The morning sunshine fell on the streets of London glinting on the glasses of windows and polished cars. Grimauld Street was full of houses without a hairs breath space between them, all of the buildings were two or three stories high. Nearly all of the houses on this street was used by muggles who were none the wiser of the magical building standing there with the others. The muggles couldn't see the house for it was under a protective magic making it invisible to anyone other than the people, who was told where they could find a specific thing. Number 12 Grimauld Place looked like any other house on the outside with only being a little bit more forbidding than the others.
The inside of the Black Family's home was dark, dangerous and hostile to anyone it deemed to endanger it's Family. That is the reason Molly Weasley always had to look around for the things she needed only to find them in a completely different place than she left the other day. She had been raving and ranting about this since they arrived, but no one could do anything against it or so it seemed to them, what they didn't know was that the Black Lord or Heir or Heiress could order it to cease this behavior. The catch in this was that they have to mean the command or it wouldn't do anything. The second secret about the Ancestral Black Home was that the house elf or elves could go against their masters' orders if they deemed the family they are serving to be in danger and not knowing about it. There have been instances where the Family Home and the house elves worked together with a small child, who was able to see what the adults couldn't and saved their families from demise, but the most prominent cases were the ones where there were no one involved in the fighting from the family. When the Weasleys arrived the magic infused in the building scanned them coming up with warnings from three of them. The house warned Kreacher making sure they couldn't recruit the elf.
Since the red haired family moved in three of them had troubles every day. Ron was woken up every morning really early with harsh sunshine shining directly in his eyes while the blanket was slowly pulled off of him and under the bed where it was charmed to the underside of the bed frame. Then after waking up he was forced to have a cold shower because no matter where he went the place just seemed to not let him have any warm water then when he was eating breakfast his utensils disappeared constantly, but when came to cleaning the house elf made sure he had everything he needs to do the work at hand. At the end of the day it was hard for him to fall asleep with his bed shaking him so hard his teeth chattered.
Molly was always looked for the cooking tools for they were rearranged multiple times a day without any indication where they were placed. She had been proud to say she was great when it came to cooking and cleaning, but since they moved in she was barely able to clean anything in a normal amount of time or as effectively as she should have been able to.
Ginny had been ejected from her bed many times at night, but no one could do anything about it because there were no signs on her bed and no implication if it would do it again. She wanted to wear provocative clothes to get her father used to them and to seduce Harry when they take him to Headquarters, but all the clothes she bought for the seducing disappeared. They had been replaced with conservative articles. She had burned them of course, but every time she took new slutty clothes to Grimauld Place they turned to conservative ones without a fault.
The rest of the ginger haired family didn't have any kind of problems or any other person on the order. It did not mean that none of the others were bad news just that they haven't spent enough time in there for the house to make moves against them.
Harry Potter was sleeping soundly in his Godfathers bed. The room's windows were covered by thick, heavy drapes in deep red color. The whole room was painted in shades of red and gold and decorated in Gryffindor theme. The room was dark, warm and silent. The only noise heard in there were the soft breathing of three sleeping individuals. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were sleeping in slumped sitting positions beside the bed. They hadn't been able to leave the sick teenager alone in a place unknown to him.
The green eyed teen woke slowly from his deep sleep. Once he was fully conscious surprise filled him as he realized he doesn't feel nauseous like he did in the mornings since coming home from Hogwarts. It felt good to not to get up only to run to the bathroom before really waking up. He didn't know why it ended, but he won't look into the mouth of a gift horse. Reaching over blindly he began feeling for his glasses on the nightstand next the bed as his hand moved around he hit other things on the stand sending them tumbling down to the ground. It was the noise of stuff hitting the ground that woke the adults in the room, they were alert and on their feet with their wands in their hands in seconds.
The animagus and werewolf looked around the room while never taking their gazes completely off of their charge. They went through it methodically not leaving anything out for fear of an intruder. It turned out to be a false alarm. There were no threats.
"Sorry." mumbled a small voice behind them. "I was looking for my glasses."
The ex-Professor turned to the teen and gave a kind smile as he crouched down beside the bed to be eye level with the laying boy. "It's okay Harry. It's partially our fault too, what with us being extremely protective of you because we both view you as our son."
The messy haired teenager blinked at them disbelievingly for a minute or so before he began to accept the fact that they did care about him. It was still a foreign concept to him after all those years of neglect and abuse. He got out of bed with the help of his Godfather while his honorary Godfather put together his day wear consisting of comfortable clothes. The adults stepped out of the room so he could change in private. After he was done with dressing he walked out to be greeted by his guardians. The men put their arms around his shoulders in silent support as they led him down to the kitchen. The kitchen was full of people by the time they got down. The whole basement pulsed with the strong noise emitted by the people sitting around the table.
Professor McGonagall looked up just in time to see her lion walk in. She was about to call the boy over, but stopped at the Marauders' straight faces. She hadn't seen them this serious since they fought in the first war against You-Know-Who. She knew from experience that when they are like this you better not agitate them 'cause they are more than likely to for their wands and curse you first and ask questions later. Sadly there were others, who didn't learn that angry wizards tend to put you in your place more viciously than a dark wizard even more so if you are disrespecting them in their own home. So she watched silently as the train wreck happened.
After the trio reached the table Sirius left to make them breakfast seeing how his pup was sick. Remus on the other hand pulled the boy as close to him as was bodily possible. His wolf instincts told him that keeping his cub warm helps improving his health. Harry for his part was content as of right now. He was warm and comfortable and he will be given regular healthy meals.
"Harry, dear. Come here and eat your dinner."
"Thanks for the offer Mrs. Weasley, but I'm fine." answered the orphaned boy politely.
The ginger haired matriarch frowned upon being turned down. She had been sure her youngest son's best friend wouldn't decline her anything that's why she had been sure she could make sure he ends up marrying her daughter. She even made steps to stir the wealthy boy to Ginny just like Ron. It had been slow going until now. They had been waiting for him to be more mature so they could trap him in a marriage with only just referring to his age. The mother wanted to be sure that her only daughter gets the boy in the end so she brewed love potions and began dosing him with them slowly. It couldn't be given in big doses because it would be suspicious if he fell in love with Ginny right off the bat. The DMLE would look into it seriously and make tests to look for love spells and/or potions. She had to be very careful what type and how much love potion she gives the boy. She had been smart enough to put it on the plate and goblet itself he uses and not his food or drink. What she didn't calculate with was the noses of a werewolf and a dog animagus.
Sirius Black had been so used to his enhanced senses by now that he didn't comment on it to anyone other than his friend and Godson. So no one knew he could smell potions in and on anything. he had took the plate and goblet set out for his Godson, but stopped short before he filled them as he smelt something that hadn't been on anything else. Lifting the goblet to his nose he closed his eyes, shut the world around him out and only concentrated on the scents. He didn't know what exactly he smelt, but he knew it was some kind of potion. He went back to the table and placed the goblet in front of Remus. Waiting patiently as scents wafted up to the werewolf's nose.
The ex-Professor was quietly talking to his adoptive Godson when the goblet appeared in front of him. He was about to lift it to his lips when the smell of a love potion reached his nose. His eyes turned yellow ass he whipped his back to the table looking around for the culprit behind it. He saw his friend looking around the gathered people clearly looking for the same thing, but upon not finding anything the black haired man went back to making breakfast hiding the potion stained utensils.
The ex-convict came back to the table with their food. It was the complete opposite of what the mother made. The contrast between their natural yoghurt which they ate with sugar free muesli and fresh fruits cut into it, drinking only a glass of orange juice to it. On the other side of were the Weasley family mother's assortment of food consisting off sausages, bacons, heavily buttered toasts, and a collection of sugary jams. For drinks there was pumpkin juice and water for her husband. It was shocking to say the least.
Harry ate his food happily without any idea of the storm brewing just beside him. He had always felt safe next to his Godfathers so he never took notice of their hostility knowing they would never hurt him. He never thought eating healthy food could feel so good. He never really had the option to eat things like these so he got used to feeling sick and heavy after eating Mrs. Weasley's and Hogwarts' food. He always liked chocolate because he never had any while growing up before Hogwarts, but he realized pretty early that he can't eat more than a couple of bites at a time. The most he can eat before getting sick from chocolate was two chocolate frogs so he never ate much of it, but right now just the thought of the sugary treat made his stomach turn in unease.
The Marauders watched the boy like hawks throughout the meal. Once he too was done with his fill they ushered him out of the basement and back up the stairs to be able took him in bed again so he could get better. The trio left behind a group of bewildered people for they hadn't spent more than twenty minutes down there without really talking to anyone.
Somewhere in the deep bowels of the Ministry of Magic the office workers were running around to get their work done on time on this day too just like any other day before. In the DMLE there had been an uproar in the morning after the Head of DMLE Amelia Bones demanded an unbreakable vow from all of her officers before telling them anything. She greeted them in the morning with the choice of making the vow or she sends them somewhere else. After they got the vows out of the way their Head told them they are going to launch a really serious and big investigation concerning the Boy-Who-Lived and any significant person in his life, be it the politically influent Malfoy or the well-respected Albus Dumbledore, they will all be put under the same scrutinitty.
The aurors weren't given a reason behind this surprise case and were shocked how angrily she put any of the aurors, who were joking about the boy's mental ability, in their place. They haven't seen her like this for years now. The last time they saw her act like this had been when they were at war and this thought sobered them up. If she acts like this she has a hunch of something big being hidden from everyone it could only spell trouble for them all for she never had been wrong when she was onto something like this. It may not be the exact thing she thinks it is right now, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything.
The Head of the Magical Law Enforcement gave all of her men an assignment they were required to do without raising awareness from anyone. They were ordered to leave any and all of their personal thoughts out of their reports or they will do their work again and again until they make it without them being put on the paper. It wasn't a new order, but it was certainly the first time it will be completely enforced without a fault.
As soon as the aurors left the office Madam Bones went into her personal office and began looking up any and all official paper work connected to the Potter heir. As she looked them over she was surprised she only found papers mentioning him, but not papers that were about him. The warning bells going off in her head came as no surprise. She knew from the beginning it will be a messy, dirty case, but she never not even in her worst nightmares would have guessed that it would be this bad. If she didn't know better she would have thought the boy was long since dead or that he wasn't a real person because there was nothing about the boy in person such as his birth certificate. Those only disappeared if someone died and stayed that way if they were saved it stays where it was supposed to be. The lack of it meant that someone broke in here and took it for some reason. It angered her that she hadn't realized it was missing until now because it could have gone missing yesterday or it could have happened years ago. There was no telling when it had been illegally removed, but it cemented her belief of there being something fishy.
Amelia left her table behind and floo called her college Madam Hopkirk.
"Good morning!" greeted the older witch as she walked to the fireplace.
"Good morning Madam Hopkirk! Could you come over please? I have a problem you should know about." Mafalda nodded her head stepping through the floo network. Arriving in the DMLE office she was surprised when Amelia shut the floo down after her then spelled the door of her office locked and reinforced the privacy charms on the room.
"You must have run into something serious if you're this secretive." said the baffled witch.
"I did and you won't like it." warned the monocle wearing witch. Hopkirk took a deep breath then urged her college to explain. "His birth certificate is missing and I don't know since when." Mafalda's breath hitched. Only a handful of people can aquire it and most of those people for him died years ago.
"Focus on whatever information you can dig up about the boy and I go around collecting a few favors from Ministry Officials." said the enraged witch. There was a piece of information the people working at DMLE didn't know. The Head of the Magical Law Enforcement had some inclining about it, but it was the older generation, who knew what it like before Voldemort knew the full weight of a birth certificate and of course the pureblood families who make sure their children know full well to keep these papers safe at all cost.
Madam Bones nodded her head and let the other woman out. Once she was alone she began to look through the papers again. She sorted them into small heaps to get a better picture of the situation.
Arthur Weasley looked on with wide eyes as Madam Hopkirk walked over to his work space. He never had much work to do with the elder witch. He met her a handful of times, but those were all fleeting meetings with only an acknowledging nod thrown each other's way. So it was no surprise that this visit threw him off.
"I need your help in a case that has to be dealt carefully and silently. It can't get out that there is an investigation." said the witch seriously. There was an unsaid order in her tone that forced people to obey her without her needing to raise her voice with others.
"What do you need me to do?"
"There's muggle family I need you to check me out and not the standard way. I need complete history on its current members, then look up all the information you can find on the current parents' parents and grandparents. I want to have a full financial history from them since they began to work. And last, but not least I want to know everything there is about their son." listed the pureblooded witch. Arthur blanched at the amount of work it will require on top of his everyday work. Madam Hopkirk saw the fear on the man's face and was quick to reassure him. "You will only have this project to work with until it's. I will talk it out with the Minister. Come to my office for your information in an hour. You can't talk about it to anyone. Not even your family." after all was said she turned on her heel and left just as fast as she came in. Leaving behind a stuttering, bewildered man.
The Improper Use of Magic Office's Head went straight up to the Minister of Magic. She walked by the Minister's Undersecretary without so much as glancing her way. She never liked that manipulative, evil bitch to begin with. She told her employees to be careful around her and to stay as far from her as they could. Marching into Fudge's office without knocking first she caught her boss in a meeting with the Bulgarian Minister, she smiled gleefully mentally. It will be so much easier to make him bend to her will right now.
Cornelius Fudge looked shocked and flustered when one of her employee's walked in without warning. He was about to scold the new comer when their face registered in his mind.
The Bulgarian Minister stood up from his seat, reached his hand out for the woman and after a polite kiss onto the back of the hand he led her to sit in his chair. He sneaked a peek at the other Minister and was angered at the lack of manners. He had been led to believe that Britain still kept up with these kind little pleasantries Bulgaria copied from them so long ago. Whenever a woman came into his room he stood up, greeted them and set them down in an available chair or conjure one.
"Good morning Minister Fudge." greeted the woman then turned to him and nodded her head while saying "Good morning Minister."
"What can I do for you Mafalda? came the question in a way that the foreign politician found rude. It was obvious that the British man wanted to send the woman away as soon as possible. It was a great thing for the pompous git's health that he didn't get a rise out of the witch.
Madam Hopkirk sent a sly smile at her boss so fleetingly it was missed by the Bulgarian, but clearly received by who she wanted to be.
"I need a couple of people from other offices to begin working on my project."
"What project?" asked the put out Minister earning himself a raised eyebrow from his guest.
"The one you agreed to let me do years ago, but never once let me burrow the people I need for it." came the creepy answer.
"Answer the question!" demanded Fudge hitting the table with his fist. It was this reaction that set the Bulgarian Minister on an angry tandem in his face in a language he didn't understand. In the background the ex-curse breaker smirked knowing full well she won this fight if Fudge knew what was best for him he wouldn't stand in her way or she will just remind him of her former profession and passion.
Minister Krum was in the middle of ripping the British Minister a new one when he remembered the politician couldn't speak his mother language. He stopped abruptly, switched to English then went on as if nothing happened. He heard a soft laugh from behind him cheering him up knowing he brightened the elder witch's day.
Once the foreign Minister was done Cornelius Fudge looked thoroughly chastised. His cheeks were pink in shame at this incident. "Of course you can begin to do your project now. The people you need won't get in trouble for not doing their everyday work as long as you need them."
Madam Hopkirk smiled sweetly as she stood up and walked to the door thanking the Minister for his time then as if in an afterthought she turned back in the door. "Oh right! The project was about making a greater protective network for all the magical minors in Britain." closing the door she caught the beginning of another tirade from the other Minister pulling a smile onto her lips. Leaving a spluttering Umbridge at the door she went back to her office where Arthur Weasley was waiting for her. She went over to her desk wrote down the exact wording of the vow she required him to take, then gave it to him.
The wizard looked it over, nodded and raised his wand. "I Arthur Weasley promise Madam Mafalda Hopkirk to help her with the protective network's building so that all the magical children will be safe. I also promise to help Madam Mafalda Hopkirk with gathering information on the specific muggle family she wants me and not talk about it to anyone without her explicit …"
Once the vow was done the Head of the Improper Use of Magic slid over a slip of parchment with only the name of the child, who's, family she needed information on. She watched carefully as the wizard's eyes widened, sending a shocked look in her way. She received it with a calm one of her own. She made sure he knew she was serious about it without opening her mouth. Her heated gaze told the tale of a battle hardened woman, who met with a child that looked back at her with the same look, making her fear for the child's safety.
Finding himself in the face of that severe look Arthur Weasley answered wordlessly with his gaze promising her all the answers she needs even if he has to dig it out of the muggles' minds.