AN: For those of you who have read my Veritas series, this is based on that, except instead of a baby boy, James and Lily had a baby girl called Bethany Lily Potter. To start with, it will run fairly close to Veritas, it's changing more and more as I write it. I've already started posting on AO3 so I figured I'd add it here as well. I've worked the timeline so it's in line with canon, since so many people were a bit annoyed with that; Snape and Lily still weren't friends before Hogwarts. I've played with the ages and death dates of various people from the first war. If something seems really wrong, I've probably done it on purpose.
Pairings will be Bethany/Cedric; Fred/Hermione; Draco/Ginny (eventually).
I thought long and hard about writing this fic. I've wanted to write it for a while, or at least do a rewrite of Veritas, but was halted by You-Know-Who running her mouth. It broke my heart, because I had always had a lot of respect for her, and this fandom was so important to me growing up, that it felt like a personal betrayal, even though I am not trans, so I cannot imagine the hurt that must have been felt by so many others.
I am not making any profit from this story and - more importantly - neither is she. I believe the original message of Harry Potter - as flawed as the series was in hindsight - was that of equality and love being the most powerful force on the planet.
And I refuse to let her take that away from me.
November 1993
Oliver Wood was panicking.
Not because of the fact that a mass-murderer had tried to break into Gryffindor Tower - of course not - but because it was the first Quidditch game of the season.
This was Oliver's fourth year as Captain - and it would be his last, as he was due to graduate next year.
That meant it was his last chance to win the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. His first year, they hadn't had a Seeker.
His second, their Seeker was in the hospital wing and they had no reserve.
Last year, the Cup had been cancelled.
(Mainly due to the Chamber of Secrets being opened and students getting Petrified, but that was just an excuse as far as Oliver was concerned).
No, this was his last chance, and if he was going to impress the League Scouts, he had to get to the final.
To stop Oliver worrying too much, the Gryffindor team went down to the pitch early, hoping to get a feel for the conditions, as though the walk wasn't doing that by itself.
What had started as a bit of rain was turning into a full-on thunderstorm.
"I don't like this," Oliver repeated for the hundredth time.
"Oliver, have you ever heard of something called psychology?" Bethany asked, peering through her fogged up glasses. "Because the more you say that, the more nervous we get."
"Hey," Fred said suddenly. "Who's that?"
"Where?" George asked, trying to squint through the driving rain.
"Over there," Fred said, pointing in the direction of the gates.
Just visible to the team, two figures were battling the elements, each fighting with a trunk at the same time.
"Maybe we should go and help them," Katie said. "We've got more than enough time before the game."
Oliver glanced at his watch and sighed. "Alright, come on then. Nothing we can do at the pitch right now, not in this weather."
It was a bit of a struggle, their umbrellas constantly blowing this way and that, but they finally reached the two visitors, who were thankfully well away from the Dementors guarding the boundaries.
"Do you want a hand?" Alicia asked, raising her voice to be heard over the howling wind.
"Thank you so much," one of the women shouted back, "but what about the game?"
"Doesn't start for another hour," Oliver said. "Come on, team."
Oliver and George took one trunk, and Fred and Bethany took the other, and they battled their way back through the storm the the castle, finally arriving in the Entrance Hall.
Noise from the Great Hall told them that breakfast was still on-going, and would probably continue up until the point the students started heading down to the pitch - which in this weather they were probably going to leave as late as possible.
"Thank you so much," the same woman said, pushing her sopping blonde hair out of her face. She was the taller of the two, just about, slim but not tiny, with warm amber eyes that took in the Entrance Hall with a nostalgic smile. "We had to resize them to get them through security and then levitating them was too much a push in this weather. We considered banishing them, but …"
"… more harm than good in that wind," her companion finished, wringing out her cloak, leaving a small puddle on the floor. Her face was rounder, and her hair shorter and darker, the colour of chestnuts. Her eyes were almost the same colour, with just as much warmth as her companion, but with a familiarity that Bethany was sure she knew from somewhere. "Ten points apiece to Gryffindor."
The team exchanged a glance.
"You're teachers?" Alicia asked, sounding dubious - it was halfway through the first term, after all.
"Well, Professor Lupin has been informed that his illness is likely to have some flare-ups," the second woman said. "We'll be covering for him, and assisting with Defence Against the Dark Arts, in case he needs us. We both have day-jobs, so we'll be splitting the work between us. I'm Professor Figg."
"And I'm Professor Cotswold." She pointed at Oliver. "You're Richard's boy, right? Oliver?"
Oliver looked surprised. "How did you know?"
"I was on the team with your Uncle Tom," Professor Cotswold said with a smile. "Amazing keeper, that boy."
"Wait," Oliver said, his eyes lighting up. "Not Amanda Cotswold, Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports?"
Professor Cotswold chuckled. "That's me. I have absolutely no say on professional Quidditch team try-outs."
"She's had to say that quite a few times," Professor Figg said with a grin. "You two must be the Weasley twins."
"Gred and Forge, at your service," they chorused with a grin.
Professor Cotswold laughed. "You still use those names? Molly always would insist on lettering your jumpers so that Lily could tell you apart when she baby-sat."
"So James gave them other names to use," Professor Figg said. "I'd forgotten about that. I'm not sure we went to Hogwarts with any of your parents," she added to the three Chasers.
"Angelina Johnson," the girl informed her with a smile. "Alicia Spinnet. Katie Bell."
"Lovely to meet you all." Professor Figg directed her focus to Bethany, who was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. "And you're Bethany Potter."
Bethany nodded, waiting for the familiar flick of their eyes to the scar on her forehead, but it didn't come.
"I suppose you've been told this," she continued with a sad smile, "but you have your mother's eyes."
Bethany blinked in surprise. "Er … yeah. It usually comes after how much I look like my father."
"Oh, you do," Professor Cotswold agreed quietly. "Small differences, but you do. But your eyes are … so very much Lily's."
"Did you …?" Their words came back to Bethany. "The Lily and James you mentioned earlier … they were my parents? You knew them?"
The two women exchanged a somewhat dark look that made Bethany a little nervous.
"Come and see us after the match," Professor Figg said. "If Oliver's anything like Tom, he'll be itching to drag you down to the pitch."
Bethany was not satisfied with this answer, but she also knew better than to demand answers, especially since it didn't sound like she was being dismissed.
Still, she didn't hold out much hope for them telling her the truth.
Adults never did.
"How did Dementors get on the grounds?" Arabella whispered shakily, staring at Bethany's pale, unconscious form.
"Arabella," Mandy hissed, nodding towards Ron and Hermione, who had accompanied Bethany up to the hospital wing and were still refusing to leave her side.
The rest of the team had been almost frog-marched into the locker room to shower and change before joining them.
The Hufflepuff Seeker, Cedric Diggory, was on one of the other beds behind a curtain with Madam Pomfrey - he had caught the Snitch before realising Bethany had fallen, and done his best to catch her too.
"If you don't mind me asking," Hermione said, "who are you?"
Arabella didn't blame them their suspicion - from their point of view, two strangers had come sprinting into the infirmary, taken one look at Bethany, and looked as though they were about to have heart attacks.
"I'm Amanda Cotswold, this is Arabella Figg," Mandy said. "We've come to help Professor Lupin with his DADA lessons. He sees some more health problems in the future, and Professor Dumbledore feels that allowing Professor Snape to cover the classes may cause … tension."
Ron snorted. "You can say that again. He took ten points off Gryffindor because Mione's an 'insufferable know-it-all."
Mandy pursed her lips. "I see."
"I mean, she is," Ron said, "but he didn't have to say it."
Hermione glared at him. "I'm Hermione Granger, but the way. This is Ron Weasley. We're Beth's best friends."
Arabella started, seeing Mandy stiffen from the corner of her eye. "Hermione. That's an unusual name."
"Mum loves Shakespeare," Hermione said, with a self-conscious shrug.
"Well, I think it's a beautiful name," Arabella told her.
"Why are you so worried about Beth?" Ron asked bluntly.
Arabella sighed. "If we tell you, you have to promise us you won't accuse us of favouritism."
"Although I like to think we'd be just as worried about any student after that," Mandy muttered.
The two third years exchanged a look, but nodded.
"We were dorm-mates with Lily Potter at Hogwarts," Arabella said. "We've known Bethany since she was a little baby."
Ron scowled. "Yeah? Where were you then?"
"Ron," Hermione hissed.
"Mandy was abroad when it happened," Arabella said softly. "By the time I found out what had happened, I was advised that Bethany had already been placed according to their Will, and Al … It was made very clear to us that we were to keep away for her own safety. We've sent her birthday cards and Yule cards, but never received a reply. When she started Hogwarts, we wrote letters, but, again, never got any reply."
"Beth never got any mail like that," Ron said. "I asked Dad about it once, because I figured that people would still be sending her, like, fan-mail and stuff, and he said he reckoned there must be a mail-ward on her."
Hermione frowned. "But our mail gets to her."
"Yeah, but whoever put the mail-ward on would allow that through," Ron explained. "Doesn't explain why her mother's friends' letters didn't get through though."
Mandy sighed. "We figured as much when she asked about us earlier. I can only assume that Albus put a blanket mail ward on her and forgot to release it when she started Hogwarts. I hope," she added under her breath.
"We don't even know where she grew up," Arabella added, nudging her friend a little warningly. "I sent some feelers out to other people we were at school with, but … Honestly, I would have thought Mandy and I were higher up the list, given that Lily's best, best friends were … unavailable. I would have assumed that the Longbottoms were next on the list, because they had Neville, but obviously she didn't go to them. I'm a little hurt that we weren't after that though."
"Arabella," Mandy said, with a fond smile. "You're rambling." She looked at the two students. "Do you know who she grew up with?"
"The Dursleys." Hermione almost spat the word out with what must have been, judging by Ron's startled expression, uncharacteristic bitterness.
Arabella was puzzled for a moment, but then the name clicked into place in her memory. "Petunia Dursley? Lily's sister Petunia Dursley?! She hated Lily!"
"She's not too fond of Bethany either," Hermione muttered, smoothing Bethany's hair down over her scar.
"They starved her," Ron elaborated. "We had to rescue her after first year, and there were bars on the window!"
Mandy looked furious. "That … That … How could Dumbledore have let that happen - there's no way Lily wanted Beth to go to them!"
"Mandy," Arabella said sharply. "Maybe this is a discussion to have with the Headmaster away from the students?"
Mandy took a deep breath. "Of course, Arabella. Sorry. Sorry Poppy," she added, seeing Madam Pomfrey hovering in the door of her office.
The medi-witch sniffed a little, but went back to her desk without comment.
Arabella turned to the students again with a smile she was sure looked as fake as it felt. "What about you two? Ron, I know about your family, of course. Are Bill and Charlie still abroad?"
"Yeah," Ron said, looking surprised. "Bill's in Egypt working as a curse-breaker; Charlie works at a dragon preserve in Romania. You know my parents?"
"Not well," Arabella said. "Lily did some baby-sitting for your mother. More the twins, than you, admittedly."
"I've crossed paths with your father once or twice in the Ministry," Mandy added. "We have a catch-up over a cup of tea every now and then. What about you, Hermione?"
Hermione jumped a little. "Oh, I'm Muggle-born."
Arabella exchanged a glance with Mandy. The name couldn't be a coincidence, but still … "And how did your parents take magic?"
"Well, they were a little unnerved," Hermione admitted, "especially my father." A kind of darkness crossed her expression. "But it's nowhere near what Beth has to deal with."
July 1994
A lot had happened since Bethany had met her mother's friends, but one thing had not changed.
Hermione had not been nearly as honest with her new professors as she maybe should have been.
Although her mother doted on her as best she could, her father was nothing short of a control freak. Nothing was ever good enough for Steven Granger and, although his wife bore the brunt more often than not, Hermione couldn't always escape the backlash.
Right now she was sitting at her bedroom window, her head pounding, not helped by the bruise on her face, her cheek beginning to swell beneath her left eye.
The bruise was a few days old and was a result of her father's response to her dropping the two extra classes which had been driving her mad over the last year.
Not that the time-turner hadn't come in handy.
Her head was pounding because of the headache that her been plaguing her for the last few weeks, at least since the exams.
No, if she was honest with herself, the headache had started when she and Bethany had freed her fugitive godfather from the Dementors, breaking about a dozen laws in the process.
Not that Hermione begrudged Sirius the laws - not at all - but it was a little disconcerting that - once again - it had been left to three school-children to fix things.
Ever since her close encounter with the Dementors, her emotions seemed completely out of her control - not in the sense that she was losing her temper, but in that they seemed to make no sense, have no context, and did not even seem to belong to her.
Added to all of that, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was about to happen.
She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against the cool window glass. Somehow, she doubted that running to the library was going to help her this time.
