Author's Note: Lots of interesting developments here. I'm sorry I was late getting to reviews this week, things have been a bit stressful here and I'm just trying to keep all my balls in the air. This is a nice long chapter, however, so enjoy and let me know what you're thinking. MNF

Chapter 33:

Forward

Tuesday, June 15, 2000

"You look like you're preparing yourself to be fed to a dragon," Junie commented as Sirius attempted to straighten his tie. He'd barely touched his breakfast, sticking to several cups of scalding sweet tea.

"Worse, the wizarding press corps," he said grimly. "Profound will print a fair article, but some of the more conservative papers, like Real Wizard News, are going to say we're trying to repress our magical way of life. That isn't what we're doing; we're just hoping to bring our children into something resembling a proper pre-Hogwarts level of education."

"Would it help you if I were to come in with you? I don't need to be at school until this afternoon when my third-year students sit down for their exams," Junie said. "I finished all the fourth-year exams last night, and I only have two sixth-year projects left to grade. I can easily send Minerva a note that I will be joining Professor McMichael at the press conference and will be back at school in time to proctor lunch."

"You'd do that? There are going to be people who want to ask you questions since you're the one who wrote the bill."

"Let them ask," Junie said. "I had input from most of the professors at Hogwarts, and I discussed it with Marlene, as a teacher, and Eloise Pigeon, the Headmistress at our current primary wizarding school; what I wrote was well advised and appropriate. If anyone wants to question my credentials at writing such a bill, I will remind them that I am Cambridge educated at both the Muggle and wizarding schools of law."

"You are quite remarkable when you speak that way," Sirius said, taking her hand in his. "We might need to send you back into the DMLE someday, maybe as the head."

"No, Amelia can stay the head of the DMLE for as long as she wants, and then it will be James. Eventually, he will lure me back; I know him too well. For now, though, I am enjoying being a professor. Now, let me finish this breakfast so I can write to Minerva and get dressed."

Thirty minutes later, they were meeting in Sirius' Ministry office with James, both Lupins, Professor McMichael and Jenivive Selwyn, who had been a surprising supporter of the bill and the notion that wizarding children deserved a twenty-first-century education.

"We have always produced a few truly exceptional witches or wizards," McMichael's said, "the most recent being Hermione Granger, who is studying double law at Oxford, like Junie did at Cambridge. Now that the finances have been sorted out, Charity Sommersby will be heading to Cambridge for her dual degree."

"I know, I've lost another assistant," James said glumly, "this is my third in a year."

"My advice would be to hire Hermione part-time and then bring her on full time when she's done with school. She will only be taking classes until December," Junie said. "If she chooses to do her apprentice work in the future, you'll at least have someone competent for the duration. Additionally, she works even faster than I did. I read some of her essays, especially the one in Defence. She's brilliant."

"She was my second-best student in her year," McMichael's said. "My best was your son, James. Where did Harry learn about theory?"

"Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I would duel for sport. At about five, he started asking questions about why someone did this rather than that," James explained. "He could do the spells by eight, which meant his mother and I had to either have our wands on us or locked away. His Bombarda spell was potent at a young age."

"It wasn't your car he blew up," Remus said, and the group laughed. "It's true, on his ninth birthday, he got hold of one of our wands and thought he'd entertain his younger cousins. He blew up my brand-new car."

"It was an ugly station wagon, Remus," Marley said. "It wasn't brand-new, it was second hand, and it was that wretched shocking blue colour that isn't found in nature. Thankfully the replacement was a more muted green."

Sirius's work assistant, Madeline Knotworthy, announced the press were all here, and the Minister was ready to start the press conference. Everyone filed out, Sirius leading the way, taking Junie by the hand and having her walk out with him. She ended up seated to his right, James to his left. Professor McMichael sat down next to Junie and smiled at the pair's still intertwined fingers. He was happy to see them so comfortable, especially since he remembered Junie's birthday morning. She was as irritable as any doxy he'd ever encountered.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press," the Minister for Magic started, and Sirius stopped listening. Thankfully the Minister was behind their new bill, as if he'd had to have a second fight within the Ministry, nothing would have been enacted. He thought about how Junie had influenced the bill and smiled. She was far wiser than most people would ever know. When the Minister was finished with the introduction, Sirius took the floor.

"I know many of you have questions, and there was a fact sheet distributed when you arrived today. For the sake of all of us, please do not ask questions that were already answered. None of us will give you something different than what was on that sheet. Additionally, this was a nearly unanimous vote within the Wizengamot, with only two abstentions. For a vote on something as significant as this, it is a remarkable statement of unity." Reporters began yelling at him and screaming over one another for attention. Sirius raised his hands, and they quieted down. "We want to answer your questions, but we can't if you all scream at once. Just raise your hands, I'll call on you, and then you can ask whomever on the panel your questions. I will remind you this is a professional press conference, and inquiries into my personal life will not be answered." The was a slight giggle in the room, and Sirius allowed it, and then when quiet, he chose an easy interviewer to begin. "Reginald."

Reginald Blakesmith was a junior reporter for the Daily Prophet whom the Editor-In-Chief had personally sent out this morning to gather facts for a more seasoned writer to turn into a story. He had a sheet of questions to ask, which Profound had pre-approved. The paper couldn't afford to anger its primary backer.

"Sir, can you tell us why it was time to reform the Hogwarts education?"

"Good question, and while some of it has been explained in the information we've provided, the change in school leadership was an opportune time to have discussions with the Headmistress and the teaching staff regarding what we are teaching our young witches and wizards and how," Sirius answered. He'd been considering how to answer this question for half the night. "We believe that we have created a new system for a new century."

"But sir," a voice called out from in the crowd. "Why are we doing things like Muggles? It would appear we are adapting to their way of life." Sirius wasn't sure who asked the question, and he really didn't know what he was going to say.

"There are many ways which what Muggles have is far superior to what we do. Ink bottles are messy. They fall over, there are blots of ink on parchments, and nearly everyone walks about with stained fingertips. They are also much more expensive, and yes, there are self-inking quills, but the cost is quite prohibitive for the regular family to afford. While a student might need to purchase as many as twenty quills in a term at Hogwarts, a package of ten Biros will do: often lasting into the next term as well. The cost is less than a tenth of what purchasing quills and ink is. Additionally, lined paper is so inexpensive that the school can provide it, composition books for note-taking and blue books for examinations for all students within its current budget," Junie explained.

"There are more Muggles than there are magical people in Great Britain, in the world really," Junie answered softly. "Many of the children we teach were raised as Muggles or grew up in mixed households like my own. They come to Hogwarts and are expected to take to our way of life, often without explaining why the wizarding way is better. They don't understand where there is no electricity or why we dress in robes. They're used to performing household chores, and the house-elves frighten them. Why should we not expect children from wizarding homes to learn about the Muggle world around them?"

Professor McMichael fielded a question and explained what the new primary school would emphasize and what the new protocols at Hogwarts would do. There were sniggers when he talked about the need to teach Cleansing Charms to some of the younger boys, and penmanship was obviously needed once the samples were displayed.

"But expecting them to do book reports? Learn to write with a Biro on paper? We are turning them into Muggles!" Someone yelled from the back. Sirius took a deep breath and was about to answer when Junie's soft voice continued.

"We aren't ever going to turn children with magic into Muggles. Children who can do magic will turn into adults who can do magic. However, isn't it the responsibility of our education system to prepare said children to thrive in the real world when they're gown? We currently produce witches and wizards who routinely break the Statute of Secrecy when they venture into most of our country. Instead, shouldn't an education system prepare them properly?" Sirius asked, and there were murmurs of agreement and understanding.

James, taking another pre-planned question from the Wizarding Law magazine, spoke to the benefit his children had from attending Muggle primary school in Rosie and the wizarding school in the case of Charlie. He was looking forward to sending Eddie to the new school when it opened. It felt like most reporters were beginning to see why the reforms were made, and Sirius was hopeful for at least neutral articles.

"Isn't it funny that the fiancée of the Chief Warlock is the one who wrote the article?" a sneering voice came forward from the back. It was Rita Skeeter, and Sirius couldn't help but ponder what rag she was there representing. "Perhaps the Muggles Studies teacher is pushing a Pro-Muggle agenda?"

"That is not true," Junie said in a measured voice. "My relationship to the Chief Warlock had nothing to do with my questioning the standards of what and how we are teaching our children. That began when I started teaching in the fall, and I realized we had third- and fourth-year students who were incapable of writing a complete paragraph, let alone an entire paper. Being able to tease a theme of a book and explain why you liked it was beyond them. Children in Muggle schools can do this by eight or nine. Synthesizing information for a person's edification and helping them make informed decisions is vital for any society's success. I went to Minerva McGonagall in October with my concerns. She took them to the staff and most agreed with me. This was a project with the Headmistress before I began my relationship with Sirius.

"As for my suitability in the authorship of the bill, I'd like to remind you that I was educated at the Cambridge University Muggle and wizarding Law Schools. I spent the first twenty years of my career working for the DMLE law offices as the liaison between the Crown Prosecutors office and the Wizarding Prosecution Service. Can you suggest someone with a stronger background? I should think my work record will stand on its own, seeing as I've never been fired, let alone twice by the same employer.

"I can see in your faces that this is frightening; you perceive this as changing our history and our ways, but it isn't that. We will still use parchment and quills where appropriate. Children will have the choice of reading any novel they choose, be it Muggle or wizarding – although, in my particular classes, I should say it will be Muggle." The group laughed again. "We are discovering how a wizarding world of the twenty-first century should look and how to prepare our next generation to live in it."

More questions came, and Rita faded into the crowd. Sirius and James dealt with the voting questions, and soon the press conference was over. The couple, along with James, was surprised to find Albus Dumbledore waiting for them in Sirius' office.

"Good morning, Albus," Sirius said hesitantly.

"Yes, yes, good morning indeed," he said while eyeing Junie and James with some scepticism.

"Albus, you have to know I will not ask them to leave," Sirius said, anticipating the question. "What brings you here this morning?" Sirius directed them to the seating group. The Chief Warlock sat next to his fiancée, his arm around her on the settee.

"I see that you've already begun to push our society toward a more inclusive understanding. Starting with the children was quite wise."

"Sir, that wasn't done as some part of this supposed mystical binding or whatever it is that Sirius and I are supposed to have," Junie said in a measured tone. "I initially brought my concerns to Minerva because I felt we were failing our students, our children, by not providing them with the best educational foundation we could."

"Spoken like a true professor," he said with a weak smile.

"I could ask you why you never improved the standards or even considered primary level education," James said. "You were headmaster for a substantial time."

"It was never the right time," he said. "I considered it when I first took over as Headmaster in the late sixties, but the Muggle world was in such an uproar it didn't seem a conducive time."

"Sir, now isn't ideal either," Junie said, "but it needs to be done. We only have the children's futures in mind." The conversation turned stale after that, and Albus, wisely, didn't mention it again. He only remained for a brief time after Junie's gentle rebuke.

"Sweetheart, where did you go?" Sirius asked as he hunted for Junie after supper. He found her in the formal sitting room, staring at a small wall hanging of a tree. Sirius had spoken with several members of his extended family and had decided that just because the old one was burned in the bonfire that was the previous home on these grounds did not mean there couldn't be another.

Sirius paid a magical artisan handsomely for the tapestry Junie was now looking at, and together with his cousin Andi, they'd done the spells to begin a new Black Family Tree. Few people were representing the trunk, the past. The oldest was Isla Black, a woman who married a Muggle in the Victorian era. This would have been shortly after the family arrived in Great Britain from their homes in France.

Phineas and Lillian were next, Sirius' beloved great-uncle, who was eventually named a High Mage. Marius Black, a Squib great aunt who used to send Sirius treats while he was at Hogwarts and Dorea and Charlus Potter, Charlie Potter's namesake, was here; one of Sirius' great-aunts and James' great-uncles and the closest tie between their families. Cedrella and Septimus Weasley had been restored as well. It seemed that Sirius and Andi had cherry-picked which relatives they admitted to and restored, and they were all those Walburga had blasted off the original tapestry. Just below Sirius's name was his beloved Uncle Alphard. He was the man who supported Sirius when he'd left home due to the abuse his family heaped upon him due to his choice of friends and his 'radical' belief that all magical people were worthy and equal.

In a move that surprised Junie, Sirius had kept his brother on the tapestry. While the two rarely agreed on anything, Sirius had loved Regulus and was deeply saddened by the younger brother's death by misadventure. A curse-breaker should have known not to barge into a tomb without checking for a curse curtain hanging in the entrance. He was vaporized, nothing to even bury. Had his partner not been with him, no one would have even known what happened to Regulus. A tiny rosebud appeared just above the younger Black's name. Junie traced her finger over it, wondering what it meant. There were no other flower buds on the piece.

"There you are," Sirius said as he came into the room. "Why didn't you answer me when I called?"

"I'm sorry, I was just so…I didn't realize that you'd finished it and hung it up already," Junie said, transfixed by the beauty of the cloth painting before her. "Sirius, what does this mean?" Junie's finger ghosted over the rosebud.

"I'll be damned," Sirius said as a curse. "He has a child somewhere."

"Who has a child?"

"That rosebud is coming off my brother's branch, which means he has a daughter or son somewhere, probably in Egypt. I have to find them." Sirius's hand was now also touching the family tree.

"Why Egypt?"

"That's where he was stationed," Sirius explained. "My brother worked for the Ministry, in the Egyptian Antiquities Relations Department. He helped return some of the things stolen from Egypt by British wizards and Muggles when he could. He also did some work in newly discovered tombs, and then the British Ministry was able to have items on loan here for the British Museum. If it wasn't for the witches and wizards doing all the negotiations and charm work to protect the items, there wouldn't be an antiquities area at all."

"I knew he was a curse-breaker, but that was all you'd ever shared with me," Junie said softly. "It sounds like he was a bit of a diplomat as well. Could it have been that the Black men had a silver tongue?" She had intended it as a joke, but Sirius' face crumpled at her words.

"Luv, you have no idea how horrible of a forked tongue the Black men have had," he said cryptically. "My grandfather and great uncle worked curses into their business contracts, so while it seemed that they were merging with another firm, the other owner would die, suddenly, only weeks later, and then we had full rights over it. It was done to the detriment of the workers, the dead man's family, anyone who might have had a claim before they arrived. Some of the newer fortunes were stollen this way." Sirius sighed and led her to the sofa.

"I met Regulus's fiancée at the funeral. Her name is Aisha Essam, and she was a Healer. The last time I saw my brother was in France, on the family estate there, a few weeks before what would be his last Christmas in nineteen-ninety-three. My grandmother, the former Druella Rosier, had gone there after my grandfather's death in the early nineties. Regulus had gone to ask for her engagement ring, as she'd promised it to him; I had no such promises to family heirlooms. We sat with her for a bit more than an hour before we promised we'd visit each other in the coming year. He died in early November of ninety-two. She must have been pregnant when he died, or perhaps she'd left a child behind in Egypt when she came to England for his funeral. I haven't heard from her in years, although I haven't reached out either," he said, sounding sad. They were quiet for an extended period, Junie running her hand across his shoulders in a gentle way.

"I have to find them," Sirius said suddenly, quickly standing. "They deserve a portion of this. They are the heir to the fortune, well, at least until we have children of our own." Sirius nearly glowed when he talked about his own future family.

"Then have someone find them," Junie said gently as she stood. "You have a name, a location, and a career; a good investigator should be able to find mother and child. Perhaps you can even arrange for them to come to visit England, so they'll know their cousins."

"Right, they'll have all the Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew kids they should know," Sirius said hastily. "I'm going to my office and begin drawing up plans and documents so I can put an investigator on it in the morning." He blew from the room in a cloud of happiness, and Junie walked back to the tapestry.

The lines linking her with her fiancée were being woven, and the box where her name would soon be beneath an oval that would house her portrait was slowly stitching together. The double golden line would show to all who gazed that their marriage was vail. Her fingers trailed along the rosebud, wondering at what point the name would appear. She looked at Sirius' branch and further pondered when he would have a bud of their own.