Happy Friday!

Chapter 100

Jasmine watched as Gideon and Fabian nearly tumbled out of the floo with children laden in their arms. The Prewitt twins were nearly identical. Both had shocking heads of red hair, bright hazel eyes, and matching mischievous grins. Gideon was just a hair's breadth taller than his twin. Jasmine had met them a few times for work. They were Ministry sanctioned hit wizards and she had been contracted to assist them in taking down wards on a few of their cases. The twins were known for their ruthless natures, cunning instincts, and aggressive wand work. She could probably out duel them, but only just. They were two of the stronger Order members. It had taken nearly six Death Eaters with Voldemort present to take them down in Harriet's timeline.

Though, neither of them really appeared their best as the fire from the floo faded. The two men looked exhausted. Their eyes were red rimmed and their hair in disarray, but they were holding it together for the boys they were bringing over. Fred and George seemed to be sound asleep against Fabian's chest, while Charlie was drowsily clinging to Gideon's left pant leg. He had a stuffed dragon tucked under his arm.

Gideon scooped Charlie up, who blinked blearily at the sudden change of movement, and passed the child to Jasmine. He had to be about eight, but he was still young enough to carry, not to mention that he was a bit small for his age.

Fabian did the same with the twins, except he gave them to Sirius. The marauder carefully held the two toddlers, but seemed completely out of his element as he tried to move around. He shot Jasmine a slightly terrified look as Fred cuddled into his robes.

Jasmine grinned and Sirius pouted, but didn't jostle the kids.

Fabian cleared his throat to catch their attention. "Sirius, this really means a lot. We have a lot of preparation for the funeral…not to mention the investigation into the attack that needs to occur. Merlin, this is a mess…wait are you living here, Sirius?" Fabian babbled. His hands were shaking as he ran it through his hair.

Jasmine turned to glare at her husband. Had he not explained everything to the twins? She took the glamour off her left hand with a flick of her wrist and exposed her wedding ring. "We're married. So, yes, he lives here with me."

Both of them just stared at the ring until Sirius cleared her throat and the twins looked a bit abashed. "Sorry for staring. Should we be addressing you as Lady Black?"

Her lips curled in distaste. "No. I kept my titles when I married Sirius. I'm Lady Peverell."

They quickly nodded.

"Right, so back to the matter at hand…"

Jasmine cast a silencing charm around Charlie and rubbed circles on his back as he started to doze. "Has anyone told Bill, yet? Or any of the children?"

Gideon worried his bottom lip between his teeth. "I was hoping that you could do it, Peverell. Bill has really taking a liking to you…and we thought it would be better to give the kids one last good night's sleep."

Jasmine's eyes narrowed dangerously as she rubbed Charlie's back. His head was resting heavy against her shoulder and his eyes kept fluttering. The kid was nearly asleep. It was nearly one in the morning, all three of them should be in bed by now. "You're their uncles. Is there a reason that you feel I would be more appropriate to tell them they've lost their parents? Have you heard anything about Arthur?"

Gideon shook his head, his red hair was flopping into his face with every shake. "Nothing yet. We have the healers set to contact you and Sirius for updates. We're going to look into the attack, which means we won't be available for fire calls."

"You're going to look into the attack? Is that even legal?" Sirius asked as he carefully set the twins down on the nearest sofa. He conjured a blanket and laid it over them.

Fabian shrugged before he gave all three boys one last kiss on the forehead before motioning towards the floo. "We're hit wizards, we have jurisdiction to do it. We might not be able to contact you for a couple days. We will let you know if we find anything. These Death Eaters will pay for their crimes."

Jasmine crossed her arms and adjusted Charlie's weight. He seemed to be nearly completely asleep, even with the tense conversation going on overhead. Jasmine whispered a quiet sleep spell that Lily had taught her for Harry when he was being fussy and the kid dropped off in her arms almost instantly. He did not need to see anything going forward. She had a feeling that none of it was going to be very kid friendly.

Jasmine marched up to Prewitt brothers. Her magical aura was chilly and nearly visible to the naked eye. Both of them stepped back as she approached.

"You're just going to up and leave your nephews? They don't know us that well. Revenge isn't going to satisfy you and it won't bring Molly back. I better hear from you in a few hours. These boys need family right now. You can't leave the Weasley Family solely up to Bill. He's a child," Jasmine responded, her tone frosty.

"Arthur has his parents and a few siblings…" Gideon mentioned, but they all knew that those family members wouldn't be willing to house three kids, or pay for their education. The Weasley's just didn't have the money for that sort of thing.

"You and I both know that isn't going to pan out. They need familiarity. They're close to you two!" Jasmine snapped, as a crack appeared in the glass vase behind Fabian's head.

Gideon at least had the decency to look a bit bashful. "See, that's where you and Sirius come in. We trust you to help him and take care of the boys while we can't. We're hit wizards, we can't house children. We have more enemies without a war going on."

They had to be kidding.

Sirius stalked up to Gideon, his magic was nearly swirling around him in anger. It seemed he agreed with Jasmine. They had agreed to take the kids in for the night. Bella had mentioned that she might be magically bound as Bill's magical guardian. But, this didn't mean that she was going to let Gideon and Fabian just walk away from them. Sirius's magic wrapped around the twins like liquid silk. "You better be back here to speak with Bill tomorrow or I will find you. You two don't get to just walk away from this. We'll take these boys in, but you can't just leave them here."

Something seemed to click with the Prewitt twins, either it was the dangerous power beginning to emanate from Jasmine or the already swirly magic that Sirius was draping the area with, but they both gave quick nods. "We'll stop by tomorrow evening."

"Make sure you here before seven. I want the boys awake for you. It is going to be a very trying day for them."

Jasmine rubbed her temples with her free hand. It was going to be a long day. She could already feel the fights she was going to have with Dumbledore to get Bill out of Hogwarts for the next few weeks while they deal with the emotional and political fallout of a British Pureblood family getting attacked.

Then she was going to need to find a mind healer for the boys to see. Losing a parent is awful, but if Arthur ends up alive, but mentally gone, it would be beyond traumatic. He could still be in St. Mungo's for months from spell damage alone, not taking the cruciatus into account.

"We should probably get these three to sleep. I'm going to have be up bright and early to get all of this straightened out," Jasmine ground out as the twins made a hasty retreat and flooed themselves away.

Cowards.

Sirius growled low under his breath and then scooped up the sleeping toddlers. "Time to get the tykes to bed and then we need to sleep. Between Draco and these three, I doubt that we're going to be getting much rest tomorrow."

"Well, you are going to be on child duty. I need to make sure that I am legally allowed to take Bill out of Hogwarts, which means I am going to need to contact McGonagall," Jasmine said with a sigh as she followed Sirius up the stairs and into the family wing of the home. The master bedroom was just down the hall. She wasn't going to set the boys up in the guest wing, which was in the opposite direction. Jasmine had a feeling that she was going to be running back and forth between these rooms after the kids find out what happened to their parents for nights to come.

Once they were settled and tucked in, Jasmine gave Sirius a quick kiss and made her way towards her study. She had a copy of the contract she made with the Weasley's tucked away in magically locked cabinet. Jasmine also combed through the books on her shelf for The Anthology of Modern and Ancient Contracts. It was a long read, but she knew what she was looking for, so went into the sponsorship section of the book and scanned the page. Bella was right…she did have legal guardianship of Bill and therefore, had guardianship of the rest of his house until he came of age.

Merlin, she managed to acquire four children in one night.

With a quick flick of her wrist a white rune etched crystal no bigger than her palm flew towards her outstretched hand. It was a communication device for the goblins.

The mineral hummed with magic as Jasmine brought it close to her lips. "Irontooth, I require your assistance."

The crystal began to glow a light blue in her hands. It wasn't long before the color changed to simmering red. "What is it?"

"I may have acquired some children through one of our contracts. I want to make sure that the legal guardianship has passed to me."

There was grumbling on the other end of the stone for a moment. "Is it the Weasley boy? If so, then yes, Lady Magic sees you as his, and his brothers, current legal guardian. Congratulations on the little parasites. You didn't even need to grow one yourself. I expect you at work on Monday."

The stone went dark and Jasmine rolled her eyes at her boss. At least she got her answer. It would have taken her hours at the Ministry.

She supposed that it was time to call Hogwarts. Bill deserved to know what was happening to his father. Even if they couldn't go into see him since it was the middle of the night, she could at least bring him to the Estate to be with his brothers.

She grabbed a pinch of floo powder and made a call to McGonagall's office. Since the Order was active not that long ago, she hoped that the Deputy Headmistress would still be awake.

The fire flared a moment later and McGonagall's head poked through the flames. "Ms. Peverell, what can I do for you?"

"Has Bill been informed of his father's condition or about the deaths in his family?" She asked, knowing the answer already, but waiting for verbal confirmation that they were keeping the poor kid in the dark. As much as giving him one more night to sleep is a kind sentiment, he needs to know what was happening to his father. From what Jasmine understood about the situation, Arthur might not be alive that much longer.

McGonagall shook her head. "It was decided that he should hear about it in the morning."

Jasmine resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, well, since I am his sponsor and current legal guardian, I think it would be best if he's woken up. He needs to know what's going on."

"You're his current legal guardian? What happened to Fabian and Gideon, surely Molly and Arthur left them as next of kin?"

She tried not grimace at the reminder of the twins. She was going to need to have a long conversation with them. "The twins just dropped off the surviving Weasley boys with me and Sirius. They're going to look into the murder. Bellatrix Black brought up an old law that by magic I'm Bill's legal guardian until he is of age."

McGonagall sighed, her mouth in a hard line. "Jasmine, it is nearly two in the morning. Visiting hours for St. Mungo's aren't until eight. Get a few hours of sleep and pick Bill up at seven. I will have him packed and ready. You will do him no good half asleep on your feet. There are people out there trying to kill the Weasley family. He is going to need you to protect him."

Damn it all…she was right. Jasmine leaned back on her heels and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted. Fighting Greyback and the other werewolves was enough to have her half dead on her feet. Hogwarts was well protected from attacks. Moving Bill to the Manor in the middle of the night wasn't going to solve anything.

"Alright. I'll get some sleep. Sirius and I are going to have our hands full in the morning wrangling two toddlers. We're probably not going to sleep properly for months."

McGonagall's face softened and she smiled. "Yes, well, I wish you the best. Fred and George are very lively."

That was a kind way of saying "little balls of chaotic energy", but Jasmine respected her restraint. A moment later, McGonagall ended their connection and Jasmine stood from the fireplace and made her way to the master bedroom.

Sirius was sprawled out face first on the bed. He had changed into an AC/DC t-shirt that pissed his father off and a pair of well-worn flannel pajama pants that Lily gave him for Christmas two years ago. The outfit would cause his aunt to have an aneurysm, which was just the style Sirius was going for.

Though, it seemed that he hadn't made it under the covers before falling asleep. Sirius had always had an easy time sleeping in the strangest of places.

It was nice to see that somethings were normal in the house. Jasmine grinned and made her way over to him. She gave his shoulder a nudge, "Get under the covers, you mutt. You're going catch a cold if you aren't careful," she told him as she made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. Freshening charms only worked so well. She could still feel residual blood on her from the werewolves.

Even though she was in and out within ten minutes the water felt heavenly on her skin. It had been a long day and this was necessary step to make sure she felt human before crawling into bed to catch a few hours of sleep. She padded barefoot into the room and found Sirius dozing, but under the covers. He was patting the spot next to him.

"You didn't pick Bill up?"

"McGonagall didn't want to wake him and she made the point that I probably needed sleep. I must look as tired as I feel for her to point that out."

Sirius mumbled something she couldn't understand as she climbed into bed. The silk sheets were soft against her skin as Sirius curled around her, burying his face in her neck. She quickly set an alarm for the morning before setting her wand down on the bedside table. Jasmine's eyes fluttered closed as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Morning came far too soon for Jasmine's liking. She awoke to an empty bed and noise coming from the floor below. Sirius had left the door ajar on his way out. With a huff, Jasmine ran a hand through her tangled hair and go herself ready for the day in record time.

The kitchen was as lively as Jasmine had ever seen it. The Malfoys were all seated around the small oak dining table. Abraxas was awake and eating crepes. He was pale, but sitting up and sneaking Draco some sweets while his parents were speaking with Severus, who was leaning against the wall closest to Lucius. He had a potion vial in his hands with a piece of parchment tied to the cork. Jasmine assumed it was the instructions that Severus was slowly reciting the Lucius and Narcissa.

The Weasley boys were at the counter, the twins were mesmerized as Sirius made the utensils dance for them. They were both covered in porridge and what appeared to either strawberry or raspberry jam. Charlie was sitting off to the side, his stuff dragon clenched tightly in his slightly shaking hands. He had a barely touched bowl of porridge and he honestly looked like he was going to be sick.

She was going to need fix that…

Jasmine had only talked to Charlie once or twice when she had gone to the Weasley residence to pick Bill up for a lesson, but he had always seemed a bit shy. She winked at Sirius who grinned back as she approached Charlie. "You feeling alright?" She asked over the commotion.

His brown eyes widened at the sudden attention. He jolted and shook his head when George gave a particularly loud shriek. "Do you want go somewhere a bit quieter?"

He nodded and hopped off the stool he'd be sitting on and offered a hand for her to take. Jasmine lightly gripped his hand and led him from the kitchen. She'd eat later. If push came to shove, she could take a nutritional potion and just eat an early lunch.

"Are you alright, Charlie? You're looking a bit green."

She didn't expect an answer right away. The poor kid looked overwhelmed even as the slowly moved through the hallway.

Charlie stopped walking and took his hand out of Jasmine's. He rubbed at his eyes. He began to sniffle and his eyes filled with tears. "Something bad happened last night. I wasn't supposed to hear…"

Oh, dear.

She was going to kill Fabian and Gideon.

Jasmine knelt down on the floor to get them to eye level and wrapped him in hug. Though, that only seemed to set off the waterworks. Charlie began to sob and Jasmine never felt less equipped to handle a situation. Children were not her forte. "Let it out. I know this feels awful. I'm here."

"Mum is gone, Ronny is gone, Perc is gone and so is little Gin. Dad might be gone too. Mum promised she was going to say goodnight. She didn't."

Jasmine bit her lip and willed her emotions back.

The sobbing got louder, but he gripped her blouse and made no move to let go. She rubbed his back in what she hoped was a soothing manner. It was a few minutes before his sobs turned into hiccups. Jasmine attempted to pull away, but he refused to let go of her. She sighed and scooped him up. Merlin, she was lucky she was in good shape. Children were heavy, but she's had to carry Sirius and James once or twice.

Charlie buried his face in her neck as the continued down the hallway. She was going to need to get this kid a mind healer.

Scratch that.

All the kids were getting mind healers.

Jasmine led them to the medical wing. It was usually the quietest area in the estate. It also housed the anti-nausea potions. Theo was sterilizing the room when they entered. He was casting silent spells with quick, but methodical flicks of his wrist. He had his long hair up in an intricate braid, there was a feather tucked neatly into his hair. He was dressed in nondescript black travel robes, though she can see muggle denim peeking out around his shoes every now and again.

Theo had taken to American wizarding fashion, which was dressing exactly like muggles, just with more wand holsters. Jasmine understood the appeal, muggles dressed very comfortably.

Charlie grip tightened on Jasmine's blouse after spotting Theo. She cleared her throat and Theo stopped casting and turned towards the two of them. They had to look awful because Theo had to do a double take. "Charlie, this is my good friend Tahatan. Tahatan, this is Charlie. He is going to be staying here with his brothers."

Theo nodded and slowly approached the two of them. Charlie curled into Jasmine. "Tahtan is a healer and the quietest person in the house. I thought you might want that after the day you've had so far." Charlie mumbled something into her neck that she couldn't understand. She shot Theo a pleading look. He rolled his eyes and tapped Charlie lightly on the nose. Jasmine could feel Theo's communication spell activate.

"It's nice to meet you, Charlie. You're in safe hands here. Is there something that you need?" Theo's voice was a whisper in their minds and Charlie slowly peaked out from under Jasmine's hair.

His eyes were red rimmed and slowly filling with tears again. He shook his head and turned back towards Jasmine as he started to sob into her neck.

"A calming draught wouldn't go amiss here. He's going to make himself sick otherwise. I'm assuming he knows what happened to his parents?"

"I think he heard Gideon and Fabian talking about the murder last night. The shock must have worn off and he's inconsolable right now. Which, is an understandable reaction. He was very close to Molly," Jasmine silently answered as Theo opened their potion cabinet and pulled out a vial of bright blue calming draught.

Theo poured about two teaspoons into a cup for Charlie to drink. Jasmine prayed she'd be able to get him to take it. She sat down on one of the cots and rubbed his back until he calmed down enough for her to offer the cup. He took it without question and drank it.

The effects took a moment to kick in, but soon he was boneless on the bed as he started to doze off. "I'll watch him while you pick Bill up. I have a feeling that he's going to rather inconsolable for some time."

"Well, half his family was murdered last night. It's a normal response," she replied with a tired sigh.

Theo grabbed a tissue and removed some mucus from Charlie's tear-stained face. "I never said it wasn't. Just be prepared for it. I can recommend you some mind healers. Bill is probably going to be even worse than Charlie," he was probably right, "I assume your other half his entertaining the twins."

She nodded before standing up. She cast a quick cleaning charm on her clothes. "I should be able to pick him up from Hogwarts now. I don't want to keep McGonagall waiting."

And we have sad children. Next chapter we're back to Hogwarts to get Bill!

The end game approaches and I'm super excited for it. Ugh, I'm writing a pivotal chapter that leads into the big end battle. Once I finish that chapter you all might be getting a chapter a week. =3 Maybe.

Thank you all your comments, favorites and follows!

I will update on the 19th of March.

See you soon,
~Animerocker