Hogwarts - January 6, 1997
Life just wasn't going Albus Dumbledore's way. The students had returned last night and that had just driven home how much control he had lost.
Albus had spent almost every waking moment since the board meeting trying to maintain his control over his school. It hadn't worked. The goblins had refused to allow him to hire almost all of his choices. He had gotten a few of his people, like Andromeda Tonks, but that wasn't enough.
Most of the new staff members weren't as devoted to him as he would have liked. Sure, many of them looked up to him, but that wasn't enough. He needed people that would follow his orders without questions. The only two that would follow him without question, were Andromeda, who was one of the new history professors, and Caleb Doge, great great nephew of his old friend Elphias Doge, who was going to be one of the transfiguration assistants.
He had had to do the introductions and seem like he was happy at the welcome back feast. Many of the students had even seemed excited to have more teachers. A feeling that Albus didn't share. He had liked to let the students run wild, it helped to keep them dumbed down, more teachers helping them was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
Just as he was getting ready to head down to dinner his floo alarm went off. He allowed access when he saw that it was Augusta Longbottom.
Albus wasn't sure how he felt about the sudden recovery of Frank and Alice. It was a benefit because it brought back another powerful light family. Plus it helped to calm Augusta, she was completely obsessed with her son and his image. The draw back was that now he couldn't use their condition to point out the cruelty of the death eaters. It didn't help that Alice had always been a little wary of him, and Frank followed her ideas.
There was also the issue that this potion had been created by Severus. He needed people to continue to mistrust Severus, it gave him control over the man. He had hoped that working for the bank wouldn't leave him any time to create new potions. If he had been working for the school when that potion had been created, then Albus would have been able to make sure that he gained the profit from the potion, now Severus was earning more money. People were also starting to see his spy in a better light.
"Albus, I need your help" Augusta was furious and had tears in her eyes.
"What is wrong my dear?" Albus could see that the normally stoic woman was on the edge of having a complete fit.
"Alice. That…That woman has taken Frank away."
"What happened?"
"I was working with Neville in our weekly session, trying to get his power to react you know. Alice came in and threw a complete fit before grabbing the boy and storming off. Frank went with them. I don't understand what is wrong with him. How could he just abandon his mother."
Albus knew this was going to be trouble. He knew that when she said session, Augusta meant that she had been throwing stinging hexes at the boy. The boy was forbidden from running away or crying, it was an attempt to force his magic to protect him.
It wouldn't work, and he knew it. He had had Augusta place a block on the boys magic so that Albus would be able to control him better when he was older. That block, and the different potions he knew the child had been fed would stop the boy from being able to use magic, at least for another few years.
Augusta's brother-in-law Algie had also been blocking the boys power and giving him potions. If Frank hadn't recovered, Neville was set to be the next Lord Longbottom. Algie had always been jealous of his elder brother, and then when the lordship passed to his nephew and then great-nephew he had been furious. Algie had already gone through all the money his family had given him and was using Nevill's trust fund to keep supporting himself since he and Augusta were locked out of a majority of the family fortune until Frank got better or Neville came of age.
Albus couldn't think of a single thing that could fix this. Alice had been a Hufflepuff, and she was the living embodiment of that house. She was completely loyal and hard working. Her son was, and would always be, her son. Now that she knew that her son was being hurt she would stop at nothing to protect him. And Frank, like the lovesick fool he was, would follow her, like usual.
"All I can think of is trying to use potions." Albus told her. "Alice has always been difficult to control."
"I don't care if Alice and that squib brat come back. I just want my son home." Augusta really didn't care about the others, only her son mattered.
"I will see what I can do. Maybe if I can speak to him we might be able to work something out. I agree that Alice is not needed, but we need to keep Neville. I know he doesn't seem like much now, but he still has the potential to be a child of prophecy. Plus, he will inherit Alice's lines once she is gone." Albus said.
Yes, he liked that idea. If he could get rid of Alice he would be able to gain her family lines and money through the boy. The right potions and spells would make Frank controllable. He would just have to make sure he got it done before Frank put his lordship ring back on. Those rings had all manner of protection charms on them that even Albus didn't know if he could by-pass.
Leaky Cauldron, Room 3
Frank was sitting in one of the chairs at the little table in the room he and Alice had rented for the night. He was in a state of shock.
Looking over he saw his wife curled up on the bed, wrapped around their son. Tears were silently sliding down her cheeks.
Neville hadn't known that what his gran and great uncle had done was wrong. Because he thought it was completely normal he hadn't seen any problems with telling his parents what had been happening.
Frank had been horrified to know that his own family had physically and emotionally abused his son for years. The abuse had started almost as soon as he and Alice had been sent to St. Mungo's .
He knew that nothing his mother did would ever make him forgive her. Getting up, he headed for the door.
"Frank?" Alice was watching him.
"I'm going to go to the bank and make arrangements. I won't ever let them near him again." Alice smiled at him when he said that.
Frank walked into the bank, since it was so late there was almost no one there. It allowed him to go to one of the goblins working at the desks without having to wait in any lines. Once he had the goblins attention he requested to speak with Onyxfang, the Longbottom account manager.
He was instead taken to Ironclaw. When he asked where Onyxfang was he was told an interesting story.
Only 2 days after the attack on him and his wife, Onyxfang died suddenly. The goblin that took over in his place, Grimrock, had recently been caught by a bank wide audit accepting money from his mother and had been tried and executed. Augusta appeared to be paying him off to allow her and Algie access to certain vaults, like Neville's trust fund, to support their preferred lifestyle. It was in the Longbottom family scripts that the regent of an underage heir would only receive 3,000 galleons a month. That was more than enough for the average witch or wizard, but Augusta and Algie weren't average. From the accounting that Ironclaw had done, they had been taking more than three times what they were allowed to fund an extravagant lifestyle. A lifestyle that didn't appear to have been provided for the heir.
Frank was furious. Not only were they abusing his son, they had been stealing from him. He knew that he couldn't let this stand, but he also didn't want to have to deal with a scandal so soon after getting out of the hospital.
After a long talk with his new account manager, Frank had decided to use the olde family laws to punish his mother and uncle. He called one of the older elves, that he knew never liked his mother or uncle, and explained what he wanted from him. The elf had smiled in glee at his new job. The elf really hadn't liked their treatment of the family heir. Once that was done he used the banks floo to summon his mother and uncle.
"Frank. There you are sweetheart. You have had me worried sick. You can't just go running off like that. Alice is just making things up, like usual. You know I would never do anything that would hurt you." Augusta tried to run over and hug her son, but he stepped out of her reach.
"Enough, mother." Augusta flinched as she heard his growl. "Don't even bother with that. I know very well that you have been abusing my son. I also know that the two of you have been stealing from the family."
"That money is ours. The little squib has no right to it. Squibs can't inherit, and you know it." Algie growled back.
"My son isn't a squib. For your information, Neville started summoning his toys by his first birthday. Also, if he was a squib, then he wouldn't be listed as heir, it would have passed directly to you. So, since you are not next in line, that means Neville isn't a squib. But more importantly, that money was never yours and you will be punished for what you've done." Frank said.
"You can't send your own mother to Azkaban." Augusta crossed her arms as she stare down her son like she had done to him when he was a child. This time he didn't back down.
"Oh, I'm not sending you to Azkaban. I really don't want to have to deal with the scandal. No, I will be using the olde family laws to decide your punishment. You both will be retiring from public life. After all, the stress of losing your son and daughter-in-law only for them to miraculously be healed would cause a great deal of stress for anyone. As far as the public will be concerned you are retiring to a nice cozy place to live out you're golden years. And that is exactly what you will be doing. I have already made arrangements for you both to be moved to the cottage on the moors. You will not be leaving there ever again. I have already assigned Bobbin to look after you both. But he won't be your servant, he will be your warden. You will be required to do all your own cooking and cleaning. I have arranged for him to do any shopping you need from an elf market, he has already agreed to ensure that you will both get all the food required for a healthy diet."
Frank smiled at them. In truth, the cottage they would be moving to was a decent 2 bedroom place. Most people would be happy to have a home like that. But as he already knew from how much money they had wasted over the years, they both wanted lavish, not decent. It was nothing like Longbottom manor that they both had claimed as their own over the years. Now, they would get to see what it was like to be an average person.
"You can't do this." Algie yelled at him.
"Oh, I can, and I have. Ah here is Bobbin. He will be taking you to your new home now. Goodbye mother, uncle Algie. I hope everything you did was worth it to you, because you will never be leaving the moors."
With that, Bobbin grabbed on to both of them and popped away. Frank let out a sigh of sadness and relief. His son was safe.
Finishing a few things off with Ironclaw, Frank headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. Alice was still awake when he got back so he quickly explained what he had done. He also told her that he had promised Ironclaw that they would all come back in the morning for a full inheritance test, the goblin had been very insistent on that, apparently they had discovered issues with others.
Alice agreed to the bank trip in the morning. She was sad about what her husband had had to do, but she was glad that their son was safe from those people now.
St. Mary's Hospital - May 1, 1997
Lucius Malfoy was completely happy. He was standing in a muggle hospital looking in one of the rooms from the doorway. In the room his wife and son both lay on the hospital bed. In between the two of them, lay his daughter.
Lyra Belladonna Malfoy. His perfect, healthy, baby girl.
All the stress and fear he and his wife had felt had all been for naught. According to the muggle healers, they now knew were called doctors, Lyra was completely healthy, and exactly the right size and weight they had been hoping for.
When Narcissa had first gone into labour last night Lucius had been terrified that something was going wrong. But then, 9 hours after their arrival at the hospital, he had watched as his daughter was born, and heard her loud cries letting them know she was here. They had even brought Draco into the room so he could feel involved.
Over the last few months of Narcissa's pregnancy they had noticed that Draco had started to pull away. When they had asked him what was going on he would say it was nothing, but they both knew that he was becoming jealous of the new baby. Draco had never had to share anything in his life, and now he had too.
They had dealt with it by making sure Draco knew he was still loved. Lucius had even taken him aside and given him a good talking to about how much the new baby was going to need him. As the big brother it was his job to show the baby how to act, and also to help to take care of her. Once Draco felt more involved, and that he was considered to be a protector for the baby, he had started to get excited.
Now, Lucius watched as Draco looked down at his little sister with a goofy smile on his face. It was clear that Draco loved her.
Narcissa looked up at him and smiled, waving him to come over and join them. Narcissa's hair was a mess, and she was in desperate need of a shower, but Lucius thought she had never looked more beautiful.
Draco was looking at the squishy pink thing that was his sister. He really didn't know how much he was going to be able to teach her, he didn't know anything about girls, but he would try. For some reason he loved her as soon as he had seen her, even though she was all wrinkly and screaming. When he had seen the look in his mothers eyes when she had been placed in her arms Draco had made a promise to himself that he would never let anything bad happen to her. Anyone that could make both of his parents as happy as they were right now was ok with him.
Kamakura, Japan - May 14, 1997
Severus and Remus were in a complete panic. Like they had all expected, Sirius had gone into labour early. What they hadn't expected was that the stress and excitement over his best friend, and pregnancy buddy, going into labour, would cause James to go into labour too. This was not what they had planned for.
Remus had gone down to the village to get a healer. Men were not equipped to give birth naturally, so the only way the babies were coming out was by a cesarean, and Severus wasn't qualified to do that.
As Remus was panicking on his way to the village, Severus was panicking as he tried to calm the two men in labour. It didn't help that both men had magic and were throwing the occasional curse at him. Even though he had taken their wands away, they were still managing to do a few basic wandless curses.
Hadrian was off to the side, he wasn't stupid enough to get in the way, laughing at his papa. They had been planning for this for months, and now that the time had come they were all acting like they didn't know what to do.
Once the healer showed up everything calmed down. Or to be honest, she made it calm down. Aika was a small little woman that was extremely strong willed. Severus was over a foot and a half taller than her but she cowed him like he was still a little boy.
After Aika had gotten control of all four of the men she set to work. She decided that they would start with Sirius as he had gone into labour first. James had glared at Sirius, while Sirius grinned at him and stuck out his tongue, at least until they both had a contraction and became distracted.
Only two hours later everything was calm once again. After one last final check up, Aika left. She would be returning over the next few days to keep an eye on everything.
They had moved one of the beds out into the middle of the living room for the birth and now both James and Sirius were resting on it.
Sirius held an identical little girl in each arm. Ariadne Pandora and Cassiopeia Selene were both happily resting in their fathers arms. Remus stared down at his girls with the worlds largest smile on his face.
James was on the other side of the bed staring into the bright eyes of his own daughter Kali Eileen. Severus was just as happy as Remus, looking at his little girl.
Hadrian was sitting in the middle of the bed looking back and forth between his three new sisters. They were all just so perfect. He could already feel their magic, it was calm and happy. He knew that soon enough they would be up and causing chaos, just because they could. They were the daughters of marauders after all.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - June 4, 1997
James was heading towards the school board meeting feeling nervous. This was the first time that he had had to leave Kali. He had spoken with Kensington and gotten him to agree to continue on as his proxy for a few more months because he didn't think that he would be able to spend a full day away. Wizengamot meetings lasted all day, but the school board meetings only lasted an hour or two. If he could have assigned a proxy to the board meeting he wouldn't even have bothered to go, but he couldn't, so he had no choice but to go.
The only ones that could be proxy for a founders heir on the school board, was another founders heir. So the only other person that could take his seat was Severus, and that would just put him back in the old goats sights.
He wouldn't let Albus think he was losing interest in the school and that he could change it all back to the way he wanted. That man still had too much power on the board if he wasn't there.
He was just glad that the meetings were usually held in June, or else he wouldn't have been able to go. The one last year had been held in April because there was an important International Confederation of Wizards meeting in June last year so Albus had rescheduled the usual meeting.
Nodding to the others that were already there he took the seat he had claimed as his. He was once again joined by those that seemed to be on his side. Like usual, James was more than ready to get his way and had everything he needed to embarrass Albus.
Just to make things even more fun he had sent in a request, that had been approved by the rest of the board, to have the heads of house at this meeting. Since there were now multiple teachers and assistants for each subjects it was easy for the heads of house to make time.
Coming into the meeting Albus was surprised, and disappointed. He hadn't expected Sebastian to be at the meeting. When he hadn't seen the man at the Wizengamot meeting earlier in the week he had thought that Severus had finally managed to get the man out of his way.
Like last time, when the vote was called on Molly's motion to remove certain books from the library, she lost and subsequently threw a fit. They once again talked about abused students. Now that Albus had finally been forced to hire the appropriate staff, the fully qualified healers had found a few more students that were being abused at home and had arranged for them to go to Sea Cliff House. They wanted to make sure that the children didn't feel like they were being singled out.
As they carried on, both Kensington and Gerbot, kept sending James speculative looks. They knew that he was planning something, just from the calm smile on his face. Both were really enjoying watching him shake up Albus's world every meeting, they felt it was about time. Whenever they caught his eye he would give them a little smirk.
When James drew the attention towards himself Albus looked at him with a mixture of anger and resignation.
"As interesting as all this is, I think we need to address another topic. Points."
"What about the points my boy. Surely you aren't taking issue with the points system Sebastian. The house cup competition has been an integral part of Hogwarts since it was first founded." Albus said. He really didn't understand what Sebastians issue with the points system could be.
"Oh no, I fully support the idea of the house cup. My issue is the blatant favouritism being shown in how the points are being awarded." James told him.
"There isn't any favouritism, at least, not any more." Minerva said stiffly. "The only member of staff that favoured one house more than the others was Severus, and since he is now working with you we don't have that issue any more."
"Actually Minerva, the problem has gotten worse since Severus has left." James wasn't about to let any of them blame his husband for anything.
He pulled a book out of his robes and resized it. It was a huge ancient book. "This book was designed by Rowena Ravenclaw. It keeps track of every single point given or taken, it also tracks all punishments and those involved. There was supposed to be a copy of this available to both staff and students, but I can only guess that it was lost over the years, like so many other things it would seem. I used collation and statistic spells I learned from the goblins to look over different breakdowns of how points are given, taken, and how different punishments are doled out."
Both Minerva and Albus tried to hide their panic. The book had originally been in the library, but Albus had removed it when he had originally been made headmaster over 50 years before. They didn't want anyone to have access to that.
James carried on, a slight smile graced his lips when he saw the other two trying to hide their panic. "What I have found is not good. I looked at how points were taken away by averaging out the points lost and the punishment given to students that had been caught breaking curfew multiple times, I used the statistics from last semester only. The students from Hufflepuff that were caught lost an average of 15 points and received an average of 2 nights of detention. Ravenclaws lost 10 points, but received 3 nights of detention. Gryffindors lost 5 points and almost never received detention. Slytherin however, lost 25 points and received 1 week of detention.
I would also like to note, that the book also shows when warnings were given. Gryffindors were normally given at least 4 warnings before any punishment was given. Hufflepuffs usually only got one warning. But Ravenclaw and Slytherin almost never received a single warning.
I looked at the points given by breaking down the average amount of points the students of each house received for completing a spell first. Gryffindor was 10, Ravenclaw was 3, Hufflepuffs got 4, and Slytherins got 2.
There is absolutely no excuse that can explain this in my opinion. None of these students deserve to be treated differently due to the house they were placed in. From what I saw looking back, Severus actually served as a moderator for the bias that many other professors have been showing. I would also like to mention that the prefects and head boy and girl actually don't seem to have the same bias that their professors show. Although they favour their houses, as is expected, they generally treat the other houses the same. So why is it that the students of this school seem to be showing more integrity than the staff?"
Albus, Minerva, Molly, and Ted had tried to interrupt his speech multiple times, while all the others in the room looked horrified. When James handed out parchments that had the breakdowns they got furious.
"What is the meaning of this?" "How dare you?" "Who do you think you are, doing this to children?" Was heard. The mix of different voices stopping James from identifying who was speaking.
"This is disgraceful. The children of this school deserve better. We need to be teaching them that they are all equal, not dividing them even more." Kensington said with a growl.
"I agree Kensington." James said, giving him a nod. "Your job is to educate the students of this school. You are meant to be helping them learn, not just information, but how to be good people. The fact that the students of this school seem to show more common decency than the staff is something that astounds me. You are adults, you should know better. If a student is taught that they can get away with breaking rules just because the house they are in, that will make them believe that they are above the law, they are not.
Now, it's already to late to address the issue for this years house cup, but we need to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Because we clearly can't trust the staff of this school to treat the students equally, I feel that we should set out guidelines for punishments and points that can be given or taken."
"I agree" was heard from many, including the heads of house, other than Minerva, of course.
"I can't believe that this sort of thing has been happening." Filius said sadly. "I didn't even realize that we had been treating the students differently, but here it is, theres no denying this information. I agree with whatever you wish to do. I think that a standard list of consequences and rewards given for certain actions would be a good idea."
The part goblin was devastated that he might have been just as guilty as the others in the treatment of certain students. He knew that he had taken larger amounts of points from some students that he had caught out of bed. Many times he would hear other members of the staff talking about catching a student out of bed, so when he caught that student he was harsher, he never realized that many of the students, including those from his own house, weren't being given warnings that others were.
The next hour was spent setting out the amounts of points that could be given or taken for different things. They also worked out when, and how much, detention was appropriate for breaking rules. James also gave 2 copies of the book to the headmaster, one for the library and the other for his office, but he kept the original for himself so he could keep watch.
After that, the meeting wrapped up quickly and James slipped out as quickly as he could. He wanted to get back home to his family.
As had been happening more often, Albus stomped into his office and started breaking things. Once he was calmer, he repaired it all before sitting at his desk and offered the women that had followed him up to his office lemon drops, although they all refused. Molly bustled around and got tea ready for everyone.
"Albus. What do we do now?" Minerva asked, like usual. "What are we supposed to do about those new point guidelines. How are we supposed to make sure my lions get the cup."
"We will just have to find excuses to give the lions extra points for other things." Albus told her.
"It won't work." Andromeda told them. Although she agreed with them on many things, she didn't see the importance of always trying to make the Gryffindors out to be the good guys. Her own husband and daughter were puffs. "Lord Peverell only gave the school copies. If he sees any more issues with the points, he'll just bring it up with the board again, and next time it could be worse."
"That man." Molly whined. "He is nothing but trouble. Doesn't he understand that we are trying to fix our world."
"Andromeda is right." Minerva sighed. "We don't have a choice. As of next year we will have to start distributing the points evenly. We won't be able to keep giving my lions warnings rather than taking points and assigning detentions. I thought Severus was supposed to be keeping that man busy?"
"He has been." Albus took a sip of his tea. "Sebastian has been away from the Wizengamot since our last meeting in December. From what I've heard he isn't set to be attending again until the fall. I guess that he just couldn't stop him from attending this meeting. He's still been sending me letters every few months suggesting that I look at past plans. That secrecy clause in that new contract of his is making things extremely difficult."
Both Minerva and Andromeda kept their opinions to themselves. Neither of the two women fully trusted the man. Like always, Molly had no such control.
"You know you can't trust that man Albus. He is Slytherin. He's probably giving that man information on you."
"Enough Molly. Severus is under my control. He has been so for years."
After the women had left Albus sat back in his chair and stared pensively out his window towards Black Lake. Ever since Sebastian Peverell had appeared there had been problems. When he had started to focus more on his work for the bank Albus had started to regain some of his control, not all, but some. He had managed to get himself in the paper rather than Sebastian. It had helped him to reestablish his fame, and remind people of his power. It, unfortunately, didn't help him get anything he wanted through a vote. Kensington hadn't been willing to start siding with him, even after he had mentioned that he could help his nephew.
Then there was the loss of Augusta. When he had gone to the February Wizengamot he had been surprised to see Frank sitting in the Longbottom seat. At the end of the meeting earlier in the week he had gone over to talk to Frank about why he hadn't heard from Augusta. He had originally expected her to be back by March, when she wasn't he had started sending her letters, but she hadn't responded.
Frank had only told him that both Augusta and Algie had decided to retire from public life. According to Frank, they were both enjoying their retirement.
Albus knew that wasn't true. Oh, he knew that Frank hadn't harmed his mother and uncle, Albus was sure of that. But he did suspect that Frank had banished them somewhere far away believing that it would protect his son. If they had been banished then he wouldn't be able to get a letter to them due to wards. He would just have to wait until he got Frank's loyalty again before making him bring Augusta back, she was still useful to him.
Kamakura, Japan - July 31, 1997
Today was Hadrian's 7th birthday. Like last year, Sirius and Remus woke them all up, although they only knocked on James and Sev's door. Remus had refused to allow Sirius to convince him to wake them up like they had the year before. Once James and Sev were up they all went into wake up Hadrian.
They also didn't make a lot of noise when they went in. Choosing to let Sev and James go first and wake him up slowly, with gentle words.
Like Edward Brown of the DCW had said, Hadrian had had a few set backs in his recovery. Shortly after the girls were born he had started having nightmares. He was terrified that something would happen to them and the girls would end up in a place like the Dursley's.
Sirius had written to Edward to get his opinion. Edward had told him that it was to be expected. Hadrian would see the girls and it would remind him of what had happened to him as a child. During one of the check up visits by the DCW that Edward and Cecilia had conducted themselves, Edward had spent over an hour just talking to Hadrian.
After that Hadrian had gone down for a nap, all the emotions had caused Hadrian to be exhausted. Edward had sat the adults down and told them that everything was fine. He said that the fact that Hadrian had formed such a strong bond, not only with the adults in his life, but the girls, was a good thing. They would just need to make sure that Hadrian felt safe and loved, as well as talk to him about what was going on and what had happened, and eventually he would calm down.
It had been Sirius that had figured out how to calm Hadrian down when he got worked up. Hadrian had woken up from a nap a few weeks earlier after he had had a nightmare. Sirius had been working on translating some runes and had sat Hadrian down next to him. He had given him a quill and suggested that he start drawing the different runes to take his mind off things. It had actually calmed him surprisingly fast, especially considering how long it normally took.
After that, they would give Hadrian a mindless task to take his mind of the dreams and memories. The things that worked best were drawing runes, preparing potions ingredients, much to Sev's joy, and flying around on his broom.
Now they made sure to be careful, without being condescending. They wanted to be there for him, but they also didn't want him to feel like they were babying him and make him resent them.
Just after lunch their guests arrived. Severus had invited the Malfoy family to come to visit. He missed his friends and godson so he had gotten Hadrian's permission to invite them for his birthday.
They had all sent different things to Draco for his own birthday the month before. Severus had also sent a letter to Narcissa and Lucius telling them to try and make sure that Draco behaved himself, Hadrian was still emotionally fragile. He didn't want anything to happen between the two of them that would make it hard for Severus to be in both of their lives. As much as it would hurt him to lose Draco in his life, he would have to choose Hadrian if they didn't get along.
Sirius led the Malfoy family to the tent where Severus and the others were waiting.
Draco was trying to look at everything. He had been confused on his birthday when his parents had given him a few presents and told him they were from his uncles and cousin. He hadn't known that they had another family, or at least, that they spoke too. The presents had been interesting.
From his uncle Severus and his husband he had gotten some beautiful hand crafted silk robes. From his uncle Sirius, who was actually his mothers cousin, and his husband Remus he had gotten all sorts of sweets. At first he hadn't been overly excited about this because he found he could only eat small amounts of British candies because there was too much sugar and it hurt his stomach, except these treats were more savoury than sweet, so he enjoyed them more. His favourite present however, was a gift from his cousin Hadrian.
From Hadrian he had gotten a book that went into the history of kyūdō and kendo, as well as showed the basic maneuvers. They were two different traditional Japanese fighting styles. Kyūdō was an intricate form of archery, and kendo was similar to sword fighting, except that you used bamboo swords, which had made his mother calm down. He loved learning about the history and even tried some of the moves out, he loved the control it allowed him to feel over his body. It also taught him more about how to avoid an attack, then how to attack.
Looking up, he saw his godfather. He didn't go running to him, he was now 7 after all, not a child, but he really wanted too. Walking over, he greeted his god father with as much dignity as a 7 year old could manage. He didn't see all the adults stifling their giggles, because he was looking at a boy with dark hair and green eyes, who was sitting on a blanket with three babies surrounding him.
Draco knew how he was to behave in a situation like this. As he walked over to the smaller boy, the boy stood up. Sticking out his hand Draco said, "Hello, I'm Draconis Lucius Malfoy, heir of the most Ancient and most Noble House of Malfoy."
Hadrian looked to his fathers who were giggling.
Severus came over when he saw the bewildered look on his sons face. "Draco, this is my son Hadrian. Hadrian, this is my godson Draco." With Lucius and Narcissa's approval they had placed a secrecy ward on Draco so he couldn't tell anyone about his time with them, mainly so he wouldn't tell anyone about Hadrian's parentage.
"Hi." Hadrian said shyly. "These are my sisters, Ariadne, Cassiopeia, and Kali."
Draco smiled at the clearly shy kid. Shyness was not something Draco had. "Those are my parents. My dad is holding my little sister Lyra. She was only born on May 1st, how old are your sisters?"
"They were all born on May 14th." Hadrian said, smiling down at his sisters. "Daddy had Kali, and Uncle Sirius had Ariadne and Cassiopeia."
"Wow, I guess that makes them like triplets." Draco was fascinated by the little girls. He loved his own little sister so much, and now he had cousins too. "Do you want to go flying? I don't want to get stuck in a tea party."
"I love to fly." Hadrian said, smiling at his new cousin. "But why would we get stuck in a tea party?"
"Didn't your parents tell you. That's all girls do. I have a friend back at home, Daphne, and all she and her little sister do is have tea parties. They even dress up in frilly pink dresses." Draco said, horror on his face. He had asked Daphne all about having a little sister and what to do with them when the Greengrass's had come over to visit.
"But… But, I don't want to wear dresses." Hadrian looked to his fathers and uncles.
Sirius laughed at the horrified and disgusted look on his godsons face. "But thats what older siblings of sisters do. They go to tea parties."
Hadrian got control of his panic. "If I have to attend tea parties in a dress so do all of you. And I will make sure they are baby pink."
Sirius gave him a challenging look. "You wouldn't dare."
Hadrian quirked one of his eye brows and gave Sirius a very Severus like glare. "Try me." With the challenge issued he took hold of Draco's arm and led him away.
That was just too much for James and Lucious, both of whom broke down laughing. Narcissa was quick to grab Lyra and go and sit down with her with the other babies.
"He would, wouldn't he." Sirius said in a proud voice. "I think he may have spent too much time with us."
Remus just shook his head at his husband and went to sit with Narcissa and the girls. His husband was proud of the oddest things sometimes, although, he was proud of how Hadrian had handled him too.
Narcissa and Lucius had brought Draco's childs broom so they all sat on the patio and watched the boys fly while they sat and had tea. They were all glad as they saw how quickly the boys bonded. Narcissa was overjoyed, so many of the children that they knew back in Britain tried to be friends with Draco because their parents told them too. Draco was naturally sensitive to emotions and was able to figure out the reason behind peoples actions, so he picked up on the faked friendships. Most of the children didn't have any ill intent, but Draco still didn't trust them. She was glad that Draco had finally found a true friend, someone that liked him just for him, it was clear that Draco liked it too.
Draco, who had loved having a little sister, seemed to be taking to having a little cousin just as quickly. Severus smiled as he watched his son and godson making fast friends. It was clear that Hadrian was a better flyer, but Draco probably would have been flying better if he didn't keep stopping to check on Hadrian. Severus figured that he was making sure his little cousin was doing ok. There was less than 8 weeks between them, but Draco was acting like those weeks were years.
When the girls all started to fall asleep Lucius was the first to jump up, followed by Remus and James, the three men carried the four baby girls into the girls nursery, which had once been one of the spare rooms, to put them down for a nap. Sirius just raised an eyebrow at how Lucius was acting in regards to his daughter.
Catching Sirius's look, Narcissa smiled at him. "I know most people think Lucius is a cold man, but he is a completely different person at home. I swear, he jumps at every little noise that Lyra makes, he also jumps when she isn't making any noises. He was the exact same when Draco was a baby. I think, in the past few months, I have only changed Lyra's diaper less than a dozen times because he is always there to do anything she needs, not that I'm complaining about it."
Severus smiled. He had always known how devoted Lucius was to his son. It had always been something he was glad for, he knew what Lucius's relationship had been with his own father and was glad that he was proving to be a different kind of man.
When the men came back from putting the girls down Lucius was asking Remus who was in the spare room. He had seen the outline of someone sleeping, but he didn't know who it could be.
Severus looked from Lucius to Sirius, and then to Narcissa. He had figured Sirius would have told Narcissa that his little brother was alive, but judging from the look on Sirius's face, the man hadn't thought of it.
Before Severus could say anything Sirius jumped up and started dragging Narcissa and Lucius towards the bedroom. As he dragged them he told them that they had a big surprise for them, one they would never guess.
When Narcissa entered the room she tried to be quiet, not wanting to disturb the sleeping person, that was until she saw his face. "Regulus." She gasped.
Narcissa sat on the edge of the bed and brushed his hair out of his face. Lucius quickly sat on the other side of the bed and just looked down at the friend that he had thought was dead. A soft pop sounded as Kreacher arrived in the room after sensing movement around his Master Regulus. Seeing Mistress Malfoy he relaxed, he had always liked her. "What can Kreacher be doing for Mistress Malfoy?"
"Oh, hello Kreacher. I see you are taking good care of Regulus." Kreacher's chest puffed up at this. He was now glad that his Nasty Master Sirius had made him start wearing a uniform like the Potter elves wore, his was in the Black family colours and had the family crest over his heart, it made him feel confident in front of Mistress Narcissa. "There is nothing I need Kreacher. Just keep up the good work for your Master Regulus."
After that Kreacher popped back to the Black Manor, Grimmauld Place. His Master Regulus would be waking up next year, and he wanted everything to be ready for him to come home.
Sirius and Severus explained to Narcissa and Lucius about what had happened to Regulus. According to the journals, in the original time line, Regulus had been discovered in the muggle hospital only a few months from now. He had been moved to the DOM where he spent the next year in the coma before he finally woke up. After that he rarely if ever left the department, he was practically a prisoner there for the rest of his life. It had been Augustus Rookwood that had found him. Also according to the journals, Rookwood had been a spy for the DOM in the Dark Lord's side of the war.
Draco and Hadrian were flying around when they suddenly noticed that their parents were gone. They both knew they weren't allowed to fly when no one was around so they both landed. Neither of them were sure what to do because they didn't see where their parents had gone.
Hadrian knew that if they went back up in the air, they would get into trouble, so instead he suggested that they go and visit his friend Oochi.
A little while later Remus went out to check on the boys and get them to come in for birthday cake when he saw them sitting on the patio with Oochi. Quickly, Remus turned around and ran back into the tent to go and explain things to Narcissa and Lucius about Hadrian's friend. There was no way he was going to let them walk out and see what was going on without warning them. He didn't need them having heart attacks.
"Don't panic." Remus said in a calming voice once he saw Lucius and Narcissa.
"That is the best way to make sure someone panics, you understand that, right?" Naarcissa said sarcastically.
"The boys are sitting on the patio with Hadrian's friend Oochi." Remus said with as much calm as he could manage.
They all heard Sirius mutter of, "Oh, shit."
Severus went outside to try and get the boys to send Oochi home before Draco's parents saw.
"And why would we have a problem with them sitting with a friend?" Lucius asked quizzically.
"Well, you see… Hadrian has all speak, and also speaks parseltongue." James added.
"So I can assume that Oochi is a snake. What kind of snake is he?" Narcissa asked in a dangerous voice.
"Japanese Mamushi." Remus told her. She just quirked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, demanding him to keep going, and with a deep sigh, he did. "A pit-viper."
"A…A… Pit-viper. Are you kidding me. You let your son befriend a viper." Narcissa growled as she turned on James.
"Hey, we didn't let him befriend a viper. He just came back one day with a viper coiled around his shoulders and introduced us. Oochi apparently lives nearby. We just decided that we would rather have him as a friend, and not an enemy. He's even given Severus venom and scales for potions." James said defensively.
"Makes sense. That's not the kind of enemy you want living next door." Lucius said thoughtfully. He backed up a few steps as Narcissa turned on him.
Thankfully, for all the men in the tent, Severus ushered the two boys in at that point, viper nowhere in sight.
"Oochi has gone home for the evening. He apparently just came to wish Hadrian a happy hatching day," Severus said, a slight grimace on his face when he saw Narcissas look.
Narcissa rushed over to the boys and gave them a quick going over.
"What's wrong Aunt Narcissa? We didn't fall of our brooms or anything." Hadrian said. He was confused as to why she was acting like this.
"Hadrian, you were just spending time with a viper. Do you understand how dangerous that is?" She told him as she finished her checks, sure that nothing was wrong with them.
"That's what everyone said the first time I brought Oochi home. But he wouldn't hurt me, or my family. He promised. He called me his hatchling and has been teaching me about snake magic. He's my first friend." Hadrian was actually quite proud of his friendship with Oochi.
Narcissa just turned on the other men in the tent and gave them a look.
"Cissy, we know. We've already spoken to the bank. Our next job is in Turkey. We've made sure that the other curse breakers working near where we are going have children." Severus told her in an attempt to placate her, it must have been enough because she turned away and requested Dobby to set dinner out for them.
The rest of the night passed in relative peace. They ate their dinner and had cake before Hadrian's presents were brought out.
When they all went to bed after the Malfoy's left, Hadrian was happy. His family was growing. He was such a lucky boy.
Hogwarts - September 1, 1997
Another summer had drawn to an end, and Percy was set to start his first year at Hogwarts. Just like last year Bill was sad to see summer end, but so was Charlie now. While Bill had once again returned to the secondhand bookstore, Charlie went and got a job at the nature preserve.
The benefit Charlie had received from working for the summer was more than just money. Since he was still young, the handlers had wanted to keep him away from the more dangerous animals, so he had spent most of his summer carrying around large buckets of food. At the end of last year he had still been scrawny, but now he was solid muscle. Many of the girls were taking notice of this fact. One of these girls, in particular, had bubblegum pink hair.
As Bill and Charlie watched Percy was called up to be sorted, they both really hoped that Percy would go to Ravenclaw. They loved their little brother and knew that he just wasn't meant for Gryffindor. The lions were just to loud for him.
When the hat shouted Ravenclaw they both cheered loudly for there little brother, while most of the hall took a few seconds to react. Percy was the first Weasley in over 300 years to be sorted anywhere but Gryffindor.
Percy calmly walked to his house with a smile on his face. When the other students greeted him and asked him why he didn't go to Gryffindor like every other Weasley, Percy had responded with similar words to those his father had told him at the beginning of last summer. 'He was Percy Weasley, not every other Weasley.' That seemed to be enough for his new housemates and he was accepted almost instantly.
It also helped that some of the older students recognized him from the library. They had often sat with the younger boy just to see what he was reading. Many had suspected that he would be in Gryffindor just because of who his family was. Like his brothers, many of them, were happy that he was a raven because it was clear that that was where the boy truly belonged.
Up at the staff table there were many different reactions to Percy Weasley's sorting.
Filius Flitwick was thrilled. But then again, he was always happy about every students sorting, whether they were in his house or not.
Minerva was shocked. Oh, she knew that Percy wasn't a true lion, but she had still expected him to be in her house. Having a student as bright as Percy would have actually helped to bring up the grade point average of her house. He could have also earned them a lot of points.
She knew that Molly had taught all the children about how great the lion house was. Surely the boy would have wanted to go to the house of his family. They were just going to have to figure out what was going on with the boy and have him resorted.
Albus was both shocked and furious. How dare that boy not go where Albus wanted him to. He needed that boy to be in Gryffindor. Percy was one of the brightest children that he had seen. Although, Bill was also one of the top students in the school. And, although Charlie didn't get top grades, it was because he didn't really care. When it was something the boy was interested in he excelled.
Percy had an exceptionally bright future, and Albus needed to be involved in guiding him. How was he supposed to make him feel indebted to him if not. Now that he was in Ravenclaw it was going to be harder.
He needed the Weasley's to be seen as the ideal light family. And everyone knew that the only house darker than Ravenclaw, was Slytherin. Ravenclaw students just asked to many questions and were always trying to learn things that Albus didn't want them to know.
He knew Molly would have told the boy that he needed to be in Gryffindor. Why hadn't the boy listened? Then there was his older brothers reactions. Why were they supporting his being a Ravenclaw? They should know better than anyone just how much better it was to be in Gryffindor.
Albus knew that there was also little, to nothing, he could do to fix this, at least for a while. Once a student was sorted they couldn't get re-sorted until they entered their third year. And Filius would never allow him to break the rules to force Percy into Gryffindor. Now he wished he had placed compulsions on both the hat and the boy like he had had to do in the past. He had always figured that the Weasley children that would cause him problems was the twins, not Percy.
The Burrow - September 2, 1997
Arthur Weasley whistled joyfully as he went down for breakfast before heading to work. Life was going great for him.
His new job allowed him to do what he had always wanted to, experiment. Just today they were planning to take apart something that the muggles called a dish washer. He was fascinated by the machines.
Then he had his family. Now that he was making more money they were fixing up the family home. The financial advisor that his job gave him had helped him to create a budget that would allow them to do the work without straining their finances. Molly had wanted to be in charge of the budget but Arthur hadn't seen the point when they already had someone to do it for free.
Looking around the kitchen he saw Molly cooking while Fred and George set the table. When Arthur asked Molly where Ron and Ginny were she told him that they were still sleeping and she would just whip them something up when they finally got up.
Neither of the parents noticed the look the twins shared. As Fred and George were magical twins they were connected in a way most other people could never understand. They were able to speak mentally as well as feel what the other felt. Both of the twins felt that their mother wasn't doing Ron and Ginny any favours.
Their two younger siblings had no rules or limits. Sure, they were still little kids, but… If nothing changed then they were going to end up being two spoiled brats that couldn't tell right from wrong. They were only 9, and even they could see that coming.
They had all just sat down to eat when Errol flew in the window. He just managed to avoid hitting the window frame. Arthur was pretty sure that they were going to need to get a new family owl soon because the poor old bird was clearly going blind. And now that he had the new job they would be able to afford it.
Going through the letter that Bill had sent home he was glad to see that Percy had taken his words to heart and allowed the hat to put him in Ravenclaw. He had been so ashamed that Percy had ever felt that his parents could ever stop loving him.
He had spent the past year spending as much time as he could with each of the children making sure that they understood that he would always love them. While his older children seemed to like spending the extra time with him, Ron and Ginny still preferred to stay with their mother. He figured that it was because they were still young.
"Good news Arthur?" Molly asked.
"Yes. Percy has been sorted in to Ravenclaw."
"Cool." The twins both said at the same time. They were happy for their brother but knew that their mother would be an issue. It had been obvious that Percy was getting ready to be a Ravenclaw over the past year. His room was now decorated in the blue and silver that represented the house.
"He what? But we're a Gryffindor family. He has to be in Gryffindor. We must write the school and have him resorted." Molly fussed as she got up to go and gather quill and parchment.
"No Molly. Percy is where he is meant to be. There is nothing wrong with Ravenclaw. If he is happy that is enough for me… And it should be enough for you."
Arthur said to her with a hard look in his eyes.
The twins sat silently watching. They were glad that their father was standing up to their mother. He had really started to change since he got the new job.
"But Arthur, we're a Gryffindor family. Everyone knows that. He will be exposed to too many dark wizards in that house. He has to be in Gryffindor or he could become corrupted. Especially since that awful Lord Peverell made Albus allow all those dark children from Knockturn Alley and all those other dark places."
Arthur was coming to understand why Percy had been nervous about being sorted into another house. "Molly, enough. I don't care what house he is in, he's happy and that's all that matters. I will not try to force him to be something he's not… And neither will you." Arthur's voice had taken on a commanding tone as he took away the parchment.
The twins watched as their father got up and grabbed his work things before he said goodbye to them before he left. Their mothers face was furious.
Deciding they needed to save themselves they quickly got up, telling their mother they had been invited over to the Lovegood's before they dashed out the door. They were so glad that they had a standing invitation to the Lovegood's. Pandora and Xenophilius Lovegood knew of what their mother was like and had told them that they were always welcome at their home to get away from Molly. It didn't hurt that their daughter Luna was fun to play with. She was a little odd, but then again, so were they, so…
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - December 18, 1997
Another year was almost done, and it was once again time for a school board meeting. James had finally returned to the Wizengamot only the month before, and he was already sick of most of these people. All that any of them seemed to care about was making themselves look good. They would run on and on about nothing just to hear themselves speak.
Albus was frustrated. He had made some progress in controlling the media, and getting some of the laws he wanted closer to passing, but now Sebastian Peverell had returned. That man just seemed to create problems just by being around.
His control of the school was failing. All the new teachers weren't his people, and most of them didn't feel indebted to him. He had gone out of his way to make many of his staff feel like they owed him their jobs, so they were more likely to do whatever he asked to retain their positions.
Many of his loyal staff members were not happy. Poppy was furious with the two healers that had taken over her ward. He was also struggling with the two potions masters he had. Toby Zear believed that the only job he needed to do was teach. He absolutely refused to brew the potions that the hospital wing needed, he also wouldn't collect the potions ingredients for free, he wanted to be payed for every extra thing Albus asked him to do. Horace Slughorn was as useless as always. They had actually had more accidents since he returned to teaching than Severus had had during his entire time with the class. Parents were not pleased with the dropping safety standards. Although, Albus had managed to work that in his favour, he had started to dumb down the potions lessons.
The meeting was much like the past few. Molly and Albus tried, and failed, to convince others to remove more 'dangerous information' from the school. They were backed up by Ted Tonks, who had taken over his wife's place as a school governor after it had been pointed out that she couldn't sit on the board and teach at the same time.
James was really getting annoyed with all the books that had been removed, but wasn't ready to intervene yet. They had plans for when they were going to start forcing the library to start expanding, but it was still to early. He was going to have to go slow with their new plan.
"I think that we should discuss the falling standards of a school that was once considered to be the best in the world." James said, his face conveying sorrow.
"What are you on about now. Hogwarts is the best school in the world. Everyone knows that." Molly really hated this man. Who did he think he was, coming in here and destroying everything Albus had worked for.
"Actually Mrs. Weasley, Hogwarts doesn't even rank in the top ten schools in the world according to the ICW rankings, and hasn't for over 3 decades." James told her coolly.
"What do you mean Sebastian?" Kensington didn't like the sounds of this.
"I mean exactly what I said. In recent years, Hogwarts has actually managed to rank as one of the worst schools. We are currently only four points away from having our ICW accreditation revoked. At the rate this school has been declining the ICW will remove our accreditation within the next five years. If we want to continue to be an internationally recognized school, although I will admit that we are currently internationally recognized as a bit of a joke, then we will need to improve the schools standards. We will need to expand the students learning, rather than narrowing it based on the preconceived notions of certain people. By comparing the class syllabus's that the staff gave us for approval and the ICW standards the problem is clear. Our seventh year students are just now being taught spells that are fifth year standard in the rest of the world."
"Please tell me your joking. Our students can't really be that far behind." Bletchley asked. His voice almost pleading.
James handed out copies of the ICW standards and ranking lists. He watched as the governors paled as they went through the list. Since they were parents they were horrified by the fact that their children's magic was being stunted.
"I think that we should look over all of this and come to the meeting in June with ways to improve the school. It is unfortunate, but we are already to late for many of the older students. Although, based off how many of them choose to self study and take there OWLs and NEWTs, many of the students aren't willing to accept the mediocrity that this school has been teaching them." James said, his eyes never leaving Albus.
"This is not a mediocre school. Our students are some of the best in the world." Albus hadn't thought it possible, but he was even angrier than he had been when he came into the meeting. It had taken him decades of work to lower the teaching standards. By dumbing down the population he made himself appear even more powerful and great.
"Are you serious, Albus. The statistics are right here. This school has failed an entire generation, if not more." Blishwick almost shouted. "I agree with Sebastian. We need to address this. We will have to do it in June. That will give us the time we need to do some of the research for ourselves. I feel that we should come prepared to the next meeting with different ways we can improve the school."
Most of the others agreed, Molly, Albus, and Ted, all voted against. The three of them kept going on about how the school was just fine. After that, the meeting ended and all the rest left.
As was becoming tradition, Albus and his 2 sycophants went up to his office where they were joined by Minerva.
None of them were happy with more classes being added. Keeping the children dumbed down was by design. It was one of the ways they made sure that the students felt indebted to Albus. Since most wouldn't have the qualifications for the jobs they wanted, Albus would step in and help them get the job. Like with some of the teachers, feeling like they owed Albus their jobs made them more willing to do whatever he asked them.
Many, like Ted and Andromeda, would teach their children extra lessons. This would give their children an edge over the rest of their classmates. They would teach them just enough to make sure that they would be able to show higher competency. Nymphadora for instance, was going to be an auror, so they were teaching her over the summers to make sure that she would be able to pass the entrance exam to the auror program with better grades than the other applicants. That would allow her to work on more important cases.
They needed to start gathering information that would be able to stop the return of many of the classes. Minerva made the suggestion that they allow one or two of the classes return to serve as a distraction. If Sebastian thought he had gotten his way slightly he might not push for the return of all of the classes.
Molly was the only one without a day job, Ted worked in a magical law firm, so Molly would be doing a majority of the research. The others were more than a little wary of this fact, they knew Molly had a bad habit of just ignoring anything she didn't agree with, but they didn't have much of a choice. Albus did decide that he would be reaching out to a few of his old friends to see if they could help them. Elphias Doge and Griselda Marchbanks could be useful in this instance.
The Burrow - December 21, 1997
Percy Weasley was annoyed. His mother just wasn't getting it, he didn't want to be a lion, he was a raven, and that was that. She had been going on and on about how much better Gryffindor was. Ron and Ginny weren't helping. They both childishly followed there mothers views. He had enjoyed the twins reactions though. In their usual style they took every chance they could to remind everyone of where Percy had been sorted, they always made him feel good about being a raven. He might be extremely different than the twins, but they loved him just the way he was, and that was how he loved them.
He, Bill, and Charlie had been secretly planning their own private Yule celebration when they had been caught by the twins. Rather than turning them in, like their two youngest siblings would have done, the twins joined in. Their mother had forbidden any of the olde magical religions from the house, but they had all visited the Temple of the Moon during the summer and had liked the ideals of the olde religion.
Arthur, like his older boys, was also getting annoyed by his wife. He really didn't understand why she couldn't just let Percy be Percy. The boy was clearly happy. He had had to pull her, Ginny, and Ron aside a few times to remind them that there was nothing wrong with being in another house. For some reason they just weren't getting it.
Thankfully, Percy didn't seem to care that they thought he was in the wrong house. Arthur was proud that his 11 year old son was showing more maturity than his own mother.
Molly was more than a little annoyed. She had always seen Percy as being the most biddable of Arthurs children, but now he was proving to be the most stubborn. It didn't help that his father and brothers were supporting him. The only ones that were on her side were her precious Ron and Ginny.
All of the older children were glad that Molly had started researching something. She would spend an hour or so every day going over official looking paperwork. It was only a little bit of time, but it was at least some time. All she would say when anyone asked her about it was that she was doing a job for the headmaster. Neither Bill or Charlie really cared, they had grown up hearing about how great the headmaster was, but they were starting to see that he wasn't everything he was made out to be.