Harry lay awake, in bed, and barely twitched when the alarm went off next to him. He’d tossed and turned much of the night, he knew, too excited for the coming day- had he gotten enough sleep? Or was he still Hailey?
There was a part of him that was tempted to perform the standard sneeze to be sure- but that would only make sure he wasn’t Harry.
Eventually, he let out a sigh, and raised one arm to scoop his hair around… Her hair.
Only Hailey had hair long enough to hold in front of her face like that.
She sighed again, then sat up and looked down to make sure. Two little bumps on her chest, both present. One Male Appendage between her legs, missing. Yup, still Hailey.
“This is going to be complicated,” she muttered, clambering out of bed and shedding her pajamas as she got dressed for the day. Perhaps she should get a proper nightgown during the winter holidays…?
On her way downstairs, she knocked on Petunia’s door. “Uh, Aunt Petunia,” she called. “I, uhh, didn’t get enough sleep. It’s safe.” She didn’t wait for a response and headed downstairs.
A few minutes later, her aunt joined her in the kitchen. “... Hi Hailey,” she greeted. “Are…?”
She sighed as she pulled out a few pans; pancakes sounded good, and if she wasn’t rushing to keep Harry away from Petunia, she had time. “Yeah, I guess I’m going to Hogwarts as Hailey. That’s going to be interesting.” She sighed. “I hope I don’t end up being forced to take all my classes as Hailey. Or to sleep in the girl’s dormitories, that’d be a nightmare waiting to happen.”
Petunia held Hailey’s hand as they made contact with the barrier between platforms nine and ten with a good half-hour to spare. They found themselves instantly someplace completely different- specifically, a platform. A different platform, which bore a relatively strong visual similarity to the other platforms, except for the scarlet steam engine that was just pulling up to it with a long train of coaches.
They stopped on the platform to watch it stop; once it did, the conductor hopped out of the locomotive to start opening doors.
Then Petunia wrapped Hailey in one of the tightest hugs she’d done yet. “Hailey…” She sighed. “It’s going to be lonely without you,” she muttered.
Hailey returned the hug. “I’ll be back for the holidays,” she promised. “Though I have to ask… how come you’re so attached to Hailey, yet not so much Harry?”
Her hug became crushing for a second, before she released her. “That… Hailey…” She sighed, then sat on the bench they’d stopped next to. “Lily,” she stated.
Hailey sat next to her. “My mom?” she offered.
Petunia nodded. “Your father, James… was an insolent man. Well… as much as a powerful noble of the magical world can be, at least. Self-obsessed, holier-than-thou, everything. He was just like the classic evil noble from a cartoon.” She sighed. “He saw Lily. And liked what he saw, of course- she was hard not to like.
“So he poured Amortentia into a glass, then demanded she drink it. She had no choice; he was at the top of the top, but she was a mere muggleborn with no power. If she didn’t do it, his guards would kill her for insolence.”
“Then they started dating,” Hailey observed darkly.
“Of course they did, it’s a love potion,” Petunia growled.
“Strongest one there is. No known antidote.”
“Exactly. Moment she drank that potion… the Lily Evans that I loved- my younger sister- died. In her place stood Lily Potter, a doting housewife that he physically abused from time to time. Then they produced Harry, and sent him to us.
“And Harry… Harry is the spitting image of his father. Of the man that killed my sister.”
She shivered. “I don’t blame you,” she muttered, then looked up. “And Hailey…?”
“And you, Hailey, dear…” She sighed, and hugged her again. “You look just like Lily, just with darker hair. Just like…” Her voice faded to a whisper. “Just like my sister.” She took a deep breath and firmed her voice. “Now, make sure nobody forces you to drink potions like that, okay?”
She grinned. “No problem,” she informed her. “Especially since now I am that super-high Noble. Any idiot that tries is going to get a much more painful treatment than that half-giant a month ago.”
Petunia laughed. “Get ‘em hard, girl,” she cheered.
Around a half an hour later, Hailey was seated in an otherwise empty compartment of the train, fully dressed in her Hogwarts robes as she idly watched the last few stragglers enter the station, ever closer to the moment the train would leave.
Some people saw her watching, and she waved when she noticed. She was bored- perhaps one of them would come bring her some entertainment?
Some of the latest party seemed intent on doing that. A couple of red-haired boys from a family of redheads pointed her out to each other, waved back at her… then promptly left their family and climbed onto the train. The cars were simply stupendous on the inside, a little over five times as long on the inside as they were on the outside- and she could practically smell the magic making that possible.
Still, though, it only took the two red-haired boys a minute or so to find her compartment. “Ahh, good morning, Miss,” one greeted.
She looked. They looked like identical twins, and the near one was bowing theatrically. “Good morning to you too,” she answered offhandedly.
“Was that-?” the first began, pointing towards her forehead.
“A scar?” the other finished.
“Maybe?” she offered.
“Is this-!” the first began.
“Can this be-!”
“Are you-!”
“She is-!”
“Aren’t you?”
“What?” she asked, watching them compete to start the other’s sentence.
“Harry Potter,” they chorused.
She raised an eyebrow. “Harry Potter?” she repeated. “Do I look like the Boy who lived?” As she spoke, she placed her hands under her chest to accentuate her curves, such as they were.
There was a moment of silence.
“Fred, George, are you there?”
“Coming mum,” both boys called in answer to the voice that had wafted in from the train door, and promptly left.
She sighed, shaking her head, and returned to people-watching out the window.
Hailey was still alone when the train started moving, but not for long. The compartment door slid open after a couple minutes, revealing the youngest one of the red-headed boys; their sister seemed to be too young or something, so she wasn’t on the train with them. “Hi, is this seat free?” he asked. “Everywhere else is full.”
“The next compartment over is still completely empty,” she informed him, tapping a finger against the wall she was leaning against. She couldn’t explain how she knew, but she did.
“Ah-!” he began.
She chuckled. “But yes, that seat is free.”
“Ahh, thanks.” He sat down, then turned to look out the window.
A moment later, the door slid open again, and the twins were back. “Hey, Ron! Listen, we’re going down to the middle of the train; Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.”
“R-Right,” the younger red-head mumbled- but Hailey noticed his involuntary twitch. There was a phobia involved, and the two older boys had to know about it.
“Harry,” the twin began, instantly earning himself a glower from Hailey. “Have we introduced ourselves? Fred and George Weasley, and this is our brother, Ron. See you later then!” They left, closing the door behind them.
Hailey immediately rose to her feet, summoning her wand to her hand the same way she had when she’d dueled Hagrid, and the door flew open before her as she stepped out.
A moment later, both twins were lying on the floor, gasping in pain.
“What the-!?” someone began, opposite them from her- and she spotted a Head Girl badge on the girl’s chest.
She ignored the Head Girl. “For your information,” she snapped at the two boys. “I, Princess Hailey of the Grand Royal and Most Ancient House of Potter, have not given you two leave to call me by a name which is not mine. Neither have I given you leave to force your brother on me. So, what are you trying to do?”
“... So you’re not Harry Potter,” Ron, still in the compartment, muttered. “So much for that.”
“Ahh-!” one of the twins began.
“Hang on a sec,” someone said behind Hailey- and she instantly recognized the voice as that of Aqua Fall, colored with awe. “Did- Did you just use a stinging hex before your first day at Hogwarts?”
She ignored her too.
“D-Dumbledore said-!” Ron began, stuttering.
She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Dumbledore?” she asked.
“Yeah,” one of the twins said. “Dumbledore said to find Harry-”
“- because he’d be all friendless-” the other continued.
“- and make friends with him-”
“- so he wouldn’t be alone.”
She sighed and leaned against the doorjamb. “So this Dumbledore somehow knew that Famous Harry Potter would be all perfectly friendless, and told you to meet him and befriend him… What? To keep him from making unsavory friends?”
“He was rather adamant that we be his first friends,” one of the Twins observed softly.
“And I’m guessing your family basically worships the ground he walks upon, right?”
“Not… really,” the second Twin began.
“But Mom definitely does,” the first finished.
She nodded. “So in short, Dumbledore is trying to manipulate poor little friendless Harry- did he mention why he would be friendless, by any chance?”
“Said he’d be an abused orphan,” one twin explained. “No idea why.”
She facepalmed. “So he knew that Harry was-!” She sighed. “I think we have ourselves a mastermind.” She glanced down at them. “You’re forgiven, by the way. Just… remember that I’m not Harry, please.” She returned to her seat and flopped back down on it. “Why is there always someone trying to cause trouble?”
“Um… Princess?”
She looked up. Standing in the door was another girl about her age, with bright red and gold hair that resembled a bonfire. She, like Hailey, was also wearing her Hogwarts robes already- and also like Hailey, she didn’t have the House Badge that all the already-robed upper-year students seemed to have. “I’m fine with informal address if you are,” she offered in answer.
The girl blushed. “Sorry, I’m…” She sighed. “About… Dumbledore. Princess Celestia, the Grand Ruler of Equestria, won’t be any happier than you- actually probably quite a bit less happy- when she hears that he’s at least complicit in what sounds like a child abuse case, but…” She took a deep breath. “But he’s been instrumental in preparing the world for the transfer of our people and such… in ensuring that Equestria and its people will survive when our world finally collapses. As such, as the Second in Command of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I feel it is my duty to request that any charges or actions against him be… minimized or delayed until such time as his removal won’t upset the world.”
She facepalmed. “Isn’t that a classic,” she grumbled. “You’re telling me that as abusive and illegal as he might be, he’s also a crucial link in something very important?”
“Uh… Yeah. And as soon as we can replace him, you can bet that Princess Celestia will be happy to help you remove him from power if need be.”
She grinned. “I shouldn’t need any help,” she informed her. “All of his power comes from my House. All I have to do is rescind those appointments for cause and he’s no more than Hogwarts Headmaster.” She sighed. “But yeah, I’ll hold off on that.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Hmm, I wonder if I’m allowed bodyguards.”
“Should be,” the girl informed her. “Dumbledore has helped us arrange for graduated members of the Royal Guard to reside in the Castle to protect any Equestrian Royalty or Nobility that come through, when they do. They’ll basically be bodyguards.”
She rubbed her chin. “Any this year?”
“Nope, I’m the closest there is. No graduated Guards available, either- not this late.”
She chuckled. “Maybe we should team up, then,” she observed. “Make hell for the idiot that would see children abused and do nothing about it.” She held up a hand for a fistbump. “My name’s Hailey. You?”
The girl smiled, bumped her fist with her own, then saluted. “Vice Captain Morning Sun of the Equestrian Royal Guard, at your service,” she offered.
“Nice to meet you,” Hailey chuckled. “Though I have to say, you seem a bit young to be a Vice Captain?”
She shrugged. “The portal makes us younger when we cross. I’m actually a hundred and three years old. Which is young for that position, yes- Equestrians have about a three hundred year lifespan.”
“Not as young as the Captain, is it?”
She shook her head. “Not as young as Captain Shining Armor, no. He’s simply amazing at the job, so he made Captain at only eighty-six last year.”
“Um… Should I go…?” Ron muttered confusedly.
Hailey shrugged. “If you want to, I’m not going to stop you,” she informed him. “On the other hand, I might just be the most reasonable Princess you’ll ever meet- and I suppose I do have one thing in common with Harry: I don’t have any friends at the moment.”