A/N#1: Severus steps into the room, "Ahem..." he clears his throat..."I've been asked to tell you that neither Scorpiodragonfly nor LaHotesGirl..." he stops as he is interrupted by Sirius bounding into the room as Padfoot.

He quickly changes back into Sirius, "Don't listen to him, they own everything!"

Exasperated Severus grabs him by his collar and stops his bouncing as Remus enters shaking his head.

"Padfoot, Padfoot what are we going to do with you?" He asks.

Severus, still holding Sirius by his collar, "Remus, is he serious?"

"Of course he's Sirius but he's wrong. Ladies and Gentlemen, these authors do not own Harry Potter and those of his world you recognize. That is J.K. Rowling who owns it but graciously allows them to play in her backyard." Remus says turning to the audience.

Thank you for all of your reviews, they help inspire the muse. To the guest who is questioning the memory charm, I think you'll have your answer in this chapter.

Change the Fates Design

Chapter 4:

Saving Those Who Matter; Family

Lily had settled Petunia and Dudley in the smaller guest house and was now working on a charm to save some friends both pain and loss of life. James came into her study. "Lily-Bug," James said in an attempt to get her attention. He recognized her furrowed brow as she worked. He tried again, "Lily-Bug," just a bit louder.

"Hmm..." she responded while lost in thought. Then as if the sound had just registered in her head, "Oh, James, when did you get here?" she asked.

James smirked, "I've been here for about five minutes. You must be close to an answer. I came to ask first, if Petunia and Dudley were doing okay and second..." he trailed off.

"They're doing fine. I think I have the charm needed to break the bond, but I want to make sure of it before I test it. Do you know where Severus is?" Lily replied.

"Well, that's why I came to get you. We need to have a family meeting while Harry and Draco are at Jackie's." He said as he walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her in close to him. Burying his face in her neck, he inhaled her scent that had always been like a drug to him. "Mmm... you smell nice," he said barely above a whisper.

"Oh, right let's go," she said quickly. "I may have made a break though in my research." She added. "Save the neck nuzzling for later."

When they reached the living room everyone else was already there. "Sorry guys, I got wrapped up again." Lily said with a smile as she sat on the nearest sofa. "But I think I have found what I was missing." She added.

"Okay, Padfoot and Softpaw and I were thinking," James started to say.

"That could be a dangerous thing," Remus said and had Lucius smirking in agreement.

"We were thinking that we should contact the D.M.L.E. to protect our marked family members. Mainly to be up front and honest as you know that the remaining Death Eaters will be rounded up soon and this would go better if we went to them than waiting for them to find us." Severus said.

Lily looked at Lucius and Severus, "Is everyone in agreement?" She asked.

Lucius, understanding, said, "Yes, we are all in agreement."

"Okay, good. To add to that, I think I found what I've been looking for. I would need someone willing to go first, you know a guinea pig." Lily said.

Lucius and Cissy looked at Severus with confusion evident on their faces. Severus chuckled, "It's a muggle saying, you know a test subject?"

"Sometimes I will never get used to some of these muggle terms," Cissy said. "I know I will now that my two closest female friends will make sure of it," with a smirk.

"Okay, I have an idea on how to deal with the ministry. I think we should contact Amelia Bones. She's been an Auror for a while now and was our immediate boss on the Hit Wizard squad." Sirius said. "We could have her over, first just with James and myself, and feel her out so to speak. If anyone that can help, listen and help us set it up it's definitely her." He looked around the room waiting for everyone to digest the suggestion.

Lucius looked at Cissy while she worried her handkerchief with her hands. He gently rested his hand over her delicate ones and steadied her nerves. "Well Love? What do you think" he asked her softly.

She looked at Lucius then to Severus, "As long as you trust Amelia then so do I. I trust Lily implicitly. She was the top of our class and I know she would never do anything to hurt those she loves intentionally. I guess my question is; who is going to be the genie pig?"

Laughing quietly Severus said, "Its guinea pig Cissy and I will be the guinea pig. Which are we going to do first?"

Lucius, still holding his wife's hand in his said, "Amelia first, if she agrees then, Sev you're up for testing"

"Before we finish here, I wanted to ask a question Petunia asked me." Lily said before zeroing in on James and Sirius. "I know you took care of Vernon's memories, but what about Marjorie and the neighborhood? Our parents and other family members are gone or not in touch anymore so that's not a problem. I really hope you two didn't forget the rest."

Sirius looked sheepishly to James with a subtle smirk. James did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at Sirius before responding. "We didn't forget. We... ah... kind of used a spell that a mutual friend within the Department of Mysteries uses a lot when... ah... activities get out of hand outside Wizarding Britain. It blankets the neighborhood so no one remembers Tuney and Dudley and any records, pictures or the like will just disappear. That's why we chose the spell from the DOM as it covers everything. It works best at night while people sleep and since they only moved in there a couple of months ago, there are no worries there. As for Marjorie, let's just say that to her Petunia and Dudley are the names of a couple of Yorkies down the block from her."

Lily's eyebrows quirked up, "Will you get in trouble for using that spell?" She asked.

"No," Sirius said, "It leaves no discernable magical signature so we're in the clear. Prongs, I think we need to get Frank, Alice and Neville over. We should talk with them about the next few weeks and I'm pretty sure Neville could use some friends to play with. What do you think Lily?"

"I think that is a brilliant idea," Lily said before she looked over to James and continuing with a grin, "Good boy Padfoot."

"What do you think Lil, did he earn a treat?" James managed to say through his laughter at the look on Sirius' face.

"I think I was just insulted," Sirius said. "But I think I'll go with the treat."

~o~0~o~

In the ballroom of the LeStrange Manor Bellatix LeStrange was tearing strips of the younger, newer Death Eaters. "What do you mean you don't know where our Master or that sniveling rat are? They couldn't have just vanished!" She railed as she cast the Crucio curse on her most recent victim.

"Bella love, we'll find them I promise and if Peter ran off and hid without watching our Master's back we'll bring him back, in pieces if necessary." Rudolphus said calmly to his wife. "We can't help our Master if you keep this up. We'll need everyone we have at our disposal."

"Have you heard from Lucius or Severus?" Rabastan asked. "We can't get into Malfoy Manor. All the wards are in lockdown, the floo is closed up and the closest anyone can get by apparation is a kilometer from the Manor."

"There is nothing, literally nothing, coming out of the Ministry. Nothing on those blood-traitors or the werewolf. It's been two days and nothing. We can't even find the Longbottoms! They haven't come back to work, nor has Black," Barty Crouch Jr. said. "Dear old Dad is trying to get them sacked, but Bagnold and that Bones woman are blocking him."

"I want everyone we can spare out looking for the Dark Lord and for those blood-traitors!" Bella screamed.

~o~0~o~

Amelia was at her desk, completely exhausted and worried. It had been three days since she last saw her Aurors Longbottom and Hit Wizard Black. She knew that something happened on Halloween, but knew she couldn't send anyone out on just her gut feeling. Deciding she needed more tea, she just rounded her desk when an owl flew into her office. Taking the parchment from the owl and giving the owl a treat and payment before setting aside the tea for the moment. Amelia broke the familiar seal and relaxed a bit.

'Amelia, Have a delicate situation needing your expertise. This message will turn into a portkey at 5 p.m. And if you agree tap it twice and say Haven.'

It was signed Grim. Amelia sat down and sighed in relief. 'They're okay' she thought. Putting the message in her pocket she headed out to the cafeteria for that much needed tea.

~o~0~o~

Remus and James stepped out of the floo at Longbottom Manor to Frank holding his wand at them. "What was the first prank I helped you with and when?" Frank asked.

"Making the sixth and seventh year Slytherin boys do pirouettes, in tutus, at breakfast," Remus said.

"When they bullied a group of first years two days after school started, in our fourth year," James finished.

Frank lowered his wand, "Sorry guys, I had to be sure. I can't risk anything happening to Neville, Alice or my Mum," he replied.

"We completely understand. We would like you, Alice and Neville to come over to the new place. We need to talk and I think Neville would like some kids to play with," James said. "If you do we'll open the floo up to you. I don't think it's safe for you all to be out in the open just yet."

"Amelia is coming around 5 today and we think you should be there so you know what we think is happening," Remus added.

Alice walked in the room while James was speaking, she listened before speaking up, "I think that would be a good idea. We all need to have a game plan and we really can't trust that Voldemort doesn't have spies in the ministry. We know we can trust Amelia and Moody for absolute sure, but at this point I don't trust anyone else."

"Alright then plan on a family dinner as well," James said. "We'll see you around 5 then."

With that Remus stepped into the floo and just before James stepped in he said, "Just say 'James and Lily' you will have a direct connection to our floo."

~o~0~o~

At 5 p.m. Amelia held the parchment, tapped it twice and said quietly 'Haven'. She felt the familiar tug on her navel as the portkey was activated and she was taken to her destination. When she landed she was looking at a beautiful house that she did not recognize, but she could feel the magic of the wards around her. She walked up to the door, but as she raised her hand to knock the door opened suddenly. She was looking into familiar grey eyes.

"What did you tell James and I three days before Halloween?" The owner of those grey eyes asked.

"I felt that something was off, that something was going to happen," Amelia responded.

With that she was quickly ushered in the door. "Sorry about that Boss," Sirius said with a smile but after you hear what we have to tell you, you will understand." He then led her into the living room where to greeted James and Lily. She was introduced to Jackie and Robert Granger. They sat and exchanged the daily pleasantries until the floo sounded in the parlor. Frank and Alice entered to room carrying Neville. The boy looked around the room at all of the faces, only recognizing a few he buried his face into Alice's neck. "Always the shy one aren't you my little love," Alice crooned.

Lily made the introductions just as Hermione bustled into the room followed by Harry.

"Mummy..." Hermione started to say, but stopped upon seeing the new people in the room. She looked to Jackie and ran to stand beside her while Harry headed straight for Neville.

"Around new kids she's not shy, but around new adults it's a different story," Jackie said with a grin. "Look Sweetie, why don't you go see Neville with Harry," she encouraged Hermione. Seeing Harry and Neville together, she made her way across the room.

"Dats Mynie," Harry said to Neville. "Dats Nebille, Mynie"

"Hi Nebille," Hermione said as Neville slid off his mother's lap.

"Hi," Neville said shyly. Lily and Alice took the children to the playroom so the adults could get down to business.

After a lengthy conversation before Amelia's arrival, it was decided that Amelia should have the whole story, from the prophecy all the way to the present. That would help their family safe passage through the system.

So James started the ball rolling, "Shortly after Lily and Alice found out they were both pregnant and that they were due at the same time, Albus claimed to have heard a prophecy that could very well be about one boy or the other..." Five hours later, with a break for Amelia to digest what all she'd heard so far and dinner with the children, the facts laid themselves out for her and all to see.

"So let me get this straight, Albus claims he heard a prophecy that MAY concern both Harry and/or Neville, and maneuvered you into hiding, AND knew that Voldemort was aware of the prophecy, which maneuvered Voldemort into actually attempting to making it real? Add to that a so called best friend betrayed you to Voldemort, by knowingly giving him your location hidden behind a Fidelis Charm." Amelia responded with her anger slowly building towards a foolish old man, one Albus-I-know-everything-Dumbledore. Looking towards her tea she asked, "Do you have anything stronger than tea? I think I need it."

Sirius got the whiskey out of the cabinet and poured some for her. "Anyone else want any, I know I do right now." Sirius offered the room at large.

After taking a deep swallow of the harsh effects of the fire whiskey, Amelia continued zeroing her gaze on the other piece of the puzzle. Looking directly at Lucius and then Severus, "You both carry the Dark Mark, but you state that you have never purposely killed anyone and you did not partake in any of the Death Eater raids or activities? You further state that you were coerced under duress to take the Dark Mark? Am I getting this straight? She asked.

Lucius spoke first, "Yes that is correct. We are willing to give you our memories to look at in a pensieve and will answer any and all questions using veritaserum."

"That is why we asked to meet with you here," Severus began. "As we are being hunted by other Death Eaters, we know there are many still within the ministry, and if we appear there anyone of them will take us out so we can't divulge any information to you. I, as Voldemort's personal potion master, was kept close when I wasn't at Hogwarts, thus I ended up with critical information. Lucius was kept close after Abraxus died since he was the only Malfoy heir, and they needed access to their gold."

Lucius then picked up the thread, "After we were forced to take the Mark, Cissy, Severus and I started looking for any way out that didn't result in death. We learned about his heritage and that he's been lying to his followers about his own blood status. When we heard about the plans for Halloween we took it right to James and Lily. Severus has been friends with all of them, all these years, even under Volemort's nose. We made a plan and stuck to it. Severus found out that Pettigrew was marked, and planned on betraying them at the first chance he got. So we let him, but planned for it with the Marauders and Lily."

"Hey! I'm just as much a marauder as you lot," Lily said jokingly.

Amelia fell back against the chair cushion shaking her head. "Wow, that is a lot to process. If it is okay with you all, I will come back tomorrow evening and bring veritaserum and a pensieve and we can get all this taken care of. I will have to bring someone to back up my investigation," she finally said. "If you don't mind, I would like to bring Senior Auror Moody with me."

"No, that's fine. We all understand that necessity. We also have the Potter Family pensieve, if you would prefer not to bring the Ministry's. If you apparate into the Granger's backyard you will be able to arrive undetected by the neighbors," Lily said.

Well I should take my leave as I now have my niece Susan to look after since those criminals killed the rest of our family. I will return tomorrow evening around 6ish?" Amelia verified. "Yes, I will use the pensieve you have here. Good night all. Robert, Jackie, it was a pleasure to meet you and your beautiful daughter," Amelia left and the entire room seemed to sigh in relief.

~o~0~o~

Minerva sat at her desk finishing grading transfiguration essays when her favorite house elf popped into her office.

"Mistress Kitty, headmaster be askin whys yous not in his office yet, and be tellin Mipsy to gets yous there now," Mipsy squeaked with her head bowed.

"Thank you Mipsy, don't worry about the headmaster, I will deal with him myself," Minerva said. As Mipsy popped out, Minerva was grateful that Mipsy had chosen to come with her to Hogwarts, instead of waiting for her brief summer sojourn to her family seat. Albus was going to have to wait until breakfast to chat with her. She had spoken to Filius, and he agreed that meeting him alone in his office was just not going to happen. His actions lately had made several members of the staff not trust him, or his version of 'The Greater Good'. She was sure that he would try to mess with her mind if they were alone. As it was getting late Minerva decided to have a spot of tea before turning in for the night. As she walked to her private rooms her mind turned to her missing cubs. Her worry for them increased throughout the day. As she sat down for her tea, her eyes set upon a piece of parchment now lying in front of her.

'To our favorite feline, we are safe, alive and doing fine. Will be in touch soon.

- P, P, M and L'

Minerva smiled for the first time since Halloween. They were safe and alive, that meant she was going to have a goodnights sleep. Albus can bloody well wait for her. Thinking about the note she finished her tea and dressed for bed.

~o~0~o~

A/N2: Hey guys so we're back with another chapter… Finally… Sorry it took so long. Both Scorpiodragonfly and I have had hectic weeks the past few weeks. To the Nitpicky guest reviewer, I realize you want accuracy, but take into consideration that this is for fun. We don't delve deeply into Jackie's age as it is, so please don't… just don't.

Hope any confusion about the memory charm was cleared up, we don't own the world we are just playing in the sandbox… It may be vague about things, but rest assured you will know when you need to know.

Not sure when the next chapter will be ready. Currently I have assignments due left, right and center… _

To any Boston Celtics fans who may read this… Can't wait for the Celtics vs. the Heat game tomorrow night. I got tickets to go so me and my better half are going. So looking forward to this. If you can't make the game don't miss it on TV.

~Lahote's Girl & Scorpiodragonfly