The Other Potter

Part 7

"I take it Severus isn't joining us?" Harriet asked as the train pulled out of Hogsmeade.

"No. He wants to sit with Evans. It would seem that the paper this morning upset her a great deal," Regulus said, not hiding his distaste.

"Why is he still pandering to her?" Miranda asked.

"They've been friends since they were children," Regulus explained, "he's holding out hope that he can convince her of our ways."

Harriet rolled her eyes, "Evans is wilfully ignorant. She knows the basics and chooses to ignore them; I doubt she'll convert to the rest."

"I honestly don't see what the fuss about her is," Barty said, "she's not even attractive."

"Thank you," Jasmine said with fervour.

Harriet snorted; Jasmine held a grudge against Lily as she and the red headed Gryffindor had been partnered together in Charms for a project and they hadn't gotten along at all. Evans had insisted on what spells to study and use while refusing to believe Jasmine whenever she made suggestions and tried to contribute knowledge from books and sources found outside of the Hogwarts library. Lily was very much a firm believer in studying only 'light' books and refused to budge on her stance that if it wasn't in the Hogwarts library then it had to be 'dark' and therefore 'evil'.

"James is still completely enamoured."

"Your brother is a fool," Jasmine said scowling.

Harriet snorted, "You'll get no argument from me."

///

Summer was easily Harriet's favourite time. She loved the freedom, how she got to dictate how she spent her time and what she did. She was able to spend whole days researching and developing her ward, she could easily lose hours in the library without worry or notice.

"I don't believe you've moved since I saw you this morning."

Harriet looked up and saw her father standing in the doorway of their library. Looking around Harriet saw it was now late, very late if her father had returned from work. Flushing, Harriet put her book down, "I moved when I ate."

Charlus chuckled and came into the room, he had removed his boots and outer auror robes but still had on his uniform shirt and trousers, "What's got you hauled up in here?" he asked.

"I'm researching ward stones. Every mineral conducts magic is different ways, therefore I want to see how much the stone impacts on the ward it is used for..."

Charlus was stunned yet at the same time he wasn't; his daughter was brilliant, something he knew from her grades, yet this level of research was usually done by masters not students entering their fourth year of schooling.

"I do wonder where you get your brilliance from."

"Mother," Harriet said without missing a beat.

Charlus laughed, while it still hurt to think of Dorea it was getting easier to talk about her and he refused to not talk about her, as he didn't want to act in a way that diminished her memory.

"Dory was without doubt a brilliant witch. She would be proud of you."

Harriet felt her smile freeze; she couldn't help but wonder if that was true, would her mother still be proud of her if she knew what she was planning on doing? She loved her father but she couldn't stand by and let magic be slowly destroyed.

Charlus sat and watched his daughter for a moment, each day he noticed how similar to Dorea she was, and it broke his heart that his wife wasn't here to see it. Shaking his head to clear the negative thoughts he stood.