knows what you get up to in school, and she's been the one tutoring me over these past few weeks."
"Evans taught you how to avoid our pranks, eh. I'll get her yet, you'll see." James said.
"Doubt it with the way you act." She muttered.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Nothing. You might want to turn in, as we've got to get up early tomorrow."
"Why?"
"You'll see." She said walking into her room. She could hear muffled footsteps as James walked away." She breathed a sigh of relief once he had gone. She crawled into the bed, and then quickly fell asleep.
The next day came all too soon for Heather, and James as well. As soon as he found out what they were doing, he tried to run off to the Lupin residence to hang out with a friend of his. Mr. Potter put him in a body bind, for that. He only released it upon arriving at the Ministry.
"Dad, I told you last night I want to stay an only child."
"James, we need your cooperation, besides wouldn't you like to be an uncle someday."
"Dad, I don't . . . wait if she gets adopted, then . . . okay, I'm in." James said, "Besides, it's for Heather isn't it."
"Okay, what have you done with the real James Potter?" Heather asked. They quickly made their way up to the appropriate department, and soon James and Heather were being sat next to each other. The Ministry representative pulled out a short knife, which he used to cut a slit in both James and Heather's palms.
"Now, place your palms together, so that the openings are right up against each other." They did so, and the guy pulled out his wand. He muttered a few indistinguishable words, and there was a bright flash of light, and when it cleared, they were told they could take their hands apart. They did so to find the wound already healed.
"You have now been blood bonded, so you are now officially related to each other." The representative said. "Harold, if you and your wife would sign these papers; then we will turn custody over to you, and the blood bond will have completed itself."
"That will do Bartimaius." Heather's new father said. He quickly signed the papers, and they left the office.
"So Heather, you are now free to call us your parents, as we are legally. Now, do you wish to go get a wand from Ollivander's?" her mother said.
"Yes, I do, mom." Heather said, for the first time having someone to call 'mom'.
"Then that's our first stop after opening you an account at Gringotts, that way you will be able to access money that you can call your own."
"Thanks." was all she could say. They made their way over to a fireplace in the Atrium, and used the Floo Network to head to Diagon Alley. When they arrived in the Alley, it was nothing like she had even imagined. They headed straight for the tall marble building that was marked GRINGOTTS. Once inside, they headed straight for one of the first goblins at a desk.
"Hello Mr. Potter." He said.
"Hello, Griphook, we would like to open a new account please." The first thing you learned with goblins, is that they don't take kindly to wizarding people, but are better at keeping money and treasures safe.
"Another account, eh, and would this be for the young miss I see that has joined your group."
"Yes, we adopted her earlier this morning, and would like her to have an account for future usage." Her father said.
"Very well, would you like to transfer some money into this vault from an existing one?"
"Yes, the main Potter vault."
"How much would you like to transfer?"
"1000 Galleons, 1000 Sickles, and 1000 Knuts."
"Very well, the misses name please."
"Heather Marie Potter." Her father said.
"Very well, Account number 702 is her account number, and here is her key." Griphook said producing a small golden key, which he handed to Heather.
"Thank you Griphook."
"I'll have someone take you to both vaults, Hungar!" a goblin walked out of a back room.
"Yes, Griphook?"
"Please take the Potters to vault 700, and vault 702."
"Vault 702 is currently unowned."
"It has been set up for this young girl."
"Very well, follow me." The family followed the goblin into the back, where they got into a cart.
"Uh, James, how fast does this go?" Heather asked.
"Not sure, but it can't speed up any faster or slow down until its destination is reached." The cart started off, and they went down a lot of hills and back up a few, until they finally reached the main Potter vault.
"Lamp, please." Hungar said, they handed him the lamp that Mr. Potter had been holding. They got out of the cart, and followed him over to the door.
"Key, please." Mr. Potter handed him the golden key. The goblin put it in, and the vault opened. What Heather saw inside was not what she expected. Instead of the medium sized pile of money she had been expecting, she saw a huge room with a pile of gold, silver and bronze coins in the center.
"The transfer is already complete. As soon as we are done we will walk to the next vault." Mr. Potter said. James looked about ready to fuss, as they weren't stopping at his vault.
"James, we will come back later on to buy the rest of the school things, and then we will get money out for you." He looked away, and his father picked up a reasonable amount of the gold coins. They walked down to the next vault they were to stop at, and Heather saw the pile she had been expecting in the other vault. Their father helped her to get an amount for the rest of the summer, and then they were escorted back to the front of the bank.
"So . . . on to Ollivander's wand shop, and then home." They set off down the street and soon entered the old wandmaker's shop.
"Ah, Harold Potter, holly and dragon heartstring 13 inches."
"Pleased you remember."
"Miriam, you had willow and dragon heartstring 14 inches, very good for charm work."
"Yes, sir."
"Ah, yes, the young Mister Potter, a mahogany wand eleven inches, excellent for transfiguration."
"Yes."
"Ah, yes, I remember you, yes, I saw you in Dumbledore's study the day you arrived there, he told me he would owl me if I wasn't to be expecting you, but as he didn't here you are."
"I don't remember seeing you before . . ."
"Ah, you were unconscious at the time, ah yes, so is it Miss Porter, or Miss Potter?"
"It's Potter now."
"So you are here to get a wand now. Here, ebony and phoenix feather 14 inches."
"What am I supposed to do?" she said after taking it.
"Take it in hand, and use it." She started to swing it, but it was taken away almost immediately. This went on for several tries, until he finally pulled out a wand from the back of the store.
"Yes, I wonder, you see I received this wand from a friend, and I have been studying it since. It seems to be made of both elder and holly, with a phoenix feather core. Eleven inches long." She took it and felt warmth running through her body, and she knew that the wand had chosen her.
"What's odd about it?"
"The two woods seemed to have fused, as if the holly took on the properties of the elder, but the holly is what was originally there."
"What could have caused this?"
"I believe this wand was broken once, almost irreparable, if it had not been for that legendary wand."
"The one that has been most easily traced through history, otherwise known as the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, or the Wand of Destiny." Heather watched her father say this with a hint of anger.
"Dad . . . what's wrong with that?" James asked.
"That wand is supposed to be unbeatable, the owner of the Elder Wand is supposed to be undefeatable, but the trail ran cold long ago."
"Yes, no one except for the owner now knows where it is. Whoever it is isn't stupid. They know the risks of flouting it about that they have the wand. They'd be murdered in their sleep." The group gave this a thought and then Ollivander spoke once more.
"Do not tell anyone that the wand in your possession has qualities of the Elder Wand, they will think that you actually have the wand, and most likely kill you."
"I understand sir."
"Very well, I give this wand to you, free of charge; do not use it for the wrong purposes. As I always say the wand chooses the wizard." Ollivander answered.
"Are you sure? I can pay for it."
"No, I won't accept payment for this." Ollivander said. The Potters left the shop with a weird air around them, they weren't sure what had caused Ollivander to just give it away but they accepted it, and returned to their house.
"James, could I talk to you for a second?" Heather said upon arriving at home. Her brother nodded, and they hung back.
"What's this about sis?" he asked. He looked at her as though she had done something wrong. She didn't know what to say but she knew she had to say something.
"James, what is going on with you and the rest of your little gang?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why is Lupin coming over? And the rest of them?"
"Remus? He's coming over because we're friends."
"Why are the rest of them coming over as well?"
"Because we like to get together." Was all he said. She looked at him odd, and he walked off. She'd asked because of the disappearing books on Animagi. Lily had explained what Animagi were, and so she'd read the books just as soon as they reappeared. In the margins, she saw doodles, and all of them were of a lily flower, which meant James had been reading them.
"James!" she called out. He walked back.
"What is it now?"
"You aren't doing anything illegal are you?"
"No, and I must tell you not to go for your nightly stroll tonight."
"Why?"
"Tonight, is when werewolves come out, and Mum and Dad said they heard wolves nearby last full moon, they don't want us getting bit."
"I see." She was a little doubtful, but she went along with it. He headed back to his room, to await his friend's arrival, and she headed back to hers to waste the night away.
It was the next morning when Heather next came out of her room, pretty early as she had been woken up by the back door opening and then slamming shut. She dressed quickly, and then headed down to the kitchen, where she saw, through the window James and one of his friends helping another person towards the house. As they got closer, she recognized the person as Remus Lupin another of James' friends. She opened the door, and walked out to them.
"Is he okay?" she asked noticing the gashes on Lupin's chest, and arms.
"It's nothing sis, just go back to your room."
"What did you guys go do last night?"
"Heather, it's not what they did, it's what I did." Remus spoke up.
"Remus, please lets get inside."
"There's a specific reason James told you not to come outside. It's because of me."
"What do you mean?" she said not recalling why James told her that.
"Heather, I . . . I'm a werewolf." Remus answered. It dawned on her just then what her brother was doing reading those books.
"You guys aren't becoming Animagi to help Remus are you?" she asked her brother and Sirius.
"No, of course not, we'd have to go through a bunch of paper work. We don't want to do that unless it's for a job." James said nervously. She looked at him straight in the eye, and his eyes betrayed the truth. They were, but she decided to drop it. She wasn't going to expose them yet, keep it for blackmail material. She left them alone, and they turned to Remus.
"I think you blew it, Moony."
"Padfoot, just wait until you get your transformation down."
"Prongs, your sister can expose us you know." Sirius said.
"I don't think she will though, she doesn't know for sure."
"If she does, we could be on our way to Azkaban."
"She doesn't hate me that bad, does she?" James asked. The rest of his friends looked unsure. James and Sirius helped Remus into the house, and up to the table.
"Oh, my, it just gets worse doesn't it?" a voice said. James looked up to see his mother hustling towards them with several vials in hand.
"Talk about it . . ." The boys laughed, but Remus also winced as his wounds began to heal. As soon as he was done, they helped him up to his bed, which they had placed in a guest room so he could recover.
September 1, 1975 seemed to arrive very quickly once Heather got her wand. Sooner than she knew it, they were at King's Cross ready to board the train to Hogwarts.
"Are you sure you've got it?" James asked.
"Yes, James, you've gone over this about 100 times already. I know how to get on the train." Heather answered. They arrived at the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. James, after making sure no Muggles saw them, ran through the barrier. Heather soon followed after him, but as soon as she had gone through could find no sign of him.
"Must have gone to join up with the other Marauders," she muttered, before seeing a friendly face. Lily Evans had just come out of a waiting booth dressed in her Hogwarts robes.
"Heather!" Lily shouted.
"Lily, its so nice to see you." Heather replied to her friend. They embraced, and stood facing each other.
"So, how's life been with your brother?" Lily asked.
"You know, horrible, but manageable."
"Let me guess these past few weeks he's been bugging you about how to get on the train, every single waking moment of every single day." Lily suggested, Heather nodded. The two laughed, and then Heather brought up the question.
"So why are you already in your robes?"
"I was made a Gryffindor Prefect. Your brother isn't the other one is he?"
"No, he would have been lording it around. Actually its Remus, I overheard them last week."
"Really, maybe they'll shape up."
"Somehow I think they think they'll get away with more."
"Seeing as they play pranks on just about everyone, I don't think they will."
"You're right." The two girls quickly chose a compartment, and stowed their stuff away. They then hurried out to wait for Haley and Hermione. The two were not kept waiting, as they soon saw their friends. They hurried and got on the train, and Heather fumbled around in her pocket. She pulled out a silvery-gray cloak that she hadn't known was in there.
"Hmm, it seems, I forgot to slip this back into James's stuff." Heather said, "Maybe we can find out what they're planning." Lily laughed, and left the compartment to head up to the front to catch the Prefect's meeting.
It wasn't until about an hour later that Lily finally stepped back into the compartment. She was tired, and when Haley opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, Lily just nodded, and they understood. The Marauders had struck again.
"What did they do this time?"
"Thing is I can't actually pin it on them, as no one saw anything that linked the prank to them."
"Too bad they didn't have this."Heather said holding out the invisibility cloak.
"Heather, I believe I was missing that." A voice said outside their compartment. She opened the door to see her brother standing outside.
"James, I, might have just, forgotten to get it back into your stuff before we left the house, and . . ." She started, but was interrupted by footsteps coming down the corridor. She looked to the left, and saw three people heading their way. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, had all come following James to see what had been taking him so long.
"Oi! Prongs, what's the hold up, does she have it or not?" Black said. When they made eye contact for a mere moment, Heather felt her face go red. She broke eye contact, and handing the silvery cloak to her brother. He gleefully took it, and the four boys headed off down the corridor. Heather walked back inside and shut the compartment door, and turned to face the other three girls.
"So he wanted it back huh," Lily said.
"Not much we can do about that as it is his." Heather said, hoping that Lily didn't bring up Black.
"So, what happened between Black and you, I mean you sorta blushed when you made eye contact." Hermione asked. Haley nodded as she munched on a box of Every Flavor Beans that she had bought when the food trolley had come round. Heather looked away and sighed, thinking that it may have just been Black himself.
"Nothing," she said after a few minutes. Lily saw she didn't want to talk about it, and didn't press the issue any further. She glared at the other two as a warning, so they would back off of it.
"Well, another year of trouble from the Marauders." Lily said.
"I could owl home but I'm pretty sure Mum, already knows James is trying for the record of the most detentions in a year." Heather said glad to be off the topic of her and Black.
"Well, we have a little bit, but do you want to get dressed in your robes? Then we won't have to worry about that so we can keep tabs on the Marauders." Lily said. She was dreading stepping outside of their compartment just as much as the rest of the girls were.
The rest of the train ride went uneventful, until they arrived at the station, when there was a loud bang, and a skinny black-haired boy had his robes turned pink.
"Severus!" Lily shouted. She hurried to his side the rest of the group following. When she got to him, she quickly muttered the counter curse "Finite Incantantum." His robes returned to normal. She helped him to his feet, and they stared at each other.
"Thanks Lily." The boy named Severus said, "Who are these others?"
"These three are sorta new, but they should have been here long ago, don't you remember me telling you how empty the Gryffindor dorm was, and that all the other dorms were full, we didn't have quite forty in our year remember. Their names are Hermione and Haley Granger, and Heather Potter."
"Another Potter . . ." Severus said before being interrupted by Heather.
"I may share the same last name as James, but I am on your side on this, besides it's easier for me to get him at home than it is for the rest of you."
"Excellent." Severus said
"So what's your name?" Hermione asked.
"My name is Severus Snape." He said. "Now shall we go up to the castle." They hurried into a carriage, and they continued talking until they reached the castle. Upon arriving, they met Professor McGonagall in the Entrance Hall.
"Misses Granger and Miss Potter, would you follow me please, you are to have a private sorting before the first years are sorted." The usually stern woman said, just as a water balloon burst over Lily's head.
"So bored without no one to pick, Peevsie was." A cackle issued.
"Peeves stop this right now, or I will go to the Headmaster." McGonagall said. She led the three girls into a room off the entrance hall, where there sat a three-legged stool, and a patched old hat.
"You are to put on the hat in alphabetical order, so Haley Granger, you're up first." McGonagall said. It was a few minutes before the hat said out loud "GRYFFINDOR!" Haley took the hat off and handed it to McGonagall. Hermione approached the stool next, and had the hat put on her, but before it had even settled, the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Well, Miss Potter, you're last." Heather's knees started to shake, and then she approached the stool.
"Well, it would be nice to say that's its nice to see you again, but I shouldn't be seeing you for about 16 years." a voice said in her mind, "Yes, even with what the Headmaster has done, I can still read your mind, hmm, lets see where to sort you."
Even though Lily had said that they needed to have inter-House union, she thought to the head "Can I please go with my friends."
"Well, that's where I was going to put you anyway. Once I make a decision I never go back on it, GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted the last word out. Professor McGonagall took the hat off, and Heather joined her friends.
"Now, I am going to go speak with the Headmaster, you are to wait until I come to get you, once I do, go sit with the Gryffindors at the house table." They followed her till the reached the front doors of the Great Hall. A few minutes later she came to get them. As they entered the Great Hall, they heard Professor Dumbledore speaking.
"Now, most of you know that four years ago, instead of the usual forty students, only thirty-seven entered this Great Hall to be sorted. Over the summer, it was found that these three had been in an orphanage, the same one that had been destroyed. Over the summer, they were tutored by their fellow fifth-years in order to catch up. They were just sorted, in a private sorting, in order to keep the pressure from getting to them, and they were all sorted into Gryffindor. Please welcome Hermione Granger, Haley Granger, and Heather Potter, and please make them feel welcome." There was clapping and they found three seats open next to Lily at the Gryffindor table. They sat next to her, and the Great Hall opened once more, and admitted the first-years.
"When I call your name you will approach the stool to be sorted." McGonagall said. Heather blocked out the rest of the Sorting with the thought of what the Hat had said to her.
"Well, it would be nice to say that's it's nice to see you again, but I shouldn't be seeing you for another 16 years." The thought kept running through her head, and she decided that the hat was just crazy, although she felt it was something important. She was too deep in her thoughts, that she hadn't noticed the food. At least until Lily snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Heather, are you going to eat something?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, just was thinking." Heather said before getting some chicken and a baked potato. The rest of the feast passed by, and then Dumbledore sent them off to bed, the prefects leading the first-years to the portrait of Gryffindor house.
"Password?" the fat lady asked.
"Toothful." Lily answered. The portrait swung open and admitted the group into the common room.
"Woah." A first-year said.
"This is the Gryffindor common room, this is usually where you will spend your time outside of classes. The dorms are boys, the stairs on your left, girls on the right, and I do stress this badly, watch out for the Marauders."
"Who are they?"
"They are fifth-years, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."
"Talking about me Evans?" a voice said. The group turned to see James Potter framed in the doorway.
"Potter, what did you do this time?"
"Nothing Evans, just coming into the Common Room." He said, trying to act innocent. Heather, however, recognized the tone in which he said it.
"Lily, send them off to bed, we'll deal with those as soon as they're gone." The first-years, although they wanted to see what would happen, went to bed, too tired to ignore a figure of authority. Heather turned back just in time to see James slip a supposedly blank piece of parchment into his pocket.
"Ahh, do you have to spoil the surprise?"
"What surprise, and I wouldn't be surprised if you've roped Peeves into helping you." Lily said. They stared eye into eye for a while before the portrait to the common room opened and admitted the rest of the Marauders. Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin were all laughing as though they had just pulled a prank and gotten away scotch free.
"Did you see Snivellus' face?" Black asked, "When those fireworks went off and he . . ."
"What did you do to Severus?" Lily asked.
"Nothing, just scared him a little." Black answered. The girls looked at each other, before turning and heading up the girls dorm stairs to the fifth years. Lily, Hermione, and Haley fell asleep almost instantly, but Heather remained awake, and couldn't get what the Sorting Hat said out of her mind.