This was it. Time for Heather to go. If she could stop hugging her brother long enough to leave, that was. What if that pig Vernon tried to hit him again? What if that beached whale Dudley resorted to H Hunting again? What if that horrid, pasty snake Volde-
"Heather, you need to leave before you're late," Hadrian reminded his sister. "Go, I'll be fine. Just remember your promises."
"Right, first in class and letters every day. Okay," Heather said, still standing there.
Rolling his eyes, Hadrian practically shoved his sister out of the door. A few more reassurances, and Heather finally started off. He waited until she was out of sight before sighing morosely. A good long mope next to his Transporting Chest seemed like a great idea...
~~~
Nervously, Heather stepped through the pillar which acted as an entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The long journey to King's Cross station by train (the Dursleys would never have deigned to drive her here) had passed by in no time at all while she brooded. Was this what empty nest syndrome felt like. She would have appreciated the irony of her being the one to actually leave if she hadn't been so down. Rian would have laughed.
Even the gleaming train that would bring her to Hogwarts held no appeal in her dejected state. She passed by other young wizards and witches hugging their families in farewell and felt her loss keenly. One large family of redheads was particularly eye-catching. A small girl, probably the youngest sister, held on tightly to several older brothers. She looked about ready to burst into tears when two of the boys, looking inordinately similar - probably twins - did something that made her burst into teary giggles instead.
Great. She missed her brother even more now, if that was even possible.
Sighing mentally for the millionth time, Heather boarded the train and found an empty compartment to wallow privately in.
No !
She shook her head sharply. Hadrian was expecting a long letter detailing every single interesting facet of her journey to Hogwarts. Self-pity was not what he wanted to read about.
She kept that in mind as two redheads crashed noisily into the room. She noticed that they were the identical twins she had seen cheering up their sister earlier.
"Can we-" the one on the left began.
"-sit here?" the other continued.
Well. That counted as interesting, right? She shrugged and gave a tiny smile in acceptance. The twins grinned - with eerily similar expressions - and sat down on either side of her.
"Our names are Fred-" the one on the right said.
"-and George Weasley. What's-" the one on her left continued.
"-your name-" the other said, alternating again.
"-lil' missy?" they finished together.
Oh my. That would take some time to get used to. At least she could now identify them. "I'm Heather Potter. Nice to meet you."
Each of the twins took her opposing hand to shake in counterpoint. What a picture she must make, with both her hands crossed and moving up and down in turn. She chuckled at the silliness.
"So, Miss Heather Potter-"
"-any relation to-"
"-Hadrian Potter, the-"
"-famed Boy-Who-Lived?"
Heather frowned and resisted the urge to snap at them defensively. "I'm his sister," she said shortly. A pause, then, "That's a horrible nickname."
To her shock, the twins simultaneously shot to the ground in a kneeling position.
"Oh forgive us-"
"-ignorant fools! You and-"
"-your brother deserve-"
"more glorious titles, such-"
"-as the Surviving Siblings!"
"The Triumphant Tagteam!"
"You-Know-Who's You-Know-Whats!"
Having had enough, Heather slapped her palms onto the two redheads' mouths to stop the stream of nonsense. She couldn't stop giggling though. Especially at that last one.
"Ugh...those...names...you two...came up...with...were...even...more...horrible!" she forced out between giggles. "Get up off the floor!" she said, dragging them up by their forearms. She rolled her eyes when they gave each other a thumbs up.
Fred grinned at his brother when he saw their new friend laugh. She'd looked so sad as she walked alone towards the train that they'd just had to cheer her up. As the Kings of Joy, they wouldn't stand for that unhappiness. Seeing a job well done, he gave George a thumbs up.
Oblivious to the twins' thoughts, Heather shyly started up a conversation about their upcoming Hogwarts education. She didn't have any friends and Rian didn't exactly count. So she had no clue how to befriend anyone. In fact, if it weren't for these two, she'd never try to initiate anything with anyone. Their affable and joking personalities made it easy for Heather though.
~~~
"My favourite colour?" Heather pondered for a while. "White," she decided, thinking of That Night.
"BO-RING!" the two announced together.
Her eye twitched. "Doesn't matter!" she refuted. White was for safety. White was for Life. White was for blasting that Wretched Evil Man into oblivion. "And yours then? Is it a suitably exciting colour?" she asked sarcastically.
"Neon Orange!" they exclaimed in tandem, then glared at each other.
"Hey, that's mine!" the twins continued in sync.
"No, it's not!" Still copying each other.
Butting their heads together, they began to mock wrestle on the floor as Heather looked on, exasperated.
~~~
"We'll probably be-" George began.
"-in Gryffindor," Fred continued.
"Like all our family," they concluded, nodding.
"Hmm," she hummed casually, "My parents were Gryffindors too, but I've been told I would make a good Slytherin."
Fred gasped in exaggerated horror while George clutched at his chest dramatically.
"You mean all this time we've-"
"-been talking to a snake in-"
"-sheep's clothing? Behind those-"
"-sparkling green eyes and innocent-"
"-smile are a cunning villainess?"
Heather simply smirked slyly.
~~~
The train hooted loudly as it stuttered to a stop. Heather blinked at the sudden cessation of movement. Looking out of the window, she found that they had arrived at another station called Hogsmeade station. The ride went by quicker than expected. She hadn't even been moping about her Rian.
'No,' she realised as she looked at Fred and George, 'it was these two that kept me from sinking into my gloomy thoughts.' A rush of gratitude filled her and she wondered if this was what friendship was like.
The twins were waiting for her at the door of the compartment. Impulsively, she walked to them and grasped each of their hands in hers. Suddenly bashful, she just squeezed their hands briefly and smiled. At their puzzled looks, she just told them to hurry up and then dragged them out of the train.
~~~
The castle was huge. And amazing. And beautiful. It was everything she had ever imagined it would be - and more. If she'd thought the magic was thick in Diagon Alley, then she was positively swimming in it here. Heather couldn't wait to explore the whole castle. Though it would probably take all of her seven years here to do it.
They had to ride boats across the Black Lake to reach the castle grounds. A giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid (Jus' call me Hagrid) escorted them there. She later found out that she'd been half-right; Hagrid was, in fact, a half giant.
The three of them shared a boat with another boy called Lee Jordan. Lee, it seemed, shared much of his sense of humour with the twins. They got on like a house on fire. Heather worried that that would evolve into a castle on fire.
She learned that Fred and George enjoyed confusing others by impersonating each other. Not difficult to do when they were facsimiles of the other. They seemed to like people mixing them up. She hadn't realised that they'd been trying to do that to her, but with Lee present, she witnessed it from an outside perspective. Okay, she knew why they liked to do it now. It was hilarious.
Interestingly, she'd also found out that the twins had a peculiar sense of chivalry. While they'd started rocking the boat at Lee's mention of seasickness, they'd immediately stopped when she stated she couldn't swim. Maybe it was because she was a girl. Or so much tinier than they were. Perhaps both. Regardless, she could see why they would be Gryffindors despite their cunning and wiles.