{Sorry it's been so long since I updated! I got caught up with going back to school and getting ready to go to college. I'll try to update more often! Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter.}
Kie held the book. "Harry Potter, the Cousins Black and the Two Prisoners." "What prisoners?" Moody asked suspiciously. Kie ignored their questions and opened the book.
Chapter 1. Talking
"Please tell me it's not the talk." Sirius begged. "I'm pretty sure this book skipped that awkward moment over the summer." Al said with a thoughtful expression. "By the way, where is your other sister?" Liliana asked. "Oh, Theo's getting something done and couldn't make it." Jamie added. "She said she'd try to come later if possible." Frank II said.
"Umm… do you have a nickname we can call you?" Alice asked awkwardly. "I sometimes get called Auggie." He replied. Alice nodded in relief.
Harry was lazily catching a snitch that he got from Sirius as he lay back on his bed.
"Sounds like Regulus." Sirius said. James shot his best friend a look. Barty nodded. "Loves quidditch." He added on.
He got his homework done last week, and he was glad to be down writing about Muggle Witch hunts. As he caught the snitch again a knock came from the door before twisting open.
Dorea was cautiously waiting as she gripped Charlus' hand.
Saorise poked her head in with a soft smile with her blonde curls splayed out of a haphazardly done bun. "Dinner, Harry." She said.
Everyone was relieved at how peaceful this chapter was.
Harry closed the snitch into a small box before swinging his legs over.
Jamie kicked his feet onto the table. A stern look from his grandmother made him lower them.
She and Harry were about the same size now and Harry quirked a smile at her.
"Harry's still short." James said as he wilted. One of Leo's daughters looked thoughtful as she loosely braided her hair half way. "Isn't Dad the tallest of the three?" She asked. "Yep." Teddy replied. "Leo's tall cos Sirius is, and Aries is smaller and lighter, but Harry is the shortest." Teddy answered and his hair went midnight.
"So you were raised by Harry?" Remus asked. Teddy nodded. "He was great; he told me lots about you and mum." Teddy said with a sad smile. Remus had a hurt look on his face. "Sorry." Remus mumbled. "I don't blame you." Teddy replied softly causing turquois to form at the tips.
The twin girl with the braid looked at her sister. They shared a look before the girl with her hair down turned away with red cheeks. Shizuka looked at the two curiously.
She grinned wider as she lightly stepped down the stairs. Harry followed her and smelt a very hearty stew as he got closer to the dining room. He saw Sirius finishing to set the table and Leo and Aries were at the table with an empty chair between them.
"Every get-together the place gets packed." Jamie said cheerfully. "Get- togethers?" Sirius asked. "Yeah, family and friends come over often." Jamie said with a grin as he crossed his arms behind his head.
Harry sat down and they began to eat and talk. When Harry began to lap us the last of his stew with a slice of fresh bread, an owl hooted and tapped at the window. Sirius groaned before getting up to answer the mail.
"Since when does the Prophet deliver at night?" McGonagall asked. "I think sometimes they run late night emergency news." Dia said thoughtfully.
Sirius came back with a rolled up issue of The Daily Prophet. Leo suddenly got this look of realization on his face. "That reminds me." He mumbled as he dug through his pocket.
"It's worse with cargo pants." The girl with the braid groaned. "Cargo pants?" Narcissa asked with a scrunched nose. "Pants with several deep pockets. Dad wears them often and carries all sorts of things." She replied. "You didn't complain when Jamie wore them, Sirisha." The other twin, Liliavati, said with a smirk. Sirisha went red and Jamie wagged his eyebrows at her and ruffled his hair.
Sirius and James watched with expressions of growing horror. "Did he just-?" Sirius spluttered. "No." James yelped. "But he—and you- and – and-" "Nope."
"I think you just broke two Marauders." Dia said nervously. Remus chuckled at the expressions his friends were making. Kie shook his head and kept reading.
Harry was curious. Leo spent quite a bit of time building some things over the summer. Sirius taught him every now and then, and they were planning on building something big when they could. Harry was wondering if it was another figurine, wizard chess piece or—
Several people wilted in disappointment.
Leo pulled out a crumpled newspaper clipping. "I was using the newspaper to cover the floor while I worked on my next thing, and read this." He said as he un-crumpled the paper. The date was smeared, but the year was 1980.
Several people grimaced. Horrbible things happened around that time.
Rich bachelor James Potter Secretly Marries Muggle Born Lily Evans
James let his head hit the table in disbelief. "How the bloody hell did that circulate?" Lucas asked.
"Wait—what?" Harry spluttered.
"I'm with dad on this one." Al said. Scorpius snorted in amusement.
Sirius snorted when he leaned to look at it. "Ah, I forgot about all this." Sirius said.
James grabbed Sirius by the front of the robes and shook him back and forth. "TELL ME!" He demanded. "I—Do-on't – Kno- ow!" Sirius shouted as he went back and forth.
Saorise raised a thin eyebrow. "What?" Aries asked as he took the paper from Leo. "Well, it's a long story, but I think you boys should know." Sirius said.
James released Sirius who flopped back in his chair like a ragdoll.
"You see boys, when Liliana sought asylum with the Potters, everything was done in secrecy. Wedding records were sent to Gringots to be kept secret, the wedding was privately held on a Potter Estate with a hand full of guests." Sirius wore a thoughtful expression. "I think the only people there besides your grandparents, me, Remus and Shizu, were the Tonks, Hagrid, and Neville's parents. Oh, I take that back, Aries was there too."
Danny wore a slightly intrigued expression.
Aries was the most surprised.
"No shit." Teddy muttered.
"Yeah, you were the ring bearer and Tonks was the flower girl." Sirius said with a nod.
Remus hid his face in his hands. "I feel disgusted with myself." He groaned. Teddy awkwardly patted his back. "I could care less, Dad." He said with pinkish red hair.
Saorise sighed. "Don't worry Saorise, I'll give you the baby pictures." Sirius promised. Harry and Leo snickered as Aries went red.
"I saw those, someone put him in a little robe and pointed hat." Danny added.
"Back to the story." Aries said after shooting Harry and Leo a glare. "Yeah, so… I remember a lot of snoopy reporters, like that Skeeter woman. I think someone might have eavesdropped on a conversation about the wedding and wrote that article." Sirius said.
"That explains one thing." Moody growled.
"When did this get cleared up?" Aries asked. "My trial a couple years ago." Sirius said with a shrug.
"Say what?" James asked. "I get married and everyone thinks my wife is someone else." He said in disbelief.
"Wha-?" Harry asked. "Yep." Sirius said with a solemn nod. "Why did this last for ten years?" Aries asked.
"That's what I want to know." Many people said.
"You see, to keep Lana safe, James kept his mouth shut about the truth because someone had tried very hard to wipe her family out in Italy, and he didn't want them to find her. A year into their marriage, Harry comes into the world, and then the attack in '81." Sirius said with a haunted look in his grey eyes.
James and Liliana shared a sad look. James gave her a grin. "I'm sure those were the best years of my life." He said with a cheeky grin that didn't meet his hazel eyes. She looked at him with tears welling in her forest green eyes.
The table got solemn. Sirius silently opened the newspaper. Harry wondered what caused the sudden late-night delivery when the Prophet comes in the morning. Sirius looked at the paper and he got this grim smile on his face.
Everyone was confused, most of all Sirius.
"Papa?" Leo asked curiously. Sirius folded the paper to show them the article he was reading.
No one seemed to notice the brief glance Kie gave Barty.
Crouch Attacked by Unknown Dark Wizard
Mr. Bartemius Crouch, was found to be attacked at his home.
Ministry officials have no leads to the attacker as of yet.
A delirious Mr. Crouch is under intensive care at St. Mungo's.
Not much only that Mr. Crouch kept muttering "All my fault." Repeatedly.
More news to follow as the investigation is underway.
"Someone attacked my father?" Barty asked carelessly.
"Can't help but say the man had it coming." Sirius said grimly. "What do you mean?" Harry asked.
Arcturus, Abarax, Septimus and Charlus grimaced as Augusta wore a livid expression.
"Back before '81, Crouch was a man who was on his way to becoming Minister.
"That'd be a nightmare." Lucius said.
He became DMLE after your grandfather Harry, but he was horrible. He authorized the use of Unforgivable curses on suspects." Sirius said as he held his arms around himself. Harry felt his eyes bug out.
The Room was in an uproar. It took a while for everyone to calm down to the point where they would just stew in their anger, if Teddy's blazing red hair was an indicator.
"You said those curses were illegal and used mostly by Black Magic users." Aries mumbled.
"Wait, why do they know about the Unforgivables?" Lily asked.
Sirius had told them about the three curses when Saorise asked him about the attack on Harry's family.
As he read this Kie gave Lily a bland look.
"Yeah, well, when it came to fighting crime he was just as ruthless as the criminals he hunted." Sirius said grimly.
Everyone kept glancing at Barty.
Saorise looked at the article intently. "The name sounds very familiar." She said. Sirius nodded. "You're probably thinking about his son, Barty Crouch jr." Sirius said. She nodded grimly. "Such a shame." She muttered lowly.
Barty paled. He didn't like the sound of that.
"Who?" Aries asked. "Barty Crouch jr. He was a Slytherin in your father's year." Sirius explained.
"Actually you're his best friend." Sirius amended. "Why didn't you say that?" Barty asked.
"What happened to him?" Aries asked. "Unfortunately he was one of many young wizards who fell in with the wrong crowd. Went dark, fought for the wrong side. He became a Death Eater, and was thrown in Azkaban, not too far from me in fact." Sirius said.
The room went quiet. Barty went pale and shook badly.
"He threw his own son in Azkaban?" Leo asked in shock.
Barty made a high pitched whine that conveyed how scared he was then.
"Crouch was a power-hungry politician. He put becoming Minister above spending time with his family… Should have gotten to know his son more.
Barty ignored the various looks he was getting.
The only kind thing I can think of is that he gave him a trial, but that was more or less a stage to publicly disown the kid he seemed to hate so much." Sirius said.
Arcturus looked at Barty, musing to himself about his great-grandson's friend.
"He was in Azkaban for a year…Spent the beginning crying for his mother, before he went quiet like everyone else."
"My father let me rot and die in Azkaban." Barty asked in disbelief. Lucius awkwardly patted the Slytherin's shoulder in an effort to try and comfort him.
Harry looked down sadly. He could imagine what it was like to have someone hate you.
His family grimaced, especially his kids. "I can't believe Un—Er—Harry went through what he did." Scorpius said.
"Well, Crouch doesn't know what's important in life." Aries said with a bold look in his dark eyes. Sirius gave a crooked smile at them. "Well, I'm glad I'm here with you boys." Sirius said.
"And this time you'll be a happy family, the lot of you." Lorcan said bravely. That brought many smiles to many faces.
Saorise gave a warm smile. "Well, I say we go and get some ice cream." She said as she headed down towards the kitchen.
Danny smiled a bit at the mention of his grandfmother.
"Who do you think did this?" Harry asked. Sirius shrugged. "No idea. Crouch made a lot of enemies from both sides in his day, whether he knew it or not." Sirius said.
Barty snorted lightly
"Do you think Mad Eye will catch him?" Harry asked.
Everyone looked at Moody with varying expressions.
Sirius wore a surprised expression. "Oh, I forgot to mention." He said sheepishly. "Mad Eye retired recently. It hasn't made the Prophet yet, but Tonks mentioned it in her last letter."
Teddy grinned at the Auror. Moody nodded back curtly in return.
"So who's Head Auror?" Leo asked. "I'm pretty sure it's a bloke named Kingsley. Excellent wizard, and a Ravenclaw if memory serves." Sirius said thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah." Many current Hogwarts students said. McGonagall nodded. "Very bright young man." She praised.
Aries grinned at Sirius.
"I think that was the first good Ravenclaw he's heard about since Flitwick and Rowena." Danny said. Kie nodded.
"Chocolate or... is this lemon?" Saorise asked as she held two tubs of ice cream. "Yeah, the last one is." Sirius clarified.
"Dad." The future Potters intoned. James looked at Liliana who smiled cutely.
As Saorise was scooping ice cream onto their plates Harry looked at the door to the kitchen and saw Kreacher leering at the doorway.
Sirius grimaced and shuddered.
Kreacher kept staring at Aries intensely with his old eyes as he clutched something on a jewelry chain.
Jamie leaned over towards Al. "Is that the-?" Al hissed quietly at him.
"Kreacher!" Sirius shouted. Kreacher sneered at Sirius. "Master Blood Traitor talks bad of purebloods to Master Regulus' Wife and Son." Kreacher spat.
Sirius was tilting his head with a confused expression. "Wait, Kreacher spews my mother's pureblood garbage six times a day. How can he be okay with Saorise and Aries?"
Those from the future shared a look that couldn't be deciphered and kept quiet as Kie kept reading.
"And I believe I said that spouting my mother's pureblood propaganda was not allowed." Sirius snarled.
"You really despise him, huh Paddy?" James asked. Sirius made a noise that sounded like he agreed.
Kreacher looked at Aries and Saorise before walking down the stairs muttering about 'Master Regulus.'
"Why does he have a Regulus Complex?" Liliavati asked. "Cos it's Kreacher." Sirisha said. "You two have met him?" Sirius asked in shock. "He's ancient in our time." Teddy said. "Great." Sirius groaned.
"He still freaks me out." Leo said before eating a spoonful of ice cream.
"He used to make Danny cry as a baby." Teddy said. Danny went red and told him to shut up.
"Does he know about us?" Aries asked motioning to himself and Saorise.
Those from the future ignored imploring looks from those of the present.
Sirius shrugged. "Never mentioned anything of the sort to me." He said. "I'm not sure." Saorise said. "I never met him until your second year." Harry looked back at the door.
"So he thinks they're purebloods?" Lucius asked. Narcissa pursed her lips in thought. What on earth did Regulus do in his life?
Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye how Leo went rigid, pre-scoop. Leo's still a bit shaken up by the basilisk, but he did far better than Ginny. She kept sobbing afterwards. But who wouldn't, knowing that they were possessed by Voldemort.
Septimus wrung his hands as he felt concerned for his granddaughter.
Sirius grimaced at the mention of last year. Harry, Aries and Leo had to spend a week talking Sirius out of transferring them out of Hogwarts, but he still mumbled about Old Men, evil diaries and Snape.
"I would rather that they go overseas to school than Hogwarts if Dumbledore is there." Liliana said adamantly as she crossed her arms. James gave a placating smile.
Leo began to suddenly shovel ice cream into his mouth, before clutching his head in pain from a brain freeze. "Slow down, your food isn't going to walk off the plate." She chastised.
"If these to get to it, it will." Auggie said as he pointed at Liliavati and Sirisha. The two girls wore innocent expressions that were almost believable.
"Sorry." He mumbled. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Gluttons." Kie said as he looked at his brother, and the twin girls.
"So, we're still going to buy school supplies tomorrow?" Saorise asked. Sirius nodded. "Remus says he'll meet up with us in Diagon Alley." Harry grinned. He liked talking with Moony.
Remus smiled appreciatively. Teddy grinned alongside him with matching eyes and hair.
He also needed to thank him for his help with a confusing essay for History of Magic and for giving him advice for spells.
"You should think about being a teacher." James said. "Yeah right." Remus dismissed. "Seriously Moony, you'd make a hell of a teacher." Sirius insisted. McGonagall looked thoughtful. "So long as it's not potions." She added dryly.
The Marauders laughed happily, not noticing the knowing smirks the kids from the future wore.
"Moony's coming?" Leo asked like an excited puppy.
Remus and James looked at Sirius with unreadable smirks.
"Yep." Sirius said with a knowing smirk.
"What're you hiding?" Dorea asked instantly.
"Now, unless I'm mistaken you three should be in bed." Sirius added. Harry groaned. "Stop whining and sleep, we have a long day tomorrow." Sirius said.
"Mate you sound like Dad." James said to Sirius. Sirius smiled a bit, very pleased with the idea of being a father like Mr. Potter.
"I slept most of last year though." Leo whined. "Well this year you can be alert and working extra hard in all your classes." Saorise teased.
"Ahahaha, good one." Sirisha said sarcastically.
"A-Auntiiieee!" Leo whined with a drawn out yawn.
"An~d point lost." Lucas said airily. Xenophilius nodded.
"Bed." She chided, pointing to the stair well. The three got up and lumbered up the stairs.
Dorea had a knowing look on her face as she looked at James and Sirius who were whistling awkwardly.
Looking out the window Harry could see rain pelting the window, before going to his room.
"So very English weather." Liliana drawled. James wore a (fake) wounded expression as he splayed a hand on his chest. "Lana you wound me." He said. "This time, I'm taking you to Italia." She said nonchalantly. James blinked dumbly for a bit before blushing with a goofy grin.
Harry flopped on his bed and felt two other bodies flump next to him. "You guys have your own rooms." Harry groaned into his pillow.
"I guess old habits die hard." Remus mused.
He heard no response and saw that the two were dead asleep.
Shizuka smiled happily. This has to be the most un-stressful chapter since the first book, and she liked it.
Harry muffled a groan before closing his eyes and falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting the window pane.
"That's it." Kie said as he turned the page. "I wanna read next." Rose said energetically. Kie tossed the book to her. She missed and picked it up before clearing her throat to read the next chapter.