TITLE: Double Back

DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong J K Rowling... basically, if you recognise it, it isn't mine... Please don't sic the Aurors on me, I'm just here for the fun.


Thursday, 19th September

Potter Manor

"Sirius?"

"Kitchen!" Sirius called back, recognising Amelia's voice instantly while he lazed back on his chair in the Potter kitchen with this morning's copy of the Daily Prophet in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.

He'd woken up early a bit apprehensive about what he was supposed to do today. While he was all for helping Junior out with his plans for the wizarding world, he personally had absolutely no idea on what sort of things he was supposed to do once he'd taken his family's seat on the Wizengamot, and he utterly hated the idea of acting the same way as he remembered his father's pure blood friends acting and demanding everyone 'beneath them' always called them Warlock so and so, like their title automatically made them better than everyone else or something.

"Morning," He spoke up as Amelia and Julia came into the kitchen, Amelia automatically heading for the cupboard with mugs in to make herself a coffee, while Julia was staring at him appraisingly. "Well?" He asked with a small smirk, gesturing down to his robes. "Do I pass inspection?"

"Somewhat," Julia nodded back. The robes were nice enough, black acromantula silk with a textured undershirt. While it was obvious Sirius hadn't shaved in a few days now, his long shaggy hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, and the few days worth of stubble gave him a roguish but more mature look that suited him far better than a clean shaved and well groomed look would have.

"I saw the Prophet yesterday," Amelia commented as she filled up her mug from the boiling kettle before adding a splash of cold water to the black coffee to cool it down slightly. "Did you speak to James about it?"

"Hmn," Sirius nodded, enjoying a mouthful of his own coffee. "I went down there myself to have a quiet word with them about it."

"Why do I doubt it was anything like a quiet word with you involved?" Amelia asked with a roll of her eyes as Sirius smirked up at her. "What did they say?"

"Cuffe was pretty apologetic when I confronted him," Sirius admitted with a grin. "Someone paid Skeeter to write the article, nothing really new there. The usual coming from her poison quill really."

"I'd assumed as much," Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "Any ideas who?"

"Some Umbridge woman," Sirius shrugged. "I know Junior mentioned her, but I don't really know anything else about her." He explained, enjoying a mouthful of his coffee. "Guessing she's one of Voldy's boot lickers?"

"Almost certainly," Amelia sighed as she leaned up against the kitchen counter. "I don't know if she's actually a Death Eater or not, but she's certainly follows the pure blood fanaticism." She explained. "She used to work at The Ministry under Minister Fudge before we enforced the loyalty contracts."

"So she's just a pure blood bitch then," Sirius nodded, making a mental note of the name to see what he could dig up on her. "She probably targeted Junior to try and get people to turn on him."

"More than likely," Amelia nodded in agreement. "After working under Minister Fudge, she'll know how to work public opinion more than anything, this sort of stunt is right up her alley." She mused aloud. "What else did The Prophet say?"

"Cuffe agreed to suspend Skeeter for now, and write a retraction." Sirius explained, tapping the paper. "Nothing in this morning's issue, but if it's not there tomorrow, I'll pay him another visit."

"He suspended Skeeter?" Julia asked in surprise. "I didn't think he'd go that far. Rita Skeeter's been his favourite gossip columnist for years now. She might write whatever people pay her to, but she's sensational enough that people will buy whatever's got her name on it."

"I might have told Cuffe if he didn't suspend her, both me and Junior would be calling her and him out for an honour duel." Sirius smirked over. "I swear that he actually pissed himself when he realised he was close to facing Junior in a duel."

"I don't blame him," Amelia muttered, shaking her head in amusement. "I didn't actually realise just how powerful he was, but looking at everything he's done, it's pretty ridiculous."

"You're telling me," Sirius nodded in agreement. "He's even got Nicolas Flamel visiting him to chat about things." He explained with an exasperated frown. "Some of the stuff they talked about... ugh, I never wanted to know that." He explained with an exaggerated shudder.

"Nicolas Flamel? Really?" Julia asked, her eyes wide at this piece of information. "He's really that powerful?" She asked, looking to Amelia now.

"Powerful enough to blow the head off a werewolf with one curse," Amelia nodded. "To apparate out from Hogwarts, through the wards as well, dragging me along with him." She explained over Sirius' whistle of appreciation. "He does that sort of thing like it's nothing really big for him."

"Considering how he dealt with Dumbledore and Voldemort, it probably isn't." Julia muttered, trying to wrap her head around just how powerful James must really be. "How powerful is he? Really?"

"Beyond Dumbledore easily," Sirius said with a firm nod.

"Definitely, I'd say more powerful than Voldemort as well." Amelia said in agreement with Sirius.

"Yeah, he already kicked Voldy's arse when he was seventeen, that was before he trained up with the aurors and threw himself into learning all that battle magic." Sirius explained. "If ol' snakeface couldn't take him when he was seventeen, do you really think he has a chance in hell now?" He asked, grinning as Amelia snorted and shook her head. "I mean think about it, he was Voldy's equal when he was seventeen, and then he's had another, what, twenty years of Auror training and learning ontop of that?" He explained with a whistle.

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Julia admitted with a small smile. "He's really going to win this isn't he?"

"It's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, remember, for him, he's already done this and defeated Voldemort once. This time around he's prepared and being proactive about it." Amelia chuckled back. "His only focus is making sure the wizarding world actually changes this time, instead of sliding back into corruption and pure blood bigotry again."

"You really think that would happen?" Julia asked.

"It's already happened, well, twice really." Sirius shrugged. "Junior lived through it all, and it happened when snakeface got blown up at James' place when he attacked him and Lily." He explained with a frown. "Think it was just random corruption that let all the Death Eaters off with the 'but I was under the imperius' excuse while I ended up tossed in Azkaban without a trial?" He asked with a disgusted sneer.

"We're cleaning up The Ministry as much as we can," Amelia explained with a sigh. "Stamping out that much corruption is hard enough, and that's not even taking into account all the laws that are biased in favour of pure blood families."

"Which is what we need to push through the Wizengamot," Julia nodded, following their plan closely enough. "Speaking of which..." She trailed off, turning back to Sirius. "The chambers will open at ten, it's tradition to announce new seats being taken at the start of every meeting before everyone is seated."

"Right, so do the announcement stuff first right?" Sirius double checked.

"Claim your seat, make the oath, then the Chief Warlock will ask which party you are joining." Julia explained. "That's when you need to say you're joining the neutrals and move your seat in with us." She said with a smirk, thinking about how much political power the neutral faction already had. "The light faction was under Dumbledore's control for years. Now that he's been disgraced, they're splintering apart and arguing with themselves more than anything else and trying to set Amos up to be their leader."

"Wouldn't want anything to do with anything that was led by Dumbledore anyway." Sirius groused as he finished off his coffee.

"Exactly," Amelia nodded in agreement. "Amos Diggory took over from Albus, though we're watching him pretty carefully at the moment."

"Why?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked at Amelia. Politics and favours had never been his strong suit, Regulus had always had a head for it, which was probably why his father had always chosen Regulus to take over with stuff like this. Regulus had had all the training for it and learnt everything he needed, while he'd never bothered with it at all, preferring to spend his childhood actually wanting to be a child, not being groomed for an marriage to one of his cousins or taking over the family politics.

"Amos lives close enough to the Weasley's and was friendly enough with Dumbledore before." Amelia explained. "We don't know if Amos is sitting as Chief Warlock on his own merits, or if the votes came from Dumbledore's favour and he's pulling the strings behind the scenes again."

"Ah," Sirius grunted. "Never heard of the Diggory's before, so I've got no ideas there."

"Hufflepuffs for quite a few generations," Amelia smiled over with a proud thought of her old house. "Hard working and loyal, unfortunately for us, Amos' loyalty might be to Dumbledore rather than his position." She explained.

"What about those contract thingies? I thought they were supposed to take care of all that stuff?" Sirius asked, trying to get everything clear in his head.

"Only in The Ministry," Amelia shook her head. "I'd never get the votes needed to enforce loyalty contracts in the Wizengamot, too many of the dark families would revolt on principal, they'd have too much to lose."

"Right," Sirius groaned, slumping down in his chair. "Do you really want me for this stuff? I mean... I'm no politician, I don't understand any of this crap." He groused aloud. "I'm not going to be any good with any of this."

"You'll do fine," Amelia said softly, giving Sirius a reassuring smile. "Once we've got your seat recognised, we'll have the votes to get the Potter's a seat as well. There's no way that won't pass, and with the extra votes, we'll finally be able to get all those pure blood laws repealed."

"That'd be something," Sirius snorted but nodded in agreement, focusing on pulling the prank over Junior and forcing him to play with politics as well. "Alright, what about the robes?" He asked, indicating to Julia and Amelia's purple coloured robes with the Wizengamot symbol emblazoned on the chest.

"They'll be handed out to you once you're recognised as the Warlock of your seat." Amelia explained, finishing off her coffee with a quick mouthful. "We should head over to The Ministry now, it's always a nightmare getting down to the chambers."

"Right," Sirius nodded, steeling himself as he finished off his own coffee and left the mug untidily on top of the copy of the Daily Prophet, ignoring the way the coffee drips on the mug started staining the newspaper.

Without saying anything else he followed Amelia and Julia through to the living room and the fireplace, before the three of them took their turns in floo'ing through to The Atrium where politics, backstabbing, bribery and corruption awaited them.


Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Highlands of Scotland

As breakfast in the Great Hall finished, James happily took his time in watching the students gather their things ready for their morning lessons. Thursdays were always a fun one for him, he had the Gryffindor and Slytherin first year students for first period, which always brought back a mixture of happy and torn memories as he looked through at all the familiar faces in the classroom.

It was somewhat surreal teaching people who used to be his old friends, how they would look at him as a stranger with only respect for him as a teacher, when he knew practically everything about them and what sort of people they would grow into.

Off to the corner of the Great Hall he spotted Harry and Susan chatting with Daphne, Hermione, Neville and another brunette Slytherin that he couldn't remember the name of. It was somewhat amusing seeing the six of them grouped up like that, two Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs, and two Slytherins, all chatting and being friendly with each other without a hex or curse in sight.

It was nice to see his younger self actually chatting, laughing and being friendly with more people this time around. He remembered what his first few weeks at Hogwarts had been like when he'd been that age, and with only Ron as his friend, he'd been extremely sheltered and cut off from making any other friends like he should have.

Looking back, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was Ron's belligerent attitude and foul manners that actually stopped other kids from coming to talk to them and make friends. After all, it was only after the troll incident that he'd really made friends with Hermione, but nobody else ever really came to talk to him or tried to make friends with him.

That should have been a red light warning straight away. He was supposedly famous, joining the magical world and meeting people for the first time ever, but nobody tried to talk to him or get to know him? At the time he'd just been thankful of some piece and quiet, and been treated like a normal kid by everyone, but looking back on it now, it was obvious that something just wasn't right.

The changes in Hermione were more subtle than in his younger self. Where his younger self was now far more outspoken and friendly than he'd ever been at that age, Hermione seemed to be the opposite. She hadn't withdrawn into herself or anything like that, but she seemed to be second guessing everything she thought she knew instead of just labouring under the 'I'm always right' attitude that she'd had in their first year originally.

It was a somewhat bemusing change, and the only thing he could think of that would have caused it was his confrontation with Dumbledore. He remembered well how Hermione had practically idolised the old man in their Hogwarts years and worshipped authority, so being shown how badly Dumbledore had been abusing his authority must have really shaken Hermione's foundations.

It was something he'd have to keep an eye on to see where she went from here. From her classwork it was obvious that she was the same knowledge obsessed bookworm that he'd grown to know and love, but she was just tempered somewhat, something that hadn't happened to 'his' Hermione until the corruption at The Ministry had been shoved in their faces.

It seemed Hermione didn't have a middle ground with anything, it was either one extreme or the other and she apparently threw everything she had into either belief. The old black and white, light vs dark mentality that he'd grown out of long ago now.

Shrugging that thought off for now he watched until Hermione, Neville, Daphne and the other Slytherin went off in one direction towards the third floor stairway, while Harry and Susan headed off in another. He couldn't remember exactly what his younger self had this morning for lessons, but judging from the way they were walking towards the back of the hall it was either herbology outside, or they were heading to the dungeons for potions.

Deciding to head off himself he casually ambled off the professor's platform, hopping down onto the main stone floor of the Great Hall before he started walking out to head towards the main stairway that led up to the third floor.

The changes in Hermione weren't something he'd been expecting, but now he was thinking about it, it was clear that they were just another ripple change that he hadn't been able to anticipate. Just like with his younger self being sorted into Hufflepuff. He'd made big changes, and lots of little changes were rippling out from there and affecting other things.

He tried to think about how many big changes he'd actually made already. Dumbledore being kicked out of the school, Voldemort being brought out into the open five years early. Snape resigning, Sirius being free. Death Eaters fleeing the country, and a competent Ministry dealing with the corruption that infested it.

There were too many changes to count, and those were only the ones he was personally involved in and planned. Harry being in Hufflepuff, Hermione's changes, Harry and Neville being friends with Slytherins, whatever was going on with the Malfoys, and then there was Nicolas Flamel and his knowledge to consider.

Everything was changing so fast that it was almost spiralling out of control. As it was he had a semi good idea of how the future was playing out, but with all the changes rippling out from what he'd done so far, he had no idea exactly how long that future knowledge would still be useful.

"You can't talk to me like that! When my father hears about this..." The voice trailed off with an ommph sound and a more feminine shriek, dragging James out of his musing as he darted to the side of the corridor on instinct and span around to where he heard the voices coming from.

His wand was out automatically as he came to face the two students, and two charms left his wand before the students even knew he was there, separating them and sticking the larger male student to the wall where he struggled against the spell.

"What is going on here?" He demanded, glaring across at the male student who had gone pale now that he recognised who had interrupted them.

It wasn't hard to see that it had actually been a physical confrontation instead of a magical one, and now that he was closer it was easy enough to recognise the two students. Katie Bell was practically sagging with relief with her book bag on the floor, her books and parchments strewn to the side of the corridor, while Cormac McLaggen was looking terrified from his position stuck to the wall, a handful of Katie's brown hair still gripped in his hand from where it had been torn out when he'd been ripped away from her.

"I'm looking for an explanation, now." James bit out, flicking his wand towards Katie's bag and gathering everything up into it with a simple spell.

"McLaggen grabbed me because he didn't make the Quidditch team this year and I did." Katie explained, talking over Cormac's denials. "He threatened to tell Oliver I'd taken potions to get my place if I didn't tell Oliver to give him the place instead of Angelina."

"She's lying!" Cormac spat out angrily, still struggling against the spell that was holding him against the wall. "She attacked me! I was... I was just going to class and she pulled me away." He blustered.

"Really?" James drawled out, raising an eyebrow towards Cormac. "I've got a pensieve upstairs, shall we go up there and watch both your memories to see which one of you is telling the truth?" He asked, causing Cormac to shut up instantly and pale at the idea. "That's what I thought." He said, fixing Cormac with a glare. "I'll be having words with Oliver about this, and Professor Sinestra, but for now, consider all your flying privileges revoked for the rest of the term. I'd consider your Quidditch career over as well Mr McLaggen."

"You... you can't do that!" Cormac demanded.

"Can, will, have done." James said firmly. "I don't like bullies, and I hate liars. You're both." He said, flicking his wand towards Cormac and releasing him from the wall. "If I hear one more thing about you attacking anyone, magically or physically, a suspension will be the least of your problems." He bit out, making sure Cormac got the message.

"Yes Professor." Cormac seethed, glaring up at James before sneering across to Katie.

"A week's detention and twenty points from Gryffindor. Get to class," James bit out, watching as Cormac slunk away from the confrontation, sending Katie a hate filled glare as he barged passed. "Idiot." He muttered under his breath as Cormac headed out into the main corridor. "You alright?" He asked, turning to Katie to check on her properly now.

"I'm... I'm fine Professor, he just took me by surprise, that's all." Katie admitted with a small blush.

"Chaser right?" James grinned at her. "Don't let idiots like McLaggen get you down. You're going to have a great year." He said with a grin.

"How... how'd you know that?" Katie asked, looking at him with a surprised expression on her face. "Oliver only announced the results of the tryouts this morning."

"I've got my sources," James smirked at her. "If he gives you any more trouble, come and find me, or grab the Weasley twins and tell them what's going on."

"The twins? The beaters?" Katie asked in surprise. "Aren't they just jokers?"

"That too, but they'll take care of you if you need it. The quidditch team is like a family to them, so if you ever need any help, they'll be the ones to go to." James explained, remembering back to fond memories of his first year playing quidditch for the Gryffindor team. "Angelia and Alica are the chasers too right?" He asked.

"Alicia's in the same year as the Weasleys, I haven't really spoken to her before." Katie explained with a nod. "Angelina's my friend though, she's the only other girl in my year that loves quidditch as much as I do."

"Take some time out on the pitch to get to know them," James chuckled, lifting up Katie's bag from the floor and offering it to her. "You three will make great chasers." He said with a small grin. "Go on, head off to class, and if McLaggen says anything else or tries to get you in trouble with Oliver, come and find me alright?"

"Thanks Professor!" Katie grinned at him, flushing again with a blush before she headed off down the corridor.

"Anytime," James chuckled to himself, lost in the happy memories he had of playing quidditch alongside Katie and the others.

As he headed into the corridor himself to head up to the defence classroom, he couldn't help but think about what his younger self was going to be doing since he wasn't playing quidditch. Would he try out for the Hufflepuff team in a few years time maybe? Or would he focus on something else instead of quidditch? How was the Gryffindor team going to do now without his younger self as a seeker, who was going to be their seeker for that matter?

With his thoughts on flying and quidditch, he happily headed up the main staircase towards the third floor, making a mental note to bring his broom to Hogwarts at some point so he could go out flying again. It would be amazing to go flying around Hogwarts again, even if it was just flying and not playing quidditch anymore.


Wizengamot Chambers

Ministry of Magic

London

"All stand for the Chief Warlock!"

Amelia and Julia stood up automatically along with Augusta Longbottom who was sitting proud in her seat next to Amelia and staring out across the chambers. It only took a minute for Amos Diggory to walk through the chamber doors, his chest puffed out proudly as he headed to the Chief Warlock's podium for his first official meeting as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

"Be seated." The aid called out from his seat next to the Chief Warlock's post.

"Good morning all. I'm proud to announce this meeting of The Wizengamot on the nineteenth of September, open." Amos announced proudly before taking his seat at the podium. "First order of business, do we have any new seats to be recognised?" He asked with a wry smile. It was something that was traditionally asked at the beginning of every sitting, but aside from the occasional death, it had been a long time since any new seats were recognised, so it had just become a running joke that it would be asked and ignored every time.

"I claim my family's seat and the votes accorded to my line."

Amos was struck dumb as he looked around to the main entrance of the chambers where the aurors were stood, pretty much everyone else in the Wizengamot chambers turned at the same time, their attention all focused on the person that had spoken up.

"Come forward with your claim." Amos managed to stammer out, not having expected any interruptions like this at all.

He was watching with interest as the claimant stepped forwards into the better lit areas of the chamber, that interest faded to shock when he recognised Sirius Black standing there, causing him to blanch as he ran down everything he knew about the Black family in his head.

"I claim Warlock of the Black Family seat, the votes, debts, and traditions, as sworn by my ancestor." Sirius announced proudly, just as Amelia and Julia had coached him to.

"I... I see." Amos stammered, staring across at Sirius. "Your oath to uphold the laws of this land?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as he spoke the recognised Wizengamot oath, it wasn't a magically binding oath or anything like that, it was just tradition and bluster, just like everything in The Wizengamot really.

"You may take your seat Warlock Black." Amos said quickly, looking around the chambers to see everyone seemed to be just as shocked as he was by this turn of events. "Which faction does your seat support?" He asked automatically, getting ready for another seat to bolster the dark families of the Wizengamot.

"The Neutrals." Sirius said proudly, smirking when he saw the shock register on the Chief Warlock's face, and ripple out from there to everyone else in the chambers causing hushed whispers and fidgeting to come from the seated Warlocks, with only Amelia, Julia and Augusta sharing his smile at what was going on.

"The... the neutrals?" Amos parroted back in shock. "Then... then you can take your seat Warlock Black." He announced, trying his best not to stammer as he gestured towards the neutral faction of the Wizengamot, where he noticed Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass smiling and a seat already waiting for Sirius Black next to them.

Everyone watched in silence as Sirius strode through the chambers and took his seat between Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass, with Augusta Longbottom sat on the other side of Amelia.

It was a shocking and completely unexpected move. To see the Black seat in the Neutral Faction was unprecedented on it's own, the Black's had always been a member of the Dark Faction, right back to the founding of The Wizengamot. Shifting that allegiance shifted voting blocs around entirely and the whole power of The Wizengamot with it.

Seeing Sirius Black sat that close to Augusta Longbottom was almost as big of a shock as well. Everyone knew the story of the Longbottom's and how they'd been tortured practically to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Just like everyone knew Bellatrix Lestrange used to be a Black, just like Narcissa who had married into the Malfoy family.

"Is... is there any more business before we open this sitting?" Amos stammered out, taking careful note of the reporters up on the visitors gallery who were all scribbling notes furiously in their seats. "Then as Chief Warlock, I call this session of The Wizengamot to order." He announced firmly, trying to focus everyone's attention back on him and away from Sirius Black. "First on the docket, a motion to regulate cauldron thickness and sales of unsuitable cauldrons." He announced, gesturing to the Ministry worker who was sat near by to stand and begin her presentation.

As The Ministry worker started waffling on about various cauldron thicknesses and how substandard materials in inferior cauldrons were tainting potions, Amos' mind was very clearly on something else as he carefully watched how Sirius Black interacted with the people he was sat with.

Both Amelia Bones and Julia Greengrass seemed to be open and friendly with him, whispering between themselves and discussing things he couldn't overhear from his position on the main floor. It was when he saw Sirius laugh at something Amelia had said that he started slotting things into place.

Sirius was best friends with James Potter, that much had come out in his trial a few months ago. Which raised the question why he hadn't moved his seat to the light faction where it was obvious James Potter would have been if he'd had a seat here.

The other niggling fact was the rumours of a relationship between Amelia Bones and James Potter. Nobody had been able to confirm anything yet, but there were enough rumours going around that it was treated as pretty much fact already. That would easily explain the friendship between the Bones and Black family, with James Potter as the link between the two.

Putting that thought aside for now, he tried to remember how many votes the Black family had to their seat. As far as he could remember, the Black seat had been empty and without a claim since Orion Black had died four or five years ago, and since they were in the dark faction, he'd never really tried to tally up how many votes the family actually had.

He knew the Black's were an ancient family, far older than his own or even the Bones family. Probably even older than the Greengrass or Longbottoms. In a single move Sirius Black had altered the entire political landscape, taking the precious votes that had been laying dormant in the dark faction and giving them to the neutral faction.

He'd have to wait and see how this actually affected things in the long run, but even if it was only a couple of votes that had swung from one end to the other, it would be enough to change things quite drastically, and that wasn't to mention that he was certain the Black family had more than a couple of votes to their name.

Suddenly now it looked like the neutral faction were the ones who were going to be opposing the Dark Faction, rather than being the balance between the light and dark as they'd always been in the past.

For Amos, this was certainly welcome news, as even he could admit that the light faction had splintered after the revelations surrounding Albus Dumbledore, but now he had to wonder what sort of power the neutral faction would bring to their votes, and what their agenda would be. With power houses like Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones sat front and centre, and the seats brought to their table by Sirius Black, they were now a serious force to be reckoned with and could change the outcome of any vote.

He certainly had a lot to think on, and a lot of research to do before he could even think about how this would change things from today going forwards.


Malfoy Manor

Wiltshire

Lucius Malfoy frowned to himself as he stood on the balcony of his home office, staring out at the woodlands that surrounded the ancient Malfoy Manor as the sun fell below the horizon and cast a warm golden glow over the manor. The rustled rattling warbles from the albino peacocks on the grounds below were a mild distraction that was actually welcome today as he pondered where things should go from here.

He'd received three letters today, all three of which required thought and immediate attention.

The first, a reply from Sirius Black, had been directly addressed to him, rather than Narcissa who had always sent his letters to the Black and Potter pairing in his stead. It was obvious that that little subterfuge was at it's end, though if he was honest with himself than it was clear that both Black and Potter would have seen through it almost immediately. Well, Potter would have at least, after a decade in Azkaban, he was still dubious about Black's mental state, which in his eye couldn't really have sunk any lower than before he'd been thrown into that hellhole.

It was a simple and blunt letter, a far cry from Narcissa's formal and flowery prose that filled up any letter she wrote, regardless of the recipient. The letter from Black simply contained three lines, asking what he wanted, what he wanted to tell them, and what he was planning.

Blunt, annoyingly to the point, and so very Gryffindor.

The information he had about the attack on Godric's Hollow wasn't particularly time sensitive really, he knew already that most of those behind the attack had already fled the country in fear of Potter's wrath following them. It was just as likely that Potter had put two and two together and realised with the sudden withdrawals from Hogwarts, which families had left the country, and linked the two from there.

While it wasn't certain that Potter had put everything together yet, it was entirely likely in his opinion. After all, even a Gryffindor could use their brains at least once or twice in their lives.

Which meant that the list of names he had would simply be confirmation for Potter, hardly something that would be worth interrupting his work at the school for, and certainly not something worth enough to bargain with.

The questions of what he wanted in return, and what his plan was. Those rankled him. They were annoyingly Gryffindorish questions, far too blunt to have any Slytherin cunning in them, a simple demand for information without any of the usual formal approaches, pleasantries or discussions.

However blunt the questions were, they had been bugging him the entire afternoon. What did he want. First and foremost, he wanted his family to survive, to come out of this in a position of power, like Malfoy's always did. Was he certain enough that putting his entire family's future at risk on the gamble of Potter defeating Riddle? That was the all important question.

That question had been shuffled to the side when he'd received the letter from Marcus Parkinson, informing him that Sirius Black had taken control of his family seat in the Wizengamot, and ludicrously transferred his seat to the neutral bloc of the Wizengamot.

Black claiming his seat was completely unexpected. He hadn't believed the brash Gryffindor had a single political bone in his body, and transferring his votes through to the neutral bloc was a very unwelcome surprise.

That little puzzle had had him distracted for the last few hours. What was Potter planning? Neither Potter or Black were neutral, they were both light wizards to their core, practically as bad as Dumbledore but both were ridiculously more effective than that aged muggle lover. It was painfully obvious that claiming Black's seat wasn't Black's idea, so it was likely Potter's idea for him to claim it and move the votes over, but to what end?

Shifting the Black votes to the neutral bloc was a stroke he hadn't seen coming. The fifteen votes accorded to the Black Seat would drastically shift the status of power in the Wizengamot, making the neutral block the largest bloc of votes in the chamber. Those votes hadn't been active in over five years now, which had neutered quite a few of the laws he'd hoped to get passed in the chambers, but hadn't been able to once Orion Black had died without a successor.

Was it just a shift away from where Dumbledore had led the light bloc for so long? An effort to distance themselves from the old man and separate themselves from his old ridiculous policies of forgiveness and easy penance? It didn't seem likely, with Dumbledore out of the picture, Black and Potter could have waltzed into the light bloc and taken it over without even a word of dissent being raised against them. So why move to the neutral bloc instead when they could have held power over the light families?

With the light families fighting amongst themselves and squabbling over votes and power, this little opening gambit by Potter and Black had rearranged things entirely, and it had been played without anyone realising what was going on.

This meant that it was entirely likely that the relationship between Potter and Bones was a fact, he'd heard the rumour enough times now to believe it, and hearing that Black had joined the neutral block led by Bones, was almost enough of a confirmation in his eyes anyway.

With the neutral bloc now in power, and both the dark and light bloc's arguing amongst themselves, it was painfully obvious that their next move would be to start repealing and adjusting all of the laws he'd spent the last few years bribing, blackmailing, and threating through. With Bones leading the way, she'd know exactly which laws to target, and with Black's votes, they would be dismissed in no time at all.

This action, along with The Ministry's new loyalty contracts, and a disgustingly honourable and efficient Auror force, meant that the dark families time of rule was coming to a very abrupt end as far as he could see.

Marcus would have figured that much out for himself. Whether he turned tail and ran like some of the other families that had followed Riddle had done already, would be anyone's guess though. The Parkinson family were old and proud pure-bloods, but with this dramatic shift occurring so suddenly, it was any-body's guess as to what anyone would do.

His last letter was from Draco, keeping him informed what was going on in the school and confirming that he was keeping his head down and out of trouble. His letter had a few minor pieces of information in it, nothing earth shattering or anything that would change his plans.

Potter was apparently an 'adequate' defence professor. He'd snorted at that description and made a mental note to mention to Draco that learning from someone like Potter should be treated as an opportunity, not an annoyance. Draco was in an unusually strategic place, where he could judge and appraise Potter's strengths, weaknesses and casting style, information that might actually come in useful later on.

He went on to mention that Potter now had an apprentice. His wife's sister's daughter apparently. The metamorph who persisted in changing her hair and face to those ridiculous styles and colours.

This of course hadn't gone down well with Draco, but it was interesting information nonetheless. Potter taking on an apprentice was interesting in itself, maybe it would be worth while for Narcissa to re-cultivate her relationship with Andromeda, if only to secure a fresh source of information from within the school, and perhaps learn more about what Potter was actually teaching her niece.

The news about Potter's apprentice was the highlight of the letter in Lucius eyes. The fact Potter now had a metamorph that was bound to him was worrying, and the implications were frankly disturbing. He didn't personally believe Potter would use her for infiltration and to spy on the darker families, but the notion was there, and it was a worrying one.

If Potter trained her well, which he likely would, then he would have a frankly unmatched assassin in his hands. Someone with Potter's skill, that could change into any one of the dark families without being detected, and slip into their midst? That was a worrying and deeply disturbing thought. It would certainly be news that he would be passing on to Marcus to keep his guard up.

Things were definitely changing, in The Ministry, The Wizengamot, at Hogwarts, and in the division between the light and dark families.

The only real source of comfort Lucius had currently was the fact that Albus Dumbledore was still on the outs from society and being forced into obscurity. That alone was worth a lot of things, but in the grand scheme of things, it was just barely enough to bring a small smile to his lips as he thought about it.

For now though, he had to plan what to write back to each of the three letters. A simple letter to Draco reaffirming his orders and congratulating him for the information was easy enough, pointing out that he should be watching Potter carefully and taking notes of his casting style and any weaknesses went without saying.

The letter back to Marcus would be equally as easy to write. Confirming a few thoughts about how the Wizengamot was going to change with the Black seat in power again, and adding his own thoughts about what Potter and Black could be planning next, along with a warning about Potter's new metamorph and the worrying implications that brought with it.

The letter to Black however had him stumped. What did he want? What were his plans? Surviving the war and coming out in a position of power was the obvious answer, even to a Gryffindor. So what did Black actually want him to say?

He just knew that that question would be bugging him for the rest of the day.


Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Highlands of Scotland

James happily waited in the defence classroom as the last of his seventh year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students filed out of the doors and into the corridor, likely to dash off down to their evening meal and spend the evening chatting with their friends.

"You need anything else boss?" Nymphadora asked with a grin from where she'd been helping some of the Hufflepuffs with their NEWT work today.

"I'm good," James chuckled as he leaned back on his desk. "You got something in mind for tonight?"

"Dinner with mum and dad," Nymphadora explained with a smile. "Dad's apparating to Hogsmeade, then mum's going to drag him around the castle to see everything before we get together."

"Ah," James nodded with a small smile.

"You?" Nymphadora asked curiously as she headed over to collect her coat from the rack at the end of the classroom by the chalkboards. Her black linen coat looked laughably light and feeble hanging there next to James' thick and hard wearing dragon-skin trench-coat, but it was comfortable and warm, and one of the few coats she'd found that was comfortable enough to wear while morphing her body around.

"Just some stuff with Harry and his friends. I'll be in my office if you need me for anything." James explained with a shrug as Nymphadora tossed him his coat as well. "Go on, I'll see you tomorrow." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand towards the classroom door.

"Alright, catch you later boss." Nymphadora gave him a last cheeky wave before she headed out the door, leaving him alone in the classroom to relax for a bit.

Throwing his coat over his shoulder for the moment he flicked a few tidying charms around the classroom, setting the chairs and desks back to their proper positions and returning a few text books from his desk back to their shelves on the wall.

Magic thankfully made tidying up so much easier, and it was barely a few moments before he was ready to leave, locking the door behind him before he set off walking down towards the office slash living area that Minerva had set aside for him.

It had been quite a good day over all, a surprisingly easy one. The Gryffindor and Slytherin group this morning had been pretty much as expected, the sneers from Malfoy and Parkinson at the back of the class were just as expected, and just as predictable as Ron Weasley sat at the back on the Gryffindor side with Dean and Seamus, joking and laughing through the lesson without paying any attention at all.

Hermione, Neville, Daphne and Tracey, now that he'd learnt the name of that elusive second Slytherin in the group, had all sat at the front of the class like they had the last few times. All four of them paying attention and discussing things amongst themselves.

It was easy to see that their little group wasn't welcomed by either side of the classroom, both Slytherins and Gryffindors were glaring at them at various points in the lesson but thankfully both Neville and Hermione seemed to be happily ignoring it for now, though he had no idea how Daphne and Tracey were dealing with things from the Slytherin side.

Thinking about that he made a mental note to talk to Septima when he got a chance to figure out exactly what was going on in the Slytherin house and tell her he'd be keeping watch over Daphne personally. He didn't really like bringing his personal life into the open like that, but if things went ahead as Amelia and Julia planned, then Julia, and therefore Daphne's, link to him would be out in the open for everyone to hear about, and it just made good sense to make sure that Daphne was protected before all of the fallout from that hit.

The question about Daphne, and more Julia, was humming through his head as he made his way into the office, leaving the door to the corridor open for now as he tossed his coat onto the rack and got comfortable in the office area. He knew Amelia and Julia were close, he'd seen it in the way they'd touched each other and the glances they sent each other's way during their introduction chat at the manor, but he hadn't really spoken to Julia since, not counting when she'd come to Hogwarts with Amelia after the whole Greyback incident anyway.

Should he write to her? Floo call her? Given that he'd already given out the rest of the communication mirrors, with Hermione's being the last to give her tonight for her birthday present, he could always use those, but that left him with the uncertain feeling of not knowing what to say or do.

Julia was frankly an unknown, she was beautiful, he'd have to admit that, but in a very different way to how Amelia was.

Shaking his head to clear the x-rated images that cropped up whenever he thought about Amelia and Julia together, he gathered himself just in time to hear laughter and recognisable voices coming from outside in the hallway.

He knew his younger self's voice off by heart now, and could easily pick up Hermione, Neville, and Susan's voices.

"Dipsy," He called aloud, waiting a beat for the school elf he'd spoken to earlier to appear in the classroom.

"Yes Professor Potter?" Dipsy asked as soon as she appeared, eager and willing to perform all the duties a good and loyal house elf should take on.

"In ten minutes, can you bring up the birthday food I asked you for earlier?" James asked with a grin. "The big table in the sitting area will be fine. Along with a few plates and cutlery, six or seven of us, and some drinks please."

"Yes Professor Potter." Dipsy nodded eagerly before vanishing silently with a small flash mere moment's before Harry knocked on the door of the office before traipsing in with the rest of his friends following on.

"Hey you lot," James grinned over. "Head on through and grab a seat, I was just finishing up in here."

"OK," Harry smiled up to his older self as the rest of them said polite hellos as they traipsed through to the living room area and out of the office.

Once all the kids were out of sight, he flicked his wand over to close the door behind them, before collecting the shrunken down bag of presents Hermione's parents had given her, along with adding the small communicating mirror he'd wrapped up himself for her.

By the time he'd grabbed everything, he could already hear more laughter coming from inside the living room area, and heading through he could see Susan and Harry telling the group a story about how a bouncing bulb had got away from Hannah during herbology and had spent half the lesson jumping around the greenhouses until Professor Sprout had managed to corral the annoying thing back into it's pot.

"Just for the record, a knockback jinx will flatten a bouncing bulb if it's not too big. I know you lot have that one down already, just something to remember for next time." James explained with a small laugh as he walked through into the living area. "Everyone had a good day then?" He asked curiously, making a mental note to look up at the time to check when it would be time for Hermione to unwrap the mirror and call her parents.

"It was great," Harry grinned over. "Professor Tonks had us all working on the forgetfulness potion last thing. Me and Susan made a perfect batch!" He explained with an excited little bounce.

"Ah, I can never remember the ingredients to that one," James joked with a small smirk on his face as he handed the bag over to Hermione, drawing a questioning frown from her. "Happy birthday, most of them are from your parents." He explained.

The look of surprise and nearly teary faced awe looking up at him wasn't something he'd expected at all, so he just took a step back for a moment and let her have some space to get herself back under control.

"We already gave her our presents earlier," Susan grinned over, trying to take some of the spotlight away from Hermione's embarrassment. "Aunt Amelia helped me get her a charmed journal with a proper lock on it. Nobody can get into them, she's even tried mine a few times and couldn't get it to unlock."

"Useful," James nodded in approval. "Especially in Gryffindor, I remember how nosey they all were." He explained with a laugh, drawing a knowing nod from Neville in response.

"I just got her some quills, normal and sugar." Neville explained with a small smile.

"I... I didn't expect anyone to get me anything!" Hermione interrupted before Daphne could continue on with the theme of explaining their gifts. "I really didn't expect anything from mum and dad. They said they'd be keeping my presents at home until I got back there for Christmas." She explained, wiping away a few tears from her eyes.

"I was there, it seemed like a good idea." James smirked over, flicking his eyes up to the clock on the wall and spotting the time. "You see that small one on top? Silver and gold wrapping? That's from Harry and me, you'll want to open that now." He explained with a small grin.

"Now?" Hermione asked, looking over and hoping for an explanation.

"Trust me," James said, sitting down on one of the spaces on the couches around the room as he watched Hermione fish into the plastic bag for the silver and gold present.

He could see she was intrigued by it, it was very clearly not a book or anything shaped like anything she'd expect, and the puzzle was showing on her face as she slowly unwrapped it and neatly put the discarded wrapping paper back into the plastic bag before examining the folded leather present and opening the flap up.

"A mirror?" Hermione asked, the confusion visible on her face as she looked down at the small pocket mirror with a frown. "My hair isn't that bad that I need a mirror all the time is it?" She asked, looking around her small group of friends who were all grinning at her.

"It's not for that," James chuckled. "Make sure your hand is touching the glass side of the mirror, and say Grangers." He explained as he sat back to watch in amusement.

"Grangers." Hermione said aloud, holding the mirror in one hand while examining it and trying to figure out what was going on here.

She nearly dropped the mirror as the reflection of her face fogged over for a second, before it was replaced with a picture of her parents staring back at her through the mirror. "What... how... is this..." She stammered out in shock.

"Happy birthday darling!" Both the Granger's voices came down the mirror, surprising Hermione again and causing her to drop the mirror into her lap before she eagerly grabbed it again and stared into the image in confusion.

"What... is this a recording? Like a picture or painting?" Hermione asked, staring at Professor Potter now in hopes of an explanation.

"Why don't you ask them?" James laughed, making Susan, Daphne and Neville laugh along with Harry joining in a few seconds later.

"Mum? Dad?" Hermione whispered, looking back down to the mirror.

"Finally, I thought you'd be used to all this magic by now, and a little magic mirror throws you off completely." Celeste Granger laughed through the mirror.

"But... how?" Hermione demanded, flicking her attention between the mirror and Professor Potter. "It's really them? Like a phone?"

"Exactly!" Mark Granger replied from the mirror. "Something like a view screen from Star Trek actually, our mirror is on the wall in my office." He explained. "It's actually rather surreal talking to you like this." He explained with a small laugh.

"I actually feel like the Evil Queen from Snow White talking to a mirror like this," Celeste added her own laugh. "How's everything going up there?"

"It's great! Really great!" Hermione explained with a tear filled smile. "You did this for me Professor?" She asked, looking back to Professor Potter.

"They've all got one," James chuckled, gesturing around to all of the friends sat around the living room. "So you can use it to talk to your parents when you're here, or talk to your friends over the holidays."

"Exactly!" Celeste's voice came back. "That did sound like that Professor Potter of yours, is he there?"

"Yes mum," Hermione sniffled out a laugh, turning the mirror around to angle it towards Professor Potter. "That's Harry as well." She explained, causing Harry to wave towards the mirror.

"Oh my, you weren't joking when you wrote that he looked like his father." Celeste's laugh came through the mirror loud and clear.

"There's Susan, and Daphne and Neville." Hermione explained, moving the mirror around so her mum could see everyone in turn before turning it back to herself. "I've never even heard of mirrors like this before." She explained, staring at the mirror in awe for both the magic involved and how it was letting her see and talk to her parents again.

"You probably won't for a few more years," James explained patiently. "Enchanting is sixth and seventh year stuff, you've all got plenty to learn before you even start touching on this sort of stuff." He explained with a smile.

"But this... this is just so fascinating!" Hermione said with an excited grin as she continued to examine the mirror in question.

"You'll be able to use it to call us any time you want dear," Mark explained down the mirror. "Probably best on an evening or weekend, just so we're home when we call. I don't think mirrors come with answer services mixed in." He explained with a laugh.

"It's amazing!" Hermione gave a toothy grin to her father's joke.

"You should spend your birthday with your friends, we just wanted to say happy birthday and that we're still here for you to talk to, any time you want alright?" Celeste smiled over through the mirror. "And do be sure to say thank you to that professor of yours and Harry for their thoughtful gift."

"I will mum." Hermione nodded back, she wasn't likely to forget that any time soon. "I'll... I'll call on Saturday evening alright?"

"Alright dear," Celeste smiled over. "Have a good day and I hope you enjoy the rest of your presents."

"Happy birthday." Mark added one last time as the two smiled across at Hermione, with Celeste blowing a quick kiss before the mirror fogged over again and returned to her reflection.

"That... I... thank you Professor!" Hermione said, turning to Professor Potter with an expression of pure joy on her face. "I didn't think I'd be able to hear from them at all until Christmas."

"The school is pretty bad at stuff like that," James admitted with a grimace. "I cast a few unbreakable and cleaning charms on it, so you don't have to worry about it breaking or anything." He explained. "Everyone else has one, you just have to use their first names to call through to their mirrors."

"They're amazing!" Hermione breathed out, turning the mirror around in her hands and examining it from every angle. "I didn't even know this sort of magic was possible."

"They're really rare," Neville explained with a smile. "Most people just use the floo or owls."

"My aunt says the same," Susan nodded in agreement, sharing a small smile with Neville. "She'd love one for all the Aurors, but it'd be a pain to get them all enchanted to contact all the others."

"And you all have one?" Hermione asked, looking around her friends who all nodded and smiled back. "I can't wait to learn how to make these!" She said with a wide grin.

"I want to learn how to be an animagus, dad turning into a lion whenever he wants is so cool!" Harry grinned over.

"First alchemy, now enchanting?" Daphne asked with a wry smirk on her face. "You do know that's NEWT level magic right?" She asked.

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared and reading ahead." Hermione shot back with a wide smile, knowing that Daphne was just as interested in advanced magic as she was.

"You know those three are going to blow past us all when it's exam time right?" Susan mock whispered over to Neville.

"I know," Neville grinned back with a small blush as he looked across at Susan.

"Ah, right on time." James smiled, interrupting the chatter as he stood up from the couch. "What birthday party is complete without cake and snacks?" He asked with a grin, pointing across to the food that had popped into existence on the long table by the window that overlooked the quidditch pitch outside.

"Cake?" Hermione asked in amazement. "I... I didn't expect..."

"You're not supposed to expect a surprise party, I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of it." James grinned over. "Go on you five, help yourselves, and later on I might have a few more spells to start teaching you to keep you ahead of what Professor Flitwick has got you on right now." He said with a smirk and a wink as the five kids started to make their way over to the party food and fill up their plates with snacks and nibbles.

The room was soon filled with laughter again as the group of kids started chatting amongst themselves about various birthday gifts they'd received over the years.

"Happy birthday Hermione," James whispered, more to himself than anything else as he moved to stand by the doorway of the room, content to just watch the five kids just enjoying being kids for once, no three headed dogs, no trolls, no Voldemort possessed Quirrell's, just kids enjoying a birthday party.

It wouldn't make up for the seven years he'd missed of birthdays and all the mess he'd been through with Hermione in his past, but just for now, seeing this Hermione smile and laugh as Harry told her a joke while they nibbled on sausage rolls and crisps, it seemed to make things just that little bit easier.

He could only hope wherever his Hermione was, if she even existed anymore after all his changes with the past, that she was as happy and carefree as this Hermione was. If nothing else, she deserved that more than anyone, and maybe this small bit of happiness her younger self was enjoying could start to make up for everything his Hermione had lost over the years because of being his friend.

With that thought in his mind, he moved away back to the office to leave the kids to it. They deserved a little bit of fun away from everyone else, and if it helped them enjoy their childhoods just a little bit longer, then he'd make sure to do it every single year, for each one of them.