Caellum was in Lestrange Hall more specifically, at the desk in his new office, space set aside for the family heir. He had his own suit of private rooms, his own dining room and breakfast nook for entertaining his personal guests. His uncle had wasted no time in moving him in and making sure he had everything. From family heirlooms, toys, knick-knacks, and clothes to spending money for anything else he might need. It was more than he'd ever owned in his life. Rolland Lestrange had gone out of his way to make sure Caellum new he was wanted and appreciated.
He wasn't happy. Surrounded by his new family and new things, all he could think about was his little room in Longbottom manner filled with old worn toys and a stuffed teddy that had long ago seen better days but was now loosing stuffing out the stitches. He was a sixteen year old boy for fucks sake he shouldn't be missing a teddy, but he was. He was also spitting mad at Augusta Longbottom who hadn't mistreated him for all that she had been overbearing. The woman had never harmed him physically and had kept many of those who'd wanted to scare the magic out of him away. On the other hand she had knowingly kept him from his own family, helped put his real parents in Azkaban for life, constantly compared him to her son and found him wanting.
His drastic changes in looks however were much more appreciated. He had his father's looks and his mothers eyes, and curls. He had gained a few inches in height since he'd awakened in France. Much of his baby fat had melted away to make room for muscles.
The aurors were still searching for Neville Longbottom several news articles had appeared in papers all over about the missing heir. Augusta had cried out in the interviews about worried she was, telling the world that her poor defenseless grandson was all she had. Caellum hated it all, with every article read, and every wireless news program that aired his stomach tied tighter in knots. He had to do something, to that end, he'd spoken to his uncle and to grandma Cassi, about the Longbottom family line of succors. In other words who was supposed to be in charge with Frank incapacitated at the hospital.
Originally Neville had assumed it would be one of the many older relatives he was already familiar with after years of family holidays and Augusta's Sunday family tea's. It wasn't. As it turns out Augusta's husband Herbert had an adopted brother Cuthbert. Cuthbert Longbottom had been son of one of Carlson Longbottom's favorite cousins. When the cousin had died from outbreak Carlson had adopted Cuthbert as his own son and raised him as such going so far as to do a partial blood adoption to make Cuthbert eligible to inherit should Herbert die or not have kids.
With Frank unable to care for the family and no other heirs present Cuthbert's family became the main family line. Augusta however had hated Cuthbert from the moment she met him, while Herbert had been alive Augusta had merely excluded Cuthbert from everything she could and ignored him with she couldn't when Herbert had died, Augusta had cut Cuthbert off entirely banning him from all the properties and family events. Rather than contact the family himself Caellum instead hired a private investigative firm.
Kalm, Ross, and Burks, were very good at digging up dirt on everyone from politicians to the standard cheating spouse. So Caellum set up a meeting and told them what he new about Neville Longbottom's death and hired them to prove it. With-in a few months the whole world would know and Augusta would face an inquiry as to whom she had been passing off as her grandson and what she had done to him after.
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Aurora wanted to find her family more and more. While Orion, Maggie, Cassi, and Caellum had filled the whole and given her more than she'd ever imagined in the way of emotional support and security, she longed to know her mother. Would the woman be like Petunia with Dudley willfully ignorant of all her child's faults or more like Molly who'd been more observant than her children wanted and at times somewhat smothering though well meaning. Charis was a Black so maybe she would be like Narcissa who seemed so cold and aloof. How would her brothers treat her? Caellum acted like she was made of glass most of the time, and took great care with both herself and Maggie, Which while sweet was also infuriating. The Weasley Twins had treated Ginny as if she were a monster to be feared most of the time but had mercilessly pranked her boyfriends until they understood harming their sister would be bad for their remaining sanity and health.
She had tried writing to her mother to no avail. Cassi had tried as well but there didn't seem to be any way to reliably contact Charis or her sons. The only way to contact her family would be through her father. The same father who was certifiably nuts. She had found his horcrux among the things she had taken from Grimauld Place. She hadn't known what it was at first, just a locket with Slytherin house emblem on it. Her diagnostics meant to find curses hadn't been able to figure out what the locket was but her specialty was healing. Out of frustration and not expecting it to actually work she'd thrown a charm at it meant to check out a persons circulatory system. It had come back with results. Odd out of whack results but still more than it should. From their she'd thrown every healing test at it that she could with out a blood sample and been able to come up with a working theory on what the locket was. She'd then searched through all the books she had access to for information on possessed objects, soul containers, and spirit chests; until finally she had come across the word horcrux.
The soul piece was smaller than it should be, the containment wards were off, the charms for connecting it to the main part were non existent. The horcrux needed healed as much as the main soul piece did. She just didn't know how to go about doing it. If she could start connecting the pieces together she just might be able to restore her fathers sanity. Though to be honest a sane Voldemort hell bent on taking over sounded terrifying.
She had previously researched healing souls, in conjunction with dementer damage. So she knew how to purify the soul piece and cleanse it of foreign contaminants. It took a lot of research into necromancy to figure out how to locate the other pieces of her fathers soul. For now she didn't know enough to do much but she would keep the locket safe and had signed up for necromancy class's at Athena's hopefully she would closer by the end of the year. She was only fifteen and thanks to Dumbledore pretending she was Harry's age and her own use of time turners; she was way above where she might normally have been in her education. If she'd not made progress my the years end, she would contact her father any way and just risk it.
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Molly Weasley sat at her kitchen table worried, the more she read the worse she felt. This was just one problem after another for her to worry over. Harry had gone missing, Arthur had come home complaining about inquiries at work. Several prominent couples many of whom they were friends with had been accused of kidnapping or illegal adoption, and now according to the newspapers Neville had gone missing and Arthur had heard the main suspect was child's own grandmother. Finally, putting down the paper she kissed Arthur goodbye and cleaned up while waiting for Fred and George. It was urgent that they be here soon when no one else would be about to hear what she needed to talk to them about.
She and Arthur had spoken to Dumbledore about the kidnapping accusations and Molly for one had not liked his answer. Dumbledore had told her it would all work out. That they needed to stay strong during these troubling times. That they couldn't afford to be divided. Never once had he looked her in the eye and said he hadn't kidnapped them. Never had he told her it was all a lie.
Arthur had told her not to worry about it. He said Dumbledore must have his reasons. She had never felt so torn. In the end she'd decided to do something about it herself. To that end the twins would be here soon, and they would here her confession. No matter what it did to her family the truth would be out at least.
The floo flared green as her boys stepped through. Molly asked them "Please come sit down." Gesturing towards her worn with age dining table. "There's something I need to tell you and I'm not sure where to begin."
Both Fred and George took seats on the opposite side of the table from their mom she'd sat tea out for them and figure sandwiches. Moly sat her folded hands down on the table in front of her as she debated where to start.
"During the last war my brothers Gideon and Fabian were aurors who worked with Dumbledore in his Order of the Phoenix" Molly took a shaken breath and held up her hands forestalling any questions from the kids. "Please I need to say this at once so wait until the end to speak. It's just if I don't get it out now I don't know how I ever will."
"My brothers; although I loved them dearly I can admit I barely knew them they were after all much younger than me. I was a housewife and mother of three. I had had a miscarriage before Percy was born and carrying Percy nearly killed me. The healers advised me not to have any more if I wanted to live."
"Shows what they knew!" George joked. Molly sobbed and shook her head no.
"They were right of course so Arthur and I resigned ourselves to stopping at three and that was okay. We decided three would be all we really needed anyway. Then one day while I was putting Percy down for his nap the aurors called there had been an attack at Prewitt house and they needed me come and open the wards and to answer some questions for them, so Celeste Lovegood came over to watch the boys and I went with the aurors to my childhood home."
Molly paused here to reach out for a napkin to dry her eyes and blow her nose. "When I arrived their were still bodies everywhere and Gideon's body had been blown into the house the wards were still up so they needed me to let them in to retrieve his body."
She sobbed again but carried on. "I did so but couldn't stand to look at him like that so I left to go to the next room I heard something odd and realized that I knew that sound! At first I thought I'd gone nuts but then I heard it again and I saw the end of the blanket covering the old side table move, so I got down on my hands and knee's and looked and their they were the cutest little boys naked as newborns and identical right down to the freckle on their left butt cheeks."
She ignored the gasps coming from the twins. The looks of disbelief that now adorned their faces. Fred was shaking his head in denial. "I pulled them, you, out from under the table and I was trying to wrestle you little rascals into my arms one of you pulled my hair and the other tried to crawl under my skirt. Laughing as you went. You were both just such wonderful little rays of sunshine on a horrible day. You made me laugh and I was just about to call for the aurors when Dumbledore came running into the room. talking nonsense about how happy he was that my kids were ok. He told the aurors that Gideon and Fabian had been baby sitting my youngest for me. And he quietly ordered me to not talk. Then the next thing I knew I was taking you both home with me. He told me your real parents were deceased and that the information regarding them was confidential for your safety. At the time I believed him. I had no reason not to believe him. Not then. Not in the years since, until now. So Arthur and I kept you adopted you, We were going to tell you when you came of age. Now I know he lied. I just didn't know what to do about it."
Shocked the twins sat their for some time wondering what they should say.
"So I have a couple of questions?" She was certain she'd never seen George so confused. Fred sat the stoically not saying or doing anything. "Did you adopt Ron and Ginny too?"
"No, After we adopted you two money was very tight to make ends meet I started selling baked goods and caned preserves but it wasn't enough. With all the deaths people were genuinely afraid for their family lines for the first time in a long time. Healers and potion masters began looking for cures for all sorts of fertility problems. I had already had kids so it wouldn't have mattered in the long run if my uterus was damaged any further than it already was so when they asked for people to try out experimental treatments I signed up. I got paid quite nicely and to top it off healed for free. I put the money away as part of the savings we used to send all of you to school."
"So Dumbledore just dumped up on you didn't offer to help with anything?" George looked outraged.
"What did you mean by 'until now'?" Fred finally spoke up. "You said you had no reason not to believe him until now! What's changed?"
Here Molly hesitated but reckoned they deserved know it all including what had led to this meeting. "With first Harry's and then Neville's disappearances keeping the reporters busy the ministry and Dumbledore have been able keep a few other things out the public spotlight so to speak."
It started just after Harry's disappearance families, ministries, even several international groups the ICW among them began getting letters, and records they claimed as proof. Proof that Albus and some aurors working for him including my brothers had illegally removed children from loving homes in order to exploit them or their families. Ordinarily I wouldn't have believed it. However as a mixed group of people both domestic and foreign were chosen to look into things, it has been looking more and more as though the letters are correct. Several couples that we know are in a lot of trouble because they can't prove where their children came from."
"Worse, when I confronted Albus about the allegations and the two of you, he became evasive and wouldn't give me a straight answer."
"Not exactly proof, but certainly damning." Fred said. Do you know who our other parents are? Did you ever look?"
"I ran the spells that test for your name, most old families preform a naming ceremony for their kids, I did for mine even. But all that came up was mixed letters or fuzzy bits. I think someone blocked your names." Molly wiped her tears again. Took a steady breath and continued. "There are potions that can be used instead, but the ingredients are both expensive and illegal here in Britain. I'm so sorry boys. So very sorry