Chapter Text
Hallie is vastly different from Hadrian Potter. Her hair- bright copper- is straight, tame. She has a scar that cut down across her cheek, but no other ailments. Her eyes are their mothers, bright green but cut like glass. Hadrian was a carbon copy of their father, messy black hair and brown eyes. Hallie wears her clothes casually, perfect, while Hadrian throws them on carelessly. She has a fierce independence about herself- someone who grew up relying on no one, overlooked due to her twins fame.
Hallie finds her comfort in her friends- Fred, George, and Percy Weasley. She spends her days between the three boys- tucked in between them all with her mother’s notebooks open before her, writing and copying runes.
“You’re too good at that, the runes I mean,” Percy blurts out one day. They had all three snuck away from Potter Manor, overwhelmed by the celebration of the twins receiving their Hogwarts letters.
“Yeah..” Hallie faltered, like something was on her mind. Fred looked at George sharply, before sliding his arm over the girl's shoulder, filled by the ease of a 12-year-old.
“You seem bothered,” Fred said simply, not elaborating or explaining himself further.
Hallie hesitated, unsure how to say it out loud at first.
“They’re celebrating him again, of course, I mean mum has given me her notes as a celebration, and old books but i just.. don't seem like enough,” Hallie huffed, her face flushing at how stupid her feelings sounded. As if Fred read her mind he didn’t miss a single beat.
“You have a right, you know, they always celebrate him,” Fred answered easily, both of the other boys nodding in agreement.
“I hope I'm in the same house as you guys,” Hallie sighs, snuggling into Fred's arm and curling her feet in Percy’s lap.
“You will be,” Fred replies- in such a way that Hallie allows herself to believe him.
–
She stands in the line to be sorted, having watched her brother's altercation with Draco. Personally she couldn't care what her brother did, but it was rude to turn draco away like he did. So, she planned to talk to him later, after the sorting died down. Hallie paused for a moment as her name was called, before she squared her shoulders and walked into the hall, sending an appreciative glance to the twins who let out a loud “whoop!” when she walked out. Percy sent her a quiet thumbs up before the hat slid over her eyes.
“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouted proudly, and even though there were only a couple of cheers, she couldn't be happier. Hallie took her spot between the twins, Percy frowning as she slid her notebook out of her robes pocket, slapping it on the table as if she owned the place.
That night, as the feast went on and the others laughed and jostled, Hallie tucked herself even tighter between the brothers, quill scratching against parchment. Fred leaned over, smirking.
“Runes? You’re meant to be celebrating.”
“Runes are better than pumpkin pasties,” she said without looking up.
“Blasphemy,” he muttered, though he grinned, making sure her plate stayed full while she worked.
–
As classes go on during the week, Hallie works in her notebook, silent but comfortable between the boys. Even in lessons she finds herself sitting in between one of them. Whether it's Percy, Fred, or George. But, then the class she was dreading the most came up. Potions. Her mother made sure she was brilliant at the subject, late night brewings, her learning about the teacher at Hogwarts: Severus Snape. How he was her mothers friend.
The dungeon was cold, damp stone pressing close. The smell of stewed roots and sharp vinegar hung in the air as Snape swept into the room, black robes whispering like wings.
“Potter,” he sneered, his eyes immediately finding Hadrian. “Our new celebrity.”
Hadrian’s shoulders hunched as the other students snickered. Snape’s voice was venom, deliberate, the old hatred dripping from every syllable. He stalked forward, wand twitching toward the blackboard as instructions appeared in curling white letters. But then his gaze shifted. Hallie sat beside Percy Weasley, quill already poised, her copper hair gleaming faintly in the torchlight. When she lifted her eyes to him, green, sharp, so achingly familiar- Snape faltered. For the briefest of moments, the mask cracked. His breath caught.
Lily.
He crushed the thought down, jaw tightening. “You,” he barked suddenly, pointing at Hallie. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
Without hesitation, Hallie answered. “A sleeping potion so strong it’s called the Draught of Living Death.” Her voice was steady, sure.
The faintest flicker of something, not approval, but recognition- crossed Snape’s face. He pushed harder. “Where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?”
“In the stomach of a goat,” Hallie said at once, eyes locked on his.
“And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”
“They’re the same plant. Also called aconite.”
The class fell silent. Percy blinked at her in surprise; even Fred and George weren’t smirking.
Snape’s lip curled, but his voice was softer now, brittle at the edges. “Correct. At least one Potter inherited a brain.”
Hadrian shifted uncomfortably, but Hallie only bent her head to her notes, pretending not to feel the weight of her professor’s eyes on her. The class continued, silent and wary, without an incident.
–
“Merlin, Hallie! I thought he was going to eat you alive!” Fred laughed. But Hallie wasn't laughing- because she saw it. Her brother's fury. That afternoon, after noticing Hallie's mood shift, Fred leaned over her parchment that was labeled ‘Charms.’
“You write like Mum,” he said. “Perfect, tidy, probably spells actually work when you say them.”
Hallie arched her brow. “Unlike yours?”
“Exactly.”
Hallie grinned, joy filling her. Fred never failed to make her smile.
“Dimwit,” Percy laughed at Fred. Fred gave a wry smile, not denying Percy's statement as George elbowed him and whispered something in his ear, making him go bright red.