I got a review! Made me want to give a bit more.
Heather did make good on her promise a couple of weeks later. The stuffiest worded letter that she and Neville could formulate, using books in the library for references. The Gryffindor was actually great fun to be around. He was quiet and shy a lot, and when he didn't have a pre-trained set of formal responses to follow he stammered something awful, but he was a good friend. They only shared a few classes, and with Malfoy making himself unbearable they couldn't partner up in any of them. That was okay. It was more than she had ever had before.
Occasionally she caught sight of Ron between classes, but he always found an excuse to go the other way or talk really loudly to his new Hufflepuff friends. Heather was surprised about how greedy she was being. She already had one good friend after all… But Ron had been really nice on the train, and got over her being some important person really quick. Neville still blanched whenever she said or did something to reveal her muggle raised ignorance. Honestly if she and Malfoy hadn't started a blood feud yet, Heather wasn't sure she could do so accidentally.
The two of them spent time in the library mostly. Looking up things both for class and etiquette she really out to know as an Heir. Neither one of them was particularly studious. They tended to focus on the things they were good at. For Neville that was Herbology. His ancestral home had a huge garden, and it was one of the few branches of magic that could actually be practiced at home so his Gran had let him spend most of his time there. Heather, despite her new found hatred of Snape, really enjoyed potions. It really was just like cooking, art and science combined, and was one of the few classes Malfoy couldn't make her out to be some sort of idiot no matter how hard he tried. In fact her dicing was better than his.
Neville commiserated with her on how evil Snape was, the man hovered over the Gryffindor always ready to jump all over him for the tiniest infraction. He, like Heather, had managed to get detention the first week and agreed that scrubbing cauldrons that could fit people inside them was pretty awful. Malfoy had spent their shared detention chopping up potion ingredients. Indignant, Heather had managed to get her revenge by 'accidentally' bumping into him causing him to knock the entire batch of ingredients into one of the dirty cauldrons. Snape was furious about the loss, and set them both ridiculously long essays for lab safety, but it had been worth it.
When the day of flying class dawned, Heather had been looking forward to it. She got to spend time with her friend and she got to ride a broomstick like in the stories. Of course, that was until she saw what her roommates were wearing for the event. "Didn't you bring any riding skirts?" Parkinson asked. Her nose was wrinkled as if she wanted to be rude, and the other girls expressions were almost openly mocking. Heather blushed. "I didn't…"
Trailing off she listened to the little voice inside of her head that sounded like Neville. "Realize we would need them at school. I didn't know flying was mandatory for first years." While she didn't quite get why he felt it was important Slytherin House never found out she lived with muggles, she did believe he knew more about dealing with pure bloods than she did. Greengrass made a tisking sound. "You'll have to make do with whatever Prefect Fawley can transfigure for you." She sniffed in distaste. "I'd owl home immediately and hope the clothing came quickly, or fake being sick."
Following the advice, she went to the prefect and explained her situation. While she did change one of her skirts into a riding skirt, the older girl also shoved a catalog at her. "Might want to update your entire wardrobe instead. I've seen what you wear on the weekends." While Heather didn't particularly care for her aunt's old dresses, the words still stung. She did have some money left over from her trip to her vault, so she shoved the magazine in her bag. Ignoring the greedy part of her that now wanted a girl friend to talk about clothes with, she headed off to breakfast.