An: I don't know what is going on with the website right now but i cannot see my stats page i should be able to still respond if you review sorry updates are slow progress has been affected by IRL problems but here is the next chapter.
As they arrived on the door steps they heard a crack and a small elf was at their feet. The potters had a niggling feeling they knew the elf but that wasn't possible.
"Mr and Miss Potter have returned to one of their homes. I expected you to go to Potter Manor first so i have been keeping it clean for the young Master and Miss"
"You have been keeping Potter Manor clean for us? Why?" Heather asked looking confused at the elf.
"Why? I'm Tilly miss i have always served house Potter we's has always know you would return home Miss. the last time we saw you was so long ago and you were just a baby Miss" The elf wiped a tear from her eyes.
The elf was just taller than their elf Rosie at McGonagall Castle, this elf however was wearing a blouse and skirt both had the Potter house logo on them and were spotless, it was clear she took pride in her uniform, the contrast between Dobby's rags and this elf was shocking.
The elf seemed to notice them looking and smiled.
"Mistress Lily is letting Tilly pick the colour of her clothes when I first came into service"
Harry and Heather took hand and to change the subject tried the door. They felt a tingle of magic and the door opened.
"Let's get inside and see what were working with"
The manor was a three story building and also had a basement. The basement was fitted to be a potion room and had storage rooms attached. On the first floor there was a sitting room, a nice looking kitchen, a dining room that looked like it would seat 8 people, a small office and a large duelling room that had wards in place to prevent damage to the structure from stray spells.
The second floor had six bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms. The twins quickly found the best looking room and claimed it as their own. The third floor was about half the size of the lower floors and Had a library take up most of the room. Opposite the Library was a small Owelry that looked like it was made to house around six owls comfortably.
When the twins arrived downstairs they were surprised to see a second elf this elf was male and bowed low to them when they entered, this elf had a green top on and slacks both bearing the Potter crest.
"Tilly has informed me of Master and Mistress' wish to stay here so i be coming here to help take care of their needs as well i is being Timble"
The twins looked at each other quite startled by the fact that they had not one but two elves.
"Please call me Harry if your our elf then we are going to be family"
"On that note im Heather no Miss or Mistress" The house elf nodded and bowed at that moment Tilly came in.
"Harry and Heather don't have much stuff where be your things?"
"Oh right we left them at the Bones residence we kind of ran away" Heather said to Tilly, this caused Tilly to disappear with a crack.
"She hasn't gone to get our things has she?" Harry asked Timble stunned.
"But of course Mas.. Harry yous' be needing your things if you be staying here. I'm going to get the kitchen in order so we bes' having dinner soon"
The twins not wanting to remain idle started cleaning the Dining room using a cleaning charm Heather had found in her school book. It didn't take Tilly long to return and when she did she insisted on cleaning their bedroom first.
At dinner time the twins insisted that the house elves eat with them, this made the poor elves very uncomfortable at first but as they ate they got used to it and started telling Harry and Heather about their parents.
It was nice to hear stories but by the end of the night both Harry and Heather felt great sadness and went to bed. The house elves promised to get some more cleaning before they slept and when Heather had tried to protest they were pushed from the room and told to sleep well.
To say Dumbledore was surprised by the Potters behaviour would be an understatement, after they got eyewitness accounts stating that Harry and Heather used the Floo Auror's were sent to McGonagall castle and Diagon alley, Dumbledore had gone to the Burrow.
When it came back they were in none of these places Dumbledore went back to the ministry and all but ordered them to trace the twins magical signature. After ten minutes trying to find them the Ministry employee informed Dumbledore that they were nowhere to be found, once Dumbledore had confirmed this with a higher up he left.
He was now getting very worried hiding from the trace was very hard and meant that they were behind some serious wards. He first went to the Potter Manor where he found the place looked well kept but there was no sign of life here at the moment.
He then went back to the castle and contemplated just where could they have gone he did not know how many properties the Potters owned and was sure the Goblins would not share that information.
He looked at his Phoenix and resigned himself into believing this was the only way to find them now. When he told his bird to find them however it let out a sad trill and stayed put. Dumbledore tried again but still Fawkes would not leave. Dumbledore got the distinct impression Fawkes did not agree with his course of action and was therefore refusing to aid him in it. He gave the bird a sad look.
"We must find them to protect them you know only I can do that" Fawkes looked very angry at Dumbledore and turned away a sad trill rang through the room. Dumbledore knew the sign he was losing his companions trust and sat down at his desk saddened. He thought about what he was doing, How he had hurt Minerva by removing the children from her care and how Harry and Heather had gotten hurt in the Dursleys care. But Dumbledore was a stubborn man.
I am right in this i must be the one to lead them to victory. As he said this to himself he felt slightly renewed and started planning how to find the two Potter's
Minerva had also spent the day looking for the Potters and as she returned to McGonagall Castle that night she realised just how empty it felt now. She sat in her office and poured a fine Scottish whiskey. The next second though the whiskey had been spilt as a crack rang through the room and a house elf she did not recognize stood before her.
"Professor McGonagall i is being Tilly, i is being Harry and Heather's house elf. They are wanting you to know that they are safe and they are hidden. Where they are you cannot come for Fleamont did not allow guest's each guest has to be added to an access list and only a potter can add people but the young Master and Miss is not knowing how"
McGonagall looked at the elf in disbelief if it had not been for the fact this elf was far better dressed than any she had ever seen before and had the Potter crest she would have never believed it.
"Please come with me" McGonagall said as she led the way to the Library. Minerva spent quite some time finding the right books but when she was done she handed Tilly four books on powerful wards.
"Please give Harry and Heather these and tell them that I love them. In those books they should find the ability to add people to their ward list" The small house elf nodded and smiled.
"I is being very sure the young Master and Mistress feel the same way. Please do not be worrying about the young Master and Mistress they be very safe and we will be looking after them"
After saying this the small elf curtsied holding the hem of her skirt as she did, Something Minerva found very odd. She then Disappeared, McGonagall pired another drink and then headed to bed. She made a note to tell Amelia and Tonks, who had confessed to McGonagall alone that she had helped the twins that the twins were safe and secure.
Tilly and Timble woke the twins the next morning and presented them with breakfast in bed if the elves thought the twins sleeping together was odd neither showed it or said anything.
"Mistress McGonagall is giving Tilly books on warding for you to read, she expresses her concern and love and wishes for you to make her an exception to the wards as soon as you is knowing how" As Tilly spoke she placed the books on top of Harry's bedside table, on top of the books led a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Harry and Heather should read the paper this morning" As Timble said this he bowed and both elves left to continue their cleaning of the house.
The twins ate their breakfast before even looking at the paper, once they had eaten however the curiosity was too much and so Harry picked up the paper and scooted closer to Heather so they could read together.
Has Albus Dumbledore Finally Gone Too Far?
Eyewitness reports at the Ministry for Magic yesterday were shocked and intrigued by a display of magic never seen before in the Ministry. The Magic followed a trial that was taking place over the Guardianship of the Potter twins Harry and Heather.
Now you may be asking what exactly happened well we are going to tell you Albus Dumbledore, Illegally some people are stating see page 6, called the Wizegamot into full court to discuss his concerns for the Potter's safety. Our correspondent inside the courtroom has informed us that the Potters seemed Quite safe inside McGonagall Castle something Dumbledore did not agree on.
After questioning the two candidates for Guardiancy it was decided that Harry and Heather would become wards of Hogwarts. The Potter twins were outraged by this decision and before anyone knew what was happening they were surrounded by seemingly uncontrolled magic. This magic was so strong that any attempt to separate them resulted in the one trying to separate them was flung from the twins.
After looking into the cause i can say we are well and truly stumped. What interests our Eyewitness most is that Professor McGonagall was not flung back when she attempted to speak with the twins.
Rita Skeeter
The twins groaned but they should have expected it after such a show of magic. The twins took some time to calm down and started to look at the Ward books. The twins were so wrapped up reading they failed to notice Hedwig fly into the room, This upset Hedwig and she nipped at Harry's ear after showing the bird some love it went to the Owlery.
The twins decided they had read enough, it was then Heather looked at Harry and he could see something was on her mind.
"Do you remember what Godric's letter said?"
Harry looked confused for a moment surprised about the topic of the conversation.
"Sure, what about it Sis?"
"The letter said that we would need to master our own power" Harry nodded and waited for her to continue. "Well i think we should probably work out just what that means. Was he on about our Bond power or was he talking about actual power? The kind that comes from our natural magical abilities"
"It's probably good to think about i agree but not much is known about bonds and so i'm not sure what we can do to learn more about that power. As for our Natural abilities beside learning new spells don't they become stronger as we grow up?"
"No idea but we do have a Library but it is rather old, we could look there and see through, i think we should start working this out"
With this decided the twins spent the day cleaning the Library ready for the long research task ahead. That night at Dinner Tilly popped in with a letter.
"Harry and Heather have a letter, Tilly believes it is off Dumbledore"
Harry took the letter and opened it Heather came behind Harry to read over his shoulder.
The letter was quite long and spoke about how they were being irresponsible and if they did not return before the break was over they would be in serious trouble. He also informed them he had Auror looking for them and that they should turn themselves in instead of wasting their time "chasing children around" as he had put it.
If he had thought this would make them return he would soon be disappointed, Harry gave the letter back to Tilly who smiled and threw it in the fire.
"Young Master and Mistress will not be returning until they be ready"
The twins had already decided they very much liked Tilly she was more willing to forget formalities and had a little bit of mischief in her. It was no surprise to either twin when Tilly and Thimble insisted on helping search books.
The search started right after Dinner and lasted until around ten that night at this point Thimble informed them they should go to bed and sleep. It felt a little odd being sent to bed by their house elf but they agreed and headed to their room.
In their room however Harry couldn't sleep, his mind kept drifting back to Heather, as it did he couldn't help but watch her sleep. Without thinking he started stroking her hair gently, Heather stirred a little but remained asleep.
When the morning came Heather woke to find Harry's hand still in her hair his touch felt nice but she couldn't help wonder why it was there this wasn't something he had done before. As Harry woke up the two locked eyes and they shared a smile Harry found he had to resist the urge to kiss her lips, as this thought ran through his mind he focused hard on not letting Heather hear it and quickly went to shower.
As Harry showered taking longer than normal Heather felt a little strange, she had for a moment thought her brother was going to kiss her. What she couldn't decide if this was something she wanted or not suppressing this line of thought she prepared for the day.
Not much happened until a few days later the day of Christmas the twins woke feeling a little sad knowing how different Christmas would be alone. It was to their surprise that Tilly was in the room as soon as they woke and handed them breakfast.
"Harry and Heather should be waking soon they has presents to open" As Tilly shared this bit of news the twins looked at their elf "How?" was all they could say.
Tilly just gave a little laugh and exclaimed "Magic of course, we will wait in the sitting room for you to Finnish" The twins nodded and ate quickly, not bothering to change out of their pyjamas they headed down stairs.
As they entered the sitting room a Christmas tree had been conjured by the elves and at the foot of the tree was quite an impressive stack of presents. Tilly and Timble wasted no time sitting Harry and Heather on the sofa and handing them presents.
They were surprised to see presents from all their friends and McGonagall, even Tonks had given them both a gift, it filled the twins hearts will joy and happiness to see the gifts from everyone. The last gift was given from the elves, as they handed a book over to the twins they smiled and bowed.
The book was a beautiful red leather bound photo album, as the twins opened the book they saw pictures of their parents, grandparents and some adults they didn't know along with some they did. Lupin and McGonagall were in some of the pictures holding little baby Harry or Heather.
One photo in particular caught their attention, it was a group photo from their parents' wedding, everyone looked so happy and carefree. For the first time they could remember they could see their Godfather in the picture the friendship between James and Sirius was very clear.
The twins placed the book on a coffee table and took their elves into hugs completely shocking them. After trying and failing to hide their tears of happiness the elves popped off and started cooking the Christmas dinner.
The twins smiled at the elves behaviour and spent the rest of the day relaxing choosing today to be a research free day. That night the twins slept better than they had since arriving at the manor.
The rest of the holiday was quiet, the twins had found a lot of information about magic but nothing they really thought would help them better understand Godric's message. The day before the Hogwarts express was to leave kings cross the twins Portkeyed to Gringotts.
The goblins seemed not to notice or care two children with cloaks hiding their faces appeared in the bank from nowhere, in fact a few waved politely as they passed, this caused other wizards to watch quite shocked.
The twins spent the night at the leaky cauldron hoping that they would not get caught by Auror's or Dumbledore for that matter. The next morning they put on their invisibility cloak and Floo'ed over to Kings cross. Many people in the Leaky Cauldron looked at the fire very confused as the green flames sprung up. It was in this moment Harry and Heather were thankful that Tilly had shrunk their cases.
On the platform they could easily see four Auror's walking up and down the platform checking students. They saw Tonks and as they walked by her whispered thanks for the gifts causing her to jump out of her skin and look around for the twins.
"Auror Tonks what is it" One of the other Auror's said seeing their surprise.
"I thought I saw the twins over there" She said quickly and headed over toward the barrier. The Auror quickly followed Tonks now very alert. The twinks silently thanked Tonks and snuck into an empty compartment, they did not remove the cloak however expecting the Auror's to board the train.
The twins cuddled up close and settled in for what would be an uncomfortable journey as they try to stay under the cloak. It did not take long for both twins to fall asleep. The twins were woken by an apprehensive looking Tonks.
"Wotcha Harry, Heather quick get that cloak back on your lucky i caught you and not the others they are very keen to get you after eluding them for two weeks"
Harry nodded and covered them both Heather waking slower than Harry. It wasn't long before they arrived in Hogsmeade. When they arrived Tonks whispered for Harry and Heather to follow her.
They followed her to one of the carriages and hopped in after her, as soon as they were in the carriage took off not waiting for it to be filled.
It wasn't long before the carriage arrived at the entrance, Harry and Heather thanked Tonks very quietly and snuck into the crowd heading into the great hall, only then did they remove their cloak. As they ate their dinner they could feel Dumbledore's eyes on them and knew it wouldn't be long before he summoned them. When the meal ended they hurried to their room before Dumbledore could stop them as promise Tilly had their belongings already for them a note restored on top of the cases.
"If you need anything don't hesitate to call on me, no wards can keep me away"
Tilly