A Different Life

Beth went to get the mail. She picked up the three envelopes lying on the mat and looked through them. One was the phone bill, another an advertisement for a cable company, and the third was - She let out an undignified shriek.

"What's the matter?" asked Natalia Black-Harper. Five months after Sirius had been freed, the two had started dating. Five years in Azkaban had caused Sirius to mature greatly, and unlike their three months at Hogwarts, the two had found themselves much more compatible. The end result was Sirius asking Natalia to marry him after a year of dating. After making that it was all right with Beth (she was thrilled at the idea of having her godfather become her adopted father), a wedding was planned. Six months later was a very lovely wedding. Remus had been best man, Mrs. Granger matron of honor and Mr. Granger a groomsman, Sirius's first cousin once removed, Nymphadora Tonks, had been bridesmaid, and Beth and Hermione were flower girls. After the honeymoon, Beth had her last name changed to 'Potter-Black". Also, they had moved out of the apartment and into a house, which happened to be down the street from the Grangers' home.

"I got my Hogwarts letter!" exclaimed Beth, waving the envelope. "Look! It says 'Miss B. Potter-Black, second bedroom, Number 5, Roselea Lane, Elmbridge, Surrey'. I can finally attend Hogwarts now!"

"That's wonderful," said Natalia, smiling. "When do you want to go for your supplies, dear?"

"The same time Hermione's going," responded Beth. "I'm going to see if she's gotten her letter yet." She ran into the kitchen and dialed the Grangers' number. After two rings, Hermione picked up.

"Beth!" a voice shrieked. "I was just about to call you! I got my Hogwarts letter today! Did you get yours?"

"Yep. Isn't this great? When are you free to go for your supplies, Hermione?"

"Let me ask my parents." There was a pause and a slight scuffling sound as Hermione put a hand over the receiver. However, Beth still heard Hermione yell, "Dad, when can we go to Diagon Alley to get my Hogwarts supplies?"

There was a reply, which Beth didn't hear, and then Hermione said, "Anytime next week is fine. The clinic isn't busy. There's only two appointments, one which is from eight to nine in the morning on Tuesday, and the other from five until six in the afternoon on Thursday. So if we go on Tuesday, it has to be after nine, and if it's on Thursday, we have to be back before five."

"How about Tuesday, after nine?" asked Beth. "That's the day of my birthday and it'd be really fun."

"Okay. I'll tell my parents and they can arrange all the details with yours."

"Sure," said Beth. "Want to come over later, Mia? We can discuss Hogwarts and everything."

"Okay," answered Hermione. "I'll see you after breakfast."

An hour later, Hermione came over and the two girls spent two hours talking about Hogwarts. True to Dumbledore's promise, both girls had visited Hogwarts several times. In fact, they had spent two weeks at Hogwarts last year, over the summer. Both had taken the opportunity to explore the castle and gotten to know all the teachers and staff. Somehow, they had managed to get on Filch's good side. The caretaker generally disliked students, but their politeness and courtsey had won him over. They had also managed to charm Professor Snape.

At first, Professor Snape could not have cared any less about the daughter of James Potter. So when he ran into the seven-year old Bethany one day, he had simply said brusquely, "Watch where you're going, young lady. Now move!"

Beth had blinked, then said, "Excuse me, but that was a rude thing to say. Mum says you have to be polite to everyone, 'cept if they're evil, like Satan or Vol-Volden-Voldenmore." She followed with a curtsey and a "How do you, Professor?"

Snape stared and had gotten a good look at Beth. She had James Potter's black hair, but her features were all Lily's. The looks alone had stirred up feelings in him. Also, her tone had been like Lily's. Not exactly like it, but still very much like it. Also, the annoyed look on Beth's face at the beginning had been exactly the way Lily had looked when he had first told her that she was a witch. He ignored Beth's mispronounciation of the Dark Lord's name and had apologized for his rudeness. After that, he had been on good terms with Beth, and later with Hermione. Last year, though, he had explained to the two girls he could not be nice to them in class, unless they somehow got Sorted into Slytherin.

Beth and Hermione had understood once he had explained why. After all, it would look odd if Snape was nice to those who weren't in Slytherin. It would be even more odd to Death Eaters and Voldemort if Snape was nice to the Girl-Who-Lived. His position as a spy for Dumbledore in the Death Eaters ranks could not be compromised, for Voldemort would one day return.

Sirius hadn't been too pleased that Beth was on good terms with Snape, but a long talk with her, Natalia, and Remus had made him see reason. After some reluctance, Sirius brought himself to apologize to Snape for all that had occured back in Hogwarts. For Beth's sake, Snape had accepted the apology. After some pushing on Beth's part, the two men had slowly managed to get over the past and were now on friendly terms, if not friends. Snape and Remus had also made up. Now the three men got along well in private, though in public they were forced to act as if they were still on unfriendly terms.

After lunch, the two girls went to the library to return the books they had borrowed last week and check out new ones. Beth and Hermione enjoyed reading immensely, and particularly loved fantasy books. Though they were witches and part of a magical world, they liked reading the different interpretations of magic in the Muggle world.

On Tuesday, at ten o'clock, the Blacks and Grangers drove London. They parked outside the Leaky Cauldron and Natalia had to point out the pub to the Drs. Grangers, for Muggles couldn't see it otherwise. They went inside and quickly headed for the back. Beth was wearing a hat, which hid her scar, and so she escaped attention. She really didn't want to have deal with all the fuss the customers in the Leaky Cauldron would have made if they had known who she was.

At Gringotts, the Grangers went to a counter to exchange pounds for Galleons. The Blacks went with a goblin named Griphook to the vault Natalia and Sirius shared. Beth had a vault that she inherited from her birth parents, but Sirius and Natalia told her to keep it for when she came of age and paid for all her things at the moment.

When they returned, they saw that Hagrid was there. He explained that Dumbledore had asked him to come to Gringotts to fetch something. Beth and Hermione were naturally curious as to what the something was, but Hagrid just said, "Don' ask questions. It's none of yeh business an' Dumbledore wouldn' want me tellin' yeh." He then wished Beth a happy birthday and told her that when she went to Flourish and Blotts later, he'd have a present for her. He then turned to Hermione and told her that he'd have something for her as well for starting Hogwarts.

The two families went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where the two girls were measured for their uniform. A round-faced, slightly plump boy with brown hair and eyes was also being fitted. A formidable looking elderly witch was looking on. The boy nervously introduced himself as Neville Longbottom and said that the woman with him was his grandmother. Beth and Hermione then introduced themselves and Neville's eyes went wide when he realized that Beth was the Girl-Who-Lived.

"Don't harp on that!" exclaimed Beth. "It can be such a pain to be famous. The first time I went to Diagon Alley, three years ago, all the people in the Leaky Cauldron made a big fuss. They shook my hand and introduced themselves and I got tired of it in five seconds. I can't remember the event that my made me famous, and I'm just a regular girl, anyway."

Neville nodded. "I can see why it can be pain. Well, I won't treat you any differently."

"Good," said Beth, smiling. Neville returned the smile.

"Want to be friends?" asked Hermione. "Beth and I think that you seem like a very nice boy and we wouldn't mind getting to know you better."

Neville stared. "You want to be friends with me? But - but - I'm not - I mean, I'm a terrible wizard. My family thought I might be all Muggle for ages. I didn't show any magic until I was eight, when my Great-Uncle Algie, accidentally dropped me out a window. I bounced all the way to garden and out onto the street. My grandmother was surprised, though pleased, when I got my Hogwarts letter, because she was afraid that I wasn't magic enough to attend. Great-Uncle Algie was so pleased that he said he'd buy me a toad today."

"Come on, you can't be a terrible wizard, Neville, or you'd never have been accepted to Hogwarts," said Hermione.

"All you need is some confidence and training and you'll be a great wizard, Neville," added Beth. "Besides, we're not planning to become friends with you based on your ability. We want to be friends with you because you seem like a nice person."

"Okay," said Neville uncertainly.

"Good," said Beth. "When we're done with our fittings, let's exchange addresses so we can write to each other before school starts. And I hope we're all get Sorted into the same house. But even if we're in different houses, we still want to be friends with you, Neville, that is, if you're still as nice as you seem now."

Neville nodded and after the fitting, they exchanged addresses. His grandmother was surprised that the Girl-Who-Lived and her best friend wanted to be friends with Neville, but Mrs. Longbottom approved of the friendship. The Longbottoms then went to the Apothecary to buy Potions supplies, while the Grangers and Blacks went to Flourish and Blotts.

At the bookstore, Hagrid presented Beth with a snowy owl for a birthday present. For Hermione, he had a journal and luxury quill pen. The girls thanked him for his present and then Hagrid had to leave. After buying books, the two families met up with Neville and his grandmother when buying parchment, quills, and ink. Beth and Hermione spoke some more with Neville. He was a bit shy and uncertain about himself, but he was definitely a very nice person. This made the girls even more certain that Neville would be a good friend.

The Longbottoms left after that and the other two families bought cauldron and potion supplies. Finally it was time to buy wands at Ollivander's. Mr. Ollivander was a somewhat creepy man with silver eyes. He was able to name the wands Natalia and Sirius had and asked if they were still in good working condition. Then he turned to Beth and told her what kind of wands her birth parents had. Finally he stared at her scar and informed her that he had, unfortunately, sold the wand that had given her the scar. After measurements, Beth began the process of finding the perfect wand.

When it became clear that she wasn't going to find a wand soon, Hermione began trying the discarded wands to save time. After twenty-something wands, Hermione found the perfect one, made of vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. Gold sparks shot out of the end as she waved it around.

Beth must have tried almost every wand in the store before she found hers. It was holly, phoenix feather core, eleven inches. As she touched it, she felt a warmth in her arm and as she waved it around, red sparks shot out of the end. Mr. Ollivander applauded, but then said that the phoenix that provided the feather for the core had also given one other feather. That had provided the core for Voldemort's wand. So the brother of Beth's wand had given her the scar. Natalia and Sirius raised their brows, while Beth and Hermione exchanged looks.

Finally the parents paid for the two wands and the families left. Beth frowned at her wand for several seconds, then shrugged. Her wand being the brother to Voldemort's wand couldn't be helped at all. She dismissed it from her mind and focused on enjoying her birthday.

With the shopping done, they went home. Beth had a small party with her adopted parents, the Grangers, and Remus. There was cake and ice cream, and Beth opened her presents. The Drs. Grangers had given her a pair of earrings and a journal. Hermione's gift was the books Redwall and Mattimeo, by the author Brian Jacques. Natalia's present was pink and purple nail polish and two books on Defense Against the Dark Arts and Sirius's gift was the latest broom, a Nimbus Two Thousand. Last was Remus's present, a set of dress robes and a wand charm for her charm bracelet.

Beth thanked everyone and put her gifts away, except the book Redwall, which she began reading. She had had a lovely birthday, made a new friend, and was going to start Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to start.