Gringotts - July 26, 2005
Leaving her office at the end of the day Amelia made her way to Gringotts. She was more than a little confused as to why Sebastian had requested to see her here. Entering the office she was led to, Amelia saw Sebastian and the goblin she knew was called Ragnok waiting for her.
"Hello Amelia." James said as he pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey. "Please, have a seat. I think this is going to be one of those meetings."
Amelia glanced at the bottle and saw it was already half empty. Looking up she noticed the clear signs that Sebastian had already had a drink.
"Do I need to worry about you becoming a day drinker?" Amelia quirked an eyebrow.
"I just had this meeting with Edward and Cecilia and we all had need of a drink to settle our nerves. What we are about to discuss will be quite shocking.
What I want you to know is that I never planned this deception lasting this long. It just got away from us and before we realized it almost a decade had passed." James told her sheepishly. He really hadn't meant to lie to everyone forever, he had just gotten so caught up in his family that time had passed much faster than he thought it could.
Amelia sat down with a sigh. "Well then pour me a drink and lets work through this."
James smirked as he poured the requested drink. "I think we should just get the big shock out of the way first. Ragnock, if you would."
Ragnock clicked his fingers and the glamour James had on dropped, allowing Amelia to see him.
"J…James?" Amelia stuttered before she grabbed the glass and drank it all back in one, forcing herself to be calm. "Explain, now."
"Well… I guess to start I should tell you I never married Lily Evans and she was not Hadrians mother. Just after I graduated Hogwarts I married my boyfriend, Severus. Sev and I are Hadrians parents.
Dumbledore had recruited Sev as a spy before he even finished Hogwarts so we had been keeping our relationship secret. Only Siri and Remus knew of our relationship.
One night when I was putting Hadrian to bed someone stunned me from behind. The next thing I was really conscious of was that I was living in Godric's Hollow with Lily Evans and she was acting like Hadrian was her son. That time of my life is pretty hazy, I'm pretty sure I was doused with love potions and under plenty of compulsion and memory charms.
I know at the same time this was happening many others had their memory altered. Sev, Siri, and Remy, all knew about Sev and I but they forgot. There were also plenty of people in Dumbledore's Order that knew I wasn't with Lily but they all seemed to have had their memory altered. I even talked to Alice and she swears she remembered Lily being pregnant even though she wasn't.
From what we have been able to figure out sometime before the attack on Godric's Hollow I was once again kidnapped and we believe replaced with a golem. Neither Lily, nor I were there the night of the attack."
Amelia had stayed quiet through all that, just sipping her newly poured drink, but now she had questions. "What happened to Lily? What happened after you were kidnapped the second time?"
"We aren't 100% sure what happened with Lily." James hedged. "We believe that she was the one that kidnapped me again, but we don't have any proof.
I actually don't know what happened after I was taken the second time. When I was rescued years later I was in a magically induced coma and the goblin healers said I had been in that state for years."
"Who rescued you? How did they even know you were alive?"
"I can answer that Madame Bones." Ragnock said. "After young Hadrian was brought to us we did an inheritance test. It showed that Lord Peverell was still alive. My wife is rather… forceful and she insisted that Hadrians fathers be here when he woke up.
Lord Peverell was tracked to a cottage in Godric's Hollow. We arranged for his retrieval. As we have no right to charge or detain any witch or wizard that has not committed a crime against Gringotts or the goblin nation there was no need for us to determine who was involved with the kidnapping."
"I woke up in the healing ward here shortly before I went to you and Fudge to arrange Siri's release from Azkaban." James finished.
"How are you Lord Peverell? Why didn't the Wizengamot chambers recognize your use of a false name?"
"Because it isn't a false name. At the time I didn't know what was going on or who I could trust. My first priority was my son who was still healing from the hell he was subjected to as a result of Dumbledore and the wizarding worlds blind trust in the old fool. I just wanted him safe and healthy.
The Potter's are descended from the Peverell's so I simply took up the title. I abdicated the Potter Lordship in favour of my son so that no one would connect me with the title.
As for the name thing, I legally and magically changed my name. The chamber accepted me as Sebastian Peverell because in the eyes of both the law and lady magic I am Sebastian Peverell."
"But why tell me now?" Amelia questioned. That was one thing that didn't make sense. Everything had been working for them so far, so why tell now.
"We both know that this issue with Hadrian's custody isn't going to just stop. There are many that want to be able to take control of him for his titles, his fame, his money, or all three. Just because we stopped it this time doesn't mean there wont be another attempt to get him away from us. As Sev and I are his fathers we have more rights, but that is only if certain people like you know."
Amelia nodded. She understood that. Hadrian was just to famous in their world for people to just leave him alone.
"So what do you want me to do with this information?" Amelia asked.
"Nothing. We just figured it would be better if you had the information in case anything else happens." James told her.
"Ok, can I ask one more question? What happened with Lily? I mean, where is she now?"
"Not really sure. She just sort of disappeared." James said. "We know from Hadrians test that she is still alive, but we really don't care, just so long as she stays away from my children I don't care. I figure she is up to her old tricks, whatever that might be."
After that James, Amelia and Ragnock finished their drinks, Amelia asking a few more basic questions before the meeting came to an end. Amelia left the bank in a state of shock. This was the last thing she had expected. She was starting to wonder who was the next person that was going to come back from the dead.
James watched Amelia leave before he headed out. It had been a bit of a gamble, but it had been worth it. Lily's trial was set to start in two days. Amelia was going to be the interrogator so she was going to need to have her wits about her. This way she would be able to absorb the shock faster and ask proper questions.
Ministry of Magic, Court Room 10 - July 27, 2005
The day had finally arrived for Lily's trial. It was taking James everything he had not to bounce into the court room. Even Sirius, who had never even sat in his seat in the Wizengamot, was wearing his lordship robes. He had decided there was no way he was missing this so had decided to be there. Severus was also there, wearing the Prince crest and ring publicly for the first time.
All three made their way up to the seats. Both James and Severus would both be restricted from voting since James was the victim, but Sirius would be able to vote. For this meeting Hadrian had even transferred his proxy votes to Sirius just to give him that much more power.
Hadrian was sitting with Remus in the heir area. This area was warded so that no one could identify the heirs. This was done so that the heirs could attend the Wizengamot to learn their duties without having to deal with the press. But just to be on the safe side Hadrians hair was a soft brown and his eyes were a light blue.
Amelia took her place as prosecutor. She could feel something was off about this trial. After everything that had happened in recent years she had started to trust Dumbledore even less than she already had. His attempts at stopping this woman from facing trial was more than a little suspicious.
Now she was going to get the answers she craved.
Ms. Mathews barrister took the seat at the other table as the woman was brought in and placed in the accused's chair. Over the past week Amelia had had plenty of visits from the man who was trying to keep his client from being tried.
Amelia knew that, although it hadn't been even implied, Albus Dumbledore had been the one to arrange for the man taking the woman on as a client. She really didn't understand the mans weird obsession with the woman. Amelia had figured she was just another employee, but this was odd. Maybe the man just didn't want to admit he had once again made a mistake and hired another criminal, the Lockhart situation still bothered many people.
Everyone settled into their seats as Lord Greengrass called the trial to order. He, like many others, knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Dumbledore and his sycophants already looked ready to start objecting.
Like they had thought almost as soon as the trial started the objections began. Amelia had requested the use of veritaserum. Many of Dumbledore's people didn't want it to be used, but it was clear that they weren't exactly sure why. Since they were just following Dumbledore's orders they objected, but they didn't have any legal reason to stop the use of a truth serum.
Amelia had to withhold a smirk as she offered a compromise. Rather than using veritaserum, they would be using a less forceful truth serum. This actually worked better for her in the long run.
While veritaserum forced the speaker to tell the truth, they only answered the direct question. With the lighter truth serums, while the person was still forced to tell the truth, it also allowed them to think and expand on things. When asked a question they would have to tell the truth, but they could also go off on tangents.
It was one of the reasons they always tried to use veritaserum in their trials. It allowed them to go faster. But Amelia figured it was better to have the woman speaking openly rather than in a trance like state. So long as she asked the right questions she could learn a world of truth.
Once everyone settled down again Amelia watched as Rose Mathews was given the serum. Getting up she went to start the interrogation.
"I will start with the basic test questions." Amelia announced as she moved closer to the bound woman. "What is your name?"
"Lily Evans."
"What?" Amelia gasped in shock.
"My name is Lily Evans. But I have been using the name Rose Mathews for the last few years."
Albus sighed heavily. This wasn't good. He had known it was going to happen, but he had still barely withheld his flinch when the woman spoke.
Amelia glanced at James. He had to have known something, but she wasn't angry about it. He had given her plausible deniability. If she had known this was Lily before hand she would have had to recuse herself from this trial, and she really was glad to be involved.
"Why don't you look like Lily Evans?"
"My ring has an ancient glamour woven into it." Lily answered without a care in the world. Inside she was screaming at herself to shut up.
Amelia had one of the unspeakables come forward and remove the ring. This left Lily looking like herself again. Although many were shocked, the years hadn't been kind to her.
The ancient glamours had fallen out of use for a reason. They actually damaged the body as they were worn. Dumbledore had only chosen to use those glamours on Lily because most of the detection spells were newer and didn't catch the older glamours. Even Mad-Eye's eye couldn't see through them.
Since Lily had been wearing the glamours non stop for years they had done extensive damage. Her skin was like wax paper with discoloured spots where her freckles had once been and covered in deep lines. Her once gleaming red hair was now dull and brittle. She looked much older than she was.
Amelia knew she needed to start off focused on the love potions, but if Lily mentioned anything about how she had survived she could expand her questions.
"Let's continue. What is your date of birth?"
"January 30, 1970. But I've been telling everyone it was June 1, 1975 so everyone would think I'm younger."
Amelia smirked slightly, Merlin this woman was shallow.
"Did you attempt to use love potions on Sebastian Prince-Peverell?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
"Because I should be Lady Peverell-Gryffindor. Severus doesn't deserve to be married to Sebastian. He should be mine."
"What potions did you use and for what purpose?"
"Aeternum amare, to make him completely in love with me. Aeternum submittere to make him submit to me. And aeternum studium to make him loyal to me."
"You do understand that all three of those potions are highly illegal?"
"Yes, but I wanted to use them."
"Even though you knew that using even one of those potions is worth a life sentence in Azkaban?"
"Yes."
"If you knew why did you use them?"
"Because I'm Lily Evans. I'm celebrated as a hero. No one would dare send me to Azkaban."
"Where did you get the potions?"
Lily stayed silent.
"Ms. Evans, what do you remember about where you got the potions?"
"I have no memory."
"Unspeakable Topaz, would you check the accuseds memory?" Amelia addressed the Unspeakable in the room.
After a twenty minute examination the Unspeakable turned to address the court. "The memories have been removed. It is common when dealing in illegal goods to remove the memory of where they were acquired. It is a way to stop prosecution of the suppliers."
"Do you know when the memories were removed?" Amelia asked.
"There is no way to determine when the memories were removed."
"I call for the dismissal of this case due to the fact that my clients memories have been altered." Lily's barrister jumped up, seeing this as his only chance to get his client off.
"What is your expert opinion in this matter Unspeakable Topaz, was she operating under her own control?" Gerald asked the unspeakable, he didn't want to let this woman off.
The unspeakable did another check. "Her memories weren't tampered with, only removed. There is no evidence of coercion. It is most likely that the black market dealer she worked with removed the memory of their identity in an act of self preservation. Everything she did before and after that point was done with her own free will."
"Thank you Unspeakable Topaz. Motion for dismissal denied. Please continue with your questioning Madame Bones." Gerald announced.
Albus let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Have you ever used love potion before? And if so who on and when?"
Lily tried to force herself to be quiet, she didn't want to admit this, but the potion forced her to speak.
"I started using weak love potions on Severus Snape starting when he was 12 after I learned how to get them over the summer before our second year. I started using the same basic potions on James Potter at the same time. During that time I started to randomly dose others in Gryffindor, I didn't know who was getting the potions. I started using the stronger love potion, amortentia, on both when we were in our fifth year after I learned how to brew it myself."
"Why did you use love potions on all those people."
"Because I deserved their love and adoration."
Everyone was a little startled at Lily's answer, even Albus. She really was self centred.
Amelia knew that she was running out of time. The truth potion only lasted for so long, and the agreement that had been made was that she could ask any relevant questions until the potion wore off. Given the amount of potion that had been administered she had only about 10 minutes left. She needed to ignore everyone else and just focus on her interrogation.
"Did you use love potions to make James Potter marry you?"
"No. We were never married."
"Then why has everyone been informed you were?"
"Objection, relevance." Lily's lawyer jumped up as he shot a silencing spell at her.. This trial was not going the way he had hoped. When Albus had come to him to defend his employee he had sworn she was innocent. Then when he had interviewed her to work up his defence strategy she had told him she hadn't done anything and that she hadn't had anything to hide, that was why he had even allowed them to use truth serum. If she had have told him the truth he would have recommended that she plead guilty. At least if she had done that she would only be punished for the potions. He might have even been able to negotiate her time down from life to only a few decades. But now there was pretty much nothing he could do to help her.
"She has already admitted James Potter was one of her victims. From that information it would only be sensible to further examine that situation due to its impact on our community." Amelia said as she looked to Gerald who overruled the objection and motioned for her to continue. "I ask again, Lily Evans why was the magical community led to believe that you were married to James Potter?"
"Because I wanted to be Lady Potter but James was being difficult. No one knew who he was involved with when Hadrian was born so I started lying and saying that I was his mother. Everyone just assumed that we were married."
"Why didn't James ever contradict your story?"
"Because he was under multiple love potions, compulsion potions, loyalty potions, and mind alterations to make him believe that we really were married."
"You said you started informing people that Hadrian Potter-Black, James Potter's son, was yours. Are you saying you are not the mother of Hadrian Potter-Black?"
"Yes and no. I did not give birth to Hadrian but I blood adopted him just before his first birthday after kidnapping him and James from their home and moving to Godric's Hollow."
"Was the blood adoption done legally? Did you get the proper permission from both parents without any coercion?"
"No. I forced the boy to drink the potion while he was unconscious from being moved."
"Did you do anything else to Hadrian Potter-Black after you kidnapped him?"
"I placed blocks on his abilities and magic like his metamorphmagus gift and his wish magic, along with a few various curses." Lily could feel the potion starting to wear off and so was able to limit what she said slightly.
Amelia knew that she was almost out of time and she made a quick decision about what her last questions would be. "How did you survive the attack in Godric's Hollow on October 31, 1991? What happened to James Potter?"
Although the potion was wearing off, Lily still felt compelled to answer, but she was able to limit what she said, but not enough. "I wasn't there. Before that night I took James and left golems in our place. I kept James in a magical coma and…"
Amelia knew when the potion was completely gone and Lily snapped her mouth closed and refused to continue to answer. Then and only then did Amelia start paying attention to the voices of the rest of the Wizengamot. It was obvious they were furious as they demanded answers.
Lily just shook her head refusing to look at anyone. There was a defeated look in her lawyers eyes, he knew this was going to end very badly for his client.
"I wish to amend the charges to include two counts of kidnapping, a forced blood adoption, illegal blocks and enchantments placed on an underage child, and child abuse." Amelia announced loudly over the noise.
Gerald went through the adding of the charges allowing the Wizengamot to vote for or against adding the charges. Each was approved. Then he called for a vote on guilt or innocence. It was unanimous, guilty. Even Dumbledore knew he had to vote for conviction.
Then came the decision on sentencing. After a lengthy debate Lily was sentenced to four life terms in Azkaban in the high security wing with round the clock presence of dementors, she would serve the first 50 years and then it would be brought back before the Wizengamot to vote whether she be returned to the prison to continue being punished or shown the mercy of a swift execution. She would only be granted the execution if the Wizengamot felt she had adequately paid for her crimes and felt true remorse, if they didn't then she would have to continue her punishment. Everyone knew that death was preferable to long term exposure to dementors.
With the sentence given the Wizengamot members went back to demanding answers about the fate of James Potter. Lily's lawyer saw this as his last chance and started to try and negotiate a reduction in sentence in exchange for answers.
Amelia wasn't going to let that happen. "There is no need for that. I know of the fate of James Potter."
Everyone turned to Amelia. Most were curious about what had happened, while two people in the chamber started to panic. Both Albus and Lily were terrified.
Albus couldn't figure out how Amelia could have figured out what he had done to James, his body was still hidden in the basement. There was no way Amelia could have found the cottage, could she?
Lily, while afraid, was also confused. Like with where she got the potions from, Lily had no memories of what had happened to James. Since she didn't have any memories of what had happened to him there really wasn't anything they could do to her, but she also knew that they might try and force more information from her with more truth serum and that just wouldn't end well. She never wanted that again, she still had far to many secrets to risk it.
"An anonymous third party learned that James Potter had survived and arranged for his rescue. He was privately treated for the potion and spell damage. After he was released from the private healers his first concern was for his son.
The third party that rescued him was only concerned with his survival and so had not bothered to collect any evidence or determine who it was that was holding him prisoner. Their only concern was his retrieval. As they had no evidence there was no way to determine who was involved in his kidnapping.
With no evidence of who was involved with his kidnapping James chose to go into hiding and focus on his family. To do this he went to the goblins at Gringotts. They assisted in legally changing his name and abdicating his title in favour of his son, as a result of this James Potter ceased to exist and Hadrian Potter-Black gained the ability to claim the title. He also got a powerful glamour that would allow him to continue to live his life without fear of his kidnappers returning and targeting him and his son.
He eventually came to me and gave me the basic outline of what had happened to him and what he knew. Unfortunately, as I had no evidence of who was involved and there was no evidence there was little I could do until today."
James was pleased with how Amelia was laying things out. She was telling the truth, as far as she knew, but slanting it in a way that would limit any fallout for him. Now people would think that he hadn't known who had targeted him and had simply been protecting his son.
Then people started demanding to know where James Potter was. Amelia gave him a subtle glance. James had known this was going to come out. He had had Ragnock remove the stronger glamour and instead now wore a glamour ring that kept his appearance up. It was time to face the world, with his true face.
Amelia watched as James stood up. Seeing where she was looking a majority of the people in the room turned to see a Lord that they all thought they had known well take off a ring on his little finger and changed to look like James Potter.
It was like someone set of a dozen canons.
Everyone was shouting.
James held up a hand and waited until it was relatively quiet, which happened surprisingly quickly. "I would apologize for the deceit, but I really don't regret it. Changing my name and face allowed for me to protect and raise my son."
"But you can't do that." Fudge sputtered. "All of your votes are invalid as you are required to use your true name when sitting in this chamber."
Albus sat up a little. Although he was struggling to figure out how James was here, this could help him. He might be able to get everything James had done in the past years revoked.
"I have been using my name." James smiled. "I legally changed my name, both in ministry records as well as magic. I am Sebastian Prince-Peverell, lord of both the Peverell and Gryffindor family. Everything I have done has been within the law."
"He is correct." Amelia added, not wanting Fudge, or worse, his sycophant, Umbridge, to make fools of the Ministry. "I have looked over everything he did and it was all legal and above board."
"So who is Hadrians mum?" Came a confused voice.
"He doesn't have one." James replied. "Hadrian is my son with my husband."
"Are you saying that the-boy-who-lived is the son of a death eater." One of Dumbledore's light fools demanded.
James narrowed his eyes. "As has been repeatedly covered, my husband was a spy. I am proud of what my husband did and anyone who says differently needs to reevaluate their thought process."
After that James only gave clipped responses. These people had no right to question his husband. Severus was the best man he had ever met and many of those light fools condemned him even though he had risked his life every day for years to protect their worthless lives.
It took another hour before the meeting broke up after it was decided that everyone was just to worked up to accomplish anything more that day. James and Severus made their way out quickly along with Sirius and met up with Remus and Hadrian.
James knew that he was going to have to speak with the reporters, but he was going to let the furor die down a bit. Since they had known that this would be the outcome they had already made arrangements to spend the next week in France so Hadrian could spend some time with Dudley. He would contact Tamsin only after his return.
Macmillan, Smith, and Boot Law Office
Albus sat silently in the office of Kyle Smith, uncle of one of his current Gryffindor's. He was less than pleased. When he had gone to Kyle, who he had assisted in helping pass his NEWTs after the man had chosen to party rather than study, he had been assured that Kyle would do his best to get a minimal sentence.
"I think we need to speak Mr. Smith." Albus all but hissed as Kyle made his way into the office.
Kyle jumped and spun when he heard the voice. He had spent the last few hours being berated by multiple people. First had been Lily Evans as he escorted her to where the aurors would meet them to escort her to Azkaban. Then had been his brother, who was furious that he had taken on a case without first speaking with him about it. Then had been the rest of the partners of the law firm about taking such a high ranked case and losing. Thankfully he had managed to hold them back with the fact that his client had lied to him about everything, even her name, so he couldn't have been able to prepare a proper defence or known the importance of the trial.
"H…Headmaster Dumbledore." Kyle stuttered out.
"Can you explain to me what happened today? You assured me that you would do your best."
"I… I did." Kyle knew better than to anger this man. "I did everything I could, but she lied to me. If she had given me information, even just the truth about her name, I might have been able to stop the use of truth serum, but she lied. She swore to me that she wasn't guilty so I set up the defence for a false arrest.
If I had known the truth I could have helped her plead for a lesser sentence and kept everything else secret. She still would have gone to Azkaban, but I might have managed to keep it to only a few decades rather than multiple life sentences. I did everything I could."
Albus sighed, he had specifically told Lily to keep her secrets close, but he had hoped she would at least have the intelligence to give Kyle the information he needed to properly defend her. This was one of the reasons he hadn't used Ted Tonks, he knew Ted wouldn't have a problem raking him over coals for withholding information.
"I'm sure you did your best my boy." Albus sighed, it wouldn't do to let Kyle feel that he had repaid his debt.
Kyle had to force himself to remain calm over the next ten minutes of talking with his former headmaster. He knew that he had made mistakes with the trial but he still didn't like feeling so guilty. He was sure that he would be able to repay the headmaster but now he felt like he owed him even more.
Lion's Den, Upstairs Flat - July 29, 2005
Arthur sighed as he made his way up the stairs that had been added to the back of the restaurant. They were just finishing off the first month of summer and he was bringing Ron and Ginny over to Molly's for their second weekend with her. He was not looking forward to this. Molly had tried visiting a few days prior, but the wards had blocked her out, so she had ended up sending a very nasty howler explaining her moving.
After knocking they were called to come in. Arthur prepared him self for what was to come.
"My babies." Molly rushed forward, pushing Arthur out of her way, to envelop the two teens in a hug. She was acting as if she hadn't seen them in years rather than two weeks.
"Molly, there are a few things I think we are going to need to speak about." Arthur said in a forced calm voice, he knew Molly was going to start shrieking soon.
"Oh what is it Arthur, can't you see I'm spending time with my babies." Molly snapped.
"Like I said, there are things we need to speak about."
"Oh fine." Molly huffed and went to sit at the small table in the room. "So what is it that is so important."
"I'm not sure if Ron and Ginny told you, but they decided to start learning the family magics at the beginning of the summer so Fabian, Gideon, and I sat down and explained things to them before we allowed them to start reading the family grimoires."
"Yes, yes, what does that have to do with anything."
Arthur withheld a growl. "I know you wouldn't understand as you never bothered to learn the Prewett magics yourself, but there are some very strict secrecy spells on the books. It would seem that despite all the warnings they were given, Ron and Ginny decided to ignore what they were told and tried to betray the family secrets."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Molly huffed.
"They tried to tell Hermione the different spells they read about. Since you never bothered to learn, you probably don't know that to even be able to open the books you have to sign a secrecy contract. Any attempt to betray the family secrets is punished."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Molly demanded as she rushed over and started checking for injuries, but couldn't find anything.
"Since they tried to tell someone the secrets the family magic punished them by taking their voices." Arthur shrugged. "From what the twins and I can figure they should regain their voices by the end of next week."
"What?" Molly shrieked.
Both Ron and Ginny just kept glaring. Ron tried to yell they hadn't done anything wrong, but nothing came out. He just went red in the face and he flung his arms around and stomped his feet, but nothing would come out of his moving lips.
"You will fix this, and you will fix this now." Molly shouted at Arthur.
"There is nothing I can do Molly. They made a magically binding agreement. They broke it, now they pay the price they agreed to." Arthur had been explaining this fact for the past few days every time Ron and Ginny threw a silent fit.
Things quickly devolved into an argument. Molly was sure that Arthur could fix the problem and was just refusing to because he was being cruel. Arthur just kept saying that there was nothing he could do, they had broken a magically binding agreement.
"I have had enough of this." Molly screamed. "My babies are staying with me from now on. I refuse to let them stay with you and those disgusting freaks you call husbands. I will not allow you to corrupt my babies any more."
Ron and Ginny both started nodding. They hated having to stay with their dad so much.
Seeing the way the kids were reacting Arthur sighed. "Do you know what… fine. You two aren't little children anymore so you should have a say in where you live. If it is what you both want then we will just reverse the custody agreement. You will live with your mother and come to the Burrow every other weekend.
But you do understand what that means. This isn't something you can change every time you don't get your way. If we change the agreement then that is it. It is changed and you can't go back. It also means I will no longer be giving you your allowance, that will instead come from your mother."
Ron and Ginny just nodded. They wanted to be with their mum.
"Alright then, I will have the papers drawn up. Molly, I will expect them at the Burrow every other weekend starting next weekend. I will chip in 10 galleons for their school supplies each. That should more than cover what they need.
I will also keep paying for their mind healer appointments, but they will have to go and be on time. If they are late more than twice or miss more than 2 appointments without a valid reason then I will stop payments and you can cover the cost yourself."
"Fine." Molly was thrilled that her babies were coming to live with her. "There is just the matter of child support. Since they will be living with me full time you will need to start paying."
Arthur smirked. "I will pay the exact same amount of child support you have been paying."
Molly glared. Sure, she had never paid a single knut in support when her babies had been living with Arthur, but she shouldn't have had to. Arthur and the twins had all been working so of course they had had more than enough money. She deserved support since she was going to become a single mum.
"Don't start Molly. All we are doing is reversing the agreement that we had, not adding anything else. I think I am being more than kind given that I am willing to assist in paying for their school supplies, something that you have never done. I will even continue to cover their school tuition, unless you would like to start." Molly just kept glaring. "I think that look says everything that needs to be said.
I will see you two next weekend. I hope you like this arrangement and it doesn't turn around to bite you."
With that Arthur walked out. He was sad that things had come to this, but he really had tried everything he could think of. There was nothing else he could do. Maybe this was for the best. He would still get to spend time with them, but it wouldn't be so much that they got angry with him. Maybe absence really did make the heart grow fonder.
Hogwarts - August 1, 2005
Albus Dumbledore was furious as he was forced from his office at spear point and under threat of having all his gold seized.
The goblins had arrived bright and early just like Sebastian…James had said, Albus still couldn't believe that. He had gone to the cottage in Godric's Hollow to try and figure out how he could have the body of James Potter yet the man have been walking around for years. What he didn't know was that as soon as they had all walked into the Wizengamot court room a goblin contingent had gone to the cottage and removed the body.
Albus had found an empty basement and that had just made him more confused. He knew that he had had a body there. But it wasn't like he could tell anyone that he had lost track of the body of a man that he had both kidnapped and killed.
Before he could even start to try and work out what had happened he had been woken up by goblins demanding that he leave for the next week. There was no way he was going to willingly do that. He didn't want the wards to be examined or changed. He had done a lot of work on them over the years to make them how he wanted them and he didn't want those disgusting creatures to have any involvement in his school. He needed the changes he had made to remain.
Since they needed the school to be empty of all witches and wizards Albus had just planned not to leave. He knew that he was going to need to make up some kind of excuse to tell the stupid governors because they were so demanding about the update but he was sure he could do it. And even if they didn't accept his excuse they would have to wait until the next summer anyways and by then he would have found another way around it. He had managed to keep a lot of secrets just by putting things off that way.
But things hadn't worked for him. The goblins had stormed into his private chambers and demanded he leave. They completely refused to listen to him and just kept saying they had a job to do. Eventually he had gotten sick of them and he had pulled his wand only to have more than a dozen weapons aimed at him.
The stupid goblin that had previously been demanding he leave told him that if he cast a single spell at them he would be treated as an enemy of the goblin nation. That meant that any assets he had would be seized, but more than likely he would be executed before that happened. That didn't seem like a good idea so he had no choice but to allow himself to be escorted out.
The goblins were all almost pleased once the annoying old wizard was gone and they could get on with their work.
Hogwarts - August 9, 2005
Albus was finally back in his office and still completely furious. Those disgusting goblins had made a mess of his wards. Over the years he had edited and changed the wards so that he could do what he wanted, but the goblins had had the original ward scheme information and had updated from there.
The new wards blocked dangerous artifacts from the school, which had caused the destruction of multiple priceless artifacts that he had collected over the years, he had already started work on removing those. There were also new wards that would alert the closest professor in the event of bullying turning violent and also freeze the aggressor. He knew over the years it was more often than not a Gryffindor that would be the one attacking, but he had used the fact that there weren't witnesses, but if it was the aggressor that was the one that was frozen then there was no way he could say that it was the other persons fault. There were now multiple other wards that would protect the students and make the grounds less dangerous and he didn't like that, he used the danger to keep control.
Then there was the removal of the wards he had added. It had taken years, but a few decades ago Albus had managed to integrate a ward that would allow him to identify and track all children with a dark core and all students in Slytherin. He had also added a low level leaching ward in recent years. The ward had to be low level because most of the older students would notice if their magic decreased by too much. As it had been he was able to syphon off 2% from every student, not enough for anyone to notice, but a great deal of power when added together. He had been using that magic to supplement what had been lost from the prison, but it still hadn't been enough. And now that magic too, was gone.
There wasn't even words for how much he hated all this meddling in his school and his plans. He was supposed to be the one in control. He needed to find a way to start to regain his control.
He had been writing different ideas on a sheet of parchment. Once again getting frustrated he balled up the sheet and threw it into the fire, that he had burning even though it was the middle of summer, when Minerva's cat patronus came dashing in to tell him that he needed to get to the staff room so that they could select the new prefects. Normally they did that earlier but everything had been such a mess with the trial and then the wards had made him put it off, but they needed to get it done now if they wanted to get the letters out so that the students could get their supplies.
Severus was more than a little annoyed by the time Dumbledore managed to finally make it down to the staff room. They had already been sitting there for over half an hour. Whenever any of the others just tried to do their job Minerva would interrupt and demand that they wait for the headmaster.
This could have been handled on time if Dumbledore wasn't such a control freak. The man had been so distracted by the trial that he kept moving the meeting back even though the school should have come first, and it wasn't like they even needed him there. The heads of house were responsible for selecting their prefects and either the headmaster, or deputy headmaster could approve it. Then there had been the period of the warding, they could have held the meeting at any point during that week, just not at the school, there were many private rooms at the restaurants in Hogsmeade that they could have used, but again Dumbledore refused to allow it.
"Sorry I'm late, I was busy with some pre term paperwork." Albus twinkled at those in the room.
"Yes, well… Let's carry on now that we're all here." Severus sneered.
Minerva snarled slightly at the look her colleague sent her.
"Yes, yes. Let's get to work." Dumbledore took his seat.
"I guess I'll start." Pomona Sprout said. "I will be keeping my upper year prefects the same and I was thinking of making Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom my 5th year prefects."
The others all agreed. Albus and Minerva didn't see a problem with that. If anything it was helpful since both Susan and Neville had powerful and influential family members that they might be able to convince to see things their way if it meant the advancement of their children.
"We discussed it and have also decided to keep our older prefects." Lucien Zarno said as co-head of Slytherin.
Aurora Sinistra nodded. "Our new prefects will be Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy."
This lead to a bit of a debate. Albus and Minerva had absolutely no problem with Daphne, but both objected to Draco. Neither of them wanted to elevate a Malfoy but couldn't give a good reason for that so both were approved.
"Filius?" Albus looked to the small charms master.
"It goes without saying that the upper years will be keeping their positions. For the 5th year choices I want Padma Patil and Terry Boot."
"I figured you would select young Hadrian." Pomona said in slight confusion.
"I watched the students over the past year and even spoke with my top choices about it to see if they would be willing." Filius sipped his tea. "Both Hadrian and his roommate Theo were both in contention for the spot but selected to withdraw themselves since they are both Lords. Nox currently sits as the top student of their year and said he felt that being prefect would take too much time away from studying. Of the remaining boys Terry Boot is the best qualified."
"Yes, I spoke with Hadrian about it." Severus added when he saw both Albus and Minerva getting ready to add their opinions. "While he can't take his seat in the Wizengamot until he is 16, he is planning on taking more responsibility for his seats over the year so that he can begin to get ready for the position. Given that he is expected to hold the responsibility of his lordships for years to come, and the role of prefect only lasts for a maximum of 3 years, Hadrian has chosen to prioritize his grades and lordship."
"That is quite sensible. I know that Blaise Zabini has taken the same path. He has already written me to let me know that he will even be attending a few of the Wizengamot sessions over the coming year so that he can know what to expect." Aurora added.
"Yes, Hadrian has spoken with us and will be doing the same thing, but he is going to wait until the school year starts so he can see what his schedule is like before he starts making plans so that he doesn't miss anything." Severus said.
"Are you sure that's a good idea Severus? Harry really should be focusing on his school work." Dumbledore said. He really didn't want Harry to get involved in the Wizengamot. There were too many people that would follow the boys foolish ideas, it was why Albus had wanted to hold proxy over those seats.
"Hadrian is currently ranked second in his year just behind Mr. Cross." Severus raised a brow. "He knows that his grades come first. Don't worry Albus, I have every intention of keeping a close eye on my son and will not hesitate to intervene."
Albus wanted to scream at that reminder. How could he knot have known that Severus and James had been involved? He was supposed to know everything that went on with his people yet he had some how missed two of his people that he had spelled to hate each other were married and had had a child.
If he had known that he might have been able to make better plans. He could have forced Severus to sign over guardianship rights while he had had the man under his spells before he had gone to work for the bank. Another missed opportunity.
"Now that that's out of the way…" Sirius broke in. "To the Gryffindor's. I don't know about who Minerva has selected, since she has refused to discuss it with me, but I think the older prefects are doing fine, and for the upcoming 5th years… I was thinking Autumn Quinn and Dean Thomas. They are both well liked, have decent grades, Dean has had the fewest detentions of the boys in his year, and Autumn has had none, and they are both good leaders."
"I think not." Minerva snapped. "Ron and Hermione are going to be this years prefects."
"Have you completely lost your mind."
Everyone was more than a little surprised to see that it was Pomona that had spoken and was looking at the woman like she had two heads.
"Now Pomona I'm sure Minerva knows what is best for her house. Her decisions are the ones that matter." Albus twinkled.
"Actually Albus, as Sirius is her co-head their opinions carry the same weight. And I fully support Pomona's reaction." Severus drawled.
"I must agree. Hermione is a middling student and Ronald is one of the worst. Neither can follow instructions or have shown any leadership qualities. Not to mention just how many detentions they have had. I don't think they managed to go a single week without at least getting detention or losing points for breaking the rules." Lucian agreed.
"There is also their problems with bullying. How can we trust those two to be in a position of authority? They would just use it to abuse their fellow students more." Aurora added having had to deal with those two for years.
"It has just been a slight misunderstanding. I'm sure Ronald and Hermione would never abuse their position or the other students." Dumbledore popped a lemon drop in his mouth to try and stay calm.
This ended up leading to an argument that lasted another half an hour. Only Albus and Minerva were arguing in favour of making Ron and Hermione prefects, but neither was willing to back down or even listen to reason.
Sirius glanced over to Severus and could see the vein throbbing in his temple. He himself was getting a headache. This needed to end.
"Enough." Sirius shouted over the bickering. "It is clear neither side is willing to back away from their positions so I am going to propose an idea that might be our only chance of getting home before we have to come back to start setting up.
I propose that we give Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger a chance. But it will come with caveats. They will be on probation for the first term and any detentions they give, and any points they give and take will be reviewed by all heads of house for legitimacy. If they are found to be abusing their badge then they will lose them to the students I selected. Alongside this, their grades and detention records will be watched. If their grades drop below a low EE average, or they get more than three detentions a month then they will have their badges removed. However, if there are any incidents of a physical attack or hexing that results in the victim going to the hospital wing they will be stripped of their badges immediately.
Rather than sending out their letter like usual I will personally deliver them so that I can be sure to impress upon them the rules that they will need to follow."
"I do wonder why you would even agree to allow them the positions in the first place?" Severus said thoughtfully.
"This is a chance for them to grow up." Sirius shrugged. "A chance for them to rise to the occasion. I know from seeing it with James, when he was given the head boy badge and the responsibility it involved, he stepped up. Maybe these two just need that same push. At least, it is what I hope."
"And just why are you the one that should deliver the letters? I can do it just as easily as you." Minerva snarled.
"Normally I would just allow you to do it Minerva, but I have my doubts that you would be able to make sure they understand that there is no way they are getting around the rules. You have always made excuses for their behaviour so they will not see you as someone not to cross.
They know that I will not change the rules for them. When I give them expectations and consequences they know that I will follow through." Sirius gave her a bland look.
"Now surely there is no need for this probation idea. They are good children, they have just made a few mistakes. They will do just fine with the responsibility." Albus smiled. "They will get the badges without the probation."
"No." Of all people it was once again Pomona that spoke up. "I have my doubts that they will be able to rise to the occasion, but I am willing to accept Sirius's idea. That is the only way I will agree with those two getting the badge.
Honestly, it is an insult to the other students that have worked hard and not gotten in trouble to give those two a badge, but it is not my choice. But, if either of you, Albus or Minerva, attempt to change the parameters that Sirius just laid out I will demand this decision go to the board."
Albus forced down his anger. He knew for a fact that if it went to the board there was no way his pawns would get the badges. Oh how he hated being questioned, by a 'Puff no less.
"Fine. Sirius, you will deliver their badges and impress upon them the rules." Albus motioned for Minerva to stay silent.
As soon as all the others had left Minerva followed Albus back up to his office.
"Why did you let them do that?" Minerva demanded.
"Please take a seat Minerva." Albus sighed. He knew she was going to be angry. "I did what I had to do to ensure we got what we wanted.
Yes, I do wish we could have gotten them the badges without the probationary period, but it is the best we could get."
"But Albus." Minerva practically whined.
"No Minerva." Albus snapped, he had enough issues, he didn't need her behaving like a child. "There was no other option. Either we agreed to Sirius's proposal or they wouldn't have gotten the badges. It is better to make a small sacrifice rather than lose everything we had been working for.
We need those two to be prefects. It will allow us to speak with them more. It will also allow them to establish their position as one of authority over the rest of the school, it will even make it easier for them to become head boy and girl. We need the other students to look to them and the only way we can get that is if they are prefects.
You will have to speak with them once they are back at school. They can not lose their positions. I don't care what they want, they have to follow the rules… At least for the first term. Once they are no longer on probation they can start to relax their behaviour, but until then they need to be perfect."
"Don't worry Albus, I'll take care of it." Minerva was determined not to fail.
Granger House - August 12, 2005
Hermione was sitting at the table working on one of the assignments her parents had given her under the watchful eye of her mother. She was sure there could be no worse summer than this.
She had thought that just being denied the use of her magic had been bad enough, but apparently not. Now she had to work too. Then there were the assignments that her parents were making her do to earn visiting her friends. So far she had only been aloud to visit Ron and Ginny once that summer, and that hadn't even been worth it since as soon as they started to tell her about the family magics they were learning they both lost their voices and had had to go home.
Right now she was going to use this assignment she was doing to get her parents to let her go do some shopping in Diagon Alley. It was now just about convincing her parents to accept it. So far they had rejected all but one of her papers. Her mum had even made her sit down and write out a point form list of what she wanted to include in this paper before going through the list and scratching out everything she said should not be in the paper. It was more than a little annoying, but she really had no other choice but to do it her mothers way.
The only thing she was waiting for now was her letter telling her which books she would need for the oncoming year. It was odd because the letter usually would have come by now, but she was willing to overlook the lateness. But only if the extra she had been offered was there.
Before leaving for the summer the year before Professor McGonagall had assured her that she would be getting the prefects badge. Hermione knew that she deserved it, but she had her doubts that she would get it. Professor Black was now co-head of house, and he clearly didn't like her, most likely because she was muggle born she knew, he was a Black after all. But Professor Black had just as much power as Professor McGonagall so he might just be able to stop Hermione from getting the badge, hopefully Headmaster Dumbledore would be able to put the man in his place.
Just before dinner there was a nock at the door. Jean Granger led Professor Black into the living room, calling her husband and daughter in. Professor Black had told her that he needed to speak with Hermione, but he thought both parents should be there.
"Professor Black?" Howard questioned.
"I decided to bring this personally." Sirius handed over Hermione's school letter.
"Why is it so late, and why did you bring it?" Hermione was confused.
"The school was being rewarded, but that isn't what I'm here about." Sirius really didn't understand why this little girl thought everyone should have to answer to her. "What I am here about is this."
Hermione grinned as the professor held out the shiny prefects badge that she had been hoping for.
"Now, there are a few strings that come attached to that badge." Sirius said seriously.
"And what sort of strings are those?" Jean questioned. She was happy her daughter had gotten the badge she had wanted so badly, but she was confused since Hermione's behaviour didn't show any evidence of deserving or earning this elevation.
"She will be on probation. The badge can be removed if she does not prove herself worthy." Sirius looked between the two adults. "This honour has been granted to Hermione in the hopes that it will encourage her to prove herself worthy, not because she has already done so. It is a chance for her to rise to the occasion.
But, you must understand Ms. Granger, you will be monitored. Any points you give or take, as well as any detentions you assign will be evaluated every month. If you are caught taking advantage of your badge then you will lose it. That means you have to have a valid reason for all actions you take.
Along side that both your grades and your own behaviour will be evaluated each month. If you receive more than three detentions a month, if your grades drop below a low EE average, or if you are caught physically attacking, or hexing, another student you will lose your badge. That means you have to stop hitting your fellow students."
"I don't hit anyone." Hermione glared, incensed at everything she had just been told. She deserved this badge, and they had no right to hold it over her head for the type of behaviour they wanted.
"Yes, you do Hermione." Jean sighed. "It is why you now work in the filing room rather than at the front desk with Emma. You kept hitting her when she was trying to teach you what to do."
"This is a list of what we will be monitoring and the basic outline of the minimum requirements to maintain her badge, although I would hope that she aims higher than minimum expectations." Sirius said as he got up to leave. "I really should be off, I still have another meeting to get to."
"Allow me to escort you out." Howard got up and left his wife and daughter to their staring contest. Reaching the door Howard turned to his daughters professor. "Thank you for allowing her another chance, though I don't know if it will help. She is just so sure she is always right.
We have been trying to change things alongside her mind healer appointments, but she just refuses to accept it. Her hitting is going to get her into real trouble soon. I really don't think she even realizes she hits. It's almost like it's unconscious."
Sirius took a moment to think through his next words, he didn't want the other man to take this wrong. "I think one of her major issues is that she has more than likely never been hit before. I'm not saying you need to have been hit to understand why it is wrong to do it to others, just that with her inability to see things from others perspectives she might truly believe that it isn't wrong so she doesn't pay attention to when she hits.
But… There is something that might help. I'm not saying it is the path you need to take, but it is just an option. There is a potion called a karma potion, though that's just the common nickname, not the real one. The potion is often used when treating patients with problems of pathological violence.
The potion allows the one who takes it to feel the result of their actions. It would mean that Hermione would feel the same pain she causes every time she hits someone. It might be something to keep in mind as an option of last resort."
Howard nodded. "I really don't want her to get hurt, but she just isn't getting it. I'll speak with Jean and her healer. We probably won't do it now, but it is an option I guess.
Either way, good evening Professor Black. Have a safe trip."
Sirius walked out of the house and went into a dark alley a few houses down and apperated away.
Lion's Den, Upstairs Flat
Molly was up in the flat making dinner for Ron and Ginny when Sirius arrived. She was already starting to get frustrated. It had been two weeks since her babies had come to live with her… and they were starting to drive her crazy.
When she had first been forced to move out by Arthur she had been so dreadfully lonely and missing her kids, but she had gotten used to it quickly. She had gotten used to the no screaming arguments at all hours of the day and night. She had gotten used to things staying where she put them. She had gotten used to not having others around making messes that she then had to clean up. She had gotten used to not always having someone else underfoot. But most of all she had gotten used to only being responsible for herself.
Ron and Ginny expected her to take care of everything for them. She had to make all their meals in the upstairs flat because if she didn't they would either make a disaster in the kitchen when they attempted it themselves, or worse, they would come down to the restaurant kitchen and just start taking any food that looked good. Somehow they managed to make a mess everywhere they went and didn't clean up.
She knew that Arthur had always made them clean up after themselves and take responsibility for themselves, but she didn't want to be mean like him, Ron and Ginny always told her how mean he was. That was the reason she had gotten rid of all those stupid rules Arthur had given them.
There was no more bed time. There was no more time they had to be up by. And there were no more rules about when and how often they needed to study.
All these things led to a slightly frazzled Molly Diggle letting Sirius into her place. "What is it that you want Sirius?"
"I came to deliver these." Sirius held out the two Hogwarts letters.
"Why?" Molly was confused. She didn't trust this man and didn't know why he was here to deliver the letters personally.
"Mum I'm hungry." Ron whined as he came into the kitchen.
"Me too." Ginny whined louder as she followed him. "What are you doing here?" She demanded as she saw one of her heads of house.
"He came to drop off your letters." Molly said, her confusion and suspicion clear in her voice.
"There is another reason." Sirius pulled out the badge and Molly shrieked while Ron puffed up his chest and grinned.
Both then went on to spend the next ten minutes completely ignoring him while they were lost in their own little worlds. Molly was thrilled. She had known that her baby boy would get the prefects badge. After all, there was no one more deserving. Ron was happy. He had wanted a badge of his own ever since Bill had gotten his. Now he had one of his own. He just needed to get on the quidditch team and then he could show up Charlie too.
"Just wait, I will finally be able to start getting those disgusting snakes back in line. I'll make sure they know where they belong." Ron grinned viciously.
"And that is exactly what will get you in trouble at school." Sirius said, he had known the boy wouldn't be able to with hold his own prejudice. At least he wouldn't be embarrassing his house for too long.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Molly snarled as she whirled around to stare the man down.
"There was a rather large debate about whether Ronald would get the badge." Sirius shrugged as if he didn't have a care in the world. "In the end it was agreed that he would get the badge, but he would be on probation and could have his badge stripped if he got into too much trouble.
Here are a list of the guidelines." Sirius handed over the list. "The basics are that a remark like that one you just made Mr. Weasley, is completely unacceptable. If we had been at school just now that remark alone could have you stripped of that badge. You are not aloud to target one group over another, you must apply the rules equally amongst all houses.
As it states on that list, every action you take will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that you are living up to this honour you have been given. I want you to understand Mr. Weasley, you have been given the badge in the hope that you will live up to it, not because you have already done so. This is an opportunity to put the past behind you and grow up, I hope that you take it seriously."
With that Sirius turned and quickly left, he could see Molly building up steam and wanted to get out before she blew her top.
"Just who does he think he is? How dare he act like he is doing you some great favour? You deserved that badge. You and Ginny are the best students at that stupid school. These stupid rules are just ridiculous. They aren't even real, neither Bill or Percy were ever threatened like this. I will just write to the Headmaster to get him to put that man back in his place. I will not have him threatening my children like that."
With that Molly plated the kids dinner before turning to go and write up a letter to send to the headmaster. Ron and Ginny both just sat down to eat their food. They really weren't concerned with what their mum was muttering about. Ginny, because she really didn't care about whether or not Ron was a prefect, although she could see the benefit of him being able to protect her and give her extra points. Ron just didn't care.
He was sure that Black was just being dramatic. There was no way they would take his badge away. He had never even heard of someone having their badge removed, and if it had ever happened surely Hermione would have told him about it.
No, he wasn't going to let Professor Black stop him from doing what he knew was right. Those snakes were going to learn just where they belonged. And maybe Potter might just have to learn a thing or too as well. All he could hope was that he would be able to catch Potter breaking the rules and use that to threaten the other boy into telling others they were friends.
Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office - August 17, 2005
Albus sat in his office and fumed. This year was already proving it was going to be a bad year.
Ever since the final task he had been trying to get everyone ready. Voldemort was coming back.
But no one was listening to him.
Just this morning the Daily Prophet had written about him trying to regain past glory. They had implied that he was just trying to scare people so that they would look to him for answers since more and more people were going elsewhere to look for ways to solve their worlds problems.
It might be partly true, he did want people to look to him once again, but it was for the greater good. He was the one that knew what was best. What about that didn't they understand?
Just look at what leaving those little fools to govern themselves had lead to? Creatures now had equal rights. Children were being taken from their families just because they were strict. And there were even dark classes in his beloved school.
No, he couldn't let things go any longer. He needed to regain his position, and if it took a dark lord killing a few people then so be it.