Snape snarled at the names in the paper, he then decided that if that was the sacrifice he needed to make so that, he walked the steps towards the house main door and knocked on it. He waited a second and the door was finally opened by a grouchy looking house-elf.
"Yes?" The elf asked
"Is Andromeda Tonks in here?" Snape asked the house-elf
"Mistress Tonks is not here, Kreacher can leave a message" Kreacher said
"Well when she comes tell her to floo me, Severus Snape" Snape said before leaving, he didn't wanted to be in the Grimmauld Place where it was possible that the imbecile of Black could be around.
He apparated away to his next location Ottery St. Catchpole, he knew where he was, standing in the middle of a grass field looking directly into a tower structure, he sighed and walked to the door he was about to knock when the door was opened by a blonde woman whose hair length fall right into her feet.
"Pandora Lovegood, good morning" Snape said to the woman in front of him
"Severus Snape, it's a surprise to see you here" Pandora said with a dreamy smile.
"Can I come in? I need to discuss something of importance" He said half annoyed at the woman's quirkiness.
"Of course, where are my manners?" She said inviting the man to enter, they had only seen each other a couple of times during their school year with professor Slughorn praising their work all the time so she kind of sensed to where the visit would go.
"I'll cut straight to the point and I'll tell you my motives of why I'm here" Snape said as he kept standing in the "living room/kitchen" the family had in their house. "Not so long ago I met a powerful Avatar of a God who tasked me with something unique and special, he trusted my abilities in potions and the "goodness of my heart"" Snape said mocking the tone he did at the end, although it was true that he did regretted his past actions he didn't consider himself a good guy, just a triple agent working for several strategists.
"What is the task?" Pandora asked
"I need to make a potion to track Voldemort's horrocrux" He said making the woman wide eyed.
"And why haven't you been able to achieve your goal?" She asked
"I was given the task two years ago, the person who tasked it to me found two and suspects there's more, but we don't know much of them expect how they can be created and how can they be destroyed, will you help me?" Snape asked, he really didn't want to accept help but he was growing tired of not getting a properly working potion.
"Why didn't you go to Dumbledore? He could help" Pandora said
"I normally would've consulted but my acquaintance told me to keep it as secret as it could, he doesn't trust Dumbledore for some reason" Snape said, he was also getting tired of everyone using him as a pawn
"Then why help your acquaintance?" Pandora asked
"Because even if he doesn't trust Dumbledore I think his way of doing things is better that Dumbledore's, in the Order we always play on the defensive and if it weren't for Lily's sacrifice we could've lost the war, but my acquaintance wants to destroy the dark objects so we can be on an equal field when Voldemort returns" Snape explained
"Well that sounds reasonable, I'll talk with Xenophilus about that, but if I'm going to work with you I need you to tolerate my little Luna, can you do that?" She asked as she looked him in the eyes, he almost wanted to retort but contained
"Sure, I will tolerate your daughter rummaging through my cabinets" Snape said before bidding farewell and leaving the Lovegood household.
--
Sirius arrived at his house in Grimmauld place, he had taken Susan, Draco and his twin sons Regulus and James to a trip through Muggle London to prepare for the little boys' birthday party, ever since he had married Amelia he had devoted to her and to their family, he often visited Harry in Gotham but never leaving the comfort of his house, and when the twins were born he wanted to shout of happiness, Amelia would arrive until night time and Narcissa was with the Governor's board, they entered the house and were greeted by Dobby and Kreacher, the latter had come to an understanding of the current Lord Black and since they took the Horrocrux from the locket the house-elf wasn't pleasant but wasn't as grouchy as before.
"Hello Dobby!" Susan said as she hugged the house-elf "We brought many things for Reggie and Jimmy's birthday can you help decorate?" Susan asked
"Dobby will help Lady Susie" The elf said picking the bag from her hands.
In just a couple of hours the Grimmauld Place house was fully decorated, Sirius had placed on their bed the three year old and waited for the guests to arrive. The chimney activated and from it came Remus who would never miss his godson's birthday, a few minutes later Narcissa arrived looking tired but still hugging her son tightly.
"How did you behave?" She asked looking at him sternly
"I behave great!" Draco said with a smile
"Of course you did sweetie" Narcissa said hugging him once again.
Then the woman he wanted to see arrived from the same chimney displaying her eight months belly, Sirius rushed and helped her walk away while kissing her hand.
"Seriously Sirius, I'm pregnant not made of glass!" She said with an annoying huff
"I know but you're carrying another set of twins according to the muggle doctor, I just want to keep you safe" Sirius said looking worried
"I know darling, now let me see Susie and the birthday boys!" She said pushing her husband to receive her adopted niece and following to see the boys who slept peacefully.
--
Meanwhile…
A van moved through the streets of London, the driver was a tired looking dad, next to him was a pile of presents, in the row behind him were seated three children and in the back row was an elderly couple holding hands and two mother's looking at the children in front of them
"You'll meet my cousins Damian, isn't that exciting?" Harry said happily
"Thrilling" Damian said with a huff, he didn't wanted to go to a stupid party in another country but it could help him discover the mystery that was the kid Harry, he felt there was something off about him.
"Oh yes! Reggie and Jimmy bithday!" Helena said excited, the three year old had met the boys a couple of times and had become quick friends always playing some cute children games.
In the back side of the van Talia and Selina talked between each other
"So what's so special about coming to London only for a children's party?" Talia asked
"One of the twins is Bruce's godson and it's nice for Helena to meet children her age, don't worry, Harry's cousins and friends are around Damian's age as well so he won't have a problem fitting in" Selina said
"Well that would be nice, Damian hasn't have a lot of interactions with children his age, everyone in the palace were always older than him." Talia said regretting being convinced by her father to train Damian so young.
"Well don't worry, if I've learned anything from seeing Helena's interactions with her siblings is that they will stay by her side and I'm sure they'll eventually warm up to Damian" Selina said calming the other mother.
"Thanks Selina" Talia said with sincerity.
"We arrived, 12 Grimmauld Place" Bruce said as he parked the van in front of the house with a yell of excitement from Helena and Harry.
"It looks rather small if you ask me" Talia said
"Never judge a book by its cover dear" Minerva said with a wink, the family stepped out of the van and walked to the front door. Before they went to London Bruce was able to explain to Talia what the Black were like, magical, she took it rather well considering that her father was an immortal man who bathed in magical waters.
The door opened letting the family see the House-Elf Kreacher
"Good evening Kreacher, we're here for the party of the Twins of House Black" Bruce said in the protocol manner Sirius taught him. Behind the family Damian was impressed at the house-elf aspect, in the Palace the servants used uniforms in here Kreacher was wearing an impeccable black tuxedo with a badge with the letter "B" engraved on it.
"Kreacher will guide you to Lord Black" The elf said beginning to walk to the Livingroom.
"Alfred's wife wasn't joking, it is bigger on the inside" Talia mussed at herself as they walked through the aisle, she had grabbed Damian's hand while Bruce and Harry were in the front, then Selina carrying Helena and in the back Alfred and Minerva who were constantly giggling to each other.
"Harry!" Draco and Susan said at the same time running towards their cousin and hugging him.
"Draco, Susan, it's so nice to see you again!" Harry said with a big smile on his face "Where's Neville?" He asked
"He is sick, his mom told aunt Narcissa that he had dragon pox" Susan explained
"Aw that's too bad, is anyone else coming?" Harry asked, even though his travels to London were sporadic he had managed to made friends with his cousin's friends, particularly Neville, Daphne Greengrass and her little sister Astoria, Pansy Parkinson, Hannah Abbott, some twins named Padma and Parvati Patil and a year younger girl named Luna Lovegood.
"Daphne and her sister are late but mum said they will arrive soon" Draco said
"That reminds me, I want you to meet my brother!" Harry said excited as he grabbed his cousins' hands and took them to were the adults were and were a culture shocked Damian was observing the living portraits that hung in the walls.
"Damian!" Harry said taking the boy out of his inspection.
"This are my cousins, Draco and Susan, guys this is my brother Damian!" Harry introduced them as if he had met Damian all of his life, which in part the kid wished it was true, ever since he met his brother a couple of weeks ago he had made quick friends with his new found brother, sharing interesting books and playing with training swords which Damian said it was so that they could later forge their own swords which Harry thought it was the most cool thing that could happen.
"Hey mate!" Draco said extending his hand for a handshake which Damian shook after a moment of hesitation.
"Hi" Damian said, then he saw Susan who for some reason was holding her hands close to her chest, he wondered if his permanent scowl, who according to his mother it was inherited from his father, was the reason that the girl was cautious. "Nice to meet you too" He added.
On the other side of the house Sirius teased Bruce
"Another kid Bruce? Seriously?" Sirius said with a smug smile
"I was as surprised as you are, but Damian has shown manners and he is the same age as Harry, it's going to be good for the two of them to have a brother their age, Dick and the others always have seen Harry as the baby" Bruce admitted
"Yeah how are you dealing with Dick being away from home?" Remus was the one who asked trying to divert the teasing to some other topic
"It's been hard, he went to Jump City University alongside some of his friends and he is living with them on a building Wayne Enterprises owns but still it's not the same as having him in the Manor" Bruce admitted, Dick had chosen that particular since that was a crime full city and they could use a hand, he stopped being Robin two years ago and became Nightwing with Victor and Kori helping him in said city, neither Bruce nor Dick had expected for Victor to have a terrible accident that fused him with a motherbox, one of Darkseid's machines, but he was using his new found abilities as the Superhero Cyborg for good and Kori had adopted the moniker Starfire to keep her identity a secret.
"I'm not surprise, I guess that's what our parents must have felt when we went to Hogwarts" Remus said.
"Yeah I guess so, although when I was placed in Gryffindor my mother thought the separation was the best" Sirius commented dryly. "Speaking of which, are you going to enroll Harry into Hogwarts?" He asked
"It's a possibility, Minerva as told me that she already has both of his letters, the one for Harry Wayne and the one for Harry Potter" Bruce said. "It would be nice to know Harry is going to be surrounded by friends and family here in Britain"
The party continued with Harry, his brother, his cousins and their friends were running up and down in the Black Manor, Draco taught them a game named "Exploding Snap for little children edition" which made small explosions to the giggling kids.
Helena meanwhile played with a ball with Reggie and Jimmy, and then they "read" her animals' book.
Talia got to meet Narcissa and Amelia sharing first time mother's experiences and advices.
The party was a success according to Sirius as the twins were very happy with the many gifts they received from their godfathers.
--
A few days later…
Talia, Damian and Harry waited in the front door for Bruce to bring the car, the boys wore their matching school uniforms, a navy blue jacket with grey pants and white shirt.
"Are you worried about your first day of school?" Talia said as she straighten Damian's jacket and combed his hair, she almost instinctively did the same to Harry which seemed bummed out that she didn't do the same with him.
"Mother I'll be fine, and yes I promise I won't kill anyone the first day" Damian said
"That's my boy!" She said
Talia was indeed worried of his son's reaction to the school experience, but she had seen him having fun with other kids so she wasn't completely worried. Bruce arrived with the Rolls Royce and both six year old climbed aboard with Talia sitting in the co-pilot seat.
The school wasn't that far but the road leave them plenty of time to have a quiz.
"What sickness was Mr. Freeze trying to cure?" Bruce asked Harry
"McGregor's disease, he did found the cure and he was able to cure his wife" Harry replied his question.
"Correct, Damian, how tall is the tallest mountain in Nanda Parbat?" Talia asked her son
"Tirich Mir, with a height of 7,708 meters or 25,289 feet, I claimed it on my fifth birthday with my arm broken" Damian replied which gained him a whistle from Harry
"I have the coolest brother" Harry said with a grin "Dad can we climb that mountain?" He added
"Maybe someday Harry" Bruce said to his son.
The family finally arrived at Gotham Elementary School and the parents said goodbye to their children
Talia felt a pull in her heart as she watched her son part ways with her in the entrance of the school waving goodbye at both of his parents. Ever since he was born they had done everything together, from his classes to his meals and his trainings, now watching him go she knew her son was slowly drifting apart to begin making his small steps to become the man he was destined to be.
Both boys were doing fine in the Elementary School, they didn't had many friends but they didn't had bullies either, apparently after some older student tried to take Harry's lunch money he knew that nobody messed with a Wayne since Damian broke his nose and three fingers. That earned the scowling Wayne a week off suspension. Harry was happy that his brother had defended him and propose to begin training so that in the case the older boy's henchmen tried to intimidate he would be ready to kick some ass.
Months went by and the kids became both feared and respected, apparently they were a force to be reckoned with when it came to bullying because they imparted justice on those who took advantage on the younger years or in those who looked weak.
The bullies for some reason tried to pick on a paled skinned raven haired girl who was a year older than the Wayne duo, they stopped the bullies who were trying to hit her with rocks and calling her a witch. Damian was tending to the girl's bleeding forehead when he asked her.
"Are you alright?" Damian asked, his usual scowl looking directly into the girl's wound.
"I'm fine, thanks" The girl responded with a shy almost muttered expression
"What's your name? Do you want us to talk to your parents?" Harry asked as he kept guard in case the bullies tried to make a return.
"I'm Rachel, and I only have my mother but she's working, I'm fine really" She said still in her dry shy tone.
"Would you mind if we keep you company?" Damian asked.
"I wouldn't mind but I would appreciate if I wasn't left alone either" Rachel said earning a nod from both kids who sit in the floor as well leaving her in the middle.
"Why did they called you a witch?" Harry asked
"I'm a metahuman, I can perceive auras, and one time I said to one of those boys that his aura was dark brown, they did not liked that" Rachel said half truthfully Damian noted, but he wasn't going to push the girl to spill her secrets.
"You can see auras? That's cool!" Harry said excited
"Of course you think that's cool, you're magical after all" Damian said in an annoying tone then realizing he spilled the beans of his brother's secret.
"You're magical?" Rachel asked incredulously
"Yes I am, I can make sparks so far, I been practicing with a magician called Dr. Fate to go beyond my potential but so far that's all I can do" Harry explained showing the sparks trick that Dr. Fate showed him so that he could invoke lightning.
Harry began to retell the first time he made accidental magic, he was five years old and he was throwing a tantrum after Jason had taken his stuffed dog that Sirius had gifted him, in his rage he made three flower vases to explode, then he cried because he had broken said vases, "It wasn't my finest moment, I've grown past that" Harry said with a smirk
"Cool" Rachel said smiling for the first time.
"So what can you tell us about our auras?" Damian asked
"Damian don't ask her that, she probably doesn't want to do that like a show-woman" Harry opposed but Rachel intervened
"Actually I don't mind" She said, she closed her eyes and traced her hand towards Damian "Your aura is grey, you're an skeptic, but you also have tints of red and blue which mean strength, passion and loyalty, I can see you're a good person Damian" She gave a hint of a smile at him.
Then Rachel turned to Harry and did the same movements as before "Wow, your aura is very bright and colorful, it has every color I've seen, even black, you've seen someone die, right?" She asked but Harry was confused, he didn't remember watching someone die so he did not understood what she meant by that but he let it pass.
--
It was dead in the night, the Wayne manor fell into a quiet and peaceful slumber, everyone was already sound asleep except for one seventh year old boy who tossed and turned in his bed, ever since his meeting with Rachel he had thought of those words, had he seen someone die? It was something he couldn't imagine, he tried to sleep but instead of pleasant dreams he had a nightmare, in that nightmare he was in a nursery room and a red haired woman tried to calm him down, her eyes were like his eye and her voice was soothing telling him how much she loved her, then the door of the room was blasted open by a dark figure, the woman stood tall and proud and yelled at the figure.
"No, not Harry" The woman's voice yelled in anguish and desperation
"Move woman or die!" The hissing voice of the dark figure yelled
"Not my Harry" The woman said in clear desperation and with a broken voice that meant she was in tears
"I won't repeat myself, move woman or die!" The menacingly voice hissed once again
"No!" The woman said
"You asked for it! Avada Kedavra!" The dark figure shoot a green energy to the woman who fell to the ground after yelling one last time before collapsing, then the dark figure approach Harry and looked him straight in the eyes, he could see the blood red eyes on the hooded man's face before he pointing his wand at Harry and saying "Avada Kedavra!" The same green flash appeared and Harry felt so frightened he almost peed himself, he quickly jumped out of bed and went to his father's room, the bed was completely empty and Harry wanted comfort, he sniffed and began walking down the aisle once again, then he stopped at one door and knocked, he waited a few seconds and he heard the crunching of the bed's springs and the door was opened, a bathrobe wearing and half asleep Selina opened the door.
"Harry are you alright?" She asked looking at the sniffing boy in front of her. "Did you had a nightmare?" She asked to which the boy nodded between sobs "Do you want to sleep with me?" She said in her motherly tone to which the boy nodded "Come sweetie, I won't let those awful nightmares hurt you" She said as she took the boy to bed and hugged him while also tucking both of them and kissing his head "Everything is going to be alright" She reassured the boy who began nodding of falling peacefully asleep in her arms.
--
In the Gotham City Police Department's rooftop James Gordon awaited next to the Bat-Signal, he knew that the Bat would arrive soon, often trying to scare him but he wasn't going to this time, there were most pressing manners.
"Good evening commissioner" The gruff voice of the Bat sounded on the rooftop, the commissioner looked at the caped crusader and decided to light a cigarette.
"I thought you quit those things" Batman said to the man
"I did, but this is just to calm the nerves, a few hours ago there was a break-in on Ace Chemicals, stolen documents and three dead guards were left on its wake, the man behind the attacked left his calling card" Gordon gave Batman two plastic bags, one with the picture of a deceased Axe Chemicals guard with a deathly grin in his face and in the other plastic bag a Joker poker card.
"I'll look into it" Batman said before gliding off from the rooftop.
--
Dumbledore paced on his office, Harry Potter's seventh birthday had come and go and he was nowhere to be found, not even his most trusted confidents could give him some insight in the boy's whereabouts. He could use legimency but he wasn't going to go that path, not with his allies at least. Especially since Minerva had married he didn't wanted to dig into her thoughts. He would have to resort into another trustful ally, his old friend Alastor Moody.