Love and War
Chapter 4
(Elizabeth's POV)
I walked down the dark, empty roads, Carlisle's words going 'round and 'round my mind. I wanted to see my son. I had told the others that I was away on official ministry business- not even George knew I was here. I had never been to Germany, and I wasn't planning on sticking around. I knew Minerva would be upset, but he is my son, surely she cannot disregard that, even if I did give him away. We were at war, you know?!
I stopped in front of the house Kingsly told me they were staying in- I had contacted him explaining how I needed to know where they were because at the end of the day he was my son, I was only trying to keep him safe while the rest of us were at war.
I used the Lion's head door knocker to knock on the green door. Typical Minerva. Green had always suited her, but she was a lion through and through. These was a few moments of shuffling from within the house before the door opened to reveal my old head of house and transfiguration teacher.
"Elizabeth, what can I do for you dear?" She asked, blinking the surprise out of her eyes.
"My son, I- the war is over, Minerva and I'd like to take him to see his dad." I said, unsure what to say.
"Oh. I guess I knew this day would come sooner or later. Can I have some time with him to say goodbye?" She asked me, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Of course. You know I would never rip him away from you. How long do you need? A week? Two?" I asked, feeling more and more mean by the minuet.
"Three days. I want three more day with him. He is like my own son to me, just like you are a daughter." She said, looking at me with a familiar compassion.
"Then I'll know who to call if I ever get married." I said, laughing lightly, attempting to lighten the mood. "I'll be staying at Hogwarts for a week to help re-build, feel free to drop him by when you have said goodbye."
The next day at Hogwarts
(Elizabeth's POV)
Hogwarts was a mess. I hadn't bothered to help when the war had finished. I just kept to my house and concentrated on my friends, but looking at Hogwarts now, I almost felt ashamed that I hadn't helped before.
I spent most of my time bringing the dilapidated walls back up, mending the actual castle before working on the interior and enchantments. The wards would go up last.
Due to the fact that I did not sleep, I had the walls up in no time and the great hall was on its way to being fixed. It would be a long week, but at least I would be helping. Not many people were left to help. A few people came in and out, helping where they could. I wondered just how the school would be able to re-open. Minerva would probably come back, and Hagrid might come back to teach COMC, but other than that there was no one.
I could teach. I could teach DADA or something! I could see if Luna would be willing to teach Divination, but then she would have to leave her mates…unless I can get them to teach as well! Alice could teach Astronomy, Edward could teach Arithmancy! And maybe I could convince Draco to teach charms, Nevil could teach Herbology, Snape Potions, Minerva transfiguration, Hagrid COMC, Maybe Esme would be interested in teaching Muggle studies and Carlisle History of Magic! I could cover flying and George could teach Study of ancient runes or something! I could be head of Gryffindor house, Draco Slytherin, Luna Ravenclaw and…maybe Edward could be head of Hufflepuff. He kind of reminds me of Cedric.
Anyway, back to work, I don't even know if the Cullen's would be interested in teaching.
By the end of the second day, the castle was rebuilt, the Great hall was complete, and the Gryffindor and Slytherin dorms were done. I was almost there.
The third day (When Elizabeth gets her son back)
I was busy fixing the hall ways of Hogwarts when The Marauders map showed me that Minerva and my son were on their way up. I holstered my wand and dusted myself off.
"Hello Elizabeth, The school looks brilliant. Kingsly had told me it was basically rubble, but I guess he was over exaggerating it slightly." She said, looking around in wonder.
"No, it was, I just don't sleep now that I'm a vampire. I had a lot of spare time so I started fixing the place up. If I could set the school back up, would you be willing to come back as Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher?" I asked, starting my plan of action.
"Of course, Potter. Hogwarts will always be my home." She said as if I had insulted her.
"Sorry, of course, I just wanted to check. I just have the hall and a couple of class rooms to finish before placing the wards. The ward will probably take the longest, probably a day or two." I said, picking my son up and into my arms. "Hey little man! Your gunna be going to school here someday! I'll even show you the secret tunnels and see if you can get into as much trouble as I did, yeah? I got into a lot of trouble. Just remember, do not go and fight a giant snake in an evil underground lair without an enchanted sword, ok?" I asked, grinning at the laughing boy. "So, yeah, I'm here till the end of the week. I felt bad for just leaving and just worrying about my friends. The school should be done by then. I just need to see if the people I am thinking of are willing to come and teach here." I said, going into a class room and fixing the tables in there.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Elizabeth. Do you plan on teaching?" She asked, putting her hand gently on my shoulder.
"Yeah, the way I've worked things out I'll end up teaching Defence Against the Dark Art, flying, and Head of Gryffindor house." I said, knowing that if this was going to work, it was going to be hard, "And where I don't sleep and have thee Maruders Map, I'll do night patrols for students out of bed." I said as we left the classroom, moving onto the next one, this was the last one before the wards would be put up.
"Sounds like one hell of a work load." Minerva said worriedly.
"It is, but I am a vampire. I do not sleep and I can use my magic to bind blood and food together so I won't have to hunt all the time. I'd only have to hunt during the school breaks." I said, shrugging. "Plus if needs be I can ask my mate to cover a DADA lesson by teaching physical combat if I am too busy."
"Okay, as long as you're sure." The witch in front of me said, frowning slightly.
"I am." I said, smiling at the elderly woman.
The End of the Week
"Hello!" I said, coming in, my son trailing behind me. Everyone was in the entrance rather sharpish. All the vampires looked at us like I had grown an extra two heads.
"Everyone, this is James Sirius Potter-Black; my son." I said, smiling as James buried his head into the back of my knee, trying to hide from the people in front of us.
"You have a son?" Emmet blurted out, beyond shocked that I could have kept something like that a secret.
"Yes, he's three. Aren't you little man?" I asked, turning around and crouching in front of my son. "It's okay you know, they're not going to hurt you, I promise. Okay? Mummy loves you okay?" I said, whispering to my son, even though I knew the others could here, I thought it would be more comforting if I let him think only he herd.
"What about Daddy?" He whispered back, glancing at Jasper. What a clever little boy. "He's really confused and upset- like he wants to cry. He's angry but happy. Mummy, please make it stop." He cried, burring him head into my neck.
"Hey, shh, look at me. Everything will be fine, ok?" I asked, using wandless and wordless magic to cast a spell around James so he would feel anyone's emotions. "Better?" I asked, kissing his forehead when he nodded.
"He's an empath?" Carlisle asked, intrigued by the small boy.
"Yes, he gets it from his father. I can't stay long, I'm rebuilding the school. Everything is done but we need to get things like teachers and students sorted out. Actually, I was wondering if any of you wanted to come and teach at Hogwarts." I asked, picking up my son.
"I'd love too." Carlisle said, looking at his wife who was nodding in agreement with them.
"We will." Edward said, knowing that Luna would love to go back to Hogwarts and that Alice had already had a vision about it.
"So will we." Rosalie said, "I know we won't be able to do as much as the others, but I can help organise any events and Emmett can help out on the land if you need any trees moving or something.
"Jasper? What about you?" I asked, looking at the still shocked vampire.
"James is an empath…like his father. Who is his father?" He asked, his eyes pleading with me.
"I think we should discuss this later Jasper." I said, unsure as to what to do. Jasper just nodded to me, although I was unsure as to whether he was agreeing to talk later or teaching.
"Okay, so. I was thinking that Esme could teach Muggle Studies, Carlisle History of Magic because frankly, learning history from a ghost is incredibly boring! Alice, you could tech Astronomy? Edward Arithmancy? Erm, Emmett, you could help by being joint keeper of keys and grounds of Hogwarts? Rosalie, you could be our decorator and event organiser. Hogwarts has several balls, the best one probably being the Christmas ball." I said happily, my plan finally coming together.
"What about me?" Jasper asked quietly.
"Well, if you chose to join us at Hogwarts, I was hoping you'd co-teach Defence Against the Dark Arts with me as sometimes I will have to teach other lessons such as flying or maybe even Charms or something." I said shyly, wondering if he would actually come and teach at Hogwarts with me.
"So what would I be teaching with you?" He asked.
"Well, seen as you can't actually use magic, you would be doing muggle defence which would be wandless combat. I found that when I was fighting death eaters, I had to use a lot of muggle fighting when I lost a hold of my wand or when I had to dodge a spell- if I hadn't trained and learnt how to fight using muggle skills I'd probably be dead already. And when I am there to teach, we'll teach a mixture of magical and muggle fighting techniques." I said, keeping my voice as professional as I could. "If they agree, Luna would teach Divination and George will teach Study of Ancient Runes. Luna will be head of Ravenclaw and I'll be the head of Gryffindor, Draco head of Slytherin, and judging by your personalities and how you react to things, I'd like to ask one of you to be head of Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is one of the four houses Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Helga Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. The emblematic animal is a badger, and yellow and black are its colours. Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of Earth and it is for that reason that the House colours were chosen: yellow represented wheat, while black was emblematic of soil. The Fat Friar is the House's patron ghost. This is a great honor, and I would like to ask…Edward to take on the responsibility of Hufflepuff Head of House. You have shown many of the traits linked to Hufflepuff and I believe that any other house would be unbecoming of you. You shall be responsible for the entire house. Do you accept?" I asked, shocking the vampire coven.
"I…of course!" Edward exclaimed happily, he really hadn't expected it.
A little later, outside
(Elizabeth's POV)
"So…" Jasper started. It was just the two of us out here, the others knowing that we needed time to talk.
"So…you have a son…" I said, trailing off and looking away from him and towards the trees ahead.
"I thought so, but confirmation just make it more…real, I guess. Does he know who I am?" He asked me, keeping his distance so that our skin never touched.
"Yes. I couldn't let my son grow up not knowing who his father was. It is never a nice feeling to not know where you came from." I replied, remembering how I only found out my name wasn't freak when I started to attend muggle primary school.
"Of course, I should have known. What happened to him during the war?"
"I sent him away. Things were getting to dangerous so I sent him and Minerva to Germany to be safe away from the war. I didn't contact them until the war was over." I explained, remembering how heart breaking it was to let him go. I put my shields up as much as I could, but I know that my emoting's were strong enough to slip through a little. I could tell Jasper could sense it from the way he tensed up. "I'm sorry," I said, "My emotions sometimes get so strong a little bleeds out from behind my shields."
"It's okay." He said, his hand placed gently on my shoulder.
"He's an empath as well, but only to people he feels a strong connection with- that's how he could feel your emotions. He didn't feel the others because of his gifts or because you could feel them, he just latched onto your emotions. It was theorized in the magical world that when such a specific skill appears, it means that the person has latched onto a piece of your soul and is keeping it within them. They also believe that my soul is partly connected to that of a snake which gives me the ability to talk to them." I explained, smiling gently.
"So he has a part of my soul?" He asked, his eyebrows coming together like they did when he was utterly confused.
"Yes, he is your son. He carries both a part of your soul, and a part of mine. When you are away from him, do you feel like you are missing a part of yourself? That is him." I explained, looking him in the eye for the first time since I came back from the war.
We just stood there in silence for a while, gazing into each other's eyes.
"When is his birthday?" Jasper asked suddenly.
"February 15th" I replied, It was November now so there were only a few more months until his fourth birthday. "Alice and the other girls have probably already started buying him presents." I laughed, causing Jasper to smile lightly.
"So, how many people are left?" He asked, completely changing the subject. Talking of war always made me a colder person.
"Not many. We lost many people in the war, we had everything covered, but it seems as if a lot of the death eaters fled the country, awaiting their master's return. They misjudged there timing for the attack and hit us when we were at our strongest. I made sure no children fought unless they were trained so we ended up evacuating the whole school to a magical school in France. A school who competed in the tri-wizard cup actual. It was a struggle, but I managed to save as many as I could. My magic has been getting stronger over the past couple of years and I don't actually need a wand, so it was a shock for Voldy when he literally couldn't step foot on Hogwarts ground without actually being turned to dust. I mentally kept the wards up until it was an idea moment to take them down. I killed most of them, but made sure I got the more important ones. Ron and Voldy both died by my wand and I am both colder and harder for it. After all my time in war, I almost don't understand emotions, like I am emotionally dead. I only feel emotions for James. Let me show you." I said, grabbing Jasper's arm so that we were facing each other. I looked into his eyes as I lowered my mental shields and thought about anything other than James and Jasper.
A/N: Hey, sorry it has taken so long for me to reply, the electricity in the entire house has been out for about 3 weeks, and turns out the guy my parents got to do the electrics didn't know anything about electrics as he left live wires swinging around in the plug socket without being grounded! Tripped the entire circuit which covers the entire house. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
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~ Lord President of Gallifrey
