Chapter 9

The arrival of Alastor Moody had unfortunately brought with it an unprecedented speed at which news of the returns spread. The entire wizarding world now knew that Sirius Black, one of the Weasley twins, and the former head of aurors was back. Unfortunately, this meant that, not for the first time in his life, Harry James Potter was ssubject to countless rumours about his relationship with death and his status as the Chosen One. None of this was anticipated in the original plan to figure out the extent to which people were being brought back and then breaking it to the public in a controlled manner. Ginny was being hounded at the Daily Prophet offices for any scraps of information her fellow reporters could find. The Weasley cousins, all of whom (with the exception of Victoire) were unaware that their uncle had returned from the dead, were also being bombarded with questions from all houses.

It was for this reason that James Sirius Potter decided to call a Weasley family meeting that Thursday, three days after the news broke. Victoire, Dominique, Louis, Roxanne, Fred, Albus, Lily and Lucy all gathered in an infrequetly used Defence Against the Dark Arts duelling room that night.

'Alright,' he addressed the ten others before him. 'We have two things on the agenda today. Me, Freddie and Louis have discussed at length and we think it's absolutely appalling that the parents decided not to tell us that Uncle bloody Fred has returned from the dead. I don't know about you lot, but finding out from that nosy git Scott was not exactly my preferred way.'

The intense stare that Dominique was giving her sister did not go unnoticed by Roxanne. 'What was that look, Dom?' she asked with a smirk.

'Nothing,' replied Dominique, pouting.

'That's not nothing,' Roxanne. 'What do you know that we don't?'

Victoire let out an exasperated groan. Deciding to let Dominique out of the question spotlight and take control of the situation herself, she started. 'Okay, okay. I have something to confess to you all.'

Ten pairs of wide eyes looked back at her. The Weasley cousins had never been this quiet. Ever. 'On Sunday night, I was the one who found Uncle Fred in the hallway while I was on Head Girl patrol.'

Ah, there was the noise. Everyone speaking at once, Victoire knew she wouldn't exactly be the most popular cousin for hiding Uncle Fred from the rest of them, but hearing a few choice words thrown in her direction were unacceptable. One meaningful look at Dominique and an ear-piercing wolf whistle later, it was quiet again.

'Go on,' said Freddie. 'How are you going to weasel your way out of this one?'

Vic rolled her eyes. 'Okay. You can all stop looking at me murderously, now. I was explicitly told by McGonagall and Uncle George that nobody could find out just yet! I didn't know about Moody either till the rest of you did. There are too many of us, and they didnt want the news to be spilled straight away before they cleared things up with the ministry.'

'But you told Dominique?' asked Roxanne.

Victoire nodded. 'She knew something was up with me. And she can actually keep a secret.'

'Valid,' said Roxanne. Thurning to Dominique – the cousin she happened to have shared a dormitory with for the last 6 years. 'And you couldn't be bothered to tell me that my Dad's dead twin was back?'

'Hey! Your Dad didnt tell you either!' The cousins leapt to take sides – something they were very good at when a disagreement popped up between two of their kind.

'This argument is pointless,' interrupted James. 'We have a second point today and it'll all be handled better if we're getting along, despite the blondies' snakelike behaviour this week-' James was cut off by a tongue tying jinx, sent wordlessly his way by Victoire. She quickly muttered the countercurse with a pointed look tat said get on with it, you little prick.

James cleared his throat. 'The biggest problem facing us is not the annoying students of Hogwarts, even though they need to stop bugging us even more than usual. It's that it's still only May and we're not planning on going home, really, before the end of the school year. How in Dumbledore's name are we meant to spend two whole months knowing that our we have an Uncle we've never met who's right there?'

'I want to meet my namesake,' said Fred. 'Dad's got his other half back and we know nothing more than any other kid in Hogwarts. We either need to find a way to get home or get Uncle Fred here. Anyone have any ideas?'

There was a momentary pause before Lucy brightened. 'Hogsmeade weekend! If we find a way to get Uncle Fred to the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Hogsmeade branch, we can meet him there!'

'Not fair-' began Lily but she was shushed by Hugo reminding her that even though the two of them were second years, they'd be able to use a secret passage out of the castle. A smirk took over Lily's face and she sauntered over to James.

'I think you know what that means, Jamie. Hand it over.'

'You can't be serious,' James spat. 'You're not supposed to get it 'til third year. Same as me and Al and Teddy.'

Hugo decided to back up Lily. 'Well we're not hiding behind in the castle while you all meet Uncle Fred! You've got to give her the map, James.' Lily nodded in approval at her Hufflepuff cousin displaying his house trait wonderfully.

'Fine,' grumbled James. 'You get it the morning of. And hand it right back afterwards.' Lily and Hugo shared a deligthed grin. 'Meeting adjourned, Weasleys!'

A few relieved sighs and lots of chair scarping later, the group left the classroom, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors heading upwards to their towers and the rest descending the many staircases to the lower floors.

Albus Severus Potter was walking to his dungeon dormitory alone, as the only Weasley cousin sporting green on his school robes and the only Slytherin out of the dungeons this close to curfew. However, his plans to go straight to sleep in the cozy green-tinted dorms were abruptly canceled when, turning a corner, he tripped over... was that a body? It couldn't be. It was clearly an adult, dressed in long brown robes which had definitely seen better days. But he couldn't be a professor. The stranger was laying down sideways, unruly hair covering his face. Albus decided the best course of action was to kick him. Nobody said Potters had any common sense.

'Mister?' Albus asked, as he rolled the man over onto his back. 'lumos.'

The wandlight lit up the now uncovered face of the unconscious man. He looked about forty, with deeply embedded scars up and down what Albus could see of his face and neck. His jawline was sharp and his hair was a light grey with streaks of blond hair that must have once populated his head. Albus had seen this man before. Images from Teddy's photo album and Granny Andromeda's living room confirmed that the man was an unconscious Remus Lupin. With all of this talk of Sirius Black and Fred Weasley, Al couldn't help but believe it right away. But what was he to do? He could just imagine getting caught levitating an adult up to the Headmistress's office, but waking up Lupin was a recipe for disaster – Albus didnt know what state he'd be in and whether he would be ready to attack anyone unfamiliar.

Albus settled on levitating Remus into the Slytherin common room and trying to call his dad through the floo network. That would work. Al just had to hope that Remus wouldn't wake up for a little while longer. He quickly practiced the wand motion for Stupefy that James had taught him a few months prior in case he had to quickly render Remus unconscious. While James had custody of the Marauders' Map at the time (he and Albus swapped possession every so often), Albus had his turn with the invisibility cloak. He pulled it out of his robes and draped it over Remus, so any fifth and seventh years still up studying in the common room wouldn't notice a dead floating man coming through with Harry Potter's son. That wouldn't attract attention at all.

'Wingardium leviosa.'

It was working! Entering the grandiose common room, Al noticed only two other Slytherins getting some work done by the fireplace. Trying not to breathe too suspiciously, Al gently lowered Remus onto one of the armchairs in a dark corner, grabbed the nearest book and proceeded to read the same five sentences over and over until the two NEWT students bid one another goodbye and left towards the dormitories. Immediately, Albus rushed towards the glowing fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo power as quickly as possible and muttering Potter Residence, Godric's Hollow.

Their house elf, Hetty answered the call. Albus briefly explained the situation and told Hetty that it was urgent she call his dad to help. Within a minute, the gruff voice of an ubruptly-awoken Harry Potter appeared in the fireplace. 'Al, what's wrong? You never call through here.'

'Dad, I think- Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure but... um, when I was walking back to the common room, I found- I think it's another person back. Like Sirius, like-'

Al was dragged backwards from the fire from the neck of his cloak. A wandless Expelliarmus from Remus meant that his wand was now in possession of a man who might well be close to killing Albus. He felt Remus' wand tip digging into his chin and his dad's desperate voice calling from the fireplace.

'Who are you?' demanded the werewolf. 'Who were you contacting?'

Albus froze. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. Eye to eye with Teddy's dad, he was struck by a ridiculous urge to laugh. Unfortunately, he let a nervous bark of a laugh out, causing Remus to dig his wand in further.

'I'm going to ask once more,' Albus had always pictured Teddy's dad as a warm, easygoing person and a great teacher. He had no idea the man was capable of such acid in his voice. 'What is your name, and who were you contacting?'

'Al-My name is Albus. I'm a student, please don't hurt me,' he pleaded. He finally locked eyes with the former professor and both his expression and his grip on AL's neck softened, but his wand was still firmly attached to Al's face.

'I'm not going to hurt you. I just want information. Two minutes ago I was in a one-on-one duel with a death eater and then I find myself covered up by an invisibility cloak with a suspicious Slytherin passing on a message. You can see why I'm a little on edge.' He raised his eyebrows as if to say spill, kid, or get used to the wand in your chin.

Albus gulped and mulled over his options. He was looking very suspicious, it's true. And the green robes didnt exactly help his credibility with this famed Gryffindor. 'I'm-well, you see. It's kind of a long story, Longer than you'd think, quite a lot longer actually-'

'Get on with it.'

'Yes sir, um- okay. The battle. The battle of Hogwarts that you were fighting in.' Al looked to Remus for confirmation. He recieved nothing but the same hardened expression. 'In the duel you were talking about, you sort of, um, died. And now you're back from the dead and I found you in the hall and I didn't know what to do so now you're in here.'

'You're telling me that I died?'

'Yes.'

'And that it's been long enough that the students are back to school?'

'Yes.'

Al could see his brain working at a million miles a second. But he didn't have time to find out what Remus would ask next because the door to the Slytherin common room swung open with impressive speed and in came Professor McGonagall and Albus' dad.

'Expelliarmus.' Harry did not hesitate to remove the man's wand from his son's chin. Another spell from McGonagall and Remus was quickly incapacitated in tightly bound ropes.

Albus loved seeing his dad in action. He knew Harry must be feeling loads looking at his old mentor's face for the first time in decades, but from where Albus was standing, his dad's expression was totally unreadable. 'What was the creature in the corner of your office the first time Harry Potter entered it?'

'A grindylow. How would you know-'

'Where were you when you broke the news that Tonks was pregnant to Harry Potter?'

'Number 12, Grimmauld Place. But how-' Remus' eyes widened immensely as he looked at the much older version of the boy he knew. 'Harry.'

It wasnt a question. With a wave of a wand, the ropes undid themselves and Harry embraced Remus. Professor McGonagall was close behind, a tear trickling onto her cheek.

'I have so many questions.'

'I know, Remus, but first we need to get you to a more private location than the Slytherin common room,' said Harry. Remus nodded and Harry, knowing what it's like being fourteen and endlessly curious, motioned to his son to follow.

James was going to be fuming at Albus getting to meet the newly arrrived marauder.