Here it is y'all. Enjoy.

Disclaimer in Chapter 1. I don't own The Princess Bride either.


Harriet sat at the desk she had brought into the training room; the surface of the desk and the air around her was littered with open (and sometimes levitating) books, scrolls, loose papers, and a few tablets where Jarvis was communicating with her in real time. Harri was currently trying to make this new 'division' of hers into reality, the only thing she had really done before presenting it to Tonks had been forming the idea with Loki's help and making up the contract with Griphook. Other than that things were in the wind and Harriet couldn't be more relieved to have the help that she did, even if she still had a ton of stuff to work out herself.

Harriet had asked Strange to put down his research into his own situation for a bit to help her with things. She had gotten Griphook to create a list of prewarded properties for sale that were big and out of the way enough to use as a base for the division for when it expanded as she hoped. Giving that list to Strange, Harriet had sent him to scout the locations and the properties themselves to find the best place for this new divisions HQ. Once Harri and Strange decided on a property, Harriet hoped that she could convince him to set up the property as well, though she was sure she would need something to bribe him with for the task.

Phil had also given her a great deal of help. Harriet swore that the man was going to climb through the phone when Harriet asked if he could create forms to keep track of the divisions missions and personal. Apparently the man really did have a thing for paperwork, Harriet had honestly thought Clint was joking when he had told her the last time. Harri had already gotten the first draft of the mission forms and was happy to note that they were much more streamlined than the previous forms.

Harri had asked Clint and Natasha to help as well, cherry picking a few potential agents for the new division that they could tag to observe while they got the division on its feet. Natasha seemed to enjoy scaring potential recruits by making her stalking known while Clint tried (and many times failed) to be mysterious with the potential recruits who most often thought he was playing a joke on them. Harriet had also had Natasha go over and add to her own list of weaponry; the list had come back to Harri twice as long as when she had sent it.

With all the help, Harriet could focus on other things about putting this division together, like detecting potential cases, procedure, and the worst, budgets.

All in all, Harriet was happy with how things were progressing, considering that the idea had only been formed a week ago, with their first recruit signing on not three days ago.

"I can't believe your making me do this."

'Speak of the badger.' Harriet grumbled to herself mentally as she rolled her eyes. Harri looked up to see Tonks doing sit ups with Luna sitting on her feet, "I told you there would be a lot of training. We haven't even got to the real hard stuff yet."

"I was already an auror you know." She huffed, pulling herself up again.

"Aurors are more magically centered, you have to be fit but nowhere near Shield standards." Harriet said nonchalantly as she transferred a few notes from a book to one of her many parchments.

"You could have at least lifted that tacky curtain you put up yesterday." Tonks whined, glaring at the curtain that was keeping both the view and sound of the other half of the room a secret.

Luna smirked as Harri muffled a snort, "You spent more time ogling Steve than training yesterday. I doubt that would change today."

"Especially considering he just took his shirt off." Luna hummed deviously.

Tonks sat up quickly, her face coming in close to Luna's, "Aw, what? I'm missing it?!"

Luna giggled, "Bucky got him in him the ribs, he decided to take off his shirt for better movement."

Tonks looked over to Harriet, "Harri." She whined, "I'm missing out on valuable observations."

Harri looked up from her papers and smirked at Tonks, "You mean you're missing out on valuable leering time."

"Same difference!"

"Fifty more sit ups Nym." Harriet sang with a smile, going back to her work.

"Slave driver." Tonks mumbled, going back down, Harriet ignored her.

Frank and Alice walked into the training area a few moments later, Frank eyeing the gaudy curtain that split the room with amusement.

Harriet looked up at the Longbottom's as they came to stand in front of her desk and smiled at them, "Hey guys. How are you today?"

"Good, thank you Harriet." Frank said with a smile.

Alice nodded, "Yep, we just got back from seeing Neville in his greenhouses. He's rearranging today and Jerry has already latched on. The silly thing escaped his pot not five minutes after Neville put him in there." Harriet laughed.

Frank chuckled, "I don't know why Neville tries, really. Jerry prefers to be on Neville." He and Alice fell into a parade rest and Harriet saw the switch to auror quite clearly. "So…you wanted to talk to us?"

Harri smiled and set down her quill, "Yes, I- Tonks back away from that curtain!" both Longbottoms looked over in time to see Tonks pull away from the bottom of the curtain like she'd been stung, her hair flaring pink, "Go to the bars. It's time for your pull ups!"

"Steve just…" Tonks started.

"I don't care if he stripped down naked!" Harriet said, rolling her eyes, "You can see each other after training." Tonks slumped and made her way over to the uneven bars for her pull ups.

Alice turned back to Harriet with a raised eyebrow, "Are they soulmates too?"

Harri frowned, "I don't believe so. We'd have to do the ritual to be sure but I'm pretty certain that if they were the bond would have overridden Steve's shyness, or at least tempered it so he wouldn't try to retreat from her, even with her over the top flirting." She sat back in her seat, "Now, you agreed to help but did you have plans to try to get back into the DMLE?"

Frank winced while Alice scowled, "We'd like to go back but Madame Bones said we'd have to go through the full training again since we spent so much times as vegetables, even then it wouldn't be a guarantee that we'd be allowed back. We…" Alice broke off.

"We also really don't want to leave Neville." Frank said, "Being Aurors would make it harder to get to him and you if you ever needed us."

Harri nodded, "I see." She shuffled her papers around and pulled out two thick stacks that she had gotten Griphook to draw up, "I would like to propose something." She handed each of the Longbottoms a packet, "I have to go back to school here in a couple weeks and I won't have nearly enough time to continue putting this new division in order. I would like to bring you two in as the heads of the division, even if it is temporary." Frank and Alice exchanged a bewildered look, Harri just folded her hands in front of her, "You two were the best aurors the DMLE had in your time there. I understand if you want to go back to the DMLE at some point but I could really use your help here. You have experience and could lead training even as you set up the division." Harri smiled a little and tiled her head, "I would still help of course. If you'd prefer you could be the joint seconds in command within the division."

"Um…" Frank started, his eyes dropping to the packets Harri had given them.

"We'd have to talk about it Harriet." Alice said honestly, her own gaze falling to her packet curiously.

Harri nodded, "It's alright. I didn't expect an answer immediately. That would be unfair. Just let me know, preferably before school starts."

Frank swallowed hard and glanced at Alice before looking back to Harriet, "We will." With that the two Longbottoms retreated from the training room so they could discuss and go over things in private.

"Can I stop now Harriet?" Tonks called, dangling from the lower bar with her chin just barely rising above it.

"Twenty more Nym!"


Three hours later, Harriet had finally pulled back the curtain in the middle of the training room and was currently sparing with Steve, much to Tonks' delight. The Marauders, Bucky, Luna, and Tonks were all sitting outside the ring and watching as Harriet methodically beat Steve into the ground, Tonks not helping matters any by calling out innuendos disguised as tips that made Steve falter in his movements. Bucky was having a good laugh at Steve's expense, following each of Tonks comments with one of his own.

Using his weight against him, Harriet finished the spar with one of Natasha's moves, knocking Steve's breath out of him as he landed on his back hard, Harriet's full weight landing on his chest a second later. Harri laughed lightly and looked down at her brother from her spot kneeling on his chest, "You alright there Steve?"

Steve's near constant blush darkened even as he laughed, "Yeah." He mock glared at her, "Please get off before any more of my pride is wounded." Bucky laughed as Harriet got off Steve.

Harri held her hand out to Steve and pulled him to his feet, "You shouldn't worry. I've been fighting with you for seven years. I'm bound to know your weak spots."

Steve chuckled, "Yes, well, it doesn't change the fact that I was just pinned by a thirteen-year-old does it?"

"Would you feel better if you were pinned by a twenty-one-year-old?" Tonks hummed, wiggling her eyebrows, Sirius snickered as Steve's blush came back.

"I think it's the twenty-one-year-old that wants to be pinned." Bucky threw in, grinning as Steve turned tomato red at Tonks' hummed, "I wouldn't be opposed to that."

Harri giggled, "Tonks, don't break my brother please."

"Oh I won't." Tonks said, letting her gaze skim over Steve's form again, "Too much."

"M-miss. Tonks, I d-don't thi-nk…" Steve stuttered under Tonks leering.

Tonks grinned and winked at Steve, "Don't worry love, I can think for the both of us."

Harri patted Steve on the back, "I'll protect you from the big bad female, big brother." Steve sank onto the mat next to Bucky as everyone chuckled, his eyes on the ground and his face still red with embarrassment, Bucky rubbed Steve's back reassuringly. Harriet clapped, "Alright, whose next? Tonks? You wanna try now?"

Tonks immediately stopped laughing and blanched in her spot on the mat, "No thanks. I don't need you to beat my ass to know for sure that you can."

Harriet smirked, "Too bad. It's part of training." She started toward Tonks and the metamorphmagus climbed to her feet, taking off running for the training room door. Harriet snorted and gave chase, "Come back Tonks! You can't run from the criminals!" Remus and James started laughing.

"You haven't taught me anything like this yet!" Tonks squeaked, swerving, "Shouldn't we do drills or something first?" Bucky and Steve joined in the laughter.

"Getting the snot kicked out of you is the best training!" Harri called, gaining on Tonks and making the older woman yelp, "It's how I learned."

"No!" Tonks shouted. Harriet laughed, a grin spreading across her face.

Tonks swerved again, dashing toward the door, but Harriet launched herself forward and tackled the other woman. They rolled, Tonks struggling to get free while Harriet gave instructions through her laughter, until they rolled into a strong set of legs that held firm against the onslaught. Harriet and Tonks looked up to see Loki looking down at them with an amused smile. Tonks used the opportunity to scramble free while Harri just grinned up at Loki, "What's up Lokes?"

"Well, if I'm not interrupting, your mates have requested everyone's presence outside for Sirius' punishment." Loki said dryly.

"My what now?" Sirius asked in alarm.

Harriet popped to her feet quickly, "It's ready? Wicked!" she cast a quick refreshing charm and changed her clothes with the pile that had been put on her desk chair by Dobby, "They wouldn't give me specifics."

"Then shall we my lady?" Loki chuckled, offering her his arm.

Harri beamed at Loki, "Why thank you good sir." Loki started Harriet out the door, just before she crossed the threshold she looked back, "Bucky can you grab Sirius before he escapes please?" Harri faced front again and laughed softly when she heard Sirius' cursing.

They all trooped from the Castle, picking up a curious Neville and Jerry on the way, and ended up on the front lawn in front of a large white screen that was being held in place by Sleipnir and Jor. Hearing the noise, Fred and George came from behind the screen and pulled Harriet from Loki, kissing her in greeting.

Harriet pulled back with a smile on her face, "Missed you guys this morning."

"It's worth it. We promise." George hummed lightly as Fred slid an arm around her waist and squeezed gently.

"I have no doubt." Harri laughed.

Fred and George let Harriet go when Bucky walked to the front of the small crowd with Sirius slung over his shoulder. Seeing the twins, Bucky walked over to them and dropped Sirius at their feet, Fred and George drew themselves up as tall as could go as Bucky took a couple steps back. "Sirius Black." They began sternly, everyone watched with amusement and anticipation. Sirius' head whipped up and he eyed the twins warily. "You have caused our mate great stress with your actions."

Tonks looked past the twins and wiggled her eyebrows at Harriet, who just smirked and mouthed, "Jealous?"

"I said I was sorry!" Sirius protested, not noticing any of the interaction.

"A single apology for the destruction of months of our magnificent Queen's planning is not an even trade!" Fred declared dramatically.

"Therefore we have come up something that is a punishment for you but a new asset for our beautiful mate!" George added; Harriet smiled at her mates, pointedly ignoring Tonks making kissy faces at her from beyond the action.

Sirius was shooting the screen an apprehensive look and Fred and George chuckled darkly, "Your punishment…" Fred started, dragging it out.

Sleipnir and Jor dropped the screen at the wave of a hand and George announced, "Is training and caring for her majesties newest pets!"

"What?" Tonks and Neville exclaimed in confusion.

It was all too clear to those more inclined to mischief in the crowd. James and Remus were rolling on the floor and Harriet was stifling her giggles behind her hand. Sirius just stared in horror.

Behind the screen, there were five stakes in the ground, holding five separate leads that held five dogs.

Eerily familiar dogs.

Black dogs.

"No." Sirius breathed before trying to escape again, Bucky grabbed him and drug him closer with a grin on his face.

"I don't get it." Neville said with a frown, petting Jerry to settle him.

Fred smiled, "It's quite simple Neville."

"Sirius called attention to himself from Dumbledore." George started.

"Dumbledore will be looking for Sirius."

"A black wolfhound in particular."

"So now…we have six black wolfhounds." Fred said with a grin, "That will certainly throw Dumbledore off when he is searching for Sirius."

"Because one of the first things he will try to do is cast the animagus reversal when he finds a black dog."

"It will drive him insane!" Fred laughed.

"I won't take care of five!" Sirius called, struggling against Bucky.

"You will." Fred said.

"Because they are you." George finished.

"Oh Merlin!" Remus gasped, "It's perfect!"

"It gets better." Loki said, nodding to the twins who walked over to the dogs, who were currently preoccupied with eating the food they'd been given.

Fred walked to the first dog, "This one is Sir Snuffles." Fred said with a straight face.

"Not that name." Sirius groaned.

George didn't respond, just walked over to the second one, "This is Captain Snuffles." Steve smiled even as Tonks snickered.

Fred moved to the third, "This one is…"

"They can't all be Snuffles!" Sirius whined.

"King Snuffles." Sirius slumped.

George moved to the fourth, "This one is Prince Snuffles." Luna giggled.

Fred moved to the fifth and final dog, "And finally, this is Dread Pirate Snuffles." Harriet laughed happily even as Sirius moaned dramatically in Bucky's hold.

"It's too much!" James laughed, wheezing in his spot on the ground.

"I love it!" Harriet exclaimed, practically skipping over to her mates and pulling each into a searing kiss, leaving them a bit dazed afterward, giving Harriet the opportunity to pet the dogs. Dread Pirate Snuffles nosed at her happily as she scratched his ears, "Aren't you just adorable." She cooed.

"I get what you're going for." Steve said hesitantly, bringing all eyes toward him and effectively snapping the twins from their trances, "But they don't all look the same. Prince Snuffles," that set Remus off laughing again, "is smaller than the rest. Sir Snuffles only has three legs. And Dread Pirate Snuffles is missing an eye and half of his tail."

The twins smiled, "That's the second part of the punishment." George said happily as Fred pulled a shrunken box free from his pocket.

"There's more?" Sirius whined, looking at his mangy look alikes.

"There's more." George grinned.

Fred opened the box, and Sirius moaned as he saw six pink collars with 'Snuffles' across each in big shimmering letters. "These collars are enchanted to cast a strong illusion over the wearer to match them up to the one with the control collar when it is active, which the original Snuffles will wear at all times to keep the Snuffles Brigade in uniform." He grinned at Sirius, "It can turn into a bracelet when you're not in your dog form."

Harri laughed at the horrified expression on Sirius' face as she scratched Dread Pirate Snuffles under his chin, "Looks like you have your work cut out for your Siri."

Bucky dropped Sirius as he started to moan incoherently and made his way over to Sir Snuffles, petting the three legged dog with a small smile, "Where did you even get these guys?"

"From rescue shelters." George said with a smile, "Sir Snuffles was hit by a car and had to have his front left leg amputated, his owners abandoned him because they couldn't pay for the surgery."

"Captain Snuffles was found in a trash bag, his owner had apparently tried to drown him." Fred continued. "King and Prince Snuffles are father and son who came from a house where they were abused."

"And Dread Pirate Snuffles was actually rescued from a dog fighting ring." George said, "Figured the poor things could use another chance."

"Loki helped us find them all over the world. Allspeak really comes in handy." Fred said, handing Harriet Dread Pirate Snuffles' collar so she could put it on him.

"Aw," Tonks cooed, coming over to pat King Snuffles, "Look at the soppy smile on your girlfriends face. You two just earned major points with this."

Fred and George looked over to Harriet and did, in fact, see the soppy smile on her face. She didn't hide it from them, just slid Dread Pirate Snuffles' collar on him and beamed up at them as the dog licked her cheek. They swelled with pride, happy that they had made their mate so happy.


It was a week after the Snuffles Brigade had arrived at the castle and, despite his whining and embarrassment, Sirius was making quick progress with the team. Having the ability to communicate more directly with them in his own dog form really came in handy. He had managed to drag James and Remus into the training once he had started to like the idea and his Marauder grandeur kicked in, putting him in planning mode.

Harriet watched it all with a smile, her mates only pouted a little at Sirius' growing enjoyment of what was supposed to be a punishment.

There was only eight more days until most of the castle's occupants would be going back to Hogwarts and everyone was pretty busy. Fred and George wanted to start of selling their products this year, so they were stocking up to prevent having to do that at school. Sleipnir was doing that homework he had put off and Neville was scrambling to get his new greenhouses in order so that they wouldn't suffer in his absence. Harriet and Loki were the ones who were pretty much prepared to go back. They did have last minute packing to do but that was mostly small things like Loki's most recent reading material and Harriet's Firebolt and the new things for the Slytherin Advanced Muggle Studies classes. What they were really busy with was getting as much of the new division up as they could.

Luckily, Frank and Alice had agreed to take up the leadership positions in the group, with only Harriet being above them in the developing hierarchy. Harriet had also managed to bribe Strange into preparing the newly picked out HQ for operations, it had taken her a crate of magically aged wine and three future favors for him to accept the task but in the end Harriet had gotten him agree to see it through to the end. Harriet was focused on the weapons acquisition and detection while Loki focused on the budgets and the more administrative stuff.

Currently, Harriet, Loki, and Strange were all gathered in the Library, sharing a pot of tea and a tray of treats as they worked. Dread Pirate Snuffles, who had taken a special interest in Harriet, was lying at her feet, gnawing on a rawhide bone that the elves had brought him that morning. Harriet was only listening with half an ear to Loki arguing with Strange over the budgeted amount for the building renovation, when she felt the wards alert her to someone coming back into the Castle. Harri's quill stilled and she tilted her head slightly as she felt for the disturbance.

Pinpointing the speedy signature, Harriet only had a second to look up when the doors to the library blew open and a sliver streak zoomed over to their table, solidifying into an awkward looking Pietro as Loki and Strange startled at the sudden appearance, Dread Pirate Snuffles looked up too but settled when Harriet rubbed her bare foot against his back. Harri simply smiled, "Hello Pietro, how are you today?"

Pietro gave her an uncertain smile, "Fine, thank you." He said, rubbing at his arm.

"So this is the speedster then." Strange said, looking over Pietro, "Got a thing for silver huh?"

Pietro looked down at his silver jacket and blushed a bit, "Yeah, codename's Quicksilver."

"Interesting." Loki hummed, tilting his head, "How fast can you run?"

Pietro frowned, "I haven't hit my fastest yet."

Loki quirked a brow, "I see."

Harriet tilted her head, "Did something happen Pietro? Do you need something? Have you and Wanda decided to come back to the castle"

Pietro rubbed at the back of his neck, "No, we…we're still looking into what you told us about Stark. Wanda doesn't want to make a decision until we have all the facts this time." Harriet nodded and Pietro went on, "Actually. I was sent by the Professor."

Harri frowned, "Xavier? What does he want?" Loki quietly noted the very slight wariness under Harriet's curious tone and looked to Strange who gave a barely noticeable shrug.

"He said he'd like to speak with you about how you found us." Pietro said nervously, "I said I could ask, but I didn't promise anything." He looked at Harriet intently, "I can tell him no."

Harriet sighed and put down her quill, "No, better get this done." She stood, Dread Pirate Snuffles standing with her, attaching to her side eagerly.

"We'll join you." Loki said as he and Strange both stood, their faces daring Harriet to tell them otherwise. Pietro eyed the two other men and subtly edged closer to Harriet for safety, Glacia cooed within Harriet.

Harriet nodded shortly, reaching for her phone, "I'm going to text Fred and George where I'm going and then we can head out."

"Are you going to put on shoes?" Strange snorted.

"Nope." Harriet said, popping her 'p' as she texted a mile a minute, "Don't plan to be there long. Baldy has a problem with keeping his mind to himself, good intentions or not. Patience while someone tries to force their way in my head is not something that I can do."

Loki frowned as he pulled up his own shields, "He would do that?"

Harriet slid her phone back in her pocket, "Charles is very protective of his students and does so to make sure that those who are in the school don't mean any harm to the students. I understand that but the only two people who should be in my head is Fred and George, I've had enough of others being in my mind when I was still connected to Voldemort." Harriet huffed.

"Voldemort had an open connection to your mind?" Strange asked, horrified.

"He did." Harriet said shortly, her hand going down and curling around Dread Pirate Snuffles collar, "Gone now, thank Merlin." She smiled at the three men, "Ready to go?" they all nodded and placed hands on her shoulders. Harriet flamed them to the front step of the Mansion.

Pietro bit his lip, "I'll…just go tell the Professor you're here."

"He already…" Pietro zoomed off before Harriet could finish, "Knows." Harri huffed, she opened the door and led Loki and Strange into the mutant school, the two behind her on their guard, Dread Pirate Snuffles was sniffing the air curiously. Harri felt the first brush of Charles against her mind and sent him a silent, gentle warning even as she heard Strange curse softly and saw Loki tense out of the corner of her eye. "Come on. We'll meet him half way."

"Let's get this over with." Strange muttered, his shields were nowhere near as strong as Harriet's and Loki's and wasn't certain he could keep out a stronger attempt.

Harriet led them through the halls, smiling when she heard some of the younger kids pointing out Snuffles excitedly. Charles did end up meeting them halfway, the wheelchair bound professor easily steering them toward an empty classroom, Harriet walking at his side confidently but with Dread Pirate Snuffles putting himself between his Mistress and the strange wheel man for protection. Strange closed the door after them, Pietro just making it in before the door shut. Harriet leaned against a table across from the Professor, Loki and Strange taking up positions behind her, Pietro off to the side, eyeing the two warily.

The two leaders were silent, sizing each other up, for several long minutes. Each was powerful in their own right; each had people to protect, causes to fight for. Charles had on his usual benevolent smile, his hands resting in his lap easily as he took in the three unknowns in the room. Harriet had her face pulled into a blank mask, only a hint of a smile playing at the edge of her lips as she looked over the Professor, they had met in the previous timeline and Harriet was well aware of his capabilities.

"Attempting to break into someone's mind after such a polite warning is very rude Charles." Harriet said flatly, rebuffing his newest attempt with ease but with less care than before.

"Closing off one's mind makes one wonder if you have something to hide Harriet." Charles answered back easily, his face not showing emotion one way or another.

"There are only two people on this earth who have the right to be in my mind and you are neither." Harriet returned, "If one had something to hide and they did so within their own mind its certainly no concern of yours. Your power doesn't make knowing everyone's secrets a right that you have."

"True but it is not only my right but my duty to keep my students safe. That, at times, disallows courtesies such as allowing others the privacy of their minds." Charles said.

Harriet rebuffed the next attempt with her eyes narrowing slightly, "Try all you want but you are not getting past my shields. I've fought off much worse than you." Harri saw Loki wince out of the corner of her eyes. "If we had wanted to hurt your students we would have done so on the way to meet you. Hell, I sent you a couple new students recently, wouldn't that have been an easier infiltration to get in and hurt somebody?"

"Yes…what were your intentions with that?" Charles asked curiously, Pietro looked over at Harriet curiously.

"Hydra had not sunken their claws into the Maximoffs fully quite yet. I hoped that here they would be able to get their heads on straight and get some training." Harri said, "Nothing more, nothing less. I knew that they would be safe here."

"How is it that you knew that?" the Professor asked.

Harriet began to answer when Loki let out a hiss, "You should not try it with me either mortal. My mind is my own."

Harriet crossed her arms over her chest and Bread Pirate Snuggles pressed to her leg, "Professor. Get to what you wish to ask. Your attempts to get into our minds won't end well. Either we will get angry at the failed attempts or you will miraculously succeed which will quickly be followed by our magic reacting violently to the intrusion. That will put your students in danger so I suggest you stop."

Professor X's eyes roved over the trio again and his smile fell into a little frown, "What are your goals and will they harm my students."

"I have many goals." Harriet said truthfully, "Protecting the world, which is only second to protecting my family are the two biggest. Unless one of your students or your team of X-men show up during an incident to lend a hand then I don't see a reason why your students would be harmed. None of mine have prejudices against mutants of any kind and would sooner save an innocent than leave them there just because of a few DNA abnormalities."

Charles studied Harriet closely, the scrutiny making Pietro squirm, but Harriet held firm.

Before Charles could react, the door burst open and Logan stormed in, dragging a familiar red and black lump behind him. "I knew I smelled you!" Logan growled.

Harri smiled, relaxing slightly, "Hello Wolverine. How are you?"

"I'd be doing a lot better if I didn't have to deal with this mess!" Logan growled, hooking a thumb at his cargo. "I don't know what you're doing here and I don't care. Just get your Deadpool and get out!" he threw the red and black figure at Harriet's feet and stalked out, barely acknowledging Charles.

Harriet rolled her eyes as she watched Snuffles sniff at Deadpool, jumping back when the man in question shot into a sitting positon, "You got a dog?! I'm supposed to be the sidekick! You can't have rover take my place!"

"Dread Pirate Snuffles hasn't taken your place Wade." Harriet said with another roll of her eyes.

"Dread Pirate Snuffles?" Wade snorted, jumping to his feet. He clasped his hands together and popped his foot in the air, "Oh my darling Westley!" he leaned over and gave Snuffles a big kiss through his mask.

Harriet snickered as the dog licked Wade right back, "You're ridiculous."

"Only because the author is writing this at four in the morning!" Wade sang.

Harriet rolled her eyes and looked past Wade to Charles, "Anything else Professor? I was in the middle of something when I was summoned here like a bad kid to the headmaster's office."

Charles had relaxed somewhat, seeing the interaction between Harriet, Logan, and Wade. "No, you can go. I do hope that we can meet again though, over tea maybe?"

Harriet smiled, "During Christmas break, I do have school of my own to attend." She grabbed Wade's wrist and Snuffles' collar as Loki and Strange put their hands on either shoulder. Harri smiled over to Pietro, "The offer still stands."

"Wisk me away Princess Buttercup!" Wade cried as blue flames welled up around the group and they flamed back to LeFay Castle.


The last days before school passed rather quickly and soon they were all standing in the foyer, waiting for Platform 9 ¾ to officially open so they could all go and board the train to school.

James and Remus were doing some stretching before they had to be snakes again, Sirius had already gone ahead to school to sneak in the Snuffles Brigade and get them settled in, in the Chamber of Secrets. Neville was trying to get Jerry to stay in his pot, at least for the train ride but the little venomous tentacula was having none of that. Loki had already reassumed his Ligia form and was fussing with Sage's cloak, trying to get it to lay straight after a botched potion yesterday had made it stiff as a board. Luna was sitting next to Harriet, taking in the different conversations, and waiting for Bucky.

Bucky arrived not five minutes later, Steve following close behind, "What do you mean you're leaving with them!" Steve was asking as they came into the hall, not noticing that everyone's attention turned to them.

"I mean I'm leaving this castle to go to the other one punk. It's not that hard." Bucky gruffed, walking toward Luna with long strides.

"But why?" Steve asked, staring at his friend helplessly.

Harri smiled at Steve, "He's Luna's soulmate. They can't be separated for long periods of time or they will be…affected." She stood and patted Steve on the back, "Don't worry. We'll come back to visit when we can manage getting out of the castle."

Steve frowned at that, "But how is he even going to be able to stay with her? He's not magical and he's definitely not inconspicuous." Luna giggled as Harriet waved her wand at Bucky. Seconds later Bash stared up at Steve with big eyes, "Bucky…what…"

Luna picked him up gently and let him curl over her shoulders, "Bucky poses as my familiar, Bash, when we're at school." She stroked Bash's tail, "He keeps away wrackspurts and blibbering humdingers."

Steve's mouth opened and closed for several seconds, not sure what to say, before he slumped in place and looked at Bash dead in the eye, "You're set on this?" Bash curled closer to Luna and Steve sighed before a small smile made its way on his face, "You would be a cat." Bash hissed at him playfully.


The train ride was surprisingly uneventful. Harriet spent most of that time snuggled between her mates, dozing with their scents filling her nose. With all the work she had been putting in adding to her contingency plans and making up the new division, she could really go with a lazy day. Unfortunately, that wasn't likely to happen, so the time she got cuddling with Fred and George, wherever it might be, was precious to her; especially since she wouldn't be able to sleep with them nightly while they were at school.

As they got closer and closer to school, Harriet got tenser. She knew that Dumbledore had to suspect something with what had come to light this summer, what she needed to know was how much he suspected and what he was planning on doing about it. Harriet really needed to talk to her mum, see what intel she had been able to gather.

Feeling her worry, Fred and George stuck close to her as they entered the Great Hall for the Welcome Feast. They were all welcomed to the table like usual, the Quidditch team closing ranks and catching up on the gossip of the summer. Lee was particularly excited to see them, having been away from them more than usual that summer.

It was as the hall was almost filled up but before the firsties were brought in that it happened.

The conversation turned to the other traditional first day topic. The newest DADA teacher. Lee, Angela, and Oliver were all arguing over the different rumors that they had heard when Katie slapped at the table between them all and hissed, "There she is!"

Fred and George looked up immediately to the teacher entrance and froze at the sight of the woman coming through the doors gracefully, "Um, Harriet?" George muttered.

"Is that who we think it is?" Fred asked.

Harriet turned to looked where the others were and went rigid at the person now seated next to Severus. The woman looked over toward the Gryffindor table and locked eyes with Harriet. A small smile made its way onto the woman's face and she dipped her head to Harriet respectfully. "Queen Frigga." Harriet hissed softly in surprise.


Eventually we'll get down to calling the Snuffles Brigade by their 'first' names.

How many saw Queen Frigga coming?

Next time: Queen Frigga, Slytherins, Black Breakout, and Dementors.