White Heather for Protection

So It Begins

"Okay Rian, do you have your trunk?" Hadrian held up his necklace, on which his shrunken trunk hung. "Your wand?" He lifted his robe sleeve, letting his eleven-inch holly and phoenix feather wand peek out. "Anguis?" A short hiss answered that query. "Oh, what else is there? How about-"

"-a hug and a kiss from my beloved sister?" Rian interrupted cheekily. Heather chuckled and obliged. "Really, Heather, you worry too much! Just go board your carriage, I'll be sharing the boat with Ron. And I promise not to dive into the lake. Or feed the Giant Squid. Or feed the squid by diving in and offering myself as a meal."

Heather smiled sheepishly at hearing the concerns she'd had repeated. She did sound ridiculous. She sighed and waved her brother on, waiting till he got safely on a boat before leaving for her own ride.

"Back already, Mummy Heather?" Fred said.

"Thought you'd have ridden on the boat with him, actually," George ribbed.

Grimacing slightly, she continued to stare worriedly down at the lake, though the carriage flew too high up to see clearly. "I was convinced not to."

"Oh cheer up, Heather!"

"You'll see him soon at the Sorting."

"Besides, Ronnie's with him."

"Uh, Gred? I'm worried now."

Heather allowed the twins' byplay draw out a smile. "Rather, Rian should be worried, leaving me here to fend against you two," she said glibly.

Rian would be just fine. Now, if only she could believe it.

~~~

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat finally shouted after at least six minutes. Heather sighed in relief and clapped hard, ignoring the subtle glares her housemates gave her. She had been immensely worried by the long time the hat had taken, despite the precedence of hat stalls. She shouldn't have. She herself had taken about four minutes to sort, after all.

Heather looked over at the Gryffindor table and caught Fred and George's gazes. Her eyes flitted briefly to her brother before returning to them. They inclined their heads solemnly. She smiled gratefully. They would look out for him.

Sighing as the Headmaster began his typical welcome speech, Heather recalled the conversation she had had with Hadrian.

"Heather?" her brother said abruptly after a whole hour of tossing and turning on their bed. Heather immediately began to worry. What had her brother sounding so scared? She made sure the silencing charms around their bed were active. Wouldn't want to wake the twins.

"Rian? What's wrong?"

He was silent for a few moments. "...Will you hate me if I'm not Slytherin like you are?"

Heather sighed in relief. That's all he was worried about? "I don't care which house you Sort into, Rian," she said honestly, "As long as you're happy."

"Even Gryffindor?" he said in a small voice.

She couldn't help it; she laughed. "Rian, Mama and Papa were Gryffindors. Fred and George are Gryffindors. We're in a houseful of Gryffindors. Believe me, the house rivalry doesn't bother me. In fact, I should be asking you whether you hate me for being Slytherin."

He shook his head frantically. "Of course not! You're my sister, a silly thing like your house won't make me stop loving you!"

Heather gave him a fond smile and cuddled him closer. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Good night, Hadrian."