Disclaimer: If it seems different to you, it belongs to me. If you recognize it? It's very probably the intellectual and thus monetary property of JKRowling which means her bank account is expanding and mine is not.
Chapter 4
by Byakugan789
Snape! Snape! Severus Snape!
If Snape had known where the Potters were heading he wouldn't have wasted time snooping around. After reaching the atrium and pushing their way through the highly charged crowd of gawkers they flooed directly to the headmasters office.
Upon arrival the Headmaster turned to greet them, his hand still stroking Fawkes slowly. "Lily," the ancient wizard said, his voice heavy and croaking "I am... truly sorry for your loss. Love is by far the most powerful of forces and to have it taken from you... I can only imagine." He looked at Sirius, and his puffy red eyes narrowed. "I can assume, by Sirius presence, that he was not, in fact, your secret keeper?"
Lily nodded. "You'll find out soon enough." she said heavily. "It was Peter. You should... should be on the look out for rats. Peter's animagus form, he becomes one."
The 'leader of the light' nodded, subtly tucking his wand back into his robes. Moving from his familiar's perch to his desk he sat down heavily and conjured them a pair of squashy purple armchairs. "A rat you say, my dear? That's impressive. Not many people manage to gain animagus forms so soon after leaving school, particularly forms so small."
Sirius coughed loudly and Dumbledore turned to regard him. "Something to add, my boy?"
"Peter doesn't just become a rat, sir."
The old educators brows rose. "Two forms? That truly is rare! Such a pity that he could not have put forth such talent before leaving scho..." Sirius coughed again. "You weren't finished were you, my boy?"
Sirius shook his head. "James and I also had animagus forms. The three of us learnt them during our fifth year to comfort Remus whenever he became Mooney" the dark haired heir replied. Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Also, neither Peter, James, Lily or myself become more than one creature, it was just that Pettigrew becomes the magical rat Chupacabra, the South American vampire."
At this, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, hands steepled in front of him. "Oh dear." He made a face. "I knew that Minerva became a Kneezel, but I was under the impression that was rare as well. If I may, what did you all become?"
This time Lily answered. "James became a Forest Lord," she snorted and wiped away a tear that moved down her cheek. "That over-antlered head fit his ego just perfectly. He took me to prank a number of druids in Scotland and Ireland on a few of our dates."
"And I become a Grim." Sirius added, smirking widely as the old man before him paled.
"And you, my dear? What do you become?"
Lily looked down. "I become an Occamy, but my form isn't complete yet. Would that it were, I could have saved James then. A Forest Lord's powers are only useful outside, but an Occamy..." With that she broke down into tears and a suddenly glum looking Black pulled the mother and daughter into his arms as Dumbledore watched in silence. Occamy were known wizard killers. What she could have done with a full transformation needed no explanation.
After several minutes she quieted and Dumbledore decided to continue. Reaching into his desk he pulled out what looked like an expensive cigar box and laid it on the table in front of them. "I've taken the liberty of preserving James body in here, Lily. It's ready for you whenever you're ready to see him buried. I wasn't sure whether you wanted to follow the Potter family traditions of the old Celtic pyre and burial of the ashes, the Black family traditions of his mother Doria and burial at sea with a pair of silver sickles or a more Christian fare as you're likely more familiar with."
The redhead took the box and stroked it, a lost look in her eyes, but before she could say anything the room lit up with a cacophony of light smoke and sound. The little silver instruments Dumbledore used to monitor the school wards and certain persons of interest were all crying out desperately for attention. On top of it all a large silver cat patronus suddenly burst into the room. "Albus!" Professor McGonagall's voice called out frantically "the school is under attack! There are dark creatures pouring out of the forest and cloaked figures beating on the wards! I'm going to activate the castles armors and other golems, but we need you here quickly! I've sent Fillus to put the wards on wartime footing! Hurry!"
The three adults and Ivy looked at each other eyes wide and mouths open. Even at the height of his power Voldemort had never dared attack the school directly! "What in Tartarus are they doing here?" Sirius asked as the three adults jumped to their feet.
"I know not," Dumbledore rumbled angerly, heading for Fawkes' perch "Tom was never this arrogant!"
"But he's dead," Lily cut in, placing Ivy on the desk and joining the pair of them by the Phoenix "that means he's no longer holding the reigns, professor! It may be scary to contemplate, but he may have protected us against the worst of his followers."
"Lily, you have your daughter to look after, you shouldn't come!" Sirius tried to argue and the Phoenix fidgeted at the hands on his feathers.
"Ivy is safe here in the headmasters office and the castle is full of house elves that would give their all to keep her and the students from harm," she protested "like the two of you I've faced everyone out there before in mortal combat more than once and lived to tell if it! I've survived Tom's own wrath four times, and last time I didn't even have my wand! It'll be fine! Fawkes, take us down!" The bird chirped, its magical voice approving before the three of the disappeared in a blazing inferno.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Harry sat there on the desk and shook his head in utter consternation. What in the bleeding hells did those two think they were doing?! Was he destined to loose everyone no matter what he did? He'd changed time for Merlin's sake! What did it take, simply to have a family of his own like everyone else!?
With a screeching wail of infantile fury Harry once more destroyed large numbers of Dumbledore's spindly silver trinkets and mecha-magical doodads. Fortunately for Dumbledore's office however, the not quite two year old body he was stuck in meant that Harry got tired of any one task both quickly and easily. Ah the curse of a two year olds attention span he thought in irritation. With nothing else to do Harry began exploring the headmasters office, occasionally looking up to the window where bangs, screams animalistic howls and sizzling hissing sounds blared like competing instruments in an amateur orchestra.
Toddling around, and using his magic to keep his miniature female body steady 'Ivy', a name he had only just finally begun to really associate with himself, began rummaging through the old mans desk. He knew that in his old dimension Dumbles had been experimenting with the Peveral family cloak, the death shroud, at the time of his parents unfortunate demise. It had been one of the things Harry blamed him for, because with the shroud in his fathers hands Harry might not have needed to backtrack 18 years to save his parents. One, or even both of them, might have survived to get a wand and hold the bastard off like he'd done this time around. Aside from that, for all his faults, Harry wasn't convinced Albus deserved the chance to go back as he had. Things were already spiraling seriously out of control and the meddling old fool had done a bad enough job of it last time. He shuddered to think of the state the world might be in if the greatest of the Dumbledore's was allowed to go back a hundred and fifty years with all of the knowledge and power he had accumulated. Bad enough that he'd been stupid enough to do so himself.
He'd gotten through the unlocked drawers and found nothing of interest and was searching for hidden compartments or ways to overpower the locks without the old man noticing when the smell of smoke caught his nose. Dropping to his hands and knees, he lay his head against the cold flagstones and looked under the headmasters desk.
It was not good.
The door to the headmasters office was glowing brightly and trembling under some unknown and obviously powerful magic. Someone was trying to get in after Dumbledore had sealed the place, and by the looks of things, they weren't exactly the friendly type. After about a minute the door finally gave way, a black spot appearing in the center of the ancient oak paneling which gave way to violet and blue-green flames. After another couple of LONG seconds the hole enlarged enough that a person could step through it without undue difficulty and Harry saw who was on the other side.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
He had to admit, she looked good. Azkaban had done the woman no favors and having not yet been locked up there for fifteen years meant that she wasn't the wild, unhealthy, sallow animal Molly Weasley had beaten during the battle of Hogwarts. Mostly sane, controlled, healthy looking and at the height of her power, this was a woman no mere housewife was going to out-duel, motherly fury and Harry's own friend shielding sacrifice be damned.
Keeping as still as possible Harry watched as the sexy, full figured woman strode through the hole in the door and over to Bumble's cabinet. Carefully as possible Harry crawled over to the other edge of the desk and peeked around the corner. The woman was standing there in her closely cut and finely embroidered silk robes waving her wand in strange patterns over the wood and glass paneled doors, muttering to herself. Harry wasn't sure what the enchantments on the door had been or if they had even warned Dumbledore, but Bella was obviously worried about the wards on the armoire far more than she was about the ones on the door.
This would be the best time to strike.
Perhaps the only time.
Harry began to gather a small amount of red light between his tiny hands, but the moment he did so, Bella turned around. The witch looked from side to side sharply, her wand out and a curse on her lips, but saw nothing. Then she looked down. Harry eeped and pulled back behind the desk leg, but it was already too late, Bella was on her way over. He could perhaps take her out with a blast of raw magic, but it would be difficult if not impossible, the woman was known for her dueling prowess and savagery after all.
Dumbledore's wing backed chair flew out of the way as the Black cousin approached, a heeled, booted foot coming into view at the edge of the desk. Bellatrix Lestrange bent down and looked in at him. Or her as it were. "Well, now, what do we have here?" she asked, her voice soft and sweet. Harry froze. Wait, what? The woman who tortured the Longbottoms into insanity, acted like a raving lunatic and was in love with Voldemort of all things... was talking to him without mocking? Then again he was just a not quite two year old girl to her... "No need to be afraid, little one, aunty Bella won't hurt you." she continued in that same soft, kind voice.
Harry moved back against the knee board of the desk anyways. It would do no good, but there was really no reason to disabuse her of the idea that he was just your average two year old yet. Aces up the sleeve and all the muck.
"You're James little girl, aren't you?" Bella said, moving slowly and snatching him up from under the desk. Standing straight she cradled him and looked Harry in the eye. "What's your name, little one?"
"Ivy." Harry replied, trying to keep his voice as innocent as possible. Not much of a feat, being a two year old. "Daddy says I shouldn't talk to stran-strange-ers..." he bit out like a four year old still working on big words.
Bella smiled, her hips swaying as she took the pair of them back toward the cabinet. "Oh, is that why you were hiding?" she asked as she began to cast again. "Well, you don't have to worry about that, I'm Bella Black, your aunty. Your grandmother was my aunt. See? We're not strangers anymore!" Harry bit back his utter consternation as the bizarre circumstances and forced out a giggle. It didn't require a whole lot of effort really, the situation was just that strange.
"What that?" Harry asked turning his head slightly like any curious child would. "What doing?"
"Oh?" she asked, voice still kind and pleasant, "Well," she explained her voice becoming conspiratorial "the bad man who lives here took my dear friend Tom and stuffed him in this cabinet here! So I've come to rescue him! Would you like to help me? It could be fun!"
"Bad man?" Harry asked, playing along curious about the strange mirror of the Bella he knew thought of everything. It was just to ludicrous a situation to not want to see it through. "But mommy and unca paddy went with bad man!"
Bellatrix laughed. "Paddy! Oh, that's a good one, If he survives I'm definitely going to have to rub that one in his face! Hehe! Don't worry little one, Unca Paddy will protect your mommy from the bad men. At least until I get out there" she finished muttering.
Harry frowned as he took all of this in. In his old time-line he'd known that Bella had trained Draco Malfoy during the quiet parts of the second war and that around this time she would torture Nevilles' parents into insanity with the cruciatus curse. Aside from that he'd only know her as the raving lunatic who'd killed Sirius, presided over the war while Voldemort was abroad looking for the elder wand, and dueled half a dozen wizards at once before finally being taken down by Molly Weasely after he'd given his life to protect them all. He supposed it was foolish to think that that was all there was to the woman. She had supposedly been in love with Tom after all, why would it really be so unusual to believe that she'd be good with and possibly want children? Neville had been there when she'd tortured his parents after all, he remembered the boys' nightmares about it third year. Someone had to have kept the other three death eaters off of him, he'd just figured it had been Crouch Jr. rather than the three psycho stooges.
Regardless, it hardly mattered. She thought Voldemort was in Dumbledore's cabinet. He didn't remember anything like that happening, Dumbledore hadn't been aware of the Horcruxes until Harry's second year, or so the old man said. He supposed, perhaps if the creature hadn't actually died until Hagrid had delivered him? But then, how do you keep a soul from moving around without a Horcrux to put it in? Harry had no idea. "Perhaps after I get Tom back, we can take you to see my home? Would you like that? I'm sure Tom would love to have you over, your family's been such an interest to him of late after all, and I'd love to spoil my cute little niece! Wouldn't you like that?"
Harry's hand latched onto Bella's wand as it moved past him again and exploded. The force of the raw magic sent Bellatrix Lestrange hurtling back over the desk where she flipped over its edge and bashed her head against the artfully molded edge. The magic of the blast expended Harry molded a little more to allow himself to float down to land softly on the flagstones. At this point he was fairly tired. It wasn't nearly as much as he had done to Voldemort just a few nights ago, but it was pretty bad. A stream of raw magic was bad enough, but could be sustained for a couple of seconds. An omnidirectional blast was far worse.
Crouching down he picked up Bella's wand. Walnut, dragon heart string, 12.5 inches, unyielding. Hermione had used it after he'd taken it from the woman in the skirmish at Malfoy manor. He remembered this wand. It was a little surprising it had been her first wand, but then perhaps Malfoy had bribed one of the arresting Aurors and taken it as a trophy or for simple safe keeping last time around. It would make sense. Holding the wand in both hands he walked about the table. Bella lay there moaning, a red patch slowly, ever so slowly, spreading out behind the woman's head.
Well shit. He'd cracked the death-eaters head open... Normally he wouldn't have cared, might even have felt vindicated, to watch her die again after having had to watch her kill Sirius in the Department of Mysteries. ...but the woman he'd just seen... she had been nothing like the monster he had fought the last couple of years... Or maybe she had, but without him being a threat to her he'd been able to see the side of her one might if they were a friend? He cursed Dumbledore and the old mans sermons on forgiveness and second chances. THE BITCH DESERVED TO DIE, DAMNIT! He growled in frustration before something caught his attention.
"W-wh-hy..?" the woman lying on the floor below him croaked, her eyes already glazing over. He swore again.
"House elf!" he snapped, his voice high and childish instead of commanding as he would have preferred it. One of the little creatures, or not so little as it stood as tall as he did now, appeared before him.
"Yes, little miss? What can Pippy do for yous?"
He smiled at the creature. Hermione was right about one thing, house elves definitely deserved better treatment than most of them got. "I need you to go to the hospital wing and get me essence of dittany, a bottle of skelegrow, a blood replenishing potion and a powerful sleeping potion." He paused as the elf nodded but called out as it raised it's fingers to pop away. "Oh! And a funnel too if you can manage it!" he added.
"Right away little miss!" the elf squeaked. It returned only seconds later with the requested Items. Directing the elf to help him move Bella around he poured the dittany on the head wound and watched as skin quickly grew over the bleeding wound.
"Don't worry, aunty Bella," Harry said, as he forced open her mouth and jammed the funnel in it "Little Ivy will take care if you! I just can't let you release the bad man from his box." Harry chirped as he began pouring the potions into the woman's mouth. Bella's eyes widened and she nearly choked, but the magic of the hospitals potion feeding funnel kept everything going down smoothly and even as the light returned to Lestranges eyes with the wounds knitting themselves back together they almost immediately dulled again, but this time in a deep, dreamless sleep.
'Ivy' looked up at the silently watching portraits and put a finger to his lips. "Shh..." he told them, before climbing onto the woman's chest and laying down, her head between the death-eaters impressive bust. The pair of them stayed like that for more than an hour before Dumbledore, a heavily battered teaching staff and a much spell-burned Lily and Sirius made their way into the office. The lot of them gathered around the fallen form of Bellatrix Lestrange and looked down at him, shock clear on most of their faces.
"Well, Lily dear," blustered the unctuous tones of Horace Slughorn, "like mother like daughter, eh? I knew there was a reason you were one of my favorites! Not even two years old, and your daughter takes down Bellatrix Lestrange! She was another one of my special students, so much promise... It was a pity to see what happened to her after that arranged marriage!"
Harry nodded imperceptibly and looked up at his stunned mother. "Mommy! This is aunty Bella! Can I keep her?"
Sirius and Slughorn roared with laughter while the rest of them simply looked on in various states of shock.
"Ivy..." Lily choked out "why is... aunty Bella" she paused, as if having trouble with the words "on the floor?"
"She said the snakey man was in bumble's close-et!" Harry replied, mentally smirking as the old man paled dramatically and the teachers looked at him in horror. "Aunty Bella want-wanted to let the snakey man out of the bad man's close-et, but Ivy didn't want him to hurt mommy again, so Ivy make boom!"
Just to demonstrate and allay any questions Harry let off another weak pulse of magic. Everyone knew kids could do a lot under duress, especially wizarding kids. He just hoped Lily wouldn't try to bind his powers or anything. He'd done far more and far worse for quite some time, but that didn't mind the teachers, and most especially the headmaster, wouldn't want it done.
There was a click of wood on wood and Harry looked up and behind him to see Dumbledore laying out more cigar boxes on his desk. More than likely it was the prisoners and remains of whoever was attacking the castle. "We'll have to see about that when the Aurors get here." the wizened educator said kindly. "She is a bad girl after all, Ivy, dear."
"No!" Harry said, sounding for all the world like the petulant two year old he currently was. "Mommy, please! Want!" Honestly he wasn't sure why he was doing this, but the woman honestly wasn't that bad, yet at least. If there was ever a chance she could be brought around it wouldn't be in Azkaban, and it most certainly wouldn't be with the Lestranges. Slughorn's comment on Bella's husband had engender confidence in his recent chain of suspicion.
Harry watched as Sirius stepped forward and knelt down beside Lily, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Lily, do you trust me?" he asked quietly.
"Of course" she replied just as quietly, lifting her gaze from where her nose was pinched between her thumb and forefinger "but Sirius, what she wants..."
"Let me take point on this. I have an idea." Getting a hesitant nod from her the Black scion stood up. "Dumbledore, if I may, tresspassing is such a minor offense..." he looked at the door as all of the teachers stared at him incredulously. "Well... maybe closer to breaking and entering I guess. Point is it's nothing we didn't do while students here. Noting was taken, so surely you can find it in yourself to allow me to take her home to face Black Family justice?"
"...I know that look, my boy. What are you planning, Sirius?" He asked, his voice grave. "You know very well what she was after and the crimes she still has to pay for..."
"Planning? Me? Oh, don't worry sir, its nothing illegal per-say, but trust me on this." He said, his grin sinister. "When I get done with her, Bella will be the least of anyone's problems."
~! #$%^&*()_+
Unfortunately for the plans of Harry and Sirius the Ministry arrived before anyone could get away and began questioning the school in force about the event of the attack, Lily and Sirius in particular. Fortunately however, Sirius had had the foresight to have Dumbledore put Bella into another one of his Cigar box coffins like James and many of the other captured or dead death-eaters. Sirius had found it quietly amusing that Harry was holding onto it quite possessively, but made no note of it.
Crouch was furious however. Seventeen captured death-eaters, all high profile monsters and an 18th 'mysteriously missing'. It wasn't the caught or dead part that bothered the head of the DMLE, but more that Sirius, who he had just gotten done suspending not hours before, had been the one to do it along with a host of school teachers. Not trained Aurors or Hit Wizards, Professors. He was currently breathing down the neck of the embedded prophet journalist, ensuring that the article to be printed highlighted the fact that Hit Wizard Black had been at the forefront of the Battle. Suspended or not, one of his subordinates he could handle getting publicity for the captures, but letting the public think that the ministry couldn't protect them and that they should, or even could, take matters into their own hands was unconscionable. The only reason he tolerated Dumbledore and his watch group, the Order of the Phoenix, was that half of the member were Arurors or Hit Wizards he could pin the credit on.
Harry shook his little head. He wasn't entirely sure whether to be horrified that the ministry was still this corrupt back when the war meant something or amused that they were at least competent in their corruption when they hadn't even had that two decades down the road.
As was, 'Ivy', he'd have to remember to keep calling himself that, was heading for a far more interesting conversation to eavesdrop on.
"So, Professor," his mother began.
"It's Horace dear, remember?" the rotund little man blustered jovially. "You've certainly earned that right after completing a mastery with me!"
"Horace then..." she replied with a smile. "It still feels weird though, after nine years as your student."
The head of Slytherin nodded. "I've received the same sentiment from other students as special as yourself before, dear." he replied smiling. "But you had something you wanted to ask me?"
"I heard the most horrible rumors the last couple of weeks." Lily explained. "You aren't really giving the job as potions teacher to Severus are you?"
Horace looked up at her, brows raised. "Why yes, I am actually. Dumbledore's put quite a bit of effort into convincing me to do it too!" He nodded. "Severus is quite a brilliant boy, I'd wager he's even better than you, my dear. When it comes to Potions at least... Way I hear it though you've several masteries over him yet and he has two! Still, I was dubious, quite dubious I say... Never been much of a people person, Severus. A terrible net-worker and not a particularly inspiring tutor either. I suppose Albus knows what he's doing though, given the sheer amount of effort he's gone to bribe me into early retirement."
Lily's worried frown turned to a scowl. "Dubious... is not the word I would have used. He's a hateful, spiteful little man and should never be allowed near children."
Slughorn looked at her eyes widening a little in surprise. "Dear Lily, I knew you'd had a falling out with him in your fifth year, but I never knew you to be vengeful..!"
The red head gave a short laugh. "I was the tiger-lily, remember?" she asked, shaking her head. "I've always been vengeful. The things I did to James and his marauders simply for their teasing my friends, Severus included, still cause people to flinch when they're mentioned." She shrugged "most people remember and remark on how I maintained and still hold friends from every house, but I wouldn't have thought even you'd forget why I earned my nickname."
The old wizard tilted his head to the side as the pair of them sat down in his office and pulled out a bag of candied pineapple. "Too true. And I suppose since what Severus did was so much more than mere sniping between him and Potter..."
Harry... Ivy, watched as his mother nodded her head. "Pureblood bigotry was why I had so much trouble with James and Sirius when I first met them in the train ride in. To have my best male friend throw it in my face like that when I was defending him... not even to keep some sort of cover, but on instinct? I could have forgiven him after some well deserved revenge and a year or two, but he just kept slipping further and deeper. The friends he kept, his habits, vocal opinions... he's the one who set Tom on my family and caused this weeks nightmare! You know what Tom requires for his servants initiations? Betrayal in preparation for, the masterminding of or committing cold-blooded murder under his supervision. No, even discounting his horrible attitude, utter lack of patience for the less skilled and utter failure as a tutor, the idea of letting that vile murdering biggot near children is one I find horrifying." Lily shuddered. "I might understand if Hogwarts or Dumbledore wanted to retain him as a potions researcher or even an assistant to help you with your NEWT level course load, but not this."
Horace nodded, thinking of another genius he'd helped only to be horrified at what he'd later discovered. "I'll certainly take that into consideration, Lily, but really, this is something you should be bringing up with Albus. While I can recommend my replacement it is the Headmaster's pen that dismisses, retires and hires professors at the school. Unless you wish to involve the governors that is?"
Lily nodded slowly before their conversation of the next several hours turned to far more pleasant topics. When Sirius came to collect them, having finally escaped an irate Crouch Ivy was fast asleep.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Diner at Sirius' place was a somber affair. Despite the excitement of the day both of the adults were still deeply irritable and melancholy. Having something to do, a way to push forward was a great way to deal with grief, but it was also and unfortunately temporary one. The moment you no longer had something to distract you the pain returned. Lily picked at her food, head bowed, Sirius jokes were halfhearted and darker than usual and Ivy sat there with his applesauce and milk questioning everything he had done since coming back, recriminating himself.
Should he have tried harder? How could he have done things differently. What were the consequences of his traveling back that the book had talked about. There was obviously the difference in his gender, but what else had he changed without deliberately acting to do so? Was he even in the same reality? Ivy wasn't sure. He had demanded of his reward to travel back within his own time-line, but you didn't become friends with Hermione Granger for 8 years without learning about odd muggle theories like multiple timelines, splittings, parallel and alternate dimensions. Had the creature really been powerful enough to send him back and the backlash from the spell performed beyond the restrictive rules of reality was changing things and enforcing others, or was what he wanted really impossible and he was now a spirit possessing his baby sister from another reality? Ivy shook his head... her head... Gah, that way lead to madness.
He was distracted from his, her, he had to get used to that eventually, thoughts by his mother picking him up and carrying the pair of them to bed. The three of them were still sleeping in Sirius' ENORMOUS bed by Lily's insistence. The genius redhead was incredibly tactile in her ideas of affection and comfort as he had learned over the last year and half and so Ivy didn't question it. They were still all clothed so it hardly mattered. He shook his head, opening the box that held Bellatrix Lestrange Black, and falling asleep thinking about why he had saved her and what in the world he had been thinking.
~! #$%^&*()_+
The next day was slow for everyone and a sense of gloom had settled over the world. Sirius had left early in the morning to sneak into Black Castle in Crete to access the library there and Lily was sifting though the Potter cottage, sorting through possessions and tears, gathering the work from her work room and working to repair what little damage Voldemorts attack had done to the building. Or perhaps more accurately, the damage Ivy had done to the door and wall outside his room. Ivy wasn't certain, but he suspected Lily was intending to abandon this place as the memories of James were strongest here and thus the most painful.
Ivy watched in confusion from his place in Lily's arms as the red haired witch packed away a pair of odd empty cabinets, heavily rune inscribed door frames and a blackboard absolutely covered with arithmatic calculations in one bag. The Cabinets looked eerily familiar, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out where from.
There were other things as well. A variety of odds and ends really. A shelf full of mirrors that didn't reflect back properly and accompanying stacks of notes. Glasses without lenses but an odd sheen to the air in their place. A small plant potter that seemed to glow with a misty light and a plant inside that was growing at a slow but clearly visible pace. A set of disks that spun counter to each other, sparking purple between light and pulses of power between them every time the runes on the opposing sides crossed paths. Running shoes that seemed to hover just off the table. Ivy felt a definite sense of awe as he looked around the room. Everyone had always told him in his last life that his mother had been brilliant, and his father near the top of the class, but for Lily to be an enchantress... the de-aged boy turned girl felt a pang of loss at the life he'd never gotten to know and an even sharper pang of hope at the thought of what he'd been able to save. Lily and Sirius were still here. With a proper parent and godfather at least he's have a proper understanding of who his father was even though he'd still failed to save him.
Harry sat there and watched as Lily continued to carefully shift book after artifact after manuscript of loose notes into a purse that just never became full and thought of Hermione. The bushy brunette had been so much like the woman he had come to know over the last year... Perhaps that was why he was always so comfortable around the girl? Why he'd only ever thought of her as a sister until it was too late to broach the subject of his feelings and she was firmly with Ron? It seemed like such a missed opportunity in hindsight, but nothing ever seemed to go right for them to become any closer. By the time that Ron and Hermione had broken up he'd already become strangely obsessed with Ginny. He couldn't quite understand that relationship even now, but it had been quite enjoyable at the time. Then, by the time he'd dumped Ginny to go on the Horcrux hunt Hermione and Ron had gotten back together and were in deep. Until that blowup over the locket and the dementors after which his best friend was in morning for what she thought she'd lost and he couldn't bring himself to move past merely comforting her. Then Ron had come back, the locket had spilled the goods, Ron and Hermione had gotten back together to spite it, at least from his perspective, and everything had just moved along to quickly to hold onto...
Ivy's musings and recriminations over her past life's actions staid him till his mother had finished cleaning out her workroom, gathered some cloths from the master bedroom, had a minor breakdown, cleared out the library and moved the pair of them back to Sirius' suite. Sirius appeared halfway through a trashy chickflick movie and tub of rocky road with a grim smile on his face and a bag full of supplies. Ivy felt a shiver go down his spine. The world was about to change again and he could only guess what was about to happen.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Severus Snape stared at Dumbledore in shock. Admittedly he wasn't particularly keen on teaching a pack of idiot brats about basic education level potions, but that Lily had come to the headmaster personally and argued against his being allowed anywhere near the school made his stomach sink. Had things really fallen that badly between the two of them?
Alright, perhaps she had a point about him being somewhat responsible for the dark lord killing Potter, but the man had it coming! He was no good for her! She also had it right that he had no interest in teaching bratts the basics of potions making, but it had been the assignment the dark lord had set him up on and since his defection Dumbledore seemed quite happy to have a quality double agent within easy reach.
The two biggest bonuses was that it meant the old fool would be keen to protect him now that Voldemort's empire seemed set to collapse and the school itself boasted an entire slew of rare, high quality nontradable potions ingredients within free and easy pickings. Mandrakes for instance were highly controlled by the ministry for the unenchanted roots use in the dark arts and the dragon dung enhanced living mandragora's lethal cry. The school however grew over a thousand of the plants yearly. Kelpie hearts, manticore stings, mermaid blood, poltergeist ectoplasm, phoenix ashes... there was even talk of a basalisk that hunted the acromantula every decade! Not to mention the cerberus Hagrid kept as a pet and the entire herds of Unicorns and flocks of Stygian crows...
"DO you have nothing to say Severus?"
The sallow man looked up. "What of splitting the class between OWL and NEWT classes?" the jewish wizard asked with a smirk. At the headmaster's curious gaze he explained. "Both Lily and myself are potions masters of good repute and she's right, I haven't the slightest patience for children nor do I suffer fools lightly. I might be capable of lowering myself to take on NEWT capable students without wearing down my patience and again, Evans is right, I would do much better for the school as a researcher."
Dumbledore looked at him, momentarily astonished. Severus had to admit, it was out of character for him to admit his own failings, but getting close to his Tiger-lily was more important, and what easier way than to have her forced to be close by nine months out of the year?
"That... could be possible..." the wizened man muttered, those blue eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion. "I'll need to clear it with the board of governors first, unusual staff appointments you understand."
Snape nodded and left for his assistant professor/guest. He has a series of subtle love potions to mix up and it would be best to get started early while he was relatively free of distractions.
~! #$%^&*()_+
AN: No, I don't particularly like Severus Snape, but I don't particularly believe I'm bashing him either. I'm sure plenty of you will be more than happy to correct me on that, but bear with me for a moment. This is a guy who has held a grudge for over twenty years and at the end, when he dies he still hasn't given it up. He hates, bullies and mistreats the son of the woman he claims to love for seven years going so far as to arrange the death of her husband, not once, but twice! The first by accident in the routine of aiding an international terrorist who wants to kill the pair of them, and the second by making a personal deal with said terrorist specifically to kill the loving husband of the woman hes infatuated with.
If Molly Weasley can happily admit to getting her husband in book 3 by use of a rape potion I see no reason why Snape wouldn't consider the same as a simply matter of course.
And yes, rape potion, not love potion. Drugged consent is still rape.
