August 22, 2020

Heather found herself on Diagon Alley, getting ready for... her first year. Again. Unlike the previous year, though, now she didn't experience the same thrill she had felt back when she stepped inside Ollivanders, or when she'd bought her first textbooks. Now she just felt... normal. She had already prepared most of her stuff and only had to buy some supplies; in less than an hour, the Ravenclaw had already finished her work on Diagon Alley. Her mother, though, left her the entire day there, promising to come after her at eight o'clock. The two were staying at a hotel, as Edina surprised her daughter with a mother-daughter trip in London a bit earlier than the date she had to leave for school. While Heather had been happy at first, thinking that she will spend some time bonding with her mother, the older woman left her alone almost all the time and acted as distant as usual. So, Heather quickly forgot about her hopeless wish, focusing instead of something else she'd wanted to do for a long time: To get to know the Wizarding World better- and by that, the young witch meant the world outside Hogwarts. And what better place to start from than Diagon Alley, the center of wizarding London?

Thus, with so much time left, the girl decided to wander around the shops, hoping to familiarize herself better with the Alley. As she just left a store, eyes curiously wandering around, Heather suddenly noticed a very colored shop window, full of all kinds of things- she couldn't lie, they looked like they were fun, and the girl had saved up some galleons. As she decided to check out what was inside, the girl's eyes skimmed over the nameplate: 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' . Hm, that name looks familiar, but I can't really figure it out where I'd last heard it. Shrugging, Heather quickly forgot about the strange name, entering the store.

Inside, the girl raised her eyebrows. Now that was a shop fit for her tastes; there were so many things Heather heard about, but never got the chance to try them! Extendable Ears, Love Potions, Ten-Second Pimple Vanishers, and even Pygmy Puffs- and these were only a few of the things Heather noticed around; there was surely more to be found. These are things someone needs to use when they want to prank someone, thought the blonde girl. Not that stupid spell Henry used it back then on my poor friend! Focused on some stuff on the shelves, the girl didn't notice anything else around her, not even when a certain Slytherin boy stepped inside the store...

Heather was busy inspecting a shelf full of pink objects- apparently, the several products were all from a collection named WonderWitch. Of course, if it is marketed to witches they'll automatically make everything pink. While she had no problem with the color, and actually liked it quite a lot, the blonde knew many other girls who disliked it. Tina, for example, refuses to wear even the smallest accessory if it is pink! What would she do if she was here? While Heather's sister, Valentina, also knew about the existence of Wizards, being one herself and enrolled at Beauxbatons, she didn't come to London with her sister and mother, preferring to go on a trip with some of her school colleagues. This upset Heather a bit, as she really liked spending time with her entire family. But, if Tina didn't enjoy hanging out with her, she could do absolutely nothing.

As the girl shook her head, clearing her thoughts, she took a small bottle from the shelf, inspecting it closer. While she read the tag, the blonde girl suddenly felt someone bump into her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you alright?" Gasping in surprise, the girl almost dropped the bottle on the floor. She wasn't scared about someone bumping into her, but the sudden voice so close to her startled her. And it was a familiar voice...

Heather shook her head, smiling. "There's no problem, don't worry-" Turning around, and coming face to face with a familiar Slytherin boy, the girl raised an eyebrow. Didn't she think about Henry a few moments ago? And now she was meeting with him, now this was a strange coincidence. "Heather, I wasn't suspecting to see you here," The boy replied. While she didn't have any difficulty in remembering people's names, Heather was still quite surprised that Henry didn't forget hers. After all, the last time they've met was a long time ago, before she had to halt her year. "Didn't expect to meet up with you either." Shrugging, Heather put the potion she was holding back on the shelf.

"So what brings you to Weasley's wizard wheezes, Ravenclaw?" Turning to stare back at him, the girl bit the inside of her cheek. "Well, if you didn't know, I'm a witch Henry, so it is quite obvious that I would be inside a store made for wizards," Heather replied, smirking and crossing her arms. Then, she continued on a bit more serious tone. "For real now, though. I had to buy some supplies for the upcoming year, and my mom pretty much dropped me on Diagon Alley for the entire day. Had nothing better to do, and this shop seemed interesting enough." The girl tried to hide her awkwardness by grinning, albeit forcefully. Putting her hands in her pockets, she looked down at her feet. "Yeah. Great mother-daughter time, what can I say. Anyways, what are you doing here? Preparing for another prank of yours?"

"Well, I assumed you're a witch, Ravenclaw, but I didn't think dung-bombs and portable swamps were your styles," Henry replied to her previous tease, making the tall blonde grin slightly. Truth to be told, while she made some friends at Hogwarts, her and Henry's relationship was something she'd never had before: They weren't enemies, and when they worked together they made a pretty good team, but they didn't interact like normal friends either. So, Henry could be called her frenemy.

"I'm sorry about your, uh mother-daughter bonding time but I know how it feels. I'm here with my siblings because our father left home for a week or two for ministry business," Raising an eyebrow, Heather stared at the blue-eyed boy. "Oh, I didn't know you had family working at Ministry, should've acted nicer around you I guess." Grinning, Heather tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Now that she thought about it, while the girl knew Henry's biggest secret, she knew absolutely nothing about his family life. "I'm actually not prank shopping, yeah dung-bombs and fireworks aren't my things. I prefer things a bit more cunning and sneaky, but to answer your question on why I'm here. Well, my twin loves all things that include mischief and pranks and practically dragged my brother and me here. You'll be surprised she's just as much trouble as I am, I won't be surprised if you two get along brilliantly."

So the boy had a twin and a brother, too. Heather wondered for a moment how come their mother wasn't watching over them, but decided not to ask. It could be something trivial, like their mother having her own job or something like that, but it also could be something more serious, and Heather knew how awkward and nostalgic she became whenever someone mentioned her father. Yeah, I shouldn't ask, better safe than sorry, thought the blonde.

"If you're going to be in Diagon Alley all day all by yourself, Ravenclaw, then you can join me and my siblings if you want? That is if you don't mind being around others that share your intelligence and height, Ravenclaw." Heather widened her eyes, slightly surprised. She didn't really expect Henry to suggest spending time with his family, but she certainly wouldn't turn down his offer. Loneliness only made her think about her family, which was the last thing she wanted to do today. "I never bragged about being the smartest at Hogwarts- I only take pride in my height!" Heather turned around to fully face Henry and smiled wide. "And, I would love to hang out with you and your siblings, thank you for the invitation. It's been a while since I last spent time with my own sisters, to be honest, so it means a lot to me."

"I'm glad you accepted, Ravenclaw, because it would pain my heart to know someone like you had to spend their day all alone," Henry said, his words laced with irony. Grinning, Heather crossed her arms, moving away from the shelf of potions and closer to Henry. She wanted to say something witty back, but the boy continued speaking. "And I thought you were nice or could actually be kinder and sweet like a stereotypical Hufflepuff or little school girl, but seriously it doesn't really matter since my father works in the creature department and doesn't have a say in any of the other departments." Raising an eyebrow, the blonde pointed a finger at herself. "Did you just call me 'little school girl'?" Heather asked, emphasizing the expression. "I mean, thank you, no one has associated me with an adjective that is a synonym to 'small' since, like, I was a baby!" Chuckling, the girl fully took in Henry's words. Creature department...

Zoning out for a moment, Heather jolted as she heard Henry speak again. "So you have sister, let me guess you're a middle child since you have a kind demeanor but also can be annoyed rather quickly like you have younger siblings," Henry paused and Heather used that moment to quickly reply. "I like your deductions, you would have been a really good Ravenclaw. Yeah, I'm the second oldest daughter and I have two younger sisters." To which I've been like a mother their whole toddler years, Heather felt the urge to add, but ultimately decided against. It wasn't her mother's fault that ever since Alessandro died she became... quite crazy.

"But seriously tell me about your sisters, family even. Are your sisters going to Hogwarts?" Henry asked curiously. "My older sister is going to Beauxbatons, as she had to enroll in school while we were still living in Italy. The other two..." Heather stopped, a bit unsure of her answer, and smiled awkwardly. How could she tell Henry that she didn't even know if Ortensia and Charlotte had magical powers?! The truth was that her younger sisters have been ignoring her for a long time (even though they were young, it seemed like the Morettis knew how to hold grudges very well), and Heather had no idea if they were witches, or even had an idea about the Wizarding World.

As she noticed that she didn't finish her answer, Heather quickly replied. "The other two are too young to even think about going to school!" Swallowing, she glanced at Henry, trying to change the subject "So each member of your family is a werewolf?" A sudden detail made her frown. "Also, didn't you say you have a twin? Is she studying at Hogwarts too?"

Just as Heather finished talking about her family, Henry took her by surprise as he suddenly spoke in Italian. Raising an eyebrow, she nodded excitedly. "Sì. I didn't expect you to speak Italian too, though." As she shook her head playfully, the blonde had to admit that she was taken by surprise by the fact that the Slytherin had some knowledge about Italian. After all, his name is one of the most British ones, so the girl supposed that there were very slim chances that he had any foreign heritage. Though, if she knew nothing about his family, she couldn't be too sure.

"Really funny, Ravenclaw. I'm the only werewolf in my family because I was the only one starched or bitten by them when my family was attacked when I was younger, besides from-" Suddenly stopping, Henry quickly changed the subject, talking about his sister. Though, Heather still did notice the abrupt change of subjects. After all, she did the same thing fairly often whenever she started talking about her family and said things before thinking them through. With a certain feeling that Henry's family went through some tragic events before, Heather decided to keep quiet about it, looking instead over where Henry pointed at. "Those are my siblings, the girl is my twin, Annabeth, and the boy is my older brother, Arthur." Raising an eyebrow, Heather stared at Arthur and Annabeth; they seemed to be in disagreement about something.

As Henry started talking once more, the Ravenclaw turned her attention towards him, wondering why they weren't going over to them. "So you're from Italy? That's cool but I should have known you're Italian since you're so intense.... and tall." Shrugging, Heather nodded. "I'm half-Italian from my father's side... and thank you, I'm in a good mood today so I'll take your words as a compliment. Regarding your question, uh, my dad was an Auror and my mom was- is an art curator, but she is currently taking a break. Yeah, pretty boring jobs I guess." Rubbing the back of her neck, Heather smiled awkwardly. The girl was preparing to reply to the boy's next question when she heard his siblings' voices getting louder, but Henry spoke once again before she could focus on their discussion. Looking at the pranks he suggested, Heather nodded, taking them out of the shelf.

"Alright then. You know better, so I'll trust your judgment." Looking up to Henry and grinning mischievously, Heather nodded towards his siblings. "Now come on, I really want to meet your siblings!" Grabbing the boy by his arm, she dragged him towards Annabeth and Arthur. Smiling, she waved at them. "Well hello, I'm Heather, one of Henry's friends- glad to meet you!"