FG2 – The Trio Hit Hogwarts

A/N Just to clear up any misunderstandings, I never had any intentions of abandoning this story. I was unsure of writing my first sequel but once the first chapter of whatever I'm writing has been posted, I will always do my utmost to finish what I started. Sorry for any confusion caused by my last author's note.

Chapter 4

The twins had spent the last evening regaling their friends with stories they had unearthed of the marauders, even showing Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie the map. Their main worry was not having any gold to buy the book that Harry said would soon be on sale, the same boy had just answered their prayers at breakfast with a promised refund for their Lockhart rubbish. Even heading down to Potions could not spoil their good mood but when they got there it felt like Christmas had come early.

They were sharing the class with the Hufflepuffs and neither group could hide their smiles at the shouting coming out of the potions lab, the door may be closed but at least one of the voices was instantly recognisable.

"You can't suspend me, I won't stand for it! I'm going to see Albus and get this sorted out, he'll soon show you who runs Hogwarts."

"By all means go and see Albus but he already knows who runs Hogwarts, we suspended him before coming down to see you."

"This is an outrage, Prince Potter shows up and the whole school can't wait to fall down and worship at his feet, well I for one won't be."

"That's right Snape you won't be, and you won't be firing any more curses at them either. Are you so stupid you didn't realise there would be consequences for your actions or does your arrogance tell you that you're above such petty things as laws."

"I am one of the foremost potion masters in the country, these children are lucky to have me."

"Not according to the figures published in today's Prophet."

"Well what do you expect with the dunderheads I have to work with?"

"Since those same 'dunderheads' excel in Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Runes and Arithmancy we expect your results to match those of properly taught courses. No one is disputing your expertise at brewing potions but it's your inability to pass this knowledge on that has us standing here. There is an emergency school board meeting being called for Monday where we will be investigating quite a number of things, until then you are suspended from teaching."

Since this was now Wednesday the board were hoping that by Monday the issues would be solved, thus saving them the trouble of acting.

Snape tried to glare at the group of students who should have been his first class of the new term but this was hard to do convincingly as he was 'hingin the pettit lip' and looked ready to burst into tears of frustration at any moment. The students at least had the good grace to wait until he was passed them before bursting into laughter, the raucous sounds of merriment echoed strangely off the dungeon walls as Snape swept away like a poor man's Darth Vader towards his master.

The class was dismissed and told to return to the great hall to use this as a study period, the twins led the way and their skipping antics were soon picked up by the rest of the delighted students as they made their way along the winding corridors of Hogwarts.

Severus burst into the infirmary to find Poppy's wand was swiftly in his face, "I thought I told you to get out of here?"

"It is imperative that I speak to Albus for a few moments." Poppy looked over at her patient and saw that this was necessary, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"You've got five minutes, upset my patient and I'll throw you out on your ear."

He approached the bed where Albus was still looking haggard, "Is it true, have they suspended you as well?"

"Severus I fear I will not be able to assist you in this matter, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to hang onto my own job. The only advice I can give you is to keep a low profile and stay well away from the Potters, another incident now would almost certainly see us both thrown out of Hogwarts."

"But Albus…"

"I have given you the best advice I have available, the choice as always is yours to make. Please leave now Severus as I really am in need of my rest." He couldn't help but think Albus had never looked so frail in all the time he'd known the great wizard.

[ 'hingin the pettit lip' is a Scot's saying for a grumpy expression accompanied by a protruding lower lip, usually seen on children who don't get their own way and as a precursor to floods of tears. I just thought this expression fitted Snape perfectly. ]

-oOoOo-

The three Potters returned with the littlest Granger still on her favourite mode of transport, Harry's shoulders, to find Emma chatting away to the two most powerful women in the British magical community as if they were neighbours who just popped in to borrow something.

Cas supplied them all with juice and this time Danni didn't resist being sat in her high chair, both wizarding ladies took note of the trio's preferred attire, jeans, t-shirts and trainers was about as muggle as you could get.

"Lord Potter, Maia will be a few minutes yet but could you explain some of your comments that have been reported in today's Prophet, especially relating to Dumbledore and Snape."

"Madam Bones, here in my house it's always just Harry, I tend to only use my title to remind people that they can't treat me like a kid. Of course at home that's just what we are, Maia, Emma and Sirius make sure we don't forget it."

"Oh so we don't even rate a mention now? Hello Augusta, I hope Harry remembered to ask your grandson to spend the weekend as we're looking forward to meeting him."

Both witches span round to see Martha being joined by Jonathon in a picture frame, "Martha Potter, it's so good to see you again, and you too Jonathon. This begins to make sense now as it was obvious they had to be receiving guidance from someone."

Jonathon chuckled, "Augusta we're just part of the team, Emma here is as sharp as a tack and Maia is certainly no slouch either. Sirius and Remus are amongst the most devious people I've ever met so with Cas and Hedwig supporting them these three have had quite the last few years."

"Jonathon it was Harry's comment that Snape set our grandson's up for special attention from that evil murdering swine that really focused my attention, what can you tell me about it?"

Jonathon appeared quite happy to speak for the group; "Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius's cousin and used to constantly taunt him that while he was rotting in Azkaban, Snape the spy was living the high life at Hogwarts. There was apparently a prophesy made that the one who could defeat the dark lord would be born at the end of July to parents that had denied him three times, only two children fitted that profile. Snape apparently heard this and, after telling his master, was promptly sent to Dumbledore to be his real master's spy. This was the reason behind our children being attacked and why they are not here with us now."

If the fire in Augusta Lonbottom's eyes was any indication then Severus Snape's life expectancy had just taken a serious downturn, Amelia took up the conversation to give her friend a chance to recover. "If there was a prophecy made then it will be stored in the hall of prophesies at the ministry, Harry could go and collect it anytime."

"I already have, Sirius took me there as a visitor ages ago and I left with the glass ball in my pocket."

Both witches waited on him saying more but it was Amelia that broke first, "I'll understand if you don't want to tell us what it said but we could be of great help to you with this matter."

Harry shook his head, "Oh no it's nothing like that, we held a discussion and decided we didn't believe in this prophecy rubbish, I only removed it to stop anyone else getting their hands on it."

"Do you have it somewhere safe?" Augusta asked.

"It's at the bottom of an old well we found, we threw it in and watched it smash, some mist came out and may have said something but it was so deep we couldn't hear a word."

Amelia was beyond stunned but still managed to stutter, "Do you mean you destroyed it without even listening to the prophecy?"

"In a word, Yes! That prophecy was nobody's business but mine; I don't believe in them therefore I had no problems with destroying it. I will not have any more people being killed or injured over a little glass ball, it's gone and I'm glad I did it."

The auror in Amelia was having a hard time understanding why someone would destroy information that could actually help them, "Even though you don't believe in them, surely it would have been more prudent for you, or at least someone close to you to have listened to it first."

Harry was shaking his head in disagreement but it was Emma who answered for them, "Had we listened to the prophesy it would have undoubtedly changed our lives, since we all like they way our lives are we decided that any information gained would in no way make up for the loss. We face each situation as it arises while training for the worst, the kids have been taking lessons for three years with Sirius, Remus and Maia saying they're approaching OWL level in some of their subjects."

The two witches from the ministry were looking at the trio even more strangely now as Emma continued, "They want to continue their education in the non-magical world and are only at Hogwarts to meet some of their peers, we have no intention of them missing out on the magical world or abandoning their roots in the non-magical world."

Augusta seemed to take exception to this, "The Lovegoods don't have 'muggle roots' and these three have already missed out on a year's education at Hogwarts."

Luna replied before anyone else got the chance, "My bond mates are a muggle born and a muggle raised, that seems like pretty strong roots to me. I've spent the last three years attending Muggle School while receiving a magical education at home; I was very happy with that set-up and am really looking forward to returning to our Muggle School on Monday. I was probably the loudest voice against attending Hogwarts as we have lots of friends there and even flew in an aeroplane last year as part of a five day school excursion to France; our first day at Hogwarts wasn't great and our second not much better. We have lessons Thursday and Friday with people coming to the house for the weekend but if things don't improve soon, I for one will be voting we leave Hogwarts altogether."

Augusta was outraged at the attitude of this pureblood witch, "But you would be denying your heritage."

Maia caught the end of the argument as she walked in the room, "And just what is that heritage Madam Longbottom? A father who was murdered in his own office by a member of the Wizengamot, her mother nearly meeting the same fate in their own home at the hands of Albus Dumbledore. A godfather who was thrown in prison without a trial and a husband who had both his parents murdered before being illegally placed in an environment where he was so badly beaten he almost died. Yes Madam Chief Witch that's quite the heritage there wouldn't you say? Our children don't live in the past but for today, they don't look back only forward to a long and happy life together. It's our job as parents to see that's what they get and rest assured we will use every means at our disposal to see that they do. I really don't appreciate you sitting in our house passing judgements when you haven't a clue what you're talking about."

This was not going they way both ministry officials had imagined, Amelia tried to pour some oil on troubled waters. "Perhaps you could explain the situation to us so we can understand your point of view, and also why you chose to let everyone think you were dead for three years."

Maia was on a roll; she hadn't been keen on sending the kids to Hogwarts in the first place but agreed to give the plan a try. The fact that Hedwig could get them out of there in a flash was the only reason she allowed the trio to get on that train. "That old man breezed right through our wards straight into our living room in his search for Harry, we now know he ordered his phoenix to take him there, so you tell me where would I have been safe. I am positive it was him that destroyed our home but didn't see any spells cast and only Hedwig's timely arrival saved my life. I also noticed you didn't use truth serum when you questioned him so figured that would be no help either. Emma and I both lost our husbands on the same day and she was badly injured, by the time we had dealt with that our only concern was the safety of the children, neither death eaters or Dumbledore would be looking for me if they thought I was dead and they had no idea who Emma was."

Amelia and Augusta couldn't fail to see the logic of this argument; both would have done the same if Neville or Susan's lives had been endangered.

"We have watched while you both have tried to chip away at the bigotry and injustice of the British magical world and, while you have our support we are not here to fight anyone's battles for them. One of the main reasons for destroying that prophecy was to prevent anyone trying to pin any more stupid labels onto Harry, the prophesised child or chosen one spring to mind as being ridiculous enough. Yes we have publicly attacked Dumbledore and Snape but that is to get them away from our children, though I would personally like to see both of them die painful deaths, if they are still at Hogwarts next week the Potters won't be."

Augusta was battling to hold her temper, "They strolled into Hogwarts a year late, cause major disruptions that leave the school short staffed and then you're going to withdraw the children if you don't get your own way?"

Maia took her aggression down a couple of notches, "We really are trying to help you here, can you both imagine the effect on the British magical community if today's Prophet had a front page picture of the Potters starting Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, citing Hogwarts terrible academic record while pointing the finger at Dumbledore and Snape's transgressions? There would have been mayhem and yes, some of the worst professors at Hogwarts may have resigned but we also gave you the means to rectify the problem."

Both Amelia and Augusta had gasped in horror at the thought of the Potters publicly snubbing Hogwarts for a school abroad, especially their public justification for doing so; there would have been a massive outcry that would have demanded heads to roll. Amelia though was confused at where she'd missed the answer to the Hogwarts teaching problem until Emma pointed it out to them.

"The figures we gave you shows quite clearly the best teachers of any given subject, you need a new potions or defence teacher just look at who has the best record and go after them."

Augusta couldn't believe it was that simple, "Won't they already have jobs teaching their subjects?"

Emma just gave them a smile that said she thought they were being naive, "You make them a better offer, whether it's salary, conditions, the ability to teach the course the way they want. It happens in the muggle world all the time and is called 'head hunting', you want Hogwarts to be the best then this is how you do it."

Augusta couldn't fail to notice the kids had been unusually quiet during this discussion; this did not match the impression of Harry she had been building in her mind. "So what do you think of this Harry, you are after all Lord Potter, head of an Ancient and Noble family."

"I may be head but that doesn't mean no one else has a voice, as to Hogwarts that was a joint decision. Luna didn't want to go, Hermione was desperate to give magical school a chance but was leaning towards France. I wanted to at least give my parent's old school a try before moving our entire family to the continent, we have a château in the south of France that could be our new home by the end of next week. So far we have been well prepared for everything that Hogwarts has thrown at us because we had the element of surprise heavily in our favour. We weren't expected at Hogwarts this year and Snape just saw three new Hufflepuff first years. He probably hasn't had anyone fire a curse back at him in ages and no idea we have been practicing duelling for a few years now, the headmaster is so conceited he would never even consider the possibility that anyone other than him could have a phoenix companion. So far we have been underestimated and incredibly lucky but we know this can't last, we can deal with other students wanting to have a pop at us but not staff. We're relying on others to remove those threats for us and I have to say I'm not happy about putting my girls at risk so the clock is ticking."

Amelia felt the whole morning was slipping away from them and tried to get back onto some familiar ground, "You are aware that there are restrictions on the use of magic while underage?"

Harry wore an unnerving grin, "You are of course referring to the British rules on this subject, and I never said we were practicing in Britain. I would also like to point out that as we three are married, therefore considered adults, then these rules do not apply to us."

Augusta felt as if her head was bursting, being out manoeuvred by Dumbledore was one thing but this was getting embarrassing, as they seemed two steps ahead of them at every turn. "Ok but where does that leave us concerning Snape and Dumbledore?"

It was Jonathon who replied, "Snape is Dumbledore's Achilles heel, I would suggest getting a confession out of Lestrange that implicates the man and then use him against Dumbledore."

Mentioning Lestrange and Dumbledore in the same sentence was always going to upset Augusta but she could see the poetic justice in using one murdering criminal to catch another, the old bastard might not appreciate being compared to the psychopath but she was sure his actions had killed just as many as Bellatrix.

Amelia and Augusta thanked them for their tea and frank discussion, thankful for at least gaining their agreement that if either of the men were brought to trial they would testify in the Wizengamot. Arriving back in the ministry both women were not sure how to react to their morning.

"Do you think they were serious about leaving Hogwarts?" Augusta asked.

Amelia had only one answer, "I think they would do whatever it took to keep those children safe and I for one can't blame them. We have to move quickly on this before something else happens to them and they're gone for good, I will have Bellatrix removed from Azkaban tomorrow so we can question her. We're going to have to do this whole thing live in the chamber and just have aurors on standby to react to anything she says. I can't for the life of me figure out why this wasn't done the first time and we could have cleared most of this up." The sarcasm was dripping of her words for that last sentence as both women knew large amounts of gold were involved to ensure certain questions weren't asked.

Augusta agreed that time was now of the essence and was hoping this would be their opportunity to clear up any death eaters that had escaped them thus far, fatally damaging Dumbledore would be an unbelievable bonus as they should be able to at least get him sacked from Hogwarts. She learned a hard lesson the last time she faced him but that would be the least she would settle for on this occasion, by removing his last remaining powerbase he would be one step closer to his rightful home, Azkaban.

Back at the manor questions were also being asked, "Do you think they bought it?" Hermione queried.

"I don't see why not, mum you were brilliant. You've been spending way to much time with Sirius when you can act like that."

This was not the way Maia had envisioned breaking the news but Luna had just provided the perfect opening, "Oh and here's me agreed to go out on a date with him Saturday night, does this mean you don't think I should go?"

This comment seemed about as welcome as a fart in a space suit but eventually Luna got up and hugged her mum, "If this is what you want mum then it's ok with us."

Hermione went round and hugged Emma, "Are you ok with this?"

She hugged her daughter for thinking of her before answering, "I'm fine love, Sirius asked me as well. I think he's jealous of his godson having two beautiful girls and thought he would try the same, while I do love the man I'm not in love with him so I declined his very kind offer."

Hermione hugged her tighter, she knew her mother missed her dad and didn't know if she'd ever be able to move on. Thinking of what Harry meant to her gave Hermione some idea of what her mother must be feeling, how can you move on if a part of you is missing.

Sirius picked this moment to enter the room and was immediately confronted by Harry, "It's time for our duelling practice."

He was dragged out the room by his godson and knew he was in trouble when the two Mrs Potters followed them, he was guessing that Maia had broke the news to them. Facing a girl's parents was frightening enough but to face their three kids, all of whom had wands and been taught how to use them, Sirius would rather face an irate father any day.

Jonathon and Martha decided to give the two friends some time alone as Maia sat down beside Emma, "Are you quite sure about your decision, we women are allowed to change our minds you know."

Emma held her best friend's hand and tried to explain, "Maia this is the one time where being non-magical puts me at a serious disadvantage, I have to say no."

Maia couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Emma you know Sirius doesn't buy into any of that pureblood shit, that makes no difference to him. I thought I knew you better than that."

Emma gave a pained smile, "It's not like that Maia, I'm rapidly approaching forty, at sixty I get my bus pass and old age pension with my life expectancy being mid-seventies. At this point you will still be a beautiful woman with about another seventy years in front of you. It's simple biology Maia, not bigotry. I really envy you those extra years but am greatly comforted by the fact that you and Sirius will be here for our family for the next hundred years."

Maia was speechless as she now understood where her friend was coming from, Emma would be old and grey while she and Sirius would be approaching middle aged. It would make no difference to her and Sirius but. if the shoe was on the other foot then nothing would ever convince Maia either that it wouldn't matter. She would just have to give her best friend time and hope she changed her mind but, since time was now the enemy, she doubted it very much.

Maia pulled her into a hug as she whispered to her best friend, "I understand now and think you are wrong but it's your decision to make and you know I'll support you whatever you do."

Emma was now fighting back the tears, "Thanks Maia, you know any children you have I'm just going to treat them like they are mine anyway."

Maia laughed, "We may have the strangest family set-up on the planet but it works for us so who cares what other people think, any children I have will be blessed with two mothers and four siblings and I couldn't be happier about that."

-oOoOo-

Ronald Weasley was giving some serious thought to the direction his life was taking, watching as his young sister became something of an instant celebrity inside Gryffindor from befriending the Potters was one thing, a weekend out of school AND a new broom was something else. With even the twins being invited he would have to figure out how to tag along, if they were handing out new brooms for free then Ronald Weasley deserved to be at the head of that queue, shit anything new that was free they could put his name down for. He was just considering a letter home to his mother, bemoaning the fact that there had been an oversight by not inviting him as well, when a very familiar voice disrupted his planning session.

"Mr Weasley, your marks are no where near good enough for you to sit day dreaming in my class, in fact your results were so bad last term we considered making you repeat first year."

For a second Ron thought this might be his answer, Ginny had been ecstatic this morning when she discovered she shared all three of the Potter's classes. He would be able to get to know Harry and let him see what a great guy he was, Ron definitely thought Harry would prefer spending some time hanging around with him rather than those two girls he was always with. Then his dream was dashed as the consequences of such a move were rather forcibly brought to his attention.

"I would hate to be the one to write to your mother and say her son was being held back a year due to poor performance, born not of stupidity but sheer bloody laziness to put in the effort required. If I don't see a marked improvement very shortly then you will leave me with no other option, perhaps you could use this weekend, since your siblings will be away at Lord Potters, to re-examine your goals instead of spending it hunched over a chess board."

"Yes professor," he was already re-examining his goals and the main one at the moment was getting himself invited along this weekend, if that squib Longbottom was welcome surely he would be as well. He was about to start thinking of ways to charm himself back into Loony's good books when common sense for once prevailed, he decided to wait until he was out of McGonagall's transfiguration class before giving the problem some more thought.

Probably the wisest decision that he had made in quite some time but then again, even a clock that's stopped is right twice a day.

-oOoOo-

Sirius climbed wearily back onto his feet and cried, "Enough! I get the message, hurt Maia and you'll all kick my arse." Individually Sirius could still beat them but when they combined and Luna concentrated on her abilities to see their movements before they made them, then the trio could take him and Remus down at the same time. With three powerful opponents who moved like one and could also predict what you were going to do then you were about to find yourself landing on your arse with astonishing regularity.

"Why Sirius, whatever do you mean?" Hermione innocently asked.

"When I asked Maia to marry me I didn't expect you to be jumping for joy but this hostility is hurting me a lot more than your curses ever could, do you really hate the idea that much?"

"Marry you? She never said you wanted to get married, just 'date' her," said an astonished Harry.

"That was her idea, she wanted to go on a few dates first to see how we get on so I'm taking her to a fancy restaurant and then dancing. Do you honestly think I would try and take advantage of Maia or Emma?"

Luna walked forward and slowly put her arms around him, "Sirius you can never be my daddy but I would be proud to call you father, that's what you've been to all four of us for a few years now and we love you for it."

Harry and Hermione approached and Sirius pulled them into the hug, "Thanks you guys and don't think I don't know what you were trying to do, I have to say though that Cas warned me years ago about my behaviour towards your mothers and I'm a lot more frightened of her than I am of you three."

"Just goes to show that you finally learned some sense," said Cas from behind them, making all four jump before bursting out laughing. They all enjoyed the cold juice she had brought for them while silently admitting Sirius was right, Cas could be bloody scary when she wanted to be.

-oOoOo-

Snape marched up and down inside his office as his plans for revenge on the son of his most hated enemy got more and more extreme to become downright outrageous, he'd decided that nothing less than killing the brat would satisfy his need for revenge. Ever since Minerva had mentioned his hated name at the sorting Severus had felt his anger try to take control, one glance at the boy who bore an uncanny resemblance to James Potter and his rage could barely be contained, after that debacle in the great hall he really could only see one option open to him.

It all came down to how much of a risk he was wiling to take and his need to see the actual deed carried out, he personally wanted to be there when the Potter line came to an abrupt and premature end by his hand.

Without Dumbledore's continual protection Severus was aware his days of freedom would probably be numbered but if he eradicated the Potters forever he could die a happy man, a maniacal chuckle involuntarily escape his lips when a quite delicious idea for poetic justice came to mind. Albus had the Potter's invisibility cloak locked in his office, oh the irony of using that hated device in the killing of Potter's offspring. He didn't get to kill the father and there wasn't an opportunity to show Lily who was the better man but nothing was going to deny him his ultimate revenge on the Potter line.

Dumbledore had advised against upsetting Sprout but his other two choices made even less sense, only a fool would attempt to go against McGonagall or Flitwick leaving only one conclusion. Severus Snape would kill Harry Potter tomorrow in Herbology while using the boy's own father's invisibility cloak to remain hidden, he should be able to watch undetected as the last light of life leaves the brat's eyes.

A/N Thanks for reading.