Three Little Lies

Prologue: Yet More Weasleys

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

When Albus Dumbledore turned up on her doorstep at five o'clock in the morning on November 1st with three black haired toddlers and a grave expression, Molly Weasley couldn't have been more surprised.

"Professor Dumbledore, this is a surprise. Do come in, I'll fix us a spot of tea," she said standing aside and pulling her dressing gown tighter about herself.

"Thank you Molly, tea would be most welcome."

"Headmaster," greeted Arthur, hauling himself to his feet and shaking Dumbledore's hand with a tired smile, "You picked an excellent time, we finally managed to get all the kids to sleep. We've been celebrating all night."

"You've heard the news then?" said Dumbledore mildly, setting the long basket with the sleeping toddlers on the floor next to the kitchen table.

"Who hasn't at this point?" snorted Molly, "We've had a deluge of owls from the other Order members and the family and we haven't even taken down the wards yet."

"Then you know that Lily and James Potter are both dead, and Sirius Black is being accused of supporting Voldemort and is being hunted down by a team of Ministry hit-wizards as we speak."

Arthur and Molly both flinched at Dumbledore's casual use of Voldemort's name, their expressions grave as they were reminded of the horrible events that led up to his death.

"Is it true that he betrayed them?" asked Arthur.

"It would seem so," said Dumbledore sadly, "I would not have believed it if I hadn't set the preliminary spell work for Lily and James myself, they confided in me at the time that their chosen secret keeper was Sirius. It seems that he bowed to a sense of filial or perhaps fraternal duty, you are aware that Regulus Black was a confirmed deatheater before his death last year?"

"Yes, we'd heard that, the poor boy, he wasn't more than nineteen," said Molly shaking her head.

"It is a sad state of affairs," agreed Dumbledore, "But the matter of Sirius Black is not the one I came here to speak with you about. I've come to beg a rather large favour you see."

"I had wondered why you would chose to pay us a visit when you must be needed up at Hogwarts or in the Ministry hearings," commented Arthur with a nod.

"Of course Professor, we'll do what we can to help you."

"Thank you Molly, that is most gracious of you," said Dumbledore with a small smile, a bit of twinkle coming back into his blue eyes, "To put the matter simply, these boys are the sons of Lily and James and they have need of a good home and a loving family."

Molly and Arthur exchanged a glance that spoke volumes and then Molly turned to see to the whistling kettle chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip as she bustled around the kitchen setting out the tea and a plate of buttery scones with homemade raspberry jam, glancing from time to time at the boys in their basket.

Dumbledore let the silence build, fixing his cup of tea with a murmured thank you and helping himself to a spot of Molly's excellent cooking.

Finally Arthur spoke.

"We would love to have them, and not just for your sake, but to be quite honest we just can't afford another three children," he said the back of his neck flushing at the admission.

"Ah, fortunately, the children are well provided for, fiscally speaking. Lily and James made arrangements for financial support and they will of course have access to their trust vaults when they turn eleven and the Potter fortune when they come of age."

"Well then, of course that changes things," said Molly firmly.

Arthur smiled and squeezed his wife's hand. Molly had a good heart and was a born mother, and really they already had seven children, what was three more?

"I have some further requests that are, more delicate," said Dumbledore, he paused to make sure he had Molly and Arthur's full attention before continuing, "I want you to raise the boys as if they were your own."

"Of course we would!"

"You misunderstand, I have no doubts about the care they would receive, but I wish for you to claim that they are your own sons. There are still plenty of deatheaters who have not yet been apprehended and dark supporters who never took on Voldemort's mark and with Sirius Black still at large…well, you can see that there is a certain amount of danger involved in this enterprise and this will be necessary to keep everyone safe."

Slowly Molly and Arthur nodded, their expressions pensive.

"I won't change their appearance beyond granting them red hair, but we will be required to fudge their dates of birth a bit."

"We went into hiding while Molly was still pregnant and haven't sent out the letters about Ron and Ginny to the family yet, we didn't think it was safe, so it shouldn't be too difficult to convince everybody. We'll have to tamper with the Ministry files but I have a friend in the records department who owes me a favour."

"I will apprise Minerva of the situation and she will make the necessary modifications to the Hogwarts enrollment and attendance records."

"We're going to have to go ahead and enroll them in the muggle primary school down in the village," said Molly, "Fred and George too, I won't have the time to keep on top of their education myself with so many young children running about."

"It will be a fantastic experience for them Molly," said Arthur gleefully, ecstatic that his wife was finally giving his idea its due consideration.

"We'll give them proper education in pureblood customs when they get a bit older as well, to balance everything out, it's just lucky that Bill will be off to Hogwarts next year."

"We'll have to put another addition on the house," Arthur said thoughtfully.

"Ginny would have needed her own room anyway," Molly pointed out with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"There is one final thing I feel I should mention. There are powerful and ancient protective magics surrounding these three, Lily and James and amazingly enough young Severus Snape each sacrificed their own lives for the lives of these children and that will provide lasting protective effects as long as the children are loved. I would like to integrate the spell into the wards surrounding the Burrow and turn that protection into a shield. If you would allow the modifications, it would make this house and the area around it one of the safest places in Britain."

"Whatever you need to do Headmaster," said Arthur immediately, "We trust you."

"Thank you, thank you both. You cannot know how much this eases my mind," said Dumbledore, relaxing a bit into his seat, "When the Potters asked that I see to the execution of their wills should anything happen to them, I confess I hadn't thought I would find myself in this position. I had originally thought to place them with their muggle relatives but Minerva was quite vehement in her protests."

"You needn't worry headmaster," said Arthur, "They'll be safe and happy here in the Burrow."

Molly it seemed could no longer contain herself because she moved to crouch next to the basket brushing a finger over the cheek of the nearest boy. The toddler gave a sigh and snuggled closer to his brother, still fast asleep.

"I placed them under a mild sleeping spell," Dumbledore said, "It should wear off in a few hours but I thought it best to ease some of the shock. They've been through a great deal this past night."

Molly nodded, "You did the right thing, poor dears. What are their full names?"

"Ah, the young lad nearest to you Molly is the youngest of the three, Ethan Sirius Potter, next to him is the eldest child Nicholas James Potter and last, though certainly not least, the middle child is Matthew Remus Potter. Though, I confess, if it weren't for their onesies I wouldn't be able to tell them apart."

Arthur laughed.

"We have the same problem with Fred and George, and the little troublemakers have started switching shirts to confuse us."

Dumbledore chuckled as well, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Perhaps we will be lucky and they will become less alike before they reach the halls of Hogwarts."

"Will you stay for breakfast Professor?" asked Molly rising from her crouch and bustling over to the pantry, "I think we'll just have porridge and scones, but you're welcome to help yourself."

"I regret, my dear, that I will have to decline. There are a number of arrangements to be made and I must make an appearance at Hogwarts this morning and make the rumours official to the student body and arrange for celebrations and a parent visiting day before I lend my services to the Ministry."

"Will you set the wards before you go?"

"Not just yet," said Dumbledore, taking a smooth river stone the size of a fist from an inner pocket of his robes and setting it on the Weasley's scrubbed wood table, "For now I will leave you with this ward stone, and once things calm down I will set them up properly, the process is a lengthy one and we will all need to be involved."

"Of course, I'll put this out of reach," said Molly bustling over to the family clock and setting the ward stone atop it.

Reflexively she checked the position of the hands but they all pointed to Home. Ever since Gideon and Fabian had been killed she worried incessantly and oftentimes unnecessarily but that was all about to change. She smiled delightedly as she brushed her fingertips along the glass face. Already three new clock hands were forming, officially welcoming the triplets into the Weasley family.

"That really is the most remarkable clock," commented Dumbledore.

"My mother made it to keep track of my brothers and I. She gave it to me when I was pregnant with Bill. It has been a great comfort to me during this infernal war."

"I can imagine."

"Before you head off headmaster, you mentioned something about giving the boys red hair?"

"Yes, of course Arthur, how good of you to remind me."

With a wave of his wand and a muttered word the triplets' hair lightened to a dark red closer to Molly's auburn curls than the traditional Weasley red and almost the exact shade of the late Lily Potter's glorious hair.

"There we are," said Dumbledore, satisfied, "Simply apply a walnut sized amount this potion to their hair after bath time for the next six weeks in order to make the effects permanent."

He reached into his robes a second time and brought out a middle sized bottle of creamy pink liquid. Setting it on the table he took a final swig of his tea and popped the remainder of his scone into his mouth.

"Now I must be off," he said, "Thank you for the excellent tea and scones Molly."

"Not at all Professor, I'll see you out. Arthur would you get the boys settled in the nursery for now?"

"Yes dear," agreed Arthur, "Come on boys, let's get you settled in."

Molly escorted Dumbledore to her front steps crossing her arms against the chilly November air as a gust of wind sent her skirts flapping around her legs and ruffled her auburn curls.

Dumbledore paused and then turned back to Molly a serious expression on his face.

"If you should happen to notice any odd marks or scars on any of the children, please notify me immediately. There are many aspects of what occurred during the night of Voldemort's defeat that are still unclear to me, but we are dealing with powerful and obscure magic and should be on our guard for potential pitfalls."

"We'll let you know right away if we notice anything unusual," Molly assured him.

"Thank you both, for everything. You've greatly eased my heart and mind."

Then, with a final gracious nod and a soft pop, Dumbledore disapparated content in the knowledge that the Potter triplets, each potentially the one destined to put a permanent end to the misery that was Lord Voldemort, were as safe and anonymous as he could make them.

AN: Posting in haste, editing and full notes to follow.

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