Disclaimer: I don't own any of Mrs. Rowlings creations. Everything and everyone else however are mine.

Harry stumbled once again. He really needed to pay attention to where he was walking. Looking for whatever he had tripped over, he noticed a stone quickly retreating back into the floor. How odd. The entrance hall they were walking through was an odd mix of muggle and magical elements. The hallway floor was done in a cobblestone pattern with varying shades of gray stone. The walls were paneled in a light colored hardwood. Strangely enough, the combination worked. Looking up Harry noticed the lighting was muggle. There were torches lining the walls but none of them were lit. As they walked deeper into the manor, castle, whatever it was, his eyes widened at the sheer size of the place. At the end of the rather narrow entryway was a large open area with a beautiful gray and white marble grand staircase leading up to the second floor. The ceiling continued upwards for at least two more stories and had everyone who looked at it gaping. Even Snape seemed stunned at the sight, Harry noticed.

On the ceiling was the most realistic depiction of a dragon Harry had ever seen. The navy blue scales shimmered in such a way that one couldn't be sure that it wasn't actually moving. Surrounding the dark blue dragon were three smaller dragons of equally amazing detail, one bright emerald green, another a dark purple, and the last a dark metallic gray.

"Amazing!" Harry heard Hermione's mother whisper. Harry agreed. Looking down he caught sight of Mr. Alden talking with a woman. She nodded and walked down a hallway to their right.

"Everyone! We will be having refreshments shortly. Feel free to wander around but please try not to get lost. If you ever do find yourself lost, place a hand on the nearest wall and ask aloud for help. The torches you see lining the walls will light to show the path to either this room or the nearest family member or household worker. On the same note, you may also ask to be shown the way to a specific place or person. I'll show everyone how to do that when we go to the star room." He said. Mrs. Alden walked up between Hermione's parents and Harry, causing Harry to jump slightly. Must stop doing that! Looking up, the blond haired woman smiled.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" She asked. The people around her nodded. "I'm particularly proud of it."

"Who painted it? It's wonderful!" Mr. Granger asked in awe.

"My son Tron was twelve when he started that. It took him a year to finish it seeing that he had to do it between classes and things." Harry could hear the pride in her voice and wondered what exactly it would feel like to be on the receiving end of such an emotion. To know that no matter what he did there would always be that tone in his parents voice. Petunia and Vernon had certainly never held that emotion for him and while Sirius had been proud of him it had always been overshadowed by his father's legacy. Harry looked back up at the ceiling and sighed. If my parents had lived, would they have been proud of me? Are they proud of me now? Even now that I'm dirty? Hermione's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"How exactly would a twelve year old have done something of that magnitude without being able to use magic?" She asked. Karan stared at her for a moment then smiled softly.

"Our children start learning how to use their magic as soon as they show it for the first time. That usually starts between the ages of three and six. As for how he did it. Hmm... well, by that time he had already painted the walls and ceiling in both his room and that of Serena's and the manor made her wishes for a mural up there known. She created catwalks up there for Tron to work on and assured us that no harm would come to him so we let him do it. He's painted many other rooms since. In fact, he painted the solid wall of the green house so well that you can't tell where the plants end and the painting begins." Harry jumped when a bell like sound echoed throughout the manor. "Oh, dear. Everyone, please move to the left side of the room. Quickly please!" She said and started shooing everyone to the side. As soon as Harry had moved the sound of giggling and screaming children came from the entry hallway. Soon, children of all different ages came running by them. It seemed that the younger kids were being chased by the older ones, one of which Harry recognized. Ebony paused in her good natured pursuit of a small black haired boy and looked straight at him.

"Hello Mr. Harry! How do you like it so far?" She asked. Ebony was once again dressed in her gothic style except it seemed to be completely black this time. How can she stand all that black in this heat?

"It's hot." He said quietly. She smiled at him and turned back to chasing the stragglers. She arranged her hands into claws and started roaring in a way that Harry thought might have been scary had it not been coming from such a petite girl. The two small blond twin boys looked at her, giggled, and then ran down the hallway on the right side of the room. Ebony looked back at him.

"You'll get use to it, Mr. Harry!" She said as she turned and followed them. Harry could practically feel the piercing black eyes burning holes through the back of his head and slowly looked at those around him. Several gazes were locked on him and he had to fight the impulse to flinch.

His eyes narrowed at his own reaction. Flinch? Why would I flinch? Harry knew something was wrong with him but couldn't quite figure it out. There were days that he jerked away from those around him and he didn't know why. Most of the time it felt as if his head were full of cotton and the feelings he knew he should be feeling were absent. A hand on his shoulder caused him to snap back to reality. Only when he saw Hermione's worried face did he realize that he was panting like he had just finished running a marathon. He forced a smile for his friends. The looks on their faces told him that they were about to start questioning him again and he could think of no way to avoid it this time. Luckily, Ricky came to his rescue.

"Drinks are here! Please take as much as you need. It's easy to overheat in this weather." His announcement effectively captured everyone's attention, save for one. Snape was looking at him like he was searching for something and Harry hoped to goodness he found it. Perhaps Snape could figure out what was wrong, Merlin knew Harry wasn't doing any good at it.

Harry moved his gaze towards the refreshments and saw Ricky watching him as well. Mr. Alden's eyes, however, were not looking for anything. They seemed to be looking through him and Harry got the feeling that Ricky Alden knew exactly what was wrong with him. Ricky flashed Harry a small smile, one full of kindness and understanding, and nodded. Harry blinked. Could Ricky Alden read minds or was he just that obvious? Harry shrugged and slowly joined the others. It's too bloody hot here.

ROA

Ricky watched as the pitchers of pumpkin juice, apple juice, and water were quickly emptied. He knew that his guests were no strangers to these temperatures, but with the humidity in Georgia, the heat could quickly become deadly. He took a sip of his own sweet tea and looked around at the people standing in his home. The set of red haired twins made him want to both smile and pull at his hair. He knew from raising his own children that these two would be a problem. He didn't even want to think about when Cara and Sara caught sight of them. Ricky was busy watching the twins when Karan walked up to him.

"Cara and Sara will be ecstatic." She said quietly.

"Must remember to fire proof the new stables..." He said distractedly. Karan nodded and looked towards Mr. Snape. It was hard to imagine this man was Ebony's father. Granted that, yes, Ebony was almost the spitting image of the man, for some reason Karan couldn't visualize a man such as him with a woman of Sharon's reputation. She shook her head and looked over at Mr. Potter.

"Is he going to be okay? He seems... broken." She asked softly. Ricky looked over at the boy and sighed.

"I hope so. His mind has him in a haze right now. It's probably the only thing keeping him going actually." Karan looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

"You know what's wrong with him, don't you?" Ricky nodded. "Then can't you fix it?" He shook his head as he turned up to look at the ceiling.

"No, it's not something I can fix. He's going to have to work it out himself. Maybe..." He trailed off lost in thought. Karan waited on him to finish his thought and when he didn't she poked him in ribs.

"Ouch!" Ricky yelped, though the smile on his face told her that he wasn't hurt. Karan put her hands to her hips.

"Are you going to finish that sentence?"

"What sentence?" He asked as he reached down to scratch his left foot. Seeing Karan's eyes narrow, he grinned. Of course not where she could see, he liked sleeping in his bed thank you very much.

"Ricky Alden! Where the hell are your shoes?" He looked at her with something between a scowl and a pout.

"Since when do I have to wear shoes in my own home?" He asked petulantly. She shook her index finger in front of his face and without thinking he crossed his eyes to watch it. Karan noticed and poked him right between the eyes.

"Don't give me that bullcrap, Richard." He cringed at the use of his full name. "You haven't been wearing shoes since you stepped into Serena's house. I let it slide then but yo..." He stopped her mid-rant by a well timed kiss. He pulled back and smiled at her.

"I love you, you know that? Only you would put up with me for as long as you have." he then turned to his guests. "Alright everyone! I'll show you how to work the torch system and then we will be on our way. Please pay attention." He walked over to the nearest wall and placed a hand on it. He went to give the command and then paused. He looked over at Karan shortly before looking at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, could you please come over here?" He asked. The young man had the look of a deer in headlights and it took a nudge from one of the red headed children to get him to move towards him. Ricky motioned him to the wall and stepped back a few feet to allow Harry some room. Harry stood fidgeting as everyone waited for whatever Ricky wanted to do.

"Place your hand on the wall." Harry did as told though he acted as if he were afraid that the wall was going to bite him. Ricky almost laughed but caught himself. It wouldn't do to scare the kid now or he would go farther back into his shell. Instead he smiled encouragingly. "Good, now say out loud; 'Please show me the way to the star room.'."

Harry's voice wavered a bit as he repeated the request but Ricky doubted that many in the room could hear it like he could. The boy startled rather spectacularly as the torch closest to him sprang to life with a roaring pop. There were several surprised exclamations as small torches at the edges of every other step on the grand staircase roared and indicated that they were to go upstairs. The anxious mumblings of the group seemed to amuse the manor and she fed the flames until they were three feet high causing a few people squeak. Ricky laughed.

"Now that's not nice dear. You shouldn't play with guests on the first visit, they might not come back." Ricky said without actually looking at anyone. Harry gave him a quizzical look and Karan decided to take pity on him.

"He's speaking to the manor. She tends to be a little too playful with new people. We have to remind her to go easy on the new kids sometimes." She watched along with Harry as Ricky convinced the manor to lower the flames and behave herself. The torches flickered almost sadly and Ricky sighed.

"Fine, but you have to leave the guests alone until they get use to you. Promise?" There were popping noises from the torches and the flames flashed blue before they died down to a gentle orange glow. Ricky rolled his eyes and looked around at the people staring at him. He cleared his throat.

"Well, anyway. The flames won't hurt you if you touch them so don't worry about that. Now, on to the star room! I'd hate to see what all my children would do if we left them in the same room together for too long." Ricky said as he started up the stairs. The rest of the group looked at each other, shrugged, and followed the strange empath up the stairs.

ROA

Albus caught up with Ricky and walked beside him. Ricky glanced over at him and nodded, showing Albus that it was okay to voice his question.

"Out of sheer curiosity, what did you have to promise her to get her to settle down?" Albus knew what it was like to have to talk a sentient building into doing something it didn't want to do. Hogwarts could be obstinate when she set her mind to it.

"Mmm? Oh, that. I promised her that I would let her play hide and seek with the children later. She loves to play with the kids." Albus furrowed his brows.

"How exactly does a castle play hide and seek?" he asked as they turned down a hallway and walked up another set of stairs. Ricky shrugged.

"Who better to show you the best hiding places than the manor herself? It was great fun when I was a kid. I still play sometimes."

"Only when you've done something to piss me off. That's how you got stuck between the walls after you ate the last of my blueberry ice-cream, remember?" Karan interrupted. Ricky looked away embarrassed.

"Yeah, um… anyway. We're here." They came to a stop at an intricately carved hardwood door. The scenes depicted were of the varying constellations in the night time sky. It was inlaid with silver and gold and studded with small sapphires. Ricky turned back to his wife when everyone had caught up. He was about to say something when a voice rang out;

"Venus fly traps do not eat gummy bears!"

Everyone looked at the door in surprise. Albus watched in amusement as Karan groaned and hit her forehead on Ricky's chest. Ricky was trying not to laugh but seemed to be failing miserably. Karan glared up at her husband.

"I don't know why you're laughing. It's your fault anyway, you know." She said as she poked him in the chest.

"What did I do?"

"It's your genetics. It couldn't have possibly come from me." She stated. Ricky raised an eyebrow.

"Need I remind you of how we met, dear?" he asked as he turned back to the door. Karan crossed her arms.

"I still say that whiskey bottle jumped out of my hand and broke against that tramp's head. I had nothing to do with it." She pouted as Ricky slowly and carefully opened the door.

"Mmm. Is that what you told the police when they asked why a sixteen year old girl was in a bar fight in the first place?" He motioned for everyone to follow him in. Albus watched as the two of them continued to bicker.

"Hey, you were right in the middle of that fight too!"

"Only after you broke that bottle over my girlfriend's head." He turned to glare at her. The glare itself held no heat so Albus was sure this was an old argument. In fact they both seemed amused by it.

"She deserved it! Besides you were grateful afterwards." She huffed and walked past him.

"Yes, right up until our parents showed up to bail us out of jail…" Ricky mumbled. Albus held in a rather undignified snort of laughter. Yes, perhaps these people would be exactly what Harry and Severus needed.

The sound of glass shattering caused Ricky and Karan to sigh simultaneously. As the group rounded the corner the sight that met them caused them to stare. On their right, with a shattered glass table between them, stood a woman in her mid- twenties. Her long straight brown hair was held up with a large clip and had a small purple iris woven in right above her right ear. She was glaring intently at a set of twin brunette girls. There was a potted plant in the first girls hands and Albus assumed that it was her that was yelling earlier.

A scuffling noise drew Albus's attention to the sofa on his left. It seemed that two men, one with long straight blond hair and the other with curly brown hair, were… sitting on top on someone. Well, trying to anyway. That someone appeared to have been sleeping before the other two sat upon him. Albus could have sworn he heard a growl coming from somewhere in the sofa's cushions. There were several other people and animals of varying species milling about. The scene in front of Albus was in short, chaotic. Karan, it seemed, felt the same way.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin!" She said and turned to the fight on their right. "Iris! What happened?"

"Those two decided it would be fun to feed candy to my plants. I've got an entire greenhouse full of carnivorous plants with tummy aches now!" Iris said, never once letting her glare waver. Karan shifted her gaze to the twins.

"What's your story?"

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. Turning back to Karan they tried their best to look innocent.

"We were just trying to help." They said in unison.

"Cleopatra looked hungry…"

"But she hissed when we tried to give her something…"

"And tried to bite our fingers…"

"Sooo… we thought some of the others might like something and we shared! Wasn't that nice?" They finished. It was like watching Fred and George except these two's 'twin speech' flowed even more seamlessly than Fred and George could manage. Karan pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Cara, Sara, stay out of your sister's greenhouse and away from her plants." She turned to Iris. "Next time they decide to help you have my permission to feed them to Cleopatra. Chop them up first though; I wouldn't want the poor thing to choke." She then turned to the people on the sofa.

"Ian, Evan, you do remember what he did the last time you did that, right? If he does it again your father will not be patching you back together." Ian and Evan, Albus wasn't sure which one was which, scrambled to remove themselves from their perch. "Tron, are you okay?" The man's grumble was muffled but Karan seemed to understand what was said. She nodded and turned to the rest. "Well? We have company so make yourselves presentable. And fix that table!" As everyone scampered around she turned to Albus. "We'll just have them state their names and birth order for now. Is that okay for everyone?" She directed her question to the group behind him. Everyone either nodded or replied that they were okay with it and Karan smiled. Ricky turned to his children.

"Alright you all! State your first names, oldest to youngest, and indicate where you are." Albus ushered his group a bit farther into the room so that everyone could see a little better. Standing in the back, a woman with short brown hair raised her hand.

"I'm Robin." Sitting beside her with an old tome of some sort open in his lap was a man with long light brown hair. He raised his hand.

"My name is Zander." He immediately went back to reading. A man in a dark blue suit walked up to them. His shoulder length dark brown curls framed a lightly tanned face with a pair of the darkest blue eyes Albus had ever seen. He stood at least three inches taller than Ricky.

"Malakie." He looked to Ricky. "Sorry, but I have to go. I'm already late for my meeting." Ricky nodded.

"Just come back as soon as you can. We're going to need to work out a training schedule for them." He indicated the people behind him. Malakie nodded and disappeared in a white mist. The next raised her hand.

"Katerina." Next the blond man who had been sitting on Tron raised his hand.

"Ian." The other indicated towards himself.

"Evan."

"We're twins." They said together.

Serena waved.

"I'm next."

The man on the couch, Tron, waved halfheartedly but didn't remove himself from his sleeping position so Albus couldn't see his face. The next was Iris. She stood up and grabbed her plant from the table next to her, glaring when the twin girls snickered.

"Iris." She said as she walked over and sat beside Serena on a different sofa. One of the twin girls stood up shortly followed by her sister.

"I'm Cara."

"I'm Sara." They said at the same time so Albus wasn't quite sure who was who. They looked at him and grinned. "Don't worry, we answer to either name!" As they sat down, the last two stood up and walked over to their parents. Facing their guests the boy, who bore a remarkable resemblance to Ricky, spoke up.

"I'm Drew, and this is Izzy." He said indicating the small girl standing shyly behind him. This girl was almost a carbon copy of her mother, right down to the blond ringlets and aqua green eyes. Albus smiled at her. She stared at him for a few moments before she smiled back. Drew led his little sister back to a table that Albus noticed was covered with crayons and paper and sat down. Ricky sighed and turned to the, obviously overwhelmed, people behind him.

"Don't worry about trying to remember who's who for now. It'll come in time. Well, now that you've met everyone…" Here he smiled and bowed gracefully. "Welcome to our home."