Pomona Sprout's Office
"Back again Severus?" Pomona said as her coworker returned to her office.
"Yes, I'm here to collect a few more students. I need all the Weasley children." Severus told her before summoning an elf and sending them to get the kids.
"Severus, can I ask what is going on? You are taking three students from my house." Pomona was getting worried.
"Just let me get these five off. Actually… Can you gather the other heads of house here, and the headmaster. I will tell you all together because I think we are going to have more students leaving soon enough."
Pomona could only nod before the twins and Percy arrived.
"Professor Prince, Professor Sprout, you wanted to see us?" Percy said as soon as he saw them.
"Yes Mr. Weasley. Your father sent me. There has been a family emergency and he has offered you the choice of coming home for the rest of the weekend, or staying here." Severus told them.
"Family emergency?" George asked.
"Yes, but you need to know, your parents are just fine." Severus said, giving them a look.
They all caught on immediately. Severus could tell as he saw their eyes all go wide, and they gave him looks that were a combination of happy, surprised, and worried.
It took another ten minutes before Ron and Ginny arrived, both dragging their feet.
"I was brushing my hair, what do you want?" Ginny whined.
"And I was reading. We haven't done anything wrong Prince. You can't give us detention for not doing anything wrong. Just let us go back to our common room." Ron said angrily. He had really been hiding from Hermione, that girl just wouldn't stop trying to make him do his homework.
"Manners Mr. Weasley." Pomona scolded. "Professor Prince is a professor here."
"You are not here because you are in trouble Mr. Weasley. But if you would prefer to return to your common room that is fine." Severus said, both of the younger children turned and started heading for the door, muttering under their breaths about wastes of time. "I will just tell your parents that you chose to remain here rather than going home for the rest of the weekend."
"Wait?"
"What?" The two youngest Weasley's said at the same time.
"There has been a family emergency. Your father has requested that you be given the choice to come home or stay here. I am to escort you to your parents, but if you would rather stay here, then off you go. I will just take your older brothers without you."
"I wanna go home." Ginny whined.
"Then, follow me." Severus said as he escorted everyone to the floo. "Pomona, I should be back in five minutes or so, if you can have the others here, I will explain then."
St. Mungo's
Severus quickly escorted the children to their parents. Opening the curtains, he let them in, seeing that Bill had already returned.
"Kids, we have good news." Arthur all but gushed.
Fred, George, and Percy couldn't take their eyes off the two men in the beds. Their fathers. It was really their fathers. They were alive.
George gently wrapped his arm around his brother, Freddy had always been the more sensitive of the two, and he could feel that his twin was close to tears at seeing their fathers.
"Who are they?" Ginny asked.
"Why are we here? Prince said we were going home." Ron said. He wanted to go home.
"These are your uncles. Fabian and Gideon." Arthur told them.
"So?" Ginny really didn't understand why these two were so important. She had been getting ready to go and watch her Harry practice with the Ravenclaw quidditch team.
"Ginny, your uncles were kidnapped during the last war. They have been believed dead for all these years, but they are alive. That is a miracle." Arthur said, trying to explain to his daughter just why he had asked for them to come home. Looking at the look on the girls face, he felt like a failure as a parent. It was like she didn't care about her family.
"Ginny, family is important." Bill could see the pain on his fathers face as he realized just how self-centred Ginny was. "Dad asked for you to come home because this is a big deal. Uncles Fabian and Gideon were heroes during the war. The fact that they survived is amazing."
Ginny just nodded and pretended she cared. She really didn't, but knew that she needed to pretend that she did. Thinking about it, she thought she might be able to use this. If they were heroes during the last war, then she might be able to use them to get closer to her Harry. They would probably want to get to know another hero, and that might mean that Harry would come to visit them.
Ron just looked around. He had heard stories about his uncles growing up. From everything he had heard, they were a lot like his older twin brothers, and he didn't need that. He had enough trouble with the twins he already had, he didn't need another set to make his life harder.
Molly looked between everyone in the room. This could be even more trouble. The older boys were clearly excited to see her brothers. The problem could be Arthur and her babies. She could see the way he was looking at them. Arthur was obviously angry with how they were reacting, she couldn't let him start thinking badly of her babies. She was going to have to convince her babies to pretend they were happy their uncles had survived.
Pomona Sprout's Office
After delivering the Weasley children to their parents, Severus went back to Pomona's office. She had already summoned the other heads of house, but the headmaster wasn't there.
"The headmaster?" Severus looked to Pomona.
"He is busy Severus, he has many important jobs." Minerva said.
"Fine. Minerva, Filius, I will tell you now, I have just escorted the Weasley children home for the weekend." Severus said.
"What? You can't just remove students from the school Severus." Minerva was confused. Why would Severus be taking two of her students home.
"I did so at the request, and with written permission, of their father." Severus snapped back.
"Severus, that is six students you have now taken to their families due to some kind of family emergency. What is going on?" Pomona asked, trying to distract her two colleagues so as to avoid an argument.
"As we all know, during the last war, many people simply disappeared. There have been many people who have questioned what happened to them. A small group of us have been using what we know to search for answers. Earlier today, we discovered what happened to them." Severus told them.
"You have discovered their graves?" Filius asked, sorrow in his voice. Many students in the school had lost family to the senseless violence.
"No, we found the prison where they were being kept in comas. We found 168 people that were believed dead. The good news is that the healers at St. Mungo's believe that they will all make a full recovery.
Amongst those that were found were Ms. Bones's parents, Edgar and Sarah Bones. And the Weasley children's uncles, Fabian and Gideon. That is why they have all gone home, their families didn't want them to learn about something like this in the paper.
The hospital has started contacting families, so it will be out soon enough. I also think that more families will be requesting that their children come home for the weekend."
"Are you serious?" Pomona was both shocked and overjoyed. Both Edgar and Sarah had been in her house, she couldn't believe that they were alive. She was also happy for Susan, that poor girl deserved to get to know her parents.
"We are going to have to prepare for some excitement over the next few days." Aurora said. "The students are going to be stirred up over this. We will need to try and keep them all calm."
Everyone started making plans on how to handle the students while Minerva made an excuse and quickly made her way up to Albus's office.
Headmaster's Office
"Albus, Albus." Minerva shouted as she came into his office.
"What's wrong Minerva my dear?" Albus said as he came into his office from his private quarters.
"Albus, some kind of prison has been found. According to Severus, there were 168 people that were believed killed there. They've been being held prisoner all this time." Minerva was excited. They could use this.
Albus sat at his desk and started to think. Minerva didn't know, but this was not something he wanted to hear. He had known about the prison for years. It had been one of his backup plans. Something to use to distract people, or restore his image incase something terrible ever happened.
Now, whoever it was that discovered the prison would get the credit, and not him. But, if he worked it right, he might be able to get some control over the situation. It was just about how the situation was handled.
He also couldn't let Minerva know that he had known. She was a good general, but this was one thing he hadn't been able to risk her knowing, there were too many of her former students in there. He had only let Alastor know about it. Alastor had been the one that helped him to check on the wards every couple months.
"This is good news Minerva. We will have to go and see who is there." Albus was already making plans to go and visit the prisoners.
"Albus, Albus!" Came Molly's voice just as she came through the floo. "You are never going to guess what's happened?"
"Minerva has already informed me Molly." Albus told the annoying woman.
"Did she tell you that my brothers were there. According to the healers they are both going to make a full recovery." Molly almost whined. She never thought she was going to see her brothers again.
"Albus, we are going to need to make some arrangements. The other heads of house and I think that students with relatives in the prison will be called home for the weekend." Minerva told him.
"I will request that you manage that Minerva, more than likely, most of the students with family members there will be from your house so they will need you." Albus told the woman.
"Of course Albus." Minerva said as she got up to go and deal with her lions. She knew that most of those that had fought against the dark had been from her house, so it was likely that a majority of those that had been kidnapped would be from her house.
Once she was gone, Albus turned to Molly. "What do we know?"
"Earlier today Bill, and a few others, including Severus and Sirius, discovered where You-Know-Who was keeping my brothers. The prisoners are actually in good shape. The healer assigned to my brothers says that they will be waking them up in two weeks. We need to talk about Arthur." Molly told him.
"What about Arthur?" Albus was confused by this, Arthur really wasn't important.
"Are you sure that ritual is still working? The way he was behaving was off. It's like he still loves them." Molly had a disgusted look on her face.
"The ritual can only be broken if the counter-ritual is preformed on all three of them at the same time. So it is still in effect. You told me that he is off the potions, so that is why he is behaving differently. Don't worry, as far as he knows, he and the twins were only ever friends. He truly believes that you were the one he married."
Albus really didn't care about Mollys problems. This woman just couldn't let go. She had been telling him that she didn't love Arthur anymore only last week, and now she was worrying like a lovesick teenager. He just needed to direct her properly.
"Molly, I will need you to gather as much information on what is going on as you can for me."
Molly preened with pride at the idea that Albus was relying on her for something so important.
St. Mungo's - November 30, 2002
Everyone in the hospital was on edge. Today was the day that they were going to be waking up those that had been kept prisoner for so long. The unspeakables had been in and out everyday removing the bracelet leaches from everyone. The most frightening thing for many was that, according to the unspeakables, the bracelets spells needed to be renewed every two years. Since they were still active it meant that someone had still been going to the prison. But there was no way they would be able to catch the person in a trap now, everyone knew that the prisoners had been found.
As everyone had predicted, the papers had discovered about the prison the very next day. Everyday since, the papers had written anything and everything they could about those that had been held. All sorts of rumours were making the rounds.
Some believed that the prisoners were fakes. Others could be heard saying that they were collaborators. There were even a few that said that they were death eaters under polyjuice.
While many were busy gossiping, there were many families that only cared about their lost members. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nephews, and nieces. All were in the ward. Because of that, many families had taken great offence to those reports and many of the papers were now facing slander lawsuits.
Right now however, all anyone cared about was those that would be waking up today.
Halfway down the ward, Susan Bones sat just outside her parents area. The healers said that they didn't want to shock her parents to much. They had decided that her aunt would be their while they woke up to explain things to them before calling her in.
Right now she was worried. What if the healers were wrong and her parents never recovered? What if her parents were disappointed in her? What if she wasn't what they wanted for a daughter?
Inside the curtained off area, Amelia sat and watched as Sarah and Edgar woke up. Sarah was the first to regain consciousness.
"Sus… Susan." Her voice was hoarse from disuse.
Only a few seconds later Edgar snapped to attention and started looking around, examining everything like he was looking for danger.
His eyes caught on his sister. "A… Amelia? What… What's going on? What happened?"
"Where's Susan? Where's my baby?" Sarah demanded.
"Eddie, Sarah, it's good to see you two awake." Amelia said in an attempt to be calm.
"Amy, where is Susie?" Edgar asked for his wife.
"Eddie, do you remember what happened?" Amelia asked him rather than answer.
Edgar thought for a few moments. "We were attacked. Sarah sent Susie through the floo to the Prewett Estate. Fabian and Gideon came to help… Then everything went black."
"You were taken prisoner by Voldemort and his followers. You have been kept in magical coma's for a while. The prison was just recently discovered." Amelia told them.
"How long?" Sarah whispered.
"In four months… In four months Susan will be 13." Amelia said softly.
"What?" Sarah gasped as her eyes filled with tears. "Where is she?"
Amelia got up and went to the curtain and called Susan in.
Susan walked in. She had never been so nervous in her life. She looked to her parents, seeing the tears in their eyes.
"My baby." Sarah whispered as she opened her arms.
Susan rushed forward into her mothers arms. For the first time since she was a baby, she was hugged by her mother. Feeling a hand on her arm, she looked over to see her father in the bed next to her and her mother, sitting with his aunt. Reaching over, she grabbed his hand and held on like it was her only lifeline as she broke down in tears.
A little further down the ward the Weasley family sat with the Prewett twins.
Fabian and Gideon slowly returned to consciousness. The benefit of them being magical twins was that they could feel and speak to each other before they even opened their eyes. This meant that when they did open their eyes, they were far calmer than most.
"Artie," Fabian said.
"Good to see you." Gideon finished.
"How many times do I need to tell you not to call me Artie, my name is Arthur." Arthur scolded his old friends. It had been an ongoing argument since they first met when Arthur had been in his first year and the twins had been in their second.
"Fabian, Gideon, it's so good to see you again." Molly gushed.
"What,"
"Happened?" The twins asked.
"The dark side attacked and kidnapped you. They have been holding you prisoner and stealing your magic for over a decade." Molly told them. "Even with all this, there are still foolish people protecting the dark. It is shameful how many people still encourage them."
The twins looked to Arthur.
"It's good to see you two again. Would you like to meet your nephews and niece again?" Arthur asked before he brought the kids in. Charlie had returned a few days earlier and gotten an apartment in London.
Arthur started with Ginny and went up. Ron hadn't even been a full year old when the twins were taken, and Molly hadn't gotten pregnant with Ginny until after that, so they only knew Ron as a newborn, and had never known about Ginny. They already knew the rest, although Fred and George had just been toddlers.
After introductions were done the older boys immediately started speaking with the men they now knew were their fathers. The boys wanted to get to know them better than they had as children.
Bill and Charlie knew them best as Bill had already been 9 when they were taken, and Charlie had been 7. But, still, they only knew them through the eyes of children. When they had been little, the men they believed to be their uncles had seemed like super heroes.
"So what's been,"
"Going on since,"
"We last saw you?"
"The war is over. It was a miracle. You-Know-Who was defeated only a few months after you were kidnapped." Molly told them.
"He was,"
"Defeated?" Fabian and Gideon were both shocked. They had seen that monster go head to head with Dumbledore and get away. So many of their strongest friends had fallen to that mans wand.
"Harry did it." Ginny squealed.
"Harry?" Fabian and Gideon said at the same time.
"Hadrian, Hadrian, Hadrian." Fred almost snarled.
"His name is Hadrian." George said.
"Enough boys. Like Ginny was saying, Harry Potter defeated him." Molly brushed Fred and George aside as she went to stand behind her daughter.
"Like the twins said, his name is Hadrian. It's actually Hadrian Potter-Black. Only people that don't know him call him Harry." Bill told Molly in a condescending voice.
"What would you know about him Bill? You've never met him." Molly huffed back.
"Of course I've met him. If you remember, I did my apprenticeship with Remus. I spent two years sharing a tent with him and his family. A family that just so happens to include his blood adopted god son, Hadrian. He's the boy with the kitsune familiar that I asked the twins and Percy to keep an eye on. I know him very well, and he hates it when people call him Harry." Bill told them all.
"WHAT? You lived with Harry Potter for two years and never told me?" Molly was incensed.
"No, he lived with Hadrian Potter-Black." Charlie said with a smirk on his face. "Like Bill said, his name is Hadrian. He's a good kid, we spent a boys weekend in Egypt when I went to visit before I left for Romania."
"Why didn't you tell us? Ron and Ginny could have gone too." Molly was angry now. They had been keeping Harry away from her babies, she needed them to be friends. If she had known, then she would have been able to arrange for the children to become friends before school, then they wouldn't be having any of the troubles with the boy they were having now.
"They were under secrecy contracts Molly." Arthur really didn't understand Mollys obsession with the boy. "That isn't important right now. How are you feeling?" Arthur turned back to his old friends.
"Fine,"
"But,"
"We've never heard,"
"Of a Hadrian Potter-Black,"
"Or Harry Potter?" The twins were confused.
"Hadrian is the son of James and Lily Potter. He was born in July, just after you were taken. On Halloween, 1991, You-Know-Who went and attacked the Potters. Lily and James were both killed, but some how, Hadrian survived with only a scar on his head."
"So you're saying,"
"A baby stopped,"
"The most feared dark lord,"
"In history?"
"He is a hero." Ginny sighed. "He is amazing."
"Hadrian says that he thinks," Fred said, ignoring his little sister.
"His survival was a fluke." George finished.
"No it wasn't. He's a hero, you just want to make him look bad." Ginny said as she stomped her foot.
"The twins are right. Hadrian said that he thinks it was either a mistake on Voldemort's part, or something his father did." Percy said. Arthur, Molly, Ginny, and Ron all jumped when he said the name, but the others didn't show any reaction at all.
"Honestly," George said as he rolled his eyes.
"It's just a name."
"And not even,"
"A good one."
Fabian and Gideon laughed at the twins response. They too, had never understood why people were so afraid of the name. And if he really was gone, then there was no longer any reason at all. He was just a man. A man that apparently lost a fight with a baby.
The rest of the afternoon was spent getting reacquainted. Charlie promised that he would visit everyday after he finished work, and Arthur said he would too. Bill could only visit on the weekends since he worked out of the country. Molly didn't say one way or another.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - December 4, 2002
James was once again sitting in a school board meeting with the other governors. It was actually starting to get a bit dull. Every six months, he sat in a meeting just like this one, and went out of his way to make Dumbledore angry. Quite successfully, if he did say so himself. But it was still becoming routine.
This meeting, he really only had two things that he wanted to address, and only one of them might upset Dumbledore. He waited until the meeting had been called to order and a few small things had been brought up before he spoke.
"There are two things that I feel we need to address. The first is the students who have had a family member returned to them. From what I have seen, many families have been attempting to get their children home on weekends so that they can get to know their lost family members. I know that they have been running into difficulties because there are rules on why and how often a student can go home. I believe the rule is that they can only go home for a maximum of one weekend a month.
I know exceptions were made when the prison was first discovered, and when the prisoners first woke up, but now the students aren't being allowed to go home, and that is upsetting parents.
I think that we should make an exception for this school year, and this school year only. We would want to avoid any accusations of preferential treatment, so we would have to allow any and all students to go home for the weekends."
"And just how are we supposed to get them home?" Emmeline Vance asked.
"For most of the students they will be able to floo home. I would suggest that they do so from their head of house's offices. For the muggleborn, I think it would be easy enough to set it up so that they could go home too. Either by setting up portkeys or by having them side-along apperated by the parents of a friend." James told her.
"I think it would be a good idea to let the students with family members that have been found go home, but it would cause chaos to allow all students to go home." Albus said.
"Like I said, we don't want to be accused of favouritism. I figured you would prefer it that way. You are after all, the one that champions the rights of the muggleborn. I am just worried that we would be accused of bias because of the fact that the only students that we would be allowing to go home are pure or half blood." James said, raising an eyebrow.
Albus sat back in his chair. He really didn't have a choice. Either he let every student go home for weekends, or none. There would undoubtedly be complaints if he didn't allow it. If he only allowed the pure or half blood students to leave there were certain muggleborns, Hermione Granger in particular, that would complain. If that happened then there was no doubt in his mind that at least one of the governors would bring up the fact that he had denied the muggleborn students.
"I must agree. Given the unique circumstances we should allow students to go home for weekends. They will of course need signed permission slips from their parents for each weekend. We wouldn't want any funny business."
When a vote was called, no one voted against it.
"What is your second issue Sebastian?" Narcissa asked.
"I feel that we must address the defence against the dark arts class." James said.
"What about it. Both Professors York and Lockhart are doing excellent jobs." Albus said.
"Leon York is indeed doing an excellent job, but I have serious questions about Gilderoy Lockhart. The man is a complete fool. I have been questioning just how it is that the goblins in charge of the Helena Vault would allow the hiring of such a man, and was more than a little surprised to learn that the goblins did, in fact, not agree to the hiring. They denied you the funds, and rather than select a qualified teacher, you used other accounts to hire him. You do realize that you are treading dangerously close to having the accounts closed to the school again." James once again raised an eyebrow.
"Gilderoy Lockhart is an amazing man. He is a hero. If you ever read any of his books you would understand just how lucky our children are to have a man like him teaching them." Molly said. She thought Gilderoy Lockhart was the best teacher her son could ever have, she just wished that Ginny could be in his class too, she had written her horror stories about Professor Yorks classes. "If there is a defence teacher that we need to worry about, it is Leon York. That man expects far to much from his students."
"I have been over Professor York's syllabus, if any of his students are struggling, it is on them, not him. From the results he managed to achieve with his classes last year, it is clear that he is a good teacher. So long as the students do the work they shouldn't struggle at all.
Lockhart on the other hand is a fool. I have looked through a few of his books. Sure, the man can tell a decent story, but it is clearly lacking in facts. In his books he discusses having to deal with werewolves, vampires, trolls, hags, and a yeti. If you know anything about those particular magical species you would know that almost every word he writes is false.
I will also say, as I used to work internationally, that man has an open arrest warrant in Peru. Something to do with attacking a man that fought off a group of ogres. According to the report that I read, he attempted to use an illegal memory charm on the man. After he thought he had incapacitated the man, he started claiming credit for the heroic act. Interestingly, he submitted a book about him battling ogres only a few days later. He then withdrew the book after the man he attacked was released from the hospital and filed charges. It paints a very interesting picture to me. I must question if there have been any other instances like that in his past.
There is also the fact that half of all Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuffs that are eligible for it, have withdrawn from his class in order to self study. I will also point out that many Gryffindors have requested to self study but they haven't been allowed because Professor Minerva McGonagall, as head of Gryffindor, has refused to give them permission."
Albus started to worry. He hadn't been able to test the brat this year, but he figured having a teacher like Lockhart would help him to keep control of the boy. It would also teach him about the benefits of fame. He didn't want to lose Lockhart. He also didn't need the governors getting anymore involved in the accounts that the students tuition went into. He had already been forced to use those accounts to update the library, he didn't want to lose his complete control of them. He needed that money.
"You used school funds to hire a clearly unqualified teacher?" Lady Sophia Zabini asked in an incensed voice.
"He is qualified." Molly argued.
"Then why have so many students left his class. If even the students can see he isn't a good teacher, what is wrong with you. My own son sent me copies of his assignments when he requested I approve his request to self study. Those assignments were a joke." Sophia snapped back.
"How about a compromise?" James proposed. "The midterm tests are in two weeks. We will just have to hold a quick meeting before the students return from Yule break. If the students that are in Lockhart's class do better, then we keep him, but if the students that self study have a better average, then he is gone and we get a new, qualified, professor."
"I agree." Alice said. She already knew the students that self studied would do better, Neville had given her examples of that mans idea of teaching.
The vote was held, and it passed unanimously. Those like Molly even voted for it, she figured that, given Lockhart's history as being a hero, the students in his class would easily do better.
After a few more things, the meeting came to an end. James headed off to speak to his son, he needed to make sure that the students that were self studying did better, not that he had any doubts about that.
Hogwarts, Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom - December 18, 2002
Hadrian looked around the classroom. This was the first time he had set foot in this room in months. He watched as Lockhart preened at the front of the class, while his assistant handed out their midterm tests.
When they were given permission, everyone turned their test papers over and got to work.
Hadrian smiled to himself as he started to write. This was all fairly basic stuff. He and the others that had taken to studying together in one of the unused classrooms had gone over all of this within the last few months. His dad had told him about the deal the school governors had made, so he had made sure that everyone studied hard. Encouraging inter-house study groups.
He could see that most of the students, those that had chosen self study, were writing away. But, those that had remained in that fools class were hesitant and seemed unsure, and were looking around for help.
Hermione Granger was momentarily stunned as she looked down at her test. They hadn't covered any of this in class. It wasn't fair. She had reread all of Professor Lockhart's books over the past few days, and there weren't any questions from his books on the tests.
She knew that there were standard tests for each year, but it wasn't right. They should be tested on what they learned in class, not random things that they hadn't covered yet. Luckily for her, she had read the defence books from previous years so she knew she would do well on the exam.
Ron Weasley stared blankly at the test paper in front of him. They hadn't covered any of this in class. He couldn't be expected to answer questions on things he had never been taught.
Looking over the test, he saw a few things that he remembered from those stupid notes of Percy's that he had been forced to go over. He was still angry that he had been forced to study during the summer.
The DADA midterms practicals were held the next day. The results were very much like the written exams. Those that self studied knew what they were doing, while Lockharts students struggled.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - December 29, 2002
James was once again in the school board meeting room. So far, the Yule holidays had been wonderful. James had always loved Yule, but now he enjoyed it even more because he got to spend the holidays with his family.
He knew that this was going to be a quick meeting, so he wasn't too worried. There were no questions on the outcome of their deal.
Once everyone was there, James looked at everyone and gave them a disappointed look.
"It would seem that Lockhart is indeed a failure as a teacher."
"Now my boy, that seems a bit harsh." Albus knew that it was true, but he really didn't want to have to let Lockhart go.
Sophia Zabini gave him a disparaging look before she looked back to the test results. "Then why is it that the average of the students that chose to self study, using Leon York's teaching plan from last year, was 78%. While those that Lockhart taught was only 42%."
"If you look just at the practical results the difference in grades is even larger. I do believe that means the man is a failure as a teacher." Beatrice Parkinson added. She was less than pleased.
Her own daughter, Pansy, had chosen to stay in his class because she thought he was gorgeous. As an indulgent mother, Beatrice had accepted her daughters desires. Now she regretted it. Pansy had only managed a 48% on her written exam, and 39% on her practical. This seriously damaged her position in her grades ranking.
"As per our agreement, you will be letting Lockhart go, and advertising for a qualified instructor. I will remind you, to teach DADA at this school, a professor is required to have a mastery in the subject. The only time an exception can be made is if they are an auror. That man does not meet either of those standards, as such, he should never have been hired. The fact that you went around the hiring rules, and used other accounts to hire an unqualified teacher, shows a serious lack of judgment, again. I feel that we will now have to take a more active role in staffing of the school, we will also have to start monitoring those accounts to ensure that you don't do this again." James said.
"I agree. I will be submitting a formal request to the bank for a full accounting of the schools vaults." Helen Davis said.
She was just pleased that neither of her children had been in that mans class. Roger was in fifth year, so he had had Professor York. And Theo, at the recommendation of his roommate, Hadrian, had chosen to self study and had managed to achieve over 90% on both his written and practical tests. She was glad that that man hadn't managed to impede her childrens education like he had done to so many others.
"There really is no need for that. Gilderoy Lockhart is a great teacher." Molly argued. She didn't like how these people thought they could get away with questioning Albus again.
"Yes, it is." Amos Diggory said. "The man is a fool. My son has told me some of the assignments that others in his house have been given. That man required students to write a 3 foot essay on different material for robes. It is supposed to be a defence class, not a fashion club. I am just glad my son is a fifth year.
As the headmaster is on probation it is within our rights as school governors to step in and have an incompetent teacher removed. I will also be adding my name to Lady Davis's request to the bank. That money isn't some slush fund you can use whenever you can't get your way headmaster. It is for the betterment of the school, and should be used as such."
With all that said, the meeting ended and the parents all went home to their children.
Headmasters Office
Albus sat in his office and seethed. He had wanted to use Lockhart to keep the students dumbed down, he just hadn't realized how dumbed down that man had kept them. Looking at the test results again, he was still surprised. It hadn't occurred to him that less than a quarter of the students in Lockhart's classes would be able to pass the midterms, he had figured it would have been at least half.
But, no. The students had done terribly and now he was going to have to fire the man and get a new teacher. He needed to find a way to regain control of his school.
Tossing the test results back onto his desk, Albus's eyes caught on the newspaper. The front page was once again full of stories about the recovery of the prisoners. The healers said that they expected that the prisoners would be ready to go home by February. They wanted to keep them until then just to be sure that they would recover fully, many still had depleted cores and weakened muscles.
Looking at the photos on the paper, he had an idea. The first photo was of himself. He had managed to use the excuse of escorting the Weasley children and a few other Gryffindors to the hospital as a way to get his name involved with the rescue. He unfortunately didn't have any real involvement, but it gave the public the perception he did. It wasn't perfect, but it was benefiting him slightly. People were once again looking at him like a kindly grandfather, rather than a man that endangered children during the last school year.
The second picture was of Sirius. As lead auror that rescued the prisoners, he and the rest of his team were being hailed as heroes. Sirius had stepped back to allow the full time aurors to take over the investigation. He could use that.
The only way he could hire a teacher that didn't have a mastery, was if they were an auror. Sirius recertified only last year, so he would be perfect.
Albus had lost a great deal of influence with Sirius. Andromeda hadn't been able to gain any ground either. Neither of them had even managed to talk to him for more than five minutes, and never alone. But if he convinced Sirius to come and teach at the school, they would have more access to him. It would also give them some semblance of control over his children. Andromeda had been furious when she learned that not only had Sirius named Harry his heir, but that he had two other children, they couldn't take the title because they were girls, but if either of them married and had a son, that child could claim the heirship. Andromeda had been planning on arranging a marriage between her daughter and Charlie Weasley. Since the Weasley's were known for having sons, she knew that they would have a boy, but since there were already so many children, even if she and Molly could arrange the marriage, there was no way to force Sirius to name that child heir over his godson and own children.
Since Sirius had previously worked with the goblins, they would be more likely to approve his hiring. All he had to do now was to find a way to encourage Sirius to agree to teach. Albus figured the best way would be to use Harry. It would, after all, allow Sirius to spend more time with Harry.
Albus smirked, it might also be useful to keep Harry at the school more. The brat had been going home every other weekend, and Albus wanted that to stop.
The Burrow
Molly arrived home in a huff. Now her baby boy wouldn't be taught by a hero like Gilderoy Lockhart.
"What's wrong mum?" Ginny asked when she saw the look on her mothers face.
"The other school governors are forcing Headmaster Dumbledore to fire Professor Lockhart. Honestly, that man might have been the best thing that happened to the defence position and they are just getting rid of him for no reason." Molly was not happy, especially when the twins started laughing.
"That man is a fool. I think he should have been fired a lot sooner." Percy said.
"You shouldn't speak like that Percy. Gilderoy Lockhart is an amazing man." Molly told the boy.
"Which is why so many of his students failed their midterms. Just look at the difference between the twins and Ron's scores. Ron learned from Lockhart, and the twins self studied." Percy challenged.
"And just how did you do boys?" Arthur asked, looking to his three youngest sons.
"87%." Fred said.
"88%." George told him.
"Ron?" Arthur looked to his youngest boy who was suddenly trying to leave the room.
"It really doesn't matter." Ron said as he tried to slip past Percy.
"Ronnie, what did you get?" Molly asked.
"Mum…" Rons neck and ears started to turn red.
"Ronald Weasley, what did you get?" Molly crossed her arms over her chest.
"If you don't want to tell her, I will." Percy said as he looked to his little brother.
"And just how would you know what I got?" Ron challenged. If he could distract his mother he might be able to get away. She had always told his brothers not to spy on him, so he thought using that might work.
"I know because you aren't quiet. You were whining and complaining very publicly." Percy looked back at his little brother. When he didn't answer his parents he turned to them. "From what I heard him saying, the average of his written and practical was 19%."
"WHAT?" Both Molly and Arthur said at the same time, both turning to Ron.
"None of the stuff we studied during the term was on the tests." Ron whined.
"You had Percy's notes, why didn't you use them to study. The midterm covers the same material every year." Arthur asked in shock. How could Ron have possibly done so poorly?
Molly suddenly changed her mind. Gilderoy Lockhart had to go. He was risking her baby boys future.
Hogwarts, Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom - January 6, 2003
Sirius stood at the front of the defence classroom and watched as the students filed in and took their assigned seats. When he had first received the job offer the week before, he thought it was ridiculous, but after talking it over with his family, he decided to apply for the job.
Him being at the school could only benefit them. It would allow him to work with Severus in ensuring that Hadrian was safe. It would also allow him to learn more information. Despite everything, Severus was still distrusted by many members of staff, but Sirius wouldn't be. It would allow him to learn more about their plans.
Ragnock had negotiated his contract, so he knew that it was a good one. He had only received the final draft of the contract two days before. He had ended up signing the contract just before he went to St. Mungo's.
Regulus had barely left Marlene's side since she was first discovered. He had been the first thing she had seen when she had woken up. It had been more than a little shocking to her, as she had been told he had died months before she was attacked. But, now that they were together again, neither of them wanted to waste any time.
With the help of the hospital staff they had arranged a small little bonding ceremony. Only their family and a few friends, including the Weasley's they liked, the Prewett twins, and the Bones's had been in attendance. Amelia had been the one to officiate the ceremony.
They had wanted to keep it quiet, not only because Marlene didn't want any more attention from the press, but also to protect Regulus's anonymity. Although the ministry had formally recognized he was still alive he still wanted to keep a low profile. The good thing was that he didn't have to worry about being prosecuted for his time as a death eater as not only had he used a goblin contract to get rid of his mark, but the head of the unspeakables had lied a little and claimed that he had been a spy working for them, like Rookwood. The fewer people that knew about him the better.
He smiled as he saw Hadrian take his seat at a table of four. He was sitting with Padma from Ravenclaw, and Fey Dunbar and Dean Thomas from Gryffindor. Sirius had made sure that neither Weasley or Granger were anywhere near his god son.
Once it was announced that Lockhart had been fired, though he was trying to spin it as him having been requested to assist with a leithfold issue overseas, all the students that had previously signed up for self study had transferred back into the class. Sirius now had completely full classes, but the students were going to have their work cut out for them. He needed to get the students that had been taught by Lockhart up to the same level as the students that self studied. He had also had to find a way to have them make up their grades. Half a fail was still a fail, and he didn't want to have to fail students just because Albus had hired an idiot.
When everyone had taken their seats, Sirius smiled. "Hello class, I am your new professor, Sirius Lupin-Black, you can call me Professor Black. Now, we are going to have to get right to work. Many of you are far behind where you should be.
As such, we are going to have to basically redo everything from the last semester as quickly as we can. It isn't going to be easy, but I believe you can do it. Now, I have copies of the book we will be using." Sirius flicked his wand and a pile of books levitated off his desk and went to each student.
"But what about our Lockhart books?" Hermione shouted out. She had had her hand up since the new professor started talking.
"Ms. Granger if you have a question you must raise your hand and wait to be called on. I will let it go this time because this is our first class, but from now on, every time a student shouts out without a good reason they will lose a point for their house. We don't have time. But, as for Lockhart's book, you can do whatever you want. File them under fiction, or throw them out, I really don't care.
These are the books we will be using. To get through everything, we are going to have to go quickly. We have one month to cover 10 chapters. So you will have to do a lot of independent reading. For the students that chose to self study this could be considered a refresher, so I am requesting that you assist those in your group that didn't self study. The way I have it set up each group of four has one or two students that self studied, so I will request that you help the other members of your group.
The people you are sitting with are going to be your partners for the rest of the semester. You will be doing any group assignments with them, and you will be working with them in our practicals. I am going to be assigning weekly essays, along with group assignments, to help us cover more ground.
Also, I am going to be offering three extra credit assignments to help make up for the midterm results. These assignments are not required, but for the students that were taught by Lockhart I would strongly recommend you do them.
Does anyone have any questions?"
A few hands shot up in the air. Sirius pointed to Zacharias Smith first.
"Why do we have to do so much work? Can't we just use the regular schedule?"
"Unfortunately, no. 40% of your grade comes from your midterm and final exams. Your final exam covers everything you were supposed to learn this year, including what you missed out on last semester. You will not be able to pass your final exam if you don't know last semesters work, and I do not mean what Lockhart taught you, but what you were supposed to learn."
Sirius pointed to Lavender Brown next.
"Do you think we can really cover all of that information?"
Sirius smiled at the worried girl. It was clear, despite not being overly focused on school, the girl did want to pass. "I'm not going to lie to you, it will be difficult, but I will do my best to help you. I believe that with some hard work you will all be perfectly capable of passing."
Hermione was next, Sirius knew he couldn't ignore the girl any longer.
"What are our corse aims? Are these the only books we are using? What sort of schedule will we have?"
"Well, the course aims are to teach you how to defend yourself. This year you are supposed to learn about vampires, hags, banshees, ghouls, werewolves and a few other dark creatures. You are also required to learn the disarming, tickling, banishing, and cushioning charms as well as the tongue-tying curse and the melofors and petrificus totalus jinxes.
This book will be our primary resource for the class, but you will need to use the books from the library for assignments and essays.
As for the schedule, what I have worked out is that this week we will review last years curriculum and cover the first chapter. For the next three weeks we will be covering three chapters per week. Once we finish that, we will return to a more regular schedule of one chapter per week. We won't be able to go in-depth but it should be enough to ensure that you can pass the exams. I will be putting copies of the extra credit assignments on the back desk. It is up to you wether or not you do them. They are very specific about my expectations. If you want to pass them, make sure you follow the instructions. I will warn you, if you are currently failing the class, letters have been sent home to your families detailing how we plan on catching you up, and the extra credit assignments.
Well, let's get to work."
Sirius then got right down to business.
The Burrow - February 8, 2003
It was the day that the prisoners were being released from the hospital. After much discussion, it had been decided that Fabian and Gideon would be going to The Burrow.
Although they were mostly recovered, they still had moments of weakness. And, although they would be living at The Burrow, they would be spending their days out of the house. Arthur had arranged for the twins to join him at work, the excuse was so that they could get used to it again, but really it was because no one wanted them to stay home alone with Molly. It had been Charlies suggestion that they stay at The Burrow but go to work with Arthur.
Pretty much everyone liked the idea, but Molly wasn't fond of it. She didn't want her brothers around her Arthur, and now they would be with him almost every minute of the day. Her love for Arthur may have cooled over recent years, but he was still rightfully hers, and she didn't want her brothers interfering.
At first Fabian and Gideon had been hesitant about staying at The Burrow, but the older boys had talked them around. Bill had told them about the love potions. When they learned that Arthur had only married their sister because she had drugged him, they were furious.
How dare Molly do something like that to their friend. After that, they agreed with the older boys. They would stay at the Burrow to make sure that Arthur didn't have to be left alone with Molly.
Since Ginny was now in school, there was no one else at home. Even with Charlie moving back to the country. He couldn't stand the idea of staying with Molly, she wouldn't leave him alone for a moment. Even living in his own apartment in London, she was driving him crazy, he had had to close his floo to her to get a moments peace, and she was still sending multiple letters everyday, many of them howlers, and even going to The Bubble.
The Burrow was no longer the house it once was. With all the money Arthur was earning at work almost the entire house had been redone. It was still tall, and slightly crocked, but it was now in much better condition.
Over the last two months since Fabian and Gideon had agreed to move in with them temporarily, Arthur had arranged to have an add on put on the house. Now, on the ground floor, there was two more bedrooms, and a bathroom in-between them.
Molly had argued about almost every part of the expansion. At first she hadn't wanted to expand at all. Then she didn't like the building materials or the colours. After that, she argued that her babies Ron and Ginny should get the new rooms and Fabian and Gideon could have their rooms. Arthur had managed to stop that by pointing out that they had redone Ron and Ginnys rooms to their exact specifications only three years previous. Also, Fabian and Gideon still had moments of weakness so they couldn't be going up and down the stairs constantly. Ron and Ginny had thrown fits when they were told they weren't getting the rooms, apparently Molly had already told them she would make sure they got them.
When Arthur, Charlie, and Bill arrived with Fabian and Gideon, Percy, Fred and George jumped up to help them settle in and put things away. Ginny was pouting in her room, and Ron was doing his homework under Molly's watch, so neither of them helped.
Molly had been furious when she got the letter from Sirius informing her that Ron was failing DADA. Ever since then, whenever Ron came home for the weekend, she would make him sit at the table and do his homework, the extra credit assignments in particular.
Ron had been so happy when everyone had been offered the chance to go home on weekends, now he wasn't so sure. There was nothing he wanted to do at the school during weekends, he wasn't on any of the teams or a member of any of the clubs. He had tried to try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team, but they hadn't let him. They said it was because his grades weren't high enough but he knew, and his mother had assured him, it was because Wood was afraid to lose his spot. The only involvement in quidditch he was going to have this year was going to watch the games over the next few months. Because of all the drama this school year, they had postponed the quidditch matches. The second one would be taking place during the next weekend, and every other weekend after that. The first match had been the weekend earlier, between Slytherin and Gryffindor, Gryffindor had won by 80 points even with the Slytherin seeker catching the snitch.
That night, at dinner, Fabian and Gideon examined their family. They seemed to exist in two separate worlds. Arthur and the five older boys were all chatty and caring. They talked to and about each other, they also genuinely seemed to care about them. Molly and the two youngest seemed to be living in a completely different world. The only time they talked about anyone other than themselves, they talked about Hadrian.
Fabian and Gideon had met Hadrian when he attended the wedding of Marlene and Regulus in January. They had both liked the boy, they especially liked how happy the younger twins got whenever he was mentioned. They could both see that there was something between those three, or there was going to be.
Hogwarts - May 25, 2003
The entire castle slept in late. The afternoon before had been the quidditch cup, the match had been between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The game itself had lasted for over six hours and had ended in a score of 460-430 for Ravenclaw. Hadrian had barely managed to get the snitch before Cedric. The only reason he had was because of his smaller size allowing him to go slightly faster.
Even though Hufflepuff had ended up losing, they still held a giant party. It was the way of the puffs, to party, win or lose. With Fred and George in their house their parties tended to be the best in the school. In spite of their more formal attitudes, the Slytherins enjoyed a party, although they tended to refer to them as formals or socials depending on the event. The Gryffindors had been happy to see Hufflepuff defeated. Their own match against the badger house had been a complete blow out. Their keeper, Oliver Wood, and two of their chasers, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, had been in the hospital wing due to a prank gone wrong. A still unidentified Gryffindor had booby trapped the portrait hole and the three of them, coming back from practice together, had ended up unconscious for a week. The final score had ended up being 20-390 for Hufflepuff.
And Ravenclaw had been celebrating their first quidditch cup in over a decade. The year before the cup had gone to Gryffindor, much to the joy of Oliver, other than that it had been a mix of Slytherin and Hufflepuff ever since Charlie Weasley had graduated.
The only student that got up early was Hermione Granger. She had things to do. Much like last year, things were not going the way she had planned. Hadrian still barely spoke to her, only giving one or two word answers when she talked to him. She had tried to brush it off as just his being shy to the other girls in her house, but she knew that even they had to be getting suspicious. Not even they could be that stupid.
Then there were her grades. They still weren't as high as she knew they should be. The worst was DADA. Given the mess that Lockhart had made of teaching, her grade was far to low. She had done all the extra assignments that Professor Black had assigned, but even that wouldn't bring her grade up to where she wanted it. That was why she had filed a complaint.
The meeting had been held the week before, and once again the school governors had sided against her. Professor Black had argued that it wasn't his fault that she had almost failed her first semester. He argued that she could have chosen to self study on her own time, like many had, and that he couldn't just excuse her grade because she hadn't done well. He said that she needed to take responsibility for her own actions, and although she couldn't be blamed for the headmasters hiring of an incompetent teacher, other students had realized his failings as a teacher and taken responsibility for themselves, and it wasn't fair to devalue their work by giving her, and those like her, a free pass.
In the end, the school governors had agreed with him. They even had the gall to tell her that she should be grateful that he had offered extra credit assignments, as no other teachers did, he had even had to go to the board to get special permission to do so. The Hogwarts charter actually had rules against extra credit, Professor Black had only managed it in an attempt to fix the schools failings. They told her that there was nothing that they could do, and she should be grateful that he had even bothered to make arrangements to try and help those like her.
Hermione was glad that he had managed to get the extra credit approved, but it still wasn't fair. The only one to blame was Lockhart himself, not her, and certainly not the headmaster. Besides, the extra credit assignments could only raise her grade by 10% for each one, and that was only if she had gotten 100%, and she had once again been marked unfairly, so she had only managed to raise her grade a bit. Right now, she was barely managing a low EE, and she knew she deserved and O.
Since the school board was so biased against muggleborns, all she could do was study extra hard. She really hated many of the stupid rules that the school had, what made it worse was that they were new rules that had only been brought in a few years before she started. If anyone bothered to look, they would see that most of the rules came directly from the dark side of the board. Hermione really didn't understand why people like that were even allowed to walk around free, let alone make decisions for school children.
Shortly before lunch, Hermione was joined by her friends. Ron still hadn't learned to get up on time on his own, so she had made sure that his mother got him an alarm clock that would not stop going off until he got up. He hadn't spoken to her for a week after that, until he realized that he wouldn't be able to get all his homework done without her.
Molly had sent another alarm clock for Ginny just in case. The girl liked to sleep just as much as her brother, but she still managed to get up at a decent time. Though Hermione knew that was just because she wanted to see Harry. Not that he payed any attention to the girl.
"What are you doing Hermione?" Ginny asked as she yawned.
"Just working on our exam study schedule." Hermione said, handing Ron a copy of the schedule she had made for him. She kept the original so she could make more copies, because she knew that he would repeatedly lose his copy.
"But the exams are ages away." Ron whined as he looked at all the time she wanted him to do more work.
"Ronald, the exams start in three weeks, we're already behind. We need to do well on these. Especially DADA. If we fail the exam, then we will fail the year." Hermione huffed.
"Come on Hermione. We will do fine. Come on, lets get some lunch." Ron started to get up.
"Just remember Ron, I worked it out, you need to get a minimum of 73% on that exam to pass the class. And, if you fail then you have two options. You can be held back a year in DADA, meaning you won't be able to get your NEWT in it, and you will also have to be in the same class as your sister. Or, you will have to take the self study home school course over the summer. That means your mum will be your teacher, and the ministry will be the ones grading you."
Ron gave Hermione a horrified look. Class with his sister or having his mum teaching him. There was no way he could risk failing that class. It looked like he wasn't going to have a choice but to study. Maybe he could convince Harry to study with him, that might work to make the idiot realize they should be best friends.
When they arrived in the great hall, they could see Harry surrounded by his so called friends. He never seemed to ever be alone, which was exactly the opposite of what they wanted.
They needed Harry to be a meek loner that no one really knew. How else were they supposed to be able to control what people knew about him?
Ron was annoyed as he saw that his three older brothers were all there. He hated the twins more every time he saw them with his best friend. Just who did they think they were, taking his place next to The-Boy-Who-Lived.
Harry was supposed to be his friend, not theirs. He would make a much better friend then the twins ever could. Harry needed to be a hero, not some stupid prankster.
Then there was his position on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. Harry should be on the Gryffindor team, along with him. At least they could make Harry switch into his rightful house next year. Then he and Harry could play on the quidditch team together, and Harry wouldn't be the only one getting praised for winning the game. Ron couldn't wait until everyone knew that he and Harry were best friends, then no one would ever tell him no again, he would get everything he deserved. Ron spent the rest of breakfast dreaming about being famous, while stuffing his face.
Ginny was even more angry then Ron whenever she saw the twins with her Harry, it also didn't help that when the twins weren't next to Harry, Loony Lovegood was. She had repeatedly cornered the twins to tell them off for corrupting her Harry, and they just wouldn't listen. Harry was hers, and they were getting in her way. Right now the only reason he wasn't sitting next to her was because they were both so shy. Ginny had repeatedly tried to go and start a conversation with him, but as soon as she got close to him she lost her breath and went red in the face. She could only assume that the reason he didn't come to her was because he felt the same way she did.
She knew she was going to have to have a long conversation with the twins over the summer, making sure her mum was there and her dad was away. Her dad always took her older brothers sides, but she knew she could count on her mother to side with her. She knew her mum would make sure the twins left her Harry alone so that she could take her rightful place at his side.
Hogwarts Express - June 28, 2003
Eventually, the school year came to an end. Sitting on the train Hadrian thought about everything that had happened, and everything that hadn't. He was just glad that he hadn't had to face off against a demented basilisk. That had been dealt with quickly and quietly.
His papa had taken a copy of Salazars portrait down into the chamber. Salazar himself opened it. After that, his papa came back up, leaving the portrait behind. Salazar called for his old familiar, Asami, and spent much of the year just talking to her and calming her.
The Potter house elves were in charge of sending in food for her. The good thing was that basilisks had a clear set of eyelids that they could close so as not to kill or petrify anyone so it was safe(er). It took a while, but Salazar was able to calm her. She had been devastated for accidentally causing Myrtle Warren's death, and she had spent the past 50 years alone with her grief.
Once they could verify that she was sane they set about moving her. Salazar didn't want her to be trapped and alone anymore, so they arranged to move her to a nature preserve. They couldn't risk keeping her in Britain, they didn't want Dumbledore to know they had found her, so they sent her to the preserve in Japan.
Since Japan was more open to other forms of magic there were many animal speakers at the preserve. Now Asami had plenty of humans to talk too, plus a copy of the portrait of her old master. There was also another basilisk that lived in Indonesia that was male, so the preserve was already discussing arranging for them to meet and breed. Asami thought she might like the idea of being a mother. Although it wasn't normal for snakes to stay and care for their young, Asami had learned her maternal instincts from watching over and protecting the human hatchlings that her master taught.
Now that Asami was gone, the school was that much safer.
The school year once again had gone well for Hadrian and his friends. This year, even with all the quidditch practice, Hadrian had managed to get the top spot. Though he knew that it was mainly because he was able to get out of DADA earlier than the others so he was able to start improving his grades faster.
Hadrian looked around the compartment and was happy. His friends were all talking and having fun. Luna wasn't the girl he remembered, this Luna was happy and had plenty of friends. There were still people in the school that tried to bully her, but her friends were always there to protect her.
As Hadrian was looking around, the twins smiled at each other. Their little soul mate was happy, and that made them happy. For them, this had been one of the best years. Not only did they have their soul mate, they also now had their fathers back. And they already had plans to divide their summer between their shop, spending time with Hadrian, and helping the rest search for a counter to the ritual on their fathers.
When the train pulled into the station everyone glanced out the window to see that there were a lot more people there than usual. It seemed that everyone wanted to be there to get the students from the train. For some like the Bones's, it was the first time they were able to be there to pick up their children.
Saying goodbye to his friends on the train again, Hadrian hugged everyone, especially Fred and George because he didn't want them to have to deal with Molly and their younger siblings getting angry at them again. This year, since they knew that there were going to be so many people, Hadrian's entire family came.
Fred and George could see all three of their fathers and they smiled. The only problem they could see now was that Molly was constantly looking between their fathers and Hadrian's family. She didn't seem to know which ones she should be watching.
James watched as the train pulled into the station and smiled. This was the first time he was going to get to pick up his son from the station. The year before, as much as he would have liked to, it had been agreed that it would be safer for all involved if it was Sirius. But this year there were so many others that could distract any reporters that made it onto the platform so they had all come.
The girls had all been jumping around excitedly since before breakfast. When they were joined by the Malfoy children and Alice and Frank had brought Alex, they had only gotten more excited.
Molly didn't know what to do. She had spent the last few months trying to keep her brothers away from Arthur. Now she didn't know if she should continue to try and separate the three of them or try and integrate herself in with Sirius and Remus. Since they were Harry's legal guardians, they would be the ones to talk to about arranging for Harry to come and stay with her, Ronnie and Ginny for a few weeks during the summer.
She really needed to make sure that Harry started spending time with her babies. What annoyed her the most was that Remus and Sirius were talking happily with the Malfoy's. Didn't they understand that that family was evil, they shouldn't be allowing Harry near people like them. And Alice and Frank were there too, what was wrong with them. Although, she wasn't surprised to see Sebastian and Severus with them, she knew Severus was dark, so it didn't surprise her that Sebastian was as well. The ones that didn't make any sense to her were those oddballs, Pandora and Xenophilius Lovegood, were there and talking with the group.
When Hadrian got off the train, the first thing he did was bend down and open his arms as three little girls shot towards him. He knew that as soon as they saw him they would effectively attack him with their hugs. At least they didn't completely bowl him over like they had the year before, when he had first come into the house, but he had been visiting them every other weekend for months so they had seen him more.
Looking over to his friends when he started to get up to move to his family to greet them, he saw that they were also being hugged. Lucius, Narcissa, Lyra and the twins all had Draco in a death grip. Neville had Alex in his arms and his parents were to either side of him. Luna was going back and forth hugging her parents. And Fred, George and Percy were all taking turns hugging their fathers and greeting Charlie and Bill who had come with them.
Arthur was standing with the group, smiling. This was what he had been missing. For some reason he felt like his friends being there was what he had needed.
Molly was standing back and watching all this with poorly concealed rage. She hated seeing her rightful sons hugging her brothers. Then there was seeing Harry behaving the way he was. Harry was supposed to be shy and love-starved, that would help to make him controllable. They needed him to be weak so that he would rely on Albus. This Harry was surrounding himself with dark people that pretended to love him. She could see him greeting the Malfoy's like they were family. What was wrong with that boy. He clearly needed to be properly educated on what was right and wrong.
Just as Molly was getting ready to cut in, her babies finally made their way off the train. She really did miss them when they were away, even though they came home every weekend. Rushing forward, she pulled them both into bone crushing hugs. She then turned to Hermione and hugged her too.
"Hey boys." Bill's voice cut into Mollys mind. Looking over, she saw both Bill and Charlie were greeting Harry, Neville, and Draco like old friends.
"Hey Bill. Hey Charlie." Neville said happily.
"How's work Bill? Are you still working near the Valley of the Kings?" Hadrian asked. He really did miss his time living out of tents, travelling from one site to another.
"Yup. We're just getting into a newly discovered tomb. You should see if you can come by sometime this summer to see. I remember how much you enjoyed our last boys trip to Egypt, although, this time you will have to bring the girls with you. I don't think I would survive having these four mad at me again." Bill said as he reached down to tickle the four girls that were darting in and around the adults in the group. Thankfully Athena, Ares, and Alex were up in the arms of the adults or it would be a complete disaster zone.
"We will have to see if we can make the time." Severus said, he didn't want to commit to anything in front of Molly. The last thing they needed was to take a family trip to Egypt just to have Molly and her brats destroying it by showing up.
"Hadrian?" Luna's singsong voice filtered through the chatter.
"Yes little moon?" He said, looking over to his friend.
"Don't forget about the bee. Its time for freedom is coming. The nargles don't want the wolf to jump to conclusions about loyalties. The bee has what is needed." Luna knew that soon enough something major was going to happen again.
Hadrian, and everyone else that knew about Luna, took a few moments to try and think through what she said. The reference to the 'wolf' was clearly Remus, but they didn't know what the rest of it meant.
"What are you going on about now?" Ginny sighed as she looked to her year mate.
"Be nice Ginny. She's talking to her friends, just because you don't understand doesn't mean they don't." Arthur scolded his daughter. He knew that Luna was odd, but she was a perfectly nice girl, and he didn't like the way Ginny treated anyone that was different.
"I understand little moon. I'll make sure the wolf knows to keep an open mind." Hadrian smiled at his friend, completely ignoring Ginny.
Fred and George pulled Hadrian into a conversation after that. Molly, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all tried repeatedly to interrupt, but they just kept ignoring them.
Since she and the kids weren't having any luck with Harry, Molly turned her attention towards Remus, he was someone that she had always been able to manipulate.
"Remus. I was hoping to talk to you. I'm sure the kids will want to spend time together during the summer. It would be best if Harry comes to The Burrow. We will be happy to take him for a week or two." Molly gave the man a blinding smile. "I figure we could take him for the last two weeks of the summer and then we can drop him off at the train. There's no need for you to worry about that. We could even take him shopping."
"No thank you Molly. We already have plenty of plans for the summer. Hadrian won't be able to come to The Burrow." Remus told the woman, somehow managing to keep the growl from his voice.
"Really now Remus, Harry should come to The Burrow. He will be perfectly safe with us. It's for the best that he come and spend some time with us. There is so much that we can teach him. Plus, like I said, he will want to spend time with Ron and Ginny." Molly couldn't believe that this dark creature was denying her. "I'm sure Albus would tell you, Harry would be better off coming and spending a few weeks with his friends during the summer."
"We, don't care what the headmaster would say." Sirius said. "Hadrian is our child, he is our responsibility. We have plans for our family. So, no, Hadrian won't be going to The Burrow for the summer, he will be staying with his family."
"Sirius Black, don't you talk about Albus like that, he's your boss. He knows what's best." Molly was furious. Black was clearly just as dark and evil as the rest of his no good family. "He suggested that Harry come and stay with us, so he will come and stay with us. Albus only wants what's best for Harry."
"Albus is only my boss when school is in session. As it is now summer, he has no control over my life, or that of my godson. Hadrian is our child." Sirius indicated himself and the other three men. "He is our responsibility. If we want him to stay with his family, then he will be staying with his family. No one but us gets to say what he can and cannot do."
Seeing that Sirius had Molly distracted, and Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were all watching them argue, James started to move Hadrian and the girls towards the apparition area. Most of the students and their families had already left in a hurry to get home and start their summers so it was easy to get there.
"Where's Harry going?" Ginny whined when she finally spotted him leaving.
"He's going home Ginny, and his name is Hadrian." Bill said as he rolled his eyes. He had enjoyed seeing Everyone again, and getting mauled with hugs by the girls.
"You can't just run away with him like that." Molly tried to scold James, but she was blocked from going after him by Bill and Charlie.
"Yes, he can. Sebastian is his family." Sirius argued back as he watched James portkey away with Hadrian, Cas, Ari, and Kali.
Seeing that Molly was getting ready to explode, Arthur stepped in. "Enough Molly. It's time to go home. Hadrian is not our child, he does not have to do what you say. Sirius, Remus, Severus, and Sebastian are his parents, the choice of what Hadrian does is theirs, not yours.
Now, everyone grab your trunks and we can floo home."
Arthur started walking towards the floo, both sets of twins, Bill, Charlie, and Percy followed him. But, Molly, Ron, Ginny and Hermione stayed, attempting, and failing, to stare down Sirius.
"That boy is a hero, and needs to learn to act like one." Molly growled.
"He is a boy, he acts like a boy." Sirius snapped back. No one told his godson how to behave. "Now, as Arthur said, it's time to go home. Goodbye."
Sirius and the others all turned away, leaving a fuming Molly with the three students. Molly started to lead the other three children away, knowing that she was going to have to do something. There was no way that she could leave Harry with those people, they just didn't have what it took to raise a hero.