Don't Forget

Andromeda Lily Grant, better known as Andi, hadn't been curious about her real father except once, really. She had such a nice life with her mother and her mother's best friend Remus Lupin. Together they were as much of a family as any. The only thing she knew, and probably needed to know, about her real father was that he wasn't Remus and he was alive. "I'll explain more when you're older..." her mother had said, when she asked, looking very close to tears. Andi decided not to push the subject. She didn't want to upset her mother.

She was older though. She still didn't want to upset her mother, but... she was just curious.

When she was nine years old, her mother had gotten a job at Hogwarts, as the Astronomy teacher, which means she would never be able to see her. But she was happy for her mother, who really, really loved Astronomy. Sometimes, on the weekend, her mother came y via Floo Powder, but mostly during that time, she spent time with Remus and the Weasleys.

The Weasleys were a family of all wizards too and Andi had gone there to be baby-sat or with her mother when she baby-sat them, for as long as she could remember. There were seven children. Bill was working for Gringotts in Egypt, Charlie was working with dragons in Romania (this didn't surprise Andi at all because Charlie had told her everything he knew about dragons any chance he got), and at that point, Percy, Fred and George were at Hogwarts. Ron and Ginny weren't in Hogwarts yet.

But the following year, Ron had gone too. So, Andi and Ginny became even closer than before. They had always been very good friends though, being the only two girls and being the same age.

She had finally met her god brother, Harry Potter, when she was eleven, the summer before her first year at Hogwarts. He was staying at the Weasleys and had actually become best friends with Ron. They all went to Diagon Alley together. Andi was quite happy that Fred and George decided to show her Zonko's Joke Shop's best products.

It was finally the day she was going to Hogwarts for the first time. She was nervous, but very excited at the same time. She was glad that she knew Harry and the Weasleys and had been introduced to a few other older students. It would've been embarrassing to come to Hogwarts knowing only her mother, a teacher.

She boarded the Hogwarts Express with her mother, but parted from her as soon as she saw Ginny. Ginny was sitting with Fred and George.

"Hiya Andi," Fred said, "Odd to see you here."

"It's about time," Andi said smiling.

"Yeah, we never thought you and Ginny were going to get to come," George said.

Andi sat next to Fred, beside the window.

"Oi, Fred, George," a short black boy with dreadlocks, who Andi had been introduced to a few weeks ago at Diagon Alley, Lee Jordan said as he entered the compartment, "you reckon I can get away with this?" he opened his hands and a newt wiggled in his hands.

Andi leaned over for a close look.

"I hope you don't plan on it living in your hands forever," George said.

"Well, I have water for it," Lee said plopping down on the seat.

"You remember my little sister Ginny and our friend Andi?" Fred said.

"Yeah, hey," Lee said, "First years. Ha, I remember first year. What house are you two hoping for?"

"Gryffindor," Ginny said.

Andi thought for a second, "Gryffindor."

It was finally happening. She was really going to Hogwarts. She watched the window as the train began rolling. What was it going to be like? This was also going to be the first time she left Remus. She hoped he wouldn't be too lonely alone in that house by himself...

"Have either of you seen Ron or Harry?" a girl with bushy brown hair, Andi had also been introduced to at Diagon Alley, Hermione Granger asked, looking at Fred and George.

"Not since the Platform," Fred said.

"I don't think they're on the train!" Hermione said.

"Don't worry, Hermione," George said. "They'll get to Hogwarts."

"Oh, I hope so," Hermione groaned.

"You can sit here, if you'd like," Fred added.

"Alright," she sighed.

After awhile, Andi just sat and listened to Ginny and Hermione talking about what Hermione's first year had been like. Hermione said that it took a little while to get adjusted and she sort of felt out of place, but soon made friends with Ron and Harry.

At least Andi knew Ginny in her year.

But what if they were sorted into different houses? What if Ginny was in Gryffindor with her brothers, Harry, and Hermione and she ended up in Slytherin? Was she Slytherin material? Neither of her parents were Slytherin, both Gryffindor...but, wait, she had no idea if her real father was in Gryffindor or not. Did it really matter?

She shook the thoughts away. There was no way she was going in Slytherin.

"Can you believe Gilderoy Lockheart is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione said, sighing a little, almost like she fancied him.

"Mum seems to think he's very good," Ginny said.

"Mum fancies him," Fred snickered. "But, I suppose he'll be alright."

"He did write all those books," George added.

"And anything's better than old Quirrel," Fred said.

"What was Quirrel like?" Andi asked.

"He s-s-stuttered a lot," George said. "He acted like he'd never seen anything at all to do with the 'dark arts'."

"Wore a giant turban," Fred added, "We liked to joke that it was full of garlic. He had it strung all over his room he was so scared of vampires."

"Turns out if was actually You-Know-Who in the turban though," George said grimacing.

"Voldemort inside a turban?" Andi gasped.

The other five looked at her as if they'd seen a ghost.

"What?" she said quietly.

"You said... You-Know-Who's name," Ginny said.

"Oh, yeah... right. My mum always told me that fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Andi said. "But anyway, in the man's turban?"

"Living on the back of Quirrell's head," Hermione said, "like a parasite and drinking unicorn blood to survive."

Andi got a mental image, but quickly tried to get rid of it.

"I guess I'd have been nervous too if I had You-Know-Who on the back of my head," Fred made a face.

"But if Vol--You-Know-Who was inside of Hogwarts..."

"He was too weak to hurt anyone," Hermione said. "He was just trying to get to the Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore had hidden inside Hogwarts."

"Gees, Andi, you'd think your mum would've told you about all that seeing as she's a teacher," George said.

"She probably didn't want to scare her," Fred said.

"I'm not scared!" Andi said defiantly.

Fred grinned.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, the first years were taken by Hagrid, the Game Keeper to boats, rather than by carriage like the older students. Hogwarts truly was beautiful. The lights from the hundreds of the castle windows were reflected on the lake they traveled on.

Then, Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher, Deputy Headmistress, and head of Gryffindor house, explained things to them so that they understood the way Hogwarts was to work a bit more clearly. At this point, Andi begun worrying about sorting again.

They were lead into the Great Hall in front of everyone. One stool stood in front of the staff table with an old hat sitting on it. Her mother gave her a small smile, seated near the end between Hagrid and a rather annoyed looking Professor with dark, greasy, black hair.

Andi took a deep breath and waited.

"Borgin, Alice," McGonagall called first.

A short, stocky girl with long black hair went up to the stool. The hat was placed onto her head and it quickly called out, "SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table went wild with cheers.

"Catchlove, Kendra."

The girl standing next to Andi let out a whimper. She was almost entirely opposite of the girl who'd been called before her, tall, lanky with glasses and sandy colored hair. When the hat reached her head, it took just a little longer, but then said, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Clearwater, Misty."

This little girl had a very confident look about her. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Creevey, Colin."

A small blond boy who looked around excitedly at everything made his way to the stool. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Grant, Andromeda."

Oh, great, she thought. She straightened up and took a deep breath, then sat down on the stool.

A small voice spoke, clearly one only Andi could hear, "Very clever, quite cunning, but also sweet. Quite a temper, oh, but a warm heart. Could be good for Slytherin, but much to emotional, but to spiteful to make a Ravenclaw, to assertive to make a Hufflepuff. So, it better by GRYFFINDOR!"

Andi sighed in relief to join Fred, George, and Percy at the Gryffindor table, as well as Lee Jordan and a worried looking Hermione. Harry and Ron were no where to be found. She took a seat between Fred and the excited blond boy, Colin Creevey.

"Congratulations, Andromeda," Percy was saying in a business-like tone, "Welcome to Gryffindor."

"Yes, Andromeda," Fred mimicked him, "Congratulations."

"How wonderful to have you in Gryffindor," George went on, "Welcome, welcome."

Percy made a face. Andi giggled. Maybe Hogwarts was going to be just fine.

"Grey, Queenie."

A girl with blond hair and a smug look on her thin, pale face made her way up to the stool. "SLYTHERIN."

"Hauve, Jacob."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Hopkins, Anthony."

A boy with shaggy brown hair and freckles took a seat, looking anxious. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Andi cheered along with her house-mates.

"Lance, Angelica."

A girl with red enough hair to be considered a Weasley practically skipped up to the stool. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Lawrence, Andrew."

A boy with brown hair and a pointed nose sat up straight on the stool. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lovegood, Luna."

A small girl with flowing blond hair and a very dreamy look on her face sat down on the stool. When the hat was placed on her head, she continued to look around the hall. "RAVENCLAW!"

"Manson, Elizabeth."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"McMurphy, Lance."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Sands, Bradley."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Smith, Lindsey."

A bubbly looking girl with short blonde hair sat on the stool. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Snape had left the Great Hall before dinner had even started. Estelle wanted to know why. She wanted to know why Harry and Ron weren't at dinner and hoped to catch up to them before Snape did. But no such luck. Snape's office door was closed, which made her feel sure that Harry and Ron were in there receiving detention.

Not that she wouldn't have given them detention if they had deserved it, even taken points from their house. But Snape wasn't entirely fair to Harry all the time. In fact, he treated him as if he were an incarnation on James Potter himself, which wasn't far-fetched. Harry looked exactly like his father.

Estelle waited with her arms crossed. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape left his office.

Snape stopped and said, "What are you doing snooping outside my office, Grant?"

"Already trying to get Harry into trouble, are you?" Estelle said. "Already giving him detention for nothing?"

"For you information, Grant," Snape sneered, "Potter and Weasley are in severe trouble for an act of pure delinquency. They drove a flying car here from London, were seen by no less than five Muggles and crashed into a tree that's very close to your heart. They could've gotten themselves killed. Dumbledore most unfortunately decided against expelling them, but they are facing detention which hardly suffices."

Estelle glared at Snape and darted into his office where Harry and Ron were having dinner.

"What is this I hear about a flying car?" she asked.

"Well, it was my dad's car," Ron mumbled.

"The Platform sealed itself!" Harry said, "We weren't able to get through. It was a really dumb idea not to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley..."

"But we panicked!" Ron exclaimed.

"As long as you know it was very stupid," Estelle put her hands on her hips, "Why would the Platform seal?"

"I dunno," Harry said, "It's like someone doesn't want me here."

"Well, I assure you that you're wanted," Estelle said smiling a little.

"Not if you ask Snape," Harry said.

"Well, Snape...will be Snape," Estelle sighed. "If you need me, you know where my office is."

Andi was pleased to find that being in the same house with Ginny meant sharing the dorm with her. Misty Clearwater and Kendra Catchlove were also with them. She and Kendra had spoken at the table during dinner and got on very well. They continued to talk while Ginny wrote in her new diary and Misty read in one of their text books.

"Are both your parents wizards?" Kendra asked, sounding a little worried.

"Well, yes..." Andi replied.

"Oh," Kendra said, sounding disappointed, "My parents are both muggles. It turns out my favorite aunt was a witch though. She helped me a little bit. Explained some things, but I've never done magic yet. Well, not real magic with a spell."

"I've never done a spell either," Andi said shrugging. "Have you Ginny?"

Ginny looked up, "Not a real one. Fred and George tried to trick me once, made something up and told me it was a spell."

"Well, I've done a few simple spells," Misty joined the conversation, throwing her dark hair back. "I read in the books we picked up and practiced. My mum's a witch but my dad's a Muggle."

"Does it matter if you're Muggle-born?" Kendra asked.

Andi recalled all the horror stories her mother had told her about Voldemort hating muggle-borns. But Voldemort was gone. Ginny glanced at Andi over the top of her diary.

"No, it doesn't matter," Andi said.

Before breakfast, Andi met her mother in the entrance hall. Her mother asked her a million questions about everything. She didn't mind though, it was nice being able to talk to her. They continued into the Great Hall, where schedules were being passed out at each house table. Andi took a seat next to Kendra and Ron.

"Oh Merlin's pants," Fred said, "Potions first."

"Oh, bloody hell," Ron mumbled, "double potions with the Slytherin after lunch."

Colin Creevey was talking excidedly to Harry, who was looking annoyed.

Kendra and Andi looked at eachother and shrugged. Their first magical class was going to be Transfiguration. She decided that they'd better head out if they wanted to have any chance not to get entirely lost. Colin joined them and quickly introduced himself.

"Hello, Colin," Andi said, "I'm Andi and this is Kendra."

"Hi," Kendra said smiling.

"And I'm Ginny."

"Oh, this is all so exciting!" Colin said, "Going to my first magic class!"

Andi smiled a little. It was very surreal, in a way. She'd always heard about Hogwarts, but never lived it yet.

They reached McGonagall's class fairly easily together and weren't even the last ones in. Of course, they weren't the first either. Misty was the first. McGonagall was a very stern woman, but Andi liked her a lot. She hoped that all her classes would be as enjoyable.

Through-out the day, she'd gotten to know all of the first year Gryffindors fairly well. Kendra was quiet, Colin was curious, Misty was a know-it-all, Anthony was a joker, and Drew was cool. By the following morning, she felt like the day would be a sinch.

"Andromeda," Colin started, "is it--"

"Call me Andi. Please," Andi interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Andi, isn't your mother the Astronomy teacher?" Colin asked.

"Yes," Andi said, feeling just a little embarassed.

"Looks like you'll be getting top grades then," a boy wearing Slytherin robes with almost-white-blonde hair sneered, "She's only fair to those she likes."

"Bugger off, Malfoy," Harry said.

"Professor Grant just loves Potter," Malfoy went on.

"Maybe she'd like you if you didn't snicker throughout her whole calss and you actually did what you were told," Hermione inquired.

"Did you hear someone talking Goyle?" Malfoy said, "Nah, neither did I."

Malfoy and his two taller, bulkier friends, who looked more like bodyguards stalked off.

"Who was that?" Andi asked, looking rather disgusted.

"No one important, really," Harry said, "just Draco Malfoy."

Andi glanced toward the Slytherin table to get another look at him, while Ron was saying, "I'm not taking anymore rubbish from Malfoy this year!"

That same day, Ron recieved a howler from his mother at lunch about flying the car to school.