His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine
46. Comeuppance & Closure
Alice met her friends on the platform positively ecstatic with excitement. Pinned to her chest was a badge with HG on it in gold script, over the faded Hogwarts coat of arms. "I made Head Girl!" she squealed when she spotted Lily by the train. "I made Head Girl!" She caught her best friend by the arms and they jumped up and down in a little circle, Lily squealing with her. The sight made Severus smile from where he stood by the train door with their trunks. He spotted Frank several paces away, grinning like an idiot as he watched his girlfriend celebrate with Lily.
"Oh my goodness, Alice," Lily exclaimed. "This is so wonderful! Do you know who got Head Boy?"
Alice nodded, catching her breath. "Yes, it was in my letter. It's Emily's older brother Michael, in Ravenclaw." She and Lily shared the universal girl look that meant they found a certain boy attractive, though Sev and Frank both knew they had nothing to worry about.
They boarded the train, and Alice and Severus parted with Frank and Lily to go to the Prefect carriage to meet the new prefects and go over patrol schedules.
Lily and Frank found Peter already in one of the magically expanded carriages, and Renly arrived shortly after them. Sirius and Jackie came a few minutes later, and then lastly, Remus and Emily. The Express pulled out of King's Cross precisely at eleven, and an hour later, Alice, Regulus, and Severus returned to join them.
"The new Prefects are so small," Alice said, though not unkindly.
"I definitely wasn't that much of a shrimp last year," Regulus commented as he settled onto the bench next to Emily. And he wasn't wrong; at sixteen years old, Regulus had sprouted to nearly six feet tall, with fourteen year old Renly not far behind. Both boys would tower over their friends and family.
"Just wait until we see the first years, then. Total shrimps," quipped Sev, and everyone laughed.
As the train sped north into the English countryside, Remus cast an anti-eavesdropping spell to make an announcement. Grinning at Emily, and then Regulus, he said, "I thought it time to make Emily an official member of the Circle."
Now, everyone knew what this meant, and the following silence was deafening.
"He told me at the station before we boarded. I think it's cool," Emily said. "Not in a callous way, or that I think it'd cool to be one, just that it's cool to be part of such a diverse and accepting group of friends. I mean, I knew something was a bit weird every month, and figured one of you would tell me eventually." She shot Regulus an exasperated expression, and he shrugged. "And," Emily continued, "that spread in the Prophet about Sev being the inventor of the Wolfsbane wasn't exactly subtle. Plus the Tonks family is fantastic," she chuckled.
"True," Sev admitted. "It'll be interesting to see what happens at the Welcoming Feast."
"Dumbledore?" Renly inquired.
"Dumbledore. Who else?"
"How much you want to bet he'll take credit for you?" Peter asked, and enjoyed the result as the compartment started debating the appropriate number of sickles and knuts to wager.
As conversation died down again, Lily spoke. "This is such a bittersweet day." She paused, thoughtful. "It's the last time we're all on the train together to school as the Circle. Most of us are seventh years…I'm going to miss this trip next year."
"Great," Renly said with a mixture of lightheartedness and sadness, "now I feel depressed."
"I'm sorry," Lily said sincerely.
Renly quirked one side of his mouth upwards. "It's all right Lily. I knew that I'd be riding the train by myself eventually, since I'm the youngest in this rag-tag little group."
"I always forget you're three years younger," Alice lamented. "You seem more like a sixth or seventh year than a fourth year."
Renly straightened his back and puffed out his chest. "I get that a lot," he joked pompously, and for a split second Severus saw a thinner version of Percy Weasley in the compartment.
The conversation became more lighthearted after this unintended imitation of a boy not even old enough to demonstrate accidental magic, and before anyone knew it they were nearing Hogwarts. The Head Girl and resident prefects left the compartment a little early to help direct the first years to Hagrid, before catching up to one of the two carriages commandeered by their friends. Students milled into the Great Hall and sat at their house tables, all smartly dressed in their school robes, though without their pointed hats. Regulus sat with Peggy and another young Slytherin, who Regulus found to be quite engaging with his varied conversation. Lily caught Cordon's eye over at the Hufflepuff table and smiled in greeting, happy that her sister had found such a good match.
Finally the doors to the Entrance Hall swung open, and McGonagall led in the First Years, who were promptly and quickly Sorted, thankfully without any Hatstalls. Dumbledore commenced the feast with few words, much to the relief of every hungry child in the room. Almost an hour later when the last remnants of food disappeared from the golden plates, the Headmaster stood again, and commanded the absolute attention of the entire hall.
"I know you are all dreaming about going to your nice warm beds, but before I lose you to that thought, I have a few announcements. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden. Hogsmeade visits will begin at the end of the month for Third Year and above, so please be sure your permission slips have been signed, and not lost. Class schedules will be handed out at breakfast tomorrow, and lastly, please contact your house Quidditch captains about tryouts. I would now like to introduce our new Head Boy and Head Girl: Michael Winston in Ravenclaw, and Alice Nelson in Gryffindor. Please give them your applause.
"Additionally," he continued with a gleam in his eye once the clapping died down, "I have a special announcement of recognition. Over the summer the Werewolf Registry was repealed with the invaluable help provided by the Holmes family, and two of our Gryffindor Seventh Years, Severus Prince and Peter Pettigrew. Not only that, the Wolfsbane Potion, a potion to ease the transition of lycanthropy and preserve the human mind within the wolf, was publically released and was made freely available to any and all werewolves wishing to take it. The potioneer responsible was none other than our very own Severus Prince, who invented it when he was just twelve years old."
Sev rolled his eyes and glanced around as the collective gaze of the Great Hall focused on him, as if they'd never read the Prophet article in question.
"Twelve?" a voice from the Ravenclaw table asked, skepticism heavy in his voice. "A twelve year old invented a potion to control lycanthropy?"
"In fact yes, Mr. Mallory," Dumbledore answered jovially, "Mr. Prince is Hogwarts' most gifted student in several generations." That seem to somehow settle it, and everyone just awkwardly glanced around until Dumbledore led the hall in a belated second round of applause, during which Frank, Sirius, and Renly all gave Peter one sickle apiece.
"That was painfully forced," Peter muttered to Sev as they were dismissed, and received an exasperated look in response that said No Kidding, before he went to help the other Gryffindor prefects shepherd the first years (who were indeed shrimpy) up to Gryffindor Tower.
The first week of the new term was chaotic as usual, with Lily organizing the Quidditch team tryouts. As both Prewett twins had graduated, the beater positions were open, and the spots ended up going to Renly Holmes himself, and a second year named Annalise Dorian, who was more ferocious with a bat at twelve than either Prewett had been at seventeen. The highlight of September, however, was the news of the capture and death of the Ministry's most-wanted fugitive, the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. The Circle all crowded around Sirius and Remus in the Room of Requirement as Sirius read the article aloud.
Late last night the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) and an elite Auror taskforce led an ambush on what was a suspected werewolf den, after receiving several reports of dead animals and an aura of dark magic in a small village in middle Scotland, less than a hundred miles from Hogwarts School. Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody ordered capture only, as the identities of the occupants were unknown.
Imagine then, the Aurors' surprise, when they engaged in a terrible battle for their lives with the Ministry's Most Wanted, Fenrir Greyback. Auror Moody himself cursed and killed the werewolf that has brought tragedy and grief to our nation in the attack on the Ministry last December, which resulted in the death of former Minister Beltran Telford. Greyback was also the source of many childhood cases of lycanthropy, most recently and notably the daughter of Andromeda and Edward Tonks, who were one of many targets of Dolores Umbridge's unethical campaign against the werewolf community.
Greyback's body was taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, to research the long-term effects of voluntarily succumbing to the lycanthropy curse, for which Greyback was known to have done.
When Sirius finished speaking, silence filled the room.
Remus shared gazes with his best friend, Severus, and Renly, before saying, "Good. It's a relief knowing he's dead."
"Wow," Peter whispered. "I just…is it weird that I never thought they'd actually get him?"
"No," Regulus quietly responded after a beat. "I never thought they'd end Voldemort." And most of them remembered how deep into the darkness Regulus had been before Severus's intervention.
Everyone looked at everyone else, until Frank asked, "So was he the last one we have to waste energy worrying about?" He left the addendum besides Potter out, respectful of Lily.
Everyone looked at everyone else again before collectively nodding their heads.
"I think we're finally out of arch enemies," Peter remarked, and finally, the lingering tension of six years of diverse worry evaporated.
October 5th of 1977 dawned no different than any other autumn day in London. Muggles and wizards alike commuted to work, cursed in traffic and Ministry entrance queues, frequented the coffee shops and bistros and businesses, and some went to hospitals. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries had its usual patients: cursed spouses, victims of accidental magic, sufferers of bites from overzealous pets. And on the fourth floor in the Janus Thickey long-term care ward laid a teenaged boy with his eyes wide open.
"Hello?" he called out, his memory blank of having arrived at the hospital. "Anyone there?"
An on-call Healer popped her head into the room. "Good morning! You're awake at last."
"What?" he asked stupidly.
"You were brought in unconscious over eight months ago."
The teen stared at her blankly. "What?"
But the Healer ignored further questions as she cast her spells and then left to retrieve the primary Healer.
The boy sat there in silence, his memory a clean slate, wondering why in seven hells he'd been unconscious for that long. His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened once more, admitting a short man in lime green robes.
"Ah, good morning."
"What's going on?"
The man held out his hand, which the teen reluctantly took. "My name is Healer Leo Knight. Can you please tell me your full name?"
He stared for a moment, thinking. "James Henry Potter?"
Knight clucked. "Are you asking me, or telling me?"
James hated people like this, though it didn't occur to him why. "Telling you. I haven't a clue why I'm here, and I feel fine, so can I go home now?"
An unrecognizable expression flickered over Knight's face. "What is the last thing you remember?"
"I…I don't know," he realized. "I don't know! What happened? Why can't I remember anything?"
Knight made shushing sounds. "You had a traumatic brain injury at the end of January. When the Hogwarts matron determined that your case was out of her hands, you were transferred here. It's now the beginning of October, and we weren't sure when you'd wake, to be completely straight with you."
"Where are my parents?"
"Being contacted right now, and should be here soon."
James went silent, but his stare turned dark relatively quickly, and after a few more spells from the Healer, he was alone. He waited, bored, for his parents to finally get to the hospital. He'd been trying to remember something—anything from before his coma to figure out what in seven hells had put him there, since Knight was no help. Eventually, the door opened again, but it was not his parents. It was a different Healer, accompanied by Holy Merlin, is that an Auror?
"Good morning, Mr. Potter," the Healer said without so much as a glance at the man behind her. "Healer Knight said that you're having trouble with your memory. I specialize in neurological diagnosing. While memory loss is normal for traumatic brain injuries, I would like to take a second look using a bit of modified Legilimency to see what kind of block you're experiencing, and whether I can break it in one go." Noticing James' eyes widen, she continued quickly, "It will not hurt, and is routine for patients with amnesia. There is nothing to worry about."
James cleared his throat. "All right, but why is there an Auror here?"
The Healer barely acknowledged his question before she instructed James to lean back on the pillows and relax, which he did, ever so reluctant. She invoked the spell and immediately encountered the expected blockage, and determined it safe to break.
A few moments later she ended the mental intrusion, and felt no small bit of unprofessional satisfaction when she saw his face pale in realization.
"Now, as you are no longer underage, there is no legal requirement to question you in the presence of your parents," the Auror said, stepping forward. "So, with that in mind, do you know why I'm here?"
James stared, not sure if the sick feeling in his stomach was from guilt or being cornered. He did not answer, and made no indicative motions that could be mistaken for a yes.
The Auror sighed and conjured a chair for himself. "Mr. Potter, it makes no difference how much you say or not. We have already seen memory evidence from all parties involved…except you. Make no mistake, the Evans and Prince Families has decided to press charges."
"I have nothing to say to you," James finally spat, angry, though he couldn't decide at whom.
"It's all the same to me, I assure you," the Auror replied in something of a bored voice. "However, if you plan on lying to your parents about it, you'll need to be more convincing than that." He stood and vanished his chair before finishing, "Following your discharge from St. Mungo's you will be taken into Ministry custody until and during your trial." And he left, followed by the neurological Healer.
A few more minutes passed, allowing James to stew in his newly-returned memories before the ward opened again, admitting his parents, both of whom wore expressions of mixed relief, anger, confusion, and worry.
Eleanor Potter had always been a very clingy mother, mostly due to the age at which she and Henry had their son. It spoke volumes, then, when she did not go to hug and kiss her only child. Henry, though not as physically affectionate with his son as his wife, still would embrace James like any good father, but here in the hospital ward, he stopped short of his son's bed.
"James," Henry started, and James knew it was bad if his father didn't call him Jamie, "we know what everyone says you have done, and we've seen and heard all the evidence, but your mother refuses to believe anything until she hears it from your own mouth."
James Potter swallowed hard, trying to think fast. But the skill with which he'd fooled his father's wards abandoned him, and he said, "I don't know what you're talking about," well aware of how bad he'd lied.
Mixed disappointment and anger pooled in Henry's eyes. "Very well. If you will not take ownership or responsibility for your actions, I will ask directly. Did you assault and try to rape your classmate, Lily Evans?"
He let his silence on the matter speak for him, since he knew he was unable to lie about it (convincingly) to his parents, and any admission, of guilt or otherwise, wouldn't help him if even his parents caught him in lie.
Eleanor whispered something to her husband, and then left the room after giving her son an angry, scrutinizing look. Henry drew his wand and pointed it at his son, unmoved by the sudden horror on his face. "James Henry Potter, I strip you of the Potter name." His wand burst with dark colors that surrounded James on the bed. "I remove you from the Potter family and its history. I cast you out from this family for the shame you have brought upon us. I disinherit you and all offspring you may create. The Potter House Elves will no longer answer your calls. You may no longer set foot on the Potter Estates and holdings. You shall inherit nothing from me, or from any of your forebears or extended family. The Cloak of Invisibility will pass out of Potter hands, to a family at the discretion of the Prince line."
The dark colors dissipated, leaving James looking quite pale on the bed. "Father—what—"
But Henry cut him off with a cold gaze. "I have no son. I have never had a son."
He left the ward, leaving eerie silence in his wake.
Henry Potter exited St. Mungo's with an icy expression on his face and a clear path as Muggles on the streets of London unconsciously made an effort to avoid him. His wife had gone home following her departure from the ward, but Henry had other things to do. Namely, seek out and apologize to one Severus Prince and one Lily Evans, though an encounter with his former son's victim might not be well-received. Henry abruptly veered down an empty alley and turned on the spot, disappearing from London with a loud crack and reappearing in Hogsmeade with another.
As he walked up the wide road to the castle, he thought about how he had raised the boy he no longer considered family—where he could have gone wrong in teaching him about morality and boundaries, and discovered his own excuses lacking. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the doors to the castle proper, furious with himself, James, and now Dumbledore, for having enabled his student to the point of no return.
Being midmorning, students were in lessons, but Dumbledore should be in his office. So Henry set up the stairs, ignoring the muttering paintings on the castle walls. He'd been given a private password to the Headmaster's study, since he'd given Dumbledore a password to his Floo so long ago, when he'd made the venerable wizard James's honorary grandfather. The thought now left a bitter taste in the back of his throat.
The Griffin slowly spun upwards, and the Potter patriarch knocked. The doors opened by themselves which meant Dumbledore knew he was there.
"Hello Henry."
"Albus," Henry replied after a pause.
"Might I inquire as to the reason you are here?" the Headmaster pried gently, assuming his old friend's silence might stretch into awkwardness.
Henry walked forward and seated himself across from the massive desk. He frowned, and breathed. "I no longer call James my son. He is nothing to me now."
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, surprised and also worried at what he might say next. "Please elaborate."
"I disowned him, Albus. James woke from his coma and his reaction when I asked him about what he did…he made no answer, but the look on his horrid face told me everything I needed to know. He tried to rape that poor girl." Henry pinched the bridge of his nose. "I would like to request a meeting with Severus prince, and Miss Evans if she agrees to it."
Dumbledore studied Henry Potter with new understanding. "They will require adequate advance notice to prepare. If you could return to the school this evening, I believe they will be ready to receive you."
Henry tipped his head, contemplating another, related matter. "Albus."
"Yes, Henry?"
"When Eleanor and I made you his grandfather by choice, we did not think it would hinder your abilities as the Headmaster."
Slightly taken aback, Dumbledore blinked.
"It is our request that you do not attempt to aid him in any way."
"Surely—"
"No, Albus. He must pay for his actions, himself."
"Without someone's help can he afford a barrister?"
Indifference smoothly flowed over Henry's features. "It is no concern of mine."
A sad expression crossed the Headmaster's old face. "I deeply regret showing him excessive favoritism, and for that you have my sincerest apologies."
"It no longer matters in the grand scheme. What does, however, is the fate of the Cloak of Invisibility. You never returned it to me, and I am well aware of your fascination with it."
Suitably guilty, Albus shifted in is chair. "Yes. I must say that the cloak is a true wonder."
"A true wonder of which my bloodline is no longer worthy. It is my request that the Prince and Evans families have it, or if they do not want it, choose a family to bestow it upon."
Dumbledore's obvious hesitation spoke volumes. "I do not think that is a good idea—"
"Your opinion means nothing in this matter, and the fate of the Cloak is not for you to decide."
"Very well."
"I will return this evening at seven."
Dumbledore watched Henry leave, and picked up a quill to write a short note to Severus and Lily, who were currently in Defense.
"I don't want to go, but I will," Lily said firmly. "There are some things I have to say to him."
Slightly stunned at the vehemence of her decision, Severus stared at her.
"What?"
He grinned. "I just love seeing you fired up like this."
Lily blushed. "We should get going. It's nearly seven."
"Right."
They left the Gryffindor common room and descended the staircases to Dumbledore's office, fingers threaded together for mutual comfort and strength. When they walked through the door they found the Headmaster waiting for them, but Henry Potter had not arrived yet. Neither Severus nor Lily made any attempt at small talk, so the study remained steeped in silence while they waited for the Potter Patriarch.
One minute past seven, the door opened again.
"Henry," Dumbledore greeted from his desk, making no move to stand.
"Albus."
"This is Lily Evans, and Severus Prince, whom you have already had the pleasure of meeting."
Henry's eyes flickered between the two teens, remembering how he'd gotten into a shouting match with Severus back in January. "I—" He spoke, and immediately cut himself off. "There are many things for which I feel I must apologize. Chiefly among them the matter of James." He saw the slight flinch on Lily's face when he spoke the name, and instantly regretted it. "Before anything else is said, however, I must make it clear that neither my wife nor I condone his actions in any way. In fact, we found it necessary to wash our hands of him." Henry paused for effect, though not intentionally. "James is no longer a Potter. We have disinherited him, claim no ties to him, and the fortune he would have received on his seventeenth birthday will go to a better, and far more deserving cause."
Silence stretched in Dumbledore's office for several seconds, before Lily said, "What?"
"He would have inherited a sum of one and a half million Galleons."
"That's over ten million pounds," Sev said in disbelief.
Henry nodded. "I would like to establish a program or foundation in Britain to help victims of assault, and in your name, if you are agreeable." He looked at Lily, whose expression was an emphatic no to naming it after her.
"Overload," Dumbledore muttered to Henry as both Gryffindors quickly conjured chairs.
Henry ignored him. "A different name, then. Now, not all of the money will go to this foundation. I would like to put a portion towards your werewolf potion, Mr. Prince, as I understand the ingredients are expensive and the brewing process complex and time-consuming. A further portion I would have paid to Miss Evans as restitution for the trauma she suffered at the hands of my former offspring."
"Slow down," Dumbledore murmured under his breath, with no intention of actually interrupting.
Henry wrung his hands. "The last thing I would like to address is the fate of that Invisibility Cloak. James tarnished its connection to my family by using it for such a reprehensible purpose, and it is my wish that you and your families take it, and decide what to do with it. I no longer desire it, and should you both feel similarly, please pass it on to another family, or destroy it. Headmaster, if you please."
Sev snapped his attention to Dumbledore as his former mentor pulled open a drawer and removed the cloak. "You lied," Sev realized immediately, his anger directed at the Headmaster. "You told Sirius the Cloak would be returned to him in January!" he pointed at Henry.
Dumbledore at least had the grace to appear ashamed of himself as what Severus said registered with Henry, and the Potter Patriarch began a very loud shouting match with Dumbledore that had to do with honor, responsibility, anger, and disappointment. The voices grew so loud that the portraits began covering their ears, at which point Lily had had enough.
"Stop it!" Lily yelled with a quickly cast Sonorus on herself. "Just stop! You're drowning us in information and I hardly know where to focus first! And you having lied to Severus isn't helping!" She glared daggers at Dumbledore, who sat heavily in his chair and let the cloak pool on his desk. Silence fell again in the office, and Lily took that as her opportunity to continue. "Lord Potter, I came here with things to say about how appalling and vicious your son is, and how you could possibly live with yourself knowing you raised such an awful person. But I don't want to say those things as much anymore after what you've said here, right now." Lily paused and her brow furrowed in concentration. "What you're planning to do with his inheritance…I think it is very well-thought out, except for one thing. I don't want your money as restitution. I don't want it at all, because it would be a permanent reminder that the only reason I'd have it was because a sorry excuse for a human attacked and hurt me, in more ways than one.
"By all means, put my portion into the support foundation, or into Sev's potions work, or to help poor werewolves find jobs and rebuild their lives. But don't give any of it to me."
The three men in the room, along with most of the portrait occupants, stared at Lily Rose Evans with wonder on their faces.
Henry recovered first, by clearing his throat. "Very well, the money that would have been yours will go to all three causes you named."
"You're in an agreeable mood," Dumbledore commented quietly, and Henry glared at him.
"I owe it to you both to do whatever is within my power to atone for my former son's actions, since he will not do it himself. I will act as witness on your behalf in court if you so desire."
"That is acceptable," Severus confirmed. He glanced at one of Dumbledore's odd clocks. "It's nearing curfew, and we still have some homework to finish. If you will excuse us."
"Certainly," Dumbledore said, and did not continue.
Henry looked at Dumbledore, and then at the cloak still on the desk. "I can't believe you," he said angrily as he grabbed it. "Mr. Prince, please take this and do with it what you will."
Severus took the cloak, unsure of his feelings toward it, but knowing that he'd never be able to bring himself to keep it. "I suppose I should thank you," he said, "but I don't' know that I want to do that just yet. Disinheriting James can really only make up for a small bit of the bad parenting he experienced."
"I understand," Henry replied, "and I take no offense. I will simply wish you a good night."
Severus and Lily left the office then, with no words to the Headmaster.
Prince and Evans sat with each other on a Transfigured loveseat on the Astronomy Tower that Saturday night. They hadn't told the Circle about the cloak, but dutifully informed their friends of James Potter's fate of no longer being a Potter.
"At the trial," Lily said abruptly, "I originally didn't want to be in the same room as him, but now I want to go under that cloak and watch him squirm without giving him the satisfaction of seeing me there."
Severus said nothing, sensing she would continue.
"But after that…once he's gone for good I don't' even want to see it again as long as I live."
"Too right."
"While it's a fascinating piece of magic, I'd sooner burn it."
Severus, who didn't want to get into the complexities of the Cloak being one of the three Deathly Hallows, gently nudged in a different direction. "We should give it to a different family, then. Someone like Renly or Peggy, who would have better uses for it than us."
Lily thought. "I like that. I think Renly would really like it, as long as he keeps practical jokes to a minimum."
"Yes. Obviously." Sev smiled and gave her a squeeze. "The trial won't be for a while. Maybe not until spring. What should we do with it until then?"
"Give it to Renly, in private, and tell him we want it back for a brief period that happens to overlap with the trial."
"Okay."
Lily sighed, and kissed Sev's cheek. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," Sev whispered back, his heart overflowing.
It was well past curfew when they returned to Gryffindor Tower, tired but more firm in their choice of what to do with the Potter Invisibility Cloak: make it the Holmes Invisibility Cloak. Lily enjoyed imagining the shenanigans that might occur should Renly's nephews get their hands on it.
In the coming months Lily and Severus saw Henry's victims' program take shape. While sexual assault at Hogwarts was rare, it existed, and Lily's case was now the most well-known. The House Heads each held house meetings to introduce the program in mid-November, and made it clear that there was also a main facility in London. To Sev's astonishment, only two-thirds of the Potter inheritance went to the newly-minted Morgana Center for Assault Survivors, the wizarding world's first bona fide battered men's and women's shelter. To hear McGonagall describe it, Henry Potter had hired highly qualified Muggleborn and Squib therapists and counselors, and they were already being sought out by survivors.
Sev asked Lily if she wanted to visit the center during the Christmas holidays, to which she quietly agreed.
The train ride to London found most of the Circle in good spirits, as Lily's Quidditch team had won their last game of the term against Ravenclaw. Renly occasionally caught Sev's eye and grinned, both knowing what was hiding in his trunk.
Cordon briefly paid their compartment a visit to impart some news. "Everyone, I have something to tell you," Cordon said excitedly as he burst through the compartment door. "Amos got an entry job at the Ministry, right? So he found out that they actually fired Umbridge! She's been barred from re-applying as well, and last anyone heard she was trying to find passage to America."
The carriage burst into noises of approval, and Remus grinned the widest out of them all. "That's the best news I've heard in a while about her," he managed to say, even though he felt a little bad that Cordon wasn't in on the secret, just aware that the Circle had been harassed by the toad of the Ministry and had some strong ties to the Tonks family.
"Can't she just Apparate or take a Portkey to America?" Emily asked.
Cordon shook his head, having already gotten this information from Amos. "She'd need travel approval from the Ministry just like everyone else, and because they also suspended her Apparition license, she's shite out of luck. That's like having your Muggle passport suspended."
"Can she leave the UK at all?"
Peter, who was slightly more familiar with this than the others, answered when Cor shrugged. "Yeah, she can, if she has or gets the right Muggle documents. But seeing as she shunned the Muggle world so completely, it's unlikely she'd even have a birth certificate that the crown would recognize as legitimate, so she probably can't even get a Muggle passport or drivers' license even if she tried. And the suspension of her Apparition license means she can't leave by magical means, at least legally."
Sirius started laughing at the irony, and it didn't take long for everyone else to dissolve into laughter along with him. For several minutes no one in the compartment seemed capable of coherent speech, and when the Express pulled into King's Cross everyone disembarked in high spirits. Lily and Severus bid everyone farewell rather quickly, and Apparated home to Ottery St. Catchpole, where their mothers all but accosted them with hugs at the door. It was nearing midnight when Lily and Eileen had long been asleep that Sev quietly went back to the kitchen to find Rose sipping a mug of tea, still awake from the excitement of having her daughter back home.
"Rose, can I talk to you?"
A/N: [This is a complete chapter.] Chapter 47 will post on either October 10th or 11th, and if I meet neither of those dates, on October 17th.