Harry was feeling strange after all of the potions he drank and the healing spells that Andi had used on him. All of the aches and pains that had been with him for as long as he could remember were gone. They weren’t completely healed, not yet, and apparently some of them never would be, most notably several scars across his back. But at least, according to Andi, the pain would be gone for good eventually. 

He even had a spring in step as he stepped out of the room, Andi tiredly following behind him. He had gotten a warm hug from her, with her permission, to drain some of her magical energy. 

A thought occurred to Harry, causing him to stop suddenly, Andi bumping into him. “How come I drain both you and Dora, but not Hermione?” 

Andi frowned tiredly at him. “I’m not too sure. It could be that you did, but she didn’t have enough magical power for you to feel it, but she would have been exhausted like I am. So maybe you didn’t because she’s an untrained witch, not used to using her magic. We just don’t know enough at the moment for me to be able to answer with enough confidence, I’m afraid.”

Harry nodded, his shoulders relaxing when he hadn’t even realised that he’d tensed them. He cared too much about his friend to want to harm her. Andi slowly walked past Harry, towards where he assumed the kitchen was, as she had said she was going to make a big breakfast for them all, but not before telling him to wait for Dora in the living room, pointing him in the right direction. 

Out in the living room, he spotted an older boy, wearing clothes that were similar to what Dora had been wearing. He was carrying a bundle of clothes in his hand, and grinning at Harry. 

He stopped part way in, looking at the new person oddly. 

“Wotcher, ‘arry. I’m… Dana Tonks, Dora’s twin brother.”

Harry smiled, trying not to giggle. He knew instantly who it was, the name was all wrong. “No, you’re not, you’re Dora Tonks. Dana isn’t any more a right name than Nymphadora is.”

Dora scowled at him, but despite that, Harry could see humour twinkling in her eyes. “This is one of my favourite tricks!” She said, stomping her foot onto the ground as her features melted and shifted back into how they looked when Harry had first met Dora. 

He gaped at her. “That’s so amazing. I wish I could do that too. Can you teach me?”

“Sorry, no can do, kiddo. I’m a Metamorphmagus. It’s not something you can learn, but something you’re born with the ability to do. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to do plenty of amazing things yourself once you’re trained up a bit. Trust me.” She smiled reassuringly at him. “And hey, you’ll love it at Hogwarts, it’s a great place. I’m sure you’ll make lots of new friends too.” 

Harry tried hard not to pout at her answer. Dora laughed, “Don’t pout, I bet we haven’t even scratched the surface of all the amazing things you’ll be able to do one day. Plus, I’ll be there for my final year as well. If you get assigned to Hufflepuff, you’ll be in the same house as me!” Her excitement was infectious and Harry couldn’t help but smile along with her. 

Dora held the clothes out to him, “Oh, these are yours by the way, they only fit me when I make myself smaller, so you can have them.”

Shaking his head at the absurdity of Dora being able to make herself smaller at will, he took the proffered bundle with a small smile. “Down the hall, on the left, is our spare room, just set up camp there for now, until we hear anything differently from mum.”

Harry nodded his thanks, following Dora’s instructions and found a well kept, and clean, but plain room. Quickly stripping out of his cousin’s old hand-me-downs that were still several times too large, Harry picked up the first piece of clothing. 

It was a long light blue robe, putting that aside for now, he sorted through the rest of the clothes. He found a pink skirt and a white shirt, with several pink heart-shapes that magically mimicked real heartbeats. Harry felt his face flush and his own heartbeat triple in speed as he thought about wearing clearly feminine clothing. 

Was Dora playing another prank on him with the clothes? From what he’d remembered of her name, it would be just like her to play a prank. She’d already played one earlier with changing her gender. Harry’s heart flip flopped as he thought about being able to change genders whenever he felt like it. On the other hand, in this new magical society, maybe men did wear skirts too. Although he doubted they’d be pink. Even if it was a really pretty pink colour. 

Deciding to just go with it, Harry stepped into the skirt, pulling it up to his waist. After a moment of adjusting Harry had it sitting comfortably, a little higher than he was used to, some kind of sense telling him it was in the most fashionable spot. Once he was happy, he picked up the shirt and put it on too. A moment of prickling warmth and the pink hearts froze in place. Oh no, he’d drained the magic out of the shirt!

Sighing, Harry hoped that Dora wasn’t going to be mad at him. With excitement building in him, Harry picked up the robe and slipped that on. While not a perfect fit, the sleeves of the robes were slightly too long, everything fit so much better than Dudley’s old hand-me-downs ever could. The texture alone was worth it in Harry’s opinion. Bracing himself, Harry turned and looked in the mirror on the wall, and yelled in shock at seeing a girl looking back at him. A girl with his hair, wearing his glasses, with his green eyes and lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. A fairly pretty girl, if Harry could say so himself. 

Suddenly seeing stars, Harry all but collapsed on the bed, sinking into the mattress slightly. It was that soft. His heart was beating a mile a minute, he could barely breathe. Why did seeing himself like this make him feel so happy? And why did that terrify him?

Dora burst into the room, wand raised as she swung it around the room, “Harry! Are you alright? I heard yelling.”

Before he could respond, Andi ran into the room, her wand raised as well. “What is it? Did someone attack Harry?”

Harry’s face went bright red from embarrassment at having yelled and bringing Dora and Andi running to protect him. “No! no, nothing like that, it was… well, I got a shock looking in the mirror was all.”

Andi gave him a serious look, while Dora was obviously trying to hide her amusement at the situation. “Dora, why did you give Harry those clothes?”

Dora grimaced, looking down at her feet in shame. “I’m sorry, it was just meant as a joke. You know… a prank? I… err, didn’t mean anything by it, I swear.”

Sighing, Andi lowered her wand and pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. “Go and get him something less… this,” she said, gesturing at the clothes he was wearing. 

“No!” Harry all but shouted. “Err, what I mean to say is… it’s okay. I’m fine with what I’m wearing. Honest, Dora doesn’t have to go and get me something else.” Harry’s cheeks were flaming as he looked down at his hands, holding the ends of his skirt nervously. He felt something warm heat up his chest as he saw his legs in a skirt. He looked so much like a girl at that moment that his breath caught. Did he seriously wish he was a girl? Up until now it had always been a distant fantasy. One he’d never allowed himself to have around the Dursleys. They didn’t accept him how he was, they’d never accept him wanting to be a girl too. 

“Harry –” Andi had crouched down in front of him, so they were at eye level, “– do you wish you were a girl sometimes?” she asked softly, kindly. 

“I…” Harry gulped, his mouth suddenly dry, his throat suddenly too tight for words. He nodded, slowly, feeling like a giant weight had lifted off of his shoulders, and off of his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Dora beaming at him. 

Harry was suddenly surrounded by softness and warmth as Andi hugged him. He hadn’t even realised he had been crying until Dora’s face went blurry in his vision. Clinging tightly to Andi, he… no, she cried for the first time in years, no longer afraid of what Uncle Vernon would think. 

•

Harry woke up feeling safe and warm. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. She was in the spare bedroom, tucked into the bed, still wearing the clothes that Dora had lent her. She felt a little sweaty from being in too many layers, but was too comfortable to move just yet. Kicking off the blankets helped, thankfully, and allowed her to relax back into the soft bed, giving her a chance to process all that had happened in the last two days. 

Eventually, with her tummy grumbling its hunger, Harry slid out of bed, her feet thumping on the soft carpet. Searching around, Harry spotted her glasses sitting on the bedside table and put them on. She could smell something delicious wafting through the hallway as she stepped out of her bedroom. The door closed with a soft click as she heard Dora and Andi talking and laughing together. Sleepily, she shuffled towards the sounds, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen. 

She saw Dora and Andi, standing next to each other, laughing and smiling, bumping shoulders as they cooked breakfast together. Both women had bags under their eyes as if they were exhausted, but it didn’t seem to worry them. Harry noticed that Dora had something white on her cheek, pancake batter by the looks of it. Looking over, Dora spotted Harry first, her smile getting wider. 

“Wotcher, Harry. Is it still Harry?”

Andi turned around and looked at her, a gentle smile on her lips. “I hope you're feeling better after your nap. Breakfast is nearly ready. If you’d like, you can go and relax at the table, and we’ll bring the food out. Or you can stand in here with us and chat. Get to know each other. How’s that sound?”

Harry liked the sound of the second suggestion. Although she wasn’t sure whether she should help or not. Andi hadn’t said to help, but she hadn’t said not to either. She nodded to Andi, a smile on her face. “I’d like to stay and help.” She turned towards Dora and pouted slightly. “It’s definitely not Harry anymore. It’s never felt like my name, honestly. I’ll need to pick a new one. Will you… be okay with helping me?” she asked nervously. She knew that none of her family would ever help with anything like this, they’d never have understood how she felt. 

Dora’s whole face lit up with excitement. “Of course! This is so exciting!” 

Harry giggled, happy knowing that she wasn’t alone during this confusing, but exciting, time. It was fascinating watching the two witches cook breakfast. Both were pointing their wands at various items, causing them to leap up on their own as they cooked. Harry laughed as Dora made several cups waltz while she filled them up with juice. 

After it was all done, they sat down at the table and enjoyed their breakfast of pancakes with strips of bacon, eggs and several sausages. Harry could barely get through half of hers before she had to stop, her tummy protesting at her having eaten so much food at once. 

She sat back in her seat, rubbing her bulging belly gingerly and sighed contentedly. 

Andi finished off the last of a sausage before she looked over at Harry with another smile on her face. “How are you doing sweetie? Do you want any more juice? Or anything else?”

Harry shook her head. “I’m okay, thanks. I still have some juice left,” she said, pointing to her half full cup. 

“So, what should we call you? What’s your real name?” Dora jumped in excitedly. 

Blushing and feeling a little lost, Harry hummed, attempting to delay for time. Mother and daughter sat there calmly, patiently giving her space. “I’m not completely sure,” she eventually replied, nervous excitement colouring her voice. “Maybe if you both give me suggestions for names? There were always names that I liked, but they never felt like they were me, maybe because they were other people’s?”

Andi nodded, a self satisfied smirk flitted across her face briefly before changing to a knowing smile, like what Harry had said was something she’d expected her to say. 

Dora lifted an arm up like she wanted to answer a question at school, waving it around energetically. “Oh, oh! I know. What about… Harriet?” 

Harry scrunched up her nose, shaking her head with barely any thought. “No… that’s not it. Something with H though…”

Dora didn’t miss a beat. “Harley? Hadley? Henry? No, no, I doubt that one. Hannah? Hazel? Oh, oh! Heidi?”

None of those struck a chord with Harry unfortunately, even though some of them were nice names. With a shake of her head, they continued, Andi chiming in with the occasional name suggestion as well. 

“Hadara? Hope? Heather? Hayley?”

Harry suddenly sat up straight, the last name that Dora had said strumming a sweet melody through her blood and her soul. It wasn’t perfect though. Dora had spoken it like Hayley, but Hailey was the perfect name for her. It fit like a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle. 

“Yes! That’s it!” Hailey interrupted Dora rambling on more names. 

“What is? Harika?” Dora frowned. 

Hailey shook her head. “No, no. Not that one. Hailey. Hailey Potter.”

Now they just had to work out her new middle name. She wasn’t going to be Hailey James Potter.