Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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Chapter 3: First Day of Freedom

Upon entering Hogwarts, the unlikely group made their way to the Headmaster's office to have their discussion. Walking in silence, both Lucius and Severus wondered how much Azkaban had affected their two friends. Sure, they never were very good friends with Mary, but they wouldn't wish her any harm. She sacrificed herself and her happiness to them, and these years spent apart had helped open their eyes to the fact that they had viewed Mary as an integral part of their friendship. If she was completely mad, they didn't know what they would do. They couldn't forgive themselves. That would mean that they would have to relinquish their newly freed friend to the mercies of St. Mungo's. This was something they didn't want to do.

Entering the office, Albus took his place behind his desk after caressing to his relative's plumage which pinched one of the fingers of Dumbledore in an affective way. After that, he directed his look to his old students whose lives he had ruined for not paying enough attention to the necessities of the Slytherins. He was a Gryffindor, after all and the rivalries still weighed. Although this time, the wizard was convinced that he would make the demurrage of his renovated students worthwhile. He would not make the same errors. Serving some cups of tea, he indicated the group to sit in front of him.  

After they had taken their respective cup, they all sat down, Mary though took a seat on her husband's lap, interlacing her fingers with his and staring at their entwined hands. The silence prevailed in spite of everything that went through their heads. Albus took advantage of these moments to observe the excellent and powerful wizards that were seated on the other side of his desk. It seemed like it was yesterday when these same students – used to have problems covering the whole back of the seats - tried to persuade him that they were not responsible for a joke that James Potter and his friends had played on them. 

* Flashback * 

  

Lucius Malfoy was seated completely erect and with an air of superiority. In spite of their 16 years, he was a real gentleman, formed by the old label norms. Sat down with crossed legs, drumming his fingers to discharge the tension, he looked to the Head of the Gryffindor House without blinking and in complete silence. 

 

Angelus Lestrange could not erase the smile of his face but the situation was too funny, it was already an entire achievement not to laugh in front of the strict McGonagall. His long fired hair was tied loosely at the base of his neck, the same way as his two friends. He didn't breathe a word but thousands of thoughts ran in his mind. It was neither the moment nor place to speak and he knowing the happenings of the entire events, made it impossible for him to be able to say something and not to laugh about it. 

 

Severus Snape was seated next to Angelus with crossed arms and with his usual expression - pure tranquility and nothing, an absolutely blankness expression. He looked at the headmaster with respect without paying attention to the woman that complained openly about him and his friends. He was completely sure that nothing would happen to him and because of that, he felt that he was losing valuable time in his private laboratory of potions for just being here. Noticing the twinkling for the first time in the eyes of one of the most powerful wizards in the world, he realized that the whole situation was funny for him and only for that reason, he wanted to listen to it again. Albus Dumbledore would be an incredible wizard but he definitively had a very gnarled sense of humor. 

 

The Headmaster allowed the transfiguration teacher to finish her aggravated speech before questioning them. This had gone too far, but even listening for third time, it was completely incredible. Scratching his long white beard and looking with curiosity to his dear colleague, he asked her with a soft voice.

  

"You are trying to tell me that Mr. Malfoy, Lestrange and Snape's familiars ran after you through the whole castle, Minerva?" 

 

"Yes... of course, Albus. Those 'pets' they have are not allowed in the school. They should be tossed immediately and their masters expelled," McGonagall said griping. 

 

"And could you tell me how an eagle, a crow and a hawk could run after you, as you said?" Dumbledore asked smiling. 

 

"They were not birds. They were dogs, three big dogs. I was entering the Common Room in my animagus form to look for Miss. Stevens who had not attended dinner when those three beasts saw me and they ran after me through the corridors to the Great Hall, where you saw me, Headmaster," Minerva hissed pressing her teeth. 

 

"Certainly, very certainly... Very funny also, don't you believe?" Seeing the look of hatred in the teacher's face, Albus continued, "But do tell me, how do you think that the three familiars of the boys arrived at Gryffindor's Common Room?" 

 

"They must have taken them there, they could pursue their way to anyone of my children... they are a threat," the Transfiguration professor said looking angrily to the three students. 

 

"It can be, it can be. But do tell me, how is it that they changed their relatives to dogs? Had you not said previously that they were the three worst students in transfiguration that you had never seen?" Dumbledore asked with a new shine in his eyes. 

 

"Miss Lestrange, pardon, Miss Watson is the best coed in transfiguration of all Slytherin. She helped them." 

 

"It could be, but then... how did the dogs enter the Common Room being all the students Slytherins? Also, why would they put to their family necklaces with the colors of their rival house? With the names of Fluffy, Sweeaty and Susy instead of Thanatos, Hades and Lucifer?" Albus asked smiling even more.  "I would look to a group of Gryffindors, with excellent classifications in transfiguration and an obsession for tender names, don't you think, before accusing three students that spend the afternoon in the dungeons studying." 

 

"Do you mean that the culprits for that I was pursued through the whole school by some rabid dogs are Mr. Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew?" Minerva asked while her face became again red. 

 

"It is a possibility, just a possibility," the headmaster said with his characteristic twinkling in his eyes when he was opening the door of his office so that his colleague could leave. "I hope to see you again when you have finished solving certain matters, don't you think?" 

 

After McGonagall went furiously out of the room, the headmaster turned to his smiling students again.  The three Slytherins rose with a grace worthy of cat and they went to the door without producing any noise. When they were outside of the room, Albus muttered some words that made them lose their self-control. 

 

"An excellent show. A pity that we didn't think of that before, don't you think? 15 points for Slytherin for the entertainment." 

 

With that said, Dumbledore closed the entrance of his office observing for last time the open and unworried laugh of the three boys. 

 

* End of the Flaskback * 

The Headmaster of Hogwarts looked at his ex-students attentively; the horrors of their lives were huge. The laughs that they shared as kids were lost, but they were strong enough to go on with the whole situation.  Now they were together, the Lords of Hell were invincible like they were in their childhood. Only this time, Albus would be by their side looking after them, no matter how old they were.

"It was a long morning. You have to excuse me for bringing you here but it was necessary. There is an important matter I'd like to discuss with all of you. Lemon drop?" They looked at the eccentric man as though he was mad, but almost fell from their chairs when Mary happily took one and started chewing on it. "Quite good, aren't they, Mary?"

"Albus, I do not believe that this is why you have brought us up here. If it is, then I'm leaving. There are many more important matters I could be attending to." Lucius stated pompously, attempting to stand up again.

"Of course, of course. I believe what I have to say will affect all of you greatly. I would like that you, Lucius, and Angelus teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. With two teachers, time can be divided among the students for those who need more help, and those who don't. It will be a great benefit to all the students. You know that Angelus and Mary have to remain under yours, Severus's and my custody and that way, it would be simpler."

"The old wizard wants to watch over me and my angel? Why? Mary was a good girl. It has been a lot of time since I've made the funny green light…" Mrs. Lestrange inquired while she was braiding her long hair. Angelus kissed his wife on the forehead without removing his gaze from the headmaster.  Severus and Lucius looked to their friend with sadness.

Azkaban stole Mary from us, I doubt that we could bring her back, and Dumbledore wants to give a 'teacher' job to Lucius and Angel. He is totally mad; the whole community will be after his head. What do you really want from us, Albus? Severus though in silence looking at the situation in front of him.

"It's an honor to have such job, Dumbledore. We haven't spend a few hours in the school and you already want to throw us away," Lucius said smirking while he was cleaning the 'dust' on his robes.  "It took a lot more than a bewitched position to finish The Prince, The Angel and The Guardian off. You should know that"

"I do not understand what are you implying, Lucius. This year Hogwarts doesn't have a substitute for the false Moody and nobody is better than you are for the job. After all, your knowledge in Dark Arts is impressive. I don't want to push you, it's your decision. You have until tomorrow to answer me."

"Let's supposed that we accept. What are you going to do with Mary? She is not in your plans, Headmaster," Angel asked looking at his old professor suspiciously.

"You don't have to worry about her. If I'm not wrong, little Mary loved her Herbology classes and Professor Sprout would be pleased to have an assistant. What do you think, dear?"

"Plants, plants, Mary likes them," she murmured with a smile looking at Albus before she looked to her husband.  "Mary likes the castle.  Nice memories.  Can we stay here?  With Sevvie and Luc?  I could feed the Slytherins' birds."

"We will think about it, Dumbledore. You will have your answer tomorrow.  Now, if you will excuse us…" the Malfoy Master answered after looking to his companions and rising from his seat.

"Thanks for your time.  I'll be waiting for you before lunch. We have a staff reunion at two ó clock.."

The Slytherin group stood up and walked to the door quietly but with an enormous grace. They were the elite of the magical community after all: The heirs of the biggest fortunes of the whole world.

"Why do you trust us, Headmaster Dumbledore? We are Slytherins, Death Eaters and the infamous Lords of Hell. We are not trustworthy," Angelus asked curiously from his spot at the door.

"What do you think, Severus? Why is that?" Albus asked to his potions master with a bright twinkle in his eyes.

"You 'know' that we are Slytherins and Lords of Hell above all things, and that includes Voldemort. You are playing with the possibility to have us in your side instead of the Dark Lord. But, I wouldn't be so confident in you place, Headmaster," Severus answered seriously, walking through the door making his friends walked before him. "You have to think about the repercussions of your actions… Not all the people are that 'generous'," the Potions Master said smirking while he was closing the office door.

The group walked in silence from the school to Hogsmeade, where they apparated to the Malfoy Manor. Narcissa was waiting for them at the front gates with four house elves by her side. When they reached the Malfoy Mistress, the servants guided Mary and Angelus to their rooms to let them bath and clothe. Lucius, his wife and Severus waited for them in the living room, sitting in comfortable sofas around a small holly table. Portraits from the Malfoy family adorned the walls and big windows let in the sunbeams, illuminating the whole room.  After asking the house elf for a quick lunch for his friends, the Prince turned to his wife.

"Your work was incredible, Darling. You are worth each galleon that you ask for.  Thanks to you, their freedom is regained," Lucius said playing with the emerald ring of his left hand.

"Good. You know that you don't have to thank me.  Anyway, they don't look fine, Dear. What's the matter with Mary?" 

"Azkaban was not so kind on her, Sissa. I'm afraid that she won't be the same, never again," Severus replied looking straight to her with resignation in his eyes. The temperature in the room felt a few degrees matching the feelings of the Malfoy's Masters.

"Where is Draco? He must be awake now. Please, don't tell me that he is playing Quidditch again. Hogwarts starts in a two days, he certainly doesn't believe he is going to improve his seeker's abilities in a few hours, right?" Lucius complained rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm not going to tell you if you don't want to know, Sweetheart. By the way, he sends his regards to you, Sev." Narcissa said smiling to the teacher who nodded in respond.

The door was opened and the Lestrange couple entered to the room. They were unrecognizable; they seemed to have lost their twelve years in prison. Angelus was wearing a dark green robes and his scarlet hair was perfectly combed in a ponytail, with a few strings lose. He was holding his wife's hand, who was as different as him. She was wearing light blue robes and her hair was slightly curled. They walked high and proud, sitting themselves in front of their longtime friends.

"It's good to see you the way you used to look rather than dirty house elves in their dingy clothes," the guardian said admiring his companions.

"Not as good as seeing you, my friend. I assure you." Angelus responded taking away some of his red hair from his face.

"I'm glad to have you back in the Land of the Free, Angelus, Mary" The Malfoy mistress said smiling to them.

"As lovely as usual, my dear, as lovely as usual," the angel commented,  smirking to his friend's wife. "It's good to be back"

"Well, now that we are all here. Let's discuss our next moves, shall we?"  Lucius said clapping his hands.

"Business, business… Always the businessman… Mary want to know how are the little boys," Mary asked looking straight to her husband without her usual smile.

"Our sons are splendid. Do you expect anything else?" the prince answered making himself more comfortable in the sofa. "Julius must be attending his final year at Drumstang and Draco is going to start his fifth in days"

The doors were opened again, but this time a young man of 15 years old entered graciously like a king. His silver blond hair was perfectly combed and all his green robes matched spectacularly. With long strides, he reached the group of adults and stood by his father's side greeting the guests.

"Morning, Father, Mother, Godfather. It's great to see you out of prison, Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange."

"Good morning, Draco. Please take a seat. Moldy will be serving lunch in the dining room in a minute," Narcissa said smiling softly to his son motioning him a place beside her.

"I'd love to, but I have an appointment with Pansy and Blaise. We are going to Diagon Alley today in 30 minutes exactly. Hogwarts starts in two days after all," Lucius smirked proudly at his son comment, but the Malfoy heir doesn't paid attention to him, instead he looked at his watch and added, "I don't want to have them after my head if I'm late. So, I will be seeing you at dinner then."

"I highly doubt it. If I am not mistaken, we will be going to spend the day in Paris," his father replied without noting his friends' bored expressions or preferring to ignore them.  "Angel and Mary need a whole new wardrobe…"

"And if we are lucky, Sev would be getting new robes too," seeing the potions master's face, Angelus continued, "What? I bet you only have PLAIN and BLACK robes."

"What's the problem with my clothes?" Severus complained looking to himself.  "I don't have to worry if they match or not and you cannot notice the stains from my work."

The whole group rolled their eyes at the response and sighed. This would be a long day for Severus, he was sure of that. If Lucius had decided on shopping, he would be returning home past midnight.

"Draco, it could be great if you stop by Mr. Ollivander's shop and tell him to came to the manor in a few hours. Angel and Mary need new wands." Draco nodded to his parents and excused himself. He took a carriage to meet his friends, after pocketing his Hogwarts Supply's list and his Gringott vault's key.

The Malfoys, the Lestranges and the master of Snape Hollow ate their lunch, chatting about the old days and informing the ex-convicts about the current news in the wizard world. Around three ó clock the Malfoy's butler, a brown haired man in his mid-thirties, walked into the room.

"Excuse me, Master. Mr. Ollivander arrived, he is waiting for you at the Entrance Hall," the servant bowed his head and waited for his dismiss.

"Thanks, Giles. You may go now" Lucius said after taking a sip of his tea.

The group stood from their places and walked to the hall where the wand maker was waiting for them. The old wizard was arranging the thousands wands's boxes that he has brought in the recently transfigurated cupboards. Ollivander seemed totally concentrated in his work that doesn't notice them until they were a few steps from him.

"Merlin! You need to make more noise when you walked, sirs. I could have a heart attack," the wand maker regained his composure with a great smile and arrange his glasses. "Master Malfoy. Dragon heartsring, cedar, 13 inches, if I'm not forgotten; and Mistress Malfoy, Veela's hair, holly, 7 inches. Not one of my works but and excellent piece of art. Do tell me sir, do you need your wand to be checked?"

"My wand is as good as new, Mr. Ollivander. I was wandering if you could sold us two wand, for our friends here." Lucius said motioning to Angel and Mary. The old wizard's eyes shown recognition and a little bit of fear, but he didn't said a word.

"We could have gone to your shop, Master Ollivander. But we don't want to attract to much attention, before the prophet writes a new article about their freedom" Severus said trying to calm the wizard nerves. It couldn't do well if he passed out in the middle of the room. I certainly don't want to deal with a frenetic old man this early.

"Of course, of course, Master Snape. Basilisk's teath, ebony, 8 ¾ inches; one of my cousins work," Ollivander smiled a little bit, and turned his attention to the ex convicts nervously. "Let's start, then. Mrs. Lestrange if you please came here"

Mary looked uncertainly from the wand maker to her friends, but decided that if they are fine with the old coat she could do it. Walking a few steps, she stood next to Ollivander.

"Good. Let's try something similar to your old one, shall we?" the wizard look through the cabinet behind him and after a little thinking the came back with a new wand in his hand. "This is Unicorn Hair, Cedar, 8 inches. Give it a flick"

Mary touched the wand and she returned it to Ollivander. "It's not good. It's feels funny, but it's not right. Mary don't like it" the wizard looked confused at her but returned his search for another one.

"Okay. Unicorn Hair, yew, 9 inches. This has to work" Mary took the wand and smiled brightly. She played with it with her fingers, before turning to her friends. "Mary liked it. It's perfect!! Accio My Angel!"

Angel flew with such force that he could have crush Mary if Severus didn't levitated him back fast enough. Mary planted a big kiss on his husband lips before hugging him tightly. "Mary can make new colors with her new stick!!" she said happily walking to her friends. They smiled to her, a little bit surprised of Mary's power.

Angelus smiled his thanks to Severus, who nodded in response. He turned to Mr. Ollivander, who was shocked with the outburst of power in front of him. Usually it take days or even weeks for the wizard to adapt to his new wand. Shaking his head, the wand maker started looking for another wand.

This time, it took a lot longer to find the perfect match to Angel. After 15 tries, some explosions and a bald Ollivander, Mr. Lestrange acquired a new wand.

"It's about time. It was even worst than our first try, Angel," Lucius said sighing, and standing up from his place in the couch.

"It's not my fault if I'm to powerful or to dark for some wands. But, don't worry, this one is perfect" Angelus replied keeping it in his pocket.

"Phoenix Feather, Redwood, 10 inches. Good for hexes. If you don't need my services anymore, I'll be heading to Diagon Alley," Mr. Ollivander said packing the rest of his wands and stuff in various trunks.

"How much do we owe you?" Narcisa asked the old wizard searching for a few galleons in the small vault of the room.       

"It could be 17 galleons and 5 slickes, for both wands," after pocking his money, he continued. "It has been a pleasure to make deals with you, sirs." Ollivander nodded to them and reached the fireplace to flood to his shop.

"Thanks for coming, Master Ollivander. Good luck with the firsties" Severus said smirking from his place by the walls. He received a nod in response from the wizard who flood after that.

A few moments later, they apparated to France for shopping. They shopped all day long, only stopping for tea in one exclusive restaurants in front of the Versailles's Castle.

By dinnertime, they had bought everything that Lucius and Narcissa considered important witch mean almost everything they have seen. Near midnight the group arrived to Lucius's parents cottage to spend the night, after sending an owl to Draco telling him that they would be arriving next day after some appointments.

The group fell asleep as soon as they touched their pillows. It was an exhausting day and tomorrow would be even worse. They would be meeting with Dumbledore again and would be arranging the pieces of the rest of their lives.