Dumbledore's prediction was spot on when he finally got to the part of the story where he left Harry on the doorstep of the Dursley household. Dumbledore froze when he felt something hit his beard. Looking down, he noticed half of it had been cut clean off... He stared in horror as his beard, which he has been growing for almost 50 years, was sliced off in a millisecond. He looked to see Lucy looking...less than pleased.
"That was an innocent beard." Dumbledore said, slightly ticked off.
"And my son was an innocent baby when you ruined his life." Lucy growled.
Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment. "I know."
Lucy's eyes narrowed and she held Harry protectively. "You won't take him from me." She snarled. "He's MY son. Nobody else's."
"And I'm not going to challenge your right to have him as your son." Dumbledore told her.
Lucy glared at him. "Then what do you want?"
"All I want is to make sure that Harry was safe and to ensure that he will be happy despite the horrible mistake that I made concerning him."
Lucy's expression softened as she turned her attention to her son. "...He will be happy..." She said softly.
Harry smiled up to Lucy and hugged her. the scene in front of him made Dumbledore smile slightly. "I know he will, now he has you."
Bando stepped forward. "So you don't have to leave anymore." He said calmly. Lucy looked up to the two men.
"You're certain Harry and I will be safe here?" She asked.
'If you don't feel safe, I can get you accommodations at Hogwarts." Dumbledore told her.
Lucy tilted her head and frowned. "I don't know..."
"Ooh! Can Mr. Bando come too so he doesn't have to pay for the hotel anymore?" Harry asked innocently.
Dumbledore chuckled as Bando looked at him in confusion. "I think that will be doable." Dumbledore remarked.
The younger man thought about it. "Huh...Having a place to stick around would be kinda kickass..."
Harry looked gleeful as Lucy sighed in defeat. "Looks like I've been out voted her." Lucy said with a small smile. She turned to Dumbledore. "Please...take us to this Hogwarts place."
"Alright then, if you three would kindly grab onto my robe sleeves." Everyone obeyed the elderly wizard but each had a confused looked when they did so. "Now what?" Bando asked the wizard, earning a smile from Dumbledore. "Why, we apparate of course."
Bando looked even more confused. "What the hell is appara-" Bando's words were interrupted when they disappeared with a pop and reappeared at the small village of Hogsmeade. Lucy, Bando and Harry snapped their heads back and forth, trying to decipher what had just happened.
"THE F*CK ARE WE!" Bando yelled towards Dumbledore, who looked at him unfazed by his yelling.
"Hogsmeade, my friend." The old wizard explained calmly. "The village near Hogwarts."
"How did we get here?" Lucy asked with her eyes narrowed.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Why, magic of course." He replied. Lucy's eye twitched from the simple explanation but decided not to comment. Harry was looking around in wonderment as he took in the sights.
"Magic is real..." He said softly. His uncle had been wrong after all. He smiled gleefully. Lucy looked down at her boy and smiled at his happy expression.
"I guess this is an amazing thing for you, huh?" She said softly. Harry looked up and nodded. Lucy let out a chuckle.
Dumbledore smiled. "I'll be more then willing to give you a tour od the town later, but right now, why don't we retire to the castle and have some early dinner." Dumbledore offered them.
Lucy nodded. "I never did get a chance to cook..." She agreed.
"Yeah, I could go for something right now." Bando added. Dumbledore smile and gestured towards a path that lead out of the village. "If you would follow me, we can have you bellies filled." Bandou followed with a grin. Lucy and Harry exchanged a glance, then followed suit. When they exited the village, they saw the castle that was Hogwarts. Bandou whistled. "That's a big-ass castle." Harry and Lucy nodded in agreement at the breathtaking castle they were getting closer too. Dumbledore chuckled.
"Yes, she quite breathtaking isn't she." Dumbledore asked rhetorically.
"It's beautiful." Lucy agreed. Harry nodded, completely speechless.
"Well, to celebrate Harry's safety, we shall have a feast!" Dumbledore exclaimed. They followed him through a courtyard and to the massive doors that was the front doors. Dumbledore turned to the group with a mysterious smile. "Are you ready to see the castle?" Dumbledore said as he waved his wand and opened the door. The group of three following him stared in awe at the interior of the castle. To say that it was massive would be an understatement. "It's f*ckin' HUGE!" Bandou exclaimed.
"I agree with you." Lucy simply said, looking around the huge room. Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily.
"It appears that your all enjoying the sights." Dumbledore said to them. "But if you would kindly follow me, the Great Hall is just over here." He points towards another set of doors that was almost as big as the doors they just passed. "I will prepare a meal for everyone." Dumbledore opened the door to the Great Hall, letting the three enter the hall. "Why don't you three get comfortable while I go have your food prepared?" Dumbledore asked as he walks away to alert the kitchens to make lunch for the three and to round up the teachers and staff. The group of three obediently took a seat at the long table. There was a long, awkward silence.
"Soooooo." Bando drawled out. "This is definitely different."
"Yeah..." Lucy replied simply with a small nod. The room returned to an awkward silence once again. "The castle looks great." Lucy said as she eyed the room.
"It's really cool." Harry agreed.
Lucy smiled down at her son. "Hopefully we will be safe here for now."
"Heh...Those bastards'll never get ahold of ya now." Bandou replied. Lucy looked up at him. "What?" He asked. "It's true."
"It's not that. I'm just surprised that you care so much after all we've been through." Lucy explained.
Bandou snorted. "I was just helping the kid, diclonius."
Lucy was silent for a moment then smiled. "Thank you, for helping Harry."
Bando smirked. "Well, he is one of the only kids that hasn't flipped out when I tried talking to 'em."
"Can't imagine why most children would be scared of you." Lucy said sarcastically with a smirk. Before Bando could retort, Dumbledore walked into the room.
"Dinner will arrive shortly!" He declared. He walked in and was followed by other people with robes. One of them, a woman with glasses, looked over at Harry. Her eyes widened when she recognized who he was.
"Albus...He's...alive...?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, and we have these two wonderful people to thank for his safety." Lucy blushed and looked away and Bando raised a brow.
"Who the hell are you people?" Bando said bluntly.
"Yes...I have the same question..." Lucy mumbled, still blushing.
Minerva McGonagall glared at Bando before addressing them both. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I am the Transfiguration professor of this school." McGonagall introduced.
"Bandou." Bando replied bluntly, putting his feet on the table.
"I'm Lucy..." Lucy introduced herself uneasily.
While they were introducing themselves, one of the people who followed Dumbledore into the room was staring at Harry. It was a man with long, greasy hair and a big nose. As he stared at Harry, he could see a ghostly image of a man that was older with the same hair but with brown eyes. This man was known as Severus Snape, master potion brewer and Potions professor. The man's eyes narrowed in the little boy's direction.
'So the spawn of Potter is finally here.' Snape thought bitterly. Lucy noticed the glare Snape was giving her Harry, and she gave him an even more vicious one right back. Snape immediately felt her gaze and looked up to see her intense glare. His eyes widened in horror. He could feel the killing intent. Lucy smirked at Snape's expression.
"I'd advise you treat Harry kindly." She said to him. He slowly nodded. "Good." Lucy said coldly. Lucy turned back around to see that everyone was starring at both her and Snape. "...He pisses me off." She said simply, running her fingers through Harry's hair. They decided to leave that as that and went on with the introductions.
"So who the hell's all these other people?" Bando asked. They all stared at him for his filthy language."What?"
"Such horrid language." The very short man said.
Bando scoffed. "Whatever, shorty." The shorter man took offense to this and angrily took out his wand. Bando found a nearby pitcher of water dumped onto his head. Bando swiped the water out of his eyes. "...I'll get ya for that, ya damn bastard..." The small man narrowed his eyes as he readied his wand. Bando tossed a bowl at his head. He easily dodged the bowl and fired a red stunner at Bando. Bando dodged the spell. The tiny man snorted. Bando, on the other hand, smirked at his small victory. "Missed me you midget." Bando taunted.
Lucy smacked Bando on the back of the head. "Stop it." Bando held the spot she smacked and hissed in pain.
"He started it!" He protested.
The shorter man scoffed. "It wasn't me that started this, it was you and your dirty mouth."
"Fillius!" A stout woman snapped. "Control yourself!"
Fillius Flitwick flinched at her snapping at him. "But Pomona." Flitwick started before being interrupted.
"ANYWAY!" Dumbledore exclaimed. Everyone stopped to look at Dumbledore. "Let's enjoy lunch while we still can, though I guess it would be more of a late lunch then anything." Dumbledore explained. "In fact, you could almost consider it a dinner..." Dumbledore chuckled as he clapped his hands and food magically appeared on the table.
"...I shouldn't be surprised at this point..." Said Bando.
"Me neither." Lucy said stoically as she looked at all the food that was spread before them. She began filling Harry's plate. After filling his plate, she started to fill her plate as well. Bando followed their example and quickly filled his plate full of food. Soon, everyone was gathered around the table with plates full of food. Dumbledore stood up from his seat with a smile. He cleared his throat.
"Before we begin our lovely meal, I would like to formally greet our new residents of Hogwarts." Dumbledore said as he looked towards the trio. Lucy, Bando and Harry all looked around at the other occupants of the table. They were staring right back at them.
"...Quit starin'." Bando grumbled. Flitwick gave him a dirty look but refrained from saying anything. Bando lit a cigarette.
"As I was saying, I would like to introduce Mr. Bando, Miss Lucy, and Mr. Potter to the castle." Dumbledore quickly said, hoping to avoid another scene. There was a chorus of murmurs sounding throughout.
"Did he say Potter?" Aurora Sinistra asked in a whispered to her neighbor.
"Yes...Harry Potter...Is he...?"
"I can't believe that he's actually here, The Boy Who Lived." At this point, Harry started to get uncomfortable with all the staring and the murmurs. Lucy glared and held him protectively. Bando frowned at how they were making Harry uncomfortable.
"Hey, old people! Quit talkin' about the runt like he's not here!" Bando snapped. The professors stopped muttering about Harry and looked sheepish. Lucy flashed bando a thankful smile. He simply grunted in response and went to his meal. The teachers decided to eat their own meals while talking to each other about their day. And Lucy was spoon-feeding Harry. Harry happily opened his mouth to allow the food to enter his mouth. The diclonius was smiling warmly all the while. Dumbledore and McGonagall looked at their interaction and smiled.
"I see he's found a suitable guardian." McGonagall said softly.
"Indeed he has." Dumbledore replied back just as softly as she did. Lucy heard them, and she blushed with a smile. While this was happening, Snape was grumpily picking at his food, still thinking about the intense glare that pink haired women gave him. All because of Harry BLOODY Potter! Snape's lip curled unpleasantly as he thought about the spawn of his arch enemy. He snuck a quick glare at Harry. He knew he was going to be trouble, just like his bastard of a father.
He saw Lucy look in his direction and immediately looked down at his food. Lucy glared at him for a moment. 'He's going to be trouble, I know it.' Lucy thought to herself as she returned her attention towards Harry. 'If he pulls anything, he's gonna find himself with half his hair gone.' Lucy chuckled at that thought, imagining what the slimy asshole would look like with only half his hair.
Soon enough, the meal had ended, and Lucy and Bando were being guided to their chambers. After climbing up a few flights of stairs, ("HOLY SH*T THEY MOVE!" Bando yelled.) They finally made it to rooms that were reserved for guests. Bando had wanted his own room, leaving Lucy and Harry in the second guest room. There were two beds but they decided to sleep in one bed together. The Diclonius tucked them both in, wrapping her arms and vectors around the little boy.
"Night, mommy..." Harry said softly. Harry fell asleep, snoring cutely. Lucy gave him a kiss on the cheek, then peeked out the window of their new home. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that it had begun snowing outside...
She watched as the powdery snow fell gracefully down to the ground. The diclonius tilted her head and let out a small "Hmm." She started to plan how she and Harry will have fun tomorrow. She smirked. He was going to love the snow. Her smirk didn't leave her face, even after she finally fell asleep. The snow fell delicately outside, rapidly building into a winter wonderland.
