Hello! Quick AN: The timeline I published last chapter was a bit wrong. Neville wasn't born the day before Eoin and Finian were born but the day before Harry was born. Hope that didn't confuse anyone. Sorry!
She should've known, right off the bat, that something was wrong. She should've realized that the adoption had gone far too quick, that there was simply no way her daughter and son-in-law were the only people who wanted to adopt that tiny two-week-old baby boy. Yet, she hadn't known or had, at the very least, ignored any warning bells that went off in her head when Aria first presented her with Nathan. She had seemed so very happy and had clutched her child, her miracle baby, tightly as if afraid that he would simply dissolve if she let go of him. It hadn't been too long prior that that very face had been hollow and empty, those cheeks streaked with tears and those beautiful eyes void of life and Minerva couldn't, for the life of her, bear to return her daughter to that state. So she accepted the story they told her, no matter how far-fetched, and didn't question it, telling herself that weird things just happened sometimes. Over time, she even convinced herself of that.
Her office door creaked open and the eerie quiet that followed told her all she had to know of her visitor. Albus rarely came down to speak to her, preferring to summon her to his office instead. When he came to her, he always came without that irritating twinkle in his eyes and without his grandfatherly mask.
"I'm very disappointed in you, my dear Minerva," he began solemnly.
She nodded. "And I in you."
"Do you think you did young Harry and Nathan a favor?"
"Yes, Albus, I do think I did them a favor," she straightened the papers before her. "Nathan and Harry may not agree, and neither will Aria and Kelvin, but I did do them a favor."
She set them free. She gave them the opportunity to break away from Albus' tight grip, to go out into the world and see the many things he wouldn't let them see. She gave them a future that was theirs and no one else's.
"Then I imagine you must be very pleased with yourself. The Evening Prophet will be published within the hour and I know from a very trusted source that Harry and Nathan's faces will grace the front page."
"Yes, I am very pleased, thank you for noticing."
He frowned at her. "Minerva, now is not the time for idle commentary. Do you not see what you have done?"
"What I have done? I will tell you what I have done. I returned two lost, hurting boys to their rightful family! I freed a grieving mother from her pain and allowed a desperate father to breathe again and I will not have you blame me for-"
"Your intentions, noble as they are, have led you onto the wrong path. I agree that Harry's situation was far from ideal but surely you realize that it was necessary?"
She shook her head. He only meant to do right by the Wizarding World, she knew that, and had he done it any other way, she would've been right there at his side, eager to assist him. Yet, he had chosen this path, the one that saw two brothers taken from their family and separated from each other before they opened their eyes for the first time. He had decided, as though it was his right to make that choice, that a little boy's life was worth less than the Greater Good and Minerva, for far too long, had allowed him to continue.
She could've ended all of it years ago, just after Harry's First Year. She could've- should've- told the Ministry right then and there, personal consequences be damned. She hadn't though. Instead, she had taken her grandson and had kept him away from school whilst sending his twin brother back to those horrible Muggles, all because of her selfish desire of seeing her daughter smile, and she would've continued feigning ignorance had she not seen what it did to those boys.
With each year that passed, they grew less naïve, less ready to accept an adult's word for the undeniable truth and developed a thirst for knowledge that could only be stilled by cold, hard facts. 'You were adopted' suddenly stopped being an acceptable answer to Nathan's inquiries about his biological parents. 'It's for the best' ceased to satisfy Harry's need to make sense of Albus' seemingly senseless decisions. 'You're too young', words that used to be a way to protect their innocence, became a meaningless way to shut down their broad, sharp minds.
"Nathan would have connected the dots by himself sooner or later," she said. "I saved him the trouble."
"And Harry wouldn't have?"
"No," she snapped. "You made sure that he only knew what you wanted him to know."
"It was for the best. Harry is essential for the survival of our world. He, and only he, can defeat Voldemort."
"Do not confuse Harry Potter with Eoin Malfoy, Albus. Eoin had nothing to do with that ridiculous idea of yours until you dragged him into this."
He clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at her with disapproving eyes. "If you knew what I know-"
"No one knows what you know and I doubt that it would change anything. You are not Merlin, Albus, so do not presume to play with lives that are not your own."
He sighed and inclined his head. "I see we are getting nowhere today. Very well, it is too late to change the situation now anyhow. I just hope that one day, you will realize the error of your ways."
"And you."
As soon as the door closed behind him with another creak of its hinges, Minerva stood up and almost crashed her feather in her hand as she clenched it tightly. The nerve of him, blaming her for a situation he had caused in the first place! Granted, she had allowed Severus to discover the secret of Harry's true identity but there truly had been no other way. The boy had been through too much. He had seen a friend die and had witnessed the resurrection of his mortal enemy. Merlin, the fact that he had a mortal enemy was enough to prove how bad a hand Albus had dealt him. The boy was only fourteen- or thirteen, rather- and should worry about silly things like girls. His biggest fear should be failing an important exam, not being killed by a madman. He was such a kind-hearted boy, so like Lily even though he wasn't hers by blood. Never one let someone else suffer and always concerned for everyone else before he started noticing his own welfare. Sometimes, he was too quick to forgive, rather unlike either of the Potters who were known for holding some very firm grudges, most notably against Severus. He didn't deserve to have his life put on the line to end a war that wasn't even his until Albus made it so.
And her Nathan, her wonderful grandson, didn't deserve to be leverage, because he was nothing more than that for as long as she kept his heritage hidden from him and even though she knew he was hurting, away from home, there was no doubt in her mind that she had done the only right thing- both for Harry and for Nathan.
Passing the task of transferring the Magical Signatures to Severus had been easy enough- the lad hardly ever left the castle and she was busy anyways. Sure, he had grumbled and muttered some not very nice things under his breath but in the end, he had accepted her request and within five days, news had reached her that all boys aged thirteen to sixteen were to check in with the Ministry.
She hadn't told Aria and Kelvin that Nathan wouldn't return, not until after he had left, but they had still known. She could see it in the strained smile Aria graced her boy with and the deep sadness that was written inside Kelvin's eyes and the lingering hug both of them gave him. Her decision had broken her child all over again but this time, she had something worth fighting for- a son that would need her to stay strong.
"My Lord, I bear grievous news regarding the Potter boy."
He regaled the masked man that kneeled before him with cold eyes. He didn't know who that particular servant was, only that he wasn't one of his closest. None of those were here today, they weren't needed. He doubted that the one in front of him was needed, he certainly hadn't summoned him, but he had itched for news ever since Severus' last report a few days ago. He hadn't thought to receive any for at least another few weeks, since Potter had been carted off to his Muggle relatives where not even he could reach him.
"Speak."
"The boy was not born to James Potter and his mudblood wife. He was born to Lucius and Narcissa, one of the twins that vanished on the day of their birth."
"Where is the boy now?"
"Malfoy Manor, my Lord. Lucius and Narcissa brought him and the other boy there this afternoon."
"I assume you have not received word of Lucius?"
"No, my Lord, he has not attempted to contact any of us."
"Very well," he nodded and raised his wand. "You have served me well. Next time, however, you will bring such important news to me sooner, not hours later. Crucio."
He watched as the man writhed in pain, barely keeping pained screams from escaping, and held the curse for a few seconds before cancelling it to send the man on his way. He had served him well, after all, by bringing him these news.
He sat in his large armchair, stroking Nagini's head tenderly. Lucius and Narcissa…he was part of his closest circle though a rather cowardly man. He was rather useless most of the time unless politics were involved. Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix, was more to his liking. A bit on the unhinged side, perhaps, but that made her all the better suited for his cause. Once he had broken her and the other Death Eaters out of Azkaban, he didn't doubt that she'd serve him quite well once more.
Until then, he had other business that took priority, however. It was, there was no other way of putting it, simply unacceptable for Lucius to not hand over Harry Potter the moment he had him in his custody so he would need to take care of that soon before the man suddenly decided to grow a spine as some Death Eaters had done once they figured they needed to protect their children more than they needed to serve him.
It was quite ironic, really, that one of his first Death Eaters, one that was among the top Death Eaters in the hierarchy, would father the boy destined to kill him, though he wasn't sure if Potter still fit the criteria of the prophecy. He had been born at the end of July, he remembered, but not to those who had thrice defied him.
He needed to get his hands onto that prophecy. He needed to hear what it said, down to the last word, and he certainly couldn't go into the Department of Mysteries by himself, not if he wanted that idiot Fudge to continue his political war against Potter and Dumbledore. If he somehow got Potter to go in, however…yes, that might even be enough for now. If Potter couldn't pick it up, he wasn't the one destined to defeat him and if he could, his servants could always take the prophecy from him, if they weren't too clumsy about it.
He sat back, allowing Nagini to slither onto his arm. Now he only needed to figure out how to lure the boy into the Ministry of Magic.