Author's Notes: *Hides* I know, I've been terrible at updating this. I'm sorry for the wait. Anyway, if anyone's still following this after all this time, I'm posting Chapters 10 and 11 at the same time. They were originally going to be one chapter, but it started getting really long and somewhat unorganized.

Disclaimer: Anything HP is still not mine.

Part I: Chapter Ten

1965

Gideon flood Jacob, who flood Greta, who in turn flood Benjy, who returned by the favor by flooing Duke. Soon enough, a time later that day was agreed upon, and plans were made. Shortly after, Alice, Jacob, Gideon, Molly, Arthur, Greta, Duke, and Benjy gathered in Gideon and Molly's backyard. Duke brought Benny with him.

"Hey, you all," Alice greeted her friends as she and Jacob arrived. She scanned the room, and her eyes fell on Benny. She smiled, "Hi Benny."

"Hi," he replied, matching her smile, "Good to see you again."

"Have you met everyone yet?" Alice asked.

"Not yet. Duke wanted to wait until everyone had arrived."

"Which I believe just occurred," Duke chimed in as Greta joined the rest in the backyard, "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my brother, Benny."

A chorus of "hi, Benny"'s could be heard.

Shortly after that, the group of friends sat on the grass and talked.

"Where do you go to school, Benny?" Jacob asked friendlily.

"I actually go to school in Germany," Benny told Jacob, "It's not a wizarding school or anything, since I can't do magic, but I like it a lot."

Arthur's eyes lit up, "You got to a muggle school?"

Benny nodded.

Alice laughed, "This is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Have you been on an aro..aro?" Arthur tried to remember the name of the muggle mode of transportation that he was thinking of.

"An airplane?" Jacob supplied. Arthur nodded.

" I wanted to take on to get to an Rolling Stones concert, but it didn't work out," Benny replied. He thought for a moment and added, "The Rolling Stones…they're a muggle band."

Arthur grinned, "One of my favorites. Which album do you like best?"

Molly looked at Alice and smiled, "A beautiful friendship indeed."

Since that day, Benny had spent a lot of time with Duke's group of friends. One evening, the two brothers were talking in Duke's room. They were alone, save for the house elves, as their parents had gone to an extravagant party.

"Benny?" Duke asked tentatively.

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking a lot recently…" Duke began, and then he paused, unsure of how to continue. He and Benny had been spending a lot more time together than usual thus far that summer, but he wouldn't say that they were close. He was unsure of how to broach the topic.

"What about?" Benny asked after several moments of silence.

"About our family situation," Duke finally said, "The thought that it really ought to change has been on my mind."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Our parents…well, we both know how they are. And I know you've had to deal with the majority of their abuse, and for that I'm sorry. But Benny, we can't continue on like this. You don't deserve to be so ostracized, and I can't sit and watch them treat you like that anymore."

"What are you proposing that we do, Duke?" Benny asked his brother.

"I've been toying with the idea of…I know it will sound extreme, but I think it may be appropriate…I think I should appeal for emancipation for you and me."

"That is…awfully extreme," Benny said nervously.

"At first glance it might be," Duke replied, "But look at how they act. Look at how they treat you, Benny."

"I'm just not comfortable with it," Benny sounded exasperated.

"Benny…"

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" He exploded. It was strange: Benny was normally very quiet and shy, and here he was, yelling quite loudly, "They've hated me ever since I was eleven and didn't get a Hogwarts letter. That was almost three years ago! Why are you so concerned about me now, after all that time?"

"Because I should have cared earlier, and I didn't!" Duke exclaimed, looking desperate, "I know I should have cared earlier, but I'm trying to now."

"Don't kid either one of us," Benny said darkly as he got up to leave the room, "You're just trying to assuage your own guilt."

"That's not it, I swear to you!"

But Benny was gone.

"He hates me," Duke put his head in his hands as he told Alice and Jacob what had happened the night before, "And I can hardly blame him. I've ignored him essentially our whole lives, so why should he trust me now?"

"I don't think he hates you," Jacob rationalized, "Maybe he was put into a weird space. Maybe he doesn't want to apply for emancipation just yet. That would be an enormous step."

"Do you two think that would be an appropriate idea, or have I simply lost my mind?" Duke asked.

"From what I've seen, I think it's for the best," Alice replied.

"He might just need time to come to trust you and come to terms with the idea," Jacob supplied.

"Yes," Duke agreed, "That makes sense."

"Let me talk to him, if you wouldn't mind," Alice said a few moments later. They were alone now, "I've seen firsthand how you've changed, Duke. You're much more friendly and caring than you used to be. Maybe I can make your idea work."

"Thank you," he replied, "I just want the right thing for Benny and I to transpire."

Alice knocked on Benny's bedroom door several days later.

"Benny? It's Alice."

He opened the door and let her in.

"Hi," he said, "Duke sent you here to talk to me, didn't he?"

"It was my idea," she sat down on his bed, "He really does mean well, you know."

"I guess," Benny didn't sound convinced.

"Really, he does," Alice continued, "Benny…"

"Yeah?"

"You realize Duke's changed?"

"He has been much friendlier than usual," Benny agreed.

"I saw him change during this past school year. It's funny, for the longest time I couldn't stand your brother. But then I got to know him, and we became friends, and then…"

"You started dating him."

Alice nodded, "And it was going alright – well, wonderfully, except we saw certain things quite differently. He didn't accept people easily, and he judged them based on social or academic status."

"Like our parents."

"Yes. And it was starting to cloud my own judgment. I started ignoring my other friends, and my family, and it's kind of another story, but basically I realized I didn't want to risk losing all of the other people in my life, and so I broke up with him."

"Alice, why are you telling me this?" Benny didn't sound angry; he sounded curious.

"Because it relates to how Duke has changed, and why I honestly believe his intentions are good. Anyway, we were apart for a few months, and we were miserable, so we decided to give it another try. I decided to make a conscious effort to balance spending time with your brother and everyone else…but Duke had changed. He was more accepting of other people, and so I didn't even have to balance spending time with my friends and boyfriend. You saw them at Molly and Gideon's the other day; he gets along with all of them. He's a different person, Benny. He isn't how he was before. He really wants to form a relationship with you."

"Maybe," Benny began, "It isn't so much that I didn't trust Duke. It's that I'm afraid of such a big change."

"Emancipation would be a big change," Alice agreed.

"Yeah. And I know it would probably be for the better, but I'm scared of it."

"Remember that you're not alone. It would be a change for Duke, too. The two of you are in this together. Knowing that might make it less scary."

The next day, Duke flood Alice.

"Hi," she said, smiling, as he entered her bedroom.

Duke looked happy, "Alice, he said yes! Benny's willing to go with the idea."

"Really? Oh Duke, I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you," he told her, "Whatever you said to him, thank you so much, Alice."

"I'm just glad I was able to help."

He grinned, "You're an angel."

She laughed, "I wouldn't go that far."

"Is your father home?" Duke asked, "I wanted to ask him about the details of this process."

"He is. And he's on the Wizengamot, so he should be able to really help you. It is the Wizengamot that you make your appeal to, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Duke replied as they walked downstairs.

"Dad?" Alice asked as she and Duke joined her father in the dining room.

He looked up from The Prophet, "Hello, dear. Good to see you, Duke."

"Hi. Duke wanted to discuss something with you."

"Certainly," Albus said, "Let's go in the sitting room."

The two entered the sitting room.

"Sir," Duke began, "I'm not sure if Alice has told you about my family."

"She has, a bit."

"They treat neither me nor my brother Benny well. I want to take action; I want to do something to help my brother."

Albus nodded.

"I want to try to seek emancipation, for both of us."

"Duke, I'm sure you're aware that legal emancipation of minors is no light matter."

"I know, professor, and I've truly given this a lot of though."

"I'm very confident that you have, Duke. You're a great thinker, and I don't doubt your awareness of the situation that you are in. You want what's best for you and your brother.

"Yes," Duke nodded.

"My understanding of the situation is not as clear as yours; I only have what Alice has told me and what I've seen of your parents. But I will schedule you an appointment with the Wizengamot, Duke, if that is what you want " Albus told him.

"Thank you, sir," Duke said sincerely.

"I wish the best for you and Benny."

Several days later at the Boipelo house, the mail arrived. Vanessa stepped outside to greet the owl. She stepped back inside, looking through the envelopes it had brought. She came to one in particular and frowned.

"Whatever could the Wizengamont want with us?" she wondered aloud, "Ambrose!"

"Yes?"

"The Wizengamont wants to see both of us tomorrow at six in the evening."

Benny was sitting in his room upstairs when he heard his mother's words. Wondering what that meant for Duke and himself, he knocked on his brother's door.

"Did you hear mother just now?" he asked as he stepped inside Duke's room.

"I did," Duke lowered his voice, "It's about the emancipation. They have a preliminary hearing with our parents tomorrow."

"Does that mean we're staying with the Dumbledores?" Albus had explained to Duke, who had in turn told Benny that they would not be under their parents' custody until the entire matter was sorted out.

"Yes, starting tomorrow."

"So what exactly is the Wizengamont?"

"The wizard court," Duke explained, "They'll hear our case."

Benny nodded, "Duke, if this all works out, what will we do?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Ideally, I would hope that they would appoint me as your guardian and we would live on our own somewhere. I'm not sure if that will happen, since I am still underage, though it has happened several times in the past that I've come across in the research that I've done. An alternative would be to send us to live with someone who is of age."

"Like a relative?"

"Or a family friend."

"I don't think any of our relatives would take us in. They'd view what we're doing as disowning our parents, and they wouldn't have that."

"I agree."

"Well," Benny said, "It's awfully uncertain, but it will be better than it is now. Thank you, Duke. I'm sorry I didn't trust you at first."

"I'm just sorry I didn't do this sooner. You're my brother, and I should have been there for you."

"You're here now, and that's what counts."

It was nearly ten o'clock the next evening, and the first Wizengamont hearing was still in session. Katherine and Jacob had gone up to their rooms, but Alice remained downstairs with her mother and the two Biopelo brothers.

"I wish they would hurry up and conclude," Alice said.

"Alice, have some patience," Minerva told her daughter, "They have a lot to discuss."

"What, specifically, are they doing at this first meeting, again?" Benny asked.

"Your parents will be informed of the circumstances and then questioned," Minerva explained.

Just then, the front door opened, and someone stepped inside of the house.

"Albus," Minerva said, "You're home."

"Hello, dear," he replied. He smiled lightly at Duke, Benny, and Alice, "Impatiently waiting to hear what happened, I presume."

"How did it go?" Duke asked nervously.

"Well –" Albus began, but he was interrupted as something else arrived. It was a howler.

"AAMELIUIS MARMADUKE BIOPELO," the letter yelled. It was the voice of Vanessa Biopelo, "How dare you put your father and me through that? After all we've done for you, you try to run our family name through the mud –"

With a flick of his wand, Albus swiftly crumbled the howler up, "You don't need to hear that, Duke. I'm sorry."

"What happened today?" Duke repeated his question. He seemed unaffected by the howler, but Benny was shaking and Alice looked pale.

"We told your parents about your request. We went through a lot of preliminary steps. Tomorrow the trial starts."

"Am I testifying?" Duke asked.

Albus nodded, "Your testimony is scheduled for tomorrow. Depending on how things go, Benny may or may not have to do the same. If you are asked to testify, Benny, it would not be until the day after tomorrow."

"Bed, you three," Minerva said, "It's late, and tomorrow will be a long day."