The Seventh Olympian
Written By J.C. Vascardi
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Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relates to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and Teen Wolf are the property of their respective creators, publishers, and production companies. I'm not profiting on this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books or other media.
Summary: After the deaths of his parents, fifteen-month-old Harry Potter is left in the care of his mother's sister, Petunia Dursley. In another life, she might have hated her nephew… but in this one, she loves him dearly and vows that nobody will harm her sister's boy. As for Harry, there are many secrets regarding him… secrets which when learned will dramatically change the course of his life forever.
Warnings: Alternate Universe, Slash, Mpreg, Violence, Language, Canon Divergence, Olympian Gods, Crossover, Harem
Crossover: "Harry Potter", "The Vampire Diaries", "Supernatural", and "Teen Wolf"
Author's Note: Dudley Dursley has been renamed Darius Dursley in this fic. Also, this story will be entirely Harry Potter based throughout Harry's childhood and Hogwarts years. The crossovers with The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and Teen Wolf will not come into play until Harry has finished Hogwarts and defeated Voldemort. To put things into context, most of the principal cast of Teen Wolf and the non-vampire characters on The Vampire Diaries haven't even been born yet. As for Supernatural, Dean Winchester is only twenty-months old and Sam hasn't been born yet.
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Chapter One
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2 November 1981…
It was a normal evening on Privet Drive, a quiet street in the Little Whinging suburb of Surrey. Petunia Dursley and her husband, Vernon, were in bed, fast asleep, greatly enjoying the fact that their son, Darius Dursley, was now sleeping through the night. Petunia still kept a baby monitor in his nursery and another on the nightstand next to her bed, just in case, but she was glad that her son hadn't woken up in the middle of the night for a few months now. Still, even fast asleep, she had trained herself to wake at a moment's notice if her son needed her.
It was because of this that on this particular evening, when Petunia found herself waking up, she had thrown back her bed sheets, put on her slippers and was about to stand and put on her robe to go to her son's room when she realized that there wasn't a peep to be heard from the monitor. Putting on her robe, she made her way down to the nursery to check and she found her son still fast asleep and quite peaceful, as the colorful mobile over his crib slowly turned.
Stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her, she leaned against the wall for a moment and wondered just what had woken her up. She couldn't figure it out and was about to return to her bedroom when she glanced down the stairs and saw that it was unusually dark outside as if all of the street lamps were out. She would have put it out of her mind and just thought that the one across the street from her home had burned out when she heard the sound of a motorcycle.
Nobody on Privet Drive owned one, as far as she knew, and even if they did, they wouldn't disturb the peace by riding it at one-thirty in the bloody morning. Decision made, Petunia made her way down the stairs to investigate, fully intending to find out who was making all that racket and maybe even call the police to report them. Reaching the bottom step, however, she stopped dead in her tracks as she heard voices… right outside her house.
"Are you sure you want to leave him here, Albus?" a voice that Petunia instantly recognized asked. "I've been watching the house all day and the husband is the worst sort of muggle you could possibly imagine. I'll never understand what Petunia saw in him."
"Calm yourself, Minerva," a man's voice said, one that Petunia also easily recognized. "Petunia is the poor boy's only remaining family. It's only right that Lily's sister raises the boy now that she cannot."
Petunia's eyes widened at this and paying no mind to the fact that she was in her robe and slippers, she crossed the entryway, unlocked the door and threw it open, as the three people on her front porch jumped at the unexpected movement.
"What's happened to Lily?" Petunia asked, as she looked at her former Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress, who was standing on her front porch with the groundskeeper, who had a baby-shaped bundle in his arms. Eyes widening she asked, "Is that little Hadrian?"
Albus Dumbledore sighed and nodded. Before answering, he pulled out his wand and cast a Silencing Charm so that they could speak without anyone overhearing. "I'm afraid so, Petunia." He paused here for a moment, before he added, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, as there's never any easy way to deliver it, but I'm afraid that James and Lily are dead."
Shaking her head, unable to believe what she had just heard, Petunia asked, "Dead? What do you mean dead? How? They were in hiding, they were supposed to be safe... what happened?"
"Their secret keeper betrayed them," Minerva answered. "You-Know-Who broke into their home and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened next. Suffice it to say that James and Lily are dead." Moving forward and pulling her former student into a hug, Minerva said, "I'm so very sorry for your loss. The world is worse off without them in it."
Tears welled up in Petunia's eyes as she let herself be held for a moment by her former professor. "Oh Lily, no." After a moment, she stepped back from Minerva and asked, "How did Hadrian survive? Obviously, I'm thrilled that he did, but I can't imagine that fiend being content with just killing James and Lily when their son was his real target all along."
"I don't know how he survived, in truth," Albus said after a moment. "All I know is that James sent me the alarm warning that we'd arranged. I had just gotten into bed so it took me a few minutes to get dressed, but by the time I got there with Hagrid and Sirius, the front door was blown off its hinges and James was lying dead in the living room with his wand in his hand. We found Lily on the floor in the nursery, next to a pile of ashes. Little Harry was standing up in his crib looking down on his mother and crying."
"His name is Hadrian, Albus," Petunia said, almost automatically. She knew from the letters they'd exchanged just how much Lily despised that nickname that Hagrid had given her son because he found his real name too hard to pronounce. At this point, she moved past Minerva and held out her arms to Hagrid as she said, "Speaking of, I'd like my nephew now if you don't mind."
"Oh, a… of course," Hagrid said, as he moved Harry out of the sling he'd placed him in for the ride over to Privet Drive and handed the fifteen-month-old baby over to his aunt, who snuggled him tightly to her chest and closed her eyes for a moment, as she pulled the blanket a little closer to cover his face.
It was at this point that even in the darkness, she spotted the bloody wound on the baby's forehead. "What is that? And where's Sirius?" she asked, almost as an afterthought, as she realized that the motorcycle that she'd heard was her brother-in-law's best friend's bike.
"I wasn't there to witness what happened," Dumbledore began, "but from the tests that I ran on both Har…" at Petunia's sharp look, he amended, "Hadrian, the room, and on the ashes my hypothesis is that Voldemort tried to kill him. I'm not entirely sure how, but it seems that the curse Voldemort used on your nephew backfired, leaving him with only a scar and reducing the Dark Lord to a pile of ashes."
"You-Know-Who is dead?" Petunia asked, incredulously.
"Yes, he is," Minerva answered. "I'm surprised you haven't heard, Petunia. Our kind has been out in force celebrating almost all day now."
Vernon's complaints at dinner about a bunch of strangely dressed people congregating on street corners as he drove to and from Grunnings suddenly came back to her mind at this. She hadn't really been listening to Vernon, having mostly tuned him out as she concentrated on feeding Darius, but she had still heard snippets of his rant. She had just never equated it with witches and wizards out celebrating the death of the Dark Lord. She couldn't imagine they'd be that stupid. Yes, if true it was a good thing, but did they care nothing for the Statute of Secrecy?
"It's true," Albus confirmed. "The tests I ran on the ashes confirm that it was Voldemort and Severus reports that the Death Eaters are in disarray as they all felt it when he died. Or at least all those who bear his Mark. Speaking of, it's already starting to fade, as it's no longer dark black, but more of a medium gray. By this time tomorrow, I doubt they'll even be visible on the bearer's arms any longer, as they'll have faded away completely."
A moment later, Albus said, "As for Sirius, he said he had something to do and left not long after we found Lily's body. He left in such a hurry that he left his motorcycle behind. So I told Hagrid to use it to bring Harry here while I went to the Ministry and handled the necessary legal matters that presented themselves due to James's and Lily's deaths. You will need to visit the Ministry soon, of course, Petunia to sign a few papers as next of kin and Harry's guardian."
Focused on checking over her nephew to make sure that other than the ugly scar on his forehead that he was otherwise healthy, Petunia didn't correct the headmaster on the use of the nickname. Instead, she simply nodded and said, "Very well. I'll go tomorrow, assuming that Arabella can watch the boys for me. Now, it's getting quite chilly out here, so I think I should get Hadrian inside."
Pulling out her wand, which she'd placed in the pocket of her robe before going to check on Darius, she waved it silently in the direction of Sirius's motorcycle, shrinking it, before summoning it and putting both it and her wand in her pocket. "Should Sirius contact you, let him know that I've got his bike. I'm sure he'll want it back. Now, good night."
Without another word, Petunia turned on her heel and walked into the house, closing the door behind her. She lingered in the entryway for a moment, wondering how she'd explain this to her husband in the morning, but he was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. As there was no way that she was going to not take in her orphaned nephew or give him the home and family life that he deserved.
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Petunia did eventually go back to sleep, although her first stop was the upstairs bathroom where she attempted to heal Harry's still bloody lightning bolt shaped scar with magic. Much to her disappointment, however, the scar resisted any magical attempt to heal it. Living in a muggle neighborhood and having a muggle husband, she had taken the time to learn muggle first aid techniques, however. So since magic wasn't working, she instead washed the wound with water, applied a mild astringent, and then bandaged it. It would take longer than magic, but some treatment was better than nothing.
Leaving the bathroom, she crossed the hall to the nursery where she used wizard space to expand the room enough for a second crib to fit in the room. Placing Hadrian—who was by this time sound asleep—in the copy of her son's crib, Petunia leaned down and placed a kiss on her nephew's forehead.
"Sleep well, my little angel," she whispered before she left the room and headed back to the master bedroom so that she could get a few more hours of sleep before she had to get up to make breakfast for Vernon.
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As it usually was every morning, Petunia was up, showered, and dressed before Vernon was even awake. Leaving the room, she went into the nursery and dressed Hadrian and Darius, making a mental note as she did so that after her trip to the Ministry she'd have to do some shopping for Hadrian. For the time being, however, she dressed Hadrian in one of Darius's outfits, before carrying them both downstairs. Obviously, they noticed one another and were reaching out towards the other, curious about each other.
The boys had actually met a couple of times, but it had been several months ago before James and Lily had gone into hiding under the Fidelius. So, Petunia wasn't really all that surprised that the boys seemed like they were meeting for the first time, as at only sixteen and fifteen-months old respectively, their memories weren't really fully developed yet.
Entering the kitchen, Petunia put Darius in his highchair, before pulling out her wand and conjuring a second one for Hadrian. Darius clapped his hands as the second chair appeared.
"Magic!" Darius said happily. It had been his first word, with 'Mama' following about a week later. Vernon hadn't been all that happy about that, especially since it had taken Darius another three months to utter the word 'Dada' for the first time.
Putting Hadrian in the second highchair, Petunia smiled at them and said, "Darius, this is Hadrian. Can you say, Hadrian?"
Darius cocked his head to the side, looking at his mom then at his cousin and then back at his mom. A little hesitantly, he asked, "Rian?"
"Well, it's certainly better than that other name," Petunia said, not about to say it aloud as she didn't want either boy to start saying it themselves. Lily had made it very clear in her letters that she had taken to using a Stinging Hex on anyone who said the name Harry around her son, as she did not want him to be known as that.
Turning to her nephew, Petunia smiled and said, "Hadrian, this is Darius."
"D-D-Dari-us," Hadrian sounded out in a rather halting tone.
"Oh very good," Petunia said with a smile. "You're cousins."
At this Hadrian looked at Petunia and looked curiously at her, before something obviously clicked in his head and he asked, "Ant Toony?"
Petunia smiled. "Well, we'll work on that, but I suppose it's close enough. Now, let's get you two breakfast," before she crossed over to the cabinet and got two clean bottles out of the cabinet.
Luckily for her, Petunia was aware of Lily's letters that Hadrian was on the same formula that Darius was, so at least feeding both of them wouldn't be an issue. Although she'd definitely have to buy more of it now that she had two mouths to feed instead of just one. Filling the bottles, Petunia cast a Warming Charm on each bottle, tested the contents, and then gave them to the boys who began happily sucking on them. That would tide them over for now, as she had to get breakfast cooked for Vernon, who she knew would be down soon as she heard the shower turn on. Then she could get them something a bit more solid.
Turning her attention back to the refrigerator, Petunia took out everything she'd need to prepare Vernon's breakfast. She still made him a full English breakfast, although she only made enough for a single helping of each item. Vernon, who had frequently partaken of seconds when they were offered—along with thirds and fourths if available— complained quite a bit, but Petunia shut him down. In addition to limiting his caloric intake, she also grilled or baked most of the traditionally fried foods that Vernon preferred.
Throughout their courtship, Vernon had been a very healthy weight and Petunia had no complaints in that department. After they'd married, however, Vernon apparently stopped caring about his appearance now that he had a wife and his weight skyrocketed. Petunia didn't mind a few extra pounds but drew the line when it began feeling like she had a walrus on top of her in the bedroom.
This is when Petunia put her husband on a very strict diet and exercise regimen. He complained incessantly, of course, but she didn't care as she had no desire to suffer from cracked ribs due to her husband's massive girth. Or be left a widow and single mother because her husband was intent on surrounding his heart with so much fat and filling up his arteries with so much plaque that he'd probably have a fatal heart attack before he was thirty.
Several minutes passed, during which Petunia heard the shower turn off. A few minutes later, Petunia was just plating up Vernon's breakfast and pouring him a cup of tea when he entered the kitchen and made his way over to the dining room table. He didn't comment on Hadrian at all, but Petunia wasn't surprised. Despite being able to shower and dress, Vernon was pretty much like a zombie most days until he'd had his morning tea.
Setting her husband's breakfast and drink down on the table in front of him, Petunia watched him pick up his cup for a second, before leaving the kitchen and crossing over to the front door to grab the morning paper from the front porch. She was back in less than two minutes, but while she was gone, Vernon had apparently drunk enough tea to be firing on more cylinders and noticed the second highchair.
Shaking his head, Vernon closed his eyes, and then touched his forehead when upon opening them he still saw two. "Petunia dear I think I'm going to have to call in sick today and go see the doctor. I'm seeing double."
Placing the paper on the table next to her husband's plate, Petunia said, "Don't waste the doctor's time, Vernon. There's nothing wrong with you as you should be seeing two occupied highchairs."
"I should?" Vernon asked. "Petunia, honey, last time I checked we only had one child."
"Well, we have two now."
"Why?" Vernon asked as he looked more closely and saw his son in one highchair and then saw the other child sitting in the other one, who had a bandage on his forehead. "Who is this kid?"
"It's our nephew, Vernon."
"Nephew?"
"Yes, as in my sister Lily's son."
"What is that freak doing here?"
No sooner had he said this, however, Vernon was gulping as Petunia whipped out her wand and held it so close to Vernon's face that he'd go cross-eyed if he tried to look at the tip.
"Vernon Charles Dursley," Petunia said in a sharp tone, "don't you dare call Hadrian a freak. I know you're still dealing with the whole magic is real thing, but that is no excuse to insult an innocent child."
"I won't have any freakishness in my house," Vernon said, as he tried to sound tough, although Petunia could easily pick up on the slight quaver in his tone which told her he was about to piss himself from the fright caused by a wand in his face.
"I'm going to say this one more time, Vernon, and only one more time," Petunia said. "So I suggest you listen and hear me this time because the next time you will not enjoy my reaction. Are you listening?"
Vernon nodded and Petunia said, "Magic is real and natural. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing freaky about it. And even if there was Vernon, Hadrian being here wouldn't change anything. You'd still have magic in the house because in case you forgot, I am a witch! And as I've already told you, Darius has already shown the early signs that prove he is a wizard. So I strongly suggest you get used to it!"
Vernon was quiet for a moment, as Petunia put her wand away. When he spoke, he asked, "Why is the boy here anyway? Isn't it a little early to be babysitting?"
"I'm not babysitting, Vernon. Hadrian will be living here from now on."
"You mean your sister and her lazy husband abandoned their kid?"
Both boys began whimpering slightly at the tension in the room, as Petunia said, "They did nothing of the kind, Vernon. And as I've already explained, James was not lazy. He was an Auror, a magical police officer. I'd hardly call it lazy when a person who doesn't need to work chooses to do so anyway. The Potters are so old money that they make most other old money families look nouveau riche by comparison."
Apparently not noticing that Petunia had been referring to James in the past tense, Vernon said, "But what else would you call it when they leave their child with their sister and leave, never to return? It certainly sounds like abandonment to me."
Petunia didn't respond right away, as she took the time to calm down the two whimpering boys, before enclosing them in a one-way Silencing Charm that would still allow her to hear them, but not allow them to hear what was going on outside of the charm's protective bubble.
With that done, she turned and faced her husband, a distraught look on her face, as she said, "Vernon, it's not abandonment when they're dead."
Vernon's eyes widened at that and he asked. "Dead?"
"James and Lily died on Halloween," Petunia answered. "They were murdered."
To his credit, Vernon quickly got out of his chair and pulled his wife into a hug, as he rubbed her back and said, "Oh God, Petunia, I'm so sorry." After a few minutes, as the two stepped away from the embrace, however, Vernon asked, "Do we need to worry about the murderer coming here to try and finish the job?"
"No, Vernon, we do not," Petunia answered. "The murderer is dead." After a moment's pause, in which she decided it was easier to lie to her husband than tell him the truth, she added, "He resisted arrest and made sure he wasn't taken alive."
"Well, that's good then," Vernon said. "That the filthy murderer is dead, that is."
"Indeed," Petunia agreed. "Anyway, with James and Lily dead, I'm Hadrian's next of kin, so I'm stepping up to take care of him."
"Of course," Vernon said in a somewhat distracted tone, which Petunia easily picked up on.
"And Vernon, before you start dreaming about buying a Porsche or some other extravagance with my nephew's money, I'd remind you that I was a witness when James and Lily wrote their wills a few months back. Everything goes to Hadrian, in an ironclad magically binding trust fund that even the Queen herself couldn't break."
Before Vernon could say anything, the doorbell rang, surprising both of them, as it was still very early for visitors. Leaving the kitchen, Petunia headed for the door and was surprised to see Mrs. Figg through the peephole. Opening the door, she asked, "Arabella, what are you doing here?"
"I've come to watch the boys for you, dear," Arabella said. "Albus asked me to come, said you needed to get down to the Ministry ASAP. Something about Sirius."
Before Petunia could respond, a silvery phoenix Patronus soared through the open door of Number Four Privet Drive and said, in Albus's voice, "Petunia, come to the Ministry. Urgent. I'll explain when you get here."
"The boys are in the kitchen with Vernon," Petunia said, even as she grabbed her coat from the hall closet. "There should be some apple sauce in the fridge that you can feed them."
"I'll take care of it," Arabella said, as she entered the house and closed the door behind her so that none of the neighbors would see it when Petunia Apparated away a moment later.
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Petunia arrived in the Ministry Atrium moments later to find Albus Dumbledore waiting for her. Being met by the sitting Chief Warlock and newly elected Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards meant that Petunia was able to skip going through security, which was a good thing under the circumstances, because there was a queue of over thirty people waiting and it quickly became clear to Petunia as Albus explained the situation on their way to the lifts that time was of the essence.
"How can they possibly think to send him to Azkaban?" Petunia asked. "Without even the semblance of a trial? He's the heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House!"
"I'm afraid that the legislation that Director Crouch and Minister Bagnold rammed through the Wizengamot for dealing with Death Eaters allows them to do just that," Albus said sadly.
"That's just ridiculous," Petunia said. "Sirius is no more a Death Eater than you or I are."
"Bartemius and Millicent disagree," Albus said, as they exited the lift and moved towards the Ministry holding cells, where Sirius was currently being held but only because Dumbledore had been able to tie up the processing of the transfer order... his interference wouldn't last long, however. "They say that Sirius murdered a dozen muggles and Peter Pettigrew."
"That's impossible," Petunia said. "I understand that the Black family's reputation is probably not doing him any favors, but Sirius is not like the rest of his family. Anyone with a semi-functioning brain can tell that after spending even five minutes with him."
"Quite true," Albus agreed. "I'm afraid, however, that the evidence is quite damaging. The Aurors found Sirius at the scene of the crime, wand drawn, next to the crater caused by the explosion. Surrounded by the still burning bodies of several muggles and Peter's finger. That's all of him that they could find."
Shaking her head, Petunia said, "I don't believe for a minute that Sirius would cast a spell to cause an explosion in a muggle-populated area. Even if that rat Peter did deserve to die."
Albus didn't say anything in response to this, as at that moment they entered the holding area to find a team of Aurors, Minister Bagnold, and Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, Sr.
Upon seeing Albus walking into the room, Minister Bagnold said, "Albus, what is the meaning of this? Why did you slow down the processing of Mr. Black's transfer order?"
"I believe you mean Heir Black, Minister," Albus said. "Because in case you forgot, with the deaths of his father and brother, Sirius is the official Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. I wouldn't be doing my job as Chief Warlock if I didn't point out the fact that you cannot legally send the heir of a noble house to Azkaban without a trial. Are you trying to get thrown out of office, Minister? Because I guarantee you that's what will happen if the Lords of the Wizengamot find out that you sent an innocent man—one of their own—to Azkaban without trial."
"Black is not innocent, Albus," Bartemius said. "He was caught red-handed at the scene of the crime. It's obvious that Mr. Pettigrew must have confronted him in anger for betraying James and Lily Potter to You-Know-Who."
"With all due respect, Director Crouch," Petunia said. "That is not at all obvious since it's not even remotely true."
"Who are you?" Millicent Bagnold asked as she looked at Petunia.
"Petunia Dursley, formerly Evans. Lily was my sister and as such I know for a fact that Sirius Black did not betray James and Lily, because he wasn't their Secret Keeper. Peter was!"
Shaking his head, Bartemius said, "That's not possible. The Ministry record is very clear. Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper of the Potters."
"Except that he wasn't, Director," a new voice said, as Algernon Longbottom, the Deputy Head of the Unspeakables, walked into the room. "At Albus's request, I checked the records in the Department of Mysteries vaults. I'm sure you're aware that we have charmed books going back to the era of Merlin himself which automatically record the details of every single Unbreakable Vow, Fidelius Charm, or similar spells that are cast anywhere within Albion jurisdiction."
"I'm aware of that," Bartemius said. "But your Head of Department has already stated under Veritaserum that the book recorded Sirius Black as the Secret Keeper."
Algernon nodded. "Of that, I am not surprised, Director Crouch, considering that Director Malachi is currently bound and gagged in his office and being held at the wand point of a dozen of my colleagues. Magical testing shows long-term and repeated uses of the Imperius Curse on him, not to mention the fact the residual signatures of both Veritaserum and its antidote were found in his bloodstream. The latter signature being the weaker of the two, meaning he drank the antidote first."
"What are you saying?" Millicent asked.
Shaking his head, Algernon said, "I'm saying, Minister, that there is clearly an agent working against us here at the Ministry. Somebody who had access to Director Malachi often enough to keep him enthralled under the Imperius. Our department security wards would not allow that spell to be cast inside the department, so it had to be have been done outside of the Ministry, most likely at some point after the Director left work for the day."
"What makes you think this agent works here at the Ministry?" Bartemius asked. "You just said that the curse wasn't cast at the Ministry."
"You're right, I did," Algernon confirmed. "However, unlike the other Ministry departments, the Department of Mysteries does not publicize who the Head of the Department is. Only somebody who works at the Ministry and has high-level access to internal Ministry communications would be aware that Throgmorton Malachi was the Head of the Department of Mysteries."
"Was?" Albus asked.
Nodding, Algernon said, "Yes, I'm afraid there's no way that Throgmorton will keep his position. Unspeakables are supposed to undergo daily meditations designed to make us immune to mind control, including the Imperius Curse. The fact that Throgmorton was able to be placed under it at all means that he wasn't performing the meditations, which are mandated by department protocol dating back to before the founding of the Ministry. And since he was under the curse long-term—our best guess is at least the last ten years—there's no telling how much top secret information might have been compromised or what other actions he might have taken under the curse's influence."
"I'm sorry about your internal issues, Deputy Director Longbottom," Petunia said. "However, can we please get back to the matter at hand? I will not stand here and let my nephew's godfather be sent to Azkaban for a crime I know he did not commit. I was the one who cast the Fidelius Charm for James and Lily, so I know for a fact that they selected Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper, not Sirius Black."
"Even if he wasn't the Secret Keeper," Millicent said, "Heir Black is still guilty of using magic in the open in a muggle-populated area in flagrant violation of the Statute of Secrecy. Not to mention the deaths of twelve muggles and Peter Pettigrew." Seeing that Albus and Petunia looked like they were about to object, Millicent held up her hand and added, "Even if Peter was the Secret Keeper, that did not give Heir Black the right to take the law into his own hands and play vigilante."
"I understand that he shouldn't have taken the law into his own hands, Millicent," Albus said. "However, one must take his state of mind into account. His best friend in the world, who was more like a brother to him than his own brother was, had just died along with his wife. I sincerely doubt that Sirius was thinking clearly enough at the time to realize that he should call the Aurors."
Petunia nodded. "Especially considering that when the idea of James and Lily hiding under the Fidelius first came up, James was adamant that Sirius be their Secret Keeper. The only reason that they went with Peter instead was that Sirius himself convinced James not to use him because he felt that he was much too obvious. Which is also, incidentally, why James and Lily did not choose me."
Before Millicent or Bartemius could respond, Algernon said, "Pardon me for interrupting, but has Heir Black been interrogated under Veritaserum yet? Was Priori Incantatem used on his wand? Do we know for a fact that he's the one who cast the Blasting Curse?"
"You're suggesting that Peter blew himself up?" Bartemius asked. "I find that hard to believe. Especially considering that all we could find of Peter was his finger. There are multiple eyewitness accounts from muggles in the area who before they were Obliviated said they saw Heir Black moving his stick, as they called it, in a threatening manner in Peter's direction."
"They also said that Heir Black was shouting at Peter and saying that he should have died," Millicent added. "Under those circumstances, it was decided that it wasn't necessary to question Heir Black, as he was clearly the aggressor."
"And you don't think Sirius had a right to be shouting at Peter?" Petunia asked, incredulously. "I know Sirius. He would have died to protect James and Lily and would have believed that Peter should also give up his own life to keep their friends safe. So if Sirius was shouting at Peter that he should have died, I can't say that I'm surprised."
Petunia paused for only a moment, before adding, "Deputy Director Longbottom brings up some very good points, however. Eyewitness testimony is good, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't question Sirius or check to see what the last spell that his wand cast was." Taking a deep breath, she added, "Also, you should be aware of the fact that Peter Pettigrew could very easily have been the one to cast the Charm and frame Sirius for the crime."
"How can you be so sure?" Millicent asked.
"Because I know for a fact that Peter is an unregistered Animagus," Petunia said. "I've seen him transform with my own eyes, so I know that he can take the form of a rat. Faced with the prospect of life in Azkaban with the Dementors or losing a finger, I don't find it even the slightest bit far-fetched that Peter would prefer to cut off his own finger and escape over being captured and sent to Azkaban."
"If you knew that he was an unregistered Animagus why didn't you report it the Ministry?" Bartemius asked.
Before Petunia could answer, however, Albus said, "Let's not waste time with stupid questions, Bartemius. You know as well as I do that Animagus Registration is completely voluntary and that there are no laws that require anyone who finds out about a given Animagus being unregistered to report it."
"That'll be the next legislation that I put before the Wizengamot," Millicent said.
"That's assuming they don't censure and remove you from office first," Albus said. "Which I guarantee they will do if they find out that you didn't do the due diligence of questioning Heir Black under Veritaserum and checking his wand to make sure that he actually is guilty of what you're accusing him of before sending him to Azkaban. And don't give me the eyewitness line, Millicent. If you honestly believe that the mostly pureblood Lords of the Wizengamot will be willing to take the testimony of muggles into account, especially in a case that would see one of their own going to prison without a trial, you're not nearly as intelligent as I thought you were."
"Fine, fine!" Millicent exclaimed as she threw her hands up in resignation. "Director Crouch, check Heir Black's wand." Turning to the team of Aurors, she said to them, "One of you fetch a vial of Veritaserum from the Ministry stores."
"That won't be necessary, Minister," Algernon said, as he reached into a pocket of his robe and pulled out a vial of the truth serum. "Something told me that I should come prepared."
Half-an-hour later, Sirius Black was released from custody, cleared of all charges and apologized to profusely by Millicent Bagnold when a check of his wand clearly showed that the last spell he cast was, in fact, the Lumos Charm, not the Blasting Curse. His questioning under Veritaserum also not only confirmed that he was not the Secret Keeper for James and Lily, but that Peter Pettigrew was the one who cast the Blasting Curse, after cutting off his own finger and casting a Tickling Hex on Sirius that made him start laughing maniacally so that he wouldn't be able to tell the Aurors what happened when they arrived and would instead look like a crazy man who was gleefully laughing about committing mass murder.
"Thank you for helping get me cleared, Petunia," Sirius said, as they were walking towards the Atrium together.
"What else would I do, Sirius?" Petunia asked. "When I know for a fact that you're not responsible for James and Lily's deaths? I couldn't live with myself or face Hadrian again if I knew that I allowed his mostly innocent godfather to go to prison for a crime I know he didn't commit."
Sirius grinned at that description, before he asked, "How is Hadrian? He's safe?"
"Last time I saw him?" Petunia asked. "He was safe in my kitchen with Vernon and Arabella Figg, who Albus got to watch him and Darius so that I could come here and save your sorry arse."
"Sorry arse?!" Sirius exclaimed, his face contorting in a look of mock outrage. "I'll have you know that there is absolutely nothing sorry about my arse."
Shaking her head, Petunia said, "The state of your arse, Sirius, is between you and Remus. I don't need nor want any details, thanks."
Trusting Albus and Algernon to ensure that Sirius's questioning was handled properly, Petunia had gone upstairs while it was being done and signed all of the necessary papers she needed to sign to become Hadrian's legal guardian of record. Now turning to look at Sirius, she added, "You and Remus should come by and see Hadrian soon."
"Count on it," Sirius said.
"Oh and in case it should interest you, Number Five is for sale."
"Number Five?" Sirius asked, a confused look on his face.
"Number Five Privet Drive," Petunia answered. "It's been vacant for over a month now, as the current owner got a promotion at work that saw him and his family moving to Edinburgh." At Sirius's dawning look of comprehension, Petunia just smiled and said, "Just thought I'd mention it, in case perhaps you and Remus were to decide you wanted to do something with that information."
Reaching the Apparition Point, Petunia prepared to leave, before she remembered something else. "Oh and Sirius? I have your motorcycle at my house, so I guess you have another reason to visit as if Hadrian wasn't enough."
Sirius grinned and nodded, but any response he might have had was not heard as Petunia Apparated away, anxious to return home and check on her boys.
-o-0-o-
By the end of Hadrian's second week on Privet Drive, there was a moving van parked out front of Number Five Privet Drive. Within seconds of Petunia's departure from the Ministry, Sirius was Apparating to Gringotts, meeting with his account manager, and arranging for an offer to be made for the house on his behalf. He realized, after the fact, that he maybe should have discussed it with Remus first, but with the offer already made it was too late to worry about that.
Thankfully for Sirius, Remus wasn't upset with him when he was told about what his partner had done. In fact, he greatly approved of the idea of living next door to Hadrian and being able to not only keep an eye on him but also just see him frequently.
Once they got the news that the offer was accepted and the contracts were signed—expedited with both magic and the goblins' contacts—they went about furnishing and outfitting their new home. Including using wizard space to enlarge a pair of small cupboards in the basement, which were heavily warded for not only silence but also security. One of them was turned into a fully stocked Potions laboratory and library, while the other would serve as a dueling and practice room. The latter room also had a secured cell built into it, where Remus could be locked up on the full moon.
Meanwhile, at Number Four, Petunia had been busy in the two weeks since taking in Hadrian. The day after going to the Ministry to deal with the Sirius issue, she went shopping and bought more clothes for Hadrian to wear so that he wouldn't have to share with Darius. She also bought other necessities like more formula and baby food. One thing she didn't have to buy were nappies, as the one use of magic that even Vernon didn't complain about was Petunia using magic to vanish the contents of Darius's and now Hadrian's nappies. This resulted in substantial savings since they could use reusable cloth nappies over the disposable variety.
Petunia also visited what remained of the Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow, to see if anything there could be salvaged. She did manage to salvage a few albums of family pictures and a few other odds and ends. Unfortunately, when Voldemort's spell backfired there had apparently been a large backlash of magic, as Hadrian's former nursery looked like a bomb had gone off, with half the outside wall and the roof being blown out in the explosion. It was honestly amazing that Hadrian had escaped with just a scar… which had still not gone away, despite Petunia's attempts to heal it. It had, at least, sealed now and wasn't bloody like it was when Hadrian had arrived in her care.
Of course, the far more sad duty that Petunia had as the next of kin was to make arrangements for a memorial service for James and Lily and to see to their internment in the Potter family's mausoleum on their Welsh estate. Since Darius and Hadrian were too young to understand what was going on anyway, neither one of them was present at the memorial, which was probably a good thing as there had been plenty of people in the days leading up to it that suggested that they were really only coming to meet The-Boy-Who-Lived. Once Petunia put out the word that he wouldn't be present, however, many of those people chose not to attend.
Another happening was Petunia being called into Gringotts for a meeting with the Potter family's account manager, Scarclaw, who informed her that as the legal guardian for Hadrian, she would be collecting 800 Galleons a month—or £4,000—from the Potter estate until he turned seventeen in order to pay for his expenses. She would gladly have not accepted the money, just happy to be able to care for her sister's child, although the money certainly went a long way towards getting Vernon on board with keeping Hadrian.
Vernon's first instinct had been to agree with his sister Marge, who had given her opinion on the matter via a telephone conversation with her brother. While she did express her condolences to Petunia on her loss, it had been in a somewhat less than heartfelt manner not that that surprised Petunia because she'd long suspected her sister-in-law didn't have a heart. Marge's advice had been to wash their hands of Hadrian by dropping him at an orphanage and being done with the matter.
Petunia, of course, had absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing that and had it been necessary, she would have used magic on Vernon to keep him compliant to her will. She didn't want to, but she would have if it proved necessary. The money from the Potter estate only being collectible so long as Hadrian remained in Petunia's custody, however, was enough incentive for Vernon to agree to keep the boy. Of course, much to Vernon's disappointment, Petunia had the money deposited into her Gringotts vault, which not being a wizard, Vernon had no access to. Still, the fact that none of his money would be going to care for a child that wasn't his had mollified him enough to not complain.
Over tea and biscuits one afternoon while Vernon was still at work and the boys were having their afternoon nap, Remus asked, "I mean no offense, Petunia, but what do you see in that man?"
Petunia could understand why Remus had asked that. "None taken. I understand that Vernon isn't the most agreeable man at times. Still, despite his faults, I do love him and I wouldn't have my darling Darius if it wasn't for him."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Sirius commented, "but didn't you and Vernon get married just over three years ago now?" Petunia nodded. "How is it that he's not used to you being a witch yet?"
"Well, I might have neglected to mention it to him," Petunia said. "Under the Statute of Secrecy, I would have been legally able to tell Vernon about magic once we were married, but I didn't. So I simply didn't use magic in his presence and didn't tell him about it until after Darius had shown his first sign of magic… which wasn't until just over two months ago."
"Oh I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that," Sirius said with a grin. "I can only imagine Vernon's reaction."
"Yes, it was a bit extreme," Petunia said. "I expected it might be, however, so I took the precaution of warding the house so that he could scream to his heart's content and the neighbors—and Darius—wouldn't hear him. The last thing I needed was one of the neighbors calling the police for a wellness check because they thought Vernon was abusing me. Of course, I only let him carry on for about ten minutes before I put my wand in his face and laid down the law."
"I'll bet Vernon was rather frosty with you for the next few days," Remus said, as he took a bite of a chocolate biscuit.
"A bit," Petunia said. "Although in truth, Vernon is actually very used to the women in his life taking charge. His late mother was a very domineering woman who basically ruled his childhood home with an iron fist. Vernon's sister Marge is much the same way, so he's had either his mother or his sister practically ruling him his entire life. One would think he'd want to escape that kind of thing, but I think that even if he never would admit it, he actually likes it."
"Well, to each their own, I suppose," Sirius said after taking a sip of his tea. "Personally, I couldn't deal with someone else running my life for me. It's part of the reason why I ran away from home because my mother is a very domineering woman herself. Thankfully, she considers me to be a blood traitor and has burned me off the family tapestry, so she hasn't tried to contact me nor have I attempted to contact her. I'm perfectly happy for it to stay that way."
"I've never spent much time with her," Remus said. "But from what I've heard, I won't be losing any sleep over not having a relationship with my mother-in-law."
"Be thankful for that Rem," Sirius said. "She wouldn't like you anyway, as just as she views muggles and muggleborns with disdain, she also hates people with your furry little problem. If she had her way, all muggles, muggleborns, and werewolves would be culled."
"She sounds like a perfectly lovely woman," Petunia said. "Not." Shaking her head, she then added, "To his credit, Vernon hasn't ever said that all witches and wizards should be culled. He doesn't understand magic, which is understandable since he's only known it was real for two months and is leery about it as a result. But he's never said that Darius and I should die because of it."
"I wouldn't say that because I don't believe it," Vernon said, as he walked into the kitchen from the living room.
"Vernon, I didn't hear you come in," Petunia said, as she looked at the clock and said, "You're home earlier than normal."
Vernon nodded. "Mr. Grunning gave me the rest of the afternoon off as a reward after I landed a particularly large order. Plus a raise and an extra week of vacation time." Leaning down to kiss Petunia on the cheek, he then said, "I freely admit I'm not fully comfortable with the whole magic thing yet. I do not, however, wish you, Darius, or anyone else dead, Petunia."
"Well, that's good to know," Petunia said, as she motioned towards Sirius and Remus and said, "This is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They're the new owners of Number Five. They both went to school with James and Lily, and Sirius is Hadrian's godfather."
Vernon looked at the two men and said, "I take it that means they're your kind then?"
"If by 'your kind' you mean wizards, then yes," Remus said.
Sirius grinned and said, "Yes, funny how being a witch or wizard is a requirement to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"So you two are housemates?" Vernon asked.
"They're a married couple, Vernon," Petunia said. "And yes, before you say it, I understand it's not legal here in the muggle world. It is, however, legal in the magical world because with the aid of magic, it's possible for same-sex couples to have children together."
Vernon's eyes practically bugged out of his head at this as he looked at Petunia and asked, "Are you trying to say that wizards can… can…"
"Get pregnant?" Remus guessed is what Vernon was trying and failing to ask. This got an affirmative nod from Vernon, prompting Remus to simply say, "Yes, they can."
Shaking his head, Vernon said, "I'm so glad I'm not a wizard."
Sirius grinned. "Well, it wouldn't really matter if you were or not. Just being a wizard isn't enough, after all. Considering that you're married to Petunia, I'm guessing you're straight, at which point you wouldn't be able to get pregnant anyway. Just like in the muggle world, pregnancy does still require sex. So wizards who don't want to get pregnant just have to refrain from having sex with another wizard."
"I'll take your word for it," Vernon said, before he quickly changed the subject, asking Petunia how her day was.
Sirius and Remus stayed for a few more minutes, long enough to finish their tea and biscuits, and then excused themselves as they headed back over to their house. Vernon, meanwhile, headed into the living room to see what was on television while he was normally at work, while Petunia did some cleaning and checked on the boys, before getting started on dinner.
-o-0-o-
Two days later, Petunia and Vernon were in the living room watching television while Darius and Hadrian were in the nearby playpen, playing with a pair of wolf plushies that Sirius and Remus gave them. With the exception of some rather raucous celebrations, all had been pretty quiet in the wizarding world since the defeat of Voldemort a few weeks ago, but everyone in the Order worried that it might be the calm before the storm. As Albus and several of the elder members of the Order, including both Mad-Eye Moody and Aberforth Dumbledore, agreed that even without a leader to unite them the remaining uncaptured Death Eaters could still cause problems.
Just as the show they were watching broke for commercial, a silvery fox darted into the room, causing Vernon to jump, as it spoke in a voice that Petunia recognized.
"Need help. Pinned down. Death Eaters are attacking. Fab and I outnumbered."
Even as Petunia stood, a second, identical fox darted into the room and said in a similar, yet different voice, "You forgot to give our location, Gid. Our house! Come quick!"
Pulling out her wand, Petunia waved it over her muggle housedress, transfiguring it into sleek white battle robes emblazoned with a phoenix. "Watch the boys, Vernon. Stay away from windows and don't answer the door, no matter who it is, until I get back. I've warded the house to the hilt, so you should be safe, so long as you stay inside."
"What's going on?" Vernon asked. "Who are Fab and Gid? And who are these Death Eaters?" More to himself, he asked, "How the hell do you eat death? And why would you want to?"
"Death Eaters are followers of James' and Lily's murderer," Petunia said, as she quickly added a few extra protective charms on the doors and windows, in addition to the powerful wards that already existed on the house, including very powerful blood wards that she'd helped Albus Dumbledore setup when he'd discovered that Lily had performed an ancient blood ritual that would give Hadrian extra protection if she died to protect him, so long as he remained with her blood. "It's like a cult. I'm a member of a group that opposes them and helps their victims, along with Gideon and Fabian Prewett."
Before Vernon could say anything more, Petunia turned to him and said, "I have to go. Do as I said, Vernon. I'm trusting you to look after Darius and Hadrian, if they have even a scratch on them when I get back, I'm holding you responsible."
Vernon nodded. He could see that he wasn't going to convince his wife not to go, so he just said, "I love you, Petunia."
Petunia smiled. "I love you too," before she used her connection as the master of the wards around Privet Drive to open a small enough hole that she could Apparate through them, closing it the second she was through.
-o-0-o-
Moments later, Petunia appeared a quarter of a mile away from Gideon and Fabian Prewett's house in the small wizarding village of Helga's Grove, about a mile outside of Bristol. Even from this distance and being just past sundown, she could see the thick black smoke in the distance, suggesting that the Death Eaters had set fires. She didn't charge in, however, as she knew she'd arrived inside the meet-up window and had gone to the closest rendezvous point to the Prewett house. Albus had been very clear with the Order members that even when responding to a distress call that nobody should go in alone with no reinforcements to back them up.
She didn't have to wait long, as within seconds of her arrival there were several pops as she was joined by Sirius, Remus, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Benjy Fenwick, and Caradoc Dearborn. Only a few seconds later, Albus, Aberforth, and Mad-Eye Moody appeared, as well.
Nodding, at the group, Albus said, "Aberforth and I will stay here for five more minutes, in case any additional reinforcements arrive. The rest of you, you know what to do."
With nods, they set off in the direction of the Prewett house, all of them having disillusioned themselves so that they'd be able to get closer unseen by the attacking forces, in addition to a spell that would allow them to run the rest of the way much faster and in a fraction of the time.
What they found upon arriving on the main thoroughfare of Helga's Grove—the whole village consisted of exactly three streets, two residential, one commercial—was nothing short of chaos. Multiple storefronts had their front windows broken out, the glass littering the cobblestones. Flames and smoke poured out of the buildings and the Order members saw more dead bodies then they liked. Several Dark Marks were shining in the sky above the village, as more than one of the Death Eaters had apparently sent them up, casting a sickly, green pallor over everything in sight. The remaining uncaptured Death Eaters definitely seemed determined to make this one of the most brutal attacks of the war.
Taking charge of the situation, Moody said, "Benjy, Caradoc, you're our medics, start checking the bodies. Help any survivors you can. Frank, Alice, help me get these fires out. Petunia, Sirius, Remus, head for the Prewett house and help Gideon and Fabian."
"Are you sure dividing up our forces is wise?" Frank asked. "Do we even know how many are attacking the Prewetts?"
"I've already scanned the area," Moody said, his magical eye spinning quickly in every direction. "There's seven attacking the Prewett house and a few lone stragglers on the other streets. Gideon and Fabian are at their house, with Marlene and Dorcas by the looks of it. I don't know if they were with the twins when they sent their Patronuses, but considering it's their boyfriends, I can see them going in ahead of any help."
"They were probably already there," Alice commented. "Marlene told me she's pretty sure that the twins are preparing to pop the question to her and Dorcas."
"Aye, well, let's see that they live to do it," Moody said. "Now go. And remember… Constant Vigilance!"
Petunia, Sirius, and Remus made their way towards the twins' house without another word. As they got closer they could see Gideon, Fabian, Dorcas, and Marlene valiantly holding their own against seven Death Eaters. Petunia suspected that Alice was wrong about Dorcas and Marlene already being in the house when the attack began, as despite being outnumbered the four of them were doing a good job of defending one another, while Gideon, Fabian, and Marlene each dueled with two Death Eaters at the same time.
Without a word to each other, Sirius, Remus, and Petunia came up behind the group and just as they dropped the Disillusionment Charms, they each sent a silent stunner at the backs of one Death Eater each. As their colleagues went down, it only made the remaining four Death Eaters fight all the harder, however, and not long after the four stunned Death Eaters went down they were revived by their compatriots, as one or two of the stragglers that Moody had mentioned joined the fight.
The next few minutes were intense, as the seven Order members battled against the nine Death Eaters. It was more difficult because of the edict from Albus that they do not use lethal force against the Death Eaters. Dead enemies couldn't provide any information about deployments or plans. And Albus also loathed the idea of taking any life, always wanting to see the best in everyone and thinking that even the seemingly vilest people can change if only given the chance. Petunia could see the appeal in wanting to believe that, but she couldn't help but think the Headmaster was being naïve, not that she'd ever say it to his face.
Of course, Petunia also didn't say anything because she knew that there was another very good reason not to kill the Death Eaters. As they were all wearing masks to hide their identities, none of the Order members knew who was who. And they didn't want to risk killing their most recently acquired new asset… double agent Severus Snape, who'd decided to turn spy for the Order after Lily died. He'd still have to fight with the Death Eaters, however, if he was going to avoid suspicion and be able to feed information to them from the inside.
About ten minutes after they'd arrived, Albus and Aberforth joined the battle, along with Newt, Tina, and Theseus Scamander, Queenie Kowalski, and Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel. Several people in the Order had voiced concern about trusting Queenie when she first joined the Order near the start of the war… considering that she'd fought alongside Gellert Grindelwald in her youth. Albus was adamant in his trust for her, however, and she had proven herself in the time since.
Unfortunately, the Order wasn't the only ones with reinforcements inbound, as not long after Albus and the others arrived, the temperature noticeably dropped as a pack of at least fifty Dementors flew in. Soon after, Remus shuddered, as a loud howling noise pierced the night, sounding like it came from about half a mile to the east. The initial howl soon being answered by at least ten more… although that was only a guess as the Order members were far too busy fighting to get an accurate count.
While the Patronuses of the Order members managed to drive off the Dementors, by the time they had, Fenrir Greyback had arrived along with nearly two dozen werewolves, another ten Death Eaters and three vampires.
"Oh bugger me," Sirius mumbled, just before the ground shook and the Order's eyes widened in horror as they realized that the Death Eaters had also brought some of their giant allies.
"Fall back!" Albus called out, even as the Order began a strategic retreat to the Prewett house which was one of the few buildings in sight not in flames.
"I don't think so," one of the Death Eaters said, as they raised their wand and said, "Avada Kedavra!"
Nicolas Flamel summoned a large stone from a nearby stone fence that one of the giants had broken when they stepped on it and used it to block the spell, as it hit the stone and was redirected harmlessly into the ground. This only made more Death Eaters cast it, knowing that the Order members couldn't possibly block all of them. Nicolas, Perenelle and Tina did an admirable job of trying, however, even as one Killing Curse shattered a rock put in its path, sending a jagged piece of rock hurtling in Petunia's direction, where it grazed her left cheek before she could react.
Thankfully, Caradoc, Benjy, Frank, Alice, and Moody chose this moment to arrive, along with two dozen Aurors under the command of Senior Auror Rufus Scrimgeour. The giants were also soon encouraged to disengage from the battle and move away when Hagrid arrived on the scene, along with his mother, the Giant Chieftainess Fridwulfa and her honor guard. Even with the giants taken out of the picture and the new reinforcements, however, the Order was still outnumbered, as more Death Eaters arrived on the scene at the same time.
Several of them had already tried to use their emergency portkeys, but the Death Eaters had apparently erected an Anti-Portkey Jinx, so that combined with the fact that the entire village of Helga's Grove was under an Anti-Apparition Jinx—which is part of the reason why Petunia and the others had met up a quarter mile outside of the village and ran instead of Apparating—meant a quick withdrawal wasn't happening.
"Spread out!" Aberforth called out, realizing that if they all remained too close together it would be far too easy for the Death Eaters to surround them and then they'd be toast. Even as he said this, he broke from his brother's preferred methods of using only stunners and binding charms, as he conjured a ball of fire and sent it flying into the Death Eater ranks, forcing them to jump to the sides to avoid being incinerated.
The Order, the Aurors, and the Death Eaters continued battling for the next several minutes. Things got especially tense a few times due to Director Crouch having cleared the Aurors to use the Unforgivables if they deemed it necessary. Apparently, a few of them deemed it necessary as the green mist of the Killing Curse left a few of the Aurors' wands and headed for the Death Eaters, who used nearby rocks and other debris to block them the same way the Flamels had.
From his position about thirty feet away from her, where he was fighting back-to-back with his brother, Gideon's eyes widened in horror, as he shouted, "Marlene, watch out!"
Unfortunately, it was too late, as two such deflected Killing Curses—one cast by an Auror and the other by a Death Eater—slammed into the back of Marlene McKinnon, who had been in the process of standing back up after she'd accidentally tripped on one of the small rocks still littering the ground from the giants' previous attacks. It had been obscured enough by tall grass that Marlene, unfortunately, hadn't seen it until her right foot made contact with it.
"NOOO!" Gideon shouted as he watched helplessly as his girlfriend dropped to the ground. His eyes practically as red as his hair with fury, Gideon sent an arc of lightning out of the tip of his wand at the nearest Death Eater.
The pitched battle continued on, as more Death Eaters fell, some dead, others stunned and imprisoned in transfigured cages. The cages were the work of Albus, who transfigured some of the rocks littering the battlefield into cages to imprison the Death Eaters he stunned before they could be revived. Between Albus disarming them and the fact that he'd used a variant of the spell that would only allow him to unlock or banish the cages, those he imprisoned in such a way were, while still living, very effectively removed from the battle.
The Death Eater that Gideon electrocuted had managed to erect a shield that blocked most of the damage, but now he was clearly angry and cast a spell of his own at Gideon. One which revealed his identity as none other than Antonin Dolohov, as the spell he chose was a well-known signature of his… an extremely dark curse that conjured purple fire. Mere seconds later, Gideon, while doing his best to erect a shield before the spell could hit him, screamed in pain as the spell hit him in the chest, only partially blocked by his shield. As Gideon went down, a second blast hit Fabian in the chest, who'd turned around at his brother's scream.
"Expelliarmus! Stupefy! Incarcifors!" Albus incanted, ripping Antonin's wand out of his hand and imprisoning him in a transfigured cage. At the same moment, Sirius ducked a Killing Curse that one of the Death Eaters sent his way… and because he ducked, it found a new target in Dorcas Meadowes.
Only seconds later, a shout of, "Bombarda!" could be heard from one of the Death Eaters, sending a Blasting Curse flying at the feet of Benjy Fenwick who'd been running over to help Gideon and Fabian. Several more explosions followed at various points all over the battlefield.
Sending a wave of healing energy out of the Elder Wand at the incapacitated but still alive Prewett twins, Albus scanned the battlefield and noted that he couldn't see Caradoc Dearborn or the Longbottoms. As his eyes fell upon the dead bodies of Marlene and Dorcas, a woman's scream filled his ears, as Petunia screamed as she was hit by the Cruciatus Curse. Something about the pitch of Petunia's voice, combined with seeing the dead bodies of the two women on the ground made Albus flashback to that fateful day well over fifty years ago when Ariana died.
Out of the corner of his eye, Albus could see that despite their best efforts, the Death Eaters and their allies were close to having them surrounded. Not wanting any more of his allies to suffer, Albus raised the Elder Wand and waved his arm in a wide arc as he turned in place, and incanted, "Protego Diabolica!" Within seconds of the incantation leaving Albus's lips, a circle of black flames erupted from the ground, surrounding him and his allies, and cutting off the Death Eaters' advance.
From the Death Eaters' side of the flames, a surprised voice called out, "The great Albus Dumbledore, the so-called Leader of the Light, using the Dark Arts? I never thought I'd live to see it."
"You forced my hand," Albus called out. "And if you're at all familiar with this spell, then you know that those of you who can still run had better do it fast. I'll give you ten seconds. Ten… nine..."
There was a laugh at this, "You're bluffing. You don't have it in you, Dumbledore!"
"You really want to test that?" Albus asked. "Seven… six…"
It was at this point that Albus could feel the Anti-Apparition Jinx fall, followed by several pops as some of the Death Eaters fled the scene. "Five… four…"
"Cowards!" the Death Eater shouted, as he came up to just outside the ring of flames and removed his mask, revealing his identity as Thorold Mulciber, one of Voldemort's very first Death Eaters, and one of his most loyal and ardent supporters, second only perhaps to Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Actually, I think they've got the right of it, Thorold," Death Eater Thackeray Nott—whose mask had been shattered by some debris hitting him in the face earlier in the battle—said, as he stepped up next to Thorold. "We should go."
"Yes, you should," Albus said. "Three… two…"
At the last possible second, Thorold Apparated away… but not before pushing Thackeray forward into the flames, prompting him to scream as he was reduced to ashes within a matter of seconds. His scream did, however, convince several more Death Eaters to flee the scene and those who didn't, left very quickly after Albus sent tendrils of flame flying out in their general vicinity. Not quite close enough to touch them, but still enough that they could feel the heat and probably shit their pants.
"They're all gone now, Albus!" Nicolas shouted a moment later. "We're safe and we can Apparate. So drop the spell before it destroys Helga's Grove and Bristol right along with it!"
A second later the flames died down, although even with the Elder Wand it took some doing for Albus, as the spell hadn't been all that far from breaking out of his control and going wild. While it was a protective spell in that it wouldn't harm the allies of the caster, it was still classified as dark, because it was an offshoot of Fiendfyre, which was notoriously hard to control.
This version was easier to control, but even the most accomplished of wizards couldn't control it forever. It got easier the more times one cast it, but since this was only the second time that Albus had ever used it, much longer and Helga's Grove, Bristol, and their respective occupants would probably have been ashes. Because once the spell wasn't being controlled by anyone, it would burn everything it touched… including the caster and their allies.
"Gideon and Fabian need medical attention," Petunia said, as she came over and knelt beside them. They were still breathing, but they were unconscious. Their shirts were burned off and they each had a large, nasty-looking burn mark on their chests.
A second later, Fawkes appeared and landing so that he was standing half on Gideon's shoulder and half on Fabian's, he knelt his head down and began crying on the burns, which soon healed as if they'd never been there in the first place.
Fawkes let out a sad trill when they didn't immediately wake, prompting Perenelle to step forward and swish her wand, as she tested them. "They've gone comatose and are dangerously close to death. They'll need to be taken to St. Mungo's immediately if they're going to survive the night."
"Fawkes?" Dumbledore asked, prompting the phoenix to nod ever so slightly before stretching his wings and disappearing in a flash of fire, taking the twins with him. Dumbledore then sent his Patronus to St. Mungo's after them, to tell the healers who the patients were and what spell they'd been hit with.
The remaining members of the Order stayed for a while longer to finish putting out the fires, using magic to repair as much of the damage as they could. Meanwhile, the Aurors went around to Albus's cages and bound all the occupants in tight ropes before Albus banished their cages. A total of twelve Death Eaters were headed for Azkaban that night, including Antonin Dolohov, Walden MacNair, Thornton and Finnegan Rowle, and Igor Karkaroff.
Albus had actually captured thirteen Death Eaters, but one of them was spared Azkaban, as when their mask was removed it turned out to be Severus Snape, who Albus had arranged a full pardon for due to his new position as a spy. A few of the Aurors weren't happy about having to release a Death Eater, but there was nothing they could do about it, as the new Head of the Department of Mysteries had given Severus a status which while it didn't make him an Unspeakable, it did protect him from prosecution for any action he undertook with the Death Eaters so long as he remained an undercover spy for the Order of the Phoenix.
Of course, in order to keep up Severus's cover, he was taken to the Ministry holding cells with the other Death Eaters. With each Death Eater sequestered in separate cells which didn't allow any of them to see the others that had been captured or hear anything going on outside of their cell, it was safe and easy to open Severus's cell and release him.
-o-0-o-
The following morning, Molly and Arthur Weasley could be found sitting in a waiting room at St. Mungo's, along with their two eldest children, Bill and Charlie. The rest of the kids were back home at The Burrow with Arthur's parents. Also present were Molly's older brother, Bilius, and their father Amadeus Prewett, whose elder half-brother, Lord Ignatius Prewett, was also in the room, along with his mother, Muriel.
"What in Merlin's name is taking so long?" Muriel complained. "I swear in my day there was more respect. Healers didn't leave worried families sitting in a waiting room for hours without any updates."
"I'd rather they do everything they can to save Gideon and Fabian," Amadeus said, "then come in here and give us updates every five minutes."
Before Muriel could say a word, a healer walked into the room and asked, "Are you here for Gideon and Fabian Prewett?"
Standing up, Amadeus nodded, and said, "Yes, I'm their father."
"Your sons are out of danger," the healer replied. "We've stabilized them and they're no longer in danger of dying."
"Can we see them?" Molly asked.
The healer nodded. "You can, but I'm afraid they haven't woken up yet." With a sigh, the healer said, "My colleagues believe it would be best if they be moved up to Ward 49 on the fourth floor."
"Ward 49?" Ignatius asked. "That's the Janus Thickey Ward, is it not?"
"Yes, it is. With the right spells, potions, and a bit of luck, they may wake up eventually, but I'm afraid our best spell damage specialists agree that it's not likely to be anytime soon. Moved up to the long-term care ward, we can keep them comfortable and monitor them for any sign of improvement, while also trying to figure out the best course of treatment."
"If you think that's best," Amadeus said, as he collapsed into a nearby chair, with a defeated sigh, as Bilius reached over and squeezed his father's shoulder.
"Will they ever wake up?" Bill asked from where we has standing next to the arm of his father's chair, one arm wrapped around his brother Charlie's waist. Gideon and Fabian were only eight years older than Bill and ten years older than Charlie. It was perhaps because of the relative closeness in their ages that Bill and Charlie both considered Gideon and Fabian to be their favorite uncles. They liked Bilius and their dad's brothers, but Gideon and Fabian were the cool uncles.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that with any certainty, young man," the healer said. "We'll do our best, however."
-o-0-o-
To be continued…
And there you have Chapter One of 'The Seventh Olympian'. As you can see, this story definitely diverges from canon in that Petunia is a witch and determined to give Harry a good childhood. It's also quite different in that Sirius never went to prison… so that pretty much invalidates the entire Prisoner of Azkaban arc.
The first few chapters of this story will focus on Harry's childhood, so you'll get to see him grow up and attend Hogwarts. Although, there will definitely be changes to his school years, not the least of which due to the fact that Dudley or Darius as he's named in this fic, will be attending Hogwarts with him.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email (Gmail: jaycolin25), my LiveJournal (JayColin), my Yahoo group (storiesbyjayson), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .
