The Mutt who Lived
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
"Our researchers are currently looking into the history of the Malfoy family. They're also in contact with our Gringotts branch in Sydney to clarify the situation." Sighing again, he continued, "Ms. Black, Ms. Black-Tonks, as soon as I receive information, I shall contact you. I've sent Mr. Malfoy a request to present himself here as soon as possible; however, he replied that it might take a few weeks, before he'd be able to come, considering that he was still in Australia."
"If this Mr. Malfoy showed up," Narcissa spoke up in a shaken voice, "would he be able to claim the heritage?"
"That's for the Malfoy ring to decide," Buckbean replied, frankly.
"The more I think about it, the more I believe that something is wrong here though," Narcissa said, thoughtfully. "My former husband often talked about his gorgeous family." She spat the word in disgust. "I've heard about Nicholas more frequently than I'd have wished for, but he never mentioned a Septimus Malfoy."
"Well, even if he existed and his grandson had the gall to show up here, the ring would still have to accept him," Andromeda said in a soothing voice. "Perhaps he was a Squib and was sent to Australia for that reason. Don't worry about it now. Even if so, you and Draco are members of the Black family in any case, and independently if he will become the Lord Malfoy or not, Draco will make his own way anyway. Fortunately, he's completely different from your former husband."
"That's true," Narcissa agreed, smiling at the thought.
HP
Sirius inwardly groaned in annoyance, as he entered the staff room together with Minerva. 'I'd have rather accompanied the other Marauders and the Mini Unspeakables to the shore,' he thought in exasperation. 'Do I even care what's wrong with Dumbledore?'
Minerva, however, seemed eager to find out what had happened and immediately began to question Godric.
"I'm sorry, Minerva, but I don't know anything," Godric replied and admitted, "Molly Noname is so annoying that I've asked Rowena to come into my portrait and cast a sleeping spell at me, so that my portrait is now asleep at all times. Only when a new headmaster takes over the office from that bitch, Rowena will come and wake me up."
'Oh, that's cool teamwork between husband and wife,' Sirius thought in amazement. 'I wonder if Amelia would be willing to do such a thing for me. Oh well, thank Merlin I don't need it.'
"I suggest that you send Lily or James to Hogwarts to ask her. She should know everything that's going on within her walls," Rowena spoke up in a soft voice, causing Minerva to immediately agree.
'Thank Merlin, that was quick,' Sirius thought, as he transformed into his canine form and quickly took off, rushing after his best friends and children.
HP
On Sunday morning, Lily sent James to speak with Hogwarts, while she, Harry, Dorea and Inu paid Amaterasu a short visit. In fact, she was eager to return to the lab as soon as possible, as she and Severus hoped to be close to finding a cure for the Longbottoms.
During the last few weeks, they had led several lengthy conversations with Merlin and together had developed a recipe with about five slightly different variations, of which at least one should be the solution. At least that was what Merlin, Severus and she hoped.
The thought 'It would be fantastic if we could cure them by Christmas' pressed itself to the front of her mind in spite of the fact that she feverishly tried to not get her hopes up. 'Maybe we still need several years to succeed,' she thought, when the appearance of Amaterasu brought her back to reality.
HP
At the same time, James made his way to the founders' quarters and into the parlour to speak with the castle.
"Hogwarts," he greeted the castle. "How are you faring?"
"I feel lonely," the old castle sighed. "Only the thought of you and Lily coming to visit me, possibly even together with little Harry and Dorea keeps me from getting insane."
"We'll think about something," James promised. "In fact, I already have an idea. I'm only waiting for the current staff to make one or the other grave mistake to fire them all and take over."
"I'll patiently wait for that day," Hogwarts promised, and even if he could not see a face on the wall, James had the impression as if the old lady was smiling.
Letting out a deep sigh, he decided that it was time to get to the point and asked, "Do you know if something is wrong with Dumbledore by the way?"
Hogwarts echoed his sigh, before she replied, slowly, "I believe that his magic is somehow weakened. He's barely able to properly cast spells recently. In fact, the headmistress has been taking over his classes ever since the beginning of the school year, while he spends his days in the headmistress' office doing paperwork."
"Is he a Squib?" James enquired, his eyes narrowing in disbelief.
"I'm not sure if it's that bad," Hogwarts replied.
"Do you know how it happened?" James asked in concern. 'Is that what Inu did to him?' he wondered.
"Not at all my boy," Hogwarts replied in a firm voice.
'Thank Merlin,' James thought, 'even if I could understand if Inu did such a thing to avenge Harry. He'd do anything for his twin brothers.'
'And for the family,' a small voice reminded him from the back of his mind.
HP
Only in the evening, right before they had to head to the atrium for dinner, did James get a chance to speak with Inu about the matter. "Did you cast a spell at Dumbledore to make him a Squib?" he asked the canine.
Inu merely looked at him from large, brown eyes, before he proceeded to lick his right hand with fervour.
"You're a good doggy, aren't you?" James asked in a soft voice.
Inu nodded, before he once again looked up at him, trust clearly displayed in the canine's eyes.
"I understand that you wished to avenge Harry, but in the future, please don't cast dark spells at people who are not outright evil," James added, causing Inu to nod again and give him a comforting woof of promise.
HP
Ambrosius Malfoy was a Squib – or that was at least what his father and grandfather had told him. He was 25 years old, of tall stature and had silver eyes and white hair. The family had been living in the suburbs of Sydney ever after his grandfather, Septimus Malfoy, had immigrated from Britain. Ambrosius was a student of Biology at the university and was just in the middle of making plans for a year abroad to study in Japan. All of a sudden, however, he began to feel strange. It was as if his brain was splitting. He could feel another presence in his mind, even if he could neither place it nor find any explanation for this abnormality.
That was until one day, a voice spoke directly into his mind.
'Hello, I am Lucius Malfoy, and from now on, you're going to do as I tell you.'
'What?' Ambrosius thought back, incredulously. 'Who are you to command me?'
'I am your better, as I'm a wizard and not a miserable Squib like you and your branch of the family,' the voice replied, firmly.
'Who in the world is Lucius Malfoy?' Ambrosius wondered. He had never heard that name before.
From that time onwards, his life went downhill. At first, he only noticed that he could not remember what he had been doing during the last hour or two; however, the blanks were getting larger by the week, and he more often found himself in places, which he did not even know let alone how he got there in the first place.
He even toyed with the thought of visiting a psychiatrist; however, afraid that no one would believe him anyway, he quickly dismissed the idea.
HP
This year, the Christmas holidays proved to be extremely eventful.
In the morning of Christmas Eve, the headline of the Daily Prophet shouted in red letters.
'Dumbledore acting as headmaster – Molly Noname teaching Transfiguration classes'
The explanation followed swiftly.
'Concerned parents from students attending Hogwarts have reported that ever since the beginning of the current school year, Molly Noname has been teaching the Transfiguration classes, while Albus Dumbledore has been taking the position of the acting headmaster. Four years ago, the Wizengamot had deemed him unfitting as headmaster and had dismissed him from the position. Parents are now wondering what the school is doing. Read more about Dumbledore's trial in front of the Wizengamot on page 5…'
"Don't you think that it's slowly time to interfere at Hogwarts?" Minerva spoke up, giving Lily and James a questioning look.
"I've already begun to make plans," James admitted; "however, I'd like to wait for about two more years, provided that Dumbledore and his minions don't do anything too stupid."
"That reminds me of something," Arcturus spoke up from Minerva's side. "As they didn't manage to come here on the kids' birthday as planned, I've invited my colleagues Raros and Mento for Christmas dinner, and they've both accepted. Please be kind, Sirius."
Rolling his eyes in apparent annoyance, Sirius promised, "I will. As long as Raros is not the hag of my mother, I'm good."
Now it was his grandfather's turn to roll his eyes. "It's not," he repeated what he had already told Sirius many months ago.
"Thank Merlin," Sirius replied, just when Narcissa let out a loud gasp.
"What's wrong?" Minerva asked in apparent concern.
"Buckbean just sent me a message that Ambrosius Malfoy has made an appointment with him to take over the lordship of the Malfoy family on the 27th of December and asks if I wish to join them together with Draco," Narcissa explained, pensively.
"Leave Draco here," Arcturus instructed her.
"I think so, too," Minerva agreed. "Just ask Andromeda to accompany you."
Narcissa nodded. "I hope she can get away from home on the twenty-seventh."
"If not, I'll gladly accompany you," Severus offered, causing Narcissa to smile.
"Thanks Sev," she said, gratefully.
Lily absentmindedly listened to the conversation that drifted between several topics, deeply engrossed in her own thoughts.
Severus and Lily had managed to brew a version of the cure, which they deemed successful. However, only after administering the potion to Alice and Frank they would know if it really worked. They had agreed with head healer O'Brien and Augusta Longbottom to join the old lady for her usual visit at the hospital on Christmas Day. In the presence of Healer O'Brien, Severus would then administer the potion to their friends. Lily was still going through an internal fight. On the one hand, she would prefer to give Alice the potion herself; however, on the other hand, in case it would not work as planned, she might prefer if someone else had given her friend the potion. 'Oh well, I still have until tomorrow, before I'll have to decide,' she consoled herself.
HP
Right after breakfast, Augusta addressed Lily. "Lily, I think we need to tell Neville now, just in case Alice and Frank will be healed tomorrow."
Lily immediately agreed and ushered Harry and Neville into their own room, accompanied by Augusta, James and Inu.
"I need to tell you a story," she began to speak and explained the story of four friends, two couples. "Each of them had a baby, but one of the couples had a doggy, and the other didn't. Now, when evil wizards attacked the two families, one was protected by the doggy, who saved their lives, and the other was unprotected. The baby survived unharmed, but the parents were badly injured. Thus, the healthy parents of the protected family took the baby in, when his parents were taken to St. Mungo's to recover.
The two children were hanging on her lips, and from Harry's expression, it was evident that he knew what the story was about, while Neville was just listening with apparent interest.
"The doggy is Inu," Harry suddenly spoke up, solemnly. "He's a hero."
Neville's eyes widened in shock and after a short while of absolute silence spoke up. "The baby. Is that me?"
"Yes Neville," Augusta confirmed, gently pulling the eight-year-old onto her lap. "Lily and James are your and Harry's parents, but they're not your birth parents. Your birth parents are Frank and Alice, and they're at St. Mungo's. Lily and Uncle Severus have developed a potion that might cure them, which is why we're telling you this now. While Lily and James will always be your parents, if Frank and Alice recover, they will want to be your parents, too."
"And Harry's and Inu's too?" Neville enquired in a firm voice. "'Cause they're my twins."
"Of course dear," Augusta confirmed, while Inu rose onto his hind paws to gently lick Neville's face.
"Now Neville, we don't know if the potion will work and Alice and Frank will be healed tomorrow," Lily spoke up in a soft voice.
"It's okay Mum," Neville replied, smiling a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Thanks for trying anyway."
Lily smiled, gently placing a kiss onto the boy's forehead. "Always son. If it doesn't work, we'll continue trying."
Lily, James and Augusta decided to take the trio, Dorea and Charlus somewhere for the day, where they could remain just with the closest family to give Neville time to adjust but also to allow him to freely speak about the matter without having his friends listening in.
"How about a trip to Dublin to look at the Christmas decorations?" Lily suggested, and Augusta and James immediately agreed.
Lily realised that – noticing that everything was as normal as it could be – Neville soon returned to his usual, cheery self, and the five children including Inu enjoyed themselves a lot. They only returned to the MAMA shortly before the Yule Ball was going to commence.
HP
On Christmas morning, the students, who had remained at the school for the Yule Ball, returned home via Portkeys or Floo.
Minerva let out a relieved sigh. "As much as I'm happy to see them coming every time, I'm always glad to see them gone for a while."
Everyone fully agreed, and the extended family enjoyed a quiet breakfast in the atrium. While the adults talked over a few cups of tea, the children busied themselves opening their Christmas presents, accompanied by the occasional shout of pleasure.
As the time passed, Lily could not help getting more and more excited.
"Shall we get over it?" Severus finally asked, giving her and Augusta a questioning look.
To Lily's relief, Augusta immediately agreed, and the three excused themselves to travel to St. Mungo's.
"I'll accompany you," Poppy spoke up and swiftly followed them to the fireplace.
HP
Lily was glad to have Poppy with them, as she immediately went to fetch Healer O'Brien, who greeted them with a broad smile.
"Thank you so much for coming and trying to heal the Longbottoms," he said, lightly bowing his head in the direction of Lily and Severus.
Lily returned a smile, which did not reach her eyes. "I just hope that it'll work," she replied, inwardly sighing.
"Thank you, Healer O'Brien, for taking time for us, especially on Christmas morning," Augusta greeted the Healer.
"It is my pleasure," the healer replied. "I couldn't imagine a better Christmas present than to see two young people cured from a horrible illness. Shall we go and see if we shall be granted our wish?"
It was still early in the morning, and they did not meet anyone on their way through the hospital. Lily inwardly sighed in relief, when Poppy offered to administer the potions; however, her relief soon made place for horror upon seeing her best friend's condition. Even if she had known about it and spent years of research into the matter, she had never accompanied Augusta to the hospital and it was still a shock to see her friend like this. 'I just hope it'll work,' she thought, as she remained a little aside, together with Severus, when Poppy and Augusta stepped over to Frank's side.
Poppy administered the potion, and Lily observed in excitement what happened – only to realise in extreme disappointment that nothing happened at all. While Poppy and Healer O'Brien waved their wands over the patient, Frank's condition did not visibly change.
"It didn't work," Severus voiced her fear, his voice void of emotion; however, Lily knew that he was as disappointed as herself.
She almost could not believe it, when Healer O'Brien suggested trying the potion on Alice. "There's still a chance that it might work, as her condition is slightly different from Frank's," the healer informed them, causing Lily to stare from Severus to the healer with a small spark of hope.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome.
Next chapter: "Longbottoms and Malfoys".