With her daughters walking slightly ahead of her, Catalina tried to relax and walk at a casual pace. She felt like she was walking in some kind of dream…moving leisurely with no cares that someone would see them, or chase them. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Her two girls were giggling as they took in everything around them, and Lyss would point at anything that caught her eye. They'd already been to Madame Malkin's for robes, Ink and Feather for writing supplies and parchment, Ollivander's for a wand, and now they were heading to the bookstore, Flourish & Botts.

Minerva had talked Catalina into getting robes for both of her daughters, and herself. She hadn't understood why she needed them, but decided it was easier just to along with the older woman. After all, Minerva had rescued them.

They'd just entered the store when someone shouted. "Professor McGonagall! Professor Lupin!" Catalina looked over to see a girl who appeared to be Ophelia's age grinning widely and heading towards them. The girl had thick brown hair that hung past her shoulders and was pulled back into a thick French braid. She was a slender girl, perhaps two or three inches shorter than either of Catalina's daughters, and her grin reached her wide, toffee colored eyes. Minerva and Remus were already smiling in response.

"Hello Miss Granger, I didn't realize you'd be in Diagon Alley today." Minerva smiled as she hugged the girl. It was obvious she held her in high affections.

"Oh yes, Headmistress. I wanted to get in some light reading this summer. I feel like I forgot far too much last year. Professors." The girl's eyes flickered briefly to Severus and Lucius before turning to the newcomers. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."

Catalina wondered at the look that had been in Hermione's eyes when she'd looked upon the dark man and the new, light-haired man. It had been a mixture of respect, anger, and perhaps a little fear.

"Hi." Lyss said shyly.

"I'm Ophelia." Catalina was slightly surprised that it was her older daughter who spoke up. Normally Ophelia was extremely shy. "You go to Hogwarts?"

"You're American!" The girl seemed positively delighted. "Yes, I go to Hogwarts. I'll be entering my seventh year. Technically I should have graduated, but last year we were too busy with…well, everything, that's much too long a story, so we're going back and doing our seventh year this year. Quite exciting really. Are you going to be attending Hogwarts?"

Ophelia blushed. "Oh, not me. I'm not a witch, but Lyssy is. I'm going to be living there though. My mother's going to finish schooling me. Although Ms. McGonagall told me I could probably take some classes with everyone if I wanted to…" Catalina noticed the swift looked Lucius Malfoy gave the headmistress at this statement.

Hermione barely blinked upon realizing the girl was a Muggle. "That's fabulous. I think it would be fun if you could take some classes with us…we could see what you could accomplish!" The girl turned to Lyss. "What year are you entering?"

"Sixth." Lyss felt extremely shy around this bubbly girl.

"What school did you go to before?"

"Oh, I went to regular high school back in the States." She told Hermione. "I've never been to a magic school. Hopefully I'll be able to catch on and learn pretty quick. I was hoping I could start studying this summer, and maybe get somewhat up to speed before classes actually start."

"What an excellent idea!" Hermione practically wriggled with excitement. "I could help you if you'd like. I do pretty well with my classes…"

"I do believe that's an understatement Miss Granger. Hermione is one of the brightest witches we've had." Minerva chuckled. "I think it would be splendid if you were to assist Miss Barron with learning our world."

"Thank you Professor, I mean Headmistress…but, I suppose I stopped you before you could start shopping. Was there something specific you were looking for?"

"School books." Lyss sighed as she took a look around.

"I could help you pick them out if you'd like? Both of you? I could show you some other books you should probably buy, just because they're a good idea?"

The girls looked at Catalina…but it was Minerva who spoke first. "Perhaps we should leave the girls with Hermione, and we could finish our own shopping?"

"Are you sure they're safe?" Catalina felt dread enter her belly at the thought of letting her daughters out of her sight again.

"Mama, we'll be okay." Ophelia assured her.

Minerva turned to the men. "Gentlemen, why don't you go off and do your shopping. We'll meet back here in the hour?" Everyone agreed and with one last look behind her Catalina left with Minerva and Poppy. As she left she heard the Granger girl begin naming off books they should look for, starting with Hogwarts: A History.

"Minerva…" Catalina began as they moved down the sidewalk. "Are there any more, what do you call them, Muggles at this school of yours?"

Minerva was quiet. The glances of all three men danced between the women briefly. "No. You and Ophelia will be the first Muggles to grace Hogwarts…at least the first Muggles to live there."

Catalina was silent for several seconds before speaking again. "Perhaps…" she hesitated. "Perhaps then it isn't a good idea for us to be there." Poppy had moved ahead of them and entered something called Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. "We wouldn't quite fit in I don't think."

Minerva stopped moving and waited for Catalina to look at her, which she finally did. "And do you think that would be safe for you and your daughter? Do you believe that Lysistrata would continue on to Hogwarts knowing what situation you were putting yourself into?"

"Well then, perhaps Lyss and Ophelia, but not…"

Minerva shook her head. "Neither of your daughters will be parted from you Catalina Barron. I do not know what manner of man your former husband is, or what position he held in your world, but it was obviously one where there was little difficulty for him to find you."

Her lips twisted bitterly. "Abraham uses his resources wisely." The men had left them, and now it was just Catalina and Minerva moving along. "We lived in California…I was waiting for the girls to turn eighteen and then I was going to leave him…or try at least. He'd always kept the majority of his violence directed at me…at least that's what I thought; what my daughters had hidden. Then he told me that he was allowing his friend Simon to marry Ophelia." Tears glistened but did not fall. "Can you imagine? In this day and age someone arranging a marriage for their child? Not caring what she might have wanted?" Minerva kept her observations to herself, not wanting to tell the young woman that it was more common in the wizarding world to have such marriages…at least it had been for many Pureblood families. "I found Ophelia crying…she'd told her father she wouldn't marry Simon, and Abraham hit her. I held her and that's when she told me that he'd been hitting her and Lyssy for years. She told me of the way Simon had hurt her…They hadn't wanted to worry me. And I hadn't noticed. God I was so stupid. A horrible mother, not even noticing that someone was hurting her children."

"You could not see what they'd hidden from you." Minerva spoke quietly thinking the woman too hard on herself.

"No excuse. They're my children. The only job in this life worth anything is taking care of them and making sure they're safe and happy…Once I knew that staying with him did not protect them, I knew it was time to leave. I waited until he was out of town. I'd put money aside and I cleaned out the account and we ran. That was three months ago. I don't know how, but somehow he was always right behind us. I thought bringing us here, well, to London, I thought that would take us far enough away that he couldn't find us…but I was wrong." They had stopped in front of a store called Magical Menagerie, Catalina could see a variety of animals through the window. "Last night he found us. We'd changed hotels yesterday morning, and we'd gone out to spend the day figuring out where to head to next. We'd just eaten dinner when he found us. The girls tried to protect me…"

"And then you were running, and your Lysistrata brought you to us." Minerva finished.

Catalina looked at Minerva with eyes full of tears that wouldn't spill. "Yes…then she brought us to you."

&

Snape and Malfoy walked down the street of Diagon Alley in companionable silence. Lupin had gone off to purchase whatever it was he deemed necessary. "I must say I find it simply astounding that Minerva has invited Muggles to live at Hogwarts." Lucius spoke casually.

Snape sneered. "I don't know what the woman was thinking. And the Minister of Magic allowed it. Not surprised you're upset about it though."

Lucius waved a hand. "Actually, I find I'm not upset about it as you say, more…intrigued. Not only is she allowing them entrance into the wizarding world, but she's allowing the Muggle girl, Ophelia, to take classes. Does she honestly believe the girl will be able to achieve anything?"

"You? Don't have a problem with Muggles and Muggleborn coming to Hogwarts?" Snape was gobsmacked. "Since when have you been so…accepting?"

Lucius shrugged. "I don't know if I'm accepting old friend, I just see no reason to be outraged about something so…tedious any longer. We all lost far too much in the war. Not to say that I will ever believe that a Muggleborn could be as powerful as a Pureblood, but…I suppose I'm just tired of hating." His expression was one of weariness. "We spent years hating…plotting, waiting to bring our Dark Lord back…and somewhere in there I discovered that his beliefs, the beliefs that I had clutched so close to me weren't quite as true as I'd always thought. No, even for a rich wizard, the war was far too costly."

Severus knew his friend was including his dead wife in the costs of war. Voldemort had killed Narcissa as a punishment to Lucius and Draco. Lucius had already been working with the Order by that time, but Severus had a feeling if he hadn't been then that act alone would have driven the man to betray the Dark Lord. "Is Draco upset about returning to Hogwarts?" he asked hoping to change the subject to something less…unpleasant.

Lucius smirked. "Surprisingly no. Now that he's befriended the Golden Trio, and a majority of the Weasley clan I believe he is looking forward to a less confrontational school year." Lucius chuckled. "I can honestly say I never thought I'd be grateful to that family."

Snape smirked. "No, neither did I. but…I still find myself…appreciative." He was silent for a moment. "Except for perhaps that Percy; I still think that boy is a prat."

"He is a bit of a stuffed shirt isn't he? Still, at least he's not always trying to hug a person…unlike his mother." He sighed and looked as if he'd tasted something bitter. "It's extremely difficult to go from hated and feared to being considered….an object to cuddle."

&

The three girls had spent the majority of their hour in Flourish & Botts, and now they'd made their way to the small ice cream parlor next door. Each time they'd had to pay for something both Lysistrata and Ophelia had stared at the clerk for several moments before trying to figure out what coins they were asking for. Their mother had given them a bag, and fortunately they had Hermione there to help them figure it out.

Hermione giggled as she licked her ice cream. "Don't worry; you'll get the hang of the money soon."

Lyss was just shaking her head, "How is it even possible that I just don't get it?"

Ophelia shrugged. "I'm not too worried. I mean, how often are we going to be spending money, anyways?"

"Well, during the school year some weekends we head into Hogsmeade. That's a lot of fun…" Hermione shared. "You can read all about that in the little green book we bought."

"'Mione!" All three girls turned to watch as two boys about their age approached. One of the boys was tall, with broad shoulders, blue eyes, copper hair and freckles; the second boy was slightly taller, with a thinner, wirier build, dark brown hair that spiked crazily, and deep green eyes. Both young men were smiling widely. "There you are! I thought we were meeting inside the store?"

"Ron, we were in there for almost an hour! Where have you all been? Oh! Let me introduce you to my new friends! Ophelia and Lysistrata Barron, two of my best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Ron's my boyfriend." She added with a slight blush.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Harry nodded quietly.

Ron swung his arm across Hermione's shoulders. "You all new around here?"

"We just moved here from California." Ophelia had taken a step back and was feeling very shy now.

"American witches! That's incredible!" Ron enthused. "We've never had one! Well, at least we've never met one!"

"Actually Ron, Ophelia isn't a witch, only Lysistrata is, but Prof—I mean Headmistress McGonagall is going to let Ophelia take some of the same classes with us when she's not schooling with her mother. Her mother is going to be Teddy's nanny. I met up with them in the bookstore and we've been getting to know each other. I showed them what books to get…"

"Blimey! I'll bet that cost a fortune!" Ron's mouth gaped open.

Harry laughed. "I would bet you walked out with more than what was on the list to buy."

Lyssy grinned. "That's true, but Hermione is going to tutor me. I've never been to a wizarding school before."

"Really? But you're a witch? What year are you?" Ron was startled.

"Sixth year is what I've been told several times. Miss McGonagall told me not to worry, that she thought I'd be okay."

"So, if you're the only witch, that means your mum and sister are…"

"Muggles." Hermione grinned. "Ophelia and her mum are Muggles. Isn't it so exciting?"

"Wait 'til Malfoy finds out, he'll be pissed." Ron muttered good-naturedly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He already knows! Professor Malfoy and Professor Snape were with them this morning when I ran into them!"

"Snape's here?" Harry seemed to become more interested and began to look around.

"Yes, they're supposed to be meeting us here very soon."

"Snape's the tall dark guy?" Lyssy confirmed. "He helped my mom. Kind of crabby, but he seems okay."

"Wait until you're in his class and he's screaming at you." Ron told her. "Won't seem so okay then!"

"Hello Harry, Ron." Remus Lupin moved up the sidewalk to join them. "How's your summer progressing?"

"Remus!" Harry seemed very happy to see this man. "Hermione didn't mention that you were here!"

"Just picking up some tools for class in the fall. Back to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"That's excellent!" Ron grinned. "Your classes were always interesting."

"Would you like some ice cream Remus?" Harry asked as he moved towards the entry door.

"Yeah! Want anything?" Ron kissed Hermione on the cheek and joined his best mate.

"Chocolate?" Remus responded. Harry nodded and then he and Ron headed inside. "How did your shopping go ladies?"

"Hermione was an awful lot of help. We got lots of books, and then she made them very small so we could carry them in our purses." Ophelia told him excitedly. "Lyss said you were going to teach her to do that!"

He chuckled. "That's true, it will be something she learns how to do." The boys came back out and handed Remus his chocolate ice cream. "Ah, Severus, Lucius, done with your purchases?" his attention had moved to the two men joining them.

Ron seemed to tense up as the men stopped, but Harry seemed fine. "Professors." Harry greeted and Ron just nodded. It looked like the boy had swallowed something unpleasant.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, how delightful to see you, as well as you Mr. Weasley. How have your mother and father been?" Lucius asked solicitously.

Ron turned red. "They're okay I guess. Spending a lot of time with Fred at St Mungos."

"How is Draco sir?" Harry asked.

To this Lucius smiled. "He is…doing well. He is off on holiday for a few days with Blaise Zabini actually. They should be back in a few days and I know they were going to contact you all."

Harry nodded. "Splendid. We'll look forward to it."

"Ah good, everyone made it back okay." Minerva, Poppy, and another woman joined the group standing to the side of the ice cream shop. "Do let me introduce you Catalina. Two of my students, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley." Minerva smiled proudly.

Ron's mouth was gaping open, but Harry was extending his hand to the lovely blonde woman. "A pleasure to meet you Ma'am." He told her bashfully.

Ron finally closed his mouth. Wow, the new girls had an extremely HOT mother. He hoped Hermione hadn't noticed him staring. "Nice to meet you." He managed.

"I'm so glad to meet you both." She smiled at the young men who would be attending school with her girls. She looked at Lyss and Ophelia, and they both looked happy as they snacked on their ice cream cones. "I thought before we headed back to The Leaky Cauldron we would stop by the pet store and get you girls something. Minerva was telling me that it would be all right." The two girls looked even happier at this comment.

"We'd better go." Hermione said with a sigh as she watched Ron gobble down his ice cream. "But I'll come up to this school perhaps in a few days and we can take a look at everything?" At their nods she and the boys moved away. They could hear her scolding her boyfriend as they left. "Honestly Ronald, did you even chew that cone…"

Ophelia turned to look at Snape and Malfoy with a strange look in her eyes. "What does Death Eater mean?"