Vita et mors Herois

January 9th 1971

Severus Snape had never had a grand birthday party. He thought the idea of everyone watching him all day long as if they expected him to suddenly shoot up a couple of inches and act years older was a rather terrible way to spend a day that was supposed to be about him. He had tried to explain this to Lily and Hero on the days leading up to his birthday, but they wouldn’t hear anything of it. 

Hero’s mother had even sent a whole letter by owl to his mother, letting her know that the house elves of Kettleburn Manor would take care of everything if they had the party at the park. Sevurus's dad had muttered to himself all day after that about rich people needing to flaunt their wealth, but Tobias wasn’t a stupid man, and if these mysterious rich people from his wife’s world wanted to waste their money on a child’s party, that would be fine by him. 

Another letter was quick to follow, enlisting the Snapes into helping the purebloods make it a nonmagical affair for the benefit of Lily’s family, who would be in attendance and had yet to learn their youngest daughter was of the magical persuasion. 

And so the tables were set. The balloons were blown up, and the presents were set on display. It was a massive pile by Severus' standards as he was only used to the one gift from his parents, and before they had passed the two he got from his grandparents. Hero had insisted that all her sisters were to bring a gift of their own, none of which she assured Severus would live up to the gift she had picked out herself. Lily and Petunia, who had to be dragged to the park, had picked one out together.

The elves of Kettleburn Manor had laid out a modest feast of sweets and a full English, which Severus had mentioned in passing to Hero as his favorite meal. They had also avoided what Lily and Severus had dubbed the clown's color scheme of most children's parties and instead used greens of varying hues. 

Hero’s father had just finished the last of the weather charms to ensure the party wouldn’t be ruined by the cold, wet weather that was brewing on the horizon when Lily’s family arrived. 

“Happy Birthday!” She shouted, almost knocking the smaller boy over. Elora looked over at her son as his laughter filled the park. She smiled softly at her husband, who watched the other parents with a wary eye. She clapped her hands together. “Alright, everyone's here. I think we might as well start in on the food.” She pushed her son down at the head of the table, she brushed her son's long hair away from his face. She placed a kiss on his forehead before snapping a birthday hat on his head. He grinned at her and straightened it out atop his head.

The food was a delight, as expected, and soon, the children were running amuck in the playground, screaming with laughter. Hero’s older sister sat next to Petunia.

“You’re not a Hogwarts student, are you?” She whispered to the willowy girl. Petunia gave her a sharp look.

“What is Hogwarts?” She snapped. Beatrice raised an eyebrow at the girl who leaned back. 

“It’s a school for advanced children in northern Scotland. They only accept the brightest kids, My sister is set to get her acceptance letter in June, as is Severus.” Beatrice smirked as Petunia grew pale.

“I haven’t a clue what school you’re talking about. I attend Cokeworth Secondary School,” Petunia said, turning her body away from the girl. Beatrice shrugged her shoulders and moved up the table to sit next to the Evans parents.

The youngest two Kettleburns were playing on the swings in an apparent competition to see which one of them could swing the highest, their matching outfits swishing around them and their matching brown braids flying behind them. Lily, Hero, and the birthday boy Severus were at the edge of the woods in what appeared to be a rather serious debate about the best-shaped rock for skipping stones.

The adults had gathered up around the tables and were chatting about the weather.

“I never really asked, but I am rather curious. What house did you and your family move into? I don’t know any that went on sale recently,” Ralph asked Hero’s father.

“Family house. My mother recently passed, and we moved in to keep an eye on the place while my father works. It's a bit out of the way, barely even part of Cokeworth.” Barnabas answered smoothly. “He’s gone most of the time. He works at a school for gifted children in northern Scotland. Beatrice also attends, and we’re expecting Hero’s letter of acceptance at the beginning of the summer.” He nodded over to his daughter, who was now rather dramatically telling a story to Lily and Severus, who were both bent over in laughter.

“Oh, isn’t that wonderful!” Susan said. “I expect Lily will be missing her terribly when the time comes for the school year.” Barnabas hummed to himself.

“Well, the headmaster there is rather lax; he allows Beatrice to make frequent trips home for important family affairs as long as she’s up to date on her studies. Of course, she’s only in attendance today because she has yet to go back after my mother-in-law’s funeral.” Hero’s mother beamed at Susan. She then turned a bit to the side and began humming a random tune to herself.

Severus's mom stared at her a bit. “Well, then, I do think that it is time for presents and cake.” Elora clapped her hands together and began wrangling the children. What an odd woman Hero’s mum was.

Of course, Hero was right, and Severus did indeed like the children’s potion set that Hero had picked out for him over the various clothing items her sisters had picked out for him. The Evanses were told it was a vintage chemistry set, to which they nodded along before handing over the gifts the girls had picked out. It was in two parts. The first was a second-hand record player that had no plastic cover lid, and the wood paneling was missing. The second was a magnificent, perfect-condition Beatles album. Severus stared in awe at it.

“Do you like it? I sat at the record store for hours trying to find something you would like, The shop lady said everyone loves the Beatles.” Lily said worrying her hands and Severus sat in silence his jaw slack.

“This is brilliant.” He finally breathed out. Lily squealed and clapped her hands together. 

Later that night, after the cake had been eaten, the party cleaned up, and the three families went their separate ways, the three Snapes set up a record player in their living room and listened to a whole album together. It was by far the best birthday that Severus had ever had. Even if birthday parties were childish, and he insisted he was now too old to ever have one again.

January 30th 1971

The time between Lily’s eleventh birthday and Sevures’ dragged on in a way that time only passes for kids. Every day before your birthday takes forever, but when you stop and think for a second, it wasn’t all that long. The whining to her parents for her presents to be early were ignored, as were her sister's rude comments. Lily had made a special request for her birthday. She had chosen to forgo a party with everyone in attendance and had instead requested that her parents take Hero and Sevurus to London’s Hyde Park for ice skating. The weather had gotten very cold, and it was the perfect weather for skating, in her opinion. 

So her father’s Austin Morris was loaded up with the children. Hero was bouncing in her seat and had to be shown by Lily how to fix the overlap belt in the middle seat.

“I’ve never been in an automobile before,” she whispered to Lily. Severus leaned over her, bringing their heads close. “Neither have I. It’s quite exciting, isn’t it?” he whispered excitedly. Lily giggled.

“Alright tikes, everyone has their skates?” The children nodded to Mr.Evans before going back to their whispered discussion. “My mother used some magic to make mine there from an old blanket and some spare knitting needles she had,” Severus whispered. The car began moving and Hero grabbed both hands next to her looking a bit squeamish.

“I can’t wait to do magic at home.” Hero sighed. The other children nodded along. Lily’s mother turned the radio on and began humming along with the song.

“Where’s Tuny?” Hero asked as they left the neighborhood. Lily huffed and rolled her eyes before pointing a thumb at the back window.

“She said she didn’t want to go it was too cold and she didn’t want to share a seat with anyone.” Lily rolled her eyes. Severus grimaced, “She would have made this a whole lot less fun that’s for sure.” Lily nodded solemnly. She wished her sister would get over whatever this new phase as their mother was calling it. She missed her and desperately wished not to be called a freak anymore.

“Hey, this means we have only half a year before our letters come in!” Hero whispered into Lily’s ear, changing the topic from her rather mean sister before glaring at Severus for bringing it up. 

As they got on the motorway Hero seemed to pail even more gripping tightly onto Lily and Severus’s hands. She looked rather nauseous, Mr.Evans looked at her in the review.

“You a bit car sick, love?” He asked as he met the speed of the traffic around him. Hero nodded to him.

“I’ll be fine. Just take some getting used to is all.” She gave the man a small smile. The rest of the car ride down to London was filled with whispered discussion of magic and their plans for the summer. Lily’s mum hummed and sang along to the radio in the car, and her father muttered to himself about insane drivers and their lack of driving skills. 

The snow and cold weather had made Hyde Park a perfect winter wonderland. It looked straight out of a film in Lily’s eyes. Other families had gathered around the man-made lake and were skating as well. The children sat impatiently while the adults made sure that skates were tied properly and coats and hats were secure. Severus squirmed as Mrs.Evans pulled a spare green scarf out of her bag, one that Lily had seen her knitting in the last couple of days, and wrapped it around his neck before letting the children go. 

They linked their arms together as they set out on the ice. Severus was in the middle, grabbing tightly to the two girls. He couldn’t quite seem to keep his feet underneath him.

Hero laughed as he brought them all down after his right foot seemed to just fling out in front of him. They righted themselves and spent a good minute trying to teach the boy how to balance.

“Watch this Sev,” Lily called skating away from them. Hero and Severus grabbed onto each other for support. Lily began picking up speed making a very large circle around them, Just as it looked as if she were about to crash into them she turned her feet spraying them with ice. Hero laughed and clapped her hands, Severus was startled by the ice hitting his face and started falling back again. This time taking Hero with him.

“You know, I don’t think being an Ice Skatter professionally will be in the cards for you, Sev.” Hero muttered, helping herself back up from their tumble before grabbing the boy's coat and hoisting him up as well. “No, I don’t think it is.” He said, dusting himself off with a mitted hand.

The whole time continued like this with either Lily or Hero holding on to their friend while the other would speed ahead to do loops or circle back around to them. They had done a whole 2 laps by the time their stomach began to growl and they could no longer hide their shivering from each other.

“Oh no, I think it’s time we get off the ice.” Severus deadpanned before gliding over to Lily’s parents just to fall last second into a large snow pile at the edge of the lake. Hero and Lily kneeled over, laughing at their friend. 

“A hot meal from the thermos dears and then Lily’s presents I think.” Mrs.Evans said, helping the boy up as the girls got off the ice as well. Her mother had brought some soup in a few thermoses and had set them and Lily’s presents up on a table not too far from the lake. 

Hero and her sisters had pitched together for their gift and gotten Lily a set of books filled with stories that most wixen kids heard while growing up. Each one had gold foil lettering on the covers and was charmed to move the pictures when an adult wasn’t looking.

“Tails of the Beatle and the Bard? I’ve not heard of this story.” Mr.Evans said, flipping through one.

“Oh, that one’s my favorite. Dad said to tell you that my mum got these while she was on her travels, and people in their circle of friends rather liked them.” She said, rehearsing what her father had told her to tell her friend's muggle parents. Mr.Evans shrugged, setting the book back with the others before placing a kiss on his daughter’s head. Rich people were very odd with their gifts, it seemed. Vintage chemistry sets and books from foreign places.

Her parents and sister had gotten her another second-hand album for her collection, Odessey and Oracle. Her record player was on a bookshelf in her room and was almost always in constant use when she was in her room. She now had a rather large collection of albums, including The Beatles, Etta James, and The Who.

The Snapes had gotten Lily a porcelain doll with red hair and a pinafore dress not dissimilar to the one that Lily had been wearing when she had met Severus. Lily gasped. 

“She looks just like me.” She sat the box down gently. “Mum said she thinks she’s got the pattern right, but matching those things is not something that she’s rather good at. She also made you a tin of sweets.” Severus said, pushing a metal tin towards her with a pink bow tied around it. Inside was a fudge with pink lines in it.

Lily pulled one out and bit into it, “Brilliant, Candy floss fudge! Please tell her I said thank you.” Lily’s Mum pulled out the Tupperware container she usually only used when bringing food to other people's houses. This time, though, it had Lily’s birthday cake in it.

“I know Petunia didn’t want to come ice skating with you, dear, but she did help me make your favorite cake, Strawberry icing with chocolate cake!” Lily smiled sadly; she wished her sister would have come to her party.

Sensing her friend's sadness, Hero patted her friend on the shoulder, “This time next year, we’ll be at Hogwarts, and we can send Petunia special wizard treats.” She whispered in Lily’s ear. Lily’s small smile was still sad, but the look in her eyes said they would at length be discussing wixen treats when they got the chance. It wasn’t something Lily had thought about; witches and wizards made candies differently from normal people.

The rest of the day was filled with more skating and, in Hero’s opinion, the terror that was the motorway in the dark. When they returned home, Petunia was waiting at the door. Hero and Severus hug Lily goodbye as they set off with arms linked, walking back to their homes as the street lights come on. Lily ran up to her sister, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her up the stairs and into her room.

She pulled the tin of sweets out of her bag of gifts, “I know you don’t like me as much anymore but I’ve got some candy floss fudge and I know it’s one of your favorites and I thought we could share it.” the words rushed out of her while her sister sat there staring at her. Lily began to fidget. 

Petunia huffed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t hate you, Lily, I just don’t like the weird things you do.” She pulled her little sister to her bed, grabbed the tin from her, and ate a piece.

Lily crossed her arms over her legs, “But what if I am a freak and I have weird magic powers and I have to go to a school for freaks.” her voice was muffled by her legs.

Petunia raised an eyebrow at her. “Just don’t do it around me. I don’t want you turning me into a toad or anything.” Lily snorted with wet laughter from tears she didn’t know had fallen down her face.

Petunia handed her sister a piece of the fudge. “Are Hero and Severus like you?” Lily sat for a minute in silence. Surly they couldn’t get on to her for telling Tuny as long as she didn’t tell anyone else.

She grabbed her sister's hands and moved them so the two girls lay side by side, face to face, in Lily’s bed. “Sister’s honor you can’t tell anyone about this until the first of summer.” She held out a pinky finger for Petunia. Petunia looked at the fingers and then back at her little sister's face, her green eyes still red from the tears that Petunia had caused. 

She linked her pinky with her sisters, “Sister’s honor, I promise.” 

“Okay, so Severus says we're called wixen…” Lily started. The rest of Lily’s eleventh birthday was spent with her big sister, telling her all about magical Britain. Their mother peeked into Lily’s room at midnight to see them whispering and laughing together tucked in bed together. When she came back upstairs later, even still in the night, she peeked in again to see her two daughters wrapped in the blanket together, sleeping soundly. 

February 19th 1971

The school year seemed to drag along, and most days after school, the three children would meet at one of the parks in town. Sometimes, they played with the other children there; more often than not, they snuck off to play by themselves. Winter was in full swing, and there was always snow on the ground. Lily’s mum always seemed to be finding or knitting spare winter clothes that always happened to fit Severus. Lily didn’t think too much about this, simply passing along the clothes as she was told.

It had taken a couple of weeks to plan it but Lily was having Hero spend the night with her and the next day they were going to go out to London to go Roller skating. A new indoor rink had been built and Lily had shown Hero the newspaper clip. Hero had been very amused to find out the muggles not only strapped blades to their feet to skate but also strapped themselves to wheels to move around.

Severus was unable to attend; his mother was at the magic hospital for a visit as her health had taken a turn with the bad weather. Suffice it to say he was otherwise occupied. Hero had made her parents take her into muggle London to buy an overnight bag for the trip, insisting that Lily’s mum and dad would notice if she brought her mother's handbag that had an expansion charm in it.  The trip to the stores of Muggle London was almost as exciting as their planned sleepover. The store clerk had given her mother an odd look as she struggled with how much to pay the poor clerk; the odd looks continued as her mother began signing funeral dirges as they walked down the street. 

The side-along apparition to the side alley that was down the street from Lily’s home had left Hero feeling a little queasy. But the brisk winter air had her feeling better by the time they had walked up to the front door. Hero’s mother had just raised her hand to knock on the door when it was flung open by Lily and Petunia, who were both jostling to pull Hero in.

“Come on, we’re gonna start by playing cards with Dad.” Lilly pulled the girl in by her arm and began dragging her through to the living room.

“Ah, Mrs.Kettleburn, glad to see you made the walk alright. Do you need an escort back?” Mr.Evan dodged the three girls as they each pushed past him. He held his smoking pipe well above the flying hair as he flattened himself against the wall to get out of their way.

“Oh, I’m quite fine I’ll be back at my house in a snap. Here’s Hero’s bag I’ll be back later tomorrow to retrieve her, should anything happen Hero knows how to reach me.” She said staring at the pictures in the entryway, “Hmm these would be better if they moved.” She muttered almost to herself. She turned and smiled at Mr.Evans who was looking at her oddly. 

“I’ll be on my way back now. The street lights are sure to be on soon, and I rather like their lights.” She turned suddenly and walked out into the night after she shut the door behind her soundly.

“How utterly odd that woman is.” Mr.Evans placed his pipe back in his mouth and clapped his hands  together, “Alright, who’s ready to lose at cards!” He called as he joined the girls in the living room.

The night was long as the girls stayed up in the living room. They had built a fort out of all the sheets and blankets in the linen closet and filled it with cushions from the living room furniture and pillows from the girls' beds. Lily held a torch under her chin as she told a story to the other two girls. It was supposed to be scary, but they kept snorting and making jokes. Lily didn’t mind as she didn’t know any scary stories.

“Ladies, you need to sleep soon. Me and Mum are going to bed now, so please keep the noise to a lower volume.” Mrs.Evans poked her head in between the sheet door. The girls nodded, laying with their heads meeting in the middle of the floor. The torches were shut off as they settled in for the night. Lily waited a few minutes after her parents' door shut before she turned the torch back on.

“Hero, you should tell us some magic stories.” Hero’s head shot up as she looked at Petunia.

“You told her? Wait, of course she should know; she’s your sister. I couldn’t imagine my sisters not knowing something like this about me.” She rested her head on her hands. “What do you want to know?”

Lily thought for a bit as Petunia turned so she was laying on her stomach facing Hero.

“Why is your middle name Augurey? It's not a common British name.” Hero stuck her tongue out at Lily.

‘It’s a bird, they live in northern Scotland, and people used to think that when they cried, it was an omen of death. They really just cry when it rains, but it sounds cooler when I say I was named after an omen of Death. Dad insisted it was to be a new Kettleburn tradition that we all had middle names of magical beasts. Mum was the one who named us after Shakespeare's characters as it was her favorite play of his; she also claims that we’re distantly related to him.”

Lily and Petunia looked at each other. “You’re telling me Shakespeare, the playwright, was a wizard.” Petunia sounded doubtful.

“Of course, he was a Ravenclaw and loved muggles, and most importantly, he was a distant member of the Malfoy family. They are my mom’s family, and they are part of the sacred twenty-eight. They're like the wixen version of royalty, in a sense, twenty-eight families of pure wixen blood that at one point made up the entirety of wixen political power. Mum said they're not so pure and their ideals are twisted, but we’re still required to keep in touch. It’s worse to be shunned by them than to ignore them.” Hero sounded as if this was something that had been drilled into her from a young age.

“Wait, if you’re all named after a magic beast, what are your sister's full names?” Lily asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“Beatrice Graphorn, Margaret Kelpie, and Ursula Pixie. Dad’s name is Barnabas Clabbert.”

This led to a question about what all those animals were and where they lived. The rest of the night was almost a quiz for Hero about the magical world. Not that she minded; she loved telling her friends about the world they were now both in some capacity a part of. The three girls fell asleep with their heads close together and the torch lights still on.

The next day after the fort had been dismantled and breakfast was eaten, the girls bundled up in winter clothes and headed to the backyard. Barricades of snow were erected, and snowball ammunition was collected. It was a three-way war in the center of no man's land was a poor snowman with spare clothes thrown on him. Volley after volley was thrown, and laughter and screams of joy could be heard from down the street. It was a quarter past noon when Mrs.Evan poked her head out the door to call them in for a lunch of sandwiches and hot chocolate. Soon after, the children were packed into the car, and they headed towards London.

“Hero, you seem to be doing a lot better with your motion sickness.” Mr.Evan remarked as they merged onto the motorway. Hero smiled at the man, “Like I said, it just takes some getting used to.” This, of course, sparked a whispered conversation between the girls about how wixen often travelled that lasted the whole trip into London. 

The new skate rink was a sight to behold for Hero, with neon lights and brightly patterned carpets. The skates were rented, and the girls took to the wooden floor. The radio speakers that had been placed around the rink played Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep as the girls struggled to get their footing. They laughed as they all struggled to gain their footing. Lily, of course, was the first to go out on her own, trying to gain speed to lap the girls. Of course, while most of the basics for Ice skating and rollerblading were the same, stopping was not. Lily, of course, realised this too late as she crashed into a boy her age while turning at the rounded edges of the rink. They tumbled down in a mess of limbs and, in Lily’s case, bruised egos.

“I’m so sorry I haven’t quite gotten the hang of stopping in these yet.” She said as Petunia and Hero helped them up. The boy mumbled forgiveness, shying away from them. He had scars peeking up from the collar of his jumper and crisscrossing on his hands. 

Undeterred, Lily stuck her hand out, “Lily Evans.” He looked at the offending hand as if it would bite him. “Remus Lupin, and it’s really no trouble.” He shook her hand and turned suddenly and skated away to the edge of the rink. 

“What an odd boy.” Petunia sniffed as the girls began skating again. The radio began playing Magie May, and the boy was forgotten in favor of rather bad karaoke with the radio as the girls continued with their skating.

It wasn’t until later that night long after Hero had been reserved by her mother and they were eating dinner that Hero realized she knew of the boy’s father.

“Lial Lupin has owled me again. He wants me to help him with his latest purpose regarding Werewolf rights.” His mother said stabbing at her food. Hero looked at her mother in shock.

“Is his son a half-blood?” She interrupted her father.

“Hero! Blood status should not matter, but yes, his wife is a muggle.” Her father admonished her.

“I think I met him today. He was at the roller rink, and Lily crashed into him by accident. He ran away from us.” She tilted her head in thought.

“You've been nice to that boy. He’s not had an easy life in the slightest.” Her father pointed his fork at his middle daughter. “If it was him, you’d see him on the train in September. He’s set to be in your year. Actually, I do believe you two have a birthday around the same time.” The conversation then drifted to werewolf regulations and how horridly they were treated by the Ministry.

Hero’s theory about the boy was proven correct when a couple of days later, there was a crack of apparition just outside the wards of the Kettleburn manor. A very tall man and his son walked up to the front door. 

“Barnabus, I need Cystalbelle with me at the ministry for the day. I sent an owl ahead, and she said that Remus could spend the day here with your second oldest.” The tall man said to Hero’s father as he was met at the door. The two men clapped each other on the shoulder in greeting as Hero’s mother rushed to the door. Hero stood from peeping between the banister rods at the stairs. She stared at the boy, he was definitely the same one from the rink. He looked up at the house, and his eyes met hers. A look of recognition flashed across his face.

“Of course, he’s always welcomed here. HERO: Oh, you're right there.” Her father waved his hand at her, gesturing for her to come down the stairs to meet their guests.

“Sorry about the other day, Remus. Lily really didn’t know how to stop.” She said in greeting to the boy. He blushed as his father gave him a look.

“Mum took me to the new roller rink the other day, I didn’t realize who she was.” He said brushing his sandy brown hair from his eyes. His father nodded before he was drug from the house by Hero’s Mum. 

“Well, it’s a school day for the muggles, so you're stuck to the house for now, but Lial tells me you're a reader. Hero here can take you to our library and show you some good tomes for reading if you like.” Hero’s dad said as he walked back towards his office. Hero grabbed the boy by the hand and led him to the library. It was by no means a grand library, especially when compared to Hogwarts’ or even the one at the Malfloy ancestral home, but the Kettleburns were the proud owners of the most extensive collection of books and tomes on magical flora and fauna in the whole of Britain. 

“Read whatever you want; the dangerous books are kept under spells so you can’t even see them.” Hero said, pointing to the upper portion of the Library. Remus nodded as he began perusing the books. Hero settled next to the stack of books she had been working through in preparation for Hogwarts. She flipped through the pages of “Hogwarts: A History,” found her bookmark, and began where she had left off. 

They spent the whole time in the Library together, reading their own books. Occasionally, Remus would ask a question, or Hero would, and they answered in short, quiet sentences. At noon on the dot, an elf popped into the library and set down a large tea service, not the usual silver her mother typically insisted was used for guests but rather a bronze set that was used more often than not in her father’s study. Hero looked at it oddly but quickly decided how the elves chose to serve the guest was not her business.

Despite his size, Remus ate most of the food on the tray. Hero, who had been picking at her food, looked up to see the boy’s eyes watching her turkey sandwich with a hungry look. She giggled as she pushed her plate at the boy. He blushed but took the plate, wolfing that down as well. She shook her head at him.

“Careful, or you’ll get crumbs on the books.” She laughed hard at the affronted look the boy gave her at the mere mention of damaging books. After lunch, conversation flowed a little more naturally between the two. Soon, Lial and Crystalbelle returned, and it was time for Remus to leave.

“If all goes well, I guess I’ll see you in September.” He said, shaking her hand as he left with his tall father. Hero tilted her head at his odd phrasing. She didn’t think that Remus had the same fear as Lily did, that he wasn’t magical enough to get accepted into Hogwarts. His father was a wizard, for goodness sake. She shook her head and headed up to her room. It wasn’t her business what other people's fears were, and she couldn't help much if she even decided to put her nose in business that wasn’t her’s. She slept soundly that night, her brain tired from all the reading she had done that day. She was sure she had made another friend in Remus, even if the friendship wasn’t anything like the one she had with Lily and Sev. 

March 10th 1971

Hero’s birthday was set to be a magical affair. Muggle parents were assured their children would be safe at the Kettleburn manor, and their attendance was not required. The elves were rallied to turn the ballroom into a glorious affair of Blues and Bronze. The magical gramophone was set in the middle, with tables spread around it. Balloons and charmed stars floated just below the ceiling, and enchanted ribbons danced around, weaving in and out of each other, making the ceiling look almost alive. 

Elora had collected Lily and Petunia and walked them to the Kettleburn manor. They had run into a bit of trouble as Petunia was affected by the anti-muggle charms that circled the whole property but they had left early in anticipation for this and arrived just in time for the party.

“Mum’s family is here, so if anyone asks if your family is from Norway or something, and definitely all magic. Petunia, you should tell them you’ve elected to do schooling from home; they're very posh and kinda rude.” Hero said, hugging all three of her friends. Petunia looked affronted at having to lie about her magic affinity. Her protest was ignored as she was ushered with the others to the ballroom. The gifts were deposited with the mountain of others, all wrapped in blue and bronze. The adults in attendance all had robes on, and a fairly large portion of them had the same ash-white hair that Hero had, the Malfoys and their extended family. Hero’s mother and father were in a deep discussion with the head of the Malfloy family, Abraxas, and his wife about marriage contracts and inheritance.

Hero ushered the children to the back corner of the ballroom, her blue dress switching around her.

“Okay, I have a bit of time to explain what’s going on. My mother’s family is not like her; they are not nice people, and they do this on all our birthdays. That is to say, they turn it into a pureblood affair, and they expect certain things from us here. I bloody abhor their stuffy ways and have decided to fight the power in a covert way. There will be a muggle in attendance and a few half-bloods; that alone would make some of them go mad. Lily and Petunia, if you're asked about lineage, look affronted and claim you find it insulting that you have to prove your bloodline to these people and try to look down on them. Severus, just be you; they will hate it.” Hero’s words rushed out of her while her eyes darted around the room, looking at the adults in attendance. She was playing an almost dangerous game. Her parents caught her eye, and her mother winked at her before excusing herself and walking over to the children. 

“Children, you all needed upstairs for a moment. Don’t worry, it’s all part of Hero’s lovely game.” She turned on her heel and walked off, not waiting to see if the children followed her. 

“Go, before they notice you were here.” Hero said, giving her friends a light shove.

The children followed Mrs.Kettleburn out of the door to the ballroom and up the stairs. She led them into a spare bedroom just past the grand staircase.

“Now, you should probably tell your parents it was part of Hero’s party that you dressed up this way.” She leveled her wand at the children. “Hero told me about Petunia knowing about this stuff. I understand the bond between sisters, so I won’t say a word about this, okay?”

Hero was surrounded at all sides by her claimed enemies for the night. The Ladies of the pureblood houses. Lady Lestange was telling Hero about her two sons, who were only a ‘couple’ of years older than her. Meanwhile, Lady Black was watching her with a critical eye at every move she made. Lady Bulstrode was pinching at the little fat on her cheek remence of her infanthood that had yet to fade.

Lady Black leaned down, placing her lips almost on Hero’s ears.

“So sorry the boys couldn’t make it this year again. They were rather set on staying home.” Hero winced slightly at the woman's acidic voice. The Black brothers were both always sent an invitation to her party, neither had ever made it, always otherwise engaged. Hero’s mother had once confessed her gratefulness at this as Lady Black was always trying to conner her to talk about a marriage contract between Hero and the older Black brother who was her age. 

“Of course, you’ll meet my oldest heir, Sirius, this September at Hogwarts.” The woman straightened, and the smile on her face was wicked and sharp. Hero’s breath was coming quickly now. She smiled at the woman as she noticed her mother walking into the room, shooting me a wink.

“I am most excited to meet your eldest son, but my mother is looking for me now, so I must excuse myself, Lady Bulstrode, Lady Black, Lady Lestrange.” Hero lowered her head in a mock bow before she darted away with a sigh of relief, leaving her as she met her mother in the middle of the room.

“General, your soldiers have been armed and prepped, and I also found a stray soldier for your ranks. Remus, of course.” Her mother jokingly gave her daughter a salute. Hero giggled at her mum.

“Perfect, I told Lily and Tuney to say their family is from Norway. Please alert Colonel Dad.” She said saluting to her mum whole laughing as she began gliding to her husband.

The doors to the ballroom opened and this time the adults took notice. Lady Kettleburn had transfigured the four children’s clothes to match the blue and bronze theme of the party. Lily and Petunia were in matching blue dresses just as frilly as Hero’s. The dress robes that the boys wore were bronze and flowy both looked immensely uncomfortable with them on.

“Ah, my friends have arrived. I do believe we may start eating now.” Hero said, bringing even more attention to the four children than before.

Hero’s father rushed to the middle of the room and began moving tables around, placing Hero at the center. Her friends joined her at the center table and sat down. A feast appeared as they took their seats.

“Lily, Petunia, you’ve met Remus, if briefly his father works at the ministry with my mother. Remus, this is my friend, Severus Snape.” With her introductions made, Hero began eating.

The conversation around the room began flowing as the adult drank their wine.

“I say, Hero darling, I’ve not met these friends of yours. What are their names?” Lord Rosier all but shouted from his seat a couple of tables over.

Hero gave the man a sharp look. “I actually never did say, but this is Petunia and Lily Evans, Severus Snape, and Remus Lupin.” Several conversations stopped at once as several families looked over at the two boys.”

“Lial’s boy, I heard he married a muggle.” Lord Black snorted.

“My child's birthday is, of course, no place for politics, Orion.” Mr. Kettleburn leveled the man with a hard look. Hero’s father was not a small man by any means, it was also well known that he shared his father’s affinity with wrangling dangerous creatures that normally took several trained aurous to subdue. Lord Black cleared his thought and nodded as he went back to his food. His wife, beside him, stared holes into the side of Hero’s head for the rest of the meal.

“Presents now, I should think,” Hero’s mum said, whisking the tower of gifts to the table next to Hero. There was a rather large amount of ‘proper pureblood’ tomes on etiquette and homemaking for a young witch. Occasionally Hero would open a gift of jewelry with the sender being marked as the son of one of the families in attendance, the most notable being a silver necklace with a diamond replica of Canis Major dangling on it from a Sirius Black and a matching one with the Leo constellation on it from the younger Regulus Black. Hero smiled as she laid the necklaces to the side. Her parents would have to send these off to their friend who specialized in breaking curses.

Finally, it was time for her friends' gifts. Remus had gifted her a rather large book of the magical beast in Asia. Severus had decided after much deliberation with his mother to get her the same thing as he had gotten Lily. A porcelain doll made in the likeness of when they had first met. The doll looked haunted with its pale white hair and funeral attire.

“I love it. Once I get to Hogwarts, I will find a spell to animate it so she can walk around.” Hero said, her smile an evil one. Severus was pale, he would never buy Hero anything that bordered on creepy again.

Lily and Petunia's gift was a set of roller skates. They had a suede shoe and the wheels looked like amber and they were perfect.

“A muggle contraption. They strap the wheels to their feet to go faster,” Lily said in a haughty voice. “Not unlike the blade they strap to their feet to get across the ice,” Petunia added in an equally haughty voice.

“I love them! They’re very pretty.” Hero beamed at her friends. The gift that Hero’s parents got her was a large corkboard inscribed on the silver frame was “General Hero Kettleburn”.

“It’s for your plans, dear, so your soldiers will see your vision.” Her father said, “And it's enchanted, of course, to shrink to fit in your trunk for school.” The look on Hero’s face made a few adults almost feel sorry for Dumbledore and the chaos that was sure to come with Hero’s attendance at Hogwarts.

“Grandpa of course sends his love and a gift.” Mr. Kettleburn held out a small flat box. Inside was a charm bracelet with one charm on it, a miniature vivarium, the glass was stained blue and if you looked closely at it you could see shadows pass behind the glass. Also inside the box was a letter from her grandfather.

My Dearest Hero,

I have decided that you should have this. It belonged to your grandmother. Though it looks small now, it is a real vivarium. Your grandmother had a whole set of charms for different animals. The ones inside this one are nonlethal, and after much deliberation, I have found you the most worthy of this gift out of your sisters. I know your grandmother was and will always be so proud of you and your shared love of the magical beasts of our world. I shall see you at the beginning of summer, and we shall explore her vivarium together.

With love, Your Grandpa

Hero watched as a tear fell on the page. She tucked the letter back into the box and held up her wrist. Her mother helped clasp the bracelet onto her wrist.

The rest of the party was slightly subdued after Hero’s crying. The children danced to the music and chatted with each other. The adults occasionally sent odd looks at Remus, and as the night wore on, Lily and Petunia told increasingly bizarre tales about their family in Norway, much to Hero’s delight. Including one tale that claimed that they had an Uncle who was not in fact a wizard at all but a Troll to whom their grandmother had taught table manners. Severus snapped at several of the ladies in attendance who attempted to pinch his cheeks or touch his slightly too-long hair, much to their charge. The battle was won, and the children were the victors.

Just as the final pompous pureblood guest had left, an owl arrived, swooping down and dropping a package into Mr. Kettleburn's hands. It didn’t even stop for payment.

“Ah, from your sister Birdie girl.” He tossed the package to Hero. The brown paper was soon shredded on the floor, the box soon to follow.

“A Camera! Mum! Bea sent me a camera, please take a photo of us!” Hero passed the camera to her mother before pulling her friends in to gather around her.

“You have to wave, of course.” Her mother called Lily, Severus, and Petunia, who sat still posed for the photo. The children all waved, smiling.

“We’ll let the camera fill up, and I happen to know a chap at the Profit who would develop the photos for you love. Now I do believe I see your father coming up to the house Remus, and it’s time for me to walk Mr. Snape and the lovely Evans sisters home now, the street lights are almost on.” Mr. Kettleburn said as he opened the door for Mr.Lupin. 

The children made their goodbyes and made promises to see each other later in the month. Hero waved as she watched all her friends leave her house. It was a wonderful birthday.