A/N Welcome to JC 25 Heritage book 11, Jennifer Craw and the Agents of Mystery! If you are just finding the series, it begins with Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand, (HP Alternate book 4) but there's also a series prologue if you're interested. The first Heritage book is Jennifer Craw and the Paintings of Twilight... it is a good jumping off point, but you may get lost because this is a mostly OC series, and also because some of the plots coming about even now were planted in the very first books of the series.

This book is a very different sort of story than I have done before; it is a multi-character study... and while there is a plot to move the story along and to set up for stories to come, and even includes some super important reveals that will matter in all books to follow this one, that is not the main purpose of this book.

This book is all about character perspectives... to see through different viewpoints, and to understand them a little better. It is about the character's learning about each other's view points, understanding their own better, and learning from them. It is about relationships of all sorts, and kindness, and about the fact that love can come from anywhere. And it is definitely more of a romance than I've done in a while.

Publishing Timing: Three chapters will be released in week one. After that, updates for this book will start at one a week but watch out for bonus chapters dropping mid-week. Once I have completed the full rough draft, updates will probably be daily or close to daily. If you want more info than that, s/a announcements, teasers, discussions, questions, etc. the best way right now is through twitter, doublequill at doublequillmlp. I am quick to reply during times when I am actively publishing.

I hope you enjoy learning so much about all of the different characters that are explored in more depth in this book. I am 34 chapters into the rough draft, and this is already in my top five favorites as far as enjoyment of writing is concerned. I hope you come to love it too.

Note to my VI readers: Certain passages in certain chapters of this book may read strange in audio; italics toggled on is recommended when available, but I'll try to stay aware of it and break up long sections that may be a problem.

~Doublequill

Chapter One

Andrew and Augustus

Andrew stepped out of the crooked two-story beach house at Littus Maleficus, working his way down the steps, past the rocks, and over to one of the canopies scattered around the private wizard beach for the cottage renters to use. It was quite windy, so Andrew had thought enough to grab a couple of kites, just in case the two boys collecting shells on the beach needed another distraction later.

"I'm back, Uncle," Andrew said, putting the kites down and pulling a covered ice container out of his cloak pocket. He put it on the table between two deck chairs and took the lid off.

"Thanks, Andrew," Augustus said, adding some ice to his drink while he watched Leu and Hadrian at the edge of the ocean.

"This is a nice spot," Andrew commented as he sat down. "I've never been to this beach before. I didn't know it was here, which is a surprise because I visited a lot of wizard beaches when I was still dating. It looks like this has been here a very long time."

"Yes, it has, and it brings back a lot of memories for me," Augustus said. "Octavius and I spent a lot of summers here when we were boys. In fact, I remember a bit of the summer that Octavius was about Leu's age and I was about Hadrian's. I thought about the place when I saw them together, so I checked to see if this place was still here. It used to be a lot busier, back when it was new. But to be honest, I'm glad it's not now. It makes it easier to keep track of them."

"What was my grandfather like at that age?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Depends on who you asked," Augustus grunted. "I heard him called opinionated, callus, stubborn, conceited, cold, and self-righteous. But to me, he was brave, loyal, unwavering, and undeniably brilliant. It's probably why he got so damn conceited," he added under his breath, making Andrew grin. "He even got the better end of the gene pool. He got the height, and I got the nose. He got the girls, and I got good at my work since I had nothing better to do with my life. I envied him... up until the point when he finally got noticed by the wrong people. I begged him to get out, but running wasn't really something he did." Augustus brooded. Then he shrugged, looking back at the two boys.

"As boys, we used to get into our fair share of trouble. Some of the kids used to call us the Eight Brothers, in reference to our names. Not that we minded it... in fact, we used to carve it into trees and things... a regular 8 and a sideways 8... like a clover. I had a lot of mementos with that symbol on it, but Ciardoth took out most of them. I still have a few that survived, though. You should come by the house sometime and I'll show them to you," Augustus offered.

"Yes, I'd like that," Andrew said sincerely. "And what about my grandmother? What was she like?"

"Well, Sabina was a transfer student from Durmstrang originally, they met at school," Augustus explained. "She wasn't well liked, her mannerisms were off-putting and being a foreigner, few of her Slytherin classmates weren't kind about it. There were all sorts of strange rumors around her Russian heritage and who they might be related to, but to be honest, I don't know if any of them were true or if it was just students stirring up trouble for her. Octavius was a prefect at that point, and they soon learned not to bother her when he was around. As I understood it from what she told me after they got married, that protection seemed to go away whenever he left the room. And I think... that constant battle that he had with his house over whether she was welcome or not... played a part in him not getting mixed up with Riddle's crowd at school. He was at odds with them from the start, and kept being wary of them even after leaving Hogwarts."

"And what kept you out of it?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Plain good sense, mostly," Augustus said. "And being in Ravenclaw instead might have helped a tad."

"No wonder my mother likes you," Andrew grinned.

"I spent most my time hanging around Slytherin anyway, at least until my brother graduated. So I knew many of them... the more respectable ones, that is," Augustus corrected. "In fact, I remember when Thomas Craw was Sorted... I must of been sixth or seventh year."

"Oh? What was he like?" Andrew asked with interest.

"Hm... a lot like Maurice but with a much more colorful vocabulary," Augustus said, causing Andrew to laugh. But when he was done, Andrew thought about it for a moment, studying his uncle carefully.

"What?" Augustus frowned.

"Well, you have me wondering now, Uncle. If you're older than my grandfather by six or seven years... despite your white hair, you really don't look your age. Not at all," Andrew observed.

"Thank you," Augustus said, watching the boys. But Andrew's eyes never left his.

"You have a hidden story, Uncle," Andrew decided. Augustus glanced at him, and his lip curled slightly in a way that reminded Andrew of his father's.

"Do you know... Thomas and I were taking bets on who the first person to bring that up was," Augustus parried. "I thought it was going to be Jennifer, but he chose Alex. He thought that Jennifer might already suspect something was dodgy about that, so she wouldn't be the one to bring it up," Augustus explained.

"Speaking of a dodge... now that I know there's a story, I'm not going to stop pestering you about it, Uncle," Andrew said. "Somehow or another, you have a dose in you," Andrew deduced. "If I had to make a guess, considering your apparent age, it must have happened not long after Dumbledore became my father's ward."

"Yes, well, you're quite correct about that," Augustus admitted, digging in the sand with his cane. "In fact, it happened as I was attempting to flee the country. Look, despite what your father thinks, I was in no way capable of taking care of a boy in Severus' condition, not when he had such strong impulses of wish magic that he could kill with it. He was shaken by it, and I'm no psychologist and had little experience with children at all when that Death Eater killed Octavius and Meryl. He saw it as abandonment... I saw it as me attempting to get him the help he needed when I couldn't give it myself."

"I understand the point of view problem well," Andrew said, thinking instantly of Ivano and Matteo Disparte.

"Then understand that I originally had no intent whatsoever in losing contact with either child at that point. I was very much intending to keep in touch with both of them once I'd settled somewhere out of the crossfire... to provide financial support if nothing else, and to make sure they were doing well and they were safe. But as it happens, I didn't have that opportunity," Augustus murmured. "Which probably did nothing but affirm your father's belief that I had abandoned him, no doubt. However, the truth of the matter is, I had barely made it out of the country alive... quite literally."

"What happened?" Andrew asked quietly, seeing that he was reluctant to talk about it.

"Your father happened... although he doesn't know it... and doesn't necessarily need to know it..." Augustus said under his breath.

"I can take a hint. Go on," Andrew coaxed.

"Well, after Severus took my actions as a rejection, Severus went back to school and promptly told his 'friends' all about what happened and about my plans to leave the country," Augustus said. Andrew cringed. "Whether it was on purpose or if he was simply making the same mistake twice, I don't know. I really don't think even Dumbledore knows, to be perfectly honest. But after Dumbledore took charge of the boy, he started watching him quite carefully. He soon got wind that Severus was being indiscreet again and dashed off to warn me. I truly would have died had he gotten to me even a minute later; Fawkes took the first blow when one of the two Death Eaters cast the Unforgivable Death spell at me; the second came at me with Morbid's Repose which Dumbledore himself partially blocked... and partially didn't. That's when my hair turned this color, actually," he said, gesturing to his white hair.

"I am not a fighter, Andrew, and even with Dumbledore's help finally getting them to retreat, I was convinced I wasn't going to survive," Augustus went on. "But Dumbledore said that he'd be damned if Severus lost all of his relatives in the same week, and he saved my life. Even so, it was obvious that I was not going to survive unless I fled. Dumbledore helped arrange for a secret kept location for me in Germany, somewhere I had many business acquaintances who could assist me. But it was important under the circumstances that I not contact my niece and nephew in any way or that protection would fail. So, I made an Agreement with Dumbledore not to get involved. Because of that Agreement, I had no contact with them until Anna tracked me down as an adult, curious about her family history and with open arms with no lasting stigma attached to it. Then again, she had little reason to condemn me. I had little to do with her being whisked away to her other Grandparents, and it helped that she had been well cared for after her parents died. Even so, I know that her parents' deaths did stick with her in some respects, subconsciously. Personally, I think that's why she got interested in criminal psychology back when she thought she was a Muggle. But she was so young at the time, the effects are more subtle than Severus' more vivid recollections."

"Personally, I think you ought to talk to Father about it directly, and tell him what you just told me," Andrew advised.

"Do you think he would actually listen? He hasn't yet; I have attempted to bring it up several times since I first tracked him down in Haven's Bluff. He can barely stand me in the room at all, you know, and the only reason he puts up with it now is for Hadrian's sake, not mine," Augustus reminded him. "And also because of Jennifer, always insisting on including me."

"Yes. You know, I think grandfather is right. I bet she does know something about what you just told me... or at least suspects it," Andrew decided. "It has always appeared to me that she is rather fond of you."

"True, but Craws are always about families. To be honest, when I first heard that my nephew married a Craw, I thought perhaps he was still running about with that bad element," Augustus admitted. "Anna and Sirius assured me otherwise, but you have to remember the Craws I knew were a different lot back then. After meeting your mother, I asked Dumbledore if your mother was who she seemed on the surface; he assured me she was, and then suggested that I go talk to Thomas in Azkaban. And of course I asked Dumbledore what got him in there. When I found out he'd gone on a one-man war to try and sort that Death Eater business, my respect for him went up tenfold and I decided to make amends with the man. And as I explored the country, I saw a lot of encouraging signs that things were getting better in general and that things were starting to calm down. So, I decided to move back, to keep an eye on Anna and your lot as much as for any other reason."

"And then Father froze you out," Andrew sighed.

"True, but Anna didn't. I was over there often enough... at least often enough to get updates on what sort of intrigues and calamities the family was in, because it seems to me there's always some sort of calamity going on," Augustus grunted.

"Spot on. It never ends," Andrew agreed with a chuckle. "And now that I know you better, I believe I agree with Mother. It's high time this rift between the two of you is mended. After spending the last couple of days talking to you, I find myself wondering how things might have been different if the two of you had come to terms when you first met mother. I'm sure we children would have benefited from having another uncle with a different perspective to turn to from time to time."

"Yes, it's a pity I hadn't thought of adopting sooner, I suppose, considering how quickly that got his attention, eh?" Augustus said, amused.

"Well, we'll make up for it now. I think I'm going to join my mother's team on this issue," Andrew decided. "The whole reason Quintin was born was because they wanted to raise a child with less missteps than they had taken with rest of us. And I rather think that he would benefit greatly from growing up hearing your stories."

"Me too," Augustus agreed with a nod. "We should call those boys in for lunch."

"I'll go get them," Andrew said, thus ending the conversation as he walked down to the beach.