Chapter 26 - Third Year (Part 3)

Gringotts, Ritual Room - October 10, 2003

Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon were all extremely confused. Everyone was acting extremely weird.

Earlier today, Charlie had come to them at work and asked them to take the rest of the week off and go to the bank with him. Of course, they had done what he asked, even though it confused them. When they arrived at the bank they saw Bill, Regulus, and Marlene.

The three men had been sent to purification baths and then made to dress in purified ritual robes. Whenever they started to question what was happening, Bill or Charlie would just ask them to trust them. And, of course, they did.

Hours of meditating later, Severus arrived with large caldrons of potion. The three confused men were made to drink vials of different, awful tasting, potions. Their questions falling on deaf ears.

Eventually, just before midnight, they were led into a large stone ritual chamber. All manor of runes were freshly painted on the floor in one of the potions. The three men were led to the stone slab in the centre of the room. Deciding if they had already gone this far they should finish, they all got up on the table, Arthur being placed in the middle of the twins.

Once they were on the table they were soaked in one of the other potions, just as Regulus, Bill, and one of the goblins started to chant in different languages.

The room got both extremely hot and cold at the same time. The different languages blurred together as the three men started to pant in exertion. They all felt like they had been running for hours rather than laying on a stone table. When the ritual reached its peak, the third potion was aerosolized and sprayed on the men.

Just outside the room, Charlie and Marlene waited with Cora. Both Marlene and Cora had chosen to be there because they were both healers. Since Marlene had been trapped in the hospital ward for months while she had been recovering, she had used that time to recertify as a general healer. She had even returned to temporary duty at the beginning of the summer, although now she was going to have to go off on maternity leave when the baby was born next year. Severus had had to get back to the school before anyone noticed he had left.

While Cora was in the process of trying to keep Charlie calm, a process that included offering to knock him out, which Charlie was considering, the others came out of the room. They were all exhausted, covered in sweat, and smelled strongly of potions.

"They're sleeping now." Bill said with a voice rough from the ritual.

Cora and Marlene both quickly rushed into the room. Each running their own scans as they went. Checking their own scans, they then both traded results and checked each others work. After conferring with each other, they smiled at the men still standing in the door way.

"They are just fine. A little dehydrated, but fine." Marlene told their sons. Both boys visibly relaxed at that.

"Now, you three need to get to the cleansing rooms. You wreak of potions and it would not be good for those particular potions to seep through your skin." Cora said, directing the two men and her husband to the same bathing chamber that had been used earlier.

Charlie just stayed in the doorway, watching his fathers sleeping, hoping that everything was going to work out.

The Burrow - October 11, 2003

After Bill and Regulus had finished bathing, it had been decided for everyone to go home. Regulus and Marlene helped Charlie and Bill to get their fathers home and tucked into Fabian's bed, after they had enlarged it.

Marlene had already started to remember Arthur marrying Fabian and Gideon, so they knew the ritual had worked.

Bill and Charlie barely slept at all that night, each took turns watching over their fathers to see if anything changed. After the sun had risen, Bill and Charlie decided that they needed to keep themselves busy, so they went into the kitchen to let their fathers sleep unwatched for a little while.

Charlie got to work making a full english breakfast, with all the sides. He just needed to keep his hands busy.

Bill pulled out some of the paperwork that he needed to get done so that his team could move on to the next section of the tomb complex they were working on. His entire team had the next two weeks off while he did the paperwork, so Bill wasn't even missing work to be there with his family.

The best part for them was that their memories were also returning. Since they had both been older, they had plenty of different memories of growing up with their fathers. They knew Percy would have a few memories too, but the ones they really felt sorry for were the twins. They had only been toddlers when their fathers were taken from them, so they had been to young to form any real memories of their fathers.

While Bill and Charlie were in the kitchen, Arthur was in the bedroom, slowly blinking his eyes against the light as he woke up. He could feel his heart sluggishly pounding his blood through his veins. His brain felt like mush. Every bone and muscle in his body ached.

Slowly he tried to force himself to sit up, but his body refused to follow his directions. Hearing a soft groan from beside him when he moved, Arthur turned his head from side to side. Gideon was on his left, while Fabian was on the right.

That confused Arthur. Normally, Fabian preferred the left and Gideon took the right.

Then he wondered about the boys. The twins weren't sleeping through the night yet, so he was wondering why he hadn't been woken up earlier.

Then he remembered. The twins were at Hogwarts.

Molly. He had never married Molly, he had married Fabian and Gideon. How could he have forgotten that?

Then Arthurs mind started to race. He had been forced to forget his husbands. He had been drugged with love potions. He had two other children.

Arthur was so caught up in his spiralling thoughts he didn't even notice that he had started gasping for air. His chest hurt, like his heart was encased in ice.

Fabian and Gideon both came to consciousness when they heard Arthur gasping for breath. It was far to early to be up in their opinion. They both went to reach out for him, but they were reaching in the wrong direction. Arthur was usually to Fabian's right, and Gideon's left.

Forcing themselves to sit up slightly, they looked around and saw that they were on the wrong sides of the bed. Rolling the other way than they were used to, they snuggled Arthur between them.

Then, like Arthur, their minds caught up with them.

Husband. Arthur was their husband. Those five older boys were their's. Their sister had stolen their lives from them, their husband and children.

Burrowing closer to each other, they let themselves grieve for all the time they lost.

Eventually, the three men forced themselves out of bed. Still keeping each other close. They could hear voices and movement in the kitchen.

Slowly making their way out of the room, they saw Bill and Charlie sitting down to breakfast.

The five adult men all started to tear up when they saw each other. They finally had each other back. Bill and Charlie both quickly got up and ran to their fathers for a group hug. They were a proper family again.

The hug lasted for over 5 minutes before Charlie directed his fathers to the table and he and Bill dished them up some much needed food.

"What happened?" Arthur asked.

"How long have you known we were your fathers?" Fabian asked.

"What did that ritual do?" Gideon asked.

"What about your younger brothers, do they know?" Arthur asked.

"Whoa." Charlie said as he held up his hands. "Bill knew about this first, so I'll let him tell you."

The three men all turned to Bill.

"For me, it all really started when Remus brought me with him for my apprenticeship. He and the others had gotten access to a memory orb that was addressed to me. The orb originated in the time chamber in the DOM and was from 20 years in the future. And yes, I know just how insane that sounds.

The orb, and others like it, were sent back in an attempt to stop two different wars that were going to happen. According to what they had learned, Voldemort was supposed to come back at the end of the next school year. There would be a war, that he would eventually lose, but a lot of people were going to die, including Fred.

After that, it would get worse. In retaliation for what happened everything even classified as dark would be exterminated. I had apparently been attacked by Fenrir Greyback, so they had come for my family. Both my wife and I were killed. Dad, you were also killed trying to help us. The only member of my family that survived was my infant daughter. Hadrian helped to rescue her and got her to Charlie and George who got her out of the country.

That was when Hadrian and his allies decided to try to change things. Hadrian was working in the DOM at the time, and he decided to use what he knew to send the information back in time in the hopes that we could change the future. Charlie and George both sent orbs back for us, explaining what they had learned.

When I first started with Remus and his team, they gave me the orb that Charlie had sent for me. It explained about what had happened to you, and that you, Fabian and Gideon, were our other fathers, and that Molly had used a blood adoption on us to make us hers. Originally, you both were going to die in 2007 in that prison, but clearly, we changed that.

We have been working ever since then to change things. I explained everything to Charlie and Percy a few years ago. Fred and George knew even before them, they had had their own orb that George had sent back to them.

I have my orb with me now, so after you finish your breakfast, you can watch it."

His fathers just stared at Bill as he finished. Although it was a completely insane story, Bill had sounded and looked completely honest the entire time. When they looked to Charlie, he just nodded to them.

"So why didn't you just tell us?" Arthur finally asked a few minutes later after he had managed to find his voice.

"Because we couldn't." Charlie said as he looked between his fathers. "We weren't exactly sure what that ritual did. We didn't want to risk that it would force you to tell anyone any secrets. Molly would have loved to get her hands on information from the future."

"There is also the fact that the ritual that had been used on you was what is referred to as self-cleaning." Bill explained. "That means, that if any of the three of you learned about the ritual before we had been able to remove it, it would have killed all three of you."

The three of them were stunned. Their children had spent years working on saving them. And they couldn't be more proud of them.

"So who else knows about all this?" Gideon asked just as he was finishing his food.

"Well…" Charlie hesitated slightly. "You know everyone that was at the end of summer party?" When they nodded at him, Charlie continued. "All of them."

"All of them?" Fabian was slightly stunned that so many had known.

"Yup." Bill said. "Well, many of them had also gotten orbs, and those that hadn't have been actively involved in helping us. We actually only managed to find the counter ritual last month because of a combination of Regulus's work, and Marlene's memory.

She had remembered seeing Molly with a ritual book years ago, and described it to Regulus. Regulus found the book from her description and spent the entire night, and half of the next day searching until he found the ritual, and it's counter."

"So other than showing us the orb, that's everything?" Arthur asked in a delicate voice. This all really was overwhelming.

"One more thing." Bill smiled at his shell shocked fathers. "The man you know as Sebastian Peverell is actually not Sebastian Peverell."

"What?" Fabian and Gideon asked at the same time.

"Well… To put it simply, Lily Evans pulled her own version of a Molly." Charlie said, giving his fathers a sarcastic smile.

"Pulled a Molly?" Arthur asked, actually chuckling slightly despite everything he had just learned.

"James Potter never married Lily Evans. He really married Severus." Bill explained. "Hadrian is actually the son of James and Severus.

After James and Hadrian were kidnapped, Severus was spelled to hate James, though they don't think that the person that spelled Sev knew that he was Hadrian's father. James's memories were altered, and he was given love potions keyed to Evans.

Just before Voldemort attacked, Evans once again kidnapped James, leaving Hadrian alone in the house with two golems. James was kept in a coma, like the two of you, for years.

Sev and Remus learned all of this when the orbs arrived, and they set about saving their husbands.

Sebastian Peverell is an identity and glamour created by the goblins to hide and protect James Potter."

That was it. It might not even be 10 am, but Arthur got up and poured himself, and his husbands, a shot of fire whiskey. Fabian and Gideon took the shots gratefully.

Bill and Charlie just smiled at their fathers. They had spent hours the night before ensuring the house was clear of any monitoring spells, they had found more than a few, and then they had covered the house in secrecy and security wards. Because of that they knew that no one would ever know what they had discussed without their permission. Not that they ever thought their fathers would betray them.

After watching the memory orb, and hearing the message Charlie had sent back, Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon once again poured themselves shots. Their entire world had just shifted on it's axis.

So much had changed, and now they needed to decide what to do about it.

Fabian and Gideon had a quick and silent conversation about what to do about their little sister, while Bill and Charlie were talking to Arthur. Percy, Fred, and George had Hadrian's mirror, so they were going to call the mirror that Charlie had borrowed from Remus in a few hours, after they finished their lunch.

Making a decision about what to do with Molly, Fabian and Gideon both stood up and walked a little ways away from the table. Turning, they faced one another and clasped each others forearms.

"I, Fabian George Weasley-Prewett, co-lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Prewett, do call upon Magic.

I disown Molly Ginevra Prewett from the House of Prewett due to the betrayal of the Family and dishonouring the Family name.

May the magic of our ancestors judge her actions and pass judgement upon her motivations. If found unworthy, may the Family Magics be stripped from her. May she forever be barred from further besmirching the Families good name.

So mote it be."

"I, Gideon Fredrick Weasley-Prewett, co-lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Prewett, do call upon Magic.

I disown Molly Ginevra Prewett from the House of Prewett due to the betrayal of the Family and dishonouring the Family name.

May the magic of our ancestors judge her actions and pass judgement upon her motivations. If found unworthy, may the Family Magics be stripped from her. May she forever be barred from further besmirching the Families good name.

So mote it be."

Arthur, Bill, and Charlie all felt as the Prewett magic within them all shifted and judged Molly's actions. Then, with a swift shock, they felt as the magic ripped itself from her.

The reason that Arthur had felt the Prewett family magic was because when he had married the twins, he had gone with a full bonding. A regular marriage was just that, marriage. It was really just in name only. Using the olde magical bonding meant that a person was being brought into the family, and it bound the families magic to them.

"That was an edited version of a disownment." Arthur said, his voice confused.

"We couldn't do the full one." Gideon said.

"If we had, then the family magic would have also punished Ron and Ginny." Fabian said as he walked over to Arthur to wrap his arms around him.

"And we wouldn't do that to you or them. It isn't fair to punish them for her actions." Gideon added as he joined his brother and husband in a hug.

Arthur gently wiped away the few tears that had formed in his eyes. Turning, Arthur gently kissed Fabian, before turning and kissing Gideon. It had been so long since they had last kissed, and they got a little caught up.

"Ummm." Bill said as he grabbed his paperwork off the table. "I have to go and deliver this to the bank. So… I'm just gonna go do that."

"And, I'm gonna… Help." Charlie added, following his older brother. "We'll just leave you three to… Get reacquainted."

Fabian and Gideon winked at their sons as they left. When Arthur went to say something, or call them back, Fabian quickly distracted him with a kiss that was then swiftly followed by another kiss from Gideon.

Taking Arthurs hands, the twins started to lead their husband back towards the bedrooms.

Without them noticing, the floo flared green and an elderly woman stepped through elegantly.

"Honestly you three, you are not teenagers anymore." Came a strict voice that reminded all three of the men of a school teacher.

"Hello Aunt Muriel." Fabian and Gideon sighed at the same time.

"Well hello to you too." She gave them both a look, making them feel like they were still little boys that she had caught doing something wrong.

"We were just…" Arthur started, but stopped. He wasn't about to tell a woman that was well over 100, and had known him since he was a toddler that he was going to go and have wild, passionate sex with her great nephews.

"Ohh, I think I know exactly what you were about to do." Muriel had to force herself not to smile. It wouldn't do to ruin her reputation as a strict old woman. "But, now you are going to invite an old lady to tea, and you are going to explain why I just felt you call upon the family magics. Your shenanigans can wait until I have gotten answers."

"Yes Aunt Muriel." Fabian and Gideon responded on instinct. Hanging their heads slightly, they glumly walked over to the table.

"What sort of tea can I get you Muriel?" Arthur asked. "I think we only have regular black tea."

"Don't worry yourself Arthur. I brought my own leaves." Muriel pulled out a small little bag of her favourite jasmine tea leaves.

Arthur nodded and just brought a kettle of boiled water and four tea cups to the table. The room was silent as Muriel steeped and served the tea. They all knew better than to break Muriels rule about disrupting the steeping of tea.

After all the cups had been served, Muriel looked to her great nephews. "Well, what has happened? I seem to remember history in two ways. So who is it that will be explaining that to me? And, who will explain the family magics?"

Fabian and Gideon looked to each other. After a silent battle, Gideon had to answer.

"It would seem that Molly used an ancient ritual to force Fabian and I to forget that we married Arthur, and that the elder five boys are our sons. The boys discovered what happened to us, and they have spent the past years working on finding a way to counter the ritual. Which, they managed last night."

"That girl." Muriel growled. She was so disappointed in Molly, that girl had always wanted what she didn't have. "I should have expected her to do something like that after your father caught her trying to drug Arthur just before your wedding."

"What?" Both twins and Arthur said at the same time.

"Yes." Muriel sighed. "Your father caught her brewing love potions just before the wedding. He, of course, put a stop to it. From that point on, he and your mother always made sure to keep a close eye on her whenever the three of you were around. I guess without them there to stop her, she finally did it.

And the calling of family magics?"

This time Fabian was forced to speak. "We could not accept what she had done. Using a ritual like that on her own family, and using love, submission, loyalty, and control potions on our husband for years, and even blood adopting our children and claiming them as her own was just too much to be tolerated.

We called upon the family magics to judge her actions and the motivation behind them, and she was judged as unworthy of bing a member of the Prewett family.

She is, as of now, Molly Ginevra No Name."

"I agree with your actions." Muriel sighed. It was never easy when a member of a family was disowned, but she really didn't see any other option. "That didn't feel like any regular disownment though?"

"That is because it wasn't. If it were a normal disownment then Molly's children would have been disowned with her." Gideon said.

"In spite of what Molly has done, Ronald and Ginevra do not deserve to be punished for it. Through everything, they are family, and we will not disown them until, or, unless, they prove themselves to be unworthy." Fabian added as he took Arthurs hand.

Muriel nodded thoughtfully. "I must agree. There is still hope for those two, I hope. Molly has never let me spend much time with them. I can only assume that she didn't want me to notice anything untoward.

Now that that woman is gone, I expect to get to spend more time with my great great nephews and niece."

'Of course Muriel." Arthur said happily. "I must apologize. Molly had always told me that you didn't like children, so we shouldn't bother you with the children. Even after I was cleared of the potions a few years ago, it never occurred to me to question that."

"Do not worry my dear boy. The only one responsible for Molly's actions is Molly. You bear no blame." Muriel smiled, she always had liked Arthur. "I must ask, where is she?" Muriel looked around, but she saw no sign of Molly anywhere in the house.

"I kicked her out at the beginning of September." Arthur said. "I had actually been in the process of finding a lawyer and filing for divorce, I guess I won't need to do that now, since we were never married."

"Good, you must always be wary of involving lawyers." Muriel had never liked lawyers. "But what did she do that finally made you kick her out now, if you discovered the potions years ago, what could be worse than that?"

"She threatened Charlie." Fabian growled.

"What?" Muriels voice could only be described as a snarl.

"She wanted Charlie to marry the daughter of one of her friends, but Charlie didn't like the girl and was dating an old friend of his from school, Oliver Wood. She threatened to force him to marry the girl using an absolute contract, with Charlie in the position of 'wife'. When that didn't work because both He and I refused to sign the contract, she threatened to fully disown him.

I made it perfectly clear that I would always choose my son over her and that she was no longer welcome in this house." Arthur explained, his voice still holding the fury he had felt.

"How dare she threaten to disown a member of this family. Not only does she not have the right, she does not have the ability." Muriel made up her mind, she would never speak of Molly again, that girl no longer existed to her. "Oliver Wood you say, there is a Lacy Wood in my book club, her son is named Mathew, and her two grandchildren are Owen and Magda."

"Oliver is the son of Owen Wood." Arthur said.

"Hmmm. So he is a boy from a good family, good for Charlie." The matchmaking wheels had already started to turn in Muriels head. She had always loved matchmaking. "Well, I must be off, I'm supposed to have tea with my old friend, Edwina MacMillan."

Muriel left after that, leaving the three men alone once again. Fabian quickly moved forward, closing and locking the floo, while Gideon did the same to the door. They then both grabbed Arthur and started pulling him towards the bedroom. Fully intending to pick up where they had been before they had been interrupted.

A few hours later, Percy and the twins called. They were excited that they were actually finally able to call their fathers, their fathers. Since it was Saturday, they had the rest of the day off to talk to their fathers.

All three of their fathers made sure that they talked about everything that had happened, wanting to make sure that the boys really were ok with everything. At their age, emotional trauma could have longterm effects. The boys just reassured them that they agreed with every decision they had made.

After all this time, the boys couldn't believe that they really had their fathers back. It had taken them years, but they all agreed it was worth it. They just wished that they could be together.

Happily, the next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend, so they were all going to get together then.

After hanging up the mirror phone, Fabian turned to Arthur.

"What's bothering you Artie?"

"It's Ron and Ginny. And don't call me Artie."

"What about Ron and Ginny?" Gideon asked softly.

"I think we all know what the chances are that I, as a natural barer, could have gotten Molly pregnant even once, let alone twice, in two years." Arthur sighed.

"We know." Fabian understood what Arthur was getting at. He wasn't Ron and Ginny's birth father.

"She must have used a blood adoption to make them mine since the Weasley family magics have acknowledged them." Arthur was trying to work out how he felt.

"Does that change anything?" Gideon asked.

"No." Arthur said immediately. "I… I really don't care who their birth father was, what matters is that they are mine now. And, in spite of everything, in spite of all the trouble I have with them, and what Molly has done, I love them.

I just worry about you."

"What about us?" Gideon asked.

"Arthur." Fabian stepped forward and took his husbands hands. "It doesn't matter to us. They are your children, whether it is by birth or adoption, they are yours. It has been you raising them, not that other person, they are yours in every way that matters."

"We would never do anything to change that. Or try to separate them from you." Gideon reassured

Godric's Hollow

When Molly woke up that morning, she started on her regular routine. She made her breakfast and then ate it. Once she did the dishes, she would go over and start working on the plans for the restaurant.

In truth, she hated it. She hated that she had to even pretend to do work. There was just so much involved with setting up a restaurant. She needed to talk to different builders and look over different materials. She had to talk to different suppliers and furnishers. Then there was all the inspections by the ministry. Really, who cared if you used one type of wood or another, it was all just wood. And everyone kept getting angry at her when she made changes.

The only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that soon enough, Albus would have fixed Arthur, and she could go home. Then she wouldn't have to worry about any of this stuff. Sure, she would continue to help Albus, but it wouldn't be like this.

The entire morning had been off though. Something was missing.

It was just after 10, when she was once again reworking the blueprints that she felt it. Molly collapsed to the floor screaming as she felt the Prewett family magics examine her and then rip themselves from her.

Forcing herself off the floor, Molly made her way back to her room and crawled into bed once again. It took her over an hour before the pain finally stopped.

What had that been. What could have happened to make her family magic act like that.

Rolling over, Molly heard a clinking sound under her pillow. Lifting the pillow, she saw the worst thing she could ever imagine.

For the past 14 1/2 years, she had always worn the same stone necklace. The stone pendent was actually the sealing stone for the ritual she had used on Arthur and her brothers. The stone was broken in half. The only way that could have happened was if, somehow, the ritual had stopped working.

Then she knew what the pain had been. Fabian and Gideon had disowned her.

How could they? Molly was furious. Who did those two think they were? They had no right to disown her. She hadn't done anything wrong. What right did they have to kick her out of the family, she was the family.

Forcing herself out of bed, she went to the mirror over her dresser. She looked awful. Her eyes were sunken in, and there were dark circles under them. Her skin was sallow, and she looked weak and frail.

Turning away from the mirror, Molly looked around the room. Her purse was glowing. Going over, she opened it. The glow was coming from her money pouch.

Looking in, she could see that her vault key was glowing brightly. Pulling it out, Molly looked at it and screamed.

The key that had once held the engraving 'Molly Prewett' now read, 'Molly No Name'.

She was a No Name. Fabian and Gideon had stolen her husband, her magic, and her name. Molly started to sob with how unfair everything was. She knew that she deserved so much better than this.

Rushing forward, Molly grabbed the pieces of the broken stone and rushed to the floo.

Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office

"Albus, Albus." Came the screeching of Molly's voice before she had even stepped out of the floo.

Albus wanted to slam his head on his desk. What was wrong with that woman? Did she really think he cared about every little bit of drama in her life? But, he knew the roll he needed to play.

"What is wrong Molly dear?" Albus asked in his usual kind voice.

Molly threw the ritual stone on the desk in front of him and started to sob.

"They… They… Disowned me. I'm a No Name. Albus, what am I supposed to do? Everyone is going to find out." Molly was hysterical.

Albus froze. This was bad. This was beyond bad. Over the years, Albus had used Molly as an example of everything light and good in their world. If anyone found out the reason behind her disownment it would ruin everything. It would almost immediately be linked back to him, and then his own reputation would be destroyed.

He needed to find a way to fix this. There had to be something he could do. This could ruin everything.

Then there was the question of just how the ritual had been broken. No one had known that they had used that ritual. And, even if they did, his copy of that ritual book had been destroyed, and that had been one of the last dozen copies left.

Albus just let Molly cry while he worked through his own thoughts. He needed to think of a way that would make this better, but wouldn't make him look bad. Now there was no way he could force Arthur to take the woman back. He knew he didn't have enough control over the Prewett twins, so he couldn't force them to accept her back in the family.

That meant the only path left to him now was to have Molly accepted into another family. But who was stupid enough to take Molly in. The woman was a complete nightmare. Only the stupidest, most gullible person would ever let her into their family. And that person needed to be the head of a good light family.

Albus smiled momentarily as he thought of the only thing he could do.

"Hush now Molly. It is going to be ok." Albus reassured the woman.

"How?" Molly kept sobbing. "How is this ever going to be ok?"

"I have an idea. What I need you to do, is to go back to the cottage and wait for me there. Do not go anywhere, or speak to anyone. Do you understand me, Molly?"

"Ok Albus." Molly sniffled just before she flooed away.

It was late in the evening that Albus finally returned to his office. He was exhausted, and more than a little annoyed.

The only way to save Molly's reputation had been for her to soul bond with someone else. But it couldn't be just anyone, it had to be someone in good standing in the wizarding world that he could control. Albus had chosen Dedalus Diggle.

He had been friends with Dedalus for decades, and thankfully had enough control over the man to make him marry Molly. It had actually taken a great deal of encouraging and many guilt trips to convince the man to do it.

Albus had ended up telling Dedalus that Fabian and Gideon had been cursed and then forced to disown Molly, just like Arthur had been cursed into leaving her. He had said that Molly was going to lose everything unless someone like him saved her.

Sometimes even Albus was amazed at just how stupid some of the people that followed him were. Ultimately, the man had agreed, just to help Albus. But, he had made it very clear, the bonding was in name only.

Molly had been another issue all together. She had hated the idea. All that stupid woman cared about, once again, was getting Arthur away from her brothers. She hadn't wanted to marry a man that was over 20 years older than her.

It had taken Albus over three hours to convince her to do it, although, he had to lie a lot. He had repeatedly reassured Molly that he was going to work on finding a new ritual that would allow him to make Arthur hers again. And, he had told her that the soul bonding was reversible, so that she could leave Dedalus and return to, and marry, Arthur. The truth was a soul bond was until death, but thankfully Molly had never learned about all that pureblood stuff.

In the end, it had been well after dinner when he had finally managed to preform the soul bonding of Dedalus and Molly Diggle.

It was far from perfect, but it would have to do. At least now, Molly wouldn't destroy his reputation. This time.

Hogsmeade - October 18, 2003

The previous week had been one of the longest, and slowest weeks of the older Weasley boys lives. All they had wanted was for it to be the weekend so that they could see their dads.

But, eventually, the day arrived.

Fred and George had invited Hadrian to come with them, but he had refused. He said that if anyone understood even slightly what they were going through, it was him. Hadrian said that this was something he couldn't be there for. Fred and George needed to get to know their fathers, as their fathers, without him there.

After leaving the school, the boys made their way through town towards the most dreaded place in town, Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

There really wasn't any other place in town where they could get something to drink and have privacy. Since the Hogs Head had burned, the only other place was The Three Broomsticks, and that place was the last place that was private.

With it being a Hogsmeade weekend, it would be constantly packed with dozens of students. It would be almost impossible to move there with how many people there would be, and they would all be extremely loud. In the end, Arthur and the others had had no choice but to rent a private room in the upstairs section.

Arriving, Percy got the room number, and the three boys rushed up the stairs like little kids. Rushing into the room, they went directly to their fathers, grabbing them in bone crushing hugs that were enthusiastically returned. Getting their drinks, they sat down to talk.

But, the thing was, they really didn't have all that much to talk about. Hadrian had let them keep his mirror for the week, so they had all called each other multiple times a day. They had already discussed everything major going on. There was also the fact that all of the boys had been making sure that they spent as much time with their fathers as they could ever since the prison had been discovered almost a full year ago.

Mostly, it was just about being together. Spending time together like they had been denied for so long.

After spending an hour and a half just hanging out, they decided to go and walk around town a little. The reason they had waited as long as they had was because Arthur had made sure to let Ron know that they would be there in the hopes that he would come visit with them, but he hadn't.

While the Weasley boys were with their fathers, Hadrian made his way down through town with Draco and Neville. They made sure to weave their way through the buildings in town because Hermione and Ron were once again following Hadrian.

Once they had lost their stalkers, the boys made their way over to Honeydukes. They all started to grin when they saw their parents and siblings were all standing outside the shop, watching the mass of students inside.

"Looking for us?" Draco called out.

Everyone turned to them at once, and the kids all ran forward for hugs. Their families had decided that they would just stop by for a quick visit, and they weren't the only ones.

Looking around, they could see plenty of other families that had come to visit with their kids. The only real problem that everyone was having was that there just really wasn't enough room in the small town for so many people.

Hadrian, Draco, and Neville were sent in to collect anything that anyone wanted so that they wouldn't risk losing the younger children in the crowds.

After having to repeatedly push their way through the crowds, the boys were all exhausted. The good news for them was that the cabins by the Black Lake that Severus and Sirius got for teaching were within the area they were allowed to go.

Hadrian, Draco, and Neville all told their parents that they would meet them at the cabin a little while later, there were still a few things they wanted to try while on their first Hogsmeade visit. Including going to the Shrieking Shack, even though they knew the secret behind the place.

As they were walking towards the edge of town, they heard a soft chuckle and groan coming from one of the alleys. Looking down, the three boys could see Charlie had Oliver pressed up against the wall.

"Really guys?" Hadrian laughed.

Oliver tried to push Charlie back, but Charlie just wrapped his arms around him and slid behind him so that Charlies back was to the wall, and Olivers back was to his chest.

"Is there something we can do for you three, or are you just looking to learn my technique?" Charlie joked, Olivers face went red.

"Ha ha, Charlie." Hadrian chuckled. "We were just on our way to the Shack and heard some strange noises. We wanted to make sure there wasn't some wounded animal down here."

"Funny. Just wait little man. Soon enough you are going to be old enough to start dating, and then, beware. Because I will be taking every opportunity to embarrass you." Charlie gave Hadrian a vicious grin, his smile got bigger when he saw the slight fear in the boys eyes.

"Never mind." Hadrian said quickly. "Although, maybe you should be doing this somewhere other than an alley in a public place. I'm pretty sure that is called public indecency."

"We would, but this is the only time we have together, and there really isn't anywhere else we can go that isn't full of kids." Oliver sighed, his cheeks still flushed.

"But you're of age, aren't you?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, just sign yourself out of school whenever you want to get… indecent, with Charlie." Neville added, his cheeks also flushed pink.

"I can't." Oliver was clearly annoyed by that. "I've asked if there was any way I can leave for a weekend, but my requests keep getting denied.

"Oliver, you're an adult." Hadrian was confused, they couldn't deny Oliver the chance to leave.

"I know." Oliver didn't understand what Hadrian was on about.

"They really should make reading the school rules and charter mandatory." Hadrian rolled his eyes. "I read it last year because of the whole Lockhart thing.

As a legal adult, a student can sign themselves out at any time so long as they are passing all their classes. You can go home every night if you wanted to, and the teachers have no right to deny you."

"But…" Oliver was shocked, was that really true.

"You should file a complaint with the school governors. I know that pretty much every seventh year Puff has been going out almost every evening. They usually just go and hang out for a few hours in Hogsmeade, and come back before curfew, but if they can, why can't you?" Neville said shyly. "Their next meeting is going to be on Wednesday. It would have been two weeks ago, but one of the governors died unexpectedly, and my mom told me that they only managed to find a replacement a few days ago."

"I think I will. Thanks guys. Now, get lost. I have a hot guy to snog senseless." Oliver thought it was a good idea.

Just as the three boys were about to leave, Hadrian saw some of the other Claws and Puffs that looked like they were on their way to the Shack too. Seeing Nox, Hadrian got an idea.

"Hey, Nox." Hadrian called out, waving the other boy over.

The entire group of students followed Nox as he crossed the road to see his housemate. "What's up, Hadrian? Hi." Nox nodded to the two annoyed men that had once again been interrupted.

"Nox, can you talk to your parents for me?" Hadrian asked sweetly.

"Why? What can you want from them?" Nox knew better than to trust Hadrian when he was acting sweet and innocent, somehow the boy always had the best jokes available.

"I was hoping that we could convince them to open up a second restaurant here in Hogsmeade. We need a place where we can sit down and eat. There are just to many students to just have one place. The Three Broomsticks is far to packed to even get in the door."

Nox thought about it. "I think it would be great if they could, but I don't think they would be able to do it. Starting up a new restaurant can be really expensive. They don't have that kind of money saved up, and it would probably take them at least 5 years to save that kind of money given how much they are making now."

Hadrian sighed, but before he could say anything else, Charlie started talking from where he was with Oliver.

"Can I have my dad talk to your parents? My dad has been looking to invest some of his savings in a good business. I figure, he could easily cover the start up costs."

Nox turned to the red head that was obviously a Weasley. "That would be great. If he wants to get in touch with them, just have him talk to your younger brothers. Fred and George came to our current restaurant almost every week during the summer. I think they tried every single dish."

"They did." Hadrian smiled. "They challenged each other to try everything."

Everyone laughed at the twins behaviour, and then the group of younger kids all headed off towards the Shack. Finally leaving Charlie and Oliver alone.

When they reached the Shack, most of the kids started telling each other all kinds of scary stories about the old building. Hadrian, Draco, and Neville, just stood back and giggled softly. They all knew the truth of the place, but it was fun to see their classmates freak themselves out.

As they were playing around and joking, Pansy Parkinson arrived with her friends. Since the Malfoy's had separated themselves from the blood purists, Crabbe and Goyle didn't hang out with him anymore, instead they now basically served as servants to a demanding Pansy. Pansy, for her part, was convinced that she would be able to make Draco see things her way so that she could marry him and become Lady Malfoy. She was almost as bad as Ginny in her obsession.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." Came Pansy's high pitched voice. "A bunch of babies telling each other scary stories." She and her friends laughed.

"Like you're so brave." Hannah snapped back at the girl.

"Oh, would you look at this. The little mud blood thinks she's so brave." Pansy gave Hannah a cruel sneer as all the others responded to the insult against Hannah's parentage.

Both of Hannah's parents were half bloods, but she wasn't about to let a bigot like Pansy Parkinson and her friends make her be ashamed of that. "Oh please Parkinson. We all know that you're the biggest coward here. I bet you couldn't even walk halfway down the path to the Shack."

"I could do it without even flinching." Pansy snapped back, but there was fear in her eyes.

"I have an idea." Hadrian stepped forward. "Hannah and I won't just walk halfway to the house, we will go all the way inside. If we can do that, you, and all your little friends here, can't say a single insult to any other student until after Yule break is over. You will have to be kind to everyone."

Before any of the others could respond, a voice drawled from a little ways away.

"That isn't worth it Potter-Black, and you know it. You and Abbot don't just have to go into the house, you have to stay in there for… 10 minutes.

If, and only if, you two can last the entire 10 minutes then Pansy, Millicent, Crabbe, Goyle, Montegue, Warrington and Pucey will be forbidden from any name calling, hitting, or any other behaviour associated with bullying until after this years Yule holidays. However, if you fail, then every last one of you will be required to go to the front of the great hall at dinner, every night, until after this years Yule holidays, and announce that Slytherin is the best house."

They had all turned when the voice had first started. Standing there was Marcus Flint with Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis, and Blaise Zabini. Daphne, Tracy, and Blaise had all seen Pansy and her friends following the others and had gone to get Flint. They hadn't wanted anything bad to happen. Now they worried they had made a mistake.

"Maybe that's going to far, Flint." Tracy said in a hesitant voice as she looked to the two students that were going to be sent into the Shack. "That is one of the most haunted places in Britain. They could get hurt."

"No risk, no reward." Marcus smiled, he could see the joy in Hadrian's eyes. He had gotten used to that spark during the summer. It meant that the boy had a plan and was ready to take someone down. "What do you say? Do we have a deal? I will personally certify the bet and ensure that it will be followed."

"We agree." Hadrian stepped forward and shook Marcus's hand. There was a small flash as the bet was sealed on his side.

The magic would just ensure that the bet was followed. If they broke the terms of the bet, then they would suffer a punishment chosen by magic. But, since it was only a bet between school children the punishment would only be things like bad hair, and changes in their skin colour, nothing above basic prank levels.

Marcus turned to Hannah and the others. Looking to Hadrian, Hannah hesitantly stepped forward and shook Flints hand. After that, every other member of their little group followed suit.

Marcus looked to Pansy and the other Slytherins. "Well… Unless you think the Puff and the baby bird are better than you?"

At that, Pansy and all the others stepped forward and agreed to the bet. Daphne, Tracy, and Blaise just watched, all worried that this was going to go badly. As any true Slytherins, they were going to watch, but they had no intent of getting involved if it had a chance of backfiring on them.

Hadrian smiled as he felt the bet settle into place. He held out his arm to Hannah, and when she took it, he started moving them towards the Shrieking Shack.

After Hadrian had practically pulled Hannah the last few feet to the Shack and opened the door, he turned back. Seeing that they were in, Marcus cast a timer spell that displayed 10 minutes in the air in large, florescent red, numbers. As soon as the door closed with the two inside, he started the spell.

Walking calmly away from the closed door, Hadrian flopped down on one of the broken old couches with a puff of dust.

"Someone really should clean in here."

"Hadrian!?" Hanna gasped in an urgent whisper. "Are you out of your mind."

"Relax Hannah, were fine."

"There are extremely violent poltergeists in this place, and you tell me to relax. We could be killed in here."

"Hannah, there aren't any poltergeists."

Hadrian got up. Walking into what was once a living room, Hadrian pulled the cracked mirror off the wall. In large letters were four names carved into the wall. 'Moony', 'Padfoot', 'Prongs' and 'Shadow'.

"What is that supposed to mean? What do you know that I don't?" Hannah huffed.

"Oh so much. This is Sirius Black, this is his husband, Remus Lupin, and this… This is my dad, James Potter." Hadrian said, pointing to each of the nicknames in turn, he made sure to avoid any mentions of his papa. The man had a reputation to maintain.

"What?" Hannah's voice finally rose above a whisper in her confusion.

"Let me tell you a story of three friends." Hadrian sat down on one of the chairs and motioned for Hannah to take the other. Once she was sitting, and Nem had curled up to be petted on his lap, he started his story.

"There was once a young boy named Remus Lupin. When Remus was only a child, he was attacked by a monster, Fenrir Greyback. Despite his curse, his parents loved him, and did everything they could to protect him.

But that meant the little boy was never able to go and make friends like a normal kid. He spent almost his entire childhood hidden away behind the curtains in his parents home. Until one day, everything changed.

A letter arrived. Inviting the young boy to the most prestigious, and only, magical school in the country. No one had known what had happened to the boy, so he had never been removed from the acceptance list. His parents went to the school, and despite their sons condition, convinced the staff to accept the boy. It was agreed that no one could know of the boys affliction, so the boy would be smuggled out of the school every month.

This old manor here, was once the home of the headmaster of the school when the headmasters office was being renovated over 100 years ago. After the renovation was complete, the old place was just left to sit. But their had been a secret path from here to the school for the headmaster to use, so it was perfect.

A very dangerous tree, the whomping willow, was planted over the entrance, and every month, the boy would be brought through the tunnel and would be left here, all alone.

Remus Lupin was so excited that he was going to get to be a normal kid, but he was also terrified that someone would discover his secret. And one day, only a few months into his first year, two people did.

You see, Remus was sorted into Gryffindor, where he quickly made friends with two other young boys. The three were inseparable, except for during the night of the full moon. It didn't take long for the two clever boys to put the clues together.

But, rather than being afraid of him and telling everyone, the three boys became even better friends. The two always protecting and helping make up excuses for their friend. Rather than calling him a monster, they said he had a 'furry little problem'.

By this point in our tale, people had started to notice the happenings in this manor. You see, a rabid werewolf is driven to hunt and destroy, if they are left alone, they turn that rage on themselves.

All the howls and screams of pain that the towns folk used to hear, was the sounds of a young boy, just like you and me.

To protect their friend, and keep people away, rumours were started about particularly violent poltergeists. And to this day, even after the house has lain silent for over a decade, the rumours persist.

And, thus ends our tale of the origin of the Shrieking Shack."

Hannah looked at Hadrian for a moment before she broke down laughing. "Could you be any more dramatic?"

"Sure I could. I could have cast a dramatic music spell." Hadrian smiled.

"So your telling me that this is just an empty old house."

"Yup."

"Wow, people are really gullible."

"Yup."

"So. I have a question, oh wise one. Why did Flint make us make a magically binding bet?"

Hadrian smiled. "Simple, Marcus knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't have risked entering a bet that I didn't know I could win. I was raised by a Slytherin after all."

"But why would he want you to win the bet." Hannah was confused.

"Simple. Marcus doesn't like the others."

"But… They're in his house."

"Their also blood supremacists. Marcus doesn't like that."

"But… His father was a…"

Hadrian tilted his head. "Hannah. Susan, Neville, and I are all the children of aurors. Can you imagine any of us as aurors?"

Hanna thought for a second. "While given the fact that the last time we practiced basic jinxes in class Susan screamed and hid behind the teachers desk, I'm gonna have to say, no."

"Exactly, we are not our parents. Just like Marcus isn't his father.

Yes, his father was a death eater, but Marcus doesn't want anything to do with that life. In truth, and he will kill us if he ever finds out I told you this so it stays between us, Marcus wants to be an architect. He's planning on applying to a architectural design school in the spring."

"But, then why does he act the way he does? All mean and cold. And how is it that you know that?"

"Marcus is the Flint family heir. He has a role to play. You see, in the Flint family, when the heir graduates from Hogwarts, he receives his entire inheritance immediately. For Marcus, that means this year, when school ends in June, 4.7 million galleons will automatically be transferred into his personal account, and it can't be taken back. But that is only if he is deemed worthy.

If at any time his father starts to question his devotion to the dark, he can delay it and, using olde family laws, claim guardianship over him until he turns 21.

So, Marcus has to make his father think he's like him. He told me that as soon as he gets the money he's leaving the country. It's his escape plan. Marcus doesn't want anything to do with his father and those like him. So he does what is expected.

And the reason I know all this is because, Moony, my Uncle Remus, manages a shop on Morning Dew, called Mischief Managed, and Marcus worked their this summer. There was a slight incident with a spilled honesty potion, and he had a lot he felt the need to unload.

But, I am begging you, you can't say anything. At least, not until he's gone. Marcus really is a good guy, he deserves a chance to escape the life he's stuck in."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything." And Hannah meant it, she felt so guilty for judging Flint without ever even trying to get to know him. "So, what now?"

"Well, we still have four minutes. What do you say we have a little fun with everyone?" Hadrian pulled out a package of Mischief products.

"What do you have in mind?" Hannah had found her rhythm with Hadrian.

"Well. Uncle Remy came to meet me here earlier with my sisters. The girls brought me presents from the store." Hadrian pulled out the package that had clearly been clumsily wrapped by his sisters. "We have Paling Powder, that will give us a ghostly white complexion for an hour. Bloodshot Drops, those are eyedrops that will give us bloodshot eyes. Hmmm… Oh, Fake Blood, that's kind of self explanatory, but then again so is everything else. Goody, fake clothing rips and bruises."

Hadrian had emptied everything out on the desk.

"What's this?" Hannah asked as she picked up a Skiving Snackbox.

"That's a Skiving Snackbox." Hadrian went and opened the box. "This is only the basic box. It has Nosebleed Nougat, eat the orange one and you get a really bad nosebleed until you eat the purple. Puking Pastilles, they make you puke until you eat the counter, again, orange makes you sick, purple makes you better. And, ahh, Fever Fudge, we could use that to give us a sweaty sheen so it lookes like we've been running. The dark chocolate makes you spike a high fever, and the white chocolate makes you better."

"Hadrian Potter-Black!" Hannah put her hands on her hips. "You got out of our ancient runes lecture on Thursday because you had a high fever. You ate one of these so you could skip class, didn't you?"

Hadrian gave her a sheepish smile. "Now Hannah. Sweet and wonderful Hannah, there is no need to tell anyone that."

Hannah just raised her eyebrows so Hadrian continued. "Hannah, I was raised by curse breakers. I had runic colouring books when I was little. I was helping my uncles with translating runic texts by the time I was 8. I know runes. I just took the class to learn the practical applications, but we don't start that until after the holidays. I just couldn't sit through another lecture on the difference between the home and protection runes, it's completely obvious if you just look at them, they are different."

Hannah tried to hold back her laugh, she really did, but she had had this exact same discussion with Susan while hiding behind their textbooks during the class, until Granger had told Prof. Babbling they were talking. In the end, she couldn't stop the laugh, and it came out.

"Fine, I guess I can accept that. But, If you fail our midterm I am so telling Prof. Prince just why it was."

"Fair enough." Hadrian smiled back at the girl. "Lets get to work."

After quickly making themselves look like they had been through an epic battle, Hadrian walked over to one of the walls and pulled out his wand. With a few quick flicks, he carved 'HPB' into the wall. Hannah hesitated a moment before she went and added her own 'HA'. With that done, Hadrian started running around the room.

"What are you doing now?" Hannah asked in confusion.

"Mini Screamers, and Crackers. They will randomly make small explosions and screams for five minutes after I set them off. No need to ruin the legend."

Hearing the bong of Marcus's timer spell, Hadrian checked his own timer, their time was up. Casting the starting spell, Hadrian grabbed Hannah's arm, and they ran from the shack, Hannah faking a limp.

By the time they reached the others, most of them were panicking. Only Draco, Neville and Marcus remained calm, as they knew what Hadrian had done.

"Well, looks like the little Puff and baby bird win." Marcus sighed, keeping his voice disinterested even though he wanted to laugh.

Pansy and the others felt the bet magic taking hold. They couldn't bully anyone until after Yule. This just wasn't fair.

Stepping forward, Pansy got ready to start arguing that it shouldn't count, when the first of the Screamers went off.

Everyone froze as a bone chilling scream came from inside the house. Punctuated perfectly by a series of bangs and crashes.

Hearing what they believed to be danger, Pansy and her friends all turned tail and ran.

Nem stuck her nose back out of her pocket that she had returned to when Hadrian had started planting the little devices. She had no intent of sitting on the ground while he ran around, the place had been filthy. Now, disturbed once again, she growled, first at the shack, and then at her human. She knew that it was his fault, and that he had absolutely no guilt over it.

"I'm headed out." Marcus chuckled softly. "Well done on teaching those idiots a lesson."

Tracy, Daphne, and Blaise, just watched the prefect as he went. In the Slytherin hierarchy, Flint was the king. They had never expected him to actually have a sense of humour.

Once Marcus and the bullies were gone, Hadrian and Hannah broke down laughing. All the others looked at them in confusion, they had thought their friends were gravely injured, and now they were hysterical.

"Well," Draco drawled as he circled the two laughing teens. "Let's see, we have Paling Powder, Bloodshot Drops, fake blood, bruises, and rips. But how did you get the sweat?"

"Fever Fudge." Hadrian answered as he pulled out the white fudge and handed one to Hannah who quickly ate it.

Once there temperatures returned to normal, Hadrian pulled out the aerosolized counter potion to the skin powders that made up their paleness and bruises, as well as the eye drops. Quickly spraying himself down, he handed the can over to Hannah who followed suit. After that, all they had to do was pull off the fake rips from their clothes, and they were back to normal.

"What?" Came the voices of many of the others that had remained.

"What? My uncle manages a joke shop that, in my opinion, outdoes Zonko's. My sisters brought me a few toys that we decided to play with." Hadrian told the confused students.

"But how did you survive that place without a mark?" Susan had been terrified the entire time, and Hannah was just laughing it off.

"Really, what self respecting poltergeists, other than Peeves, is up during the day. We just stood in the entry hall and waited as quietly as we could." Hannah wasn't going to be the one that ended the legend of the Shrieking Shack.

When their was another series of bangs and screams from inside the shack, Hadrian started to walk away. "I think we should get out of here. They don't sound happy that someone was in their place."

All the others agreed. Most truly believed that the noise was coming from enraged poltergeists.

Lake Cottage

After leaving the Shrieking Shack, Hadrian, Draco, and Neville all went to the cottage to meet their families. All three laughing the entire way.

Walking in, they smiled at everyone gathered in the relatively small cottage.

"What did you do?" Severus sighed when he saw the light in his son's eyes. It was the same light James had always gotten when he had successfully pulled off a prank.

"What? I haven't done anything." Hadrian tried in an innocent voice. Every single person in the house snorted in disbelief, even the kids. "Ok, ok. I see how much you all trust me."

Hadrian went on to explain what he had done.

"Thank you dear boy." Severus smiled at his son when the story finished.

"What did I do for you?" Hadrian asked in confusion.

"Those seven students lose more points from bullying then the rest of the house combine. With them barred from bullying until January, we might just win the house cup." Severus grinned wickedly at his son.

Draco chuckled happily with his parents while everyone else booed.

Hogsmeade

The Weasley-Prewett family spent their afternoon wandering around the tiny village. It was a fun, sweet, afternoon. A chance to just be a family for people that had been torn apart and separated by the jealousy and greed of others.

Now, they could be together again.

Bill had once again returned for the weekend, and Charlie had returned from his snogging session with Oliver.

They had run into Ron when he and Hermione were in search of Hadrian, but he didn't stay with them long.

Ron had demanded that Arthur take them to The Three Broomsticks for lunch. But, Arthur had told him that their plan was to go to The Magic Neep, the local greengrocer, to get some fresh wraps and go to eat their lunch near the lake.

The idea of eating greens when their was perfectly delicious junk food so close seemed like a stupid idea, and Ron had told them so. When Ron tried to convince his dad that he should instead take him to Honeyduke's and buy him candy, and Arthur had told him that Ron already had his spending money, the boy had had enough.

Telling Arthur that he was mean, Ron and Hermione took off, going to continue their search for Hadrian.

Fabian, Gideon, and the boys all tried to tell Arthur that it was just Ron being a teenager, but Arthur just brushed them off. Ever since the ritual had been removed, Arthur had been making peace with the behaviour of Ron and Ginny. In spite of how much he loved them, he couldn't expect them to behave like the older boys, because they weren't like them.

Ignoring the pain in his heart, Arthur lead their family to the lake to eat their lunch.

Hogwarts, Slytherin House

After dinner that night, the students of Slytherin house returned to their common room for a house meeting that had been called earlier.

"Slytherins of the great and noble house of Slytherin, I come to you with an issue." Marcus Flint announce in a grand voice. "Earlier today, a bet was made. A bet that I myself personally certified.

As we all know, a Slytherin's word is not only their honour, but the honour of all of us. When a Slytherin makes an agreement, we stick to it. We never break our word, we just know how to find the loopholes in an agreement.

This bet, was lost.

The exact wording of the wager was that the losers 'will be forbidden from any name calling, hitting, or any other behaviour associated with bullying until after this years Yule holidays'. Those who lost this wager were Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Graham Montegue, Cassius Warrington and Adrian Pucey.

If you look around this room, you will see that each of them bares the proof that they have already broken their word."

And, they did indeed. Pansy, Crabbe, and Montegue all had faces covered in acne. Millicent and Warrington's hair was standing on end and frizzy. And, Adrian Pucey was tinted blue.

"It hasn't even been 12 hours, and they have dishonoured themselves, and the rest of us in the process.

I am calling on every member of this house to ensure that they do not make the mistake of dishonouring us again. If they wish to show themselves as unworthy to be in this great house, then they are welcome too. But, they do not get to besmirch our good names as they do so."

"Any who dishonour themselves do not deserve to carry the symbol of my house." Came a gravely voice. Everyone in the house turned to see who it was, only to look into the eyes of the portrait of their houses founder himself. "When we make an agreement, we keep it."

Everyone stared. It was so rare for Salazar to come to his portrait in their common room. Whenever anyone asked why, he would always just say it was because they never listened to him.

"We shall ensure they do as they agreed, or they shall return to the bottom of the hierarchy." Marcus finished, thankful that he had gotten back up from the man himself.

"Agreed." Came the voices of the rest of the house as one.

"It wasn't that bad." Pansy stomped her foot. "We shouldn't have to stick to that stupid bet with those mudbloods." In a flash, Pansy's shoulder length pin straight dark hair frizzed up like a poodle and turned a flat pea green.

"You seven were bested by a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff. You have already dishonoured this house enough today, don't you think?" Marcus snapped back, forcing himself not to laugh at the girls new look. "From this point on, you will follow the terms of the bet to the letter, or you will return to the bottom of the houses hierarchy."

When Pansy went to argue more, she was hit in the back by over a dozen silencing spells.

"I thank you all for your time, and your assistance." Marcus looked around the room. "With that, I call this meeting to an end. You are all dismissed."

Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - October 22, 2003

Like Neville had suggested, Oliver Wood filed his complaint with the school board over his being denied the right to leave. He also added in a concern he was having over his history grade.

Ever since the beginning of this year, his grades had dropped drastically in that class. The only reason that he wasn't currently failing the class was because whenever he got an assignment back that didn't look like it had been marked properly, he would take it to the TA, Mr. Grant, who would then go over it. For some reason, whenever Prof. Tonks marked his work, his grade was a minimum of 10% lower than if Mr. Grant had marked it.

When it was his turn, Oliver walked into the room and took his seat in front of the governors.

"Our next complaint was filed by Oliver Wood, seventh year Gryffindor, against Prof. McGonagall, and Prof. Andromeda Tonks, claiming illegal imprisonment for Prof. McGonagall, and unfair and biased grading for Prof. Tonks. Pleas explain your issues Mr. Wood." James said as he looked at the young man he knew was dating Charlie.

"Thank you Lord Peverell." Oliver forced himself to relax, Charlie had always told him that Lord Peverell was a good guy. "I am 17. I am a legal adult. I am passing all my classes. As such, I have the right to sign myself out of the school whenever I feel like it.

But every single time I have tried, I have been denied. Prof. McGonagall has repeatedly made up one excuse or another to bar me from leaving the school grounds. She even revoked my right to have Hogsmeade weekends, although I will admit that I snuck out. For which I was punished with three months of nightly detention. And, I have even been told that I will not be able to go home for the Yule holidays.

I don't know what is going on, but I feel like I am being held prisoner in this castle. I have checked with all my year mates, and none of them have had any trouble getting out of the school. Even my own house mates can come and go as they please. It just seems to be me that is a prisoner, and I want it to stop.

As for my history grades. I have no idea what is going on with that. I know I'm not the best student in class, but up until this year I have easily been able to achieve EE's. This year I am barely at an A, and the only reason that my grade isn't lower is because the first time I failed one of my assignments, I took it to Mr. Grant so that he could go over it with me so I could improve on my next assignment. He went over it, and said that my grade was 18% lower than it should have been if it was marked using the marking scheme that you all made.

Ever since then, I have handed him my assignments as soon as I get them back, and he marks them using the scheme. Even in class Prof. Tonks only speaks to me when she is taking points. I have even lost points for breathing too loudly. If this keeps up, then I will lose my place on the quidditch team.

Again, I don't know what is going on, but I want it to stop. What ever I did to Prof. Tonks, I am sorry, but that doesn't give her the right to risk my grades."

James already knew how this was going to end, but he had to keep up appearances. "Let's start with you Prof. McGonagall. What is your defence to the accusation of illegal imprisonment."

"I have done no such thing. Mr. Wood is the captain of our quidditch team. That comes with responsibilities. He needs to remain at school to train with the team. I have just been making sure that he lives up to the expectations he accepted when he took the badge. Although, I am beginning to wonder whether or not I made a mistake in selecting him due to his complaints about having to run practices." Minerva huffed. She was furious that one of her own lions was questioning her.

"Do you have something to say to that Mr. Wood?" James had seen the spark of temper in the boys eyes.

"Yes." Oliver was incensed that Prof. McGonagall would even consider taking away his quidditch captaincy. "I don't buy it.

If Prof. McGonagall feels that there is someone who can captain the team better, then I have no choice but to accept it. But keeping me at the school has nothing to do with quidditch. Our current seeker, Lorie Flas, is a seventh year like me. She has been signing herself out and going home every weekend since the beginning of term.

Whenever we have practice, she just comes back for a few hours before leaving again. Also, every other member of the team goes to Hogsmeade, so there is no reason I wouldn't be able too. Even with Lorie leaving on weekends, and the team going to Hogsmeade, we are still practicing a minimum of 9 hours a week.

My going home on weekends wouldn't change that."

"Ok. Prof. Tonks, what is your response to the allegations of unfair and biased treatment?" James looked to Andromeda.

"It is complete hogwash." Andromeda harrumphed. "He is a NEWT level student. He should expect that his work will be held to a higher standard than previous years. Maybe he should spend less time on his dating life, and more time on his school work.

It is not my fault that he isn't achieving the grades he wants. As this very board has repeatedly told students, if he wants better grades, he needs to earn them.

Mr. Grant should have not undermined me in the way he has, and I feel might be unsuited to continue as my assistant. More than likely, Mr. Wood corrected his mistakes and gave him the assignment for remarking. To me, that is cheating, and both should be punished for it."

Andromeda kept shooting glares at the boy. Most of the governors were confused by her behaviour, the woman was acting crazy.

"Mr. Grant. You have been going over Mr. Wood's assignments and remarking them. What is your stance on all of this?" James looked to the TA.

"I honestly don't know what is going on between Prof. Tonks and Oliver." Randy Grand wasn't worried about saying anything that would upset the crazy woman. Randy had been using this position to help him get into a mastery program, and he had gotten his acceptance letter only the week earlier.

As of July, he was no longer going to be a TA, he would be a masters student at one of the magical universities in Greece. Because of this he wasn't worried about losing his job.

"I have been going over Oliver's work since he came to me during the second week of classes. Every single assignment he has given me has been marked in a completely nonsensical way. Things that are marked as correct are wrong, and things that are marked as wrong, are right.

I will add on, when this was first brought to my attention I attempted to make sure that I was the one to mark anything submitted by Oliver, but Prof. Tonks specifically searched through the assignments and test until she found his, and took them.

As for the accusation that he corrected his assignments after they were handed back, and before they were given to me, I disagree. I always hand the assignments back at the end of class, meaning Oliver had his assignment for less than two minutes before he gave them back to me. Hardly enough time to make corrections. And, over the past month, I haven't even handed them back. When I see his, rather than handing them back, I place them on my desk since I know that he will be requesting a remark.

But, the biggest thing for me, is the tests. In the seventh year class, we have a test every other week. I never remark Oliver's tests. But, as a blind test, without telling either Oliver or Prof. Tonks, when Oliver has handed in his last three tests, I made an exact copy. The original was marked by Prof. Tonks, the copy was marked by me."

Randy pulled out three tests from his own bag next to him and handed them over. James almost smirked as he saw the slightly panicked look on Andromeda's face.

"Those are date and time stamped. I also added a certification check to show that they have not been edited. If you look, you will see clear evidence of Biased grading. But again, I have no idea what is driving the behaviour." Randy Grant sat back in his seat, finished with what he wanted to say.

"Thank you everyone, we are going to discuss everything, and will let you know our decision in a few minutes." James said just before a privacy shield went up between the governors and the others.

It took about ten minutes for the shield to drop.

"After a discussion and examining the evidence, we find in favour of Oliver Wood, on both counts." James announced. "As of now, Mr. Wood has the right to sign himself out at anytime he wishes. And, the detention he received for sneaking to Hogsmeade is rescinded as he had every right to go there and it was the staff of this school that were in the wrong." James gave Minerva a hard look, she just glared back.

"As for the unfair and biased grading, we are requiring that any and all marking of Mr. Wood's work is done by Mr. Grant. You will also be using the marks he gave on previous assignments. Prof. Tonks, we will be conducting random spot checks on the points you give and take, and the marks you give.

With that said, Mr. Wood. You and Mr. Grant are free to go, and we offer our apologies. Minerva, Andromeda, stay." James said.

Oliver thanked everyone, and quickly left the room. The way Lord Peverell's tone had become like ice when he said those last words made it so he didn't want to stick around.

Once Oliver and the TA had left the room, and the door had sealed behind them, Alice looked towards the two professors. "I do not know what has gotten into the two of you, but it will stop. That boy is a student at this school, and he will be treated like any other student.

Minerva, it is our decision that your probation will be extended another year. Once again, you have shown poor judgment in regards to a student at this school. Holding someone against their will is a crime. I will add, you have no legal right to deny any student the right to go home over any and all holidays. It can actually be classified as kidnapping.

Andromeda… I really don't know what to say. As you know, we added a financial penalty to unfair grading. Because of your own actions, you are being fined 200 galleons, which will be deducted from your next pay check."

"You have no right to do that." Andromeda was incensed. "That boy needs to learn his place. He has no right to hurt my baby like that."

Many of the governors made noises of confusion. Many asked what she was talking about, but Andromeda refused to answer.

"I believe that I can shed a little light on this issue. My niece…" Narcissa started, but she was swiftly cut off by Andromeda.

"She isn't your anything. You are nothing to her, or me."

Hurt momentarily flashed in Narcissa's eyes, but she pushed it back. "My apologies. My former sisters daughter had her hopes set on becoming the future Mrs. Charles Weasley. But, Charlie is dating Mr. Wood.

It seems my former sister has decided to take it out on the boy."

"Come now," James gave the woman a disapproving look. "I can understand the desire to protect your children, but this is taking it to far. Mr. Wood did nothing wrong, the one in the wrong is you. As a professor, you are required to leave any family drama outside of the school. If you can not, then you can not be a teacher. I do hope that we do not have to have a conversation like this again, with either of you."

After a few more students came in with little issues that were quickly dealt with, the meeting was called to a close.

Alice was tiding up the notes, trying to think of what was going on. Molly had been… off.

Alice knew about the disownment, but what concerned her was that Molly wasn't showing many signs of it. She really didn't think Molly was that good of an actress.

From everything Alice had ever heard about being disowned, there was always clear evidence of it. The person usually looked noticeably weaker, and for the first few weeks, would struggle with being up for any length of time, due to the lack of magical energy. It usually could take well over a month before someones body adjusted.

Although Molly hadn't seemed extremely energetic, she hadn't seemed to be struggling too much. She had even argued quite passionately in favour of allowing Minerva and Andromeda to take out their issues on Oliver.

Going through the magically created paperwork, Alice froze.

When James saw Alice visibly react to something she had seen, he went over.

Alice pointed out what had caught her eyes, and James joined her in shock. With an unspoken agreement, they both quickly left the school.

Headmaster's Office

When the meeting ended, Minerva, and Andromeda followed Albus up to his office. Molly had had to go home to rest.

"Would either of you like to explain to me what that was about?" Albus turned on the two women as soon as his office door was closed.

"It's that stupid boy." Andromeda almost screamed. "How dare he complain about my actions. He's the little bastard that's breaking my daughters heart."

Albus looked to Minerva for an answer.

"We felt that if we could keep Oliver and Charlie apart, it would allow Nymphadora the chance to get closer to Charlie."

"Ahhh." Albus understood. "I do understand, but now we have a new issue. With that boy filing complaints, we are stuck.

Neither of you can act out against him again. If you do so, he will file another complaint, and we risk the governors firing you."

"How am I supposed to tolerate that boy in my class. Day after day. Knowing that he is dating my daughters future husband."

"You have no choice Andromeda." Albus countered the contrary woman. There were times when her Black heritage was clearly shown in her attitude. "Just ignore him. He is no longer your problem. You both will leave Oliver and Charlie to Molly and I.

And Minerva, you will not remove Mr. Wood as quidditch captain."

"But Albus." Both women said at the same time.

"No." Albus snapped before either woman could get any further. "It is done. You will be fired if this happens again, and we need you both here.

Molly and I will deal with the boys Andromeda.

And Minerva, if you remove the boy from the position, you will make yourself the bad guy. You have already been found guilty by the board. Anything you do to the boy from now on will appear as if you are attacking him again. It risks turning your own students against you. Plus, Wood is the best chance Gryffindor has at winning the quidditch cup, and you and I both know it."

Minerva and Andromeda could only huff their agreement. They both knew, that despite how much they wished it was different, they could do nothing.

Albus sat back in his chair after the two angry women had left. He couldn't believe that they had tried to make, and carry out, a plan without him. Sure, it might have been a semi-good idea, but they had gotten caught. So, it clearly wasn't a well carried out plan.

He didn't have time to deal with the fallout from their plans, he had is own problems to deal with. Earlier in the month his old friend, Elphias Doge, had died. Albus had been expecting it, but it still annoyed him that it happened at an inopportune time.

Elphias had originally fallen ill over two decades earlier, and Albus had still needed him, so he had saved him. Over the years Albus had placed leaches on many of his former students, Albus just transferred that magic over to Elphias. The extra magic had helped to keep the man alive all this time.

He had run into issues during the last war. Most of the people that had his leeches had also been spelled and potioned to be completely loyal to him, which meant they were the ones fighting on the front line. Most of them had been killed. Those that survived were often injured and ended up in St. Mungo's, where they were checked and cleared of all spell damage, including his leeches.

It was easy enough for a witch or wizard to live to over 200, but only if their magic was strong enough. The stronger a persons core, the longer they lived. Magic helped to sustain a body and extend a persons youth. But only if the person had access to fresh magic. As a person aged, their magic aged with them. By the age of 100, most peoples cores started to produce magic slower, and that is what caused them to start aging faster.

Over the years, Albus had connected more and more of his old friends to the magic of his supporters to keep them alive, and after the war, there wasn't enough magic to support them all.

That was when he had discovered the prison that Voldemort had had. It seemed, that he and Voldemort had had a similar idea about taking others magic. Albus had just changed where the magic was sent. Giving his people power, while denying Voldemorts followers.

But now, the prison had been discovered, and those inside had been freed. The magic wasn't flowing any longer, and time was catching up with them.

He had become too complacent, believing that he would always have access to that magic. And now, it was gone.

Thanks to Sebastian and his little band of fools, and the unspeakables, the magical syphons had been removed. And now he and his people weren't getting the magic they deserved.

Elphias's body had gotten used to the amount of magic that it had been receiving, and without it, his heart failed. And, although he was the first, he wouldn't be the last. Albus had already seen many others that he had helped slowing down.

His oldest, and most loyal followers, were aging faster because they had been taking magic rather than producing it themselves, and now the magic was gone.

The Burrow

Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon were sitting down to tea with Muriel when Alice and James flooed into the Burrow.

"What has happened?" Gideon asked when he saw the looks on their faces.

Rather than saying anything, Alice just handed over the attendance record of that meeting.

"Please, forgive our interruption Dame Prewett." James bowed as he and Alice greeted the elderly woman properly.

James often had to deal with the stubborn woman in the Wizengamot. Even before Fabian and Gideon had been taken, they had named her as proxy, and she was still serving in that position to this day. The Prewett seat was in the light section, as was tradition, but she tended to vote more neutral.

"As charming as ever Lord Peverell." Muriel had always liked this man, he knew how to keep things interesting.

"I still don't see what has gotten you both so worked up." Gideon looked to Alice and James. Alice just huffed and pointed. "Well… Shit."

"GIDEON!" Muriel was shocked at the language.

Rather than answering, Gideon just handed her the page, and pointed at what had shocked him.

"Well… Shit." Everyone stared as the prim and proper woman swore.

"What is it?" Arthur asked in confusion and shock. What could be so surprising that it could make Muriel swear.

"It's Molly." Alice finally found her voice. "It didn't make sense during the meeting. She was weaker, but not the the expected amount due to a full disownment."

"So what happened?" Arthur didn't understand this.

"According to this sheet, Molly is magically recognized as 'Molly Diggle', but the only remaining Diggle is that fool, Dedalus." Muriel said.

"Molly got remarried already. How did she manage that?" Arthur was more than shocked.

"This isn't a marriage. I think Albus must have had them soul bond. It's the only way she isn't suffering from core depletion. She was accepted by the Diggle family magic. And, everyone knows just how loyal to Albus Dedalus Diggle is. The man would do anything for him, apparently even marry Molly." James told the stunned man.

Everyone just sat in silence for a few moments, working through their thoughts on the issue. Eventually, Arthur spoke.

"What am I supposed to do now. I know Dedalus, and, he isn't a bad man, but I don't want Ron and Ginny to have their lives turned upside down. I can't just let them go to where ever Molly is living at the moment, but I also know that I can't just bar the kids from seeing that woman. In spite of everything, she is their mother, and they love her."

"Then you don't, Arthur." Muriel reached out and put a comforting hand on the mans arm. "Given everything she has done, all you have to do is demand that you maintain primary custody. You can allow for the children to go there every now and then, but make sure to lay out ground rules. It would be just like that woman to attempt to turn the children against you.

You should also speak with Dedalus. Given what that woman does to people, he should be forewarned. Also discuss your expectations for rules the kids will need to have. It would be best to ensure that the rules are consistent from one house after another."

"Yes, yes." Arthur started thinking of everything he was going to need to do. "I could write out a list of rules that are must have's for the kids."

"Don't worry sweetheart. It will all be ok." Fabian came up and hugged Arthur from behind.

"You might want to sit down and lay out your expectations before the kids come home for Yule." Gideon added.

"Yes. I will do that." Arthur started wandering around the kitchen, grabbing a quill and some spare parchment that was laying around, starting to write out rules.

"Well, we will be off. We just thought you should know." Alice said as she and James headed back to the floo.

"Thank you for giving us some warning about what that woman has done now. Good day." Muriel said just before they were gone.