One idea sparked another. So maybe I'll just continue to update this and Last Request at the same time. Thanks for reading.
Her anger faded when she finally escaped the dungeons, and she made a break for the grounds. "Potter!" She turned; somewhat dismayed that she hadn't escaped. Heather was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't Malfoy and his goons. Instead the chubby toad boy had chased her down. Having caught up he took a moment to catch his breath, resting his hands on his knees. She watched him curiously, not knowing what he could possibly want. Wasn't there some rule at Hogwarts that said red and green could never meet except at Christmas? "Can I help you?" Heather asked.
Standing back up, the boy wrung his hands nervously. "Yes! Oh I mean no! umm…" He looked down and then back up with sudden determination. "I - I'm Neville Longbottom." Ah that was his name. Somewhat bemused by the whole situation she gave a small dip that wasn't quite a curtsy. "Heather Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you." Tilting her head to the side she added, "I believe we met on the train." Longbottom blushed. "Yeah…Trevor is always getting loose." Still not sure where the boy was going with all of this, Heather frowned.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not in the best mood for small talk, was there something you wanted to say?" His flush grew brighter but he nodded. "I heard what you said to Malfoy." The anger that she had let fade was back, but the Gryffindor didn't back down. "My parents and yours were friends. I just wanted you to know…" His seemed to lose his nerve, and broke off to stare at the ground. Almost too quite to hear, he finished. "That I know what it's like."
Not sure what to say, Heather imitated her Aunt when a man on the street had said he was sorry she had lost her sister. "I appreciate the sentiment Longbottom." She was rather stiff and formal but the boy looked back up. Knowing that their parents had been friends spurned her to do something reckless. "I hope we can follow in their footsteps and continue the association?" The words were awkward coming out, but the boy smiled shyly at her.
"If we're to be friends, I'm going to have to insist you call me Neville." His voice had changed into a formal tone too, erasing the stammering he seemed prone to. Ron was still avoiding her, probably because her uniform had broken out in snakes, and her dorm mates were still maintaining a too polite façade. So here truly was a chance for a friend. "Only if you call me Heather." She was grinning now, the day suddenly seeming brighter. "I was going to explore the grounds, would you care to accompany me?" Heather was continuing to play the part of a 'proper young lady' like her aunt had always wanted, and to her delight Neville seemed to get the joke and play along.
Offering her his arm he said ever so politely, "It would be an honor to escort you on your outing." For a moment they both just stared at each other, and then burst into laughter. "Thank you Neville." Heather said sincerely. "You have completely made up for Malfoy." Looking much more comfortable then he had at any point she had seen him, the boy grinned. "I don't suppose you'd care to put that in writing and owl it off to my gran? She'd love to hear that a Longbottom was worth more than a Malfoy."
Confused Heather stopped walking. They had ended up by the lake, not really paying attention to where they wandered. "Your families know each other then?" Neville shrugged. "Know of each other really. Though all of the twenty-eight are related somehow." Feeling like he was speaking gobbledygook, the goblin language she'd heard about in History, she blinked at him. "I'm sorry, the twenty-eight what?" Looking nervous again, his eyes wide as he looked back at her. "You…You mean you d-don't know?" She crossed her arms defensively. "I was raised by muggles, there is a lot I don't know." His face went pale.
Suddenly more concerned than irritated, she frowned at him. "But, but! You're the girl who lived!" He blurted. "And the Potter Heir!" He began to wring his hands again. "Surely your magical guardian-." Really tired of being confused she snapped at him. "I don't have a magical guardian!" He flinched. "I just told you I was raised with my muggle relatives." He took a step back. "That doesn't make any sense!" He practically squeaked at her. Throwing her hands up, she yelled back at him. "You're the one not making sense!"
From inside her bag she heard glass shatter. Look down at it, she saw a black stain start to spread across the brown fabric. Heather quickly dropped it and began digging her books and notes out, trying to save them. Feeling suddenly exhausted she sighed. "It happened again." Neville knelt down next to her, and began gathering up the stray papers before they got blown away. "Accidental m-magic, happens sometimes when y-you're upset." He offered softly. He looked kind of sad.
Fishing the glass out of her bag, Heather wondered why they had gone from easily joking to this mess. Experimentally she put back on her 'proper lady' tone. "Neville, if you would be so kind as to explain why you are having such an extreme reaction to my living with muggles?" An awful thought occurred to her. "You're not prejudice are you?" He shook his head, but was still looking at her in concern. "N-no." He said. Then more firmly. "It's not that. Heather you're the Heir to the Potter family, while not one of the twenty-eight..."
He paused seeing her frown again. "The most Noble and Ancient Pure Blood Families. They make up the foundation of the Wizarding World." She noted that seemed he was more comfortable talking formally with people, because his stutter went away again. "An heir to any magical family, even if not the most traditional, is raised knowing certain things about the world." The bag was damp but should dry soon. She lined the bottom with blank parchment, and then started loading her books back in. Heather still didn't see the big deal.
"I'll just have to figure it out now then." She said. Neville handed her back the papers he had collected. "If you were a muggleborn they would have assigned you a magical guardian to explain the basics, if you were an estranged part of a lesser family and suddenly been the only Heir they would have spent the summer educating you on…well everything." She shoved the papers in with more force than strictly necessary. "So I'll muddle through on my own. Not like anyone feels the need to tell me anything."
Neville took her bag from her as they stood. It seemed to be a reflexive action though, because he kept trying to explain. "You, despite being underage, represent the entirety of your family's politics." That sounded bad. "All alliances your family may have made will only continue if you and they come to some agreement when you become of age. You don't even know who those are with." That sounded worse. "Any and all of your actions and words are a direct reflection of your Family Name. If you accidentally insult the wrong family, it could start a blood feud." Heather began to see why he had panicked. She started to feel like panicking.
"Why do you know all of this?" She choked out. Neville expression crumpled. "It's just me and Gran. I've been the Longbottom Heir since you defeated You-Know-Who." That's what he meant when he said he knew what it was like. Heather felt terrible. "Well then you can teach me." She said, as much to change the subject as to give a peace offering. "I mean who better?" Neville looked kind of shocked, but he offered her his arm and she took it. As he began to escort her back to the castle she heard him mutter, "Wish you'd put that down in a letter to Gran." Smiling she squeezed her new friend's arm. "I will if you show me where the good Wizarding etiquette books are."