A/N: Thanks for the follows and favourites! Hope you enjoy the next chapter of the story!

Thank you to the reviewers who let me know they're enjoying the story! To those who raised specific questions:

arapyanime - Interesting thoughts! I don't want to give too much away though I can say that Rose will be very busy dealing with everything that's happened with Dumbledore and Sirius, so a potential pairing will probably happen eventually once some of the more immediate drama has settled down.

LambdaOfTheDead - Yes, although Remus doesn't feature in this chapter he will be an important ally in future!

Me - Great ideas! Funny to think of Rita having a positive influence in this story compared to the original isn't it!

WillowBabble - Thank you! I hope you enjoy the the following chapters.

Chapter 10, Finding out the truth (part 1)

Wednesday 4th November 1981,

Morning

Minerva McGonagall woke up at 6:30 on this cold Thursday morning. Despite being an early riser, 6:30 was unusually early for her.

After tossing and turning for a while in bed, aiming (and failing) to get some further sleep,

she decided that she'd speak to Poppy. And then she'd go back to her quarters to decide how exactly she could locate Primrose. She had no idea where she lived - apart from that she was close enough to Surrey to visit her sister. Even with magic, finding one individual in that vast an area AND avoiding being spotted doing magic by Muggles would certainly be a task.

10 mins later ...

As Minerva was walking back to her quarters, she found she was so lost in thought about how she'd find Primrose that she suddenly bumped into something. Or rather someone, just a very little someone. She looked down and noticed that that someone was Filius.

"Oh goodness me, I am so sorry Filius, I'm afraid I wasn't looking forward. Are you alright?"

"Don't worry Minerva, I am fine thank you. I must admit I wasn't particularly paying attention to where I was walking either! I was so lost in thought about Primrose and little Harry, you see."

"I am glad you are okay Filius." Minerva silently put up a privacy charm, "I had actually been planning to meet them today. I've just come back from seeing Poppy and she's agreed to cover for me and say to Albus that I am ill and must not have visitors. I am sure he would try to stop me from seeing Primrose if he knew that I was planning to meet her. He was acting so strangely yesterday."

"Oh! You are planning to meet them today. Why Minerva I never knew you had so much Slytherin in you! Horace would be proud! I had been hoping to see little Harry soon too for it's been months since I last saw him and I would certainly like to speak with Primrose. Would you mind if I join you?"

"Oh hush hush Filius, I am 100% Gryffindor and you know it." Minerva responded teasingly, "You are of course welcome to join me though how are you going to explain your absence to Albus, should he ask?"

"I think I should tell him that I am overloaded with marking and must make sure I am on top of it. Fortunately I only have my sixth years this morning and my third years later on. I shall ask my sixth years to prepare a lesson to teach the third years the theory behind Wingardium Leviosa which I will ask them to teach to them today in my place. That will consolidate their knowledge on basic charms theory and cover my third year lesson. That should work well!"

"That certainly sounds feasible Filius. Do you need some time to write instructions for them?"

"Yes, if you could spare ten minutes Minerva then perhaps I could meet you at your quarters?"

"Of course Filius, not a problem."

A short while later, in Minerva's quarters:

"So how exactly do you plan to find Primrose then Minerva? I wasn't aware that you knew where she lived?"

"No I don't, that was what I was hoping we could discuss now. I could use the Locator spell to find which street she is in and then apparate to that area, though I might end up appearing in the middle of the street in front of Muggles."

"Hmm yes... That would cause a scene... Perhaps you could try it with a strong invisibility charm?"

"Ah yes, I shall try that. Thank you Filius. If you are ready then we could walk to Hogsmeade now and then apparate to speak with Primrose?"

"Yes of course."

15 minutes later, in Rose's street:

"Okay so we've found the area where Primrose lives but how do we find her exact house?"

"Hmm well..." he pondered, "perhaps we could try a Point-Me spell?"

"That is a marvellous idea Filius, I am glad that you came with me."

Minerva did the Point-Me spell and it pointed them to a petite bungalow. They looked at each other confused, wondering if the spell was correct and if so why a young adult would live in a bungalow. They looked at each other again silently and with a nod of her head Minerva gestured that Filius should try the spell, in case the results he got were different.

A minute later, Filius had tried the spell and had curiously got the same results - apparently young Primrose Evans lived in a small bungalow.

Minerva and Filius simultaneously looked at each other once again and Minerva said "I suppose that is where she lives then. Shall we try it?"

Filius nodded and with a wave of his wand took down the invisibility dome they had encased themselves in, so not to be discovered in the middle of the quiet Muggle street.

As it was now almost 8:00am they decided to (as the Muggle saying goes) 'hedge their bets' and try the house that the Point-Me spell claimed was Primrose's.

They walked up the neat little garden path to the front door of the house, taking in their surroundings. The front garden was small but well-maintained and it was obvious that in the summer this garden had the potential to be rich with a whole host of colours from luscious green bushes to a rainbow of coloured flowers in the currently empty flower beds.

Once at the front door, Minerva stepped forward and rapped loudly on it. They waited for a couple of minutes when the door was opened by a small, ginger haired young woman who had her hair in messy plaits that fell down mid-way between her shoulders and waist.

"Hello?" she questioned, clearly not expecting anyone.

"Hello," Minerva replied, "we are looking for Primrose Evans."

"Yes that's me," she responded. "How may I help you?"

"We are from Hogwarts, I am Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and this is my colleague Filius Flitwick, Charms Professor. We heard your, ah, news about Harry and were hoping we might be able to come in and have a chat if that is not too much of an inconvenience?"

"Ah! I thought I recognised you from somewhere," she exclaimed, "Please do come in."

She lead them into a small corridor which had 5 doors leading off it. She showed them into the first door on the left and Minerva and Filius sat down on the only double sofa in the room. A couple of minutes later she came back into the room carrying a black haired, green eyed baby boy who looked just over 1 year old.

"Aww is this little Harry?" Minerva asked.

"He's so adorable," Filius cooed as Harry looked up and smiled shyly at him.

"Yes this is Harry," Rose smiled, "Harry this is Minerva and this is Filius, say 'Hello'."

"Hello Min-uh-va. Hello Fili," he greeted.

"Hello Harry, nice to see you again." Minerva answered.

"Hello Harry, you've met us before when you were very small, though you probably don't remember us now do you?"

Harry was silent for a few moments as he looked deep in thought and he then shook his head slightly from side to side.

"Not to worry," Filius replied smiling at Harry. Then he looked at Rose, "so Primro-"

"Please it's Rose. Just Rose," she responded.

Minerva and Filius looked at each other, realising there was a back story to this but decided that now wasn't the time to ask.

Filius continued, "So Rose, last night in the Great Hall during dinner Albus received your Howler and it made some horrifying statements! If what you say is true then I am utterly appalled by Albus on so many levels! It is disgusting to think of how he left Harry in the care of those awful Muggles - did they really leave him in the cupboard under the stairs?"

"Yes Filius," Rose sighed, "unfortunately everything in the Howler is true. Dumbledore has lots to answer to. My abomination of a sister and her husband left Harry on a springy mattress in the cupboard under the stairs - AND they left him crying his eyes out and with a red handprint on his left cheek! It's atrocious to think that they could do that to a anyone - let alone their own flesh and blood and a baby!"

Filius and Minerva looked at each other in disbelief at hearing how Harry had been treated. They were appalled at his relatives and disgusted by Dumbledore's lies!

"I still haven't come to terms with it all to be honest," Rose continued, "and to think that Petunia has a son Harry's age as well - she would never dream of treating him like that! I just cannot understand why she thinks it's acceptable to treat Harry that way."

The witch and wizard looked at each other with looks so full of horror that it would have been comical had the situation not been so serious.

"Y-you're t-telling us that they have a son themselves?" Minerva questioned, completely shocked. "The poor child," she added, "to live with such awful people. And what if they turn on him?" she asked rhetorically.

All the adults in the room looked at each other with despondency; the room filled with silence.

"Ba" babbled Harry, playing with his sheep toy on the carpet in front of them.

"How are you finding looking after Harry?" asked Filius.

"It's been quite a challenge. I was the youngest in my family so I've never had any children to play with or look after. There's so much to learn like changing the nappies and learning what the cries mean - it seems like every time he cries he wants something different!"

"Oh Rose, you are doing a marvellous job! You mustn't worry, I am sure there is lots to learn but you are looking after him with love and affection and that is what matters the most."

"Thank you Minerva."

"Minerva is absolutely right Rose, you are trying your best - things are sure to get easier with time. And if you ever need any help we will happy to look after Harry while you go shopping or just have a break. Send us an owl and we'll arrange a time to help with Harry. Actually, do you have an owl?" Filius asked.

"Thank you," Rose smiled, "yes I have an beautiful owl called Ruby. I sent a letter to Sirius when I found out about Lily's d-death but Ruby still hasn't returned yet."

"I find it hard to believe that Sirius Black might be innocent of betraying the Potters to You-Know-Who after all when the entire wizarding world seems to be advocating for him to spend the rest of his days in Azkaban!" explained Minerva, "I find it even harder to believe that Dumbledore knew that Black was innocent and is still pushing for his sentence to pass through the Wizengamot without a trial!"

"What do you mean WITHOUT A TRIAL" yelled Rose, astonished…

A/N: I'll post the next update once the chapter is ready, so if you'd like to be notified when the next chapter comes out then click follow story (if you haven't already)!
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