White Heather for Protection

A Night to Remember

The others crowded around Hadrian, curious to know what it was that had caused Hadrian such shock.

"Referring to the events dated 31 October 1994..." Hermione recited.

"...in accordance with Wizarding bylaw 342 Section 2..." Fred and George said.

"...you are thus declared fully emancipated..." Ginny continued.

"...with all the rights of an adult wizard?!" Ron shouted incredulously.

Silence reigned as they all processed the information.

"Brimfire, Head of Inheritance Matters, Gringotts." Everyone turned to stare at Luna, who was smiling calmly. "Well, it looked like it was my turn to read, no one else was going to. The dinglegirdles must have all pinched your lips shut."

"Thank you Luna," Heather said, shaking her head fondly. Well, at least she had snapped everyone out of their shock.

"So I'm really emancipated?" Hadrian asked cautiously. "How did you even pull this off?"

"It says here that by forcing you to compete in the tournament, they essentially declared you as good as an adult," Hermione said.

Heather nodded. "Yup. The heads of three different magical schools and a Head of Department of the MoM were even present. Can't get any more official than that." As it was now, Hadrian had more rights than even she did! Hers was only a legal emancipation; she was still subject to the law on underage magic. Hadrian, however, had a magical emancipation, which meant he was recognised fully as an adult in every way. This would be really helpful in case there was an emergency where he needed to use his wand during the school holidays. Goodness only knew all the trouble he attracted.

"You know what that means, mate!" Ron exclaimed. "You can learn how to apparate!"

She shook her head at that. Hadrian's friends sure had interesting priorities. Well, she would talk to him later about all the ramifications of this. For now, they had a ball to prepare for.

~~~

Heather had chosen white dress robes for the occasion, though there was some blue that faded in to the white at the hems to so that they weren't too plain. It even glittered in the low light - faintly, anything more would be too gaudy for her tastes. It wasn't anything too special, something just fancy enough to match the dress code. With some magic, her hair twisted obediently into a loose crown braid. She certainly wouldn't have been able to do it manually. Before she'd left, Daphne (dressed to the nines in top-of-the-line designer robes) had weaved some flowers into her hair before nodding approvingly and ushering her out.

Dual wolf whistles sounded out as she approached the doors to the Great Hall. Knowing who she'd find there, Heather turned around. She was wholly unsurprised to see her two best friends dramatically kneeling before her.

"Our princess! We beseech you to-"

"-abandon your intended and abscond with us!"

Playing along, she put a hand to her heart. "Alas, my faithful knights, I cannot. For I am devoted with all my heart."

Fred sprang to his feet, in time with George. "You never did tell us who your date was."

"Anyone we know?"

"Your Prince, perhaps?" They leered teasingly at her.

"Yeah, we wanna know who-"

"-the ponce you ditched us for is." They honestly felt a little peeved that Heather had rejected their invitation to the ball. It'd have been totally awesome to go as a threesome! Imagine all the scandalous looks they'd have gotten.