Over two years later, Heather's friendship with Lily was still strong, and in fact, they had managed to catch the Marauders in the pranks they pulled. Not like it mattered to them though. The Marauders enjoyed detention as much as they liked pulling pranks. About a month into their seventh year, found a Ministry owl landing in front of Heather. Like everyone else, she was just as confused about what it was about. She noticed a similar owl land in front of her brother. He ripped into the letter, but immediately his face turned into one of horror. She turned her attention to her letter, with a sense that something was wrong at home. She opened it and read it.
Dear Miss Potter;
We regret to inform you that He-who-must-not-be-named attacked your home at Potter Manor late last night. It was discovered upon arrival of the Aurors, the bodies of Harold and Miriam Potter, your parents, dead in their bedrooms. They had been attacked and had no chance of defending themselves. It furthered our belief that it was He-who-must-not-be-named, when the Aurors found the Dark Mark set over the house. We leave it to you and your brother to decide how to deal with their burial.
We at the Ministry of Magic send our regards.
Sincerely,
Cornelius Fudge
Head of Magical Law Enforcement Department
As soon as she had read it, it dropped from her hands, and she burst into tears. She ran from the Great Hall, and up into the Gryffindor common room, where she ran into the girl dorms, and collapsed on her bed, crying. A few minutes later, Lily came in.
"Heather, what's wrong?" she asked.
"T . . . they're dead." She said between sobs.
"Who's dead?"
"Mum and Dad." Was all Heather said, before she broke into sobs again. Lily walked over to her friend, and sat down on the bed beside her. She conjured a tissue, and handed it to Heather, who took it and blew her nose. She banished it, and then looked up at Lily.
"Here, stay here and get some rest, I'll tell the teachers what happened, and that you went back to bed so you wouldn't lose your temper with someone taunting you about your parents, as I'm sure the Daily Prophet has gotten word of it." Her words were as soothing as a mother's words were, and Heather nodded. It wasn't long after Lily had left that she fell asleep.
She was in a pleasant dream, enjoying a day; it seemed to be in the future. But it was interrupted, when she heard a gate creak nearby. She went to investigate, and saw a black-robed figure, who she was sure didn't live there, approach the house behind the gate. The door was blasted off, and immediately she heard a familiar voice.
"Lily, take Harry and run! It's him, I'll hold him off!" her brother's voice shouted. She watched from behind as James jumped off the couch, and ran into the hall, and she could hear the robed man mutter under his breath that it was too easy, and she saw why, he'd forgotten his wand on the couch.
"Avada Kedavra!" the robed man shouted, the green jet of light hit James, and he fell to the ground, dead. The robed figure approached the stairs, and climbed them, Heather followed not knowing what to expect. What she saw shocked her to her very core. As they entered the room that the robed figure knew to be the room that the other two were trying to escape from, she saw her best friend Lily Evans holding a black-haired baby.
"No not Harry, please not Harry." She was pleading with the man.
"Stand aside silly girl!"
"No not Harry, please take me instead."
"Give me the boy and you will live otherwise you will join your husband in death."
"No, please not Harry." Heather realized that Lily had married James, and had a son in this dream. She was willing to die to protect her son. Heather heard movement from downstairs, but it appeared that who ever it was attacking them didn't.
"Avada Kedavra!" the man shouted. Lily fell to the ground dead. Heather wanted to do something to the man. He had just killed Lily.
"Ah, yes, we mustn't forget young Mister Potter. A baby prophesized to defeat me, Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard of all time. With this death nothing will stop me." He once again said the words, but instead of killing Harry, the curse rebounded, and struck Voldemort. Heather thought she heard the faintest scream from downstairs, and then the nursery door opened, and in stepped, herself.
"Lily!" her older self said. She rushed to Lily's side, and pulled out her wand, "Enervate!" the red-haired woman started breathing again.
"Heather? Where's . . . Harry? Where's my baby?"
"Mama!" Harry said from his crib. Lily stood up weak, but grabbed her son.
"Lily, we have to get out of here, the house is unstable, James is alright, Sirius is tending to him."
"What about the Ministry, they think your husband betrayed us, we chose to leak a false trail that Sirius was our Secret-Keeper, why did we think it might have been Remus?" Heather gasped. In this dream, she had married Sirius Black. She heard a faint voice suddenly.
"Heather, wake up, Heather!" it was Lily's voice. She was trying to wake her up. She responded immediately hoping to get out of the nightmare that was her dream.
"Heather wake up!" Lily shouted. Heather opened her eyes to see the 17 year-old Lily Evans.
"Lily, what's the matter?" she asked.
"You were screaming, saying something about your brother dying, and then me, and a baby, named Harry, only it was like you were talking in my voice. Then there was another voice, one saying that Harry was prophesized to defeat you-know-who. Then my voice again saying that your husband being a Secret-Keeper, was a false trail, that Sirius Black had been a false trail, and that we thought it might have been Remus."
"Lily, I think I might have seen the future."
"Like a Seer would?"
"No, I don't know. At first, I was in a pleasant dream, and then I heard a gate creak, and I went to investigate, and that was when I saw him. Lily shuddered at the thought of the man, who had proclaimed himself Lord Voldemort. He was approaching a house, and then I heard James, at least I think it might have been James, scream 'Lily take Harry and run, it's him, I'll hold him off.'"
"But, that would make me most likely his wife, and why would I marry your brother?"
"I don't know, but then he cast the Killing Curse at James, and then he proceeded upstairs where I saw you in the dream. You were pleading with him, telling him to take you instead. Finally after a few minutes he killed you, and then moved on to the baby you were protecting. He tried to kill him, but the curse backfired, and destroyed you-know-who. A few seconds later, I saw myself, only I was older, come in, and revive you."
"But you can't revive a dead person."
"That's the thing, I don't think you actually died, I don't know how. Then you wanted to know about Harry, and then you picked him up. Then you turned to me, and said something about the Ministry, and how they thought my husband betrayed you, and that we leaked a false trail that Sirius was the Secret-Keeper. We thought it might have been Remus doing something, and then . . . that would leave, either Hermione, Haley, or Pettigrew. One of those three actually betrayed you."
"Wait a second, so I married your brother, you married Black, and me and James were under the Fidelius Charm?"
"I think so. You were betrayed, but you woke me up before I could finish the dream out, I said something about the house being ready to collapse, so I guess we got out of there, and joined James and Sirius."
"Well, write this down, maybe we could make sense of it, another time, like maybe . . ." Lily was cut off by a long howl.
"Remus!" Heather said.
"What was that?" Lily said unaware that Heather had noticed the moon phase.
"That was . . . no ordinary wolf, it was Remus." Heather said.
"You don't mean Remus is a werewolf, do you?"
"He is. He was at our house after a full moon a couple of years back, and when James, and Black went out to fetch him, I confronted them, and Remus himself told me what was up. I thought maybe they were doing something illegal, but they said they weren't. But then all the books on Animagi returned suddenly the summer after fifth year."
"Wait a minute; werewolves are harmful only to humans, right?" Heather nodded, "so what if you brother and their group became Animagi to keep Remus under control."
"That would explain Snape's tale of how a stag saved him from a wild animal, when he was poking around the Willow in fifth year. I mean stags aren't common around here are they?"
"No they aren't."
"Hey Lily, you know that piece of parchment that you confiscated from the Marauders yesterday?"
"The blank one?" Heather nodded, and Lily pulled it out of her trunk.
"Let's see, how about we try to figure out how they use it?"
"How about asking what it is?"
"Good thought." Lily said, she pulled out her wand. "I, Lily Marie Evans, politely ask you what you are." Writing suddenly appeared on the parchment.
"Messers Moony and Wormtail would like to say that Messer Prongs is going to be a complete idiot." Heather read, just as more writing appeared.
"Messer Padfoot would like to say that Messer Prongs has no right to reveal Marauder secrets, but probably can't stop himself from telling them to the love of his life."
"Messer Prongs, would like to say congratulations Lilyflower, you have found the Marauder's Map, just tap it and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' to activate it." Heather finished.
"Prongs would definitely be your brother; no one else calls me Lilyflower." Lily said, before tapping the parchment again and saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ink appeared on the parchment starting with the words, "Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, are proud to present the Marauder's Map." Immediately they opened it and saw three miniscule dots moving along one of the Seventh floor corridors, right toward the Grand Staircase. They were labled, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. The two girls looked at each other, before slipping on some slippers, and heading after the trio.
"I can't believe you let Evans take the Map Peter." Sirius Black said in a low whisper.
"I didn't she just confiscated it, I doubt she's taken it to Filch yet." Pettigrew said. He felt a lot like an outcast, a lot of the time, but he was still part of the most popular group in the school.
"Still we don't know if she's figured it out." James Potter said.
"Actually I think I did seeing as I activated your little map." A feminine voice said, "James Potter, you are Head Boy, why are you constantly out of bed late at night." They turned and saw Lily Evans and Heather Potter holding the Marauder's Map in their hands.
"Oh, and how did you figure it out?"
"Lily asked it what it was, and you being head over heels for her, or at least the Map version of you, told her how to activate it."
"Prongs, I told you not to mess with the Map while Moony was creating it, but no you had to go and add a personality to it, and it just had to be mostly yours."
"Seeing as Messers Moony and Wormtail said you would be a complete idiot, I would say that those two are Remus and Peter, am I right." Heather asked, getting nods from the trio.
"Messer Padfoot, that would be Black, said that Messer Prongs had no right to give away Marauder secrets, but wouldn't be able to stop Messer Prongs from telling them to the love of his life." Lily said, "And that is how we got access to your map."
"Ah ha, wait till Moony hears how you messed this one up for good Prongs!" Black said.
"And just what were you doing out of bed?" Heather said giving a stern glance at the trio.
"We were . . . uh, going to the kitchens."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Animagi books were disappearing up until the summer after fifth year, Snape was saved by a stag from being bitten by Remus, and you are constantly sneaking out. You three became Animagi to stop anymore incidents with Remus right?" Lily said.
"How did you know about Remus?" James asked.
"Figured it out." Lily said, "It's not that hard for someone who actually puts time into their work."
"How the hell did you figure out us being . . ." Black said, before having his mouth covered by James.
"Padfoot, you're going to wake the whole school."
"Let me guess, Prongs, means something with antlers, mostly likely a stag, Padfoot, well the only animal I can think of that has padded feet, is a dog, and Wormtail, would have to be something that has a worm-like tail, probably a mouse or rat." Lily said.
"Darn you two are too smart." James said.
"We were actually right about that?" Heather and Lily looked at each other.
"Yeah, now please, Moony's waiting for us and trust me, any longer, and he tends to try to tear out of the tunnel to go find us."
"What tunnel?"
"The one under the Shrieking Shack." Black said before covering his mouth.
"We'll let you go, on one condition," Heather said, the Marauders leaned in closely, "Teach us to become Animagi." The three boys looked awkward at the two girls.
"All of you, including the twins?"
"Including the twins." Heather said. Lily looked awkward at her. Heather mouthed that she would talk later to her.
"We'll do it, and tomorrow you have to give us back the map as well." James said, Heather swore under her breath, but nodded at the counter offer. The three boys gleefully ran off, and the two girls returned to Gryffindor Tower.
"What was that about?" Lily asked, upon reaching the dorms.
"What was what about?"
"The whole Animagus thing."
"Well, I thought we could use it as blackmail for when they pull pranks."
"But us becoming Animagi?"
"Well, it would be nice wouldn't it, and if we were unregistered, then You-Know-Who won't know our animal forms."
"Lily, I just have a question." Her friend looked at her as she was slipping her slippers off.
"What's on your mind?"
"Would you really be willing to die for your children if the case ever came up." Lily looked shocked at the words that came out of Heather's mouth.
"Heather, if it ever came up, I think that yes, I would be, I would gladly sacrifice myself in order for my child or children to keep on living." Lily looked down at the end of her sentence, tears building up in her eyes.
"One last thing, do you actually like my brother?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Well, you do fight with him constantly . . . and . . ."
"This year, since he has been made responsible for the well being of the students of Hogwarts, I have seen a major change in your brother's personality. So much of a change, that even I can't deny that I like him, possibly . . . even . . . love him."
"Lily, I know how you feel, I feel exactly the same way about Black, but I think it's more the fact that he ran away from his parent's house, and I've come to know him a bit better since then."
"Well, isn't this contradicting, here we are denying that we are in love with them almost every single day, and yet, now, we can't deny it any longer."
"I guess that's just how life is." Heather said under her breath. She waited for Lily to fall asleep, before heading out of the dorms, and out into the common room to try to fall asleep.
"I still can't believe you Prongs, your charming of the map screwed it up." Sirius Black said the next morning.
"Still, they do have blackmail on us, with us being unregistered Animagi." James Potter said, before looking at the still form of Remus Lupin on the hospital wing bed, "He had it really bad last night didn't he? I can't remember much, as I had a big fight with him which resulted in a large chunk of my flesh being torn and then repaired once you got him back inside the Shack. I . . ."
"James, I think Evans has finally realized that she's in love with you." Black said.
"What makes you say that?" James said wincing as he stood up.
"It was the way she acted last night." He said out loud before adding in thought, 'And your sister's in love with me.' He must have looked a little strange because James was about to say something, but was interrupted by Remus stirring.
"Uh, what's going on?"
"You kind of got aggressive towards dawn for some reason. You attacked James while he was in animal form, so he didn't get turned . . ."
"Thank god, you don't know what set me off?"
"Actually I think it was me." A timid voice said. Hermione Granger opened the curtain and approached her boyfriend. I think your wolf there decided it needed to protect me, as it sorta recognized me, and thought those two were going to hurt me." Remus and Hermione kissed, and then she turned to James and Sirius."
"Thanks again for making sure about this . . ."
"What are friends for? Speaking of which, meet us in the Common Room at about six tonight, bring your sister. Lily and Heather already agreed to this last night when they caught us sneaking out." James said, "You can make your decision then when it's brought forward."
It was quarter to six and all eight of them had met in the Common Room, they all had turned up early just to make sure they weren't late. It was when Remus and Hermione approached, that James turned to Lily and opened his mouth.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this? If we get caught, we'll all be sent to Azkaban."
"Which is why we have you, you can get through the castle with ease."Lily said, "James, I think I finally realized something last night." This was something that James had been waiting for all seven years.
"Yes?"was all he asked.
"I . . . I think I'm in love with you."
"The great and mighty Lily Evans, in love with me?" James asked stunned.
"Yes." Was all Lily said.
"Well then Lily, would you like to join me for a date next Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Yes, James, I will."
"Hate to break this up, but I do believe that you have something that belongs to us." Sirius said holding out his hand. Lily frustrated at the fact that Sirius had probably broken apart the moment that would lead to her first kiss, dug in her pockets to retrieve the Marauder's Map.
"Padfoot you have . . ." There were some words spoken, and only Remus heard them but he couldn't tell who had spoken them, before he was forced to duck, just as everyone else, except Haley Granger, who was hit full force, and was flung into the wall. There was dust, Remus called out everyone's names.
"Sirius, James, Peter, Heather, Lily, Hermione, Haley, is everyone alright?"
"Well, most of us are, who got hit with that spell?"
"It was Haley." Remus said, before noticing the pile of robes next to the wall that she had been flung into. "And she's gone."
"What?" Hermione said.
"I said exactly what I meant, she just disappeared." They all looked over at Peter, who had his wand out, and by the looks on everyone's face, it meant he was the prime suspect.
"I was just going to cast a Silencing Charm on Sirius." Peter said. Hermione broke into tears, and Sirius took Heather by the hand, and took her out into the halls. They walked a down a few, before coming to a stop in front of a door that Heather had never seen.
"I didn't think it would still be here, maybe I left the door open a crack." Sirius said. He inspected it, but found it closed completely.
"Maybe it heard what I needed from a distance."
"Padfoot? What's going on?" James said out loud. He, Lily, Remus, and Hermione came around the corner.
"I know of the perfect place, but first I needed to see what happened, so without further problems, lets get inside, I think it has what I need in there."
"Okay." They all hurried inside the room, and Sirius immediately found a Pensieve in the middle of the room. He hurried to it, put a memory inside, and grabbed Heather, who grabbed Hermione, who grabbed Remus, who grabbed James, who grabbed Lily, and they all went into the memory that was inside of the Pensieve.
All they saw once the memory started was Peter pulling his wand out, about to perform the Silencing Charm, he barely got the first syllable out, before he too had to duck to avoid the blast from behind, they saw something odd happen as the spell hit Haley Granger. The brown bushy hair turned red, and shortened, her physique changed, and before she had hit the wall, the twin of Hermione Granger, looked more like a twin to Arthur Weasley. Upon hitting the wall, the person just abruptly disappeared, leaving female Gryffindor robes in their place.
"What was that?" Hermione said. They had just come out of the Pensieve and she didn't like what she had seen, and was bound to find out what had happened.
"Mione I think you should just let it go, we'll go see Dumbledore tomorrow before classes begin, and . . ." Remus said.
"Let it go. My sister is missing, and you just tell me to let it go."
"Mione, I really don't think there is anything we can do, besides, what that looked like, was something like a time travel thing. There's spells that do that. But the whole change her appearance was new to me." Lily said. Hermione looked ready to cry, but Sirius decided to intervene.
"Well, what the meeting was supposed to be about, was something that Heather and Lily sorta forced on us, after catching us out of bed last night."
"What did you agree to?"
"Well, they're forcing us to teach them how to become an Animagus."