White Heather for Protection

Snakes and Lions

Saying farewell to Rian this second time was every bit as difficult as it was the first. Heather didn't know how she would endure a year and a half more of this. At least he had a larger repertoire of defensive magic now.

Heather met Fred and George on the Hogwarts Express. "Thank you for the camera, George, and the album, Fred," she said, hugging them both. "They really were the best presents ever."

They both had smug grins before they realised exactly what she had said.

"How do you know-" George said, confused.

"-who got you what?" Fred asked incredulously.

"That's a se-cret!" Heather sing-songed. "I notice you two didn't object when I identified you by name."

She laughed at their sputtered protests.

~~~

Heather stared at them. The large winged horses looked fearsome, with protruding ribs, leathery hide and reptilian features. Thestrals. The carriages were pulled by thestrals.

"Creepy, ain't it," Fred stated.

"Yeah, carriages that pull themselves," George added.

Heather's eyes clouded over in grief when she remembered. Thestrals could only be seen by those who had witnessed and accepted death.

'Not my baby!' Green light. Body crumpled to the ground.

Ignoring the twins' identical confused glances, Heather cautiously approached one of the equines. Slowly, so as to not spook the skittish creature, she raised a hand and petted it.

"Heather?"

"Thestrals. Winged horses that are only visible to those who have seen death," Heather whispered solemnly. Fred and George sobered at the implication.

The ride was spent in contemplative silence.

~~~

The package sat innocently on her bed. Yeah, right. There was nothing innocent about a strange package from an unknown person inside her dorm room. It could be a malicious prank by Avery – he seemed like the type.

With a thought, the object levitated off her bed. Stretching out her senses, she probed the item. It didn't feel bad. Thus, she cautiously unravelled the wrapping.

A strange silvery material was revealed. Heather blinked in confusion and read the note that fell out of its folds.

Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.

Heather narrowed her eyes. That wasn't suspicious at all. Nevertheless, there didn't seem to be any harmful spells on the material, so she picked it up. It appeared to be a cloak of some sort made of a shimmery fabric. It was exquisite, but why would Papa want to give this specifically to her? Curious, she put the cloak on.

And promptly got the shock of her life.

The parts of her body that were covered were now invisible. An invisibility cloak? So this was how Papa had gotten away with all his pranks.

Heather shuddered as she imagined what Fred and George would get up to with this.

~~~

As expected, the twins created more trouble than the last term with help from the cloak. They still got a record breaking number of detentions, though, since everyone knew that they were the culprits.

On the bright side, Heather had gotten picture after picture of them in various mortifying positions because of Mr Filch's detentions. There was one of them cleaning up glitter in the Great Hall. Using toothbrushes. On their hands and knees. Covered in pink sparkles. She had sent that one to Hadrian.