Preface
Gaining FreedomPosted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/28021563.
Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category:
M/M, Multi
Fandom:
Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Relationship:
James Potter/Lily Evans Potter/Tony Stark, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Lucius Malfoy/Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy/Blaise Zabini
Character:
Harry Potter, Steve Rogers, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Harry Potter Characters, Other Avengers, Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Charlie Weasley, Peter Parker
Additional Tags:
Harry Potter Has a Different Name, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Harry Potter is Tony Stark's Child, Protective Tony Stark, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Phil Coulson, Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Molly Weasley Bashing, Ron Weasley Bashing, Hermione Granger Bashing, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Deaf Clint Barton, No Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, No Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, No Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, No Horcruxes, Remus Lupin Lives, Severus Snape Lives, Fred Weasley Lives, Sirius Black Lives, Creature Harry Potter, Kitsune Harry Potter, Protective Bucky Barnes, Implied Mpreg, Cute Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker
Collections:
Marvel Verse FF
Stats:
Published: 2020-12-12 Updated: 2021-01-26 Chapters: 16/? Words: 73630
Gaining Freedom
by Mama_N4856
Summary
Harry is breaking free. Trapped by Dumbledore at the Dursleys until rescued by four others just before his majority, Harry is finally breaking free and learning the truth about who he is. His mother was a kitsune with two mates, one James Potter the other none other than Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Kept from his true father and his kitsune heritage Harry is taking back control and taking back what is his. Join as he finds family, finds mates, and finds peace with who he is. Can he help bring the Avengers together as they are meant to be? Can he find his mates before something happens? Just who is Harry Potter really?
Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters.
Rescue and Inheritance
Harry glanced to the door with fear and terror flowing through his blood. He was so scared of what the booming footsteps brought with them that he started shaking pulling at his wounds his body already contained. There was that moment of silence before the door opened and the large looming figure of his uncle stood framed by the door into his little cell of a room down in the basement. After he had returned from school for the summer he had been dragged to the basement and into a secret room they had built over the school year, it was soundproofed and contained the barest essentials to keep the room from stinking. He was locked within chains that connected to runic cuffs around his ankles blocking him from accessing his magic and keeping him weakened. He marked each day on the floor beneath the bare mattress he had been given and knew that today was the day before his 17 th birthday. Tonight he would go through his inheritance while locked away by magic draining cuffs. He knew he would not survive the night unless a miracle happened, and that was something he wasn't expecting because he knew the rest no longer cared for him after defeating Voldemort at the end of the school year when he had attacked the school after being let in by Draco who was protecting his parents by following the orders to the bare minimum. Watching his uncle he wondered why he didn't enter the room and just stood there before falling over in a wash of red light. It was then that Harry noticed the figures behind his uncle and could hold in the gasp of hope.
"Shit! Harry! Cub!" Harry recognized the voices calling out as the three men ran through the door and over to his side.
Severus Snape dropped beside his head pulling out his potions pouch from among the many pockets of his robe. Lucius Malfoy dropped near his feet pulling his secondary wand, which was unregistered and not being watched, and started to work on the runes breaking them so they could break the cuffs holding him to the wall. Remus Lupin dropped to his knees running his hand through the matted tangle of hair on Harry's head soothing the young man as best he could and containing his anger at Vernon who he truly wanted to murder for the state that he had found his cub in.
"These were created by Dumbledore and Miss Granger. But locked with the help of the youngest two Weasley's getting. There is a leach on them so all four are getting a boost while he is being drained. They will expect a large surge tonight before he is drained completely." Lucius reported as he continued to work on breaking the cuffs. "He is going to have a large surge when they come off."
"I knew they were a part of it. They were here when I was dragged in, as was Molly but she just stood watch and bragged about how they were going to get my money when I died tonight." Harry whispered leaning into the comfort that Remus was carding his hands through Harry's hair.
"We will deal with them all later, first we have to make sure you survive everything that will be happening tonight." Severus stated simply as he continued to feed him healing potions and running his wand over Harry cataloging everything so they could continue the healing in a safe spot. "We are down to ten minutes before someone shows up."
"Just get me out of this hell." Harry whispered. "I don't care if I survive the night, I just want to make sure that they don't get anything from me. I already had Dobby take a copy of my real will signed in blood and magic to the goblins, he tried to break the runes but was unable to because Vernon showed up before he made a dent in the array."
"You will survive the night; you know that Sirius would go crazier if you didn't and become the new Dark Lord." Remus stated simply not at all joking of the fact of what Harry's death would do to his Godfather.
"Very true, we can't have that no one would survive." Harry chuckled wetly as tears form in his eyes at the thought of his godfather and how close he came to losing him two years ago in the Department of Mysteries.
It was at the Department that it became known that Snape and Malfoy were both spies and that they were being betrayed by Dumbledore, who would have let Malfoy go to Azkaban for the break-in even though he had told Malfoy to attend so no one would be aware of his spying. Thankfully, Harry had learned the truth at the beginning and was able to stand up for Lord Malfoy saving him and earning Heir Malfoy's friendship in thanks. Because of the friendship gained from that Harry was able to help Draco stage the events that made Lord Voldie think he was actually trying all through the year to follow the orders he had been given and able to trick everyone keeping his parents safe while they figured out a way to end the bastard.
"I almost have it." Lucius stated as the runes began to spark as he finally finished destroying the array. "There! Get him out of here!" Lucius stated with a shout as they heard the pops of apparition coming from upstairs.
Remus gathered Harry in his arms and then apparated out of the basement room and through three other jumps to get him to safety without being followed. Severus and Lucius both destroyed all evidence they were there in moments before completing their jump out of the room and to three other locations than Remus had done. When they all met up again it was at the hidden location of Potter Manor, where those that were loyal to Harry were waiting to help as they could. They had all worried about the young man especially when they had received no correspondence from him the whole summer leading to this point. Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Luna, Neville, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Viktor, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Sirius were all waiting in the entrance hall when the wards altered Sirius to the fact the three had arrived with Harry. They knew that there was going to be issues so as soon as Harry was within the manor Sirius locked down the wards not allowing anyone in or out of the building and not allowing any owls in or out besides Hedwig and only if she had no correspondence attached that would harm her master. Sirius was able to control the wards due to his blood adoption by Harry's grandparents when he was 16 and his own blood adoption of Harry when he was a baby. Though Harry would be Lord Potter in a day do to being direct descendant of the line Sirius as a blood member of the family was able to raise the war wards to keep the family safe.
"HARRY!" multiple voices called out in worry as they saw his beaten and battered form laying in Remus' arms.
"Quiet! We need to get him to a room so that I can continue to heal him." Severus stated quickly without raising his voice as he had noticed the flinch that Harry had done when he heard the shout from his friends. He led the way for Remus through the crowd and up the stairs to the room that Dobby had shown him earlier as having been prepared for Harry. He now knew why the crazy elf had told him to stock it with bandages, potions, and healing ointments before they had left the manor. "Remus place him on the bed then go and inform the others of what we found so they don't pester the boy. Lucius bring me a bowl of hot water with four drops of phoenix tears in it so we can wash his wounds and start the healing before his inheritance kicks in."
What followed was three hours of intense healing that left Severus and Lucius exhausted and the others pacing the halls outside of Harry's room. From three broken ribs; infected whip lashes on his back and legs; burns along his arms and front; bruises and lacerations to his legs, stomach, back, face, and arms; a broken ankle, wrist, collarbone, and hipbones; it was just a few of the things they were finding through the healing. There was also bruised organs, a cut on the lung from the broken rib which was close to piercing his lung. Thankfully, there was no damage to his head so they didn't have to worry about a brain bleed, but they did have to fix everything else so that his inheritance would not be affected by trying to heal him as well. They had gotten him out of that house at 9pm, meaning they finished the healing just after midnight and just before his inheritance started surging through his weakened form. Lucius and Severus were forced back from the bed that Harry was laying on by the magical surge that flowed through him. A rainbow glow formed around Harry as his body was lifted from the bed and Harry's magic broke through all the binds that had been placed on him from early childhood to the ones that had been placed at the beginning of the summer. Severus and Lucius backed out of the room as the pressure from the cleansing and inheritance became so much it was almost forcing them to their knees.
Thankfully before the start of everything Severus had gotten a reading of everything that had been on Harry to help with the case everyone was building for him. Harry was not the only one with a leech on them feeding to others but his was of the greatest amount. Taking the scroll of information Severus and Lucius headed through the halls to the main family room where everyone had gathered when they felt the beginning of the power surge knowing that now it was all on Harry to survive and all they could do was hold visual and wait. Winky and Dobby brought them all some refreshments and hard drinks for those of age to enjoy it and Hot Chocolate for those still below. Bill, Fleur, and Gabrielle curled up on one of the long couches in the room while Fred, George, and Charlie gathered by the large bow picture window talking over improvements that could be made to their jokes at the shop, after all Charlie was the one that got them started with pranking and joking even though their mother never acknowledged that fact when punishing them. Draco, Blaise, and Theo gathered around the chess set watching as Neville worked on beating Viktor in a couple rounds, a hidden talent of Neville's since Ron was so proud of his skills at chess and never let anyone else have the board unless he was playing against them. Luna and Sirius were curled together on the smallest couch as she needed the comfort of a father figure after seeing the stated her brother in all but blood had been in when he entered the manor. The large fireplace in the middle of the room was unlit due to the warm weather England was having that summer and to reduce the risk of someone accessing the floo. Above the fireplace watching everything from their portrait was James and Lily, who had commissioned the portrait just before going into hiding at Dumbledore's pressure, he hadn't known that they had done so and would be furious to find out after all it would give Harry a way to connect to his parents even more than the tales he let trickle out from their friends. Remus was standing leaning against the mantel having a small quiet conversation with James letting them both know the stated that Harry had been found in and what was on the cuffs around his ankles. James was holding Lily close and keeping her from leaving the painting to go and scream at Dumbledore for endangering her baby that way. Everyone looked up when the two entered the room and took note of the scroll in Severus' grip.
"What all was wrong with my baby Sev?" Lily asked from the portrait worried because she could see how long it was even though rolled up for it was very thick.
"It wasn't good Lily-flower." Severus stated locking eyes with his best friend. "It took three hours to get him to the point it was safe for the inheritance to do the rest but even then, I could tell that it is having to break many binds and compulsions on him."
"I need to know what is happening to my baby." Lily stated firmly hands on her hips staring down her friend.
"When I ran the initial scan it showed loyalty potions, potions it incite hate, and impairment potions to keep him from learning all that he could, I gave him a cleanser to get rid of all of those while working the healing. I also recorded binds on multiple areas of his magic, not limited to blocking his parslemagic, mage sight, kitsune, soulbonds, mind gifts, and even blocked his eidetic memory. There was also a leech on his magic attached to the magic block and feeding it to Dumbledore, Molly, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. The compulsions he was under were ones to distrust or trust certain individuals, healers, and teachers; as well as compulsions to remain silent over the treatment by the Dursley's and to do the bare minimum in school and studying." Severus stated quickly knowing that it would lead to an explosion from the group around him. He knew that everyone was going to be upset and that when they went to see the Goblins that more would likely come out, like how much exactly was blocked or who had placed the bonds and compulsions, but that would wait until tomorrow.
Severus was right at the idea the news would lead to an explosion though he was concerned to see how pale James and Lily went even though they were a painting.
"His Kitsune was blocked! My poor baby! That had to hurt him so much every single day! We placed a light glamour when he was born so that it wouldn't come out what he was. It must have been broken the night that we died." James cried out. "What about his other father? Where is Tony?"
"Who is Tony?" Sirius asked for everyone.
"I need someone to check the others for obliviates! At least Sirius, Remy, Lucius, and Severus have to have been obliviated to not remember Tony. After all they were all at the birth and wedding and knew about Tony even though we hid him from everyone else for his safety." Lily called out her own Kitsune features showing when it became clear that their boy was one. "Tony was my second mate. Anthony Edward Stark, he is from the Ancient and Noble line of Starks and has a talent as a technomage."
"Bill can you do so? I am surprised that there is the possibility with me being a master of Occlumency." Severus stated angry at the thought that he could be forgetting something so important to his friend. "He probably worked against me as well because for a while I thought that I was angry toward Sirius, Remus, and James. I also thought for a while that you had never forgiven me for that thing that happened in fifth year."
"I can do that. Especially with the magic boost that is happening through the manor. I will do you first Professor then you can help me with the others." Bill stated simply as he moved over in front of his former Professor and slipped through the shields as he was allowed. There truly was a large block that he found and noticed the cracks that were happening meaning that the Professor had already started breaking it down allowing him to remember his friendship with the others. Thanks to the forming cracks he was able to easily break down the rest of the block letting a flood of memories pour out.
Severus lets out a gasp as the memories return and his anger flowed at having been made to forget not only the fact that he was friends with everyone but also his own mate.
Together Bill and Severus worked among the adults to break down the obliviates that everyone was under. Severus knew that it would cause a lot of tears and anger, but it needed to be done. Lucius was upset when the bind on his memories was broken and he remembered that Severus was his mate not Narcissa as he had thought for years. She had been a dear friend that helped protect Severus when he was pregnant with Draco so that people wouldn't suspect, though it was accepted in the British wizarding world to have a male lover it wasn't accepted to have a male husband even if that male could become pregnant and continue the two lines. Severus broke down as soon as the last block was broken sobbing and looking at his baby boy who he had completely forgotten about. Knowing that Draco had to be under heavy glamours to hide his features that he had gotten from Severus he pulled his wand and even though drained from everything that he had already done he worked on breaking what had been placed on his baby boy. Everyone gasped as the glamours fell and they realized what else was hidden from people.
Draco watched as the hair that was falling in his face turned a mixture of black and white blond, his hands became long and narrow like his godfather's and his skin paled even further. Turning confused eyes, that had darkened from their silver grey to nearly black with rings of silver around the edges, toward his father the question clear in his face on why his godfather had cast at him and what was going on. Lucius moved forward and wrapped Draco in his arms before holding an arm out to his mate. The slightly pointed ears poking out of the hair against his shoulder Lucius knew that Severus had to have a glamour on him as well. Holding both his loved one's against himself as he sorted through the memories that had been released and remembered how Dumbledore had broken into the manor and placed the different charms and glamours on them all making Narcissa think she was his wife and that Severus was just a friend. Lucius didn't know how Dumbledore found out that Severus was his mate to his Veela side and that he was Severus' mate to the elf side that was hidden.
"Love you have a glamour on you as well. Dumbledore will pay for what he has done to us. I remember how he came and caused us all to forget. I was the only one that saw him head on as I tried to protect the three of you. Narcissa was killed before she would remember the truth. Lily thank you for prompting us to break the binds. I now remember my own mate." Lucius stated softly looking up at the portrait with his thanks clear in his eyes. "Draco, your mother was not Narcissa. Severus carried and birthed you. He is my mate as I am his."
Severus closed his eyes relishing being held by his mate once again after so long. He knew there was still spells on him but right now he just needed to be held.
"When Harry wakes, we'll have to go to the Goblins. They can record everything that has been done to us, even what has already been cleansed, and provide full cleansings for everyone. If Harry had potions and such to be loyal and other things what is to say we aren't as well." Bill stated carefully remembering how it felt to be cleansed, he had to be routinely cleansed for his job since the Goblins didn't trust many and truly despised thieves.
Draco remained silent through the explanation and simply snuggled into his father even more while wrapping his arms around Severus' arm to keep him close. He had known that there was something deeper with his godfather, he always felt closer than just a godfather/godson bond, he had always went to Severus for support over who he thought was his mother. Now he knew the true reason for that and felt relieved to have the truth.
"It could be a couple of days before Harry wakes." Remus stated having remembered going through his magical inheritance after the full moon and how much it took out of him.
"Why do you keep calling him Harry? My baby boy's name is Nicephorus." James asked into the room.
"We have been calling him Harry so long because of Dumbledore that it is hard to remember that wasn't his name originally." Sirius stated looking up at his long-time friend's portrait and giving the explanation that he had.
"Well get over it! Calling him by that name is letting Dumbassdore win!" James growled in frustration. "His true name is Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Black. Remember that! He is our carrying victory fox, for even though the old fool's prophecy was fake there was a real one of him bringing about a change to the whole world not just the wizarding world."
Lily simply wrapped around James holding him as he continued growling in frustration at his son being denied his own name. The others just watched wondering how to go about letting out the truth of Harry's name without endangering everyone before Dumbledore could be taken down. They finally felt a release of pressure as the last of the magic surrounding Nicephorus' inheritance happened. Sagging they all felt the exhaustion of worry, stress, and excess magic pull them down. With nods all around they all exited the family room and headed to the bedrooms that the Potter elves had prepared for everyone, knowing that the next few days were going to be long as they waited for Nic to wake.
Nicephorus wakes and takes back control
It had been two days since everyone had gathered to support Nicephorus through his inheritance and emergence back into who he was. In the two days Blaise and Theo had returned home to their manors, Bill returned to Gringotts to set a tentative appointment for as soon as Nicephorus woke and could come in as well as doing his usual work, Fred and George managed their shop making plans to leave it in Lee Jordan's capable hands as they sought more locations to open, Lucius and Severus worked on reaffirming their mate bond, Draco worked on connecting with his Bearer as father and son, Remus and Sirius made plans for the trip to Diagon, while all the others found the large manor library and read. It was the sound of the monitor spells that Severus had placed the day after Nic's inheritance that finally alerted them to the fact that he was waking. Only Sirius, Remus, Severus, and Lucius entered the room while the others went back to the family room to wait on word of what was going to happen next.
Nicephorus was sitting up in the bed petting one of the six kitsune tails with one hand while feeling the fox ears that sat on top of his skull with the other. It was clear to the four that he was wondering just what the hell had happened.
"Good morning pup!" Sirius chimed as he entered looking at his blood-adopted son fondly happy to see that not much had changed for the young man other than his foxy features reemerging. "So you probably have a lot of questions. But first we need to know how you are feeling?"
"Like I have been run over by the knight bus at full speed." Nicephorus stated simply as he turned his eyes to the men that he saw as surrogate fathers. With a nod of thanks he took the pain relief potion and pepper up that Severus handed to him downing them quickly to bypass the taste as much as he could. "Why do I have tails and animal ears? As far as I know these sorts of inheritances happen at birth. Wait let me guess Dumbassdore?"
"Correct in one pup. And your father called him the same thing when he found out you have been called by the wrong name since the night of their death." Remus chuckled as he wandered over to the bed and sat down beside the young man that was his cub in all but blood. "You get your kitsune side from your mother."
"How??? What?" Nicephorus was confused by what Remus was telling him in just a few sentences.
"Your parents had a portrait made and it is in the main family room downstairs. Your true name is Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Black." Severus stated softly trying to help clear things up. "Your mother had two mates. We don't know what happened to Tony after their deaths and when we go to Gringotts we can have them start looking into it."
"Stark? Tony? You don't mean Tony Stark as in Iron Man of the Avengers in New York City? That Tony Stark?" Nic sat up straight quickly looking at the four men and only seeing confusion on their faces over who Iron Man might be. "We need to get the wizarding world up to date on what is happening in the mundane world. There are heroes out there with powers that put ours to shame."
"We will find out when we get to Gringotts pup." Remus stated confused by what Nic was saying but knowing that things would be cleared up eventually.
"When can we go? And were you able to save any of my things from the Dursleys'?"
"We got everything we could, including some of your mother and father's items that they were supposed to be storing for you but mostly were trying to sell or use for themselves. Petunia was caught wearing some of your mother's jewelry that belonged to the Evans wizarding line." Severus stated smugly. He had enjoyed removing everything of Lily and James' from that house especially from around Petunia's giraffe like neck.
"I figured the bitch would do something like that. It didn't matter it was wixen items as long as it looked expensive and she could make herself look better than the neighbors. They will find I will not let them get away with that theft lightly." Nic stated firmly with a smirk.
"Why don't we go join the others in the family room and get something to eat then if you are up to it, we will head to the Goblins and get started there." Lucius stated a smirk of his own on his face at the thought of destroying the Dursleys' as well as Dumbledore and his cronies.
"Sounds good, but I should probably get something to wear that isn't the rags of Dudley. And just who else is around?" Nic asked as he moved to the edge of the bed and stood on wobbly legs, his six tails spreading out behind him to assist with his balance.
"Let's see, currently it is Draco, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Luna, Viktor, Fleur, Gabrielle, Neville, and us. Blaise and Theo have been back and forth but mainly remain at their respective manors to keep suspicion down. Malfoy Manor is in lockdown, allegedly for a time of grieving and Severus is there with Draco and I as support. Bill is still going back and forth to Gringotts though he hasn't left yet this morning. Fleur is here to watch over her sister but is unknown to be in the country. Viktor has taken a break from quidditch and is 'traveling in peace'. Fred and George have been back and forth from their business talking plans with their friend Lee to expand the business and are looking for locations to explain their absence to people. And Charlie has taken a sabbatical from the reserve though his parents don't know that fact. Luna is on an adventure with her father looking for some rare creature." Lucius explained brushing his hair behind his ear as he thought of who all had been around, as well as the reasons that no one would look for them and what they might be up too.
"Thanks Luc." Nic stated as he entered the in-suite bathroom and got ready for the day still moving slightly slow from the general achiness his body was feeling. As soon as he finished with his shower he stepped out and called a quiet thank you to the house elves for the clothes they had magicked into the bathroom. Dressed in tight black dragon hide pants, that had a magic slit to fit his tails through and still be comfortable, as well as a deep green Acromantula silk shirt that was soft to the touch on the few wounds that remained on his back from his magic focusing on internal and life threatening before working on the whip marks. Exiting the bathroom he gave a soft smile as he saw the four men sitting on the edge of his bed talking softly over what had been uncovered in their minds after they arrived two days ago. "Well let's go see the rest of the crowd." Was all Nic stated as he headed for the door barefoot with his tails waving behind him and the others moving quickly to their feet to follow behind.
As the group of five entered the family room they were greeted with happy shouts and cries of welcome from the group gathered around the room. Sirius called out for an elf to bring everyone breakfast as he helped Nicephorus to a comfortable couch. Remus and Sirius sat on either side of Nic as he stared up at the portrait of his parents feeling grief at the fact that this was all he would have from them until his death. He hoped that his second father was still alive somewhere if it wasn't the Tony Stark of the Avengers.
"Oh my beautiful baby boy!" Lily called out reaching out as if she could reach through the portrait and hold the young man. "You are even more handsome than I thought you would end up being. You were born with four tails; something must have happened for you to gain two more."
"Remember Lily-flower, Kitsunes are born with a number for how powerful they are and at their inheritance they gain one for each mate that they need." James reminded his four tailed wife what she had learned when she gained an extra two on her majority to the two that she already had.
"Of course, I did forget that. Oh my sweet baby will have two wonderful mates! Severus, Remus, Sirius, and Lucius you better make sure that they are good enough for my baby!" Lily crossed her arms and glared at the four mentioned men, everyone else was fighting laughter as Nic went red with a blush that reached down his neck and disappeared under the collar of his shirt.
"Momma!" Nic called out with an embarrassed tone as the house elves popped in with the breakfast for everyone, especially a large amount of fruit for Nic that he hadn't even realized he was hungry for until he saw it. Some of the fruit was exotic and things he had never tasted before but after the first bite he could barely get enough. Due to the starvation at the Dursleys' he was sadly unable to eat as much of the fruit as he wanted.
"Oooo, Dragonfruit! Oh how I miss being able to eat my favorites. Is that Yuzu fruit I see? And Akebia? The house elves must have gone to Hawaii and Japan for your fruits baby, those three are native to those areas. Japanese fruits, vegetables, and other dishes will become some of your favorites as happens with all Kitsunes." Lily stated softly eyes bright as she watched her son enjoy the fruit and give a little mew of sadness when he was too full to enjoy any more.
"Here cub I will put a preservation charm on it so you can have more later." Remus softly stated his own eyes soft at the distress of his cub.
"Thanks Moony." James called out enjoying having everyone around the portrait so that they could all enjoy time together and plan together over what would happen next. "Hey Kit, when you are ready, we can talk over what to do as soon as you leave the manor. Right now Padfoot has told me it is in lockdown war wards mode so that no one that wasn't in when the wards went up would be able to get in. You are safe for the time being."
"Thanks Papa." Nic spoke softly curling up into Sirius' side and letting his gaze drift over all the friends that were there. "I'm glad that everyone here is safe. I know that Dumbles will be pissed that I survived my inheritance, and he won't be able to claim my vaults."
"You will have to go to Gringotts soon so that they can make sure it stays where he can't claim them and to find out what exactly you are able to claim." Lily was soft spoken her voice as gentle as her eyes as she watched the six tails of her little boy curl around him and those on the couch with him. His fox ears twitched every so often to pick up the noises around the room and around the manor.
"The Goblins are aware that you would come in as soon as possible and they will make someone available to you to help claim what you need to. I went in and set up a tentative appointment since we weren't sure how long you would be out of it." Bill spoke up from over by the bookshelves that were framing the large window at the front of the room. "They also know that they can start gathering evidence of line theft and vault theft on Dumbledore and the others as this is not the first time, they have done things like this, well at least not for Molly and Dumbledore. I know for a fact that Molly is trying to block the twins from claiming the Prewett line, which is theirs by being the last set of magical twins in the family, it always goes to twins first before any others since each generation has had one set at least." Bill explained looking at his twin brothers whom he would take in with him to work today so they could claim their titles, they had until they were twenty-one to do so before the title would go into default for the next set of twins born.
"We'll go with you…"
"To take care of it…"
"Today, Bill. Thanks…"
"For letting us know." Fred and George spoke together in their normal method, though now the others knew that they were magical twins they understood the reason they were able to do it so smoothly, they were literally one soul in two bodies.
"I'll go in today as well Bill." Nic stated from his resting position watching his dear friends with a soft smile on his face. "I need to get this all taken care of before any more time passes and Dumbles tries to get the Wizengamot to declare me dead since I haven't shown up anywhere, and he knows how wounded I was."
"We'll leave in a half hour then so that we can beat any crowd that will show up throughout the day." Bill stated looking at the grandfather clock that sat beside the door leading into the room.
"That works for me." Nic stated before snapping his fingers and calling for a house elf to gather sock and his dragonhide boots so he would be ready to leave when it was time. The others simply nodded as they finished up their meals and then left to gather what they needed to go and take care of everything.
Within twenty minutes the large group was ready and in the Floo room waiting to leave, they would stager their entrance into Diagon to keep from drawing too much attention to themselves and making sure they could keep an eye out for trouble. The twins went through first with Charlie and Bill to their shop; followed shortly by Luna to a different grate in the Alley; next went Lucius, Severus, and Draco into the actual lobby of the bank; Neville went through to the Leaky with Fleur and Gabrielle as if he was going to show them the Alley; Viktor apparated into the Alley itself having been there before due to his quidditch career; finally Nic flooed out with Sirius and Remus to the Leaky and slipped through without anyone noticing it was him thanks to the notice-me-not charm woven into the cloak that Sirius had passed over to him as a late birthday gift before pulling on his own. Looking around quickly the three of them slipped out into the back alleyway and opened up the entrance into Diagon itself so that they could move through the light morning crowd, which was mostly shop owners setting up for the day, a few waved to Remus in greeting. They soon made it to the bank and entered pulling back the hoods of their cloaks as soon as they were through the doors so as to not anger the Goblins by trying to be sneaky and unseen within their building. Approaching a teller Nic waited patiently to be acknowledged.
"May I help you?" The Goblin, by name of Bloodspear according to the name plate on the desk in front of him, sneered at the trio of wixen.
"Good morning Master Bloodspear, I'm hoping to speak with the Potter-Stark-Evans account manager this morning. I believe Curse Breaker Weasley set up a tentative appointment?" Nic replied remaining respectful, after all only those who were idiots would anger and devalue those who managed their gold which sadly was most of the wixen world.
"And whom is requesting this meeting?" Bloodspear asked even though due to the magic inherent in the wards of the building he knew who was standing before him.
"Heir Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Evans." Nic replied remaining respectful to the amazement of Goblins around them.
"Very well. Griphook will take you back to Kargok." Bloodspear waved over Griphook with a sneer clear on his face still.
"My thanks. May your gold always grow." Nic gave a slight bow before turning to Griphook.
"And may your enemies crumble before you." Bloodspear responded surprised that the young heir knew any of the proper responses.
"Good morning Griphook, I trust that your day has been profitable so far?" Nic stated as he followed behind the goblin that had first taken him down to his vault when he re-entered the wixen world at 11.
"Good morning Heir Potter-Stark-Evans. I've been very profitable this morn. I hope your enemies are cowering." Griphook responded like Bloodspear amazed at the proper edicate that was being shown, Remus and Sirius followed silently behind as they headed to the Potter account managers office.
"They will soon be doing so. After you guide us to my managers office would you be willing to go request the head of the bank come to the office. I feel there will be things that will need to be taken care of that he will desire to be present for, ask him to be unseen at first, I feel some harsh truths will become evident." Nic requested carefully, making sure no one else was able to hear what he was asking for.
"I will do so. But you better hope you are not wasting his time." Griphook replied as he knocked on Kargok's door and opening it for the three when the call to enter came through.
"I will not be." Was all Nic responded as he entered the office with his head straight and his tails out in the open. "Greetings Manager Kargok, I hope you have had a profitable morn?"
Getting to the truth
"Young Heir my day is gaining in profits, may your enemies tremble before you. Now how can I help you?" Kargok replied outwardly calm though inwardly he was swearing, Dumbledore had told him that the young heir would not live through his inheritance so it would not matter if they skimmed from the vaults.
"I am here to go over my vaults and to take an inheritance test to find out what I will be eligible for." Nicephorus stated calmly though inwardly he was smirking for he could tell his manager was uncomfortable.
"I am sure you don't need to do that. You are the Potter-Stark-Evans heir there is no need for an inheritance test or vault record."
"Would you be trying to keep me from finding out everything? I also need the full inheritance test so that I can get record of the one that bound my magic and tried to compel me into many things. You will get me a record of all withdrawals from my vaults, a full inheritance test, and my lordship rings. I will be taking up my Lordships today as will my Godfather." Nic drew himself up fully looking larger than his 5'4 height due to the fan of tails behind him.
"Your godfather is a wanted criminal. We should be calling for the DMLE to be coming and getting him. He is not eligible for the Black Lordship." Kargok stated while internally cursing his luck that today was the day this happened. Three more days and both Black and Potter would be unable to claim any Lordships because they would have been declared dead.
"I've heard enough young Heir. You were right to request my presence." A voice came from behind Kargok as the goblin equivalent of a notice-me-not charm was dropped showing Head Manager Karnast standing with his arms crossed and a fierce look on his face. "Manager Kargok you are relieved of your duties until we discover why you are inhibiting the young heir from claiming what is his. As for Heir Black, he was never tried and so is eligible as you well know. If we find you have been skimming and helping someone else take from their vaults your head will be forfeit."
Manager Kargok paled, something the three men didn't realize was possible with their complexions, and fled the room hoping to gather his things and disappear before it was discovered what he was doing. Instead he was grabbed by guards right outside the door to be held in preparation for the investigation.
"I will manage your requests until the truth is discovered and things are cleared up Young Heir." Karnast stated simply as he moved behind the desk and started to pull out the records requested and the parchment and bowl to go through the full inheritance test to find out just what the young man was eligible for. Just looking through the first few pages of the vault records Karnast knew that Kargok's head was forfeit for it was clear as day that he was letting Dumbledore take too many things and money especially since the young man still had a living magical parent as was recorded on the top of the page. "It is already clear to me that Kargok will not last the day, his profits were not for you but the old fool and his helpers. Now place five drops of blood within the bowl, I will add the potion that we will then pour on this parchment to figure out what all you are eligible for young heir."
"Thank you, Manager Karnast." Nic stated with a nod, taking the blade his godfather held out to him he pierced his thumb and let the five drops fall before casting a wordless wandless healing spell to close the small wound. As soon as the blood was absorbed into the potion that Karnast poured over it they submerged the parchment into the bowl, watching as the parchment began to fill with a long list of writing Nic decided to help Sirius while they waited. "I would like to know if my parents left any wills. If so, they likely included the true secret keeper. I would like to help my Godfather clear his name and accept his Lordship while we wait for the parchment to finish."
"It would be our pleasure to bring about the truth. The Black vaults are some of our most prominent and sitting stagnant while waiting for Heir Black to claim his Lordship." Karnast pulled out the Black vault records as they were waiting and saw that Kargok was letting Dumbledore into those as well. "Your mother and father did leave wills, Dumbledore locked them but with you reaching majority you are able to unlock them so that they may be read."
"Do so please." Nic nodded giving the permission that the Head Manager needed to open the wills of James and Lily Potter and bring about justice to a wrongfully imprisoned man.
"You are correct that they listed the true secret keeper, they also listed who cast the charm, and who you were or were not supposed to go to. Tell me young heir does the name Petunia mean anything?" Karnast stated looking over the wills before he would call those that needed to be there for the official reading.
"Yes, she is my Aunt that I lived with until my majority." Nic was confused why the manager would be asking about his aunt.
"I see. It was clearly stated, and witnessed by Dumbledore, that you were never supposed to go to your aunt for her hatred of all things wixen. She was to get nothing of your mothers, and it was clearly stated that your aunt had been adopted into the family and so was not even blood family." Karnast stated simply looking up as he heard some glass shatter and saw the power pulsating from the young man, the glass that was broken was a truly ugly vase that Kargok kept that he had received from his sister-in-law. "Calm yourself young Heir we will get everything back with interest."
"I was treated like a slave, locked away, barely fed and I wasn't even supposed to go there? All the bullshit that Dumbassdore fed me about Bloodwards never existed in the first place! She never loved me and made sure I knew it every single day. HOW DARE THEY!" Nic bit out in his anger his tails puffed out behind him showcasing his agitation.
"I am calling in Madame Bones from the DMLE, she will be able to question Heir Black with Veritaserum to get the truth that is needed to help him claim what he needs to claim." Karnast stated simply watching as Heir Black and Mr. Lupin calmed the young man to the best of their abilities surrounding him in a tight hug and running their hands up and down his back in a soothing motion.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for Madame Bones to show up and with the use of veritaserum and the Potter wills was able to clear Sirius of everything, to the point that no trial was needed, and compensation was offered for the years he was in Azkaban and the years on the run hiding from a wrongful kiss on sight order. With a grateful nod from Sirius Amelia left to begin the hunt for Pettigrew so that the true secret keeper and traitor could be caught. She also promised to start gathering information to build the case against Dumbledore. As soon as she left Head Manager Karnast passed over the box containing the Black family Lordship ring, which Sirius wasted no time in placing on his hand.
"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, being of sound mind and magic hereby strike Bellatrix Lestrange from the Black family and family magic. I hereby annual the marriage between Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus Lestrange. I do this for breach of contract and breach of family values, for bowing to a half-blood, and refusing to produce an Heir to Lord Lestrange as is required of the contract. So I say it so mote it be." Sirius stated as soon as the ring had finished accepting him and resized to fit his finger. He had been in correspondence with Rodolphus and Rabastan and had proof from memory vials that they had never lifted their wands to harm the Longbottom's and had in fact raised their wands to protect young Neville from Bellatrix and Barty Crouch Jr. He could now send the proof to Amelia to help clear the two men, since they had all been tried together, and that is against her Majesties laws in the first place, and neither Rodolphus or Rabastan had been able to speak up for themselves against the accusations while Bellatrix and Barty were yelling over them about their Lord returning and saving them.
Karnast simply nodded in response and watched the Black ledgers as Bellatrix No-Name's vault was reabsorbed into the main vaults for the default. He then noticed that Young Potter's test was finally finished writing itself out and pulled it over only for his eyes to widen in shock at what he saw.
"Well, young Lord you will keep us on our toes that is for sure." Karnast stated as he handed over the parchment to the young man.
Nicephorus looked at what blood had declared in shock over everything he had to inhert and all that had been done to him. Passing it over to Sirius who started reading it out for Remus:
Inheritance Test for:
Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Evans (Also Known as: Harry James Potter)
Gender: intersex (bearer) – identifies male
Magic level: Gray Mage
Species: Honored Kitsune
Parents:
James Fleamont Potter – father
Anthony Edward Stark – father
Lily Jocosa Potter-Stark nee. Evans - mother
Sirius Orion Black – Blood-adopted father
Godparents:
Sirius Orion Black – alive (blood-adopted father)
Remus John Lupin – alive (werewolf)
Severus Tobias Snape – alive
Newton Scamander – alive (located New York - Kitsune)
Alice Longbottom – alive (Incapacitated)
Minerva McGonagall – alive (compromised)
Narcissa Black – deceased
Inheritance:
House of Potter – paternal (Lord)
Noble and Ancient House of Stark – paternal (Baron)
Noble and Ancient House of Black – (Heir) paternal and blood-adopted father (Baron)
Most Noble and Ancient House of Evans – maternal (Duke)
Most Noble and Ancient House of Prevelle – paternal, maternal, and by conquest (Duke)
Most Noble and Ancient House of Slytherin – maternal and by conquest (Duke)
Most Noble and Ancient House of Gryffindor – paternal (Duke)
Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Emrys – by magic (Archduke)
Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Lefay – maternal (Archduke)
Bonds on Magic:
Soulbonds – 100% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Parselmagic – 90% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Mage Sight – 100% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Kitsune – 100% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Magic – 85% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Magic Leech – 65% placed by Dumbledore linked to Dumbledore, Molly Prewitt, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger (Broken)
Mind Gifts – 95% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Eidetic Memory – 85% placed by Dumbledore (broken)
Potions:
Loyalty – keyed to Gryffindor house; Molly, Ron, and Ginny Weasley; Hermione Granger; Dumbledore (Cleansed by Severus Snape)
Hate – Keyed to Slytherin house; Severus Snape; Lucius and Draco Malfoy; Dark/Gray Magic (cleansed by Severus Snape)
Distrust – keyed to Remus Lupin; Sirius Black; Teachers; Healers (cleansed by Severus Snape)
Impairment – makes focusing difficult and harms learning
Compulsions:
Distrust - Black Family; Lupin; Malfoy Family; Snape; Longbottom; Lovegood Family; Weasleys – Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George placed by Dumbledore (100% broken)
Remain Silent about Abuse placed by Dumbledore (100% broken)
Dislike Studying and healers placed by Dumbledore (100% broken)
Listen to Dumbledore and Molly Weasley placed by Dumbledore (100% broken)
Nicephorus sat with his head in his hands as he listened to what was listed out. The parchment went along further listing the abuse that he had suffered, every illness, broken bones, and whip marks listed out in black and white giving voice to what he had gone through. It also listed all his vaults and what was taken from where and how much as well as by who things were taken.
"Head Manager Karstan, I request that the Bank of Gringotts recover every knut, sickle, and gallon taken from my line. I request a full recovery of all items taken from my vaults. I request this at full extent of Goblin justice to enact on my behalf and that of my line." Nicephorus stated formally calling for Goblin justice. "I would appreciate the bank of Gringotts to look into the current location of my Father Anthony Stark. I would like all documentation to help with the transfer to the Americas as I would like to relocate to New York where my other Godfather is located. The others will likely be going with me and will need their documentation, they will come in on their own and request it for those that will be coming with. I would also appreciate something to help me make large purchases both in the mundane world and wixen world. I would also like to request that Griphook take over management of my accounts if you are unable. If you are able, I would appreciate him having an assistant position since he has been so helpful since the first time I entered the bank at age 11."
"I will gladly manage your accounts and have Griphook as my assistant. We have a card that is like a mundane credit card that you will be able to be used in both words and takes directly from your main vault. We will also gladly put out the call for Goblin Justice on your behalf." Head Manager Karstan simply stated a fierce gleam in his eyes at the thought of being called to enact justice on the behalf of an honored Kitsune of such standing as the young lord before him. "Before we get to all of that here are the rings attached to your lordships."
Taking the rings from the boxes one at a time Nic slipped each ring on his right ring finger allowing them to merge all into one. The finished product was a mixture of metals with the gold, silver, and mithril blending together in a flawless braid and in the center was a dragon, phoenix, gryphon, and snake all holding a large Ammolite stone in a shining mix of colors, blending all of the stones from the previous lordship rings into one. The only ring that did not merge was the heirship ring for the Black line. As soon as the magic settled into the ring Nicephorus took a deep breath and relaxed letting alone the tension that was running through him. Now all he needed to do was find out if Anthony Stark his father was the same Anthony (Tony) Stark as Iron Man.
"May your gold flow and your enemies tremble before you, Head Manager Karstan." Nicephorus stated as he stood and nodded taking the dragonhide wallet that was handed to him holding his Gringotts card and ID that would be needed to travel to the US, it also holding his valid passport containing his true name and listing him as male.
"May your enemies fear your lightening and your gold increase with each strike." Karstan stated with a slight bow in response as he stood to see the three gentlemen out of the office area of the bank where they met up with their group in the Lobby.
Tony's past and Present collide
Chapter Summary
this is a chapter to explain how Tony ended up with James and Lily and how the others became friends. He finds out the truth of his families fate that Halloween Night and what has happened since.
Chapter Notes
AN: for the sake of the story timeline I am moving the Harry Potter world forward 10 years. Meaning James, Lily, and the others were born in the 70s and Harry was born in the 90s. also changing some of the background timeline to make things line up where I need them too.
Tony watched as Pepper danced with Happy at the latest party, he was throwing to forget his past. He knew that many had thought that Pepper had gotten the CEO position because he was sweet on her and wanting to get into her pants but that couldn't be farther from the truth. He had two true loves of his life and will no longer look at others the same way. Sure he used to sleep around but that was more to forget the ache that he felt than the true desire to be a playboy as the media coined him. He had loved and lost by the time that he was 22 and truly wasn't looking to love again. He knew that those around him knew something had happened but even Fury didn't know about his true past. Once they saw he was a 'playboy' like his father they labeled him so and around came the 'Iron Man yes, Tony Stark no' recommendation from Natasha, even though it was while he was being poisoned by the arch reactor that powered the Iron Man suit. Moving over to the large wet bar he gave Steve a nod as he started mixing up a drink for both of them. Pulling out the firewhiskey for Steve wanting to give him a bit of a buzz and knowing from tests his father had run after marrying his mother and got a hold of magical alcohol Steve would be able to get a small buzz from a whole bottle, his father had remembered Steve's dislike of not being able to get drunk after Bucky fell.
"Try this Cap. It should give a little kick to your system." Tony pushed over a tumbler of the potent alcohol.
"I can't get drunk Tony. You know that." Steve replied though taking the tumbler even so and starting to sip at the drink so that he would blend in a bit more.
"Give this a try it will help." Tony raised his own tumbler of firewhiskey. "I know you ran into some special forces in the war Cap. Tied to a man called Grindelwald or fighting against him?"
"I remember that name and a chap named Dumbledore, another with the name Potter as well."
Tony winced at the mention of the Potter name not yet drunk enough to be able to cope tonight with the fact that his beloved mates weren't beside him. It would have been Nicephorus' 17 th birthday three days ago and Tony had steadily working at getting black out drunk each night as he thought of the news he had been given on November 3 rd of 1991; Lily, James, and Nic had all been killed on Halloween while Remus, Peter, and Sirius had been killed November 2 nd when trying to get revenge against those that had destroyed their friends. He had also heard that Sev and Luc had been locked away in Azkaban without trial, but he was unable to get them a trial because they had the mark, and no one would listen to him that they had been spies since he was an American. Tony finished the drink in his tumbler before refilling it and finishing that one as well.
"Slow down there, buddy." Steve stated while Clint and Phil walked up the bar concern also clear on their faces as how quickly Tony was downing drinks.
"My little man would've been 17 now. He would've been going through his majority and finding his mate or mates. My mate had two who is to say my baby wouldn't of as well." Tony mumbled as the alcohol was hitting his empty stomach and getting him intoxicated that much faster. The others were concerned to see tears forming in Tony's eyes, they couldn't remember a time when they had ever seen him cry.
"Hey, JARVIS, can you work on getting everyone that isn't supposed to be in the tower out. Keep the team handy but everyone else needs to leave, include Pepper and Happy in the leaving group." Phil stated looking toward one of the many cameras that JARVIS operated through.
"Will do gladly Agent Coulson. Should I request that Lt. Colonel Rhodes join us?" JARVIS responded in his typical British accent, which caused the tears forming to actually spill over and stream down Tony's face.
"That might be a good idea." Clint stated while going around the bar and switching Tony's whiskey tumbler for a large bottle of water. "Hey Tones come on and let's find a comfortable place to sit down. Then you can tell me all about your little boy. After all you have sat through countless stories of my brother's kids and wife that I'm protecting, I would gladly listen to yours."
"Sounds good." Tony mumbled looking blankly at the bottle of water and then at Clint's hand on his arm guiding him to one of the many large couches. "Why'd the party stop?" He asked looking around and noticing that it was only Phil, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and coming in through the elevator Rhody.
"You don't need a party right now buddy. You need to take some time and just sit." Steve stated sitting beside Tony on the couch and giving him what comfort he could without touching him as Steve knew that sometimes Tony was really sensitive to touch.
"Agent my main man, does everyone know about that other world within our own?" Tony asked carefully, because of his active magic he metabolized alcohol almost as fast as Steve did, hence why he could drink so much without getting alcohol poisoning.
"Everyone here knows about the magical world for one reason or another." Phil stated sitting beside his husband Clint and wrapping an arm around him to help ground him. Clint had been brought into the know of the magical world because of what happened with Loki, Phil hadn't wanted him to have a continued fear of magic so had exposed him to the wixen world so he would no not all magic was harmful, but Clint was still uneasy at times.
"Good, good…That makes things easier. Hey, Platypus, long time no see…" Tony stated and looked as if he was going to get up to go give Rhody a hug but instead his friend came over and wrapped his arms around Tony.
"JARVIS filled me in on what you were saying Tones. I'm sorry I missed being here for Nicephorus' 17 th, I was there for you on the others and I missed this one I'm sorry." Rhody simply sat beside his friend and wrapped him in a large hug. "Do you want me to tell the others or are you up to it? I think you need to come clean about it all, it might help some see things as they really are." As he said this he was glaring at Natasha, he blamed her for some of Tony's self-destructive activities after her report came out, he especially blamed her report on why his friend thought he had to fly a nuclear missile through that wormhole a couple of months ago.
"Please…at least to start…" Tony's voice was barely a whisper as he hid his face in his best friend's shoulder.
"No problem Tones. Just rest." Rhody rubbed his hand up and down Tony's back trying to get his friend to relax he could clearly see the dark bags under his eyes. "You'll need to understand that this is very rough thing for Tony to remember. Most of what you all know of him was a mask he put on after this time and no one thought to look past it." Against Rhody had his eyes firmly on Natasha as he said this. "You all know that I met Tones at MIT when he was just 14 and then he graduated at 16. I took him under my protecting having already graduated from Ilvermorny and was working on a degree. Tones was working on attending Ilvermorny at the same time as attending MIT to make his father happy. Tones father was not that accepting of him being a technomage let alone any other sort of wixen and felt that he should have an actual degree to show those of the board when he was old enough that weren't in the know of magic. Howard was a squib of the Stark line while Maria was a squib of the Lestrange line who escaped with the original Jarvis to the Americas when she was a child instead of being killed for not having magic. Her older sister was Leta Lestrange. Tony was working himself to the bone to keep his father happy while also working on keeping his grades in the top levels so not to cause more actions against him. Tony won't admit it, but Howard was at the least emotionally abusive because of the magic forming for Tony and no him." Rhody kept up his soothing backrub to keep Tony calm and make sure he didn't start arguing as he always did about how his father was. "Anyway after Tones graduated from MIT and was in his last year of school at Ilvermorny when there was an exchange program offered between the three big name schools in Europe. Tones was chose to go to Hogwarts instead of Durmstrang as Howard was wanting him too, the excuse he gave was that there was a war going on in England and he didn't want his only child caught up in it. It was the best thing that he could have done to be honest, even though there was the war against Dark Lord Voldemort going on it was where he met his mates…" Tony let out a soft whimper at that point. "And where he met some others who could keep up mentally with him in a way no one else has ever been able to do."
"Voldemort? What happened to Grindelwald?" Steve asked confused.
"Grindelwald was 'defeated' by Dumbledore shortly after you went into the ice. No one knows how the duel went since it was only the two of them, but Dumbledore showed up with Grindelwald in magical chains at the ICW and convinced them to lock him in his own tower. Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, started his rise to his position of power only about ten years after Grindelwald's fall." Phil explained. "He made an anagram of his name to hide from his followers that he was a half-blood and started promoting his pure-blood agenda with other like-minded purebloods. He was momentarily defeated in 91 before records of his return only three years ago and his final defeat only three months ago."
"Getting ahead of things there, Phil." Rhody stated simply turning to look at everyone. "Anyway as I was trying to explain. Tony headed to Hogwarts for the year of exchange even though it was his final year at Ilvermory and he would have to take two sets of tests to be a qualified wixen in the US, the NEWTs at Hogwarts and WOMBATs at the ICW headquarters after he returned. Hogwarts doesn't provide all the same education as the rest of the wixen world and hasn't since Dumbledore became the Headmaster. I mean they can't even keep at DADA professor for more than a year at a time with most either dying or going insane." Rhody had to give himself a shake to break free of the rant he wants to go on at the thought of the worsening education those at Hogwarts were getting compared to everyone else. "When Tony arrived, he was sorted into their house system so he would have a place to stay, he said he was given a choice between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He went into Gryffindor; I still say that the colors of the house inspired the painted colors on his suit but he argues that it is just coincidence." Rhody chuckled as he got a light smack to his stomach from Tony who though listening kept his face hidden in Rhody's shoulder. "There he met James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and a few others. The main one that caught his attention was Lily Evans, a young kitsune who had recently gone through her final inheritance and developed two more tails showing that she had two mates waiting for her. He helped Lily get Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, and Narcissa Black to help each other and work with the four boys who called themselves the Marauders, i.e. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. The seven had been at odds since they started school as firsties with Lily being caught between as she started Hogwarts as one of Severus' friends and knew the others because of that friendship but James had always been sweet on Lily and thought that Sev was trying to romance her. Needless to say the reaction that happened the Hogsmeade weekend when James and the others found out the truth and became friends was hilarious. Severus was actually Lucius' mate and Lily and Narcissa had been working together to give them chances to go on dates while covering for them. After that occasion James and his friends helped hide the fact that Severus and Lucius were together, Tony was a part of the secret wedding they had one Hogsmeade weekend before the end of the term. Lucius had been in a marriage contact with Narcissa that would have had to be fulfilled as soon as they graduated but was easily broken because of the previous marriage, Narcissa was asexual and simply wanted to help her friends keep their secrets so she 'married' Lucius in a fake ceremony, the officiant they used was the one that had done the marriage of Sev and Luc, so he knew the truth and was able to make the ceremony work to keep everyone safe."
Rhody nodded his thanks as Clint handed him a bottle of water to refresh his throat from all the talking. He looked down as Tony stirred against him and sat up turning to the others in the room.
"Rhody knows all of this because he would come to the Hogsmeade weekends to check up on me and was there for these events. What he wasn't seeing was the fact that Dumbledore was trying to force Luc and Sev to become spies for him when they graduated, basically saying that since they were Slytherin the only good they could do was spying or they would turn out to be true Death Eaters. Sev and Luc did begin spying because they were being blackmailed, some how Dumbledore had found out about their relationship but not their marriage and knew that Sev's homophobic father would increase the beatings when he was home and Luc's traditional father would force them apart which would be very painful for the two of them because of their creature halves would not accept it." Tony explained calmly before looking down at his hands. "Luc and Sev were the witnesses for James, Lily, and I's bonding. We did a traditional Celtic Wixen bonding ceremony. I can never marry again because of it, though it doesn't stop people from thinking that I would. I also have not truly had relations with anyone since they died, I create elaborate dream illusions for those I bring home, they are usually drunk and in danger from others around them, so I act like I am going to have sex with them and get them out of the area we are. The few that I don't do the illusions for asked me to help get them out of an area and they sleep in the guest room. Even Pep thought I was a playboy until she realized what was happening when she came once and found the lady in the midst of the illusion while I was down in the lab, since then she has helped with the illusion by escorting them out of the manor with the usual empty phrases about contact, it is why there aren't more baby Starks wandering around."
Natasha flinched as she realized all that she had missed in the time she was spying on Tony, for she too had fallen for the playboy act.
"It took until Yule of my time at Hogwarts for Lily to realize that James and I were both her mates, she was the first in ten generations to manifest as an Honored Kitsune with Earth blessings so had to look back through the vaults that she had discovered with the help of the Goblins that summer. She had to keep everything secret because her parents had been killed the year before by Death Eaters and her adopted sister was a bitch of the highest level. She had locked Lily away in a room in their home while she and her fiancé wasted the inheritance that was supposed to go to both of them and moved to a nicer neighborhood, leaving Lily locked in the room since she hadn't turned 17 yet so wasn't able to apparate out. Once Lily figured out what the two extra tails had meant and why she was being drawn to both James and I, we started a relationship as a trio though to Dumbledore and others it was simply James and Lily. The Stark family is highly known in the Wixen world though for six generations they have only produced squibs before Howard married my mother and unlocked the family magic. They like the Blacks of England had become very inbred before the squibs started and then they simply passed down the history of our true family history while creating something else for the mundane world." Tony stole Rhody's water bottle and took a drink even though he still had the one in front of him on the coffee table that Clint had given him earlier. "We bonded as a trio soon after we all graduated, then Lily and James held a public ceremony of marriage between the two of them to keep Dumbledore from getting suspicious that his plans weren't going as they should. He had been too interested in James after his parents died in a big attack on the Potter Family Manor over Yule." Tony started getting choked up as he thought about the next part and instead of staying seated he stood and went back to the bar getting himself another tumbler of Firewhiskey.
"Tony…Are you saying that you were married to James and Lily Potter? The parents of the boy-who-lived Harry Potter?" Phil asked concern covering his face.
"I don't know who this Harry is but yes I was married to James and Lily. We had a son a year after marrying, who registered as having the genetics of all three of us when he was born." Tony replied taking a sip of his whiskey. "Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Evans was born July 31 st, 1990 at 11:59pm just as the seventh month died. Dumbledore for some reason became obsessed with that fact as well as the fact that his godbrother Neville had been born only five minutes before him. We did a godparent bonding ceremony to several of our friends as well as a dear mentor of mine Newt Scamander. Because of the bonds we ensured Nic would be protected from the danger of being placed with those that would harm him. We misjudged somewhere. The Halloween of 91 I had been requested by Stane to come and attend a gala that was being thrown in honor of my mother with her favorite charity as the recipient. No one outside of our friends from Hogwarts and Rhody knew about Nicephorus, or even that I was married to my mates. It was November 4 th that I was greeted by Dumbledore in my living room in Malibu when I was getting ready to head back to England and my mates. I never get the papers from England, before so I could keep my mates safe as it would be hard to explain why I was still in contact over there, Stane didn't know about the wixen world, so I had no idea of what had happened that Halloween night, I wasn't linked with the wards for all of our safety." Tony got another refill of whiskey, putting more than he normally would in the tumbler and swallowing it in one go. "He explained what happened to my friends and their kid, he still didn't know that I was one of the parents or a member of their marriage. He also explained how Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all dead and Lucius and Severus were in Azkaban. I was worried for Luc and Sev because they had just had a son around the same time as we had Nic. I tried to get trials for them, but no one would listen to an American first generation, it didn't matter that I was a Stark or even that I was one of young Draconis' bonded godparents."
"Shit! You have a lot of bad information Stark." Phil stated standing and approaching as one would a wounded animal. "Only James and Lily were killed that night. Harry…I mean Nicephorus was labeled the boy-who-lived and disappeared until he was 11 and entered Hogwarts. Remus Lupin became his DADA teacher in his third year when Sirius Black escaped Azkaban. He was sent there for revealing the location of the Potters, at least according to Dumbledore and the Daily Prophet, and for killing twelve muggles and Pettigrew, we at SHIELD could find no record of him being convicted or even tried when he escaped so we didn't send anyone after him though we were approached by the British Ministry. Malfoy was never sent to Azkaban, he gave a detailed secret confession and to hide the truth it was passed that he was under the imperious curse, to protect his son. Snape became the Potions Professor the year after James and Lily were killed and taught Nicephorus and his son Draco."
"Sirius wasn't the secret keeper, Peter was…Dumbledore knew that as he cast the spell…I hope to Merlin that Sirius did get Peter the rat, should have known he was the spy after all his animagus form is that of a common rat." Tony ranted and pitched his tumbler across the room. "Dumbledore had to know that I didn't get the paper over here. He had to have known I would look for my son…Peter must have told him about the three of us…" Tony was running his hands through his hair pacing back and forth. "You said earlier that Voldemort was finally officially defeated three months ago…Who killed him?"
"Your son." Phil replied reaching out to place a hand on Tony's shoulder but stopping before completing the action.
"Rhody, I need you to scan me. I never trusted Dumbledore, why would I just take his word at the events of those days." Tony turned steely eyes to his friend. He would find out the truth of everything, he was a master of Occlumency thanks to the help that Severus had given him when they decided to hide the connection between James, Lily, and himself.
"Are you sure Tony?" Rhody verified while standing and walking over to join Tony by the bar, as he walked, he pulled out the 11-inch alder and thunderbird tail feather wand that had been his constant companion since he was 11.
"Do it." Tony gave a firm nod and visibly braced himself. With a wave of Rhody's wand Tony was thrown back in his mind to the night he received the news from Dumbledore, with Rhody's help he was able to find the blanks where his true memories should be and tore them down. Tony was just grateful that he had only blocked the memories not erased them. Rhody also destroyed the compulsions not to look into things that had been placed that night. "That bastard! I did question things because I felt the bond break to James and Lily but not my bond to Nicephorus. Because of the bonds breaking I was in no shape to fight him off when he raised his blasted wand on me. I'm going to bring him down in anyway I can. Phil do you know where Nicephorus was sent after that night?"
"It came out in his fifth year that he had been sent to his maternal aunt and her husband." Phil responded.
"That is where I will start then for, I know she would never have accepted Nic willingly, also I know that she would never have accepted his magic. He had four tails already so something had to have been done to hide that, if I find Dumbass suppressed his Kitsune he will taste a blast from my suit up his ass." Tony shook himself to get himself ready for battle the best way he could. "You said he was known as Harry Potter?"
"Yes, Harry James Potter was seen as the son of James and Lily Potter. No one remembers Lily being a kitsune like you said so there is probably a charm on Harry's name or on the moniker of the boy-who-lived." Phil responded crossing his arms over his chest. "Our inside ministry man has been keeping us as up to date as he could, H…Nicephorus disappeared the day before his birthday from the Dursley household. Because he is of age in the wixen world the ministry isn't getting into it but Dumbledore on the other hand is having a wixen wide search going on."
"JARVIS pull up everything you can find on Petunia Dursley, nee Evans, Vernon Dursley of Grunnings Drills, their son Dudley and Harry James Potter. School reports on the last two and include bank records for Vernon and Petunia"
"Right away sir." JARVIS stated simply before holographic images started filling the air around Tony. The others in the room stood to come and help search through things, after all this was Tony's child they were trying to find and help. Natasha stayed back embarrassed that she had gotten so much wrong about Tony when she was undercover and now understood better why he was the way he was. "Harry Potter was not seen in the company of any of the Dursley's until he was to start school. He excelled in his subjects until the first report card then did just below his cousin's best. Vernon began receiving the amount of 2,000 pounds each month starting November 2 nd, 1991. Petunia Dursley is reported to having stated that her slut of a sister had gotten into a car accident with her drunk husband leading to the distinct scar on Harry Potter's forehead as he was in the car at the time. It is clear in the school pictures shown here that he was being neglected at the most if not outright abused. Several reports of abuse were made only to disappear within the next day. There are no records of money changing hands but some of reporters disappeared shortly after while others started looking the other way."
"Someone, likely Dumbledore was to about and silencing the reports somehow, we will need to find evidence to further our case. Have there been any signs of Nicephorus since he returned after his last year at school?"
"Witnesses saw him enter the residence but never exit after." Phil reported instead of JARVIS since their inside man had that information when asked. They were helping look for the young man but only because they wanted to protect him from the Wixen World that was turning on him once again. "We have been trying to find evidence of where he might have gone but so far nothing. Our inside man doesn't have a clue but did say that four gentlemen were seen forcing their way into the residence shortly before 7pm the day before his birthday. No one had a clear look at them but report that Vernon Dursley looked terrified in particular at the sight of one of them."
"JARVIS set up a scan perimeter to see if there is any signs of Nic. Or if anyone starts looking into our relationship." Tony stated turning to return to the bar but being stopped by Rhody. "I need another drink Care Bear."
"No you really don't Tones. It won't help anything if you get drunk off your ass about this. We will find him and get him back to you." Rhody promised while squeezing his shoulder. "What you need it to head to bed and take a dreamless sleep so that you can actually get some of the miss sleep that you need. You need to be on top of your game whenever we find him so you can help bring him home. I will haul you back there if I need too."
"Fine, Fine…" Tony replied heading down the hall to his room with no intention of getting rest, he was going to be appariting down to his work lab and loose himself in something there, only he was stopped from doing so by Steve following him down the hall.
"I know what it is like to lose a mate. My magic was the only thing keeping me alive before the serum and Dr. Erskine figured it was my magic that helped with surviving the process. Back then having a male mate wasn't accepted in the least and could lead to death so Buck and I had to fake that it was just as really deep friendship. I know most thought that Buck died in the fall, but I can tell that he is still out there somewhere." Steve stated simply as he followed Tony back to his room knowing his impulsive friend would do something to further harm himself. "Please Tony take the dreamless sleep, you do need the rest. I know that I will be doing the same since this stirred up memories for me that I want to forget."
"Fine…" Tony sighed as he entered his room and went to the cabinet beside the bathroom where he kept all the potions that he used, including a supply of Dreamless Sleep which was magically secure so he couldn't abuse it as he had directly after James and Lily's death. "I don't know why everyone is wanting me to take this. Rhody knows my history with it." He mumbled as he knocked back the potion so as not to taste it and climbing into his bed fully clothed, even his shoes were still on.
Steve simply shook his head as he entered the room and removed shoes, shirt, and pants leaving Tony in his boxers before pulling the blankets over top of him and leaving him to his rest. Steve went back into the main room and looked at the others around the room, Natasha had snuck out as Tony was heading to his room, but the rest were still there, and Phil was in a phone call with Fury.
"We need to find some information before he comes out of the potion. Rhody, he mumbled something about a history with the potion and why you would have him take it knowing that history. So be prepared for the cold shoulder for a while." Steve stated as he entered the room. "JARVIS expand the scan to include any signs of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy. Also keep an eye on the Dursley's so we can find them when it is time to question them."
"Yes, Captain if I may I can run these scans while everyone is resting. You all had just returned from a mission when Sir decided to have a party." JARVIS spoke up in his steady voice. "The Dursley's have not moved from their home but to go to work, run errands, or bully the local kids."
"Alright that is a sound idea. Alright team lets all head to get some rest. JARVIS alert me as soon as Tony is awake. I want to talk to him some more and plan some things out." Steve nodded and looked at the others as he said this seeing the exhaustion lining their faces.
"Very well Captain."
"I need to run into the office and brief Fury and our inside British Wixen on this so that they know what is going on and why we are running these scans." Phil stated hanging up the phone and turning to the others. "I echo Captain Rogers, get some rest. You were all lucky you came out of that battle with only bumps and bruises. Clint have Nat see me later when she resurfaces."
Clint just gave his husband a smirk and a cocky salute before heading to the elevator to go to the floor that had been given to him and Phil to make into their own place. Bruce just waved at the others before following behind Clint to head to his own floor, complete with a meditation space to calm the Big Guy something that he needed right now. Rhody headed down the hall to the guest room that Tony had on this floor for him and after stripping of his civvies he crashed on the bed much like Tony, only without the use of a potion. Phil left the building as he said he was going to using Lola to get there faster since he was a squib and unable to apparit anywhere, something he curses but is also thankful for it was because of being a squib that he was able to survive Loki's attack with only a scar on his chest since the healers were able to use magic and potions on him to heal him. Steve followed the others to the elevator but took the stairs that were beside it so that he didn't have to interact with the others right now, thoughts of his mate were filling his head he knew that he would have to work on finding record of Bucky somewhere and sometime soon, as soon as he reached his own floor he went through to his bathroom for a quick shower and his nightly routine before carrying a bottle of Dreamless Sleep to his bed and downing it just before he laid down dropping off as soon as he did so.
Nic's trip through the Alley
Chapter Notes
I do not own any recognizable characters. I am just writing with them for fun.
Bad accents ahead as well as translations located in the bottom notes of the chapter.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Nicephorus and his friends all wandered down Diagon Alley, Nic was grateful that the inheritance and purge had unlocked his true looks as well as got rid of the scar on his forehead, which had been placed by Dumbledore to add to the story of that night. He now looked like a mix of his two fathers and his mother. He had more of his mother's features in the line of his nose, his eye color was closer to her true color, and he had red streaks in his longer hair. He also had the jaw line of Tony Stark, his father James' eye shape, and the curls that were common in the Blacks from his blood adoption to Sirius. His hair now hung to his shoulders in thick curls, when it wasn't tied back like it was right now leaving some strands loose to frame his face. Because of all the changes, not forgetting the lack of need of glasses, he looked completely different to how he did and now could walk through the Alley without being accosted at every step or yelled at depending on the Wixen World's belief of him at the time. He heard as people were talking about how now that he had destroyed Voldemort he was going to step into the Dark Lord's place and try to take over. He knew it was a new rumor started by Dumbledore and his cronies since he disappeared, probably hoping he would come running to them for protection from the fickle public.
"Nic, we should get you new robes and mundane clothing. You grew six inches during your majority and sizing charms will only last so long." Sirius stated even though he was hidden under glamour at the moment because news hadn't gotten out that he was cleared yet. "You can consider it a birthday gift if you wish but know that you need more clothes before we start searching for Tony."
"We can do a search when we head into the mundane world. It would be the most likely place to get information and see if my father is the one, I mentioned at home." Nic wasn't about to say who he thought his father was out in public, it would only bring more chaos. "As for the clothes I'm fine with that."
"Good! I've been dying to give you a makeover for years!" Draco wrapped his hands around Nic's arms. Yes, he had acknowledged that Blaise was his mate a couple months ago, but he was still open enough to want to give a dear friend a makeover. Draco and Nic had become friends during fourth year after everyone else had abandoned him, Nic had apologized for rejecting Draco's hand in fourth year and explained how he had been raised and so didn't know proper manners that was among Heirs of major houses. After that Draco still made the buttons but only because Nic had suggested it to keep eyes off of their new friendship wanting to protect Draco from the possible fall out. It was also when he had let the Slytherin's know that he was originally supposed to be in their house and they had formed a protective band around him and made him an honorary member of their house, for he was a snake among lions.
"Now Draco you know the reason I had to wear those clothes. I would've let you give me a makeover sooner if I hadn't had to maintain a certain image among certain people." Nic stated with a smirk clear on his face and his voice.
"Of course Darling but now I get my chance because you're free of those losers." Draco smiled smugly as he walked beside his friend, the one that helped him get up the courage to talk to Blaise when he figured out that the dark skinned Slytherin was his mate. With those words Draco led the group to Twilfitt and Tatting's where Nic was soon shown to the back for a fitting while Draco went through the fabrics and designs picking out everything for Nic that would complete a Lordly Wixen look. Sirius, Remus, and Severus were all soon ushered back as well to get makeovers via Lucius, Severus mostly to get something that wasn't only in black since it just washed him out more. Remus was reluctant because of money cost but finally caved when Sirius gave him his version of puppy dog eyes. Draco looked up when the bell above the door rang out and gave a true smile as the person entering was his mate.
"Should I be concerned you were seen hanging off the arm of another young man and lead him in here talking about a makeover?" Blaise was straight faced when he asked this though his eyes were sparkling with laughter.
"Of course not love. I just finally got a chance to give dear Nic a makeover finally and I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. After we are done here, we will be going to the mundane world and doing the same. Even my father has gotten in the makeover mode and is refitting Professor Snape, as well as Mr. Lupin and his friend. You know how we enjoy fixing what we see as fashion mistakes." Draco replied giving his mate a kiss on the cheek and causing even more gossip to break out among the staff in the shop.
"Ah…yes I can understand that. After all you even changed some of my wardrobe when we got together." Blaise nodded in agreement before helping Draco pick out fabrics and styles for the robes and trousers.
Draco just smirked more as he knew what Blaise was doing by saying things like that, he was grateful, he didn't want anyone to think that he was available and certainly not the bimbos like Pansy and Cho who had been pursuing him lately. He had his fathers' permission to not hide his relationship with his mate and to acknowledge it in every way. He was even allowed by his fathers to marry his mate when the time for that came for that and not have to settle for an arranged marriage like his Father Lucius did. They were determined to start breaking the cycle among the Wixen world, after all same sex marriages were being legalized all over the mundane world and they weren't about to let the mundane's have a leg up on the Wixen in any way if they could stop it. Nic stepped out of the back changing room in one of the outfits that Draco had chosen, it mostly matched what he had been wearing earlier since that had been an outfit that Draco had been able to get him in the past but instead of dragonhide pants this time it was simple trousers in a deep grey that was almost black, Nic's shirt was still a dark green Acromantula silk shirt and this time on his feet were knee high black dragonhide boots that had the trousers tucked into them. His robe was a black that was so deep it seemed almost to suck in the light around him, his hair was held back by a matching black ribbon.
"Much better, I knew that would look amazing on you. I'm looking forward to dressing you in the mundane world as well." Draco rubbed his hands together like and evil villain causing Lucius, Nic, and Blaise to all laugh. "We should probably head over to the Trunk Shop and get you a new trunk and bag to help carry everything. Then you can make a trip to Globus Mundi to get any permits needed to head to the US. I know that is where Viktor and Fleur are right now. Bill is already able to travel there because of his job. Fred and George are going there after talking with Lee to finalize the transfer of management at Wheeze's. From there we can go to Flourish and Blott's and you can get something to read for fun for once."
"Those plans sound fabulous Drac." Nic stated simply wrapping his arm over Draco's shoulder as they turned back to wait to see the changes in Sev, Siri, and Remy's wardrobes. They were not disappointed for the makeover had helped make them look closer to their ages then the older look they had. "Wow looking good gentlemen."
"Well done father." Draco stated just as smug as his father was over the change that he was able to cause for Nic as his father had for the other three. "You look wonderful Papa." He wrapped Severus in a hug and whispered this part in his ear so that others wouldn't hear what was said.
"Thank you little one." Severus whispered back to Draco before letting him go so that they could leave. "Now did I hear something about the trunk shop then to get our permits in place to head to the US?"
"After that I promised some new books. Nic rarely got to read for fun or research of his own choosing. The bushy haired menace always tried to control what he learned and read." Draco explained as they all exited the shop, the large delivery for everything would be sent by owl to Malfoy Manor when it was finished and then a house elf would bring it over to Potter Manor. "After all of that we can head into the mundane world and get everyone a new wardrobe of mundane clothes for our travels. I think we should start in South America and move north. I've always wanted to see the Amazon Rainforest; I just know there has to be so many undiscovered potion ingredients."
"Of course you'd want a vacation centered around Potions, ferret." Ron Weasley spoke up from behind the group. "Professor Lupin what are you doin with tha group?"
"Not that it is any business of yours Ronald, but I'm reconnecting with my friends." Remus stated looking down at the young man that looked even less well kept than usual.
"But Snape's the one that outed you tha year." Ronald stated with his arms crossed glaring at Severus and the Malfoy's while ignoring everyone else in the group.
"No that was Dumbledore while placing the blame on Professor Snape to increase the dislike of him." Remus stated simply with his arms crossed over his chest.
"What're yo talkin about? O course it was Snape, he always hated yo and made sure everyone knew it." Ron was determined to make things hard for himself as he continued to be belligerent in front of his professor, or at least that man would have still been his professor if he hadn't had the goblins look over his contract before rescuing Nic and had them help him break it. "Dumbledore's a great man, he allowed yo t' attend even though he knew what you were."
"That is not something to talk about here nor do I wish to continue a conversation with you at this time Ronald. My friends and I are in the middle of shopping for our trip. Now if you'll excuse us." Remus turned to walk away noting the kids had moved away and were whispering together as Nic glared down the path at Ron as if he wanted to set him on fire with his mind.
"You're goin wit' those Death Eaters and freaks?" Ronald shouted grabbing Remus' arm and trying to turn the man back to him, he had glimpsed Nic's ears and tails when they had exited the shop. "What about the search for Harry? I know that Dumbledore reached out to you to help."
"Harry is an adult and has let me know that he is safe and happy where he is. He has no desire to communicate at this time and will see you when he is ready. Now let me go Ronald." Remus looked down at the grip on his arm not even bothering to react to the Death Eater and freak comment, he was struggling to hold back the wolf who wanted to tear into the boy for the freak comment in Nic's presence.
"Can I help you out Mr. Lupin?" Kingsley asked as he walked up to the pair in his official uniform meaning he was on duty and not acting as a member of the order.
"Yes, you can take Ronald here away from me before I get mad enough to unleash the wolf. He has been stalking my friends and I since we came out of the bank and is now trying to keep me from my group while spreading lies over what they are. He has also been harassing me with mail for the past five days and won't take a non-answer as an answer. I would like to press stalking charges, as well as others that will be forwarded to the DMLE from the Goblins of Gringotts within the next day or so." Remus glared at Ronald picturing tearing the boy to pieces for everything that he had done to Nic over the years.
"What're yo talkin bout? I was tryin ta reach yo to help with the search for Harry. Dumbledore gave his orders about finding the missing freak…" Ronald just dug himself in deep with that comment and stepped back in shock as he saw Remus' eyes flash amber with the wolf.
"And you know there is no order out from the ministry to search for a young man who had reached his majority and had no sign of being in distress. Unless you know something about him being in distress and needing to be found? Though I did tell you that I had heard from him that he was safe." Remus growled with his glare knowing that Ronald's big mouth would get him in trouble.
"I think that is something to be found out at the Department. Come along Ronald Weasley." Kingsley didn't read him his rights because it was a thing the mundanes did, but he did tell him that he had the right to remain silent, though personally he hoped that he didn't. "Remus let Harry know that he has my support to stay gone. I'm not part of the teams looking for him, in fact I quit the Order as soon as Voldemort was killed, there was no reason for the group to continue."
"Yes, there is! Dumbledore says that Harry is going evil now and even more of a freak somehow. He needs to be contained before he can go truly dark and start killing everyone!" Ronald shouted drawing attention to his mad ramblings from others in the Alley.
"That's enough young man! Harry Potter is no more going dark than I am!" Fortescue called out as they were right in front of his shop, he would always support the small young man that had hung out at his shop that year and let him share his knowledge of history with him, Harry had even helped with busing tables when it got too busy to keep up in the heat of the summer. Several others called out their support and disbelief in the fact that Harry was going dark in any way shape or form, after all he had saved them all while Ronald, Dumbledore, and others had all hid in the castle only coming out when the worse was over to try and claim credit.
"Also Ronald you'll find that Dumbledore is not God nor is he Merlin reborn like he likes people to believe. He isn't all knowing and my guess he'll leave you hanging just like he did Sirius Black, whom Madame Bones has just recently interviewed with veritaserum and discovered innocent of all crimes he was accused of. She also declared that she would make sure it was known that he is now a free man and should not be hunted or harmed by anyone. Something Dumbledore could have done years ago, since he was the caster for the Fidelius Charm that protected Harry's parents and himself. It was all listed in the Potter's will, which I know of because I just came from hearing the will be read since Harry unlocked it, after finding out that Dumbledore had blocked it being read. It was why I was able to get some new robes finally, the Potter's had left me enough to live within my means comfortably but because of Dumbledore I had to live job to job." Remus made sure to say loudly enough so that everyone around would hear, and the rumors would start about what Dumbledore had done.
Kingsley just nodded in response before casting a silencing spell on Ronald as he started going into a rant about how Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen and that there was a reason for the freak to hide. He did notice how the young kitsune with the group stiffened every time the word freak was used and knew that if he wanted to protect the idiot from an attack, he needed to take care of this. With that thought Kingsley apparated out of the Alley with Ronald in a firm grip and back to the DMLE to process him and get to questioning him over what he had let spill in the Alley. As soon as Kingsley left the Alley Remus turned back to the group and simply held his arms open to accept the running hug from his cub, whom he could feel shaking in his arms. He noticed how Severus raised his muffliato spell around them as well as Obscuro to make sure others wouldn't see or notice what was going on around them for the moment.
"Draco had to hold him back at the start when Ronald started in on me and you but as soon as the word was mentioned the first time, he seemed to sink into himself and flinch. I believe Ronald used it because of that reaction but that would indicate that the idiot could observe anything around him that isn't a chessboard, food, or Miss Granger's chest." Severus stated coming forward and placing a calming hand on Nic's back while his other searched through is multitude of robe pockets, something he insisted on even with the wardrobe makeover he had received and pulled out a vial of calming draught. "Here child, drink it will help."
Nic simply reached out a shaky hand while still staying buried in Remus's chest and downed the potion without looking up, he was embarrassed by his reaction but grateful that no one was calling him on it. As soon as the potion had kicked in enough to get control of himself, he pulled away from Remus blushing at the thought of his actions.
"No need to be embarrassed child. I had to hold myself back from cursing the young man." Severus stated as he dropped his spells as Nic straightened out his robe and raised his head to look around for their group.
"I'll have the Goblins send everything they have to the DMLE so that they can start investigating the case against Ronald." Remus looked at the others as he said this. "I will meet you all at the Travel Agency so we can get started on the permits to go to the US. I know from experience that they can take weeks to go through, especially for someone like me."
"I'll make sure yours goes through as fast as everyone else's, and we will make sure that it happens in a timely manner." Lucius stated firmly in his aristocratic drawl. "After all it wouldn't do to have one of Nic's godfathers left behind on his first trip out of the country now would it?" He made sure that others heard this so that they would know why the young man that no one recognized would rush Lupin in public for a hug.
"Thank you Lucius I appreciate it." Remus simply nodded before turning and heading back to the bank, where he would also request a record of all transactions on Nic's accounts so they could go over them and see if any money that shouldn't have been was taken out, it was something that he had thought off while in his fitting, after all how could a man of Dursley's means afford everything they gave to their son and everything they did with travel and the new cars every year, all while Nic was treated as a slave in their home.
Nic followed Draco ad the others to the trunk shop knowing that by the time they left he would have a nice new trunk, instead of the slightly used one Hagrid had let him purchase that fateful day, as well as a new bag to carry his books in for if he ever returned to school. As it was, he had someone around him that could teach him every subject and he wouldn't have to return to Hogwarts if he didn't want to. Sirius picked out a new trunk and new messenger bag in a dark brown leather and cloth with a weightless charm woven in as well as an expandable charm that allowed him to store triple what it normally would, it was when learning about those charms that Nic learned Hermione's bottomless bag was against the law and that if it was found out she had it there would be huge fines leveled against her Nic made a mental note to make sure someone got a tip about the bag. As soon as Sirius had paid for the three eight compartment trunks that held a mini apartment and interconnected between all three, having gotten a new one for himself as well, and the two messenger bags they all left the store heading for the travel agency that would help them get their MCUSA wand permits sorted. As they walked up to the agency Remus rejoined them thanking Sirius for the new messenger bag and stuffing the pile of information that the goblins had given him about Nic's accounts into its depths. Both the trunks and messenger bags were able to be blood secured to the owners so that no one could take them or open them without that person's permission, the securing of the messenger bag was one of the first things that he did to keep anyone from seeing Nic's paperwork.
"Welcome to Globus Mundi Travel Agency. I'll be with you in a moment." A voice rang out from the backroom as the group entered.
"When you have a moment." Lucius drawled in his normal manner knowing that his voice was recognizable to most in the wixen world. He was proven right when the proprietor of the shop exited the back as soon as he heard that voice.
"My apologies I was preparing to send off the latest batch of wand permit forms to MCUSA." He gave a brief bow to the group.
"Then it is good you came out before doing so as we all, as well as for four others who are unable to be here at the moment but have sent their pertinent information with me so that we may get the process started for them as well. We need a rush on the permits since we would like to reach the US within a week." Lucius did a mild sneer down at the short man who ran the agency.
"Very good, very good. I will gather the forms necessary so you may start filling them out." Wizard Mundi stated simply going behind the main counter and drawing out a large pile of forms from the wizarding space below it. "Now I need you all to fill out these as well as for your remaining companions that aren't here at the moment. After that we will cast the necessary charms to make the forms be in triplicate, the wonder of magic it saves the wrist from all the writing." He joked trying to ease the tension that was in the room, but no one even chuckled.
With simple head nods everyone gathered up a form and found a spot around the room before starting to fill out their paperwork. Lucius filled out the form for Theo, Severus took the one for young Luna, while Remus and Sirius dealt with the twin's paperwork. Though Neville was going to join them eventually he was staying behind to be near his parents and grandmother, as well as being their spy within Gryffindor house and Hogwarts. Bill, Charlie, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Viktor already had the necessary paperwork taken care of because of their separate careers or the fact that they were foreign nationals already.
"Will these be for temporary wand permits for a vacation or a permanent permit for a potential move?" The owner asked as he started casting the triplicate charm to make sure everything was in order. Because of how many were filling out the forms he only took brief looks over them to make sure everything that needed to be filled out was and paid no attention to the names on the forms so didn't realize that Lord Sirius Black was in his shop and that one was filled out with the Potter name followed by two others.
"It is filled out properly on the form for what this is you need not concern yourself about that." Lord Malfoy came out in full force as he sneered down at the man, he was not going to fill him in with gossip fodder. He had purposefully cast a mild secrecy charm so that the man wouldn't pay close attention to the names on the forms and the reason for the permits being needed. The charms would not work against those in the MCUSA offices but would permit the forms to reach there without being stopped, especially the by the busybodies in the Ministry who would try to keep everyone here when it was learned that Nic was the boy previously known as Harry Potter. They had placed on the permit forms the request for sanctuary for Sirius and Nic as well as Snape and the Malfoy's at the moment they were all able to walk free but the fickle public may change their minds at any point, and they were not above getting out of Britain while the getting was good. Pulling out a stack of galleons that was over the amount usually charged for the permits to be sent through and placing it on the counter in front of the shop owner Lucius smirked again. "Thank you for your time. Please make sure our forms are at the top of the pile."
"Of course Lord Malfoy. My pleasure to be of assistance." Mundi stated with a gleam in his eyes as he swept the galleons and forms away and headed back into the back of the store already preparing everything to be sent out.
"Now that is over with let's head to the book shop and get some things to read for fun, no schoolbooks allowed unless it is a subject you are passionate about and desire to study it for fun." Lucius stated as he turned to the group and they all headed out of the shop.
Nic let out a silent chuckle at those words knowing it was mostly for Remus and Severus but also knowing it would apply to himself. He had been studying physics, engineering, and runes all in his downtime when he was able to sneak away. He would study the physics and engineering books that the Room of Requirement provided with an avid attention that would surprise many but after learning the name of his second father and if it was the same person as Iron Man there was a reason behind his intelligence. Draco looped an arm through Nic's as they headed to the book shop while Blaise placed and arm over Nic's shoulders giving him a positive touch that he needed at times after having spent most of his childhood touch starved, when the Slytherin Trio had figured that out they made it their goal to give him positive touches as often as they could until he stopped flinching from the contact, though he would still flinch if it was anyone but them and the twins, even Neville and Luna still caused him to flinch at times.
"So Nic are you going to let your inner Runes Master come forth finally?" Draco stated simply knowing that his friend was so close to completing a Masters in Runes in secret after all he had caught him studying the advanced texts in the library that he had disguised as Defense books whenever the beaver and weasel were nearby. "How much longer until you finish the project?"
"I almost had it before the end of term and because of what happened after I wasn't able to complete it. I'll probably be able to finish it in the week we have before leaving." Nic replied a light blush covering his cheeks, he was easily embarrassed about his intelligence and always fought to hide it but Draco asking that out in the open among their group didn't let him this time. Draco was always telling him he needed to be proud of his intelligence but after so long with the Dursley's and Hermione it was difficult. Like with setting his grades to just below Dudley in primary school he set his grades to just above Ronald at Hogwarts. "It will hopefully not take much longer. I plan on sending into Madame Bones a request to block my true name and being allowed to take my NEWTS this week. The master of Runes tester won't allow me to submit my project until I have completed my NEWTS and I want to get them out of the way so I can focus on my WOMBATs after we reach the US."
"No one is allowed to take their NEWTs early…and you are only allowed to take them at Hogwarts, something you would know if you actually attended our school." Granger jumped into the conversation after listening around the shelf to what they were talking about as they searched the shelves for fun reads.
"Actually Miss Granger you would be wrong. There are many students that do homeschooling for different reasons and therefore have to take their tests at the Ministry, they do so during the summer after Hogwarts has had their testing finished at the school." Professor Snape stood behind her his arms full of different research journals and books on things other than potions for even though he was a master of the subject it wasn't his only mastery. "Now I believe the young men were talking among themselves and you're forcing yourself into conversations is not limited to school. I can't take points but if you do not leave my son and his friend alone, I will make things difficult for you come the school term."
Hermione just huffed before grabbing the large 'light reading' book she was here for, which was very expensive since it was a self-updating version and headed for the counter to pay only for her payment to be denied, the goblins had already started on reclaiming the stolen money from the 'secret' vaults.
"What do you mean I don't have enough to pay for it?! I know I have money in my vault. Try again." Hermione was heard through the whole shop screeching in frustration.
"I'm sorry miss, the Gringotts card melted as they do when the vault is no longer available. If you have an issue take it up at the Bank." The teller stated gently even though she was feeling frustrated at another temper tantrum filling her day, it was amazing how many happened during an average day from those who lived above their means. "Next please!" She looked around the bushy haired student who always treated everyone as if they were below her, especially staff at the different shops, and acted as if she was the most intelligent person around.
"No! Not next please you are assisting me!" Hermione shouted slamming her hands down on the counter.
"No, I'm not. You don't have the funds to pay for the book and until you take it up with the Bank we don't have to serve you. Now the person behind you is waiting their turn to pay for their books and you should move aside before you are no longer welcome in the store."
"Who do you think you are? I'm Harry Potter's best friend. I am the only reason he is passing any of his classes. I deserve this book!" Hermione huffed and stomped her foot. "You have no right to try and keep me from the store."
"My name young lady is Flora Flourish I am the co-owner of this shop and the wife of the other owner. I have every right to bar you from my store for your attitude and actions against this shop. Now please leave and never return." Lady Flourish stated standing fully behind the counter and leaning forward. "You will be unable to enter this store as soon as you have left, and I will have my husband escort you out if you do not leave on your own."
"AGRHHHH!" Hermione swept her arm over the counter knocking all the little impulse by items that were balanced on there to the floor as she turned and stormed from the store.
"Well…Good riddance to bad rubbish." Lucius stated calmly as he waved his wand and fixing all the items that had been knocked off. "No one had the right to treat you like that Lady Flourish, you have my apologies."
"I also apologize, I know that Harry hates when she throws his name around like that. She is also the reason he doesn't do his best because she won't let him read anything outside of the schoolbooks and 'fixes' his work. When I was a Professor, he would turn in one item and then later bring me the actual work that he had done, and it was easy to see she would change his papers to make them worse not better." Remus stated walking over with his own pile of books, again he was going to start with a rumor mill to bring Hermione down and get the truth out there.
"He would be forced by the youngest Mr. Weasley to sit in front of Miss Granger during my class and because of Mr. Weasley's subpar potions ability he was dealing with that and Miss Granger's sabotage of telling him what he was doing wrong it made class difficult. Most of the 'detentions' that I gave the young man I allowed him to remake the potions and hand in his true work. I would grade them and give him his true grades in secret because of my position as a spy I couldn't favor him in anyway. He could easily pass his Mastery if he wished to since he made multiple helpful changes to Newt Level potions and the questions, I would pose to him during his brewing he would create a new potion in his mind." Severus stepped up as well and helped with starting the rumors against Ronald and Granger.
"That young man is amazing! I hope that he is truly okay wherever he is. I was asked by Auror Tonks if I had seen the young man. Also saw her going into the other shops and I suppose she was doing the same thing. It was funny though because I thought that the ministry wasn't starting a search for the young man." Lady Flourish stated calmly and shaking her head at the actions of his supposed best friends.
"They are not starting a search. Was she in her uniform when she asked? I know that she was a part of Dumbledore's little vigilante group that was started to go against Voldemort." Remus stated calmly. "Auror Shacklebolt let us know a little bit ago when we had a confrontation with young Ronald outside about his blatant stalking of Harry and his incessant writing to me to help with the search. I don't know why they won't let the poor man be. I'm in contact with my godson and he is fine and safe now."
"She was in her robe but seemed shifty when I asked if the ministry had changed their mind about the search." Flora responded after thinking it over briefly.
"Then she is asking for Dumbledore and not the ministry and by wearing her uniform while doing so could get into a lot of trouble. We will let Auror Shacklebolt know so that he can look into the matter discretely." Lucius stated simply as the others approached the counter with their own piles of books. Before anyone else could again pay for his items Nic pulled out his new Gringotts card and handed it over.
"Please charge it for everyone in this groups purchases." Nicephorus stated politely with a gentle smile, it turned to a smirk as everyone started protesting about how this outing was to treat him since he missed his birthday celebration with them do to his inheritance. "I'm treating everyone to their books so shush! Also could you add an order catalog? I know there will be a desire for more but won't always be able to make it into the shop."
Lady Flora just let out a light laugh as she ran the Gringotts card against the receipt and watched as the purchase was confirmed, it was almost 240 galleons all told for the seven peoples worth of books. Nic had thirty all on his own though some were for Luna, the twins, Bill, and Charlie.
"Thank you, young man it has been a pleasure to serve someone so polite." Flora stated nodding her head, she had seen the name on the card, and she was not dumb by any means. She knew what those last names meant and knew what the group surrounding him meant. "You are all welcome in the store during it's business hours as often as you like. After all anyone with a true love for books is welcome in my store."
"Thank you, Lady Flourish." Nic nodded his head with a wink as he knew she had figured it out when she didn't say his last name as she handed the card and receipt back to him, he had heard her do so with multiple others in the store before the confrontation with Hermione.
"It is my pleasure." She responded with a smirk and a nod of the head to everyone. She would support the rumors that young Harry was safe and well, and if asked again could say she had not seen Harry Potter in her store. After all the young man's name wasn't Harry Potter and most wouldn't know him by just looking at him. "And I must say Professor Snape and Mr. Lupin you are both looking wonderful."
Sirius pulled out and resized Nic's trunk so he could enter all but two books into it, the other two went into his messenger bag to read later when they got lunch and when he was waiting for others. Remus also pulled out and resized his own new trunk for the same reason and did the same with two into his messenger back using the time to hide his blush at the compliment.
"The Goblins were finally able to release the Potter will since Harry is now of age and they had left enough for Severus and I to get some new robes and indulge our love of books, at least we could have done it if people weren't insisting on paying for us in each store." Remus replied once he had his blush under control.
"The Potter will was only now read? I thought it had been read before, just after they died?" A voice questioned from behind them.
"Yeah, about that supposedly Dumbledore blocked the will and sent young Harry where he wasn't supposed to go ever. HE had even been a witness to the will and even cast the fidelius charm so knew who the true secret keeper was." Lord Black stated calmly while within his disguise beside Nic while turning to talk to the person behind them, who turned out to be Lady Longbottom, Neville's grandmother.
"True secret keeper? Was it not young heir Sirius?" Lady Longbottom asked with her vulture hat tilting in confusion.
"Oh no, it came out when we heard the will that it was Peter who was the keeper. Madame Bones was called as soon as that news was heard as it put everything in flux. The Goblins offered Sanctuary to Black in the time that it would take to clear the air so to speak and it turns out that not only was he not able to give away the secret, he was also bound by blood and magic in the godfather ritual to never harm Harry, but also was not the one to blow up the street. He saw Peter turn into his rat form and run into the sewers. He was laughing at his arrest because Pettigrew had hit him with an overpowered cheering charm, which was left to wear off when in the presence of dementors instead of removed. And he never received even the slightest form of a trial, they took him from the sight of the explosion straight to Azkaban." Remus stated simply knowing she would take it better coming from him than Malfoy or Snape, she believed they were both spies but still had a slight level of distrust.
"That is disgusting to hear! Please tell me Madame Bones is taking the necessary steps to clear the poor man." Augusta stated firmly determined if Madame Bones hadn't, she would be having words with her.
"She declared him free and clear of all charges, even the part where she discovered he was an unregistered animagus saying he had served enough time for that plus more. She will be sending out a release to the press shortly if she hasn't already and he will be able to wander the streets again." Remus replied gently knowing that Augusta would always stand up for the little man or any that were harmed by justice after seeing what had happened to her son and daughter-in-law. When she found out that Rodulphous and Rabastian had been responsible for the survival of not only her grandson but also his parents, even though they were too late to stop Bellatrix from cursing them into insanity, she had moved to get them proper trials so that they could be free. As soon as that had happened, they had moved to the US not wanting to be anywhere near Britain as they recovered.
"Also as soon as the goblins heard he was innocent and free they gave him the Black Lordship ring, which accepted him. He immediately cast Bellatrix from the family and dissolved her marriage to Lord Lestrange leaving her a No-Name and without the family magic." Severus spoke up with a smirk on his face just imaging the reaction the bitch would have had to being stripped of the family magic, proving it wasn't because she was a Black that she was insane.
"Couldn't have happened to a nicer bitch." Augusta stated firmly, inside she was giggling over the gasps that escaped the busybodies listening in when she swore.
"I had checked with St. Mungos, with some of my contacts there who don't usually work in the ward your son is in, recently to have them check if what was going on with your son and his wife truly was from the Cruciatus Curse or something else possibly." Lucius started. "They got back to me just yesterday, my question led to an internal investigation in that department and the rest of the Hospital. Turns out that it was a Black Family Black Magic Curse that mimics the affects of the Cruciatus. So with the removal of the Black Family Magic from Bellatrix today it might be possible that it would break that curse, it is no longer being powered by her magic as she no longer has the magic. The healers that had been treating them were caught not doing all they could and accepting bribes for keeping them from being checked by others."
"The bastards! I will have their licenses for this!" Augusta fumed before it clicked what part of the statement Lucius had been. "They could be waking?"
"Yes, Lady Longbottom they could be waking." Lucius nodded his head a soft smile on his face at her shock, she was truly a strong woman as some would have collapsed at the news. "Your grandson is currently with the young ladies Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour showing them the alley, I believe I saw them enter the sweet shop before we headed in here. He was to meet us at the Ice cream pallor shortly with the young ladies before we were going to head with young Nicephorus here to find some mundane clothing for our coming trip, you may accompany us to find him if you wish."
"Yes…yes…that is a sound idea thank you Lord Malfoy. What made you think to start the inquiry?" Lady Longbottom accepted the arm held out by the gentleman as he led the way from the shop, Lucius could already hear the whispers flying around the shop and soon the alley over everything that had been revealed and held in his smirk of a plan well executed.
"When she had been broken free by Voldemort, she like he did took up forceful residence in my manor. There she would brag about what she had done to your son and his wife and how no one had figured it out. It was with the death of my wife for her refusal to hand over our son to be the Dark Lord's catamite that I was able to look at her Black Family library that she had warded in the manor in her chambers. I was only allowed so I could continue his education with her gone until his majority. I looked through most the books, but it was after young Draco's majority that he brought the book to me asking how to get rid of it successfully, he had already tried burning it in the fireplace and it didn't work. I briefly looked through and found that curse then using fiendfire was able to destroy the book thankfully it had many wards on it to prevent its destruction but very little can stand against a well-cast fiendfire spell, especially when the motivation of the spell is protection and not just destruction." Lucius explained carefully not wanting to upset the older lady more than she already had been this day. "The curse is simple but long lasting. As long as the caster has access to the Black Family Magic, they could power the spell even from great distances. It was created to control the women originally that had been forced into the family or were too stubborn to submit as their male relatives desired. The women though soon learned the curse and cast it back toward the men of the family, they then changed the curse so it would be cast on the one the curser saw as an enemy and could not be used on a fellow Black member."
"Thank you for destroying the book that contained it. And thank Lord Black from removing that vile woman from the family. Ahh…dear Neville, Lord Malfoy was telling me of something amazing." Augusta stated as she released her hold on Lord Malfoy's arm and wrapped her grandson in a hug startling the young man. "Your parents may be waking as we speak. They weren't cursed enough by that vile spell but cursed instead by specific family magic of the bitch."
"Truly Lord Malfoy?" Neville turned to look at his friend's Father, for after befriending Nic Draco had reached out to Neville and befriended the shy boy helping him come out of his shell so to speak.
"Yes, Heir Malfoy. When Lord Black removed the family magic from Bellatrix this morning at Gringotts he would have broken the hold of the curse she had cast that night." Lucius stated with a soft smile in his eyes though his face was impassive as normal when out in public.
"Come Neville, we should go to St. Mungos. I have some things to take care of there and you can wait until your parents are fully out of things. I will help explain to them what had happened over the years." Augusta stated gently cupping Neville's face in her hands. She was so proud of her grandson, and grateful to young Potter who had reached out to her to explain his research into the shared wand in first year. She had been stunting her grandson by giving him his father's wand when his father was still alive and tied to the wand, she also found that there was no match between the two. Young Potter had opened her eyes to many things with his polite letter that first year at Hogwarts, her brother was no longer allowed anywhere near her grandson after she found out how he truly had tried to get the magic to show up, she knew he had magic at a young age and her family had almost caused him to become an obscurus as he held it in from fear.
"I'll contact you all later. Tell Lord Black thank you." Neville stated flustered as he looked around the group that had gathered around the Longbottom's outside of the ice cream parlor.
"Go mon ami, send our well wishes to tes parents*." Fleur stated giving a gentle kiss in farewell to the young man that had just had such a shock. "Merci for showing us this wonderful Alley. Tes amies* can continue from here."
With that goodbye Neville was side apparated by his grandmother from the alley to the hospital where they quickly headed to the ward his parents had been staying in. They could hear them cursing up a storm wanting to know what was going on and where their son was as soon as they had entered the ward proper.
Nicephorus and Sirius stood to the back of the crowd outside of the parlor and gave each other a subtle high five for how things had just happened. Even more rumors were flying thanks to Lucius's non private conversation with Lady Longbottom as they walked the length of the alley. They knew the sheeple would slowly start to question what they knew was true and right as they heard the rumors against Fumblewhore and his harem of idiots. Remus simply shook his head as he stood beside the pair knowing he wouldn't be able to stop them, but he wasn't going to encourage them either. After quickly getting some ice cream and then re-exiting the shop, it was pretty small inside and would be unable to fit the large group, they headed toward the non-Leaky exit into the mundane world enjoying the cones that Fortescue had started making after a conversation with Nicephorus when he was visiting the shop frequently before his third year, he had explained to Fortescue all about how the mundanes made different types of edible containers for the ice cream they had and he had been inspired to try his own hand at it, something that had become very popular especially among the mundane born. Finishing their ice cream the group split up once more, Fred and George to go back to their shop, Bill to return to the bank and finish up his transfer paperwork so he could work from the New York office, Charlie returned to the reserve to see if there was any position open in America so he could join them while still doing what he loved, Fleur and Gabrielle joined up with the others excited to see the fashion of the mundane world, Theo returned to his manor and his father who had once again bribed his way out of trouble, Luna returned to her daddy's paper with the exclusive of everything that had happened so far in the alley to be write the report and get the paper out before the Daily Profit, Severus begged off going knowing that Lucius had his sizes he would need and would choose for him anyway he also had a potion that was getting to the point it would need the next ingredient added soon or would cause a meltdown of the cauldron it was within. The rest exited the alley into mundane London and getting a few cabs to take them to the nearest Fortnum and Mason Department store where once again they split apart to find their styles and requirements for a full wardrobe change, they had all simply transfigured their robes into stylish jackets before exiting the alley but still needed to make sure they had truly things that would allow them to blend in with the public when in New York.
Chapter End Notes
Translations:
French
Mon ami – my friend
Tes parents – your parents
Tes amies – your friends
The start of the fall of the greater good
Chapter Notes
AN: I got a message from someone that told me the name I chose for Harry's real name is ugly. I chose it for its meaning and tie with ancient Greek. I know that in JK's world there are plenty of really odd if even ugly names, hence the use of nicknames for a lot of them, there are also plenty of names with hidden meaning, I mean come on Remus Lupin…Draco…I could go on. Anyway Nicephorus is the Latinized version of the ancient Greek name Nikephoros which according to my source means: "carrying victory" from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and φέρω (phero) meaning "to carry, to bear". This name was borne by several Byzantine emperors, including the 10th-century Nikephoros II Phokas. Besides being a masculine personal name, it was also a title borne by the goddess Athena.
For those that are writing such wonderful notes about how much you love/like the story and encourage me to continue thank you. It is the good notes that keep me going as well as the kudos. As for the critical notes I normally ignore them but thought I would respond briefly incase anyone else was wondering why I chose that name. Now on to the story!
Remus was the first one up after the day in Diagon they had stayed out in Mundane London for several hours and enjoyed an extravagant supper at some high-end restaurant the Malfoy's had chosen that he couldn't remember the name of. After getting changed from his sleep clothes, lounge pants and a soft V-neck shirt, into some soft jeans and a tee-shirt that read 'You can't throw me to the wolves they come when I call' with a partial wolf face on it that Nic had chosen for him while laughing until he had to grab his stomach. Remus secretly loved the shirt though he had acted as if it was the worst pun possible when Nic had given it to him. Walking into the dining room in his socks with his hair still rumbled from sleep and in serious need of coffee to get going. Sitting in his usual seat at the table he pulled a plate toward him and began loading it with his favorite breakfast, heavy on the proteins but light on everything else, and filled one of the large size coffee mugs they had gotten yesterday, again a joke from Nic that he actually secretly enjoyed the mug showed the phases of the moon around it, the one Nic had gotten for Severus showed different level lines reading SHHHH…/Almost…/Now you can talk… from top to bottom at the full, half way, and empty point of the mug. Severus had a smug grin as he saw the one chosen for him and immediately filled it with coffee before heading to his potions lab that was set up in the basement. It was now sitting among the other fun mugs at the table so Severus at some point had actually gone to bed last night. Remus looked up at the owl with his morning paper arrived and paid the knut that it required before unrolling it to begin to read with his breakfast but ended up spraying his coffee when he read the first headline.
"Nice Remy…" Sirius rolled his eyes and cleaned the paper with a wave of his wand so they could all read what had caused such a reaction to his mate. Sirius was wearing the shirt Nic had chosen for him that read 'You couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions.' Nic hadn't wanted to play on the Sirius/Serious puns that he was always coming up with so found something just as appropriate for the man. "Now what has you giving such a reaction. I don't think that James and I ever got a spit take out of you with anything we did in school."
"I'll let you know when everyone arrives." Remus stated after recovering from the coughs brought on by the spit take as Sirius called it.
"Alright." Sirius shrugged before grabbing his own mug, which read 'Of course I talk to myself, sometimes I need expert advice', and filling a plate with his own breakfast glad he was no longer on the soft foods diet he had when he first escaped Azkaban and wasn't in dog form.
"Good morning Remy, Good morning Siri." Nic spoke softly as he entered finger combing his hair out of his face and securing it in a man-bun. His shirt was reading 'Sarcasm the ability to insult idiots without them realizing it.' While his pants were a dark red, almost blood red, dragonhide that Draco had chosen for him the day before and like Remus he was only in socks. He reached for the mug that Draco had chosen for him when he found out what Nic was doing that said 'coffee because adulting is hard' he had chuckled knowing that Draco knew how much Nic relied on coffee instead of the tea a lot of their classmates drank. Nic had gone to the kitchen at Hogwarts to request that they serve coffee by his spot so that he could function through the days when he had noticed that Severus definitely was not drinking tea one morning. His meal consisted mostly of more fruits from Japan and China and a little bit of protein, he had placed maybe a third of the amount the others had taken to fill their plates still adjusting to being able to eat again.
The others all slowly trickled in each wearing the shirts that Nic had picked out for them causing him to smile into his coffee mug. Charlie had the image of an amazing dragon in red over the whole shirt; Bill's said 'Accio Coffee' his was found in Diagon unlike the others; Fleur and Gabrielle had matching shirts that stated 'I am: Beautiful, Intelligent, Talented, Charming, Hell of a woman' with the first letters Spelling out BITCH along the length of the shirt; Severus wore one stating 'Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come'; Lucius' shirt 'I may be wrong, but it's highly unlikely'; while Draco's showed just an image of a fierce looking sleeping dragon and the saying 'don't meddle in the affairs of Dragons for your are crunchy and good with ketchup' Draco had actually broke his pureblood mask as he laughed enough to clutch his side like Nic had done when he handed the wolf shirt to Remus; Blaise's just said 'if lost return to the dragon' with a picture of a dragon egg on it that contained the Draco constellation on the shell. The rest had shirts waiting for them, Viktor had gone to see his parents so they would know what was going on with the future move to the US, Theo had to return home, Fred and George were still at their shop getting details hammered out and making new products, and Luna hadn't returned from her father's paper as she was working hard on the article about the events in Diagon. The mugs ranged from saying 'Classy, Sassy, and a bit smart assy'; 'and yet despite the look on my face you're still talking'; 'don't touch me peasant'; 'boss lady: Confident, strong, loving, caring, hero, role-model, leader, helpful, on time, smart, and always right'; 'my level of sarcasm depends on your level of stupidity'; 'she believed she could so she did'; two that said 'in my defense I was left unsupervised'; 'This is what awesome looks like'; one that looked like a unicorn head; one that looked like a dragon head; one that turned into a star filled sky when filled with hot liquid; and one that had a bunch of the mundane author Shakespeare's insults from his plays. Everyone grabbed the one that was meant for them and filled it with their favorite morning beverage, though a few were left in the middle for those who were not here.
"Okay Remy everyone that is at the manor is here. Now can you say why you had a spit take this morning when you opened your paper?" Sirius asked as he pushed his plate aside having finished his breakfast and just enjoying the hot tea that was in his mug.
"I'll read it for everyone" Remus replied before opening the paper which he had kept closed beside his seat so no one would see the headlines. "There are two major headlines that caused my reaction this morning both written by Rita but actually written honestly with little embellishment."
Lord Sirius Black Innocent! Dumbledore knew the secret?
Yes, my faithful readers you read that right. The wanted fugitive Sirius Black is actually Lord Black and innocent of all charges against him! Even the charge of escaping custody! We all know the story of Lord Black's giving up the Potter's and going after Peter Pettigrew who died in the explosion caused by Lord Black and then his escape from custody the summer before young Heir Potter was to enter his third year. We all remember as I faithfully followed the story of his moves around Hogwarts and all sightings of him over the years. We remember thinking young Potter's claims that his Godfather was innocent and that he had seen Pettigrew alive but were told by Minister Fudge that he had been confounded by Black and there was no evidence to support the claim.
Now my dear readers I tell you that Young Heir Potter was in fact telling the truth! Heir Potter, now Lord Potter, opened his parents will yesterday where the truth came out about who the secret keeper actually was. Peter Pettigrew has been stripped of his Order of Merlin and is now the wanted man! After the reveal the Goblins of Gringotts called in Madame Bones, head of the DMLE, who upon arrival went to arrest Lord Black but was stopped by the goblins as he had requested sanctuary and was provide it on the account that he was actually innocent. Madame Bones then decided to question Lord Black with the truth potion and found out that not only was Sirius Black not the secret keeper, but he also was not the one to blow up the street that fateful day.
But why did this not come out at his trial? I looked into this and found that he never received one! An Heir of an Ancient and Most Noble house was thrown directly into Azkaban with no trial and no chance to defend himself. It is no wonder he escaped after 11 years in there. His escape is not counted against him because he was getting out of what basically accounts as illegal incarceration and was within his rights to leave after just six months of no trial by our own laws and those of the Queen.
Now you are probably wondering about the line saying Dumbledore knew all of this? Well I am simply stating fact my dear readers. He was the one who cast the Fidelius Charm on the Potter's home, he was also, I found out, one of the witnesses to the Potter's will and so knew that the truth was contained within its pages. He was Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot and Head of ICW for most the length that young Lord Black was at Azkaban and could have called for a trial at any point, even after the young Lord had escaped. Why did he not? What was his reason for keeping young Lord Black at that awful prison? Do not worry my faithful readers I will not stop until I find out the answers. I say to Lord Black, wherever the gentleman is that I am sorry for believing the lies and hope that he now is able to enjoy his freedom.
More on the Fidelius Charm page 4
More on the Ancient and Most Noble houses page 5
More on the relationship between Lord Black and the missing Lord Potter page 2
More on Dumbledore's many positions page 2
Everyone was shocked that Rita was actually calling out Dumbledore in article and were wondering what the second one was like if that was the first.
"That article is actually below the main one of the paper. The main article is even more shocking and includes pictures." Remus stated after everyone calmed down a bit and refilled their drinks of choice.
Is there trouble in the Golden Trio?
My faithful readers there was such drama yesterday in Diagon Alley that I just have to let you know about it. For those that were not there to experience the events firsthand let me fill you in. First the amazing event of seeing former Professor of DADA Remus Lupin in the company of Potion Master Professor Severus Snape and Lord Lucius Malfoy along with an unidentified gentleman as well as several young adults, including Lord Malfoy's Heir and Lord Lovegood's daughter. Professor Lupin was finally dressed in clothes that were not frequently mended but new and Professor Snape was in something besides black! But that was not the start of the drama! No that happened when young Mister Ronald Weasley verbally called out to Professor Lupin and then proceeded to insult his companions calling them Death Eaters and other vial things, though mainly seeming to be stuck on the fact that they were Slytherin's, now as a proud former member of that house I can clearly say that most of his insults were not that insulting. He then started questioning Professor Lupin as to why he had not responded to anything Headmaster Dumbledore had written and why he was not helping with the search for young Lord Potter. Professor Lupin had replied that he was in contact with Lord Potter and the young man is safe and happy where he is. Young Ronald then started stating how Dumbledore said Lord Potter was going dark and a freak and that they needed to get him in line so that they could control. Auror Shacklebolt showed up at one point to assist Professor Lupin as Young Ronald had grabbed him refusing to let him go with his group, who he claimed as friends he was reconnecting with now that the war was over.
Mr. Fortescue of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor spoke up in defense of young Lord Potter as well as several others. Telling the young Weasley off for speaking about Lord Potter in such a way and how he could never be dark and evil. Before young Ronald Weasley could do more Auror Shacklebolt escorted him away to the DMLE to get to the bottom of some of the truths Professor Lupin mentioned. Professor Lupin then split from his friends for a time to head into the bank and send some things to Auror Shacklebolt, though I was unable to find out what he was sending. He rejoined his friends as they entered the Travel shop, I had overheard them mention going on a trip over to the different Americas starting in the South to travel through the mighty Amazon Rainforest, Heir Malfoy and Professor Snape are wanting to search for new potion ingredients. Young Heir Malfoy was saying how his young friend that was beside him, whom I only heard called Nic, had never traveled outside of the Isle. My only guess was that they were going for wand permits that are necessary for those outside of the MCUSA's providence are required to acquire before traveling to their illustrious shores.
When they exited the shop forty minutes later, they then headed to Flourish and Blotts the popular bookshop along the alley. Young Heir Malfoy was overheard in the shop asking his friend 'Nic' how much farther the young man had to achieve his Rune's Mastery. He replied that he was going to be applying to take his NEWTs this week since the Mastery Council for rune's would not let him test for his mastery without them. At this point young Miss Granger, another supposed friend of the missing Lord Potter, spoke up saying that no one was allowed to take their NEWTs early and that it had to be done at Hogwarts. Now I personally don't know where she gets this sort of information, but I can honestly say that many take their NEWTs at the ministry and actually take more than are offered at the illustrious Hogwarts. Professor Snape had overheard her rant about the NEWTs and informed her what I have said here before putting her in her place for interrupting a conversation that she was not part of with false facts, he even mentioned that it was something of a habit of hers. I could see that Young Heir Malfoy and his friend were grateful for the support of the Professor as they returned to their pursual of the shelves while young Miss Granger stormed to the teller to try and buy a book. Yes, readers you heard right she tried, she was told that her Gringotts' issued bank card had melted and why, they will only do so if the vault is closed and the person is in debt to the Goblins. She then proceeded to bring up Lord Potter's name claiming to be his best friend and only reason for passing his classes only for Professor Lupin to speak up in the young man's defense. Lady Flora Flourish was not impressed by the words and actions of the young lady and has since adjusted the wards around the shop she owns with her husband to keep the young lady from ever returning!
It seems dear readers that young Lord Potter has been held behind by the actions of his supposed friends for years. Miss Granger repeatedly 'corrects' Lord Potter's essays with false information forcing him to get worse grades than he could. Also Miss Granger and Mister Ronald Weasley routinely sabotage Lord Potter's potion abilities forcing him to get the multitude of detentions we have reported on before from Professor Snape! Thankfully, Professor Snape is wise to their actions and allows Lord Potter to brew the correct potions in the detentions and turn in his true essays for the grades he deserves though they were a secret between the two until the Professor spoke up. After the group left in the company of Lady Augusta Longbottom on the arm of Lord Malfoy, I headed to the bank to see if I could find answers to why Miss Granger might have her vault closed.
Let me tell you there is quiet the story there! It seems my dear readers that her vault was closed when it was discovered that she was taking money from Lord Potter's vaults to be his friend! She was screaming at the Goblin behind the desk as I entered the establishment. And well it can only be witnessed how silly she seemed. I have a transcript below of some of what was said, I have permission from the illustrious goblins to print the following:
Hermione Granger (HG): What do you mean my vault is closed! I earned every galleon within it! Dumbledore promised me that I would be rich.
Gringotts Goblin (GG): Just as I have said your vault was closed because of no money. It was not Mr. Dumbledore's right to give you the money.
HG: I earned every knut keeping that freak of a boy in control. I forced him into dangerous situations. That money is MINE!
GG: That money is Lord Potter's, and you will be charged with theft of it and the property plus interest. All books that were illegally taken from the Potter and Black vaults will be returned in previous condition or you will be taken by the Goblin Court.
HG: I need those books and that money. How am I supposed to become Minister if I am not the smartest witch of my generation?
GG: Again that money and those books do not belong to you and were returned to their proper owners with interest. You owe the bank we don't owe you. As for being the minister that will not be happening for you are not the smartest witch. Now you may leave the Bank and start figuring out how you are going to pay us back or we will take you into custody and you can earn it back in the mines.
At that last statement dear readers Miss Granger blanched as white as new parchment and practically flew from the bank. All the while she was muttering about stupid freaks that thought they knew better. I hope to Merlin she wasn't talking about the Goblin's as it is well known they have amazing hearing and would have heard every mutter. It was then that the Head Goblin spoke up from his desk above the others saying that until Miss Granger's debt is paid, she is not allowed to step foot in the Bank, or they would take her into custody to work of her debt below. What other drama could there have been yesterday? Why would Headmaster Dumbledore pay Miss Granger from Lord Potter's vaults and why would he give her books that belong to the Potter and Black family? Find out later my fabulous fans for I will not rest until I find out what is going on!
More on the Goblin Court page 4
More on the ranking of witches and wizards of the Boy-who-lived generation page 7
More on the adventures of young Lord Potter, did he go willingly on them? page 8
More on the hunt for the missing Lord Potter page 6
Nic sat back in shock as he heard what had happened with Hermione in the Bank, he knew that Rita had to have started the investigation in the bank in beetle form but once caught got permission from the goblins since it would help with the discrediting of Granger, Dumblewhore, and the others. Sirius was laughing as he heard the fate of the girl who was more than a know-it-all, she was an abusive Bitch of the highest order who liked to hit people when they didn't do what she wanted fast enough. He also was glad that the books she had stolen from the manor would soon be returned including the Black Family Grimoire that had disappeared during the clean up of the Black Family Townhome. Draco was smug because he knew that she had finally been put in her place and he enjoyed the fact that she had been banned from her favorite store, he also knew that most of the books that she had bought would be reclaimed by the goblins as they had been bought with Nic's money. Severus just sneered at the clothing mention and his defense of his son, like he would let that harlot talk bad about his godson and son in such a manor. It was going to be an amusing day as they all discussed the different parts of the article and noticed there really was little embellishment. They were also shocked she didn't mention that the Longbottom's had woken up but figured it would probably be the story in tomorrows paper. After Luna released it of course in her father's Quibbler.
"Well as amusing as that was, we didn't get all our shopping in the Alley done yesterday so should we brave the crowd that will likely show up as soon as we do, or should we head back into mundane London to the get the latest electronics and news? I know for a fact from my research into MCUSA, that the latest Stark tech all works around magic so we can get some of that to begin our search." Nic asked the group as everyone got ready to go about their day.
"I vote for the mundane side of things. I don't want to be swarmed with people in the Alley so close to the reveal of what is going on." Remus said as he leaned back in his seat with his third cup of coffee.
"I want to give the public a chance to get used to the fact I am free before I go into Diagon again. The next time I do it will not be in glamour. I know that the mundane world gets information much faster and it spreads much quicker than in the Wixen world so I should be safe to go there. Also Madame Bones sent a copy of the declaration of innocence so I can show an officer if need be when we are out." Sirius stated simply holding up the envelope that Madame Bones had sent over just this morning before he had come down for breakfast.
"I need to continue working on some of the potions I have going downstairs, I will be staying here whatever anyone else does." Severus replied as he stood with his own coffee mug filled for the second time, it held 15 oz of the aromatic brew at a time.
"I'll be staying here to help Papa Sev. You know the type of tech I can handle so I trust you to find something for me." Draco shrugged before rising to follow his Papa.
"I have paperwork that needs to be finished for the next Wizengamot meeting at the end of the week in my office at the ministry. I will take your forms into Madame Bones and Madame Marchbanks to get you in for your NEWTs Nicephorus." Lucius pulled on a closed robe over the top of his sarcastic shirt, not that anyone would believe he would wear something like that but better to maintain his superior image until they left England behind.
"Thank you, Luc, I appreciate that it saves me a trip among the Sheeple." Nic replied with a nod of his head saying goodbye to the others as they listed things they had to accomplish before the move. "I believe just before we leave for MCUSA that we should do an exclusive interview with Miss Skeeter. As much as I normally despised what she writes I was impressed that she was able to control herself so well with the two she wrote this time."
"I will reach out to her and get a contract of truth out of her before we set up the interview. Wouldn't want her to embellish too much after all." Lucius replied with a nod as he left the dining room and soon after the manor itself.
"Well seems like it's just the three of us going." Sirius stated standing from his seat and leaving his tea behind, it had been his third cup as well. "Let's get ready and meet in the foyer in twenty?"
"Sounds good." Remus replied as he followed his mate from the room heading back to their chambers to get his boots while Sirius changed from his lounge pants into some loose jeans and his biker boots leaving his leather jacket behind since it was the beginning of August after all.
"Twenty minutes." Nic replied to Sirius as he walked through to the kitchens to get a travel mug for coffee from the house elves, he had barely slept last night while reviewing for his NEWTs and filling out the forms that were needed to apply to do them under his true name while keeping it from the press for the time being. As soon as he had his travel mug, he gathered his boots and the special wrist cuff that the goblins had given him that hid his tails and ears behind a complicated glamour, it was why Rita never mentioned his kitsune status in the articles she had written.
The three men arrived at the apparition spot within the manor, the only point it was safe for anyone to enter or leave by apparition, and with a look at each other returned to the alley that was the let-out spot for Diagon opposite of the Leaky Cauldron. They then headed to grab a cab and head for Oxford Street to get everything they needed and many things they didn't.
It was while shopping for the latest Stark technology that Nic bumped into a gentleman that pinged against his awareness in a way that puzzled him. It wasn't the sense that this was a mate but instead that this person could be a protector. The man was wrapped in a leather jacket with a glove on one hand and a baseball cap pulled low over his face as if hiding from something. Looking carefully Nic was vaguely reminded of the pictures of the Howling Commandos that they had studied in history the year before he started at Hogwarts. He couldn't think of who it reminded him of but knew that the men in the suits that were scanning the store as if looking for someone could not find him. Sending a discrete BSL signal to Remus and Sirius, who were at the checkout already with everything for the group, Nic turned to the gentleman and slowly guided him out of the store and away from the suits without a word spoken between them.
Enter stage left the Winter Soldier aka Protective Bucky mode
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
See the end of the chapter for more notes
The Asset didn't know why he was following the young man that was directing him out of the store he had ducked into to avoid his handlers. The past month after a recent mission he was starting to get several glimpses of his past. One face stood out and he had headed to the store to not only avoid the handlers but also to see if he could find anything on the face from his memory. Then the young man that was guiding him seemed to notice his handlers as well and decided to lead him out of there. Maybe the reason he stayed with the boy was he recognized the spirit of the face from his past. He had felt the wash of foreign magic over him that caused others not to pay attention to them as they moved through the shopping center. It seemed though as if the handlers were able to pinpoint him even so as they were right behind them.
"Asset you will stop and turn yourself over for reprograming." One of the suits stated as he stepped in front of Nic and the gentleman that he was helping. Nic wasn't sure what allowed the man to see through his notice-me-not charm until he realized the man was simply speaking in their direction and glancing down at the phone in his hand. There must be some sort of tracker on the man he was helping.
The suit behind them pulled out a gun while others came around from the sides boxing them in. Nic knew that Sirius and Remus would simply move forward and head to the food-court like planned if they had to separate for any reason, though they thought it would be to do with someone from the Order noticing them somehow. He was not about to let some suit that called the man beside him Asset harm anyone and so threw up a shield around them that would be strong enough to block most bullets.
"Asset comply!" The suit started spitting still looking around the area that they were standing in waiting for them.
"Het*!" The man beside him snapped out as he seemed to fight the pull of the command barked at him.
Nic remained a silent but sturdy support beside him letting him know without words that he would help him.
"Activate runner protocol." The suit snarled into phone in his hand.
Nic was shocked to see sparks of electricity moving along the man's arm that had been covered in the glove. The gentleman didn't scream or fight the surge of power through his arm though eventually he had to drop to a knee as it seemed to increase in intensity. Moving carefully within his spell and shield Nic helped remove the jacket covering the man's arms from sight and was shocked to see the metal arm with a red star resting on the shoulder area. It was lit up and rippling with the power that was flowing through it. Dropping the notice-me-not and increasing the power to his shield Nic focused more of his power through to the workings of the robotic arm finding where it was connected to the flesh shoulder of the man called Asset and then following those connections to the items that were causing the surge.
"Shit…okay this will hurt even more than you are right now, but I can make the pain stop and stop them from controlling you with it." Nic stated firmly once he saw that he had the man's attention.
"Do it." The Asset grunted out as he was clenching his teeth from the pain surging through him.
"Asset remand yourself over and prepare for reprograming!" The suit snapped out again now that the Asset was in clear view and ignoring the young man with him.
"Will you shut the fuck up! He is a man not a robot to be reprogramed!" Nic bit out as he went to work flowing his magic through the arm to all the circuits that tracked and disabled the man so he would have freedom from the idiot suits.
The Asset bit out a light scream as the pain intensified briefly before disappearing completely from his system as Nic blocked the pain receptors briefly.
"Kill the boy and take the Asset back into custody." The suit snapped out. He didn't have the words necessary to reactivate the programing in the asset or he would have already started saying them to regain control.
At those words Nic's shield was under fire from multiple angles as the other suits that were surrounding them opened fire not caring that there were civilians in the line of fire. One of the bullets slipped through from the constant barrage and lodged itself in Nic's shoulder causing him to cry out more from shock then pain. That seemed to be all the man they were calling the Asset needed to react as he drew his own guns and opened fire with precision taking out every one of the suits with a kill shot between the eyes. He then scooped the young man up with his metal arm, helping him lay across his back as he began to make his way to the exit of the shopping district. Two other gentlemen that he recognized from the store he had met the young man in showed on each side and he felt another wash of magic that blocked them from view as they moved, hiding them from the police that were starting to swarm the area after the first call of shots fired rang out.
"That is our godson on your back. He let us know he was protecting you before he took you out of the store. We have a place that would be safe. Do you wish to go with us? We need to get him back there for medical treatment." Remus spoke up as Sirius was slightly out of breath from the amount and speed of running next the man carrying Nic.
"Yes." The man bit out for some reason feeling he could trust them, though also knowing that he would be able to kill them easily and escape if needed.
"Thank you. We'll take you in a special mode. We'll explain after we arrive." Remus replied simply as they turned into an abandoned alley that didn't have any cameras pointed toward it.
"You'll use magic I know can feel it on ya." A trace of his original Brooklyn accent started slipping through.
"Correct." Remus replied and placed a hand on the man's shoulder while Sirius supported Nic on his back while they side-apparated out of the alley and into the manor, with Sirius and Nic with the man he was able to get through the wards that were still up. "Dobby!"
"How's can Dobby be helping Master Wolfie?" Dobby asked as he popped into the entrance. "Master Foxy hurt! Who hurt Master Foxy?"
"Dobby focus! Nicephorus needs healing, fetch Severus and Charlie they have the most experience. The people that hurt Nic have already been taken care of." Sirius snapped out not having time for the panicking elf. He reached around and removed the concealing bracelet knowing that though it didn't draw on a lot of his magic it drew enough and was dangerous to keep on when so wounded.
"Right away Master Doggy!" Dobby snapped his fingers and popped out of the room to get to Severus quickly.
"Right follow us and we will take him to his bedroom where Severus can treat that gun shot." Sirius stated leading the way through the manor and up the stairs until they reached the family wing where they went to the master bedroom. They were met at the door by an exasperated Severus and a bemused Charlie.
"He can't even go a week without getting into trouble and bringing home a stray." Severus shook his head when he saw that an unknown was carrying his godson. "And who would you be sir?"
"Asset." The man's voice was devoid of emotion as he replied and moved to lay the young man that had helped him onto the bed that dominated the room, easily big enough to fit eight people if the desire was there.
"I believe I'll have to help you after I heal Nic. No one's name is truly Asset ever." Severus bit out in frustration as he noticed the blank look along with the blank voice. Pointing his wand directly over the entrance wound for the bullet which he could tell was still within the wound he said a simple, "Accio bullet."
Placing the battered piece of metal on the nightstand beside the bed Severus and Charlie began the delicate process of healing muscle, tendon, veins, and skin to the microscopic level. It only took the two of them twenty minutes working together to finish up and feed Nic the blood replenishing potion and small dose of dreamless sleep knowing that a peaceful rest was what was needed at the moment, but didn't want to disrupt his night of sleep fully.
"If you will follow me." Severus stated to the man who had stood at military ease against the wall of the room clearly waiting for some sort of instruction. The man fell instep beside him as Severus left the room knowing that his mastery of the mind arts would be needed here, the man had all the signs of multiple obliviates and would need delicate handling. They entered into a spare sitting room upstairs not far from the room Nic was resting in. "Sit down and get comfortable. I'm going to enter your mind with Legilimency, if you do not fight my entrance it should be painless."
The Asset just nodded wanting answers for all the scattered memories flowing through his mind. He felt the brief moment when he registered the wizard's entrance into his mind and then he didn't feel anything else. Severus on the other hand was wading through layers of erased memories, broken blocks, and shattered avenues and working on repairing them as he went. He noticed the programing of trigger words and worked on removing the triggers, though he could remove the triggers he couldn't deprogram them completely, he just changed the actions those words led to. In all it took over six hours of work where Severus stood in one place and the man before him sat frozen in place both with their eyes wide open. Lucius and Draco were sitting one of the few couches in the room keeping watch over their mate and father, respectively. Nic had come out of his room and joined them just a little while ago quietly thanking the house-elves who popped in with some snacks as soon as they seemed to sense the pair surfacing from the deep trance.
"Well Nicephorus you have once again changed things." Severus stated as he rubbed his eyes to work some of the dryness out of them. "You have not only brought home an assassin that is considered the best in the world. But you have also found Sergeant James 'Bucky' Buchanan Barnes of the American 107 from WWII. A man thought dead to the world. Best friend to Captain Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America."
"No Shit?!" Nicephorus replied eyes wide as he looked between the man he had saved and the man who had saved him.
"No shit. You're going to cause waves with this information kiddo." Severus walked over to Nicephorus and knelt before the kitsune holding his face gently. "I know that they recently found Captain America frozen in the ice where he crashed the plane that Hydra had sent out. I know that he recently fought with a bunch of others against the Norse God Loki and a bunch of aliens. You are going to change things for the Captain for he still believes that his best friend is dead."
"Shit! Shit! Fuck! Why?! Why can't things go well for me once when I try and help someone. It always is screwed up and drags me into the limelight somehow. I Don't want attention! Can't anyone up there get that?" Nic shouted at the ceiling while tugging at his hair.
"Easy punk…It's okay…" Bucky said as he moved to kneel in front of the kid that had saved him and brought him to someone who could free him mentally. "You did a good thing. We can keep it from the public somehow."
"That is the thing I know there were cameras all over the place if just in the phones of people that were around us and pulled them up when I dropped the notice-me-not. Hopefully, they will just think I'm some sort of mutant and I didn't expose magic. I do not need that headache on top of everything else." Nic replied looking at the man before him, who had removed the ball cap when he had entered the sitting room with Severus and was out of his glove and jacket. "Somehow we have to come up with explanations of where you were and what happened to you. Not only that but we have to figure out what happened fully in your past."
"You let me worry about that little fox." Bucky stated while gently holding Nic's hands to keep him from pulling his hair. "Yeah, I'm a bit messed up and behind on things around here but since I've got magic myself no one should get after you for using it around me."
"That isn't something hinted at in the history books…did Captain America have it too?" Sirius spoke up from where he was lounging against the bookshelves. Remus was beside him holding him still so that he wouldn't rush forward as the man that they had helped rescue after watching him almost casually shoot eight people approached and touched their godson.
"Yeah, the little punk had it as well. It was all that kept him alive most the time before he went through that science experiment. The genius who made that stuff told him it was his 'gift' that was able to keep him alive during the process." Bucky stated looking over at the pair by the bookshelves. "Stevie would say it was what made the process so painful when it happened, his magic was fighting the serum the whole time. But he also said he would go through it again if it gave him the ability to save me."
"You were more than best friends weren't you." Nic whispered looking down to meet Bucky's eyes.
"Yeah, little fox we were." That was all that Bucky said while his eyes went distant with memories. Blinking out of it and realizing just how exhausted he was he fought back a yawn and looked for a clock.
"How about we all have something to eat and then call it a night." Severus spoke up as he moved to the small table the house elves had set up with a light meal for those in the sitting room.
"I already had the elves prepare a room for our guest." Charlie spoke up finally from where he stood by the windows.
"Thanks Charlie." Nic softly stated his eyes tight with discomfort over all the thoughts and problems he could think of running through his head. It would be a very long time for him to fall asleep tonight. No matter if he was still healing a bit from taking a gun shot in the protection of Bucky.
"Sounds good. I could use a shower and rest." Bucky admitted lightly though his eyes were tight as he was fighting the Soldiers instincts. Yes, Severus had helped him, but he couldn't get rid of everything in only six hours it was enough that he had gotten rid of the trigger words, even some he hadn't been aware of.
Everyone enjoyed the light meal with very little conversation, they were all exhausted after the stress of the day or the intense magic used. Within an hour of starting to eat everyone headed to the rooms provided to get the rest that they could. Severus with his sixth sense, at least that is how Nic saw it, knew that Nic wouldn't get sleep unless he gave him some help so made Nic take a full dreamless sleep before climbing into bed he then cast an alert ward around the bed to let him know if Nic needed him in the night. Everyone was soon in their own rooms sleeping and being grateful for the rest.
~Avenger's Tower~
Sir there has been an alert in London of a mass shooting in a shopping district. Facial recognition places two of the people seen at the scene match that of the photos that you had for Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. * JARVIS spoke out of the blue into the common room where everyone had gathered to talk about how the search for Nicephorus was going. *A young man is seen in their company along with a fourth individual who I have found no record of. *
"Pull it up on screen J." Tony replied as he moved to where he could see the screens that were popping up around the room more clearly. "That is Remus and Sirius for sure…Zoom in here…Focus here…I think we found him…" Tony's voice was soft as he looked at the picture that was displayed in front of him of the young man that had been near Remus and Sirius.
"How can you tell Tony?" Steve asked gently as he moved to stand beside his friend and look over the picture as well. They could tell that the kid was helping the fourth man and that the man had a metal arm that seemed to be trying to electrocute him while the two were surrounded by a powerful shield.
"His eye color…and the shape of his face…not to mention that hair is all James in the way it is trying to resist being tamed." Tony replied pointing out the different areas that he had noticed. "He has his mother's eye shape and color, plus the lashes that everyone swoons over. The shape of his nose and jaw are James, while the shape of the mouth and his complexion are Stark traits. J pull up what people are saying about this attack, make sure that the people who call it magic are redirected to thinking it was a trick of the eye or a new mutation or something. We need to control this so they don't expose magic yet, the chaos after having Loki attack New York with magic and aliens would make it very hard for people to accept magic just yet."
Even though they had proved that Loki had been under the control of someone else just as he had controlled others through that staff. Thor and Loki had returned to Asgard to clear Loki of the crimes he had committed while under the mad titan's control, even his attempt to overthrow the kingdom could be tied back to that mad man. Once they were done, they were going to return and help with clean up and protection of Midgard.
"Wait go back a bit…zoom in on the fourth gentleman please JARVIS…" Steve spoke quickly having gotten a glimpse of a jaw that was as familiar to him as his own. "Bucky…" He whispered as the profile of the man came into view for the whole group in the room. "How…"
"Shit JARVIS zoom in on the metal arm that was mentioned…" Natasha stated rising and moving close to the two for the first time since it was clear that there was more to Tony than she had thought. "I know of him…but…JARVIS can you zoom out to those that were involved in the shooting?"
Of course Miss Romanoff. * JARVIS responded and followed the direction letting the group see the eight men surrounding the teen and man being kept back by an invisible shield that only reacted once they opened fire. *There were eight known aggressors, all killed by the gentleman in the middle after the young man was injured from a gun shot that broke through his shield. *
"Thank you, sir, whoever you are. JARVIS run facial scans connected to James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes of the 107 and the Howling Commandos." Tony responded having flinched when the gun shot broke through the shield, that it had blocked so many showed just how strong it was. "Also JARVIS continue your passive scans for Remus, Sirius, and Severus. I doubt that Lucius will be I Mundane London long enough. Where did Remus, Sirius and the kid go before he is seen with the fourth man? I believe you Steve that it could be Bucky, but I need to make sure." Tony explained glancing at his friend when he saw Steve start to open his mouth to argue the fact that it was Bucky.
"Alright I get it…I could just be seeing him where I want to after the discussion, we had the other day." Steve replied nodding his head in understanding. "I get that I do…"
Sir they had been shopping in the closest Stark Tech store. Would you like me to pull up audio and video of their visit? * JARVIS asked simply.
"Please J."
"Come on Siri, Remus, we need to get something for Draco, Lucius, Severus, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, Theo, Blaise, Luna, Fleur and Gabrielle, Viktor has something to use his manager makes them have the latest resistant tech when they are traveling, also need to get for Neville and his grandmother so we can stay in contact with them when we move. Do you think Kings would be interested? That way he can keep us up to date on Fumblewhore and the others." The kid stated listing off on his fingers all the people that he wanted to treat with Stark Tech. The group watching caught a glimpse of a fancy silver colored cuff on his wrist as he gestured.
"Nic calm down we're coming we're coming…" Remus chuckled following behind the young man while Sirius was bouncing as much as the young man.
"I want to get one of the latest phones and the latest tablet…I know when Streakshot was with us he was working on some amazing things and if this is his stuff it would've only gotten better!" Sirius bounced around looking at the different tech through the store.
The staff could be seen in the background chuckling at the hyperactivity of the man. A few looked wary of him but others simply pointed to the tv that was going in the back that was broadcasting the news that the man known as Sirius Black was cleared of all charges and an official apology had come through from the Queen herself for the miscarriage of justice that his case had been found to be. It announced that it had become known that he had been incarcerated for 11 years with no trial and that the truth had finally come out about what had happened thanks to a special teams' investigative skills. The man hunt had been called of and Sirius Black was welcome in the UK again. Sirius caught a glimpse of the news program and couldn't help breaking into a large smile that completely changed his face.
"See Remy I told you it would be safe since the public get their news so quickly." Sirius stated turning to his friend that had walked up beside him. "I think we've gathered everything we need. Nic you can keep browsing while we get these things set up for us."
"Thanks Siri." Nic replied smiling largely himself at the fact that Sirius was able to move with freedom once more. "I'm going to look at the drawing tablets."
"Alright we will be by the registers. Signal us if you need anything." Remus replied as they moved to the back of the store where the registers were. *
On the video they could see Remus and Sirius move toward the registers as Nic moved to where the tablets that were specialized for artist resided. Nic seemed to be fascinated and very interested before stiffening slightly as the fourth gentleman approached the same display which gave perfect line of sight to the whole store. The group watching noticed within a short time after Nic the suits that had entered and seemed to be looking for someone, though one was more looking at the phone in his hand before directing his gaze up and toward where the gentleman was. They noticed as Nic seemed to move his hands at random after getting Remus' attention with a wandless wordless light stinging hex, Remus had jumped briefly and stopped an action of reaching back to rub where the hex hit.
"He is explaining that he was going to help the fourth gentleman leave the store without drawing attention. He let Remus know that they should stick to the separation plan and that he would meet them shortly." Clint spoke up from where he was still perched on the back couch watching the video with the others.
"How do you know what he is saying?" Tony asked.
"He is using BSL, or British Sign Language, it is similar to ASL enough that I can get the idea of what he is saying." Clint replied with a casual shrug.
"Since when do you understand ASL?" Tony asked confused.
"Since I'm deaf without the hearing aids that SHIELD gave me after a mission went really bad. I can read lips pretty well, but the aids help the most in battle situations like the NY attack." Clint responded as he removed one of the hearing aids to show what he meant.
"I thought they were communication means for the agents…" Tony responded walking over and looking at the slightly bulky hearing aid that Clint held in his hand. "Oh know this won't do at all…I can definitely make something better…"
Clint smirked internally, it was working out perfectly, not only would he get a new set of aids that would be more streamline and less bulky, but he was also distracting Tony from the worry he could see building on the man after finding out that the kid was called Nic, an easily shortened version of Nicephorus. Natasha looked over at Clint with a raised eyebrow catching onto what he was doing easily from the years of working as his partner in the field.
Sir, the facial recognition meets a 98% chance match to Sergeant James Barnes. I have also found further footage from different department stores matching Remus Lupin and Sirius Black with a third gentleman and a group of children including the one called Nic. They were captured on camera shopping yesterday afternoon. * JARVIS spoke up into the room pulling up the footage he talked about on the screens not showing the shooting on replay for Nat to see the different angles as she tried to place Bucky and how she knew him. The footage showed Nic picking out a bunch of punny shirts for people and getting chuckles from everyone. The next frame showed as he chose a bunch of punny mugs as well causing the group watching the footage to chuckle at his bouncing as he found a good one.
"He definitely has your energy, Tones." Rhody stated as he entered the room noticing the purchases being made, he shook his head. "He also has your sense of humor."
"Oh that isn't only from me his other father was a practical joker and loved pulling pranks." Tony chuckled as he watched his son. "He is being called Nic, which I can fully understand we did give him a complicated name. After all we stuck with the magical Stark side Greek roots in his naming. I'm after all Antonis when I'm in the wixen world."
"Antonis? I thought you were Anthony?" Steve spoke up a little confused.
"I'm Anthony in the mundane side so that people wouldn't get hostile, I changed it when I turned 14 and went to MIT. When my father found out I'd gotten the magic gene of the family he made sure my name reflected it. Let me tell you my mundane school years were harsh in the fact that I was picked on so much for being Antonis." Tony replied with a shrug indifferent now to the fact that he had the unique name. "Lily was the one that chose Nic's name wanting him to have a connection to my family's history, even though I would have preferred if she had gone with an Italian name instead of Ancient Greek, I wasn't about to stop the fiery Kitsune when she was determined to have something while pregnant with my first child. If he had been born a female, she was going to name him Athenais in honor of the Greek Goddess of the Hunt Athena."
"Wow your mate was determined to give your kid a rough name." Clint responded with a light laugh only to be pushed off the couch by Phil who had come up behind him on the side missing the hearing aid.
"You know better than to perch on furniture." Phil reminded his husband as he moved through the room. "I see you already have the information on the shooting that occurred a few hours ago in London."
"Yeah, did you know that the person my boy helped is James Barnes? As in Cap's Bucky." Tony stated looking at Phil with a raised eyebrow.
"No we did not. Though we did know that the gentleman that he helped is known among a lot of circles as the Winter Soldier. We thought you should know that he was the man who is most likely responsible for your parents' crash. Though what we have on the man says that he is not willing in what he does. Captain there is also signs that he's being controlled by Hydra. Fury wanted me to be the one to fill you all in on the fact that there are signs that Hydra is in SHIELD and we need to figure out a way to roust them out." Phil looked around the room knowing that JARVIS would keep all communication in the room secure and that the building was routinely checked multiple times a day by the AI for any listening devices or other bugs.
"FUCK!" Steve snapped running his hands through his hair.
"LANGUAGE!" The rest of the team called out with smirks on their faces, they still had fun ragging on Steve for the time he had called that out to Tony during the battle.
"I'm never going to live that down…" Steve mumbled shaking his head and messing his hair up even more.
"No you're really won't" Tony patted his shoulder in comfort as he enjoyed the teasing that was happening.
"Shit that is how I know his face…" Natasha stated simply her hand covering her mouth briefly before dropping as she turned to the others. "He is one of the causes for a scar on my stomach, I was protecting one of his targets and he shot the man right through me but let me alone. If he was fully into his assignments, he would have not left me alive. Also he was one of the trainers brought into the Red Room. I learned to fight and shoot from him. He got in trouble for 'going easy' on us. He was only called the Asset by the trainers."
"We'll deal with everything as we have the chance. Right now I want to make sure that the space is ready and safe for when Nic shows up if SHIELD is compromised, they would go after my boy for his history. And need to make the area safe for Barnes, if I know my friends at all anymore, they would have taken him with and Sev would notice if something is wrong mentally. He is a Master of the Mind Arts and will be able to help him if he is being controlled in anyway. Also from what I was able to see Nic has some of my gifts with Technomagic and helped with the metal arm."
"We can make plans but until we know more, we can't take any steps. Oh and I thought you might like to see this." Phil stated pulling out the current Daily Prophet. "Remember how I told you that Nicephorus is known as Harry Potter to the wixen world well here is what is happening with him."
"Thanks Phil, JARVIS scan the paper so we can all see it." Steve stated taking the paper from the Agent since Tony is still in his I don't like to be handed things state.
As soon as they read the paper, they had others to add to their list of those that had hurt Nicephorus and as well as a list of things to check on for the young man they desired to protect. Since it was still mid-morning when they saw this, they soon split up and turned to other pursuits to help them think. In Tony's case he headed for his lab planning on getting to work on a new hearing aid for the archer. Steve went to wail on some punching bags, Natasha went shopping, Clint went to the shooting range for practice, Phil returned to headquarters to update Fury on what they had discovered before he had arrived, Rhody went down to Tony's lab to keep him company and be there in case the thoughts of his son being shot finally caught up with him and to pull him out when he needs to eat and rest.
Chapter End Notes
het - no (Russian)
one step forward, two leaps back
Chapter Notes
I do not own any of the characters and am writing purely for the enjoyment and to get past writers block on several original pieces that I am writing at this time.
AN: Thanks so much for patiently waiting for this next chapter. With it being Christmas break for my kids and my husband taking the week off I haven't had much time to truly work on it. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter as they have the past.
There are some continuality corrections in this chapter. Only some things to clear things up...if there are missed words or wrong words I apologize and will try and fix them but am also working on keeping my kids on track with distance learning so things may slip by. This is not beta read and only my computer making corrections for me so it might miss some things. Also my internet is acting up so posting is difficult. I am working on the next chapter and hope to have it posted later today
Nic entered the family room the morning after saving James Barnes and looked up at the painting of his parents. He was confused on some things and was up early enough that he knew most the others would still be asleep. He knew that he should probably have someone in here with him, but he needed to talk to his parents on his own for a while, it would be the first time that he remembered being alone with his parents since he blocked most of the things from before they died while at the Dursley's to protect himself. He knew that he was avoiding sleep, but it was so hard for him to do so when all he kept seeing was the past.
"Hey sweetie why are you up?" Lily asked looking down at her little boy, she could see the black circles starting to form from lack of sleep even though it had only been two days since he woke from his inheritance.
"Couldn't sleep, and wanted to talk to you and dad, mum." Nic responded softly as he moved to sit on the large soft couch in front of the fireplace and the painting. "I wanted to know more about my papa. I know his name, but I don't know anything else. Why didn't he come for me? Why didn't I know about him? Does he blame me for your death?"
Lily held in a sob as she saw the tears forming in her baby's eyes. It had to be so hard on him having to find out that he still had a living parent out there.
"Kit, I know he wouldn't abandon you on purpose. He was overseas attending something in honor of your grandma when we died. Something must have happened to keep him over there. He loved you so much I know he would have been there if he knew you were still alive, that is the only thing I can think of that would keep him away. He must have been told that you died as well." James replied looking as if he was trying to reach through the canvas and hold his baby fox.
"But why would he leave Remus and Sirius behind? And what about the others of your group…He abandoned everyone." Nic was upset over the fact that he had left Sirius to rot in prison reliving his worst memories. "Why didn't everyone mention that I had another father? Severus and Lucius, I can understand they had images to keep up but why keep Papa a secret from me? I DESERVED TO KNOW!"
"Oh, baby you have to understand their memories were taken from them. It was us reminding them that lead Sev to asking Bill to look and see if there was a block. Together he and Bill broke down all the others so that they could help you. As soon as they remembered they wanted to storm off and hurt Fumblewhore. It was only the thought of you that kept them here. They wanted to let you know as soon as you were able to take it in. Anthony Edward Stark is your father and would never have left anyone behind for any reason beyond his memories being messed with." Lily replied hugging herself to keep from crying.
"What were my grandparents names?" Nic asked wanting to change the subject as the tears of abandonment dried on his face.
"Your Grandmum and Grandpop Evans were Rose and Hank, your Nonna and Nonno Stark were Maria and Howard, and your Grandmother and Grandfather Potter were Euphemia and Fleamont." Lily responded gently allowing the subject change knowing that things had been hard on Nic for a long time. "Your grandmum and grandpop were killed by Death Eaters when I was still in Hogwarts. Your grandmother and grandfather died of dragon pox shortly after they saw our marriage and later triad bonding. They had your Dad extremely late in life and so were unable to fight off the disease. Your Nonna and Nonno were killed in a car accident a year after our bonding, truthfully only your Nonna supported us in that and your Nonno was not the best to your Papà as he was growing up. He had been obsessed with someone he knew during WWII, Tony never told us the name of the person, but it was hard on him to constantly be left behind and ignored for the man, so we never brought it up. Your grandmum and grandpop were so accepting of me and my inheritance though they had been shocked by us having Kitsune in our past, it hadn't come through in many generations but there were always murmurs at the reunions about things such as that. Petunia was adopted before they had me, they had tried for years unsuccessfully before giving in an adopting. Petunia never accepted the fact that I was born to our parents thinking that I was the ne adopted because of the kitsune traits. She called me a freak for a long time before I even went to Hogwarts, Severus helped a lot as we grew up near each other and he helped me find information on what I was. We can create glamours around ourselves in time of stress so any time I went out so that those that didn't know or wouldn't accept my extra features saw what I needed them to see to stay safe. It was hard with Petunia; she would act one way around our parents but become completely different in public." Lily explained about his grandparents before shaking herself back into the present only to stop in horror when she saw how Nic had started rocking back and forth while hugging himself. "SHIT! James go get Sev…"
"On it Lils…" James responded running out of the frame, he could be seen dashing through the other frames in the house as he headed to the potion's lab. Knowing his friend that is where he would be at this time of day, for he had always been an early riser as well. "Sev! We need you in the Family Room and bring a calming draught!"
"What! SHIT!" Sev startled and dropped a piece of boomslang into the cauldron before it was time causing it to start to bubble fiercely before he threw a shield over it containing the explosion that resulted. He turned with a glare at the small landscape on the wall that was kept in the lab to allow those in the paintings to pass on messages, he then noticed the look of panic in James' eyes as he waited for Severus to acknowledge him and only gave a nod before grabbing the requested vial and running from the room James appearing ahead of him at different intervals as he headed back to the portrait over the fireplace.
Sirius had noticed his dashing as he passed the dining room and came out to follow wherever the crisis was. Remus soon behind him when they passed the stairwell as he was coming down. The group of three let out a bitten curse when they noticed how Nic was rocking on the floor in front of the couch where he had slid off during the talk with his parents. Severus slid to his knees beside Nic spelling the calming drought directly into the lad's stomach knowing that with the way he was worked up that getting him to swallow it would be near impossible.
"What happened Lily-flower?" Sirius stated moving over to kneel beside his adopted son reaching out like he wanted to hold him but stopping knowing that touching him right now could make things worse.
"She was talking about his grandparents and then happened to mention her sister and what the bitch called her." James responded holding Lily close as she watched what was happening to her baby.
"Shit! That would cause it." Remus muttered running his hand through his hair. "I know that Sev mentions that he had been compelled to stay silent on how the Dursley's treated him, but I think that you were more worried about the blocks on us and where Tony might be."
"Dursley's he wasn't supposed to even know Vernon, why would talking about the bitch make him think of the that bastard? I thought they had broken up after the wedding fiasco." Lily stated wincing when she heard the panicked breathing of her kit speed up even more when Vernon's name was said.
"Because the Bitch married the Bastard and had a bastard in training. The boy had started changing after a meeting with Dementors but for his safety and Nic's kept up the act of hating his cousin. He was why we were able to get to Nic and rescue him before his birthday. We couldn't enter the home without permission from one of those living there that was not Nic, or permission from Dumbledore as he controlled the intent wards. Nic's cousin contacted us and gave us the permission we needed, he wasn't expecting his father to be home, but we found out it was a good thing because we needed him to open the door to where Nic was kept." Severus snapped out his frustration at what had been done to his godson tearing at his emotional control.
"He was never supposed to even meet the Bitch! We said that in our wills!" James shouted but soon stopped when he noticed the flinch from Nic.
"Yeah, well Fumblewhore locked those as soon as he was able. We just got them opened two days ago and were able to finally get me cleared of everything." Sirius spoke looking up from Nic to raise an eyebrow at his best mate. "Did you really think that he would allow anything to stop him from keeping control?"
"I want to murder that old coot!" Lily snapped her eyes wet with painted tears as she kept an eye on her baby boy.
Severus had wrapped Nic in a large blanket before helping him from the floor knowing that he wouldn't want physical touch at this time but knowing that he needed to rest as he was drained from the emotions surging through him and the lack of sleep through the night. Sirius sat on the arm of the couch and began running his fingers through the loose curls on Nic's head knowing that it helped James when he had a rough time growing up so that it could help his son potentially. After an initial flinch Nic began leaning into the hand and his eyes which had been staring blankly as he was lost in memories slipped closed. Remus sat on the floor in front of the couch keeping guard even though they were safe in the manor it was something Moony needed and something he knew the kit needed as well. Severus collapsed into a nearby wingback chair resting his head on his hand.
"We all want to murder the old coot Lily-flower. But we can't leave the kit, besides, we plan on letting him hang by his own beard." Lucius drawled as he entered the room in time to hear the statement and watch the end of the panic attack.
James Barnes was behind him and seeing that the kit was vulnerable in sleep stood beside the door with his arms crossed the metal one gleaming in the firelight coming from below the portrait. He, like Moony, went into guard mode around the young kit. He could feel the protector bond forming like a taunt line pulling at his chest right near his heart. He knew that the kit had been through his own hell and was glad that he had so many protectors around him.
"Who are you?" James asked from the portrait as the man with a metal arms seemed to drop into a guard mode.
"Your kit's latest rescue project Prongs." Remus chuckled as he looked where James was facing and saw James Barnes. "Funnily enough he is another James. Meet the Winter Soldier, aka James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes for the Howling Commandos and the 107 from WWII."
"No shit? How did that happen? My father fought with the Commandos at one point, offering magical cover when they were going to a couple Hydra Bases that had teamed up with Grindenwald." James stated leaning forward and studying the gentleman by the door closer. "He told me of the expert shot that they had with that was able to take out some of the wixen before they could even snap off a spell. He said that was why I was named James because the man had saved his ass from a killing curse with one of the shots. Also said the man could out drink the rest of them but for his mate Steve. It was because of the man that I was able to be born Fleamont always told my mother."
"Small world." Bucky chuckled quietly not letting his guard down even though he could feel the strength of the wards. "That knucklehead put my mate to shame with his daring acts that day. He was steppin in front of the curse to save one of his buddies, so I saved his ass instead."
"Now he never told my mother that." James laughed wondering what else hidden from his mother to save his father's hide. "Moony you should go to the hall of portraits and wake my folks. Have them join us here. You and Padfoot are both allowed through the magical adoption of Sirius into the family when he was 16, and when you became mates."
"Will do." Remus gave a smart-ass salute to his friend before standing and leaving the room, Moony was calm enough with Bucky being on guard as well to leave temporarily since he wasn't leaving the building.
"I just know that my mother is going to love having the truth of a lot of Father's actions during the war. At least that which you know." James chuckled lightly as he waited for his friend's return and his parents' entrance. Thankfully beside the portrait that James and Lily were in was a canvas depicting the Lord of the Manor's office where his parents could settle for the reunion and wouldn't have to crowd James and Lily in their own canvas.
"James what are you chuckling about son? Planning another prank with your friends? Why did Remus come to wake us?" Fleamont asked as he entered the office painting and looked around the room, he had heard his son's chuckles but didn't realize it was from another portrait at first. "Shit son…no…"
James gave Lily a hug before heading over into that canvas and wrapping his arms around his father. "Yeah Papa…Lily and I are here."
"Where is Tony, please tell me he isn't…tell me your son isn't alone…" Fleamont wrapped his arms around his baby boy and felt his wife join the hug moments later. "Where is my grandson?"
"He is here papa." Sirius stated while still running his hand through Nic's hair. "We don't know where Tony's at right now. Dumbledore messed with everything, including memories, and we just remembered that he was part of the group. We are waiting for wand permits to head to the states to start to look for him."
"Hey Flea…Man you look old…" Bucky stated from by the door after Remus returned and sat back in front of the kit.
"SHIT! No way! They told us you died! Steve was crushed…he crashed a plane into the artic a week after you fell…" Fleamont's mouth dropped open while his wife scolded him for his language.
"Hey Momma P. you should hear what Mr. Barnes told us on the killing curse save…" Sirius always became more polite when talking to James' mom something the other marauders always teased him over and something that caused James, Remus, Lucius, and Severus to smirk over watching it happening yet again.
"Oh really…there was more to the story was there… Thank you by the way Mr. Barnes for saving my idiot of a spouse." Euphemia stated politely watching as the young-looking man seemed to get uncomfortable at the thanks, he was rubbing the back of his neck with what looked like a metal hand.
"It was nothin Ma'am. And yeah, Flea it's really me." Bucky sighed out. "I fell a long way, lost my arm on the way down. Crashed into the iced over river below. Some Hydra soldiers we didn't know about found me. When Steve rescued me, they had been injecting me with things, it was that and my magic that kept me alive. I had my memories wiped of everything that I had ever cared about and would-be put-on ice only to be pulled back out over the years. Your grandkit was the one that helped me get away, without his help I would be back in that blasted chair being wiped again. Thankfully, they never found out about my magic, thought it was due to the knock-off serum they had been pumping me with, and never found out about the Wixens, the only ones in the know were those that we killed at those bases we hit together."
"Shit James…" Fleamont swore and looked as if he would climb out of the canvas to wrap his friend in a hug.
"Now Mr. Barnes, you should tell me about the part of the story my dear idiot was leaving out." Euphemia did her best to pull the young man out of his thoughts.
"Sure, Ma'am and call me Bucky. Your son told me what Flea has been telling you through the years about that save. He also mentioned that Flea never said how he was steppin into the curses path to save someone. I couldn't let the brave idiot who reminded me of my mate before he was changed be killed so I took the shot needed to save his ass. Only for him to continue to try and step in the path of curses to save others instead of usin his magic to block them." Bucky told them smirking when he watched his friend pale, he hadn't realized a portrait could go so pale.
Nic looked up finally when he heard two new voices join the others that he did not recognize. He was surprised to see who was in the picture next to his parents, he didn't recognize them but did notice that the man looked extremely pale.
"Who're you?" Nic asked looking up at the two by his parents, especially the one that was hugging his father.
"We're your grandparents Nicephorus. We're so glad to see you." Fleamont simply stated his eyes gentle as he looked down at the young kit on the couch. "Bucky was telling your grandmother some of the tales from when I worked with him in the field during WWII...things that I wish he would keep quiet..."
"Oh, really love? You don't want me to know the truth...you would rather continue to lie to me?" Euphemia asked with a raised eyebrow at her husband giving him a look that says, 'don't test me'.
"Of course, not my dear." Fleamont stated simply but very quickly, causing those around the room to chuckle while Bucky laughed out right.
"Flea I knew that you were sweet on her, but I didn't realize you were so whipped man." Bucky chuckled as he spoke. "You Ma'am were all that he would talk about during down times. He was so sweet on you."
Fleamont went red with a blush that disappeared down the button-up shirt he had been painted in. Euphemia laughed out loud holding her stomach at how read her husband went. Nic let out a soft chuckle at his grandparent's interactions as well as how Bucky was teasing his grandfather. James stood behind his father giving a smile toward his son, he was so glad that Nic was now laughing again after the panic attack that he had a short time before. Lily could see that her baby boy was exhausted, after all the toil that came from emotional upheaval of a panic attack would only leave him drained. Sirius and Remus couldn't help the small smiles that crossed their lips at the sound of Nic's chuckles, Remus knew he wouldn't be able to go over the reports from Gringotts with Nic just yet after what just talk of Petunia caused. Severus just had a soft look cross his face knowing that they were getting past that attack with the change of subject, he looked toward Bucky and gave the alert soldier a grateful nod. Bucky looked toward Nic with eyes that had seen much but was grateful that someone was able to laugh in the face of everything that had happened.
"I'm glad to meet you grandmother and grandfather." Nic smiled lightly as he stood to go stand before the painting, his six tails spread out behind him helping him balance as he stood up too fast. "I'd love to continue to talk and learn more from you at another time, I still need to eat breakfast before the others get after me."
"Of course, you need to eat, if you go to the main family dining room there is a large painting in there that would allow all of us to join you." Euphemia spoke quickly not wanting to keep her grandson from his breakfast.
"Go baby, we will join you in the family dining room. Remus you remember where it is right? You can lead all the others." Lily spoke up as she watched everyone stand up and prepare to leave the room.
"I was already in there this morning and can lead everyone there Lily-flower." Sirius spoke up and approached Nic to support him if he needed it.
"Thank you, Siri." Lily responded as she watched everyone leave and followed behind James, Fleamont, and Euphemia as they headed to the painting in the dining room.
Once there they were all in the room, they saw the group that had gathered to support Nic in this time of difficulties. James chuckled at the sayings that he saw on the mugs enjoying the jokes that were on them. Lily smiled as she watched her baby get a good morning hug from several of the young ones that were in the manor while the older just nodded in greeting. Nic just soaked in the positive touch that was the morning hug from Luna, who had returned last night to the manor in preparation of the reveals that Nic would get this day. Fred and George just smiled at Nic and passed him a mug of hot chocolate with a chuckle at the soft moan that the teen let out as he took his first sip.
Bill sat down next to Remus and watched the amusing sight of a sleepy Nic enjoying his morning hot cocoa.
"Did you get a chance to look over the files the goblins gave you two days ago? Do I need to take word of any actions to them?" Bill asked as quietly as he could, though he didn't factor in Nic's improved hearing and didn't notice the ear twitching in their direction.
"Remy should have had the reports for a while. They should have all come to him since we named him the steward of the estate until Nic was of age to give him a valid reason to interact with Nic." James spoke up from the picture close to the pair when he heard the question from Bill, he had been talking to Sirius who was sitting on Remus' other side.
"Fumblewhore blocked the will remember. I never received any of the information until recently. And it was only because your will was unlocked that I was able to get it now." Remus replied looking over at the painting to reply to James first before turning to Bill to answer his questions. "As for information I have found all too much and will be going in today to deal with it, even though Nic is of age he doesn't need to be exposed to further treachery. Yes, the goblins are already aware of most but there was more that I need to bring to their attention. Goblin Justice will be swift when they find out this information."
"What treachery Moony?" Nic piped up looking over at the group more awake now that he had some sugar in him, while he drank coffee most days it was to keep his brain from overwhelming him by using the caffeine in it, today he simply needed sugar to come down off the panic attack crash. "And don't tell me that I shouldn't worry about it. It's upsetting you enough to go into the Bank today instead of taking a break like we all need."
"I'm not sure how to say it pup that won't set off another panic attack. I don't think you need that right now and really want to get it taken care of before I tell you." Remus replied looking down at Nic with a slight wince having forgotten just how good his hearing was.
"I know you are trying to protect me, and I still have remnants of the calming draught in me so this might be the best time. Also, since I'm now of age I should have more say in what happens at the bank in my name." Nic responded moving to the chair that sat opposite of Remus and beside Severus.
"If you are sure?"
"Please just tell me."
"Fumblewhore was close to emptying one of the main Potter vaults to pay others. He had also set up a marriage contract under the name he had given you, since it wasn't under your true name it is invalid, and you can void it at any point." Remus replied giving him the bare minimum of the facts he had found.
"Let me guess, the contract was with Ginerva and gave her and him complete control over all aspects of my life and money?" Nic replied with a raised eyebrow before continuing. "I can also guess where the payments were going to. First off to himself with the largest amount, maybe some funneled through the burning chicken club to divert attention from his actions; some to the Dursley's for their oh so loving care over me; some likely to Molly, Ronald, Hermione, and Ginerva for the way that they supported me through all the trials I faced; Ronald and Molly likely started receiving the payments before I even re-entered the wixen world, after all Molly had sent five boys and attended Hogwarts herself so would know where the entrance onto the platform was and wouldn't need to mention muggles and ask the platform number in such a raised voice in the middle of the crowd when they were almost on top of me; Hermione likely was receiving books and payment before as well unknown to Ron for his reaction to her at first was too genuine to be faked; Ginerva likely receiving 'gifts' before she entered Hogwarts and payment after too keep all other females away not taking into account that I'm fully gay and have two mates that will definitely both be male." Nic's voice was layered with sarcasm to hide the pain he felt when Remus didn't bother to cut in an deny any of the accusations that he was saying. "How close was I?"
"Ginerva didn't start receiving anything until after your rescue of her in your second year, and Molly was receiving 'scholarships' for her children from your account to be able to afford to send them to Hogwarts, from the time he placed you in the Dursley's care just before William started Hogwarts. Even though the school is free she still received the funds to pay for their supplies." Remus replied carefully since Nic had already covered most of the things. "The Dursley's received the second most amount, followed by Miss Figg."
That last statement was what finally caused Nic to feel the pain flowing through him at the thoughts of the betrayal. He had prayed that kind Miss Figg had just not noticed what was happening but if she was being paid, she noticed and did nothing any ways. Standing up so quickly his chair crashed to the floor Nic was out the door of the dining room before anyone could say anything.
"SHIT!" Sirius exclaimed but was echoed by several others in the room as he too jumped from his seat and started chasing after Nic.
Remus laid his head in his hands to hide the pain he was feeling for having to hurt his pup with that. He hadn't wanted to tell him yet, but he did because he knew that Nic would not have let it go. Bill laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze before standing and heading out of the room to get ready for work so that he could help Remus in reclaiming every item taken from the kit that had become like another brother to him. Fred and George looked between their hurting mentor, the door where Nic had dashed out of, and each other not knowing what they should do. Luna closed her eyes at the pain she knew her friend was in and the reason for the pain, he had confided in her at the end of the school year that he had overheard Hermione and Ginny talking about the payments and books that were being given to them to remain his friend. She knew that he was hurting because the one person he thought was helping him in the hell that was Private Drive was being paid as well. Miss Figg would soon find herself in a heap of trouble for the truth would out sooner than everyone thought, after all Remus wasn't the only one looking into Nic's past and what had happened, this caused a small smirk to cross the quirky girl's face as she thought of the horror that would soon befall the 'perfect family' image of the Dursley's.
truth will prevail
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
This work is not beta read so any mistakes are my own. I welcome critiquing that is nice in its delivery and will take it into consideration. If it is a continuation critique I will go back to the chapter in question and fix it.
I am having internet issues at the moment plus working on keeping my kids on track with distance learning so new chapters may be sporadic in posting.
~*~*~*Avenger's Tower*~*~*~*
Tony looked up from his tablet when Steve entered the lounge where he was working on the latest spec of his newest suit that he was building. He simply raised an eyebrow in response to the man's entrance since Steve wasn't saying anything and he knew that there would only be a little longer before he cracked and asked what was wrong, and it was obvious that there was something wrong because of the slump in Steve's shoulders.
"I feel like I failed Bucky." Steve spoke finally as he slumped into the seat across from Tony with the coffee table between them. "I didn't even think about the fact that I still felt the mate bond between us until it became clear in the video that he was still alive. I could have been searching for him before now if only I hadn't blocked off the feelings coming through the bond."
"It wasn't your fault…You saw him fall…you obviously felt something happen when he did and believed that he was gone. I know there was a reason you went in the ice and it wasn't because of Aunt Peggy like many speculated through history. I know that you only had her picture as red herring so that you wouldn't get in trouble for your relationship with Bucky. Aunt Peggy told me while I was growing up after I asked her because my father was one of those that believed you were in love with her." Tony looked up from his tablet as he spoke looking at the broken man across from him. "I know what a broken bond feels like and I know what it feels like to lose that bond. I don't blame you for not opening up to that pain and shutting down the link and I know that James won't either because he will understand."
"Still how do I get pass the feeling I failed him?" Steve asked raising his head and making eye contact with Tony letting him see just how much pain he was feeling as he did so.
"You don't…you move pass it and work on making things right but the feeling of having failed someone doesn't go away until you have a chance to make it right. Something I will never be able to do with James and Lily but will have a chance to do with my son." Tony responded simply with a shrug of his shoulders as he stood to refill his coffee mug and held the pot up in a silent question if Steve wanted some as well only to receive a negative head shake.
Sir, the analysis of the Dursley's is complete. I have found several payments placed every month from a vague bank into their accounts and the accounts of one Mrs. Arabella Figg of Wisteria Walk, Little Whinging, England. It is shown in several thousand pounds a month. Also, there are no records of the Dursley's registering as Nicephorus' guardians beyond what was needed to receive government assistance for raising him. He has no record of visiting any Doctors for the needed vaccinations or even eye appointments though in several pictures captured by his school he is seen wearing some. * JARVIS reported in his monotone voice.
"Bring up what you have J." Tony replied walking over holding his coffee mug as he looked at what his AI had discovered about the family that had 'raised' his son. When he saw the mundane bank name that Gringotts used when making payments to someone in the mundane side of things he knew that someone from the Wixen world was paying them off. "Did the money go anywhere else?"
There are several payments out of that bank in smaller amounts to some who had been reporting the abuse that Nicephorus had been receiving. Not all the reporters though received the payment they just disappear with no trace, I cannot find any further record of those people. * JARVIS responded as he pulled up those records as well. *There was no record of Mrs. Figg living on that street before the home was purchased by a Percival Wulfric for Mrs. Figg on November 6 th of 1991. It is a home only a few blocks from where the Dursley's are located at number 4 Privet Drive. There are also records from her neighbors of seeing young Nicephorus entering her home when the Dursley's are out of town. *
"She was his babysitter then…and she was being paid outside of the Dursley's…" Tony muttered as he moved the information around on the screen. "Percival Wulfric is two of Dumbledore's middle names…not very clever old chap…"
"Dumbledore as in Professor Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts? Bucky and I worked with him and a few others in the war. He was always in the background and only came forward after the fight was close to being won to be doing something. He never put himself at risk…I remember Phil saying that he defeated Grindelwald…I don't understand how that happened…Something to look into I guess." Steve spoke up walking over and looking over everything that was being shown on the screens.
"It is now Headmaster Dumbledore but yes that is the man, and I can honestly believe that he would wait in the background. He did the same thing as we dealt with Voldemort while he was 'leading' the Order of the Phoenix. He had a no kill policy against the other side though I clearly recall him shooting off some curses that would lead to a slow death, as well as some that would leave the other side being unable to continue their lines. No one believed me when I would bring it up after all it was the Great Albus Dumbledore Leader of the Light and conveyer of the Greater Good bullshit."
"Greater Good? That is what Grindelwald spouted every time we came close to getting him. Also, every time we got close Dumbledore would create a spectacular event that would allow Grindelwald to escape unscathed." Steve stated as he continued to read the information in front of him. It was clear that both the Dursley's and Figg had been receiving money monthly, and the Dursley's received an additional payment whenever one of the abuse reporters were silenced. "What are you going to do with this information?"
"Well, it is obvious that Vernon Dursley was not only getting money to care for Nic which was never used for my son from the pictures that J was able to find from his school, but he was also skimming from his place of work. A company that I had invested in for the sake of Lily when she heard that her sister was interested in the walrus. She wanted to make sure Petunia's flame always had a job even if he never went anywhere with it. So, the company that I have a majority share in was being stolen from by the man as well as my son being abused by him. He will be facing the law in England for abuse, fraud, and tax evasion, Petunia will also be brought in for that and the abuse; and from what I can see here there is record of Dudley has been arrested a few times for selling drugs and assault only for the charges to disappear. I'll be making sure that nothing happens to those records this time and they are all taken down. And will do so very publicly since it is clear from what the family has out in media, they value their 'perfect family' image." Tony responded looking through all the information with a smirk that he then sent to his contacts at Scotland Yard knowing that they would take care of things and since they were all squibs and mundane born that had returned to the mundane world, they will be able to resist whatever was made to have the records erased. He also sent the information to his contact in the Queen's court so it would be brought before Her Majesty as another method of making sure it doesn't disappear, after all Nicephorus was a Peer of the Realm through his other birth father and his adopted father. "They will regret ever trying to harm my son."
~*~*~*Potter Manor*~*~*~*
Nic had run out of the dining room racing through the halls until he reached the solarium at the back of the manor. He needed to get out, he needed to breathe, it felt like the walls were closing in around him as another panic attack started to constrict his airways. Sirius was right behind Nic as they raced out the doors of the solarium into the bright August morning, for once it wasn't cloudy and rainy in the English countryside.
"Pup wait!" Sirius called out as he chased after the kid, all the while thinking that he had his Papà's speed, for Tony had been a speedy devil when they went to Hogwarts together.
Nic finally collapsed in tears beneath the large weeping willow that took up a large section of the back garden, thankfully this one was not a whomping willow, so Sirius was able to follow him safely under the branches. Pulling the kit into a hug Sirius he just held the kitsune through the tears that flowed he didn't make any noises or try to get him to stop this was something that Nic needed to do. Sirius knew how healing a good cry could be. An hour later he was just holding a sleepy kitsune and enjoying the weather, he knew the others were probably worried but also knew that Nic needed this peace to come to grips with everything.
"Ready to go in? You've got an hour before you're supposed to go into the ministry to take your tests. And we should be hearing about the permits at any point now." Sirius stated softly as he looked down at the head resting in his lap running his fingers through the hair on the back of Nic's head playing with the soft curls while working in a few small braids to hold it out of Nic's face. He got a soft nod against his stomach before he felt Nic start to rise from where he was laying with his face pressed into Sirius' stomach.
"I'm ready to leave England behind." Nic whispered glad that they would soon be able to leave. He knew the mention of the South America trip had been a distraction for Ronald and that they would be going straight to New York, he just hoped that he could find proof that Tony Stark that the world knew was truly his father or there would be many complications, after all it may be a more common name than previously thought.
The pair of them walked into the manor and were greeted by cries of relief from those that remained, Remus and Bill had both left to take care of things at the bank while Lucius and Severus had gone to Diagon to get a feel for rumors going around and pick up some last-minute supplies for the coming trip. Fred and George had gone down to the potions lab to work on stocking the store for Lee knowing that Nic wouldn't want to be crowded too much after a second panic attack in one morning. Nic just gave a slight grimace instead of a full smile and moved through the group of friends to head up to prepare for his trip to the Ministry knowing it would be a rough day all around and he needed to get his head in the game. Once he was in his rooms, he went into the bathroom to get an extremely hot shower to ease the tension that he was feeling throughout his body. After drying off he chose an all-black ensemble with knee high dragonhide boots and an open dragonhide robe that could pass as a long trench coat, his pants were a rich soft cotton that hugged the muscles in his thighs and tucked into the boots, and the shirt was silk and seemed to shimmer with each movement. Placing his new wand that the Goblins had helped him get into the wrist holster also made of dragonhide, though this was of a deep green, Nic left the room while slipping on the glamour cuff on his opposite wrist feeling the magic wash over him and hide his kitsune features from all that didn't already know about his true looks.
"Ready pup?" Sirius asked as he approached holding out the travel mug that he had taken with the day before freshly cleaned and refilled with coffee that was sweeter than anything from all the sugar the elves had put in for him, they were trying to keep their young master from becoming dependent of pepper-ups to get through his day.
"As I'll ever be. Thanks…for the coffee and earlier." Nic stated with a soft nod as he took the mug and turned to head to the floo. "Are you staying at the manor or going out?"
"I'm going to stay put and wait for you to return, I thought after all the tests we could do dinner out tonight to celebrate." Sirius responded giving a side hug of support as he walked with Nic to the floo room.
"Severus filled me in on everything that has been happening kid so I'm goin with ya to keep an eye out while ya are busy testing." James stated as he walked up to the pair his metal arm covered with a dragonhide robe similar to the one Nic was wearing, he had on fitted jeans and his combat boots with a button up light blue shirt under the open robe. Unseen under the robe was several knives and a few small guns that he had brought with him.
"Thanks Bucky." Fleamont stated from a painting above the fireplace where James and he were standing together. "We wanted to wish you good luck kiddo. Your grandmother and mum also send their well wishes."
"Thanks Grandfather, thanks dad. Tell Grandmother and mum thanks as well." Nic responded with a strained smile on his face as the test worries started flooding in. With a deep breath he threw the floo powder in and called out for the ministry of magic, this time he was able to easily walk from the fireplace he landed in and moved out of the way of those that would come through next including Bucky, who had a scowl on his face over the fact that the kid went through first when he was going with to protect the brat, Winter was also grumbling in the back of his head wanting to smack some sense into the kid over leaving his protection detail behind. "We have to head Department of Education for the tests. I'll likely be there for the rest of the day if you want to go and do something else, I won't mind."
"Not likely punk. I'm stickin with ya and will be in the room. Not about to let anything stop this chance for ya. Ya just stay close ta me though." Bucky chuckled for the kid was acting like Stevie for a moment there trying to ditch him when he was trying to get into the army during the war before he became Captain America.
Nic only chuckled in response knowing deep down that he was grateful for the support that Bucky could give him just by being there and watching his back. He knew that he wouldn't have to worry about someone getting in and trying to keep him from doing the tests that would see him free of Hogwarts and that was something he was profoundly grateful for. Nic noticed Dumbledore storming into the building just as he took his wand back from the entrance guard and knew that someone had alerted him to the fact that Nic was going to be taking the tests today.
"Looks like Fumbles has an inside source." Nic mumbled under his breath to Bucky who was let through thanks to his Winter glare.
"Don't worry kid I won't let him stop ya." Bucky mumbled right back at the kid knowing he needed that reassurance.
"Thanks Bucky." Nic replied letting out some of the fear that this would be blocked. He saw then that Madame Bones was stepping in the way of Dumbledore as he entered the main part of the ministry having gotten through the check-in without having to have his wand scanned either.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is there a reason you are storming through the Ministry as if your robe is on fire?" Nic heard Madame Bones question as they made it to the lifts and got on the first available even though it was already very crowded. As the door closed, he made eye contact with Dumbledore and just smirked knowing that now there was no stopping him, as soon as he entered the testing room it would lock and keep those inside from being disturbed, though having Bucky with just incase someone overrode the wards was a nice reassurance as well.
"Madame Marchbanks," Nic said with a respectful nod as he entered the departments main room and met with the formable woman inside. "We should get started as soon as possible. Someone in your office alerted Dumbledore to the fact I would be here today."
"I know young man, it was me. He is your magical guardian after all." Madame Marchbanks stated with her hands clasped in front of her while she stood regally before the testing chamber's doors.
"That is where you are wrong Madame, and you are aware of that fact. Now let me through to complete the tests as agreed upon and I will not alert the DMLE to this breach of contract, for I know you signed one with Lord Malfoy." Nic retorted while Bucky stood behind him with his arms crossed over his chest and a fierce look on his face.
"Now young man, I know you feel as if you are ready to take these tests but from your previous scores, I can tell that you truly aren't."
"You mean the scores that Dumbledore and you rigged? After all it is the only way that Granger could have gotten that many O's in her OWLs. I know through the goblins that I am ready, and I could have just as easily tested out of Hogwarts in my fifth year but because of Dumbledore and you I was unable." Nic turned to face another young witch in the room. "Madame would you be so kind as to go tell Auror Shacklebolt what you have heard here and bring him up? Madame I will be entering that chamber now and if you try to stop me, I will add to the charges that you will already be facing. I am done being a pushover and hiding my intelligence."
Bucky allowed a bit of Winter to come out and stepped forward to forcibly move Madame Marchbanks from in front of the testing chamber's doors. His glare was firm as he checked the chambers and felt over the wards, knowing that if they were tampered with already it would be harder to keep Dumbledore out of the chamber.
"I will step in with you, young man." An older wizard stepped forward his own glare in place as he looked at Marchbanks knowing that she was dangerously close to loosing her magic for her actions. "I am Lord Hallberg and have been overseeing testing for years."
"Thank you, sir." Nic responded with a respectful nod and strode purposefully into the chamber while Bucky followed letting the doors close firmly behind the three just as Dumbledore stormed into the office cursing up a storm, while Kingsley entered just behind him ready to arrest Madame Marchbanks as an investigation into her actions was opened with the report from the young lady who worked as the secretary in the office.
Madame Bones soon followed both men as she was alerted to the alerting of wards within the ministry and soon learned of the changes to several test scores, mainly to Dumbledore's favorites and all the Slytherins, he had been working with Madame Marchbanks to fail the Slytherins within possible grades so they couldn't get positions of power anywhere without his support. Dumbledore was caught red handed trying to alter the wards to the testing chamber while three people were within, a collapse of the time ward on the chamber could have catastrophic affects on those within, something he didn't care about as long he stopped Nicephorus from completing his NEWTs and getting out from under his control.
on the right path
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
Thanks to the Time ward on the testing chamber Nic was able to finish his NEWTs plus the few extra that he had requested before it was 4pm, as he had started at 9am it was long enough. As he had been working on the practical exams the test moderator had been grading the written versions so that he would be able to get his results before he even left the ministry for the evening. With a grateful nod he thanked the moderator as they moved to the doors ready to leave, Bucky went out first to make sure that Dumbledore and Madame Marchbanks were no longer around to cause problems for the kid. Thankfully, Dumbledore had been escorted from the building, they didn't have enough to arrest him even though he had been caught red handed attempting to alter the wards with others in the warded location being at risk. It had been recorded and they would be investigating his actions there as well as any others that were brought up, and a lot were being brought to their attention. Winter Bucky growled low when he found out through listening to the gossip happening that Dumbledore was still out there, he wanted to get a hold of a sniper riffle and go after the bastard that had harmed his kid, he was also upset that Madame Marchbanks had only been relieved of her position and escorted from the building while her magic was rejecting her for breaking her magical oaths to be a fair judge and for the break of contract. Nic just shook his head as he heard the talk that was flowing around the Ministry on their way out of the building his copy of his results folded and tucked in an inside pocket of his dragonhide robe. He knew it would take a lot of work to get Dumbledore arrested, there were too many that still supported the man within positions of power, people he had been paying off for years or given favors to get them the positions that they held. As a pair Bucky and Nic flooed out of the Ministry with Bucky offering a supportive shoulder to the exhausted young man. After arriving back at the Manor, the pair simply headed into the family room and Nic collapsed face down into the cushions with a muffled groan.
"You should have taken two days to do the tests kit." Severus stated as he entered the room and gave a light chuckle at the groan he heard. Nic only reached above his head and waved off the comment.
"He was lucky to get in to do it today." Bucky stated from where he had taken up a guard position again by the door, though this time he was sitting in the chair that had been placed there by the house elves.
"What do you mean by that Sergeant Barnes?" Lucius asked as he entered shortly after Severus.
"Madame Marchbanks broke the contract…Fumble was alerted and tried to stop me." Nic spoke into the couch cushions but was still understandable. "He tried to break the wards while we were in the time ward."
"Fuck! That idiot, he thinks he knows everything about wards, but he could have wiped everyone in that room out of existence!" Moony growled from the seat he had been sitting in by the bay window reading when everyone had entered, Padfoot was in grim form at his feet resting and waiting for Nic to return. "It would have changed everything…Voldie would have returned because Nic would have never been there to stop him."
Padfoot stretched out as he woke to the anger in Moony's voice and moved over to nudge at the face planted boy letting him get some comfort by petting him while he tried to control his own anger at the stupid actions of Dumbles.
"Is the man really that far gone he would try something like that…" Fleamont pondered what he had heard, he knew that Dumbledore was one to always work in the background but still this was something else.
"Add to that the story going around is that he was just trying to help someone within the chamber and didn't realize what could happen. He got a warning and escorted from the building. Marchbanks was removed from the building to St. Mungos due to her magic beginning to reject her and her advanced age. She not only broke the contract but also her magical oaths in the fact that she would pad the results of certain students and alter those of others." Bucky spoke up while looking at the portrait. "Madame Bones has opened an investigation into what Dumbledore and Marchbanks had been up too and the breaking of the magical contract, which she had evidence of. Marchbanks' excuse to Nic on why Dumbles had been alerted was that he was his magical guardian, which if she had honestly believed would have overridden the contract but since her magic is rejecting her it proved that she knew that was false."
"Who moderated your exams then?" Lucius asked watching as Nic finally removed his face from the cushions and turned on his side petting Padfoot.
"Lord Hallberg moderated and graded the exams as I took them." Nic replied pulling out the test results and handing them over the back of the couch to Severus who was standing watching him.
Severus took the results with a raised eyebrow before opening the envelope and having both eyebrows raise in surprise. He began reading out:
NEWT results for Lord Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Black
Transfiguration: Written O
Practical O
Potions: Written O
Practical O
Ancient Runes: Written O
Practical O
DADA: Written O
Practical O
Charms: Written E
Practical E
Herbology: Written E
Practical EE
History of Magic: Written A
Practical N/A
Astronomy: Written A
Practical A
Muggle Studies: Written O
Practical O
COMC: Written O
Practical O
Alchemy: Written O
Practical EE
Apparition: Written O
Practical O
Magical Theory: Written O
Practical O
Languages: French O
Italian E
Latin O
Ancient Studies: Written O
Practical E
Wizarding Law: Written E
Practical E
Lord Potter-Stark-Black has achieved passing grades in all his NEWTs. He has reached the highest scores ever recorded in Defense Against the Dark Arts and has tied with the highest scores in Potions and Transfiguration. He has also shown complete understanding to pass his WOMBATs as well. Congratulations Lord Potter-Stark-Black on your achievements.
"Great Job pup!" Sirius congratulated Nic as he changed back from his grim form and pulled the exhausted boy into his arms.
"Thanks Siri." Nic replied snuggling into his Godfather's hold and relishing the gentle contact. "Hey, Luc, what is the status on our permits? Now that I have the results, I want to get out of the UK as soon as possible."
"They arrived by express owl at lunch today for everyone but you. Turns out because your Papà is American you don't need one being a dual citizen." Lucius explained pulling the permits out of his inside robe pocket and holding them up.
"Didn't think of that." Remus stated walking over and ruffling the curls around Nic's ears before taking his permit. "I'll go book seats for all of us on the first flight tomorrow."
"Can we be ready for that?" Sirius asked as he nodded his thanks taking his permit as it was handed to him.
"If we tried to do it ourselves, we are liable to have the House Elves rebel. I would guess that they are working on things as we speaks." Severus replied with a shrug as he took his own permit wanting to hold on to it and know that he would safely be able to leave the country now. "Of course, we all have a few things that they won't pack for us, but they will do most of it and have no trouble getting it done before the flight tomorrow. My question is where we will stay when we get over there?"
"The Blacks have a Manor there that was recently fixed up by the elves and wards renewed by the goblins, I had thought of staying there and asking sanctuary of the MCUSA before the tournament happened. Then I just never got back over there." Sirius spoke up with a shrug having figured it would be a given they would stay at one of the family homes located over there.
"Need to figure out how to get Bucky on the flight." Nic spoke up from where he was still snuggled into Sirius' side.
"I already took care of that with the Goblins." Bill stated as he entered the room holding a bundle of papers in his hand. "We were able to get his paperwork updated with the use of my memories over who he was, with the verification from Lord Fleamont. We were able to get everything he would need to enter the States and since he is an American citizen, he doesn't need a permit."
"Wouldn't matter anyway since I don't have my wand." Bucky spoke up with a shrug as he took the bundle from Bill. "It'll be nice though ta not have ta sneak into the states. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Bill replied before looking around the room. "Let me guess the twin terrors are still working on potions."
"Most likely." Severus responded looking up from where he was double checking his paperwork.
"They haven't come up from there that I know of." Sirius replied with a single shoulder shrug while keeping his other arm wrapped around Nic. "They'll have to come up soon so we can go to the celebratory dinner I planned for Nic's amazing results."
"I'll go pull them out." Luna stated with a smile, giggling lightly at the jumps that she caused when she hopped down from the bookshelf she had been reading on the whole time. As she passed Lucius and accepted the renewed permit that he held out to her and thanked him with a quick hug.
Nic couldn't help but chuckle at everyone else's reactions, even Bucky had jumped when she had popped down, his ears had picked up her turning pages and soft chuckles when he had flopped down on the couch, so he had known that she was there. "We need to send word to Blaise and Theo that we are leaving tomorrow so that they are ready."
"They will be at the dinner tonight as will Viktor, Fleur, and Gabriella. Charlie still hasn't been given leave so will follow us as soon as he can. The Goblins are transferring me to the New York location and Fred and George will soon have the second shop secured so they will join us tomorrow on the flight." Bill spoke up having helped Sirius plan the celebratory dinner and who would be there.
"Thanks Bill." Nic replied giving a sigh and standing from the couch. "I'm going to go clean up from the practical works I had to do for the exams."
"We have reservations at 6:30 for dinner." Sirius called out letting his godson know how long he had to get ready, he only received an absentminded wave over Nic's shoulder as he left the room.
"I'm going to go pack what I don't want the elves taking care of." Severus stated as he left the room in Nic's wake. Lucius simply nodded at the rest in the room and followed his mate to do the same and to give Draco a heads up about dinner and the move happening the next day.
When 6:00 rolled around everyone that was staying in the manor had gathered in the foyer ready to head to wherever they were going to be having dinner that evening. Sirius held out a rope that was their portkey he had gotten Remus to pick up from the goblins when he was at the bank today, it was easier than getting one from the ministry who wanted a list of everyone using it and where they were going the goblins just wanted a destination and a number of people for the portkey.
"This will take us to the drop zone near Charing Cross' northern underground station. From there we will walk to Savoy Grill for our 6:30 reservation." Sirius told them all while wrapping a comforting arm around Nic, he knew that his kid didn't like portkeys after the graveyard incident with Voldie.
"Let's go then." Nic stated taking a deep breath and putting his hand on the rope along with everyone else in the foyer.
Within moments they were being pulled away with simple phrase 'celebration of freedom' from Sirius. It didn't take long before their large group arrived at the restaurant and were escorted into a private room since their group was so large, Blaise and Theo had met them out in front of the restaurant having been told by house elf where to go. Everyone enjoyed a night of really good food and laughter as they celebrated their coming freedom from the restrictions of the UK Wixen community. Nic was able to genuinely enjoy his meal thanks to a stomach soothing potion handed to him by Severus after the portkey landed, he received a second when they had returned to the manor so that he didn't lose the expensive 40-day aged rump steak that he had ordered as well as the apple crumble apple soufflé with sour apple sorbet he had shared with Fleur after the meal. He had enjoyed things greatly and was glad that Bucky was also able to relax and enjoy things as well, even though he had been in Winter Bucky mode of protection when they were moving through the city and making sure no one but those in their group got close to Nic. Nic had tried helping to pay for the meal but was distracted by Fleur after a signal from Sirius to make sure that the kid couldn't do so. Everyone had gone off to bed since it was after midnight before they returned thanks to the laughter and fun they were having, they had been kindly asked to leave and left an exceptionally large tip for the three servers that had been taking care of them the whole night, after all they were a group of 22 since Neville was able to bring his parents and his grandmother along with an assistant for his parents as they were still recovering.
Before they knew it, the morning had come, and house elves were waking them up in time to get their bags and head to the airport for their early morning flight to New York. They met with Blaise and Theo at the ticket counter and were soon through security and on their way to the terminal for their flight. What they didn't realize though was that Nic, Bucky, Severus, Lucius, Sirius, and Remus had all had tags on their names in the system alerting a certain billionaire to the fact that his kid was flying to New York.
~*~*~*Avengers Tower*~*~*~*
Sir, I have received an alert that Nicephorus and the others are on a flight from London to arrive at JFK airport in approximately seven hours. He is traveling with eleven others counting the men you asked me to flag as well. * JARVIS spoke up at one in the morning while Tony was working on a new update on his suit in the lab. Tony's head snapped up at that news and he looked into space for a moment trying to decide what to do with this information. Did he approach right away, or did he watch from a distance first to find out why his son was coming to New York.
"Alert the others when they wake up. I'm going to try and get some sleep then will head to the airport to see if I can spot them." Tony finally decided as he closed down what he was working on and exited the lab heading for his room and some needed sleep. He typically was unable to sleep more than five hours at a time because of his busy mind and nightmares so he knew he would be awake before their flight arrived. He just hoped he would be able to find them in the crowds that were JFK International Airport.
Very well sir. * JARVIS replied as he turned off the lights behind his creator and set a reminder for him to be able to have enough time to get to the airport. He also set a copy of the flight itinerary that he was able to gather to Tony's phone so that he would know the location to meet his kid.
Four and a half hours later Tony was jerking up in bed from a nightmare of the wormhole and doing his best to get his breathing under control. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after that particular nightmare and instead got up and ready for the day. Maybe he would head to the airport early to stake out the area that they would be coming through customs at. He wondered why they were taking a flight instead of a portkey but then figured he would be able to ask later. He was glad that he was only a few hours shy of seeing his son again, as well as his other best friends. Looking at the time and seeing that it was a little after 5am he decided to risk the call the Rhody's phone so he could have the emotional support of his best friend.
~*~ Tones what are you doing calling me just after 5 in the morning man? Did you stay up all night in the lab again? ~*~ Rhody's exhausted voice came over the line as Tony moved around his room getting dressed.
"He is on a flight that will land at JFK at 8:25 this morning Platypus." Tony said without preamble. "He is traveling with eleven others by plane. Why are they flying? Why so many coming? What do I do? I'm thinking of staking out the airport to catch them as they come through customs…I haven't gotten any alerts that the Dursley's have been picked up. I haven't seen anything on that Figg character either. I wanted them taken care of before meeting my kid again…"
~*~Whoa…Whoa…slow down Tones…~*~ Rhody responded as he worked on waking up. ~*~You woke me from a deep sleep man…Are you saying that Nic is coming to New York today? The Dursley's and Figg will take care of themselves soon enough. I know you sent the information to the proper authorities…I would guess they will be picked up today, it does normally take a day or so to get an arrest warrant when it is not a murder or something after all, I think. ~*~
"Should I call and see what the holdup is? I mean I sent so much information it should have been easy for them to get the warrant together…" Tony continued rambling as he walked past Clint and Natasha, both also awake from nightmares, and headed into the kitchen where JARVIS had started a large pot of coffee knowing Tony would need it. "Should I meet him at the airport or watch for a while? Would that be too creepy, or do you think he would appreciate that? What should I say to Remus and Sirius? What about Lucius and Severus? I left them all behind without a second thought."
~*~Tones…you're starting to panic. Take a few deep breathes and get yourself a cup of coffee. Is there anyone else there that can help you right now? I can be there in an hour. Don't go anywhere or make any important calls until I'm there. ~*~ Rhody instructed his friend as he got out of bed and started getting ready, he was going to take the War Machine armor so that he could get to Tony that much faster, he had been called to Washington the day before so it would take him a short time to get back to his brother.
"Clint and Nat are up…Please hurry." Tony responded looking up from his coffee as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Stark are you alright." Clint asked as he entered the room, his hearing aids were turned down, so he was relying on lip reading and Nat using ASL to help him understand Tony's half of the conversation.
"Yeah, Legolas I'm great…" Tony tried to play off his bit of panic that he was dealing with so that his teammates didn't see how upset he truly was. It would take time before he trusted them more than he already had with telling them about his boy. He looked down at his phone as it started ringing. "This is Tony Stark…"
~*~Mr. Stark, this is Detective David Bronson of Scotland Yard, we wanted to thank you for the information that you sent on the Dursley family and Mrs. Figg. We're going to be going to their residences shortly to arrest them. A member of the royal services will also be observing on behalf of Her Majesty. ~*~ The voice stated over the phone with a deep British accent.
"Thank you for the update Detective Bronson." Tony responded letting out some of the tension that was flowing through him while waiting for information on the case against his son's abusers. With that simply thank you the detective ended the call and Tony was left wondering if there were any cameras near the Dursley's home so he could watch the events. "JARVIS are there any cameras near number 4 Privet Drive. Also, Vernon is likely at work right now pull up video of his office at Grunnings."
Very well, sir. * JARVIS responded before opening the video screens in the living room while searching for cameras near the home that Nic had been held in and pulled up the video of the office that Dursley had just in time to see as he got a call warning him that some officers were there to see him.
Nat and Clint followed Tony into the living room with their own cups of coffee and watched as Dursley's panic at the thought of officers coming to talk to him. Dursley took a deep breath before trying to hide the documents on his desk that he was not supposed to have access to.
"JARVIS what are the documents he is looking at and why are there boxes around him." Clint spoke up looking over what he could see.
Those are his records of what he has taken from the company with padding his numbers. As for the boxes it was sent out earlier today that he was relieved of his position and would be escorted out as soon as he had gathered his things. I believe he was preparing to shred the documents that would get him in the most trouble, though I have already accessed them from his server and sent copies to Sir, the CEO of the company, as well as the officers of Scotland Yard. * JARVIS replied to the question pulling up the information on a separate screen. Just as he pulled it up two officers entered Vernon Dursley's office and it was clear through the video playing the outside of his office that there were four more waiting in case he resisted.
* "Vernon Dursley, I'm Detective Manalo from Scotland Yard and this is my partner Detective Sharp. We have some questions that we would appreciate you coming to the Yard with us to answer." Detective Manalo said with his thick Cockney accent.
"What is this about Detective?" Vernon asked while taking a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"It concerns your missing nephew and the care he received as well as the money you received for his care." Detective Sharp bit out in a Brummies' accent while trying and failing to keep the anger at the man from his face.
"I don't know what that boy has told anyone. He received food, shelter, and education while he lived with us. He disappeared weeks ago." Vernon snapped out angry that he was being questioned like this.
"It is just that no one has seen him since he was seen entering your home at the beginning of his summer break. When it was called in as a concern we looked to see if there were any previous reports before heading over to look into it." Detective Manalo stated his anger while off his face was clear in his eyes. "Now are you going to come down to the Yard to answer our questions about this matter or do you have to be arrested. And trust me we have a warrant for just that but thought you might appreciate walking out looking as if you are free to leave at any time."
"Now See here! I am an especially important man…You have nothing."
"That is where you are wrong…we have everything, including all the photos previously taken during investigations into your home situation with your nephew. Who ever was making the cases disappear obviously knows nothing about computers for everything was still there." Detective Sharp stated, he was a squib specifically chosen for this do to its connection with Harry Potter.
"I know my rights! I raised that ungrateful brat for 16 years…he deserved everything he got." Dursley spat out as his color started changing to purple with is anger.
"Very well…Vernon Dursley you are under arrest for the attempted murder of 17-year-old Harry Potter also known as Nicephorus Potter-Stark-Black…" From there the Detectives read him his rights and pulled him from his seat to cuff him. The whole time he was struggling against it yelling and cursing that they couldn't do this to him and how his nephew was a freak and deserved everything and worse. He also called out that he wanted his lawyer, only to be informed that there was one that would be provided for him as his lawyer refused to cover this. He then called about wanting to talk to his wife only to be informed that he would see her at the Yard since she was being arrested at that moment as well as his son and sister. Video cut out shortly after this as the two officers had to have assistance from two of the four out in the lobby of his office to escort him out, the other two entered his office and gathered up the information he had on his desk and else where in the room and talking with his secretary who gladly gave him up with all the sexual harassment that he had given her over the years. *
JARVIS cut the video from Vernon's office to outside the Dursley's residence, it turns out they had gotten a home security system after Nic's second year so they could keep an eye one what he was up to when they were out of the house, it was even an audio video system since they wanted to make sure he wasn't talking about magic. There was also the body cams that the officers had on their uniforms so that they were safe from persecution of rough handling and access force if it was brought up.
* Petunia opened the front door at the sound of the doorbell ringing and saw the officers standing on the porch, there were again six officers in case of any resistance.
"Mrs. Petunia Dursley? I'm Detective David Bronson from Scotland Yard." Detective Bronson asked to clarify who was answering the door, he knew that Petunia and Marge Dursley were located at the home right now since he had found the sister was visiting. His partner stayed silent as did the gentlemen behind them.
"Yes, I'm Petunia, how can I help you officers?" Petunia asked in her simpering voice as she stood in the doorway not letting the growling bulldog out and not letting the officers in.
"May we enter madame? We have some questions for your son, sister-in-law, and yourself." Bronson asked politely though he wanted to force his way into the home.
"Of course, officer." Petunia stepped back kicking the dog out of the way so that they could come in unimpeded. She glanced around at the neighbors to make sure they weren't paying too much attention to what was happening only to see several watching and talking with each other and some other officers that had come to interview the neighbors. Blanching Petunia quickly shut the door and turned to offer the gentleman some tea only to see Ripper trying to attack one of the men. "Marge come and get Ripper! I apologize officers he's my sister-in-law's favorite dog; she lets him get away with so much."
"Such as treeing your nephew for hours at a time and attacking the young man? When was the last time that you saw your nephew madame?" Bronson's partner spoke up, he was the one being attacked after all.
"My nephew? The boy came home from his boarding school for summer break and disappeared two days later." Petunia stated simply with a slight questioning tilt to her head, she wasn't about to tell the officers the truth about what had happened to the boy. Marge lumbered into the hallway and seeing what Ripper was doing called the dog off, after all even she was smart enough to know you don't let your pet attack officers of Scotland Yard.
"What about the freak? I had to carry my own bags up to my room, wouldn't let poor Dudders to do so no that poor boy is still affected by what happened a few years ago when the freak attacked him." Marge spoke up after picking up her dog and cuddling with him.
"Please come into the living room gentlemen, would you all like some tea?" Petunia started talking over Marge when she started calling her nephew a freak knowing that it would not be a good thing to have happen if officers were here to ask questions about the boy.
"No thank you madame. We would like to take a look around while Detective Bronson asks you a few questions." Bronson's partner stated with a closed off expression knowing that they would try and block it he pulled out the warrant that let them take a look around the premises as well as arrest the three within the house.
"Of course, officer." Petunia went even paler if possible, at the sight of the arrest and search warrant in the man's hand.
She only got a curt nod in response as the man moved through the home with the other four following him leaving her and Marge standing with Detective Bronson who simply gestured toward the living room and declining the offer of tea as well.
Marge huffed at the impudence of the man but followed his direction and went back into the living room where she cooed over the obese boy sitting on the couch stuffing his face with crisps and watching the telly. Petunia only just avoided hitting the floor as she sat beside her son and held him close only to be brushed away with a whining 'Mummm'
"Mrs. Dursley, we had received a concerned call over the fact that your nephew had not been seen since he entered this home the day he arrived back from his school. And don't try to tell me that it is St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys," He said after looking at his notebook briefly. "We know that there is no such location and if there were, they would not let the children return home for breaks. We have looked back before coming and found several computerized reports with no corresponding paper copies and no memories of writing them up of being called to this location several times by concerned teachers and neighbors."
Petunia could only stutter out noises of panic as she had her creation of where Harry was sent be destroyed and the past encounters brought up. Marge just gapped at the officer before she gathered herself, all the while turning purple with anger as her brother had done in his office a short time before.
"How dare you question Vernon! Of course, there is such an institute! He took that boy in! I told them they should have dumped the boy at an orphanage when he first showed up on their doorstep. Who even does that anymore? Leave a child on the doorstep, especially on a November night? He was a freak and wherever he disappeared too good riddance!" Marge cried out in agitation causing Dudley to finally look up from his program.
"No there isn't Aunt Marge. Dad just made that up to give a location for Harry to go to." Dudley looked over at the Detective and one could see relief in his eyes when he saw that the truth was going to out, he was still considered a minor and had been unable to get away to bring the attention to the Yard about what was going on in the home. "Make sure to check under the stairs and the basement. That is where they kept him the most."
They had heard that Dudley had changed from his brutish ways a few years ago when they worked on gathering the information that was needed to get warrants. They had one if needed for the young man but did not have to arrest him if he helped the investigators. Bronson nodded in his thanks as Petunia tried to quiet the boy so he wouldn't tell them much more. Soon enough the other officers entered the room with a nod letting them know that their brief look through had brought up evidence to make the arrests of Marge and Petunia valid.
"Petunia and Marge Dursley you are both under arrest. Dudley Dursley if you would accompany us to Scotland Yard to answer some questions, we would appreciate it." Detective Bronson stood from where he had been leaning against the wall and approached the two women with three other officers flanking him. Dudley rose with a nod glad that he would be able to clear his conscience and hopefully help his cousin some more. He listened as the officers read his mother and aunt their rights as well as informed them that lawyers would be provided as the family lawyer refused to take the case after being shown all the evidence that was offered to him. It was there he also learned that his father had been arrested as well and he felt as if he could collapse from the relief of knowing his father couldn't hurt him for speaking up in protection of his cousin finally. He also learned that his father had lost his position at his work for embezzling and tax fraud. As they exited the home Dudley saw his previous gang hanging out close by watching with glares, for they were being taken in as well for the drugs and beating they had been recorded doing, even after he had stopped hanging out with them, they started the drugs after he left the group so thankfully had never gotten mixed up in that. The neighbors were all gossiping as several crime scene investigators entered the house as they left to gather all that they could. Detective Bronson made sure to let them know to check the basement and cupboard under the stairs passing along the information that Dudley had given him. As the five other officers placed the cuffed women in the back of two separate squad cars another vehicle pulled up reading Animal Control on the side to take care of Ripper who had returned to trying to attack the officers when his Mistress was arrested. The camera cut out after Detective Bronson led him to another vehicle to take him down to the Yard. *
"Wow are those humans or pigs in wigs?" Clint asked with a smirk looking at Marge and Vernon Dursley's pictures, he could tell that Dudley was losing the fat that he had previously carried and was turning it to muscle. "And that woman looked like a horse. How is that possible?"
I assure you Mr. Barton they are human, otherwise they would have been taken by animal control as well. * JARVIS spoke up in his dry humor sort of way. *Records have shown that Miss Dursley is running an illegal puppy mill and training fighting dogs. The dog Ripper will be put down by animal control for attacking several humans including Mini Boss. *
Tony just collapsed onto the couch behind him as he watched the terrors of his son's life be carted away to face the judgement he had helped bring about. Thanks to the help of JARVIS of discovering the hidden files on the Dursley household he knew that they would not be able to escape things. He had not expected young Dursley to speak up against his family and start to correct some wrongs. When he looked through the information that he had gathered on the lad he realized that he hadn't seen that he had stopped a few years before and instead started helping Nic escape as often as he could.
"He is safe from them now Tones." Rhody stated, having arrived in the middle of Petunia's arrest video having pushed his suit as fast as it could safely go to get to Tony all the quicker. "Now let's get you something to eat."
He helped Tony up from the couch he had fallen back into and leading him back into the kitchen where he started making toast and eggs knowing his friend just needed something simple and not greasy for his breakfast. Tony refilled his cup of coffee and watched silently as Rhody took care of him yet again, he would always be grateful for his brother's support and friendship.
"J pull up the pictures from Heathrow. Let's see who all my kid is traveling with." Tony spoke out finally as Rhody placed the plate of food in front of him with a look that clearly said eat.
Several screens popped up around them showing quiet a number of people that had been surrounding Nic as he began to get overwhelmed at the airport from all the noise and crush of people, though no one but Sirius and Remus were actually touching him.
According to the flight records the members of his group are Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Barnes, Lucius Malfoy-Prince, Severus Prince-Malfoy, Draco Malfoy-Prince, Blaise Zambini, Luna Lovegood, Theodore Nott, Fred and George Weasley, Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour, Viktor Krum, and William Weasley. * JARVIS stated simply as he highlighted the specific people as he said the names so that they could place faces to names when they met them later.
Clint and Nat had entered, though Nat still felt uncomfortable around Tony knowing what she did now Clint had convinced her to stop running away from the issue. She had already sent in a revised statement taking back a lot of the information that she had originally entered into the forms Fury had given her, at Phil's insistence that she correct the mistake she made. Phil had been incredibly upset at all that Fury had tried to do with the Avenger's Initiative, I mean he had given Captain Rogers a very padded information packet on Stark that led to a lot of their initial conflict, when Phil had found out the truth, he had immediately chewed out Fury and corrected Steve's information on Stark. It was why he had brought the Hydra information to their notice; he wasn't going to let Fury keep information from his dream team and cause them to fight against each other. Fury in return had made him the handler for the team, he thought it was punishment but to Phil it was a blessing for he got to spend even more time with his soulmate and husband. Phil entered the room at the end of the names and simply blinked at what was happening. He grabbed himself a cup of coffee and leaned against Clint relaxing for the first time in a while.
"So, you already have the information that Nicephorus is coming." Phil started to say something
Sir, if you desire to meet Nicephorus and group at the airport it is best to leave now. * JARVIS cut in on Phil with the reminder he had set for Tony.
"Thanks J." Tony replied as he finished the meal that Rhody had made for him and stood up. "I'll head to the airport and decide if I'll let them know I'm there or not when I get there."
"I'll go with you Tones." Rhody spoke up as he placed his plate in the sink and walked over to put his hand on Tony's shoulder.
A family reunited
Chapter Summary
a shorter chapter than some of my others but wanted to give all my faithful readers the meeting chapter before the weekend.
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters. This is not beta read so any mistakes in timeline and past chapters are all mine. I am trying to keep them consistent but there may be times when I goof.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Nicephorus was exhausted and being supported by Remus as they exited the customs area of JFK airport he had barely slept on the flight and had such a rough night before their flight. Their group followed behind, some seeming more awake than others. Sirius and Bucky were in full protective mode while Remus was not only supporting Nic but scanning for threats as well. Just because they went mundane means and were protected by the MCUSA doesn't mean that someone from Dumbledore's group won't try anything by following them. It was because of the scanning that the adults were doing that Tony was spotted, even though he was trying to be inconspicuous with a hat and sunglasses and a very casual mundane outfit. Severus was the one to spot him and only ended up shaking his head in amusement on how Tony was trying to avoid drawing attention to himself, he spotted the man standing beside Tony and vaguely remembered his friend Rhodes who if Severus remembered right was in the Air Force.
"Remus look over to the left at eight o'clock." Severus whispered as he walked up on the opposite side of Remus from Nic.
Remus casually scanned around and looked in the direction pointed out to him only to smirk and chuckle before leading their group in that direction. Thankfully because of having their wand permits in order they were able to get through customs quickly with the special section of the airport for wixen that came through that means.
"Imagine, we come to find you and you find us instead. You look like crap by the way man, sixteen years did not treat you well." Remus stated with a smirk that most would not recognize on his face. Nic didn't even pay attention to what was going on letting Remus lead him around while his eyes drifted open and closed with his exhaustion.
Tony was startled as Remus walked up to him with the group, he had traveled in following close behind but doing their best not to draw much in the way of attention. His eyes while hidden behind his sunglasses were focused on Nic in Remus' arms. Rhodes looked over everyone that approached cataloging who everyone was before turning back to the four men and his nephew in the front of the group.
"Well, if it isn't the mutts and snakes." Rhody stated with a smirk on his face knowing they didn't mind being called that, even though among the order of the phoenix they would say those as if insulting the others.
"Well, if it isn't the rocket man." Sirius responded with his own smirk. "How ya doing man?"
"Been good mutt. I reached Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force and I still keep this brat in line." Rhody responded with a bit of a laugh in his voice.
Nic finally seemed to realize that they had stopped moving briefly and looked up and around as if trying to find why they had stopped. His eyes then landed on the man standing before them in hat and sunglasses, he could feel the man's eyes on him even from behind the dark sunglasses and wondered briefly who it was. Then it registered, the feeling in his chest that seemed to tug toward the man a feeling of recognition and knowing.
"Papà…" Came out an anguished whisper as Nic stumbled away from Remus' arms and into his Papà's who barely had time to react before clutching his boy close tears falling from behind his sunglasses.
"Mia piccola*!" Came the whispered cry as he wrapped his arms tight and just held on grateful when the group surrounded them keeping them out of the public's eyes for the moment.
Remus watched the reunion between the two so glad that they were able to achieve this so soon after arriving on the soil of America. Sirius bit back his own tears knowing the feeling of the connection between a parent and their child, he was so happy for Nic. Severus and Lucius just held hands as they wrapped Draco up between them ignoring the light not real protests coming from their son who knew why they were feeling this way. Rhody and Bucky both watched with satisfied smirks on their faces while still scanning the crowd around all of them.
"Tones we should head out soon. It's a good thing that Phil sent the transport with how large this group is." Rhody stated softly after the pair in the middle started gathering themselves together. He could see the interest growing among the crowd when someone noticed him, they knew that a lot of times when he was standing in public like this his best friend/brother was somewhere close by.
"Yea…Yea…" Tony replied straightening up from where he had been leaning slightly to wrap his son up more fully in his embrace. Nic still clung to his father but did let him move enough that they could walk side-by-side out of the airport to the temporary parking where Phil had stayed with the long team transport vehicle that he had 'borrowed' from SHIELD when he found out that Tony was going to hang out at the airport and watch for his kid. Phil knew that something would happen leading to having the need for the large transport.
"Ve'll meet you at the Manor." Viktor spoke up knowing that the main group needed to be together for a while. Fleur, Gabrielle, Bill, Blaise, Theo, Viktor, and the twins had all talked on the flight over that if something like this happened, they would head to the Black Manor, the location of which Sirius had shared with everyone so that they could get there if need be. Luna had suggested it with a knowing look in her eyes, and so they didn't question what was happening when Remus led the group to the two gentlemen, Nic had helped them see that maybe she wasn't Loony after all.
"Sounds good, we'll let you all know what is happening later." Sirius replied back to the group with a thankful smile on his face. Yes, this was a group of amazing people supporting his boy, but he also knew that Nic needed the time without and there was no getting rid of Bucky right now, not until he was sure they were somewhere secure. Sirius was glad that two of the last things to be packed into his carry-on bag were the frozen shrunken paintings of James and Lily as well as Fleamont and Euphemia so they could be there for this reunion as well when they arrived wherever they were going.
The group heading to the manor looked around and up making sure there were no cameras located close by that would catch them they all apparated out of the parking garage with near silent pops. Phil simply shook his head as he watched half the group disappear but also just shrugged glad that the ride wouldn't be as crowded as he originally thought. With little talking the group piled into the transport and Phil took them back to the Avenger's Tower. As soon as they all piled out of the vehicle, he passed the keys to one of the SHIELD members that stayed at the tower in the security detail with instructions to return it to the main garage in New York before Fury yelled at them. He then nodded farewell to the group and went in search of his vent climbing mate, they had a talk that needed to happen after he had watched the footage on the Dursley women's arrest and how Dudley had reacted as well as the follow up information that he had on what had happened at the station. Dudley had been attacked by his own father when the man had arrived and overheard his son talking to an officer about everything the man had done and said over the years to his cousin. Tony had been texting back and forth with Phil when he passed on the footage and reports, he wanted to help the kid, but he didn't want him brought into the main area that Nic would be until they could work things out.
Remus chuckled as he looked over at Tony and Nic, the kit was passed out laying against his papà with a gentle relaxed expression on his face. It was clear that the bond between parent and child was reaffirming itself. Looking at the others with them they all gave small smiles as they watched the connection happening. It was amusing to see the 5'8" tall boy cuddling into the 6'1" man as they came out of the transport and headed for the elevator.
"Common Floor, J." Tony whispered all the while his eyes remained on his son who was resting in his arms.
Right away Sir. * JARVIS replied before starting the elevator in moving to the common floor.
"What the fuck!" Bucky cried as he clutched the railing around the side of the elevator looking around for the voice that had sounded out.
"You finished him then?" Sirius smirked at Bucky's reaction before turning to the technical genius.
"Obviously." Tony said with a smirk of his own, he always got a kick out of people's reaction to JARVIS when not warned ahead of time. "JARVIS is my AI, artificial intelligence, he is linked into every aspect of the tower and my other homes, he is also linked into my Iron Man suit."
"So Nic was correct you are the Tony Stark that is Iron Man. He didn't know about you. Dumbass blocked our memories and Draco was too young to really remember his godfather." Severus stated with a nod accepting the information and processing everything. "After Dumbass messed with our memories we just never really went back into the mundane world so we will need a refresher on what has happened in the last 16 years."
"J, compile a summary of world events for the past 16 years so we can get them all caught up. Also add in the Capsicle Catch Up for Terminator here."
Of course, Sir. Should I alert Captain Rogers to the arrival of Sergeant Barnes? * JARVIS asked formally as his servers began to compile what he was requested of.
"The Punk is here?" Bucky's voice had a slight lost quality to it. "Flea told me that he went into the ice a short time after I fell."
"Yeah, that happened, because of his magic and the serum he was frozen alive until he was found and thawed about 14 months ago." Tony replied looking over at the man who was the cause of his parent's death, though he knew that he was just the weapon not the executor that had been Hydra. "As soon as word was brought up about my mind being affected and having lost my mates, he told me about you. He also was going to start looking for you until we saw the video of your rescue at the mall the other day. Capsicle figures you won't want to be near him since he never looked for you in the time that he has been off ice. He also told me that it was only recently that he felt the bond loosen enough to let him know you were still out there."
"Stupid punk, of course he would think things like that." Bucky shook his head at the things he was learning. He knew that he would have to pull Tony aside at some point and apologize for what he had done to his parents, something he internally cringed at remembering, yeah Howard had been an ass during the war constantly on the rampage against Steve and him but still no kid deserved that.
When the doors to the elevator opened Phil lead the way off glad that things had been explained some because as soon as he entered the common living room, he saw Captain Rogers talking to his husband and Natasha on the couches, he could hear that they were wondering who all would be coming with and when they would get back.
"Hey Punk." Bucky called out when he saw his mate resting on a couch and looking as if he hadn't been sleeping well the past week.
Steve's head snapped over to the group at the elevator and his eyes widened as he saw Bucky and leapt the back of the couch to reach him before anyone else even registered in his senses. He wrapped Bucky in his arms and felt his mate do the same back, due to the bastardized version of the serum that Bucky had been given he was able to hold on as tight as he needed without worrying about crushing anything because Bucky was holding back just as tight. The rest of the group moved around the two hugging men not listening into what they were saying to each other knowing that the reunion was 70 years in the making. Tony couldn't help but give a small smile at that even though he wished that he was the one hugging his mates, he settled though with the joy of holding his son, Tony settled on the large cushy chair that was by the couches and let Nic curl up in his lap and doze back off.
"So, Tony we have a slight surprise for you, maybe not as great as having Nic back in your arms but still…" Sirius started to ramble before Remus cut him off by taking his bag from him. Severus came over and removed the glamour cuff from Nic's arm knowing it wasn't good for him to be glamoured for so long and figuring that he would be safe to let his features out in his father's home.
"Yeah, what sort of surprise…" Tony started before his words left him when he saw what Remus had pulled out and enlarged back to their original size, tears filled his eyes as the portrait of his mates was unlocked from their frozen state and Lily let out a gasp as seeing the state that her remaining mate was in.
Chapter End Notes
Translations –
Papà – dad (Italian)
Mia Piccola – my baby (Italian)
Getting Free
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters. This is not beta read so any mistakes in timeline and past chapters are all mine. I am trying to keep them consistent but there may be times when I goof.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
AN: changing one fact where Umbridge was the DADA teacher in Nic's sixth year instead of fifth. Having where the real Mad-eye was the teacher for fifth to prevent people from getting at Nic. The events at the end of Nic's fifth year still happened except Sirius lived. The rest of the things that happened with Umbridge in the school as it was in the fifth year instead moved to sixth.
~*~*~*~Hogwarts~*~*~*~
Minerva McGonagall stormed through the halls of the school that she called her home. She was disturbed by what she had read in the paper the past few days but what upset her the most was the letter she had received from the Department of Magical Education letting her know that Nicephorus, i.e., Harry, had been in and finished his NEWTs already. She had wanted her godchild close so she could watch over him, she had been prevented for the longest time to help him but now he wouldn't even be within the building where she could watch over him. She had been tested by St. Mungo's when she had been taken in after the attack by Umbridge at the end of Nic's last year when the healing wasn't taking as it should and they discovered a large load of charms, potions, and spells playing with her mind and abilities. Needless to say, Minerva had been pissed as hell over what was discovered but had returned to the school to act as a buffer to the others within its halls. At first, she had acted as if nothing had changed but now after getting the reports that she had just received about Nic completing his NEWTs and the many altered OWLs and NEWTs of other students she was done. She had called for the house-elves to gather the remaining teachers, minus Hagrid who thought that Dumbledore could do no wrong since he gave him his job, to meet in the lounge without alerting Dumbledore, it was then that she had found out that Severus was no longer a teacher at the school as she had been handed a letter from the man's house-elf giving his resignation and the reasons. Entering the teacher's lounge and throwing up several silencing and secrecy wards before the others arrived, she got herself some tea while she waited, while wishing it were some old scotch instead. Soon she was joined by the other teachers still at the school, she had chosen a time when Dumbledore would be out of the castle so that he wouldn't interpret what she was telling them. She knew that it would be a challenge to keep him from finding out what they talked about and causing her to be affected again. She still needed to go to Gringotts and pay for a cleansing so that her memories could be unlocked.
"Thank you everyone for joining me." Minerva stated as she moved to the large table they used for meetings. "We need to get started before Dumbledore returns. Professor Snape has resigned from his position and left no forwarding address. Dumbledore is trying to find him to get him back under his control. He is also still focused on finding Harry, but that isn't going to be happening any time soon, I think. I found out some interesting things when I was at St. Mungos at the end of term that change my perspective on a lot of things. Harry has taken his NEWTs and is free of being forced to return here to take them."
"How many did the boy take?" Bathsheda asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"He took 18 total NEWTs and passed them all." Minerva responded with a proud smile on her face. "Including getting an O in your class Bathsheda. He also got some of the highest scores in Transfiguration and Potions and the highest ever recorded in Defense."
"I knew the kid could do it." Flitwick stated clapping his hands in excitement.
"He was almost stopped by Marchbanks and Dumbledore. She tried the excuse that he was Harry's magical guardian which had been proven false and she knew. Turns out that the two of them have been padding scores for years, since Dumbledore became headmaster, and she became head of the department. Thankfully, they found the true records for those that were past tested so that they can resend the true results for the graduates and those that are currently still with us. We will be going through the reports. I also have information on some of the other students around Harry's age and what is happening. Luna Lovegood, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zambini, and Draco Malfoy will not be returning this year for classes, they are all transferring to Ilvermorny in the States. We are going to keep this from Albus until the time that classes start back up if he is not removed from his position. The new Head of Slytherin will be Septima Vector." Minerva stated simply while flicking her wand and sending the reports of student's true test results around the table as well as the information to withdraw the specified students to their heads of house. "As the Deputy Headmistress I am able to appoint the heads of houses and I am able to withdraw students without alerting the Headmaster. It is a power I feel prudent to use at this time. If Albus had his way no new head would be appointed as he would be saving the position for when Severus returned. From the letter I received that is never going to happen."
"I'm grateful." Septima nodded her head in thanks as she took the forms that she was passed. She was glad that most of her scores remained the same, but then she graduated shortly after the department head changed so likely they hadn't started with too many yet. "I'm glad that the children got away from here, I watched as they suffered and anytime I tried to speak up I was silenced."
"It was the same for young Miss Lovegood and I'm her head of house." Flitwick stated simply he was still mad over the fact that he could never stop the bullying of the young lady for long, Dumbledore always overrode his detentions of the worse offenders and let the lesser ones off of the point removal. Because of his half-goblin heritage, he was less susceptible to the influence that Dumbledore liked to use on the others but because of those influences he was unable to do anything about the man, he was able to keep his position thanks to tenure but only just. "Who will be the new potions professor?"
"Potions Master Vindictus Viridian III will be coming to fill the position at the beginning of the term, I advised he wait until the last minute to arrive and that I was doing the hiring since Dumbledore refused to acknowledge the resignation of the previous professor. Also, I have reached out to Percival Graves-Scamander to fill the Defense Position but have not heard from him as of yet." Minerva responded looking down at the information before her. "Albus is refusing to look for a professor for that position as well, I believe that he is planning on coercing Remus into the position but again it isn't going to happen."
"You mentioned finding out something when you were at St. Mungos…What was it that you discovered?" Madame Pomphrey asked with her head tilted curious as to what she hadn't picked up when she initially helped Minerva.
"I had a deep scan done and it was discovered that I am and was under several potions, charms, and compulsions. I still need to go to Gringotts and have the memory charms removed but everything else has been taken care of. I recommend that everyone here go and have a cleanse done at Gringotts, or at least a scan. I want to make sure that nothing is being affected." Minerva responded keeping eye contact with Flitwick knowing that he would understand some of what she wasn't saying. She had been dear friends with the man before the compulsions stopped her from listening to his advice.
Shortly after the group finished talking about some of what was found the door to the teachers lounge burst open and Albus entered in all his flashy glory, the bright magenta and orange monstrosity that was his robes temporarily distracted everyone from what they had been talking about as he approached the table.
"I didn't realize a meeting was called." Albus stated as he sat down in the throne like chair that he had placed there for himself. "I was busy clearing up matters with Gringotts and trying to reach Severus."
"Severus is not returning and may apply for a restraining order if you keep this up Albus." Minerva stated simply keeping her eyes on the papers she was gathering up instead of meeting his, her shields were not the strongest after getting cleansed as much as she had, and she refused to be the one to give things away. "We were just finishing up with the results that the DME sent to me after the chaos you caused the other day. We were also going over the Head of Slytherin placement as well as who would be filling the positions for Potions and Defense. The professors know who is to take those places and the three heads all agree with the placement of Severus' replacement for Head of Slytherin. You need not concern yourself with this, just deal with everything else that you have going on."
"I'm sure that Severus will return as will Remus when I contact him." Albus stated calmly on the outside while inside he was fuming.
"It won't be an issue Headmaster. The positions have been filled and locked in by Hogwarts herself so there is no need for Remus or Severus to return here." Minerva stated while standing, her brogue getting thicker in his hard-headedness. "Now if you excuse me, I have to head to the Alley and pick up some things I will need for the coming year."
"If you don't mind, I think I will join you. Best to get it done before the crowds that form as soon as the letters go out. We should see that happening sooner this year since they need to send the true results to the students." Flitwick stated and was echoed by several others including Poppy.
"I would be most pleased to have friends join me. Perhaps we can try out one of the new restaurants in muggle London after make a day of things." Minerva was grateful that so many were taking her advice. "We need to see what needs to be improved in the muggle studies class anyway if you wish to join us Charity?"
"That sounds wonderful. Perhaps we can stop at the latest Stark store and see if he has improved the magical resistance of his items, that way I can show the students what is actually used in the muggle world." Charity lit up at the thought of the new technology and a trip to the mundane side of things.
"Now really there isn't any need…" Albus was cut off by the door closing behind all his professors and the med-witch as they were all discussing the different advancements, they had heard the students talking about over the years and how they should stop at Gringotts before heading to the muggle side of things to get enough funds for the trip as well as the food they should try. He didn't see the smug smirk that briefly crossed Minerva's face and Flitwick's as they walked to the front of the group.
That day would lead to a load of changes around Hogwarts as the teachers started to close Dumbledore out of the decision making for the classes, discipline, and all around running of the school. And it all started because of a letter sent to Minerva McGonagall while she was at St. Mungos from a secret helper.
~*~*~*~New York~*~*~*~
Nic looked around the room that he had been given at the Tower and simply breathed. He was free of England and free of all that it caused to hurt him. He had seen the video that Tony had saved of the arrests of the Dursley adults and was shocked by the actions of Dudley and what had happened to him. Now those he was in his room that his father had given him and had unpacked all of his magical items for the first time, even when he was at the Manor, he had only unpacked his clothes so that he would have something to wear but had kept the rest in his trunk to prevent things from happening and a quick escape if it were needed. He knew that Professor McGonagall had received the letter he had sent while she was at the hospital, he clenched his scarred fist as he thought of this the dark magic in the quill had caused the scar to remain though it was fainter than it originally had been. He knew that Umbridge would soon be getting her just desserts for all that she had subjected the students too over the last school term. Nic couldn't help but feel light at the sight of his items around the room but also felt sad over the fact that he had so little to decorate with, it was mostly schoolbooks and supplies that were out on the desk and shelves in the corner.
Tony watched his son from the doorway, he knew that Nic was aware that he was standing there because he could see the ear twitching back toward him periodically. He had been blessed with the chance to talk to his mates again as the painting had been moved to pride of place on the wall over the fake fireplace, he wasn't going to allow a true fireplace in his home that would allow anyone to floo in and out. He wanted to keep things as safe as possible. He had also sent off a note to Newt and Percival that hopefully they would answer soon, he asked for forgiveness for not contacting them more over the years as he had been hurting and didn't want to think about his son. He asked them to come so that they could clear some things up and so that they could once again meet Nic.
"What was your favorite subject?" Tony asked from where he stood watching, he could see all the different books on the shelves and Remus had shown him Nic's NEWT results so that he knew what he excelled in but that didn't mean that his best class was his favorite class.
"Care of Magical Creatures." Nic replied looking over his shoulder at his father. "I've always been fascinated with animals and other creatures and when I found out about that class, I knew I had to take it. Then he appointed Hagrid to the teaching position and things went to crap. Yeah, we learned about fascinating creatures, but they were those that masters in the subject should meet not those that had never taken the course before in their lives. I mean our first-class Hagrid introduced us to hippogriffs and put me on the back of one after I had only just gotten it to bow to me. He didn't go over the dangers of what would happen if they didn't bow back just said they were proud creatures and we had to get them to bow back. It was how Draco was injured, though part of it he had insulted Buckbeak instead of bowing. But I was and still am fascinated by all that the magical and mundane world has to offer with creatures. My favorite book on it is the Fantastic Beasts book and when I saw the name of one of my godparents, I had to keep from jumping up and down in excitement in the middle of the office at Gringotts. I mean I was in with the head of the bank when I saw that and had to keep myself as professional as possible…but it was sooooooo hard." Nic stated as he started to get animated in his words over describing his favorite subject. His face took on a mischievous smirk after a moment. "Though I do have to admit it was so much fun to ride Buckbeak, and later to have a terrified Hermione ride him as well. The girl deserved it after letting out the mating call of a female werewolf on the full moon to try and draw Remus away from the us that were being cornered and having a time-turner."
Tony let out a laugh at the thought of his son's revenge against the girl. He knew that he probably wouldn't like all that he was told over time, but he needed to simply start with getting to know his kid before finding out the worse.
"Well, I've sent a note off to Uncle Newt to see if him and his husband are able to come and see us. That way they have a chance to get to know you again. You will be able to ask him all about his research, I know that Uncle Newt has been looking at the possibility of an apprentice to help with the care of his menagerie. Thankfully for Uncle Percy's peace of mind it is no longer contained in a suitcase." Tony muttered the last bit as he walked more into the room and looked around. "We'll have to go to the Madison Square Park magical district and get you some posters of different creatures. We can also take in a Magical Broadway show as well as a Mundane Broadway show. There is so much that I can introduce you and your friends too. Remus and the others have all been over here for a time after we graduated. JARVIS can book us anything, except the magical show since they are still a bit behind electronically there. What is your favorite food to eat? What is your favorite quidditch position? What is your owl's name? Who is your favorite Avenger…you do know about the avengers right?"
Nic smiled at Tony's rambles before it registered that he was going to have a chance to meet Newt and Percival Graves-Scamander. He quickly moved and gave his father a large hug before heading out into the common room where he could hear Remus talking to Sirius. He ran up to Remus and wrapped him in a hug in his excitement babbling about getting to meet The Newt Graves-Scamander sometime soon. This made all the people out in the living room laugh gently at the excitement showing through the kid.
Bucky and Steve just gave gentle smiles from the kitchen where they were working on making something for the group to all eat.
"Too bad that Charlie isn't here. He would be just as excited as I am! Do you think it was true that he rode the dragons in the war? I have so many questions for him…" Nic babbled while pacing the room after Remus let go from the hug.
Tony followed Nic out among the others and couldn't help the gentle smile on his face, especially when he heard the elevator open and looked over to see who had entered.
"Do you think he would sign my book? No, I can't ask that I don't want to overwhelm him…but…I…can you believe…" Nic continued to babble only to hear a laugh that he didn't recognize as he froze at the sound.
"Well, Doll it sounds like your godson is a fan." Former Director of Magical Security of MCUSA, Percival Graves-Scamander who was looking toward his right where Magical Creature expert Newton Graves-Scamander stood with a light blush covering his slightly wrinkled cheeks, after all Newt was only going on 99 years young.
Finding a new Normal...what is normal?
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters. This is not beta read so any mistakes in timeline and past chapters are all mine. I am trying to keep them consistent but there may be times when I goof.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
Nic couldn't help the full blush that took over his face when he saw Newt standing in the living room with a small smile on his face and hearing the teasing that he was being subjected too by his husband/mate. Nic's six tails all twitched from the embarrassment of his idol hear him gushing over the man to those that were currently in the room. It was something that Sirius would tease him over for years to come. Sirius and Remus were snickering quietly while leaning against each other while Lucius and Severus simply had Slytherin smirks on their faces at the way Nic was reacting. Tony simply shook his head at his son's actions before crossing the room to the two newcomers.
"Hey Uncle Newt, Uncle Percy, you both got here quickly." Tony gave both men hugs as he greeted them glad to see them after so long. "I'm sorry for taking so long to contact the two of you."
"We can understand some of it kiddo but would appreciate a further explanation." Percival stated simply as he looked at his nephew through marriage, Newt's brother Theseus had married Leta who was the sister of Maria after all. "But first we want to greet our godchild."
Newt had ignored everything and hurried over to Nic wrapping the blushing kit in his arms so glad to see he was there; they had been blocked by Dumbledore from finding out anything about Nic after he disappeared when his other two parents were killed.
"Hey there kit…" Newt whispered gently in a softly twitching ear, he kept the hug light for he had seen the instinctive flinch that had happened as he approached and so tempered his reactions as if he was one of his many creatures. "I'm so glad to see you again little one. I haven't seen you since your first birthday."
"Hello…Mr. Graves-Scamander sir…" Nic mumbled lightly all but melting into the gentle hug that he was wrapped in.
"Just Uncle Newt to you kit, and I know that Perc will say that he is simply Uncle Percy." Newt replied a gentle smile on his face at the title he had been called by.
It was during this hug that Hedwig flew through one of the many owl windows that were set up to let in approved owls for deliveries that Tony had set up. She dive-bombed Newt in aggravation as she couldn't reach her chick. Percy and Tony both let out loud laughs as they watched Newt let go of Nic to protect his head while still trying to get a good look at the beautiful snowy owl.
"Hedwig! It's okay girl he wasn't harming me! Come on girl calm down…" Nic called out stepping slightly away from his fourth godfather holding his arm out for his owl familiar to land on, instead she landed on his shoulder and started preening his hair around his ears. All the remaining adults in the room fought the chuckles at the actions while Newt simply slowly approached the territorial bird wanting to get a closer look.
"That is quite the familiar connection you have with the beautiful lady." Newt stated simply as he watched their interaction.
"She was my first birthday gift after loosing mum and Dad." Nic replied simply as he continued to keep Hedwig as calm as possible.
"Well that just won't do…" Newt and Tony said at the same time with a small smile for each other.
"We will contact your friends that came over with you have a belated party. I haven't had a chance to spoil you yet and I mean to do everything I can in that regard." Tony finished saying while he walked over to see the owl that had claimed his son. "She is beautiful, I didn't see a perch in your stuff that you unpacked."
"The Dursley's never let me release her from her cage and everywhere else she stayed in the owleries, though there was a perch in my room at the manor she rarely used it as she was delivering some messages for me most of the time." Nic responded thinking of the secret letters he had written to Professor McGonagall, Kingsley, and Madame Bones to give them the hints they needed to find evidence to take down Fumblewhore and his merry gang of idiots. "I was also working on breaking the fake familiar bond on Fawkes that Dumbassdore had on the phoenix. It is still in place though so I will have to continue working on it, the old boy shouldn't be chained to that creep."
"Have him come here, I know him from the past and would gladly help." Newt said, he hadn't realized that the bond between his ex-mentor and the phoenix had been false.
Newt had seen the true side of Dumbledore when he had tried to get him to spy on Grindelwald during the war. His mate-bond had started to be blocked whenever he was around the man and Percy wouldn't let it rest. Percy had made Newt get checked and found many compulsions on the man including one to be shyer and retiring than he naturally was. There was also potions to control his listening to the old man proving that Dumbledore had started even before he became headmaster. Let's just say that Percival Graves did not appreciate the man trying to control his mate who had saved him from Grindelwald in the first place.
"You sound as if you don't like the man? He is always saying how much of a friend and amazing student of his you were." Severus stated simply watching the reactions that happened when he spoke.
"He's still trying to pass that lie?" Percy scoffed looking over at his husband. "He tried to get Newt to spy on Grindelwald for him, even tried blackmailing Theseus and Leta to do so as well as a way to 'protect' Newt. It was because of Newt's bond with me that he knew that Grindelwald was impersonating me during that whole chaotic time. We had met during the first war, though because of the view on same sex relations at the time we kept it all quiet. Newt could feel that I was still alive but when he looked at the Grindelwald-me he knew that it wasn't me and that lead to the chaos of his menagerie getting loose and everything then."
"I remember that time, it was insane what was happening. No one knew truly who had caused it and what was happening. And because my magic was busy keeping me alive, I wasn't acknowledged as a maj so couldn't find out anything. I just remember the funky rainfall and all my no-maj friends forgetting the chaos that had happened." Steve spoke up with his head to the side as he remembered things. Bucky was nodding along beside him as he too remembered that time.
"Yeah…well every time I went home to England to check on my mother after that Dumbledore was there trying to be all buddy-buddy. He started trying to suppress our bond after he realized that I wouldn't fall for his 'seduction' routine. I was one of the few to remember that he had been bosom buddies with Grindelwald before everything that happened. Perc felt the bond being suppressed and would get a portkey over to see me to force a cleanse on me when my animals didn't. The niffler was good at sniffing out when my magic was being played with as was Pickett. We compiled lists of what he had done but we knew that with the 'defeat' of Grindelwald we would never be heard." Newt explained remembering fondly the little helpers that he had over the years.
"Well, if you send that information to Madame Amelia Bones at the British DMLE as well as Lord Xenophillius Lovegood at the Quibbler the truth will out. They are helping us with gathering evidence of what he has been up too." Lucius spoke up as he went to get some tea for himself and the others.
Nic just smirked thinking of the chaos that would be let loose when the truth came out of what the headmaster had been up to. He was also working on calling Fawkes but the slight connection they had was blocked by the distance from the castle.
"Dobby!" Nic called out for his little house-elf friend that he used to spy on the Headmaster, he smiled when the pop sounded alerting him to the arrival of the eccentric creature with his multitude of socks, hats, and shirts he wore to throw Hermione and the others off his track.
"You called Master Nicephorus, sir?" Dobby asked purposefully ignoring the sputtering that was happening from Lucius and Draco at seeing their old house-elf looking the way he did.
"Yeah, I need you to sneak into the Head idiots office and rescue Fawkes. Make sure as usual there are no tracking charms on the dear old bird." Nic ordered gently while quietly enjoying the choking in shock that was happening behind Dobby and the looks of shock on Lucius and Draco's faces.
"Can do. Head Idiot is out at the moment so Dobby can get the pretty birdy." Dobby replied before snapping out of the room and back to the castle so that he could do as he was asked. It was only fifteen minutes later that Dobby returned with Fawkes perched on his small shoulder. "There were trackers but Dobby moved it to Pretty Birdy's perch so Idiot will think he still at castle. He never notices fake bond."
"Thanks very much." Newt conjured a basic perch for Fawkes that would allow him and Nic to work on the fake bond that was wrapped around the bird. "I can see what you've accomplished Kit. Now let's see if I can improve on it."
With those words Nic and Newt got to work on saving Fawkes while the rest talked and got to know each other around them. Percival was interested in learning more about Steve and Bucky and their impacts on the world war and after, while Steve and Bucky were interested in what someone who was around in their time had to tell them about the years they had spent frozen. Lucius, Severus, and Draco all made plans to go to the Black Manor for the night and seeing how the others were doing. While Sirius, Remus, and Tony talked over plans for Nic to have a birthday party while here since Tony hadn't been able to be with him for years. Sirius and Remus worked on keeping things as low key as they possibly could with Tony knowing that Nic would not appreciate a large deal made of his birthday.
"Ah there is the last weak link." Newt called out two hours later as they finally found the way to break the fake bond. With the dissolving of the link Fawkes let out a loud trill of pleasure and flew around the room singing his song of healing and joy before landing on Newt's shoulder and rubbing his beak along the man's cheek. "You are most welcome dear friend."
With those words Fawkes let out one last trill of joy lifting everyone's spirits that were in the room before using his flashing abilities and leaving to who knew where getting away from everything as he had wanted for years.
"Well, that is that taken care of. Now young kit you were wonderful in how you dealt with that and the connection I see you have with the beautiful lady over there is one that is very rare to see any more. Want to see my menagerie?" Newt asked with his eyes alight with joy over someone as equally interested in the different creatures in the world, while they were breaking the bonds, they had been talking about the different creatures that Newt had met through his many years. He couldn't help the chuckle that happened when Nic's eyes lit at the idea of seeing the menagerie that Newt and Percy had put together over the years. He was glad that the young man still had the innocence of joy over the little things. They had been following the story of Harry Potter over the years wondering if it was their Godchild or not.
"We can plan the trip for that for another day. It is starting to get late and we need to make plans for dinner and for what is going to happen in the coming days." Remus stated simply looking around the room.
Everyone realized how long the day felt and agreed to the fact that they would eventually need to rest, those that had come by plane had thankfully had potions from Severus to help with the jet lag so that they could focus for the day, but the potions were starting to wear off and they knew that soon everyone would crash. Across the pond more changes had been made than any of the ones in New York knew, and it all started because of the letters from one young man.
~*~*~*~Gringotts~*~*~*~
Minerva and Filius entered the grand bank side by side offering respectful nods to the goblins guarding the building, the other professors at the school would be coming behind them shortly. Filius had sent a house-elf ahead of them to let his Uncle know that he was coming and would soon be seeing the goblin with issues against Dumbledore, Filius knew that his Uncle would be all to happy to help since he was one of the many that had been snubbed by that man even with his high position within the bank. Because they were expected they were led back directly to an office to wait until his Uncle was able to come and administer the tests that were needed before a cleanse could be performed so that a list of everything would be available and could be used if a court case were brought forward. Head Manager Karnast was glad that he had already helped Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Evans-Black-etc. with the cleanse and case that had been brought forward when his Nephew sent the house-elf. He knew that there were likely going to be many coming forward eventually to ask for a cleanse and it would be a profitable time for the bank, after all for most patrons they charged when a cleanse was going to be performed.
"May your day have been profitable, Uncle." Filius nodded in greeting.
"And may your day be filled with vengeance, Nephew." Karnast returned the greeting. "Professor McGonagall my honored nephew tells me that you are coming for a cleanse and that several of your fellow professors will be coming shortly for the same thing. Would you please explain the reasoning you have for coming to Gringotts for such a thing?"
"May your gold ever flow Head Manager Karnast." McGonagall was in shock since she hadn't realized that Filius' Uncle was the head of the bank itself. "I was recently admitted to St. Mungo's where they discovered many potions and charms on my person that I had no knowledge of prior to the admittance. They removed what they could but also said that they weren't able to remove everything. I went to work on my Occlumency shields and discovered several blocks on my memories. I know that Gringotts is one of the only places where I would be able to safely have those blocks removed other than with the help of a Master of Legilimency that I trusted, the only one that I know of has moved away from England and I would not risk this with any other."
"Thank you for your honesty." Karnast replied with a nod trusting the words coming from McGonagall would only be the truth. Pulling out some of their specialized parchment and bowl for the necessary potion. "We will need five drops of blood in this bowl so that we can do the tests necessary to find out what exactly you need removed. The same will happen with all the others that are arriving as well as Filius, though he was in for his last test and cleanse at the end of the school term. It was a condition that we made with him to work at the school near Dumbledore."
"Of course." McGonagall stated while pulling out her private dirk that she carried everywhere as part of her Scottish heritage. With little ceremony she pierced her finger and allowed the required number of drops to fall before sealing the wound and cleansing her dirk. Filius did his own using the goblin forged dagger that he kept on himself as no true goblin, or half-goblin as the case may be, would ever be caught without at least one blade on their person.
They all watched and planned as the parchment filled out after the potion was poured across it. McGonagall asked for an inventory of the schools funds to be done so that it could be made sure that Dumbledore hadn't been dipping into the funds for his own profit. What they found should have been shocking but in truth had become the expected.
Name: Minerva McGonagall
Birth: October 4 th
Core: Light Gray
Gender: Female
Status:
Widow
Duchess of Urquhart
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Head of Gryffindor House
Mistress of Transfiguration
Family:
Robert McGonagall Snr. (father – deceased)
Isobel McGonagall nee Ross (mother – deceased)
Malcom McGonagall (brother – deceased)
Robert McGonagall Jr (Brother – deceased)
Elphinstone Urquart, Duke of Urquhart (husband – deceased)
Blair Tristian Urquart (Daughter – missing/compromised)
Inheritance: Castle Urquhart – Title Duchess
Countess of Mar
Animagus: Tabby Cat
Bonds on Magic:
Magic - 45% (Leech attached to Albus Dumbledore)
Mind Gifts – 25% (blocked by Albus Dumbledore)
Potions:
Loyalty to Dumbledore (50% purged by Healer Meander)
Distrust keyed to Slytherin, Dark/gray magic (50% purged by Healer Meander)
Impairment to ignore signs of bullying and abuse (45% purged by Healer Meander)
Compulsions:
Distrust Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Slytherin House, anyone with a gray/dark core – placed by Albus Dumbledore 1975
Overlook Abuse – placed by Albus Dumbledore 1975
Listen to Albus Dumbledore – Placed by Albus Dumbledore 1975
Charms:
85 memory charms – Placed by Albus Dumbledore
Minerva was fuming, especially when she saw the information about her daughter. She had been led to believe by Albus that her dear Blair had been killed four months after she had been born. It was something that she would have to figure out after everything was taken care of with the purge. Head Manager Karnast could see the anger that was rolling off the witch and knew that they needed to get her to the purge room before her magic reacted further to the bonds that she had on her.
"Let us get you to the main purge room and then I will go over the test that my nephew took, though at a quick glance I can see that there was only a minor memory charm placed on him since his last purge. So, we can get him purged of that at the same time as you are taken care of." Karnast stated simply as they stood, he would keep as much of his nephew's test to himself as Goblins are always more secretive than others.
"I do not need to know what is on his test. It is a private thing, I'm fine that he saw mine as I need his help with some of the things that were revealed." Minerva stated simply as she stood to follow Karnast and Filius from the office and toward the purge room deeper within the bank. She saw that there were other professors being led to some of the more minor purge rooms so they must not have had as much on them. "I would like charges to be brought against Dumbledore and those that helped him hide my daughter. I'd like also for a copy of the test so that I can also bring charges up against him with the DMLE."
"It will be done." Karnast nodded before he opened the door and led Minerva through to the healers and Curse Breakers that were waiting to help remove everything from her. "Filius and I will meet you back in the office when you are finished. My assistant Griphook will lead you back to my office."
With those words he nodded to the goblins gathered in the room before exiting and going with Filius to the purge room that he would need to get the memory charms off so that he could get through everything quickly. With that Karnast returned to his own office and pulled out everything that he needed to make the official copies for the DMLE and everything that needed to be done. They would have more than enough soon to affect Dumbledore, as it was, he wasn't allowed in the bank unless he wanted to be arrested by the Goblins and tried within their court. They weren't allowed to arrest him unless he actually set foot within their building, he could stand on the stairs outside and they would be able to do nothing, it was something they were upset about.
Four hours later everyone of the professors had been purged and added their charges to Minerva's against the way that Dumbledore had potion and spelled them, every single one of them spelled to ignore all signs of abuse so they couldn't report it to anyone as they were required to do by the Queen. When they met up outside the bank, they all took deep breaths and let them loose before heading out into Alley to take care of some of their errands before all exiting through one of the side exits as they saw Dumbledore enter the alley scanning it for someone, most likely Minerva as she and Poppy were the two most affected by him. Poppy had the magic leech taking 25% of her magic, the ignore abuse compulsion, loyalty to Dumbledore, and the compulsion to trust that Dumbledore knew best, she didn't have any potions since she was a Med-Witch and would have found out that she had potions in her system, she also had over 200 memory charms for all the times she had noticed abuse and wanted to help the children even with the compulsions on her. The other professors only had a 10% magic leech, ignore abuse compulsion, and the compulsion that Dumbledore knew best and while some had memory charms none even reached the level of Minerva let alone Poppy.
The group soon went through the exit and then toward the mundane electrics store that Charity wanted to go to so that they could get what was needed for the Muggle Studies Class. When they entered into Stark Industries Electrics Store all of those that had been teachers for The Marauders and Lily all recalled Anthony Stark who had attended the last year of the groups time. They all wondered what had happened to the young man who had made such a difference in the way the Marauders worked with The Slytherin Quartet.
Lions take care of their Pride
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters. This is not beta read so any mistakes in timeline and past chapters are all mine. I am trying to keep them consistent but there may be times when I goof.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
~*~*~*~Hogwarts~*~*~*~
Minerva looked around her rooms as soon as she had returned from the trip that the staff had taken. She knew that Dumbledore was finding out things she only spoke of in her chambers in some way and didn't want to risk more of her words and actions reaching him. After all, with the memory charms removed she could recall all the times she quietly wondered if things were actually for the 'greater good' or not while enjoying a cuppa in her chambers. Finally, she spotted the likely culprit in the landscape she had over her fireplace as a way for the other portraits to let her know if she was needed as was the requirement of the Deputy Headmistress. Walking closer to the landscape she noticed for the first time the young girl hiding behind a tree.
"Well, hello young one, who might you be?" It always helped to be nice to the portraits she had discovered over the years, they would help hide a lot of things if needed or get you the information quicker if necessary.
"I'm Jocosa," The timid girl responded before blushing and trying to hide again.
"No need to hide child." Minerva let her Scottish brogue come out a little more when she noticed the slight lit to the child's voice. "I'm sure that you know who I am, but just in case I'm Minerva McGonagall."
"I know madame." The child came out again from behind the tree and gave a slight curtsy. The outfit she was wearing would have fit during the founding days of the school. "Headmaster Dumbledore told me about you and how he was helping you with making sure my papas' school was run right."
"Who was your papas child?" Minerva asked wanting to get some help in understanding how he had turned the little girl, who looked no older than 6, into a spy for him.
"Papa Sal and Papa Godric, madame." Jocosa replied with a curious head tilt.
"I was unaware that your papas had any children." Minerva hid her shock at the fact that Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin had a child together and the child was before her in the painting.
"Aye, I was the last of three that they had together, twins a boy and girl, and then me. Papa Sal was upset when they lost me to the mundanes who caught me doing accidental magic that he fought with Papa Godric." Jocosa replied bouncing in place as if she hadn't just blown Minerva's mind. "Roul went with Papa Sal while Royse stated with Papa Godric. Papa Sal and Roul left to look for me, Papa Godric wanted to stay here in the hopes I would find my way home. He lost the little one he was carrying at the time from the stress of everything. I know that Papa Sal and Roul never returned but I don't know what happened to them. All I know is that I woke up in this painting and have helped the head of my papas school and house whenever they need it. Headmaster Dumbledore told me to keep watch for him and let him know if something was bothering you."
"I understand little one." Minerva replied with a sad smile, and she did understand, Dumbledore was good at playing with people's emotions and thoughts as if everything was a chess board. She also knew that she didn't want to break the little girl's spirit but explaining how wrong Dumbledore was in what he was doing. "Perhaps ask me first if something is bothering me before going to see Dumbledore. I'm the head of your papa Godric's house and am the deputy of the school. I'll let you know if it is something that he needs to be informed about. I'm very glad to meet you and would love to hear more about your papas and siblings."
"Okay! I can do that Miss Minerva." Jocosa replied bouncing in place again. "Oh! As the Deputy could you go to the portrait of my Papa Sal and unlock him, as well as the others? They are in the Miss Rowena's come and go room. You just have to ask Miss Hoggy to let you into the portrait storage room."
"Would you like to lead me to the come and go room child? I've never actually been there." Minerva replied excited by the prospect of finding the portraits of the founders.
"Yeah!" Jocosa ran from the landscape to the portrait guarding the outside of Minerva's room before hopping back into the landscape. "Come on! I'll show you!"
"I'm coming little bunny." Minerva then changed to her cat form so that she would be able to keep up with the excited little girl as they moved through the halls up to the come and go room corridor.
"Here miss kitty! Pace there three times calling for the portrait room." Jocosa stated from the tapestry of the dancing trolls pointing at the wall opposite.
Minerva only nodded her cat shaped head before turning to the area of wall that had been pointed out to her and doing as Jocosa instructed. It was time to bring the founders back to Hogwarts.
~*~*~*~New York~*~*~*~
Nic woke up the day after arriving in New York and looked around his room once more in amazement. He could hardly believe that this was all his, he was allowed to have his things out and proudly displayed. He was able to get snacks when he wanted and eat at the table with everyone, even though he had been able to do all of that when at the Manor it just felt different with being here amongst the heroes his father hung out with. Getting out of bed Nic entered his in-suite bathroom and prepared for a day with a scalding shower washing away the faint memories of his uncle's beatings and the killing of Voldemort. He still wasn't comfortable with the fact that his actions lead to the death of another being even if that being was as evil as Voldie was. Shaking himself out of his stupor and moving about the bathroom he took care of what he needed too then got dressed in a pair of loose sweats and a large band t-shirt for ACDC, he had seen his father wear something similar on tv after he had come out as Iron Man and Nic had admired the way Tony Stark held himself and controlled what the media saw, plus he enjoyed all the knowledge that Tony had even though at the time he didn't know that the man was his father. Pulling on an old comfy hoody, one of the few things of his own that he had gotten over the past few years, Nic exited his room with his kitsune features in full display not realizing that there were others beside his group and his dad in the tower at the time.
"Good morning kiddo." Sirius spoke up from where he was getting some coffee into a mug that read 'Why so serious?'. "Did you sleep alright?"
"Morning Siri," Nic mumbled as he moved into the kitchen and headed for the fridge planning on making something to eat only for his nose to finally register the smell of bacon cooking. He looked up and realized that Tony, Bucky, Steve, Sirius, Remus, Severus, and Lucius were all in the room along with some others that he only knew of through television and the interviews about the Avengers. "Crap…" He muttered under his breath not having planned on letting them see his tails and ears right away and seeing the shock in their faces they hadn't been warned either, after all the footage of his helping Bucky showed him looking completely normal. He moved over closer to his father, trusting the man would know who was safe to be around among those in the group.
"Hey Kid…cool tails." Clint Barton stated with a smirk on his face noticing the blush that was trying to take over the kids face even through the paleness of his shock.
"Clint be nice." Phil said as he entered the room giving his husband a tap to the back of the head. "Do not overwhelm the child when he is just meeting you."
"Aww come on Phil you know I'd never do that." Clint replied reaching up and rubbing where the tap had landed, he noticed the way the kid had flinched at seeing Phil give him that 'love tap'. "And I'm not the only one fascinated I'm just the one to say something first."
Natasha looked over at her long-time field partner with simply a look that reminded Nic of the way McGonagall would look at the twins when she caught them setting up pranks. She then looked back toward the young man hiding slightly behind Tony and gave a gentle smile that was usually reserved for Clint's niece and nephews. "Good morning Nicephorus. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Good morning ma'am." Nic stated softly still slightly skittish after seeing the head smack. "Please call me Nic, I don't know what my mum was trying to do landing me with that name."
"I heard that young man!" Lily called out from the portrait in the common living room just outside the kitchen area. "It's an honorable name!"
"Mum it is a horrid name! I'm just glad that I've a way to shorten it, and slightly glad that I wasn't burdened with it in Primary. Being Potty Potter and Freak was bad enough…" He mumbled the last part, but Tony still heard it and just wrapped Nic in a hug.
"Breakfast is ready." Steve spoke up from where he had been fixing a large meal that would've fed the Dursley males twice over in their heaviest times. Bucky helped him take everything over to the table, even though there was plenty in the room with magic it didn't mean they should use it for everything.
Tony led Nic over to the large table that dominated the dining room, large enough to fit double the group that was there this morning. The hand on Nic's back was firm enough to let him know that his papà was there to support him. Bucky kept an eye on Phil as Nic was sat down a ways from the man, Phil had been helpful the day before and seemed a good man, but Bucky hadn't missed the way Nic had flinched at seeing the head smack Phil had given Clint. Natasha, Sam, Clint, and Phil all looked up from the seats that they had taken stopping their light friendly bickering that took place among the team. Sirius and Remus sat on either side of Bucky and Tony, who were sitting on either side of Nic, while Steve sat across from Bucky and Severus found a seat with his back to the corner. Lucius excused himself for a moment before going down the hall to drag his embarrassed son out of the bathroom and back among the others. Draco had been dragged over to the tower before he had a chance to style his hair after his shower and he was now sporting the fluffy waves of the Prince line that he always did his best to hide. Severus had a reason for always having his hair look greasy when he was among the cauldrons at Hogwarts, the hair potion he improved on slicked it back so no stray strands would fall into the cauldron and ruin the batches. Today though Severus was also supporting the loose waves that was natural of his line, as well as wearing a dark green silk shirt that Lucius had picked out for him so he would continue to move away from the all black that most students knew him for.
As everyone ate there was plenty of small talk happening around the table while they polished off the large meal that Steve and Remus had created, after all there was two super soldiers, a werewolf, and two growing teens eating the meal. Though Nic didn't eat as much as the others and it was clear that several wanted to add more to his plate and get him to keep eating, they kept their mouths shut at the discreet glares from the four men that had arrived with him the day before.
"Where are Mr. Graves-Scamander's this morning Papà?" Nic spoke up after he finished. Yes, Newt had given him permission to use his first name, as had Percy, but he had it literally beaten into him to be respectful of his elders. While at Hogwarts he had let that slip because of the mask he wore to hide his being abused and the expectations of those that were at the school with him, he wasn't there and didn't know how some would react here thanks to watching Mr. Coulson smack the back of Mr. Barton's head.
"Uncles Newt and Percy had to return to their manor last night to take care of the menagerie." Tony responded while passing a cup of coffee over to his pup when he saw that his milk glass was empty. "I thought that I could show you my lab this morning and then after lunch we could go to the District when Uncle Rhody will be available to join us. He had to go and see some big wigs this morning to keep the military happy."
"That sounds wonderful Papà." Nic replied before taking a look that the mug before him and couldn't help but chuckle, someone had gotten him back for the punny mugs that he had gotten everyone else. The mug he had been given had a cute picture of a fox with the words 'For' and 'Sake' surrounding the fox. He then noticed the mug that his Papà had which said, 'never trust an atom they make up everything' and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of it.
"You got your sense of humor from your dad and me kit." Tony stated with a smirk on his face. "I saw video of you while you were saving metal arm there. And after we had the first picture of you J was able to find the videos of the day before and we all had a chuckle over some of the reactions to the different mugs and shirts you got everyone. I couldn't let you be left out."
"Thanks, papà." Nic continued to chuckle a little as he drank the coffee, thankful for the way it would soon start calming his mind a little so things weren't so chaotic. "Is it true that you built a robot when you were 15?"
"You mean DUM-E? Yeah, I built him then and then two others U and Butterfingers are all in the lab if you want to meet them?" Tony replied as he stood up taking his mug to refill and watching as Nic did the same.
"I can? That would be amazing! I have so many questions. Is it true that you know Dr. Banner? Is it true that you…" Nic's voice trailed off as they entered the elevator together to go down to the lab leaving everyone else looking at each other in shock at the quick rambling that was coming from the kid and wondering what they were supposed to do for the morning.
"I think I'll head to the gym and get a workout done." Steve stated as he stood to clear the area that he had sat as well as some of the other dishes.
"Mind if I join you Punk?" Bucky asked calmly, though from the look in his eyes he was nervous.
"I'd really like that." Steve gave a soft grin in return before turning back to the sink.
"Leave the dishes Cap, you cooked we clean you know the rules of the Tower." Clint teased standing and taking his own dishes to the sink.
"Here let us help." Sirius picked up his plate plus Nic and Tony's which they had forgotten about and then once at the sink pulled out his wand. "I know limit the magic, but this will make it easier for everyone to do something else this morning." He stated as he waved his wand and get the dishes washing themselves.
Remus simply shook his head and started the spell that dried and put everything where it belongs, his mate could be so lazy sometimes. Sam watched everything in shock, he was fairly new to the group having been passed by Steve the little while he had been in Washington and going for a run. Steve had convinced him to come back to New York and help everyone with the trauma of what had happened with the attack by the one controlling Loki. It helped to have someone like him in the tower and that they could truly talk to. Bruce finally wandered into the room and saw the magic happening simply shrugged and fixed his favorite Chia and grabbed a plate of leftovers that had been set aside for him, he had been working in his lab the past two days so had missed the arrival of the group yesterday.
"So, I'm figuring that Nicephorus has arrived." Bruce stated completely straight faced as he took a drink of his tea.
Remus smirked enjoying the way that Bruce was stating the obvious, while Sirius, Severus, and Lucius all looked at Remus with a groan of having another one around. Clint, Phil, and Nat watched the exchange with curious expressions wondering more about the four men that had come with Nicephorus. Everyone else forgot that Draco was sitting at the table as well until he spoke up.
"Yeah, captain Obvious, he just went down to Mr. Stark's lab." Draco sneered he hadn't wanted to come today, he had wanted to stay with his mate as they adjusted to this new place, but his parents made him come.
"Ahh…I'm Bruce Banner kid, you can call me Bruce." He introduced himself a smirk on his face, he liked the attitude from the kid.
"I'm Heir Draco Malfoy-Prince." Draco responded with a regal tone that only made the others of the English group roll their eyes at his reaction.
"Draco…" Lucius drawled and had to hide the smirk at the way his son straightened up as if caught doing something wrong.
"Dr. Banner, I'm honored to meet you. I'm Potion Master Severus Malfoy-Prince." Severus stated walking forward and holding his hand out to shake. "I'd be honored if I could talk with you at some point about your research and how it might correspond with some things I've been working on."
"It is an honor to meet you as well Master Malfoy-Prince. I've read your research on the wolfsbane potion that you created and was fascinated by it. Perhaps we could discuss it some more tomorrow? I'm in the middle of a delicate stage of a current project but JARVIS shut me out of the lab until I got something to eat." Bruce stated simply, "And please call me Bruce."
"Only if you call me Severus, and I would gladly go over the research with you. Perhaps Remus could join us for a personal point of view on the potion." Severus looked over at his friend as he said that just realizing that he might have exposed his friend again without meaning to.
"I'd like that Sev." Remus gave a gentle smile knowing that it was hard on Severus to give the secret away like he had back in Nic and Draco's third year, and that time he was being controlled by Dumbledore to do so. "After all a known werewolf does have a better chance of answering any questions that someone who only knows about them."
It was because of those words that Severus was able to relax but others were a little tense over the fact that there was a known werewolf amongst them that they hadn't realized. Then they thought back over the way he had acted the past day that they had been here and realized that it was only on the full moon that they needed to be worried. Sirius placed a gentle hand on his mates shoulder giving it a squeeze before moving to leave the room.
"Hey, JARVIS, can you pull up the information that Tones had you compile for us? I'd like to get started." Sirius stated as he entered the common living room.
Of course, Sir Mutt. * JARVIS stated in his deadpan way as he pulled up the information for the past 16 years as well as in a separate area the information that he had pulled together for Captain Rogers that he was to share with Sergeant Barnes.
"Of course, he had his AI call me that…" Sirius mumbled to himself as he sat down looking over the information, most wouldn't realize how studious he was, but he had been in the top five of the school right behind Lily, Remus, Severus, and Lucius. James had been just behind him while Peter had been toward the bottom of the group.
Remus and the others chuckled at the nickname that Tony had given him on the AI that he had created, he had talked about making JARVIS the whole time he was at Hogwarts and while his tech hadn't worked to the best of its ability due to ward interference, he had even started programing him during the time they were in their final year. Remus and Lucius joined Sirius in the living room while Severus talked to Draco and took him back to the Black Manor so that Draco could be Blaise and so that Severus could gather up his journals that held all his notes on the different potions he had created or was creating. Steve and Bucky went down to the gym as planned to spar while Clint, Nat, and Phil headed into the SHIELD office in New York to work on paperwork and training the new recruits. Sam headed back to his floor and started to build files that were mostly empty on the group that had arrived, he knew the signs of PTSD being hidden as well as signs of past abuse and wanted to help the group as best he could. Bruce returned to his lab and the work he had running there wanting to make a little more progress before he met with Severus tomorrow.
It was four hours later before anyone surfaced again besides getting up to get something to drink and munch on. Tony and Nic stumbled out of the lab and into the living room before heading to the kitchen and fixing sandwiches from the supplies that Remus and Steve had laid out shortly before. Bruce surfaced as well knowing he needed to get some rest, even though it was the middle of the day before his eyes went even fuzzier from the lack of sleep that he had had over the past few days. Bucky was in the living room now looking over the information that had been gathered for him, though some he could recall vaguely because it revolved around his missions for Hydra. Sirius was passed out on the couch, yes, he was studious, but he also easily got bored reading and would doze off. They were getting close to the time that Tony revealed himself as Iron Man but had only reached the point of his kidnapping to Afghanistan before Sirius fell asleep and the rest had JARVIS pause it so that he wouldn't lose anything, Sirius was also still recovering from his Azkaban stay even though it had been four years since he escaped only two of those he had been somewhere that he could get frequent meals. Nic looked over at his godfathers and couldn't help but smile at the sight of Sirius snoring on the couch while Lucius charmed his hair purple in retaliation of a prank three days ago that saw Lucius' hair hot pink for the whole evening.
"Do you think that Draco and the others would like to come to the District with us? That way Papà can meet my friends and they can meet him as well." Nic asked Remus as he finished fixing the turkey, ham, and bacon sandwich craving the protein but also placing fruit instead of crisps on his plate.
"We can send them an owl in a while and find out. First you need to eat, and I need to make sure Sirius doesn't kill Luc when he wakes and realizes what he did. Purple is Sirius' least favorite color and Luc knows that." Remus replied as he filled his own plate with a sandwich very similar to Nic's minus the bacon, and a large pile of crisps instead of the fruit. They both grabbed cans of coke before moving out into the living room with the others instead of eating at the table this time.
Just as they were sitting down an owl flew in the room and over to Lucius, it was a black eagle owl that belonged to Severus and was carrying a note and the Daily Prophet. Lucius took the two items from the owl who simply bobbed his head and then flew from the room without looking back.
"J, since when do we let random owls into the tower?" Tony asked looking at his friend.
Since I registered it as belonging to your friend, and you asked me to create a way for Nic's Hedwig to enter and leave. * JARVIS responded simply.
"What does the note say Luc?" Remus asked as he returned to the kitchen to make something for Sirius when he woke up as well a sandwich for Lucius.
"It is simply telling me that we would get a kick out of the article on the front page and that she had stuck to our deal." Lucius replied while nodding his thanks to Remus when he was handed the plate with his sandwich.
He then opened the paper and couldn't help but chuckle at the opening statement of the article that Rita had written just after they left. Nic had met with her the day before rescuing Bucky with the promise that if she wrote what he told her without her usual flair it would cause a scandal larger than any she had made with her fake news. She had made the vow asked of her and promised that she would wait until after they had left to report it and now Lucius was holding the paper that held the article that would start the downfall of Headmaster Dumbledore in its fullness. JARVIS scanned the article and put it up on screens around the room so that everyone present would be able read what was written.
Is Headmaster Dumbledore safe to have around our children?
By, Rita Skeeter
My dear readers I have some amazing and troubling news to share with you today. I was lucky to get an interview with a special young man who has done so much for us but has been treated so roughly. Firstly I want to apologize for the previous articles that I have written about him in his fourth and fifth year. The young man I'm talking about is young Harry James Potter, or as he is truly called Lord-Heir Nicephorus Renard Orion Potter-Stark-Evans-Black-Pervelle-Slytherin-Gryffindor-Emrys-LeFay. That is right the young man that we know as Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, isn't even named Harry. He had three parents instead of two, seven godparents with full bonds. One of the bonds is to Lord Sirius Orion Black, who would have never been able to betray his parents and him because of the bond that was used. He was kept from his remaining father through the manipulations of one man. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore always told us that the young man had been placed with a loving family and was safe, and that as his magical guardian it was okay for the articles that were printed previously about the young man could be printed. I am sorry to say this was not so. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was never listed as a magical guardian of Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black, he was never to have any interaction beyond schooling with the young man as was listed in the locked wills of his two deceased parents.
Headmaster Dumbledore ignored and locked the will of Lord and Lady Potter-Stark-Evans and placed the young Lord-heir in care of his mother's sister. According to the will of the Late Lord and Lady, which Young Potter-Stark-Black unlocked upon his majority, the young man was never supposed to be placed at that home. He was never supposed to have any interaction with his Aunt, Uncle, or cousin.
But readers this is not the only thing I learned about the things that Young Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black has gone through over his years. He had to have blocks, charms, potions, and compulsions removed by Potion Master Malfoy-Prince just before his majority so he would survive it. He had his Kitsune bound from the time his parents were killed until his majority. That is right he is a kitsune just as his mother Lady Lily Jocosa Potter-Stark nee Evans was a kitsune. He had his magic bound by 85%! As well as several of his magical gifts granted by inheritance and magic. He had potions that impaired his ability to learn yet still managed high scores in most of his courses. All the bonds, potions, charms, and compulsions had been placed by Headmaster Dumbledore and the young man's supposed best friends.
That is right readers his supposed friends, for he was potioned and compelled to like Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Ginerva Weasley, as well as to distrust all those in Slytherin House and his godparents that were still living and a few of his dear friends. He was strong enough to break through the compulsions and make friends with a majority of Slytherin, his godparents, and even his dear friends Miss Lovegood and Heir Longbottom. This young man even with a majority of his magic blocked was still able to defeat Lord Voldemort, or who he tells me was once known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr. a former headboy and perfect of Slytherin house at the end of the war against Grindelwald.
Not only has this young man dealt with all of that but each year at Hogwarts he has been under attack in one form or another. In his first year he dealt with a Troll on All-Hollows Eve, the groundskeeper hatching a baby dragon in his wooden hut, a midnight trip into the forbidden forest for detention to find a wrath that had been killing unicorns and drinking its blood, and even an obstacle course beneath the school that started on the third floor corridor and was guarded by a Cerberus and ended with magical flames that protected a room where there was the cursed Mirror of Erised which has been known to trap people before it and caused them to go insane with the wishing for their desires, there he met up once again with his parents murder Lord Voldemort who was trying to get a philosopher's stone out of the mirror and was possessing the DADA professor.
In his second year the young Lord-Heir faced severe bullying from his school mates, even his housemates, when it was revealed that he was a parsletongue, which if you look at the first paragraph you will see he got it naturally by being one of Slytherin's descendants though he was unaware of the fact at the time. He watched as multiple classmates, the caregivers cat, and the Gryffindor House ghost Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington were petrified, and the Headmaster and Professors did nothing to truly find what was causing it. Once again, the young Lord-Heir was forced to confront the problem when Ronald Weasley made him approach fraud Gildreoy Lockhart and enter the secret entrance of the chamber of secrets, that three second years were able to figure out before young Miss Granger had been petrified as well. After entering the tunnel to the main chamber Lockhart caused a cave-in by using young Mr. Weasley's broken wand to try and obliviate the pair and take the credit, something that he admitted to doing to everyone that had truly lived his 'stories' another article to come on the Fraud that is Lockhart. Young Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black was then forced on to enter the chamber alone where he met the wrath that was Lord Voldemort's 16-year-old self which he had preserved in a diary from his youth and was using to drain the life of young Ginerva Weasley the whole year as she wrote in it and received replies. He then was faced with defeating Slytherin's familiar of a basilisk and being poisoned but still defeating the wrath of Voldemort and saving young Ginerva before finally Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix Fawkes cried over the wound saving his life. After returning from the Chamber he was questioned by Dumbledore while the others sent on to be cared for in the hospital wing, he never received treatment for what happened in the chamber.
From there the tales that I was told made me wish to weep for the young man. We accused him of willingly placing his name in the Goblet of Fire in his fourth year, something that Dumbledore assured us had happened, only to find out through a magical oath given to us at our interview it was never so. He was forced as an underage young man to face tasks designed to test those that were three years older in knowledge and of age to make the choice. He was given minimal help from Granger and the Weasley Twins while the rest of the school turned against him. He faced Lord Voldemort after watching as the friend he had made in Heir Cedric Diggory was killed in front of him with the words 'kill the spare' echoing in his mind. He watched the resurrection ritual that brought Voldemort back and was tortured with the Cruciatus Curse multiple times. He finally was able to return back to Hogwarts bringing the body of Heir Diggory to give his parents closure on his death only to be forced by the Impostor of Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody into the DADA office and had it revealed that it was unknown escaped inmate Bartimus 'Barty' Crouch, Jr. who had been posing as Mad-Eye all year. How did Dumbledore not know that his 'dear' friend had been replaced or did he actually? Still wounded and bleeding he was then interrogated by Dumbledore as to what had happened before being allowed to leave to the hospital wing. After a year of trials do to a mental connection forged by Dumbledore to Lord Voldemort that he had placed in the scar the night Nicephorus received it the young man was lead to the Department of Mysteries where he almost lost his Godfather Lord Sirius Black to his cousin escaped convict Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black. He also faced Lord Voldemort again that night facing a brief possession before Dumbledore finally arrived and 'fought' Lord Voldemort to a standstill. Again, the young Lord-Heir was sent back to the school injured and denied basic healing before being questioned on what had happened and being given knowledge of why Lord Voldemort was hunting him so much. It was also when he learned thanks to the sorting hat that Dumbledore had made his 'greater good' line with Grindelwald years before that war ever began.
Just last year the young Lord-heir faced more persecution in the form of High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge who had been placed as DADA professor by Minister Fudge. Through many trials and arguments, he received over 100 detentions with Umbridge during which she forced him, and anyone else that got detention with her, to write lines with an enchanted blood-quill. Normally they would scar the one that was forcing the action, but they had been altered to cause it to go for the one writing. He still bears the scar stating 'I must not tell lies' upon the back of his hand even though his inheritance had erased most of his other scars. Dolores Umbridge has since disappeared after being seen forcing Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black and Miss Granger into the Forbidden Forest at wand point and is wanted by the DMLE for questioning and charges. Minister Fudge has been removed from office after a vote of no confidence was called against him.
At the end of the year, we all know how Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black faced and defeated Lord Voldemort for the final time as he prepared to board the train to return to what we thought was a loving home. What I learned happened after causes much dismay for me. Once again, the young Lord-Heir was denied medical treatment for the wounds he received and was forced back to the home of his Aunt and Uncle. There he was greeted by Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginerva Weasley and Albus Dumbledore. He was forced into the basement of the house where he was then locked into a set of draining leech runic cuffs that had been created by Albus Dumbledore and Hermione Granger. After being rescued hours before his inheritance and surviving said inheritance with the help of his godfather, Potion Master Severus Malfoy-Prince, the Lord-Heir went to Gringotts and found evidence that Headmaster Dumbledore and others were illegally withdrawing money and family items from his vaults with the help of the goblin that Dumbledore had placed in charge after the former was killed mysteriously. Lord-Heir Potter-Stark-Black has since called for Goblin Justice to be brought against all those that had received his money or items and the stolen items and money to be returned. This is what lead to young Miss Granger's bank card to be melted as I reported the other day.
As I write this article, I have received news that the Young Lord-Heir has tested out early from Hogwarts with top marks on his NEWTs and will be leaving the country in search of his second father. We wish you well Lord Nicephorus Potter-Stark-Black and hope that you have luck in your endeavor. As for the information brought up on Dumbledore through the article I, Rita Skeeter, will not stop until I find the truth and see that justice comes to those that need it.
Leaping through life
Chapter Summary
This is more of a filler chapter to cover what happened while Tony and Nic were in Tony's lab in the previous chapter. Also it isn't as long as some others because I wanted to give something before I focus on my family this weekend. Hope you all enjoy this as much as you have the previous.
Chapter Notes
I don't own any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. The people who created them are/were wonderful and I enjoy working with their characters. This is not beta read so any mistakes in timeline and past chapters are all mine. I am trying to keep them consistent but there may be times when I goof.
Badly written accents ahead *JARVIS talking, *Italics= JARVIS showing video with audio, *Translations available in Bottom Notes if needed, ~*~Talking via text or phone
I am bringing in Peter Parker, just recently re-watched homecoming and civil war and can't leave out Peter. He has only just been found a month before by Tony and has only been Spiderman for 3 months in my story. He does not at this time know of magic.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony led Nic into his lad with a small smile on his face, when they go to the District later he would get a landscape so that Lily and James would be able to join them in the lab from time to time. Right now Nic was going over toward the bots and looking at them in wide-eyed wonder as they circled him, it was just like when he let Peter in his lab a few times when they weren't working in the more common one where he could build things and he could mix his web fluid. When the web-slinger had first shown up Fury had been adamant they find him and bring him in to find out what he was up too. Tony had found him alright; he found a 14-year-old boy who had just lost his Uncle to a mugger and his Aunt was struggling to make payments on their apartment and bills that occurred due to the Uncle dying. So instead of turning the kid into Fury he had offered a paid internship to the kid and made sure that the suit he swung around in was keeping him safe so that his Aunt didn't loose someone else. Fury has still been riding their asses to find the kid, but he had endured himself to the rest of them and they were in no way going to let Fury have a go at him, even Phil was in on it once he found out the kids age and name. Turns out his parents had been SHIELD scientist that had been looking into the Captain America serum to try and help their kid with his many illnesses. Now watching his son have the same sort of pure hearted reaction to his bots as Peter did makes a gentle smile come over his face.
"I was thinking we could work on building you one of your own if you want." Tony stated as he walked over. "After all I built Dum-E here when I was a year younger than you and Butterfingers when I was your age. U came along shortly after that Halloween as a coping mechanism for the loss of James, Lily and you."
"I'd like that." Nic replied with a soft side smile as he greeted the bots and listened to their gentle beeps and whines. "I've tried in the past with the junk that Dudley had in the room I'd been given after my letter arrived whenever I was locked in, but Dudley's friends always found it and Vernon destroyed it."
"Well, we can work with that and make it better and no one will destroy it here. As you know Vernon, Petunia, and Marge have all been arrested as of yesterday morning, well afternoon London time. So, no worries about any of them. Oh, and Ripper was put down early this morning for his attacking the officer and records of him attacking you."
"I love dogs I just hate Marge's. I was so happy when I blew her up like a giant balloon and so pissed when I found out the ministry had removed any memory of what had happened from her. She wouldn't have been so smug later on if they hadn't done that. And she wouldn't have been able to continue bad mouthing mum." Nic replied as he walked over to the table that Peter usually used and saw the forgotten graded chemistry homework he had left behind last time he was here and wanting to show off his perfect score, it had been a condition to help work on a messed up gauntlet. "Who's Peter Parker?" Nic was uneasy and worried that his Papà wouldn't have a reason to enjoy time with him if he had someone else to work in his lab with.
"Pete is my intern that helps me sometimes in here. He attends Midtown and you will have a chance to meet him tomorrow. He's 14 but at genius level. In fact, do you want to try some of the tests that they have for the school? You still have a year of public schooling before you would be graduated at your age." Tony asked his head cocked to the side watching the expressions running across Nic's face.
Nic just shrugged as he looked over the homework that was left laying on the table. He noticed something in one of the equations and couldn't help but smirk. "If this is the test a teacher gives, and he still gets the answer right he must be pretty smart."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked walking over and looking over Nic's shoulder.
"The Professor messed up the equation here." Nic pointed at a specific spot on the sheet where sure enough there was a mistake in the question before them though the outcome of the answer would have been the same some wouldn't have been able to get it.
"huh, imagine that." Tony murmured before pulling up some of the tests that were required to be a senior transfer to Midtown School of Science and Technology. "Here try these."
Nic looked over with a shrug and decided why not. He quickly moved through the different tests filling them out with an ease that would rival that of Tony doing the test, if not better. The only thing he struggled on was American History but that was understandable in Tony's mind since he was from Britain after all. It only took one and a half hours for Nic to finish the senior level tests that Tony had put in front of him, and while he didn't ace them all he did score among the highest in the testing on a lot of them. It would be no trouble for Tony to get Nic into Midtown but that would wait until after he had met Peter, if the two got along then Nic could look out for the boy. Tony had struggled in the month of knowing the kid in not letting him form a father-son type relationship with the boy because he didn't want to place his grief in that sort of situation. While Nic was testing Tony quietly asked him how he knew what he was answering, only to be told that his boy had kept up his studies even while at Hogwarts through a mail program he had set up with a neighbor who actually treated him well despite what the Dursley's said about him.
After finishing the tests Nic and Tony moved over to another desk this one with more interactive displays and tools. They began creating the robot that Nic would eventually have as his own companion all the while the tests were being graded and JARVIS was submitting the information needed to enter Nic into the program should it be decided that he would attend there instead of homeschooling. JARVIS also worked on gathering the academic information that Nic had compiled through the years under a separate name at Stonewall High where he had been set to attend before getting into Hogwarts. The neighbor that was helping him was a professor at Stonewall and so was able to help his 'sister's husband's young cousin' get the work he needed while dealing with a horrible case of childhood cancer that wasn't talked about. They wanted to help the youth be able to continue his education to keep his spirits up and keep him from giving up even though they didn't know who the child was, and it would give an excuse for the delay in the work getting back to them because of Hedwig's travel time. The professor was also a squib unknown to Dumbledore, Figg, and the Dursley's so knew about magic without being let into the secret. When JARVIS pulled up the tests that had been giving to Nic he was amazed to see that they had been giving him his A-levels and continuing past that after he had passed the A-levels easily, meaning he was already doing college level work and had been since he was a sophomore at that High School. Even with that information JARVIS still put the scores and such for the Midtown tests into their systems incase Nic decided to continue High School before finishing his university.
"Nic did you know that you were being given College level tests?" Tony asked looking over at his boy whose head was bent over a new circuit board that he was building for his robot.
"What are you talking about Papà?" Nic asked without raising his head.
"J, found your test scores kit. You passed you're a-levels when you were a sophomore. The work your professor friend has been sending you is all college level work." Tony replied with a light chuckle, especially when that caused Nic to jump enough to give himself a light shock, though as a lightening focused kitsune it didn't do much to him. "The university has been looking for the young genius that the professor has found wanting to offer the kid a full scholarship to finish his degrees there. It was at Oxford kiddo."
"That smug son-of-a-bitch! That is why Professor Radcliff was always grinning like the cat that got the canary and the cream when he saw me outside the Dursley's house after second year." Nic stated shaking his hand out from the light sting of the shock before shaking his head with a grin. "Not that I'd attend Oxford now that I know you're my Papà. I'd always wanted to get out of England for school and had always imagined going to Columbia or MIT. I should let Professor Radcliff know that I've moved to the US so that he can continue to send me the class work though. I don't really mind doing it."
I have found the contact information for one Professor Michael Radcliff of Surrey, England Sir. Should I patch a call through to him? * JARVIS asked after having heard the last name of the gentleman that was helping Mini Boss.
"Sounds good to me." Tony asked with his arms crossed as he leaned against the table beside his boy.
~*~This is Professor Radcliff speaking. ~*~ The Wales accented voice came over the line soon after JARVIS made the call. ~*~May I ask who is calling? ~*~
"Hey Professor! Thanks for not telling me that you had me doing Oxford courses for that past few years." Nic called out with a smirk on his face.
~*~HARRY! Are you safe? How did you find out about the courses? Where are you? What happened with the Dursley's? I got home to the neighbors all gathered out in their front yards talking about how they had been arrested even that bitch of a sister that Vernon has. Is anything in the Prophet true that Rita had written today? ~*~ Radcliff called out relief clear in his voice at hearing the young man's voice.
"Interesting bit of information there, Rita was actually telling the truth. My name isn't Harry, that was just something that Fumbledore came up with to hide who I truly am. And it all ties into the other questions." Nic stated turning back to the circuit board and the computer that he was putting information into.
~*~You got away from the bastards then! Wonderful! So your name truly is Nicephorus like Rita said. Also you have Stark in your last name, any relation to the genius Tony Stark of Stark Industries? If so it would explain why you were able to fly through all the work that we sent you as well as what you were studying at the 'special' school. ~*~ One could almost hear the quote lines around the word special when he was trying not to mention Hogwarts over a as far as he knew unsecure line.
"About that…turns out he's my second father and standing beside me right now. That is how I found out about the Oxford work that you had been sending me by the way. His AI found the information once I told them that I was going by the name Charles Piper. Anyway, when were you going to tell me that I was studying at University level and what exactly were you having me study without my knowledge?"
~*~I was going to let you know as soon as you finished at that place so you would have a place to disappear to. I had been sending you basic classes to get them out of the way as well as the upper mathematics, chemistry, and physics with a few engineering thrown in. I figured you would probably go an engineering route due to your love of tinkering. That mower that you fixed for me is still working like a dream and the misses is so grateful for the repairs you made in the kitchen and she passes on her love to you. ~*~
"Tell Ms. Mary that I miss her cooking and her, and that she is welcome for the fixes. They should last until you need to replace everything else." Nic said with a gentle smile on his face at the memories of the two people in the whole neighborhood that ignored the Dursley's and saw only a lost abused little boy. Nic had told them not to report things because it had only caused problems for anyone before them and Michael recognized the signs of magic on the boy and knew who he truly was, in the idea he through the kid was Harry Potter, and he wanted to keep the kid as safe as could be so requested his 'help' around the house as often as they could to give him a good meal and a place to rest when things were the hardest.
As Nic was talking to the man on the phone Tony was looking more into the background of the couple and found that Professor and Mrs. Michael Radcliff had moved into the area three years after little Nic had been placed on Privet Drive. They had lived at number 8 and started asking questions shortly after when Nic had been a child in Mary Radcliff's year two class at St. Grogory's Primary School, she had also been the only one not to let Dudley bully the boy letting Nic stay in the class over lunch and do his work giving him the true grades in secret and sending false ones to the Dursley's. Tony was impressed by what JARVIS was pulling up and knew that most of the anonymous tips that the police had gotten through the years with photographic evidence had come from the couple even if for Nic's sake they had done no more than that having witnessed how others had disappeared after making a report or simply forgotten.
"Professor Radcliff, this is Tony Stark. I'd like to thank you for the help that you've given my son over the years. Is there something that I can do for you and your wonderful wife in return?" Tony asked keeping his public persona under wraps for once and just being a grateful dad.
~*~You're welcome Dr. Stark, but we didn't do it to get anything in return. We simply did the best we could for the lad in a bad situation. ~*~ Professor Radcliff responded with a light chuckle.
"Isn't your 25 th wedding anniversary coming up Professor? Mrs. Mary always talked about how you had promised to bring her over to the US for that and do a tour around the states." Nic stated tongue in cheek knowing that his favorite teacher and her husband never had the funds to afford the trip on two teachers' salaries but that he had always promised to fulfill her wish to visit the states once in her life.
~*~Cheeky brat…~*~ The smile was clearly heard in that statement. ~*~Yes, it's coming up in a month and I did offer that. We just can't afford it right now because her treatments are supposed to be starting up again. ~*~
"Her cancer is back?" Nic sounded so sad that it wrenched on Tony's heart.
~*~We got the call yesterday from the doctor. It's back and it's spreading kid. ~*~
"All the more reason to come to the states. They have some of the best cancer doctors around. We can help you get an appointment and get in." Nic had tears forming in his eyes.
~*~Kid…she isn't sure she wants to fight it again. It's spread a lot more through her body than last time. The doctor isn't even sure if treatment would help. ~*~
"She can't give up! Bring her to the states, start it with the trip you've always promised her but have one of the stops be at the best Cancer treatment centers to get a second opinion. We'll cover the cost."
"He's right we'll cover the costs for the trip and the medical expenses. It's the least I could do to help you and your wife after all you did for my boy. I can see how much he cares for the two of you." Tony spoke up as if he could sense the man's hesitation on the other end of the phone line.
~*~Alright I'll take her for the trip, if only so she can see that you're doing well kid. Maybe you can use your puppy eyes on her again to get her to actually agree to getting a second opinion. ~*~ The heavy sigh was clearly heard through the line.
"We'll put together the trip and send you the information for your tickets and the appointment time with a cancer specialist." Tony stated simply not wanting to do much more. "I'll have JARVIS send you my contact information so that you can send me where you always promised you would take her, and we can plan your trip around that."
~*~Sounds good Dr. Stark. Thanks for your help and I'm glad that Harry…I mean Nicephorus is back with you. ~*~ Professor Radcliff stated simply. ~*~I'll try and talk to you later kid be safe. ~*~
"You too sir, we'll get her to fight again. You just get her here." Nic responded simply fighting back the tears that wanted to fall.
After the phone call ended Nic simply wiped his eyes and went back to building the robot not wanting to discuss what he had learned about his favorite teachers outside of Hogwarts. Tony looking at Nic expression decided to distract the kid and help him at the same time by telling of his failures and accidents when building his different robots and his Iron Man suits. Soon Nic was back to smiling and chuckling, and occasionally shocking himself when he got lost in the laughing causing Tony to laugh at what he was seeing. After they had spent four hours in the lab they were called out for lunch by JARVIS and finally got to see what Rita Skeeter had written about Nic that day. After that they went to The District and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for different things, especially things that Nic could use around the common rooms and his bedroom, Tony was planning on building multiple perches for Hedwig so they didn't get one of those but did end up with multiple magical posters, a quidditch set, things to set up a potions lab, a bunch of new books that Nic hadn't had a chance to read yet, as well as the surprise of a creature which had not let Nic leave the Animal Menagerie Store without it, even going so far as climbing out of its enclosure and following him on its' wobbly legs.
"I was just going in for mice for Hedwig!" Nic cried out, with the creature cuddled in his arms and a large blush covering his cheeks while he looked at the laughing forms of Remus, Sirius, Rhody, and Tony.
"Only you pup only you…" Remus stated while shaking his head admits his chuckles.
Chapter End Notes
Who should be Nic's mates? Give me your ideas and then I will have a vote of the top two. It can not be someone already mated, so Draco and Blaise are not an option.
Also what should the creature be that adopted Nic? I'm not looking for a bird but some other type.
The start of something magical
Chapter Notes
Author's Note: Thank you to all who voted for the creature that Nic acquired as well as the votes on his mates. After some consideration though Peter Parker was one of the top for his mate, I just am uncomfortable with trying to write that and am going to have him as his little brother figure. Leading to the winners being Loki (who I was seriously leaning toward in the first place) and *drum roll please* Viktor Krum! I will figure out why Viktor and Nic hadn't noticed their bond yet but have something in mind. As for the creature read and find out . I had so many wonderful suggestions for Nic's new familiar that I went with something a little different from what was suggested while still keeping close to some of the ideas. I think people will like it though, at least I hope so. Also I had noticed that I was writing Rhodey's name wrong and will be correcting it from here out.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Nic looked over at the little bed that was sitting in the corner of his room still amazed at the bond that formed as he was trying to get some live mice for Hedwig to enjoy. He had not expected to leave the building with a full-size frost salamander, at first the others thought it was a baby dragon but soon realized it was something completely different. It looked as if she was a mix between a fire drake and a salamander with its icy blue coloring and rare wings. Tony had notified Newt as soon as they had returned home from their shopping trip that there was something he needed to come and help with. There was a little isolated snowstorm above the salamander to keep her cold enough to be comfortable. She was currently sleeping under Nic's watch while Hedwig enjoyed the mice that he had gotten for her and also kept a watchful eye on the young one, though full grown it was clear she wasn't very old. Nic was going though his books trying to find a good name for her in the same way he had discovered Hedwig's name when he had been gifted her.
"Hedwig what do you think of the name Gywneria? It means white or blessed snow in Welsh." Nic asked looking over at his first familiar, having given up on his books he had turned on the tablet and looked up icy names on the website . He got a firm head shake from his intelligent owl; it was not the right name, so he kept looking for a while. "Astrid, my beautiful beloved. Did you know that your name dear Hedwig means battle, combat, and war? I think it fits my beautiful feisty owl, for I know from last year that you will battle and go to war for me." Nic said having decide to look up the name he had give his beautiful snowy owl. He wondered if there was a reason that he had animals with such icy connotations and it if was connected in some way to his mates.
"Nic, you ready to come out of there? Uncle Newt will be arriving soon to check over your new little one. We set up a perch for Miss Hedwig and a bed for the little one, with one genuine snow-storm over it." Tony asked as he peeked in the room to watch his son on the tablet before him looking up names. "Have you figured out a name for the little lady?"
"Astrid…It means god beautiful beloved and is derived from old Norse elements. I thought it fitting for she is a very beautiful lady." Nic stated moving over to where Hedwig's perch was and the pillow for Astrid. He picked up the little hybrid frost salamander and then let Hedwig perch on his shoulder for the move out into the living area. He stopped in slight surprise when he saw that everyone, even those that came from England with him, were gathered in the living area though Newt and Percy were just entering the area as he emerged. He had a slight blush when he noticed Viktor was even there though he didn't know why. "Hello everyone."
"Hey Nic, we heard you were up to your usual mischief when you were out today. You didn't take us along to join in, We are shocked." Fred and George traded off and on with their speech as usual with large smiles on their faces.
"It wasn't on purpose and little Astrid wouldn't let me leave without her. Almost caused an issue at the store even by following me out after I got Hedwig her mice." Nic replied sticking his tongue out at the two while heading over to the perch that was in place by the large floor to ceiling windows letting Hedwig look out to her hearts content.
"You've named her Astrid?" Newt asked as he approached carefully so as not to crowd the three by the owl perch.
"Oh Nic, she is perfect for you and your mates." Luna spoke up from where she was perched on the back of a chair like Clint was on another, her feet bare by choice this time instead of because her shoes being stolen. "I know that my sweetie will be perfect for me and mine, I just need to go to the District to get him."
"We can go back in a few days if you like Luna-Moon." Nic replied with a smile as he watched his friends relax among those that lived with his father.
Severus and Lucius were talking with Bruce in one corner, Phil and Clint were talking with Bucky while Steve was wrapped around him still not wanting to be far from his mate. Draco was in conversation with the twins while Blaise read a book beside him. Luna drew Percy into a conversation about the different creatures and spells that he had encountered, most forget that Luna was a Ravenclaw and always wanting to learn. Theo was in conversation with Sam about what it took to be a para-rescue trooper like he had been, he was trying to distance himself from his father's past as much as possible. Rhodey was in conversation with Sirius and Remus about what Tony had gotten up to in this Hogwarts days with Lily and James piping up from their frame. Fleur and Gabrielle were talking with Natasha on how to be a woman that wouldn't take any bullshit from anyone and how to protect themselves. Viktor was just watching everything, especially his little mate though he hadn't let the lad know that yet and enjoyed seeing the smiles on faces that had been through too much. Bill was in the kitchen getting something to drink for everyone while also making sure the twins didn't do anything to the food.
"You found a very interesting little one, Nic." Newt told him as he looked at the creature in his godson's arms, he carefully pulled out his wand while watching the pair. "May I run a few scans? I've never seen one like her before."
"I didn't find her, she found me." Nic responded holding his new familiar close at seeing the wand before his father's hand on his shoulder helped him calm down. "She was determined to go with me. The owner said that she had frozen the hands of anyone else who had tried to touch her, let alone purchase her, with a special ice fire. He believes that she is a mix of fire drake and frost salamander."
"Oh, she isn't that. She is something completely different. You've been chosen by an Ice Wyvern; they were thought to be extinct. I wonder how the owner of the shop got a hold of her…" Newt mumbled the last part to himself before shaking his head to get his thoughts back in order. "She is very similar in some ways with a fire drake and a frost salamander, so it is possible that they mistook her for something of that sort as they said. But she is definitely a Wyvern. She will grow as large as a Tibetan Mastiff in size, so right now she is no more than a fledgling."
"I figured she was young from the croons that she gave, and her size but I didn't realize she was that young. Is it safe for her to be away from her mother?" Nic asked holding Astrid closer to himself as if he could protect her better.
"She is perfectly safe to be away from her parents. Like I said she is a fledgling and that is about the time they are starting to explore farther and farther from their dens, it is nestlings that can't be separated from their parents without problems. Add to that she has bonded to you just as firmly as Hedwig and there is no way you're getting free of her now." Newt responded with a smile on his face glad that the lad was so concerned for his new familiar it made him happy with the decision he had come to the night before. "Would you like to become an apprentice of sorts to me? I'd love to have someone I can teach one on one about all the things I've learned about magical creatures and beings throughout the years."
Nic just looked at him with wide eyes before turning his head to his Papà not actually believing what he had been offered. He didn't know how to answer and didn't know what to say in response so only began nodding his head as fast as he could making himself dizzy in the process and causing those looking on to let out gentle laughs. Viktor watched it all with a smile curling the corner of his lips, he knew that some day soon he would have to start courting the lad but for now he was content to let him recover. Nic flinched and began to panic when he saw Clint get a head tap again out of the corner of his eye and the twins went rigid before rushing to his side and helping him calm down.
"Nic, its okay…you're safe…your dad is right here…his hand is on your shoulder…we're here…" Fred and George did their twin talk while not touching Nic but standing in protective poses in front of him. They had done this many times through their Hogwarts years when Nic had been with them.
Newt spun and kept an eye on everything going on around the room, he noticed Clint reach up to rub the back of his head and connected two and two together understanding just what had happened to cause the panic attack that was calming down behind him.
"Are you all idiots!" He whispered yelled as he moved away from Nic so as not to overwhelm him more. "Can't you see he has been hurt and wary? Smacking someone in front of a person that has been hurt like he was is unacceptable! It is never okay…"
Percy came up beside his husband and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the group before them and adding another layer of protection before the young man that his husband was so taken with. Luna moved past them and placed a soothing hand on the back of both twins, tension seemed to bleed out of them at the touch but they were still aware of everything going on around them.
"Hey Foxy-boy," Luna started to talk with her usual airy method. "The Nargles are being aggressive today and going after others…" She kept up soothing banter about her creatures and wondering about how they would interact with the group around them. She drew his attention to Astrid and Hedwig who had flown to his free shoulder to nuzzle at his hair. "Do you want to teach me your special cookie recipe so that we can enjoy them later? I know baking helps calm you…"
"That sounds great Luna-Moon." Nic whispered still keeping a wary eye on everyone around him but not able to with hold the small smile when he saw the way Newt Graves-Scamander was whisper tearing everyone a new arse hole for how they had been acting and giving them tips to keep from doing so again. Clint and Phil especially looked sheepish about it having not thought about how it would look to someone that had been abused to see someone else get smacked even playfully.
"Baking? Hey J, do we have the things needed for baking stocked?" Tony perked up knowing that Lily had been an amazing baker and missing some of her recipes a lot.
No, Sir we do not but I can order some things delivered shortly so that we can be. * JARVIS spoke up causing everyone to turn to look at the group wondering what that was about.
"Kit you let JARVIS know what all you need to bake to your hearts content." Tony stated wrapping Nic in a hug and being grateful for the one arm that came to hug him back, the other was still holding onto Astrid.
"Come on Nic, let's go to the kitchen and see what we need." Luna grabbed Nic's hand as soon as he was released from the hug and pulled him still holding Astrid into the kitchen bouncing as she went with the twins shaking their heads in amusement behind her.
"Are you going to do your death by chocolate biscuits...Or the Overload Brownies…" Fred and George called out as they followed naming more and more things that Nic had made for them through the years. Everyone in the room relaxed a little when they heard the light chuckle that Nic released at hearing the multitude of requests.
"I can make some Overload Brownies but no Bertie Botts in them this time guys that ruined the last batch. I will let papà choose the candies that go in it this time. I don't know what I was thinking to let you two chose last time…" Nic responded shaking his head fondly at the memory of Ron's face when he had taken a bite of an overload brownie with some Bertie Botts mixed in the middle with a multitude of other candies and got one with earth worm flavor. Nic may have made sure that the worst of the beans were on the outsides where Ron liked to take from since he never asked to have one and usually scoffed a whole pan that was meant for everyone. "I think I will also make some orange cranberry and blue berry muffins for breakfast tomorrow." He muttered to himself as he looked through what was stocked in the kitchen and then began writing down a list when JARVIS lit up a section of counter that was available to write the lists on so that things could be ordered right away. "Maybe some raspberry white chocolate scones…some triple chocolate chip biscuits…" He went on to list a multitude of things to make and placed an order for all the ingredients that weren't already in the kitchen plus the bowls, pans, baking sheets, and utensils that were needed to create everything.
The group in the living area watched with wide eyes as he listed off the different things he was planning on making over time, little did they know that he was standing in his dream kitchen with its industrial sized kitchen, massive counter space, large oven stove combo, plus wall ovens and industrial fridge to hold everything. He knew that he would be baking a lot in this area maybe he would even send some to Professor McGonagall and made sure to add things to the list to make a large batch of Ginger biscuits.
"What are overload brownies and why do I need to pick out candies for it?" Tony asked as he followed the group into the kitchen and noticed that Nic was absent mindly moving through the kitchen learning its lay out and where everything was stored, he smiled at the 'Holy FUCK dream pantry!' he heard when JARVIS pointed out the large walk in pantry that stocked all the dried and canned goods for the kitchen and had an elevator just for supplies in the back behind a false wall, it could only be opened by JARVIS and could only take supplies and bots no humans.
"Oh! Overload Brownies are called that because he overloads them with even more sugar than most would think possible. Our mom refused to let us have some after the first time because of the hyper sugar rush that happened when we accidentally ate the whole pan. It has a layer of brownie on the bottom then a layer of different candies and sometimes pretzels, then another layer of brownies topped by dark chocolate ganache caramel and sea salt." Fred explained while George followed Luna and Nic in exploring things. "It can be any candy that would hold up to baking he told us and let us choose once at school. Still got in trouble for that because Ron was a greedy pig and scoffed the whole pan. Because of that Nic made two more batches one he let us choose again some of the candies knowing of our pranks and such. We helped him put in Bertie Botts and he left it where Ron would take it without asking again knowing what would happen. That was a fun reaction. He never stole the baked goods after that…" Fred finished looking toward the others in the kitchen and noticed Bill had a smug smile on his face over hearing how they had pranked Ron he only got a nod from him before Fred turned to smile softly at Luna as she came out lugging a large bag of flour into the kitchen for Nic.
"Nic is in raptures about the kitchen and pantry Dr. Stark." Luna stated softly with her slightly spacy look still on her face, why change how she meets people if it helps her see who can be trusted and such.
"I'm glad Miss Lovegood." Tony replied just as softly and moved over to the list that Nic had been creating adding his favorite candies that he thought would go well in the monstrosity of the brownies the twins described. He added M , Pretzels, Rollo's, and Reese Peanut butter cups to the list.
~*~*~*~ Hogwarts Great Hall ~*~*~*~
Dumbledore had called for all the Professors that were still at the school to come and have breakfast in the Great Hall that morning so that they could discuss the coming school term and all that would be going on. He had plans that he needed to refine and needed to know who Minerva planned to put in the positions he had reserved for others so that he could make the moves needed to get rid of them in a matter of time.
All the Professors that were still at the school met in the hallway outside the great hall itself and simply nodded to each other, they would watch each other's backs and make sure he didn't try anything again with them and cause problems for the school. Minerva in particular had a smug smirk trying to cross her lips as she thought of what was going to happen when they entered and moved to the door to do just that.
With the help of Jocosa, Minerva had found and unfrozen the founders portraits within the Come and Go Room. They had been furious when she filled them in on everything that had happened since they had been hidden away by, you guessed it, Dumbledore when he had been only a Tenure Professor. Jocosa when she found out what the man she had been spying for had done to her Papas' and Aunties she had been furious. Nothing like a female Slytherin Scorned, Jocosa had with the help of the other portraits gotten the house-elves to actual enter the Come-and-Go room and remove the portraits to clean them and when the time was right reveal them to everyone in the Great Hall where they were supposed to be hung behind the Professor's table, another Headmaster had moved them from the Great Hall and into the common rooms years ago so that the Great Hall wouldn't always be crowded with students talking to the Founders when they weren't in lessons. The House-elves had placed them back in their original spots in the Great Hall and applied their special sticking charms meaning that they weren't coming back down any time soon. They had also applied their special spell that made it so that only a house-elf could freeze the portrait. Minerva had requested, at the suggestion of her helpful source, that Rita attend the breakfast today as a hidden passenger. Rita was hidden in the curls of Minerva's bun until they reached the main table and then she moved to the throne like chair that Dumbledore had in place. As everyone was eating their breakfast and listening to one of Dumbledore's long winded rants about getting 'Harry' back and under his control again they waited for an opportunity to leave. When the owls began arriving with their deliveries, including some of the things they had ordered for their classes, and the Prophet they knew things were going to be interesting.
Dumbledore opened his paper with his normal flair but almost instantly went pale and began stammering as he read the article questioning if he was safe to have in his position before throwing the paper down in disgust and ranting about how he was going to have a word with that 'hack of a reporter' Skeeter for even daring to question if he should have his position. He forgot where he was and who was around him as he started ranting, "It is because of me that things are safe and Voldemort is dead! Harry never would have been able to finish him if I hadn't planned things the way I did. I must get that ungrateful whiny brat under my control again. I'll get the Dursley's released like always and then put him back in those cuffs…once I have the boy at my mercy again I'll make sure he can never speak out against me."
"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! HOW DARE YOU!" Minerva cried out as she read the paper and then heard his plotting unable to help it she slapped him full strength in her anger not even bothering to draw her wand for fear of what her anger would cause. "Mimbsy now!" She called out to the head Hogwarts House-elf.
"Albus Dumbledore it is by our authority as the founders of this institution that we hear by remove you from the power of Headmaster. Your hold over my phoenix has been broken and all heirlooms of our houses have been returned to where and whom they belong to." Godric Gryffindor spoke up from his portrait looking as regal as ever.
"You have abused the students, staff, and faculty for too long in your search for power and glory. And don't bother with your greater good bullshit either. We know that you created that line for Gellert Grindelwald and tried to take over the Mundane world with him using it." Salazar Slytherin sneered at the puffed-up old man.
"We have heard the reports of the portraits, house-elves, as well as Hogwarts herself. Your tyranny will end today within Her Hallowed Halls. No longer will you control students leading to the death of another. No longer will the secret of how you lead Tom Riddle into the killing of Myrtle Warren through deceit and compulsions be kept silent within these walls." Rowena Ravenclaw said with a regal air as she looked down her nose at the man. All the House-elves and the ghosts within the castle appeared before them and seemed to stand taller and seem clearer when this was said, Myrtle let out a breath of relief and faded passing on into the afterlife finally as the truth was finally being known for she had seen Dumbledore behind Tom just as she had seen the Basilisks eyes.
"Because of your miss handling of the wards you have placed hundreds of bless children in danger. Because of actions we took before our deaths the wards have been restored to their best and you will no longer be able to leech power from them for your demented schemes." Helga Hufflepuff spoke with her hands on her hips as an angry mother would. The castle began glowing and cleaning before everyone's eyes as they saw the affect that Dumbledore had on the wards and the affect it had on the castle fade before them.
"We here by cast you from the position of Headmaster and have your name struck from the Castles records. Never will your portrait line Her walls nor will your ghost be welcome in her halls. You have until the end of the day to remove yourself and only your personal items from these halls. So, we Say So Mote it BE!" All four spoke at once and the other professors felt as if they Castle was speaking the words with them. They watched in amazement as the bond of Headmaster to the School was shattered visibly before their eyes. They had not expected this to happen when they had come to breakfast at the orders of Dumbledore.
"HOW DARE YOU! I am the best thing that ever happened to this school! If it weren't for me no one would attend here still! I am the Headmaster! I will not be removed!" Albus shouted trying to gather enough to fire a curse at the portraits but felt the strain of not being connected to the wards any longer, he didn't realize that a lot of the leeches he had attached to people had been broken already and that was another reason for his lack of energy and magic lately he just shrugged it off as exhaustion. "You will rue the day you crossed me! Just as Gellert did!" With that he stormed from the Great Hall toward his office which would not open for him as it normally did. "Jelly Worms" He growled out before storming toward the stairs only for it not to open still. "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus," He finally snapped out the original password to the Headmaster's office before he had begun tampering with things.
"Mimbsy, please make sure that he only takes what he is supposed to and that he leaves as he is supposed to. You need not obey him any longer all of you for he no longer controls the school so there for is not your master." Rowena told the house-elves that were still gathered in the great hall, she watched as they all bowed to the four founders and then popped away to continue their duties.
"Professors we have spoken and feel that Filius Flitwick should be the next Headmaster while Minerva remains Deputy by her own choice and a new Head of Gryffindor should be appointed. Those positions were never to be held at the same time." Godric stated looking over the rest that were in the hall.
"Also you will need to find assistant professors for all of you and we wish to bring back quiet a few of the classes that we have discovered the old fool removed. Miss Skeeter you may reveal yourself." Salazar stated while focusing his attention on the beetle on the back of the chair that had returned to its normal look when Dumbledore was removed from power.
"Sir Filch, your magic shall return to you through out the next few days so as not to overwhelm your system. Dumbledore had placed a drain on you so that your magic would feed the school and in turn feed his." Helga looked kindly down at the old caretaker before turning a shrewd eye to Hagrid. "Mister Hagrid, your true history will come out within the next few days. For it was Dumbledore who directed Mr. Riddle to getting you removed from our school. Though we do have issues with the beasties that you bring in, none of the children here are half-giants as you are and therefore a lot of them are very dangerous to the children. We are recommending that you return to your groundskeeping position as someone who has a mastery in the position of COMC should be the one that teaches. You are a good man Mr. Hagrid, you just need to learn to think without the influence of Dumbledore's spells. Go to the Goblins and have them perform a cleanse please."
Rita had revealed herself when requested just giving a small wave of acknowledgement to the others in the room and to the portraits before she pulled out a piece of parchment and a regular quill and began writing down everything that had happened today in the Great Hall. This would be another big scoop and she had so much for more articles as well. She watched in shock with the rest of the room as the portrait versions of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin moved into one painting and embraced each other and a young lady who had shown up during Helga's time addressing Hagrid.
"Lord Slytherin, would I perhaps be able to interview the four of you at some point? There is so much conflicting information out there about all of you and your past." Rita asked respectfully no way was anyone going to pass up this story of a life time.
"My bonded and I would gladly answer your questions at another time. First lets get through the scandal ahead with Dumbledore. Tippsy…could you please gather up the information you have on Dumbledore that is stored in Rowena's chamber?" Salazar stated before turning to one of the tallest house-elves in the room that no one else had ever seen before. "Tippsy is our spy master since the days we still roamed the halls. She is bonded to Hogwarts herself and as long as the castle stands, even two stones, she will remain."
Chapter End Notes
Translation
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus – Never tickle a sleeping dragon (Latin)
Afterword
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