When Cara excused herself to the gates, Lily asked James to take the children outside, maybe a snowball fight, but just keep them outside for as long as he could. He was curious, naturally, but he didn't ask questions, and Lily exchanged a glance with Sirius.

"Where will she go with him?" Lily asked, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear.

"I've told her to go to the sitting room," Sirius said, glancing toward the foyer. "I wanted the conservatory, but I figured the kids would be outside and I didn't want them overhearing anything."

Lily hummed her approval of this arrangement, and she licked her lips, looking around the room.

"Should we make tea or something?" she asked.

"I've set up firewhiskey in there," he said firmly. "That's all I'm offering him."

She lifted an amused eyebrow.

"But you know he doesn't drink when he's interviewing," she said. She'd offered Barker the same, but he'd taken tea instead.

Sirius said nothing, but the twitch of his lips said it all.

They froze when Cara led Mr. Barker into the house looking slightly anxious, pulling a ribbon between her hands. Sirius tensed at the sight of the ribbon, and Mr. Barker looked in at Lily and Sirius and smiled at them.

"Mr. Black," he said cheerfully. "Madam Potter. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," Lily said politely, but Sirius said nothing.

"Ah, this way, Mr. Barker," Cara said, gracefully leading him through the music room toward the sitting room.

"So, what options can I expect from you?" Lily asked softly, not bothering to look at Sirius. He was wearing his mask, hiding his emotions.

"Either nothing at all," he said softly, "or I'm going to ask you to…hold him here while I get Severus."

Her stomach turned at the thought that they might have to resort to extreme measures, but she understood what they were dealing with. Those two had done worse during the war, certainly.

"I'll get us some tea," she said, and she smiled softly. "We can set up in the music room and listen, maybe check on them after a while if it's taking a long time."

Sirius grinned at her when she looked up at him, a genuine grin, and he said, "Lily, I love you. You're positively brilliant. Times like this, I know exactly why James fell in love with you."

She laughed, knowing that he was being a little too excitable, but they went to the kitchen quickly to make some tea and asked Dobby to bring them more if they hadn't told him otherwise within the hour. Lily led the way to the music room, where she set up their tea tray and began to stir a bit of sugar into Sirius's tea, a bit of milk and sugar into her own.

"I recognize," she could hear Barker saying through the thin wall to the sitting room, "that you have not been interviewed as often on these matters as your husband, Madam Black, but I am very interested, I assure you, in everything you can recall from the night Voldemort was vanquished."

Lily and Sirius exchanged a glance over their tea as they sipped, and she knew Sirius was holding his breath as they waited for Catherine's soft response.

"Well, I don't know that I'll be able to tell you anything new, but I will certainly answer your questions."

"That is all I ask, Madam Black. And who knows? You may remember more than you think."

/-/

Rabastan turned over his notes and the papers he had taken from the Ministry to examine the situation at hand more carefully. They were requisition notices: things a certain historian had requested and obtained regarding the war – namely regarding the end of it. He'd obtained access to all the interviews and papers and inquests about the death of the Dark Lord, but Rabastan could feel his blood going cold as he looked over some of the other records that had been requested.

He wanted public record access to birth and pre-natal information around the time Catherine Black would have been born, all the way back to about a month before the death of the Dark Lord. He wanted access to the official documentation requesting Order of Merlin being bestowed on all those who received them at the end of the war. He wanted access to information on Bellatrix Lestrange's mental state, the mysterious disappearance of Barty Crouch, Jr., and financial information that had to do with the Blacks.

It was like he knew that Cara was the weak point, and that he needed to poke at her.

The most damning bit of paperwork, however, was that he had made a request to access the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. He was already into the third round of paperwork, maybe two weeks from getting approval, Rabastan supposed from some quick calculation. If he could get into that hall, if he could hear the prophecy about the death of the Dark Lord….

He would have everything he needed to rewrite history.

/-/

Sirius couldn't smoke a cigarette while they listened, so he found himself, mysteriously, biting his thumbnail. No matter how many times Lily gave him a disapproving look, he kept having his thumbnail winding up back in his mouth, and he nibbled at it. He would stop to take a bit of tea, and then his thumb would end up back up to his mouth again.

Barker was asking those same sorts of questions he'd been asking when he talked to Severus and Sirius, the dangerous questions that could ruin everything. Cara was answering them correctly, but he could tell by the length of pauses and the tension in her voice that Barker's knowledge and composure was beginning to fluster her. During the war, she was allowed to appear flustered. It was expected of her. Now, though, it could only ruin things. Sirius breathed heavily through his nostrils, and he wondered if he could salvage this without breaking any laws.

/-/

Hannah tried to explain to her mother why Hufflepuff wasn't likely to win the House Cup, yet again, this year, even though they'd managed to beat Gryffindor at Quidditch.

"It was kind of a fluke," she said, shrugging and feeling her cheeks blush. "Potter would definitely have caught the Snitch if it hadn't been for the Bludger."

"But that's still within the rules," her mother said, puzzled. "And he didn't catch it."

Hannah didn't really know how to explain that it was a completely unrepresentative match, so she mostly just gave up, and said that all the top students were in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, and that was that.

/-/

When Cara finally walked out of the sitting room in a daze, Sirius stood abruptly, his eyes blank once more, frowning at Barker, who was going to follow Cara out.

"Lily, take Cara for some tea," Sirius said firmly. "Mr. Barker, I'd like a word with you, if I may."

Barker regarded Sirius with that same pleasant, cheerful indifference, and he returned to the sitting room, letting Sirius follow him in and lock the door. If this gave Barker any nervousness, he said nothing about it.

Sirius took a few breaths as he tried to decide where to start, how to engage in this conversation that would decide for Sirius whether or not he needed to wipe the man's memories and destroy his work.

"Your wife," Barker said calmly, "she's the one who killed him, isn't she?"

The room seemed to go several degrees cooler as Sirius turned to look at Barker, saying nothing. The man seemed to take this as confirmation, however, and ignored the fact that Sirius had not spoken.

"It is the only thing that fills in all the gaps," he said calmly. "Because the elder Mr. Lestrange had gaps in his memory when a colleague of mine examined his account some years ago, and several people who had been present at the party do not recall your wife taking ill at all. They recall Madam Malfoy taking suddenly ill, after the rest of you had more or less disappeared."

Sirius's hands had clenched into fists without his notice, but Barker kept going, not showing any signs that he was afraid or uneasy. He had all the cards, and he seemed to know it.

"The idea of Bellatrix Lestrange murdering Voldemort never really fit, did it?" Barker continued. "Even less when the prophecy was taken into account." Sirius's eyes widened before he could catch himself, and Barker noticed this with a slight increase in his smile. "Oh, I've not heard the official record of it yet, but I have friends who gave me notes on it. Regardless of the finer points that I might learn from hearing it, Madam Lestrange was incapable of having children. Clearly, Madam Black is not."

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself. When he opened them again, he said, "What would it take to convince you to keep this quiet? Money? Threats? Wiping your memory? I'm really not opposed to doing any of it."

"No, I wouldn't think you would be," Barker said, still calm. "Given what you've been willing to do to protect your wife, there's very little I think would bother you by now. I have to ask, before you decide what you're going to do with me, why bother hiding this truth? No one would blame her for killing the evilest wizard of our time, maybe of all time. What are you trying to protect her from?"

Sirius rubbed his forehead. He supposed it was only fair to explain. Maybe explaining would help him sort out what he wanted to do with this man, anyway.

"At the time, they would have," Sirius said softly. "You didn't know Crouch. He was locking away anyone who might be a threat to his order, no matter who they killed and why. If he'd had his way, if Albus Dumbledore hadn't supported us, Severus and I would be in Azkaban now, not holders of the Order of Merlin, teaching students at Hogwarts. At the time, it was necessary. She was pregnant, and her health was critical."

Barker nodded and said, "And now?"

Sirius paced for nearly a full minute before he said, "You've studied us all thoroughly, I imagine?" Barker nodded again. "You know what my wife went through as a child, kept in a cellar because she might be a Squib. Tortured by her biological father whenever he was upset with her." Barker nodded.

Sirius poured himself a firewhiskey, and held up the bottle in offering, but Barker shook his head.

"Her mind was altered to draw me back to our society, and then she was viciously forced to have her memories again, painful as it was to unleash them. And even when we were together, she had to worry about me, had to be party to all kinds of things while acting as a spy. My cousin, Madam Lestrange as you call her, tried to get Barty Crouch, Jr. to seduce Cara, to get her knocked up because she knew the Dark Lord was worried about any of his supporters having children."

He hesitated, glancing at Barker, whose lips had twitched at the mention of Barty Crouch, and the man laughed and said, "Oh, don't worry, Mr. Black. I'm not digging into the Crouch disappearance. Whatever my feelings on the matter, there's not enough evidence for me to write anything useful on the matter."

Sirius's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. He tossed back the firewhiskey and poured another. Again, he offered to Barker, who shook his head.

"Your concern, then," Barker said softly as Sirius drank the second glass of firewhiskey, "is that a change in public perception of your wife would be a great strain on her emotionally."

Sirius thought about Catherine and how she would look at him if she ever saw the mark on his arm, if she ever knew the kinds of things he had done to protect Cara.

"Yes," Sirius said softly. "It would change everything. And really, what's the point in digging up the past, Mr. Barker?"

"You tell me, Mr. Black. You teach History of Magic." Sirius poured another glass of firewhiskey with a snort, but Mr. Barker just stared back at him this time when the bottle was gestured to. He said, "The fact is, Mr. Black, even if I agree not to write this, or you wipe my memory, or you kill me, this story will come out someday. There are too many loose ends that have been left dangling for too long. Someone else will become interested and it will be published, either as reasoned and dispassionate fact, or scandalous gossip and speculation. It's really only a matter of time." He rested his hands calmly in his lap and said, "Would you prefer the former, for your wife and children, or the latter?"

Sirius glanced out the window, seeing Catherine laugh as she put a snowball down Harry's jumper, the boy leaping nearly out of his skin at the sensation. They were so happy, Sirius thought. So innocent. To change everything now….

But Barker wasn't wrong. The simple fact that Bellatrix killing the Dark Lord made little sense was enough to ensure that someone, someday – and likely someday soon – would start digging again, and he couldn't bribe or kill them all. He needed to choose his battles, to do damage control.

And as much as he hated the thought, this Barker seemed reasonable, measured, and trustworthy. He knew what Sirius might do to him, and he didn't seem afraid to die.

And Sirius respected that.

/-/

Ron packed for school eagerly, wanting to go back for the first time. He'd enjoyed his time at home, of course. He always enjoyed time without coursework, and days with his mother's cooking. But he missed seeing his friends every day, missed having interesting things to look at, jokes that the people in his family didn't understand.

Not to mention, he desperately wanted to see and touch and maybe even ride Harry's new Firebolt. The letter was exciting, but it was hardly enough information. He wanted to see or feel it in action. He was enormously jealous that Harry said he'd given Caroline Black a ride on the broom, that she had felt the speed and fury of it before Ron had even seen it, but he supposed it only made sense that she would be interested in it.

Ron wondered if Catherine had ridden on it yet. He liked to think that she liked to ride brooms, and ride fast. Harry said that sometimes they would race, although he always won. But maybe that was because she didn't have as good of a broom.

"Ronald?" his mother said, knocking on the door. "Are you packing?"

"Yeah, Mum," he said, jolting out of his reverie. "Nearly done."

"Really?" she asked, opening the door and looking around the room approvingly. "Well, so you are. Ginny and Luna are coming here tomorrow and they'll spend the night. Xeno can't take them to the train station, and I said we had plenty of room."

Ron winced at the thought of Luna seeing the inside of their house, of really seeing how poor they were, but then he remembered that this was Luna, not Catherine, and she was weird enough that she probably wouldn't even notice there was anything unusual about the Burrow at all.

/-/

Pouring another pint for himself and whatever measurement Hagrid's large glass was, Remus said, "So, you're quite certain you gave the warning about insulting hippogriffs, Hagrid?"

"Oh, yeah," Hagrid said, accepting the drink with thanks. "Ask anyone in the class."

Remus supposed he wouldn't ask just anyone. Pansy Parkinson, for example, was likely to give an inaccurate account of events in an attempt to get Draco to be grateful to her and take her seriously as a marriage prospect. On the other end of the spectrum, Harry was known to be friendly with Hagrid, and close to Remus personally, and perhaps not the most level-headed and responsible of students.

Perhaps he would talk to Hermione. It was hard to find fault with her as a witness.

"I will, just to be on the safe side," Remus said gently. "It never hurts to have more accounts to support your case. Where's Buckbeak now, Hagrid?"

"He's in a separate paddock in th' forest," Hagrid said sadly. "I've put more o' the thestrals together. They don' seem to mind."

Remus wasn't totally sure that was the best of ideas, but at least no students could goad Buckbeak (or thestrals, for that matter) into a further attack if he was in the forest. That is, as long as no one else dared their classmates to go into the forest. He sighed at the memory of having to hunt down Harry and Catherine.

No, definitely couldn't use Harry's testimony to build their case.

"Malfoy wants me sacked, don' he?" Hagrid asked.

Remus thought it was a distinct possibility, but he said nothing.

/-/

Ginny stepped out of the rook-shaped house after Luna on their last morning staying there thinking that while it couldn't possibly compare to Selwyn Manor or Egypt, the Lovegood residence was its own kind of adventure. She smiled fondly at the sign asking guests to keep off the Dirigible Plums. Ginny wasn't actually sure where Dirigible Plums came from, or what made them dirigible. She wasn't even sure they were safe to eat, or remotely related to plums. But they were so…Lovegood.

"Let's walk," Luna said happily to her father, who had already sent their trunks by Floo Network, which Ginny was grateful for. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of walking all that way, but she supposed it would be a way of getting her into better shape for her training sessions with the Gryffindor team, come the start of term.

All in all, though, she decided the holiday hadn't been a half-bad one.

Weird, but not half bad.

A/N: So, that's this week's regularly scheduled chapter. You've been spoiled in the past 24 hours! ;) This is not the last chapter today, as THIS week's bonus starts tonight! Already to 16 reviews for today. Remus is taking the case, Mr. Barker knows too much, and what even ARE dirigible plums?

Review Prompt: Friendly nudge about whether you want a Part 3. Also, if you were Professor McGonagall, would you be pleased you didn't have Catherine Black in your House, or annoyed that you have to deal with Harry's chaos? Probably both, but if you HAD to pick one thing…

Q&A:

Q: Can we get some sort of family tree diagram? (EmilyRae92)

A: *laughs nervously* Okay, so, I read this question and I was like, "Yeah, I could totally do that." So I start drawing out a family tree in my notebook, across two pages, and I barely do the Blacks and Lestranges before I realize there is NOT going to be enough room. So I write out EVERY character for all three (just in case) parts and I'm like, "I'll just put these on some stickies and put those on some paper until I get the best arrangement." So I start doing that, and it starts expanding as I fit in more and more people, and all of a sudden, it's taken over half our living room floor.

So… not going to be able to take a picture. But what I will do is make it a priority after I've posted the next bonus chapter to put a section on my profile which will keep track of all OCs in Unknowns who are offsprings or SOs of offsprings, to grow as needed. And if I'm not keeping it up-to-date, please harass me.

Cheers!

C