Times Like These

by zzainishh

The war was getting worse and worse. The target on her back ever increasing due to her work on the Order of the Phoenix and her Professorship at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall decided that leaving home was the safest option for her family. Two excruciating years go by and she receives some horrifying news that brings her home right away. (Set during the First Wizard War)

14. TLT -- 14

Friday, June 26th 1998

Minerva dropped Daniel, Nina, and Lucy off at Classroom 3C. It was the classroom now being used as a daycare. There were a lot of families in here already. Daniel and Nina introduced themselves to some of the parents before finding Remus, Dorcas, James and Lily sitting off to the side. Daniel told Lucy to behave nicely with the other children before pointing out where he and Nina would be in case she needed them. Lucy nodded and watched them walk away for a minute before looking over at the children that were playing around her. She had never been really good at making friends. She didn't really know how. She was shy and had a hard time just walking up and talking to people. Instead she walked over to where a deck of cards sat on the floor and picked them up. She sat down and started flipping cards over and finding pairs to occupy herself.

"Whatcha doing?"

Lucy looked up to see a little girl around her age looking down at her. This girl had big brown eyes and short pink hair! Lucy smiled and said, "Nothing."

"What's your name?" the girl asked, sitting down in front of Lucy.

"I'm Lucy," she replied. "What's your name?"

"Well my name is Nymphadora Tonks actually but I don't like the name Nymphadora," she said with a sigh. "I just tell everyone to call me Tonks"

"It's nice to meet you, Tonks," Lucy said with a smile.

"You too," Tonks said with a smile. "So, Lucy, do you wanna play a game?"

"Sure!" Lucy said. "I really like your hair by the way."

The girl smiled. "Thanks! Watch this!"

Lucy watched as the girl made her hair change all sorts of different bright and neon colours. Lucy's eyes widened. "Wow! That's so cool! How do you do that?"

"I'm a Metamorphmagus. That means I can change what I look like into whatever I want to without having to use magic," Tonks explained.

"That's really cool. My mum's an Animagus so she can only change into a cat," Lucy said. "How do you become a Metamorphmagus? Is it a long, complex process like becoming an Animagus?"

"No," Tonks said with a smile. "You have to be born a Metamorphmagus. No one really knows how. My parents aren't Metamorphmagus. It's supposed to be very rare."

"Wow," Lucy said. "I wish I was a Metamorphmagus."

Tonks smiled. "So, is your family here too?"

"Yeah, my brother and his girlfriend are over there," Lucy said, pointing at Daniel and Nina on the other side of the room. "And I don't know where my mum went. I think she said that she had to go to a meeting with Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh, cool," Tonks said. "My mum's over there and my dad is out playing quidditch. Mum doesn't really like the game."

"Oh," Lucy said. She didn't really know what quidditch was.

"How old are you Lucy?"

"I'm six but I'll be seven in August," she replied. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven," Tonks said with a smile. "Oh, hey, do you want to meet my other friends Charlie and Bill? They're over there with their family."

"Okay," Lucy said. She stood up and followed Tonks to where a bunch of redheads where running around.

They walked up to one of the older boys and Tonks tapped him on the shoulder. The boy turned around and smiled at Tonks. "Hey, Tonks!"

"Hey, Charlie. This is Lucy."

"Hi," Lucy said quietly.

"Hey, Lucy," Charlie said. "Did you just get here? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah, we came last night," Lucy said.

"Oh, we've been here for a really long time. I don't remember how long for sure," Charlie said thoughtfully. "Do you want to meet my family?"

"Sure."

He motioned for them to follow. He walked over to another boy who looked a little older than him. "This is my brother, Bill."

Bill looked over at Lucy and Tonks and smiled. They said hello to Bill, who was nine years old. Then Charlie introduced Percy, who was four. Charlie introduced them to Fred and George who were two years old and twins. Charlie's youngest brother was only a couple months old and was named Ron. His mother, Molly Weasley, was sitting off to the side with Tonks's mother, Andromeda Tonks, and some other parents, holding Ron in her arms and watching the other children run around.

"What did you say your name was, dear?" Molly asked Lucy.

"Lucy Collins," she replied quietly.

"Lucy? That's a very nice name," Molly said, making Lucy smile. She shifted the baby in her arms slightly. "Would you like to hold Ron?"

"Um, n-no. I don't want to accidentally hurt him," Lucy mumbled hesitantly.

Molly smiled. "Oh you won't hurt him. Here, come sit here and I'll help you."

Lucy sat down on the chair that she pulled out for her. Molly showed her how to hold the baby. Lucy held the sleeping baby and smiled. "He's so... little."

Molly smiled. "Yes, he is," she replied.

"Where is your family, Lucy?" Andromeda asked.

"My brother and his girlfriend are over there," Lucy said, motioning towards Daniel and Nina on the other side of the room with her head, not wanting to let go of the baby. "His name is Daniel and her name is Nina. And Mum went to a meeting with Uncle Albus."

"Uncle Albus?" Andromeda asked. "What's your mother's name?"

"Minerva McGonagall," Lucy said.

"Minerva is your mother?" Andromeda asked.

Lucy nodded.

"Wow, I didn't know that Minerva had a daughter," Molly said. She gave Lucy a smile. "You know, your mother taught both of us and our husbands when we were at school."

"Really?"

"Yes," she replied with a nod. She took Ron back from Lucy and said. "Alright, dear, why don't you go play? I don't want to keep you from having your fun."

"Thank you," Lucy said, hopping off her chair. She looked at the baby for a second before looking back up at Molly. "It was nice to meet you both and Ron."

Molly smiled. "It was nice to meet you too, Lucy."

"Have fun with the others," Andromeda said with a smile.

Lucy turned and raced over to where Tonks, Charlie and Bill were standing by the door of the classroom. "We should go," she heard Bill say. "It'll be fun."

"What'll be fun?" Lucy asked.

"We're going to go explore the castle!" Tonks whispered excitedly, after looking up to make sure her mother wasn't anywhere close by.

Bill smiled and nodded. "Yeah, our parents are distracted. We could sneak out and see what the other parts of the castle are like. We haven't really been to very many. You want to come?"

"Sure," Lucy replied with a smile. "I want to go exploring too."

"Okay let's go," Charlie said. "Mum's not looking."

They quickly and quietly made it to the door of the classroom and went through it. They walked through the hallways, Bill leading the way though he had as much a clue as to where they were going as the rest of them had. He led them up different stairs and down different corridors. They talked with ghosts and paintings and touched suits of armour. Excited to finally explore the rest of the castle.

...

"Albus, that's so many Order safe houses now," Minerva said with a sigh. "Collins Mansion, the Bones House, Remus's flat, Dorcas's flat. How are they finding out about all of our secret safe places?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I think we both know the answer."

"But we've been so careful," Minerva said. "I trust everyone on the Order. I can't think of anyone that I've ever had doubts about."

"Well, of all the safe houses, yours was the most secretive," Dumbledore said. "A lot more Order members knew about the Bones's safe house and Dorcas's flat than about Collins Mansion."

Minerva looked at him with a horrified expression. "Everyone I've told -"

"It has to be one of them," Dumbledore said sadly. "There is no other option. Who all knew about your home?"

Minerva took a deep breath. "Well, Amelia, of course, but she's definitely not the spy." She saw Dumbledore's expression and frowned. "She's not. I saw her after Edgar and his family were killed. It's definitely not her, Albus."

"I did not say it was."

Her frown deepened but she let it go. "James, Sirius, Lily, Remus, Peter, Dorcas, and Marlene all knew about it but I can't imagine the spy is any of them."

"Anyone else?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh, Emmeline but I trust her too. Alastor as well," Minerva said. Quietly she added, "who's still alive anyway."

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and thought for a second. "Maybe we should reopen investigations into these members."

"Maybe we should reopen the investigation into all members," Minerva muttered. "Maybe we should let paranoia destroy the allies we have left."

"Minerva."

"I know, Albus," she mumbled. "It's better safe than sorry, I know, but I... I believed in the Order. I believed that we were all fighting towards the same goal so to learn that at least one of them may be a spy for the other side... I just... I don't know."

"We will get to the bottom of this," he said. "We will."

...

Lucy, Tonks, and Charlie stopped walking suddenly when their leader stopped. They had reached a staircase blocked off by a gargoyle. The gargoyle stared at them for a moment before in a deep voice it said, "password."

"We don't know the password," Bill said.

"No access without the password," the gargoyle replied indifferently.

"What's up there?" Tonks asked but the gargoyle doesn't respond.

"Let's just go," Charlie mumbled.

"Wait, I read something about a password on a note on my mum's desk," Lucy said suddenly. They all turned and looked at her. "I think the password is Lemon Drops."

"Correct," the gargoyle said, jumping aside.

"Nice one, Lucy!" Bill exclaimed as he led the younger kids up the stairs that were revealed when the gargoyle moved out of the way. "I wonder where this leads."

They walked up the long spiral stairs until they reached a large wooden door with a black door handle. Bill walked right up to the door and smiled.

"Are you sure we should be here?" Tonks said, suddenly feeling a little nervous. The door was very big and daunting.

"Well we have to now! I mean, we came all this way didn't we?" Charlie replied with a smile. "Don't you want to know what's being guarded by the gargoyle?"

"Yeah but what if it's something important that they want hidden?" Tonks replied. "Something for the war or something."

"War..." Lucy said softly but the other three didn't hear her. This was the second time someone had mentioned a war. Were they really at war? In all the confusion from yesterday she hadn't had a chance to really think about it.

Bill looked them over. "Okay, why don't we take a vote?" he said. He looked at the door and thought for a second before speaking again. "I say we open it, Charlie is with me and Tonks is against. What about you Lucy?"

"Um," Lucy mumbled. The other three looked at her expectantly. Tonks looked a little anxious while Bill and Charlie grinned at her. "I'm sure it'll be okay," she said to Tonks reassuringly. "Let's open it!"

"Great!" Bill said, turning around and facing the door. He reached up to the handle and slowly pulled opened the door. Their eyes widened when they saw Minerva and Dumbledore sitting at a desk looking at them.

"Oh no," Lucy whispered.

"Lucy," Minerva said, lips thinning. She stared at her and furrowed her brow. She recalled specifically telling the girl to stay put.

"Ah... hi?" Lucy said, giving a little wave.

Dumbledore stood up. Giving the frightened looking children a warm smile, he said, "Well, hello. We were not expecting visitors today. How did you four manage to get past the gargoyle out front?"

"Um," Bill said, not wanting to rat Lucy out but having trouble coming up with another explanation.

"I saw the password on the note you sent Mum," Lucy said quietly, leaning her head down and looking at her shoes.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. He looked over at Minerva. "We may need to be a little more careful about those notes from this point on."

"Um, should we -" Bill began but before he could finish, Minerva interrupted.

"Why are you four not in Classroom C with the other children?"

"We - we got bored and wanted to explore the castle," Bill replied uncertainly.

"I'm sure your mothers are worried sick," Minerva said.

"Maybe we should just -" Charlie tried this time but again Minerva interrupted.

"I shall escort you back," Minerva said, standing up. She looked back at Dumbledore. "Our meeting was coming to an end anyhow."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll see you all later."

Minerva walked over to the children and then passed them through the door. "Follow me."

Bill and Charlie exchanged looks before scurrying after her. Lucy and Tonks followed behind them. Lucy looked at Tonks and whispered, "sorry."

Tonks smiled. "It's okay. It was fun exploring the castle while it lasted."

"Yeah!" Lucy replied with a smile. She looked over at her mother and then back at Tonks again. "Maybe next time we won't go that way though."

"Yeah, that probably wasn't a good idea. I knew that the gargoyle had to be guarding something," Tonks said with a laugh, "but I didn't know it was going to be Professor Dumbledore's office."

"I'm sure there are other more interesting places we could explore anyways," she said with a nod. "Where we wouldn't get caught."

"Yeah, like we could find the House Common Rooms!" Tonks replied with a smile. "They're also password protected though, I think."

They walked down to the daycare. Minerva opened the door and ushered them in. As soon as Bill and Charlie's little red heads made it past the threshold Mrs. Weasley was there hugging and kissing them. "Where did you two go? I was worried sick! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"Nymphadora Tonks! What did you think you were doing?" Mrs. Tonks exclaimed when she saw Tonks. Tonks gave Lucy a small smile before running off to her mother to try and explain her absence.

Lucy looked around and began walking away when Minerva grabbed her shoulder. "And where do you think you're going?"

Lucy turned around and looked up at her mother. "Um, to find Nina and Daniel."

"I'm sure they can wait a few minutes while we talk," Minerva said, kneeling down in front of her daughter. She held Lucy by the arms and gave her a look. Lucy was a little worried. She really hoped that her mother wouldn't start yelling. She didn't. Instead in a disappointed voice she said, "Why did you leave this room, Lucy? Didn't I tell you not too?"

"Ah, well, we were bored and we thought the castle was pretty cool and we wanted to see more of it and... and it just kind of happened," Lucy said quietly, looking down at her shoes again. This was so much worse than yelling. "Sorry."

"Walking around like that can be very dangerous. Even here, Lucy. You could get lost or get stuck in odd rooms and we wouldn't be able to find you. That's why we don't let you walk around wherever you want. That's why you're supposed to stay here," Minerva said. "I'm very disappointed in you for not listening to me and I don't want to find you doing it again. Am I understood?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes, Mum."

"Good," Minerva said.

"Um, Mum?"

"Yes?"

"Are we at war?"

"Huh? Where did you hear that?"

"Tonks said something about a war and Daniel said something about it yesterday as well," Lucy said, looking frightened again. "Is that why the Death Eaters came to house? Is that why we have to stay here? Why everyone else is staying here?"

Minerva sighed. She looked around quickly, seeing all the young children nearby who may be listening. "Lucy, now isn't really a good place to talk about this."

"So we are at war," Lucy whispered. "With who? The Death Eaters? Why?"

"Okay, yes, we are at war but it is not something for you to worry about right now," Minerva said. "We can talk about it more later, okay?"

"Ah... okay..." Lucy mumbled.

"Now, shall we find Daniel and Nina?"

Lucy nodded a little. Minerva stood up and took Lucy's hand. They walked towards some tables where Nina and Daniel were sitting with a Lily, James, Remus, and Dorcas. Nina looked up and smiled at Lucy as she approached. Lucy let go of Minerva's hand and ran up to Nina who picked her up into her lap.

"Hello, Lucy," Lily said with a smile.

"Hi, Lily. Hi, James. Hi, Remus. Hi, Dorcas," Lucy said with a small smile. "Where's Marlene and Sirius?"

James smirked. "Oh, they're off having -"

"Fun," Remus said suddenly, cutting across James. "They're probably somewhere in the castle having a little bit of fun. Playing games, you know, that sort of thing. Right, James?"

"Right, that's what I was going to say Remus," he said, giving Remus a look. "I'm not that stupid."

Lucy frowned and looked up at Nina. "Why are they acting weird?"

"They're not acting weird," Dorcas said instead. "They are weird."

They gave her a look and Lucy smiled. Minerva walked up and sat down beside Daniel. They greeted her and she said hello back before turning to Lily and asking, "How are you doing, dear?"

"Oh, you know. Big, fat, horrible," she mumbled with a sigh, leaning against James. "Very ready for this baby to get out."

Lucy looked at Lily's stomach. "When is the baby coming?"

"Next month," Lily said with a smile, putting a hand on her stomach. Her smile faded as she looked down and shook her head. "You really need to get out."

They talked for a while before Lucy got bored and decided to find something else to do. Tonks was gone now. She and her mother left to find her father. Charlie and Bill were sitting by their own dad, talking to him about their day. Lucy watched for a second before sighing and picking up the cards she had been playing with before Tonks came up to her. She sat down with her back against the wall and shuffled the cards slowly.

She thought about this war that she had just learned about. She remembered last month when Aunty Amelia came over in the middle of the night because of what happened to her brother. Minerva had told her that it had been an accident. Was it actually an accident or was it because of the war? All of the meeting that Minerva went too, all the people that had shown up at home, James and Sirius guarding their house. Was that all because of the war?

Lucy sighed and thought about what happened yesterday. Death Eaters came to their house to get her, Nina, and Daniel. She shook her head a little bit. She didn't want to think about it but no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept wandering back to those three men. They had been so big and scary. She remembered the spell they did on her. Crucio. It had hurt like nothing she could have ever imagined. Those words still ran around in her hand. Are you sure these are her kids? Why would McGonagall care about these dirty brown skins? Lucy felt the tears fill her eyes. Disgusting, really. She shook her head. Of course, Minerva cared about them. That's why she came back. That's why she brought them here. That's why she was still here with them.

"Hey, what are you doing all on your own?"

Lucy jumped slightly and looked up. Dorcas Meadowes was standing over her and smiling at her. Lucy looked down, quickly wiping her face. "Nothing," she whispered. "Just... just wasting time."

"Do you mind if I sit?" she asked. Lucy shook her head and Dorcas sat down beside her. She frowned a little. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she mumbled.

"Are you sure?"

Lucy didn't say anything for a while before putting down the cards and finally speaking. "No," she whispered. "We're at war."

Dorcas sighed and nodded. "Yes," she said. "We are."

"And there are people who want to hurt us."

"Yes, there might be but you know what?" she said. Lucy looked up at her. "There are so many more people who want to protect you. Protect everyone here. There are so many people who are working very hard every single day to make sure that those bad people don't hurt anyone else ever again."

Lucy looked at her for a second before nodding. "Like Mum."

"Yes," Dorcas said with a smile. "Your mother, your Uncle Albus, your Aunt Amelia. Me, James, Lily, Remus, Peter, Sirius, Marlene. So, so many people."

"Do you think you'll win?" Lucy asked, looking up at her.

Dorcas smiled. "I know we will," she said. "Because how can you lose when you're on the right side?"

"Why are we fighting? What do the Death Eaters want?" Lucy asked.

"Well, they believe in a lot of stupid stuff like that people who can do magic are better than people who can't," Dorcas muttered with a shake of her head.

"That is stupid," Lucy said. "I know a lot of people who are awesome and can't do magic."

"Exactly," Dorcas said. "Like my mother. She can't do magic but she's still a great person who deserves to be treated with respect."

"My Dad couldn't do magic either," Lucy said, looking away again. "He was an amazing person."

Dorcas smiled and took Lucy's hand. "I wish I had been able to meet him. I've heard that he was a very kind and brave man."

Lucy sighed and nodded. She looked across the room over at Bill and Charlie again who were playing cards with their father now. She sighed again and looked back up at Dorcas. "Where are your parents?"

"They're both in India," she said. "They wanted me to come too but I had to stay so that I could help out in the war."

"I'm half Indian," Lucy said with a small smile. "There aren't a lot of Indians at Hogwarts."

"No there really isn't," Dorcas said with a smile. "There aren't a lot of people with different coloured skin but there are some and they're all beautiful."

"Not dirty."

Dorcas looked down at Lucy with a frown. "Of course not," she said. "Did someone says that to you?"

She nodded.

"Here?"

"No, not here," Lucy replied.

"Okay, good," Dorcas said though she still sounded angry and was still frowning. "I was ready to find that person and beat the sh- crap out of them. No one should say that your skin is dirty. It's not. It's beautiful."

Lucy smiled a little. "Thank you," she said. "Your skin is beautiful too."

Dorcas smiled. "Thank you, Lucy," she said. "You know, I had to deal with a lot of stuff like that when I was little too but I learned that it doesn't matter what people say. You want to know what the best way is to get back at people like that?"

"What?"

"It's to work really hard and do so many awesome things and just enjoy your life to the fullest. That's what's going to make them angry the most. When I was younger people used to underestimate me. Thought that I would never be anything special but I worked hard and I got the highest grades in all my classes and now you know what? Death Eaters are running scared away from me!"

Lucy smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah," Dorcas said with a smile. "They talk about the Indian girl that took on ten Death Eaters at once all on her own and captured every single one of them. The girl that will take your ass - oops, sorry I shouldn't have said that."

Lucy laughed. She and Dorcas talked for a while longer before Minerva found them and came over. "Time to go, darling," she said, sticking her hand out for Lucy. "We have to go meet your Aunty Amelia for lunch. Please say goodbye to Dorcas and come along."

Lucy nodded and got up. She looked back at Dorcas and smiled. "Thank you for sitting with me and telling me your Death Eater stories, Dorcas," she said happily.

"Death Eater stories?" Minerva asked with a frown.

"No problem, Lucy," Dorcas said with a smile, ignoring Minerva. She got up off the ground as well. "I'm glad I didn't bore you."

"No, it was so cool!" Lucy said, walking back to her mother and took her hand. "I can't wait to hear more!"

"I hope that these stories aren't too... explicit," Minerva said.

"Mum, Dorcas is so cool! Death Eaters are scared of her!" Lucy said excitedly. "Isn't that awesome?"

Minerva smiled and shook her head. "Yes, very awesome."

"I don't know about that," Dorcas said, blushing a little and rubbed the back of her neck. She smiled and shook her head. "Anyways, I told you Death Eaters weren't that scary, right?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "They're silly."

Minerva smiled. She was glad that Dorcas was helping make Lucy feel a little better. They finally said goodbye to Dorcas and walked out of the classroom. Daniel and Nina following behind. As they walked all Lucy could think about was how awesome Dorcas was and how she wished that she could talk to her more.

---

Thursday, July 2nd 1998

"Get down here, you stupid bird!" Raj said angrily as a small barn owl flew around his office too high up for him to reach. It still had the letters attached to its leg, never giving Raj a chance to get them off.

"Mr. Patil," his secretary's voice said, coming through the phone speaker. "A Miss Amelia Bones is here to see you."

Raj pressed a button on the phone and said, "great, Christine, please send her in. Thanks."

After a few moments the door opened and Amelia came into the office. She smiled at him but before she could say anything he spoke.

"Close that door behind you," he said. He looked up and glared at the owl still flying around in circles, mocking him. "I don't want this bloody overgrown pigeon getting any escape ideas."

Amelia closed the door and laughed. "Are you having problems with your owl?"

"It's not listening to me!"

"Were you mean to him?"

"I was not until it started doing circles above my head," Raj said. "I swear to god if this bird poops anywhere in my office..."

"Wow, a lot of anger. I think you just spooked him," Amelia said with a laugh. She shook her head and pulled out her wand. A net appeared out of nowhere and caught the owl. It floated down towards Amelia and she held the owl gently. "Shh... it's alright. The big scary man isn't going to hurt you anymore."

Raj gave her a look as she walked over and set the owl on his desk. She untied the letters and handed them to him before patting the owl on the head. It hooted happily at her and Raj glared at it.

"I did nothing to it. I just tried to untie the letters and it freaked out," Raj mumbled, sitting back down in his desk chair and opening the letters.

"You probably accidentally pinched it's leg too hard or something," Amelia said, sitting down as well. "You have to be gentle, you know."

Raj waved his hand dismissively at her as he opened the first letter. It was from Lucy. He smiled when he saw that she had also sent him a drawing of the Hogwarts castle. He turned it around to show Amelia. She smiled and took it so she could get a better look.

"Dear Uncle Raj," he read aloud. "Hogwarts is awesome! It's a big castle with paintings that move and talk and real ghosts! The staircases move and our room is hidden behind a trap door in Mum's office. There are a lot of other kids here that I met. I met a girl named Tonks. Actually her name is Nymphadora Tonks but she doesn't like that name so she has everyone call her Tonks. She's a Metamorphmagus which means she can change the way she looks whenever she wants! She keeps her hair pink! I also met Charlie and Bill Weasley. They're brothers and they have four younger brothers. They all have bright red hair - wow, six children."

Amelia nodded. "The Weasley's are a big family," she said. "Very nice though. The father, Arthur, works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department at the Ministry. He is a very lovely man."

"I also talked more with a girl named Dorcas Meadowes. She came over to our house for dinner once when you were away," Raj continued reading. "She's so cool, Uncle Raj! She's like the most powerful witch of her generation. She's so powerful that the Death Eaters are scared of her! She took down ten of them all by herself and arrested every single one! She's so awesome. She's also from India and her parents are there now like Nina's. They want her to come back to India where it's safe but she said that she has to help fight the war first."

"Dorcas is a wonderful girl," Amelia said with a smile. "One of our best Order members and she's only twenty, I believe."

"Wow," Raj said. He flipped the page and kept reading in his head. He smiled and shook his head at the letter. "Lucy talks about her for another page and a half. I think she may be in love with this girl."

Amelia laughed. "Last time I visited I heard all about Dorcas Meadowes," she said. "I think she may be just as obsessed with her as she is with Wonder Woman."

"God help Dorcas Meadowes if that's the case," Raj said with a laugh. He kept reading the letter until he got to the last paragraph. He read this one out loud. "Mum said that you can come for a visit whenever you and Aunty Amelia are free. I hope you can come soon. I'll introduce you to the nice paintings and ghosts! I know you'll love Hogwarts and I can't wait to see you. I drew a picture of Hogwarts so that you could see what it looks like until you can see it for real. Write soon, I'll talk to you later. Love, Lucy."

"I'm available next weekend if you'd like me to take you up there," Amelia said as Raj took Lucy's drawing back from her and folded up the letter.

"That sounds great," he said, flipping to the next letter. This one was from Daniel. "I can't wait to see this Hogwarts place. It sounds very magical."

Amelia smiled. "It is."

"So, what exactly does Minerva teach there?" he asked.

"She teaches Transfigurations," she said. "It's the magic of changing one thing into another. She's also an Animagus, you know. That's when you can turn into an animal without using your wand. Kind of like a Metamorphmagus but you only get one animal. She's a tabby cat."

"That would explains Jay's sudden love for cats after he met her. And why he called Lucy 'Kitten'," Raj said with a smile as he opened up Daniel's letter. Before he could read it however, he looked up at Amelia quickly and facepalmed. "Oh my god... I found Lucy laying on the couch with a tabby cat one day when I came home from work and I told her that she couldn't keep it because Minerva would be angry. That was Minerva the whole time, wasn't it?"

Amelia smiled. "It was," she said. "Minerva actually told me about that. Lucy had to pretend to put her outside before running up and putting her down in her bedroom so you wouldn't be suspicious. Lucy thought it was very funny."

Raj shook his head though he smiled. He looked back down and read through Daniel's letter. When he flipped the pages, he found another one behind it. It was from Minerva. He was surprised to see her signature at the bottom of the letter. He raised an eyebrow at it. "Looks like I've received a formal apology."

Dear Raj,

It's been a while and I have actually begun to miss your stupid snarky comments, as ridiculous as that might sound. We've been at Hogwarts for about a week now and I think the children are enjoying their time here, thankfully. Lucy has learned about the war now though and is a little scared. I've explained to her that it's safe here but I think a visit from you will be the only thing that'll make her feel a bit normal again. I do hope that you will be able to visit soon. The children miss you. I miss you too.

I realize that you may still be upset with me. You have every right to be but please know that I was only doing what I thought was best. The war started five years ago and ever since then it has just been getting worse and worse. Two years ago Trevor McKee, a Hogwarts professor, and his entire family, children included, were found dead in their own home. The children were only four, two, and one. A message in blood was written in the house proclaiming that the same fate would be seen by every other Hogwarts professor that still defied the Dark Lord, the leader of the Death Eaters.

We had known for a long time before then that Hogwarts professors had a large target on their backs but it wasn't until this attack where it actually felt so close to home. After many long conversations, some of which ended very, very, badly, Jay and I came to the conclusion that me leaving home would be the safest option for everyone. I knew owls could be tracked and I knew that I could be followed home from Hogwarts so I didn't want to put my family at risk like that. We thought this was our best option. I've regretted that decision every single day since. I'll always wonder now how different things would be if I had known that he was sick. If I had made it easier for Daniel to be able to contact me if something went horribly wrong like that. I will forever live with that guilt and I will forever try to make it up to these children for being the reason their father is no longer around. That's why I came back home when I heard. That's why I took them up to Castletown for Christmas. That's why I've brought them to Hogwarts now.

So, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything you've had to give up, everything you've lost, everything you've had to do because I wasn't there. You lost your best friend and I lost my husband. We both loved him and we both miss him but it is I that hold this responsibility and I should have told you everything and apologized to you a lot sooner. I think the reason I didn't tell you sooner was because of the shame I felt for not being able to save him. Daniel and Lucy both tried to get me to tell you about magic and the war but I just couldn't make myself do it. I thought about it many times. The day you asked me to sign away custody of Lucy, the day you almost caught me in my cat form snuggling with Lucy on the couch, the night Amelia's brother and his family were murdered. I should have told you. I really should have but I didn't and I am very sorry.

I know that even though we have finally told you the truth now, it still feels very late. Jay asked me himself if it would be so bad if he told you about magic. Apparently he had never kept a secret so big from you before. There are laws against these things though and at the time we could not justify letting you know about magic. I didn't want Jay to get in trouble and have his memory modified by the Ministry for Magic because of me. Now, though, we can justify telling you about magic. Lucy said it herself when she tried to get me to tell you, you're our family. She and Daniel both think of you as family and I do too.

Family is a funny thing. People within a family can do things that other members don't always agree with but usually, eventually, they forgive each other. I hope that in time you can forgive me too and we can be more of a family. I hope that you can find that I deserve it, I don't know if I do myself to be completely honest, but I hope eventually I do.

With Love,

Minerva McGonagall

Raj's smile faded away and he suddenly felt horrible for joking earlier. He set the letter down on the desk and stared at it. Amelia watched him with a frown. "Are you alright?"

He shook his head and quickly opened his desk. He needed to write back to Minerva right away. He pulled out some paper with Collins Enterprises letterhead on it and a pen. He set it down on the desk and looked up at Amelia.

"Ah... I think I need a minute," he said. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright. I understand," she said with a small smile. "When you're done your letters just write the names on the envelopes and tie it to the owl's leg. Gently. The Owl will know where to go from there. If you still have problems you can call my house number. I've given you my number, right?"

Raj nodded. "Thank you, Amelia," he said.

"Of course," she said as she got up. "I'll come by your apartment on Saturday to take you to Hogwarts."

"Alright," he said. "See you then."

Amelia said goodbye and headed out of the room, the owl still sitting on the desk. It hooted after her and made a sad little sound when she left out the door. Raj sighed and gave the bird a little pat on the head.

"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Mr. Owl," he said. "I hope that we can work together from this point on. I have some very important letters that I need to get sent out quickly."

The owl looked back at him, cocked it's head to the side, and stared at him for a second before hooting happily. Raj smiled and pet the owl's head again.

"Wonderful," he said. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll have these letters done for you to take back to Hogwarts."

He clicked a button on his phone and informed Christine that he would need to push back some meetings as he had some important work to attend to quickly. He turned back to the paper on his desk and got to work on his letters, starting with Minerva's.

...

"Look! Look!" Lucy said excitedly, pointing up at Minerva's office window where an Owl was tapping its beak against the glass. She raced over to it and tried to jump up but she couldn't reach.

Minerva looked up from her desk and smiled. She noticed the letters on the owl's leg and smiled a little. "Those must be from your Uncle Raj," she said, getting up from her desk and walking over to the window. She lifted Lucy up and Lucy opened the window so the owl could hop in. It hooted happily up at them and shook its little leg, apparently very proud of itself. Lucy giggled and gently untied the letters from the leg.

"Thank you, Mr. Owl," Lucy said, petting the owl's head.

"Yes, thank you," Minerva said as she set Lucy back down on the floor. "You may go back to the Owlery now."

The owl hooted happily before jumping out of the window again and flying off. Lucy watched the bird fly away and waved. "Bye, bye, Mr. Owl!"

Minerva smiled and closed the window before looking down at Lucy. "That looks like a lot of letters."

Lucy nodded. "One for me," she said happily, "one for Daniel, one for Nina, and one for you!"

She held out the letter with Minerva's name on it up to her mother. Minerva was surprised to get a letter. "Wow," she said, taking the letter from her. "A letter for me."

"Where are Daniel and Nina?" Lucy asked as Minerva walked back towards her desk.

"I think they're inside," she said. "Would you like to go in and give them their letters?"

Lucy nodded and Minerva pulled the torch down to open the door for her. Lucy thanked her and raced inside to find her brother and his girlfriend. Minerva smiled and sat back down at her desk as the door closed behind them. She opened the envelope and pulled the letter out. It was written on Collins Enterprise letterhead. She hadn't seen the minimalistic, copper, geometric logo in a while. She sighed and read the letter over.

Dear Minerva,

You are not the reason Jay Collins is dead. He was sick. It wasn't great but it wasn't your fault. You are not the reason that Lucy and Daniel don't have their father anymore. Sometimes shit happens and it sucks. It really sucks and it feels like it's never going to get better but it does. Lucy and Daniel love you. You don't have anything to make up for.

We've been stupid. Both of us. We've been fighting and Jay wouldn't have wanted that. I know that if he were here he would tell us that we're being stupid. Things are bad right now, I now understand that, and we can't be at each other's throats during times like these. If we are going to keep Lucy, Daniel, and Nina safe, we're going to need to work together from now on. That means no more secrets. I don't have any secrets from you and I hope that you don't have anymore secrets from me. You're right that family is a funny thing and I want you to be in my family but I can't do that if you keep things from me. I don't have great experience with family so I can't say that I'm an expert in the subject but I do know family works better when you are open with one another so let's not do this again.

I'm sorry for saying those horrible things when I was angry. I know now that you were not trying to take Daniel and Lucy away from me but at the time it definitely felt that way. It's weird, you know. I never wanted kids. I never thought that I would ever have any but now, though I still don't want kids of my own, I think of Daniel and Lucy as my children and the idea of someone trying to take them away from me just angers me so much. I suppose that must have been how you felt when I tried to get you to sign custody of Lucy over to Daniel. Again I apologize for trying to do that. I made a promise, that I would take care of these children, and I will do anything to keep that promise.

I'm not angry. I was but I'm not anymore. I understand that it's hard, this whole secrecy thing and this whole war thing. I would like to learn more about it and help out as much as I can. If we are a family now, your war is my war, your problems are my problems, and I want to help.

Amelia and I will be over next weekend. I hope that when we do, you will tell me all about this war and tell me anything else I may not know yet. I believe you said it the first time we saw each other again, our goal is the same. We both just want to protect Lucy and Daniel. Let's start with a clean slate. No more secrets. No more yelling. No more saying horrible things we don't mean. Let's be a family.

Raj Patil

Minerva smiled a little as she folded the letter back up and stuck it back into the envelope. The letter, though not warm per say, was a start. She was glad that Raj was finally forgiving her. It seemed that Daniel was right after all. Telling him about magic had helped the situation. She wasn't looking forward to Daniel finding out and lording this over on her. She set the letter into one of her desk drawers and decided to get back to work.

---

Saturday, July 11th 1998

"Guess who's here!" Raj said, walking into Minerva's office without knocking. Amelia followed in after him.

"Uncle Raj! Uncle Raj!" Lucy exclaimed happily, running over to him. He smiled and picked her up into his arms. He kissed her on the cheek and she giggled.

"Hey, Princess," he said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good!"

Daniel and Nina got up from where they were sitting in front of Minerva's desk and walked over to greet Raj and Amelia too. Minerva smiled and got up as well. She walked over and, to her surprise, Raj pulled her into a hug as well. She smiled and hugged him back.

"It's nice to see you, Raj," she said with a smile.

"You as well," he said, pulling away and looking back at the others. "So, Hogwarts, huh? It looks pretty amazing from what I saw."

"Did you come up the moving staircases, Uncle Raj?" Lucy asked excitedly. "Aren't they so cool?!"

"Yes, very cool," Raj said with a smile. "Though, they make it very easy to get lost, don't they? I'm glad that your Aunt Amelia was here to guide me so I actually made it up here."

Minerva smiled. "Yes," she said. "I'm glad Amelia came with you as well."

Amelia gave her a look before rolling her eyes. "So," she said, looking over at Daniel and Nina. "How are you enjoying Hogwarts?"

"It's great," Nina said with a smile. "Never been any place like it. Everyone here is very nice and they don't seem to care very much that Daniel and I can't do magic."

"Yeah, it's cool," Daniel said. "We've met a lot of pretty cool people and have learned a lot of about magic."

"Me too! Me too!" Lucy said. "James and Sirius taught me to do a lot of new spells!"

"They are not very nice spells," Minerva said with a frown, "and she is no longer allowed to do them."

Raj laughed and tousled Lucy's hair. "Maybe you should talk to someone else about some nicer spells you could learn."

"Dorcas taught me lots of spells too!" Lucy said. "You know, Dorcas, right Uncle Raj? I told you about her in my letters."

"Yes, I feel like I know Miss Meadowes personally now," he said with a laugh. "You've told me so much about her."

"Oh, you have no idea," Daniel said, suddenly sounding very tired. He sat back down on his chair and sighed. "She never shuts up about her."

"She doesn't," Nina said with a laugh. "She really admires Dorcas. That's not a bad thing."

"Of course not," Minerva said with a smile. "I'm glad that she and Dorcas are such good friends."

Nina and Minerva sat down as well and Amelia walked over to conjure up some chairs for herself and Raj. Raj picked Lucy up into his lap and sat down in his chair. They talked for a while before Lucy was able to convince Raj to come down to the children's classroom with her to play with her friends.

"I told them that you were coming and that you were really fun and they want to meet you too," she said excitedly as Raj got up. "They want to play with you too!"

Raj smiled. "I am pretty fun, aren't I?"

Lucy nodded vigorously, took his hand and dragged him out of the room. Raj laughed and said a quick goodbye to everyone before the door closed behind him. Minerva smiled and shook her head.

"She has been excited all week for him to meet all her friends," Nina said with a smile.

"He's quite good with children," Amelia said with a smile. "Even if he doesn't think so."

"It's ridiculous, really," Minerva said with a shake of her head. "He's wonderful with Lucy and yet he still think's he's rubbish."

"It's true but there's something far more important we have to discuss right now," Daniel said with a huge smile on his face. "Guess what."

"What?" Nina asked.

"No, not you," Daniel said. He looked at Minerva. "Guess who was right, Min."

"Me?" Minerva asked.

"Nope."

"Really? Because that's usually the answer to that question," Minerva said.

"I don't think that's true," Amelia said with a smile and a shake of her head. Minerva gave her a look.

"No, it's not," Daniel said. "No, I was right, I said that once you told Uncle Raj about magic things would get better and they did. I told you so."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Are you done?"

"No!" Daniel said. He continued half singing. "I was right you were wrong! I was right you were wrong! Min was wrong!" He nudged his girlfriend. "Come on celebrate with me!"

Nina laughed. "Min was wrong! Min was wrong!"

The two of them kept singing and Minerva rolled her eyes at them again. Amelia laughed and looked at her.

"You were wrong," she said with a little shrug.

"I hate you," Minerva replied, glaring at her.

Amelia laughed and shook her head. "No, you don't."

...

Raj had a lot of fun playing with all the children in the daycare center. Apparently fun people didn't come to play with them very often. They talked of the likes of James Potter and Sirius Black who were both pretty fun but James had been quite busy with Lily lately and Sirius wasn't around all the time. Arthur Weasley was apparently very good at games but not available very often. Marlene McKinnon was also very fun. There were a couple others as well. The problem being that the war kept all of them quite busy and it was hard to make time for the children. It had been a long time since they had someone to play with like Raj.

"Ouf," Raj mumbled as he fell backwards onto the ground.

"I think you play quite roughly with the kids," a woman with black and red hair told Raj. She was looking down at him.

"I don't think so," he said with a laugh. "If anything I think they play quite roughly with me." He got up, making a lot of grunting noises as he did. "I may be getting too old for this."

She laughed and held out her hand to help him. He accepted her help and she pulled him up.

Lucy saw who her uncle was with and ran over excitedly. "Hey, Dorcas!"

"Hello, Lucy," she said with a smile.

"Uncle Raj, this is Dorcas Meadowes!" Lucy said. "Dorcas this is my uncle, Raj Patil. He's the COO of Collins Enterprises and he basically runs our company now."

"Wow," Dorcas said with a laugh.

"Lucy, I've told you, you don't have to say all that when you introduce me to someone," Raj said with a laugh and a shake of his head. He looked back at Dorcas and stuck out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Dorcas. I've heard a lot about you from this little one."

"Really?" Dorcas asked, shaking his hand and laughing.

"Yes, I think she's in love with you," Raj said.

"No!" Lucy said, going very red in the face. She smacked her uncle's leg. "Uncle Raj!"

He laughed and tousled her hair a little. Dorcas smiled and shook her head.

"Well, I'm flattered," she said. "It's nice to meet you as well, Mr. Patil. Lucy has also told me a lot about you."

"Does she?" Raj asked with a smile.

"She's very proud of her Uncle Raj," Dorcas said with a smile.

"Are you, Princess?" he asked with a huge smile on his face, tousling her hair again. Lucy blushed again but didn't say anything. "That's adorable."

"Do you wanna play with us, Dorcas?" Lucy said. "Uncle Raj was teaching us a new game! Do you want to play too?"

"You know I would love too, love, but I actually just came by to say a quick hello before I headed out," she said. "I'm going on a mission for your Uncle Albus so I'll be gone for a couple days."

"Oh," Lucy said sadly.

"It'll be okay, love," Dorcas said with a smile. "I'll see you in three days."

Lucy nodded. She looked up at her Uncle Raj and said, "Dorcas fights bad guys!"

"Yes, I've heard," he said with a smile. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Dorcas. Please be safe on your mission."

"Yeah, be safe Dorcas," Lucy said. "And come home soon."

Dorcas smiled. She kneeled down and gave Lucy a hug. "I will, love," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Dorcas."

She got up and shook Raj's hand again. "It was nice meeting you as well," she said. "Hopefully I'll see you soon too."

Raj smiled and said goodbye to her as well. Dorcas left and Lucy looked up at him happily. "Did you like her?"

"Yes, she was very nice," Raj said with a smile.

Lucy smiled a huge smile and went into how awesome Dorcas was yet again as she took his hand and led him back towards Tonks, Charlie, and Bill. Raj laughed and listened to her rant and rave about Dorcas Meadowes yet again.

...

It was late now and the children had gone to bed. Minerva, Raj, and Amelia were sitting in her sitting room with glasses of scotch in their hands. Amelia and Minerva told Raj all about the war, starting from the very beginning to now. There were some tears, some anger, a lot of refilling glasses. Like many other conversations about the war, this conversation ended with a long silence.

Finally the silence was broken by Raj. He put his glass down on the coffee table with a soft thud and said, "is that all of it then? No more secrets?"

"No more," Amelia said with a small smile.

"Actually, there is one more thing," Minerva said, sitting up on the edge of her seat and pouring herself another glass of scotch. "Something I haven't actually told you yet either, Amelia."

"What is it?" Amelia asked with a frown.

Minerva took a deep breath, leaned back in her chair and told them about the rainy night in March when Albus Dumbledore was interviewing for the Divinations position. She told them about the prophecy he had the pleasure of hearing.

"A real prophecy?" Amelia asked with raised eyebrow. She knew that they existed but she never really took to the field of divination. Minerva was less interested in the subject than she was though so Amelia supposed if she was talking about it, it must be important.

"Yes, a real prophecy," Minerva said with a nod. "About the war."

"What did it say?" Raj asked.

"'Two shall work together to vanquish the Dark Lord. One, a witch, born half muggle, half magical... born through turmoil not long ago... with powers unlike any other... power not confined to a wand but surged through her whole body... and who would choose the winning side of the war. The other, a wizard, approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equals, but they have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...'"

"Wow," Raj said. "Do you know who it could be?"

Amelia's eyes widened. She stared at Minerva wordlessly. Minerva chose to ignore her and answer Raj's question instead.

"For the wizard we think it could be the Potters son or another family's son," she said. "The Longbottoms. Both sets of parents have defied You-Know-Who on three separate occasions and both have late July due dates."

"So the wizard that is supposed to defeat this Dark Lord guy... is a baby?" Raj said.

Minerva sighed and nodded.

"How much longer is this war going to go on for?" Raj asked.

"I don't know," Minerva whispered.

"What about for the witch?" Raj asked.

Minerva didn't reply. Amelia took this as confirmation of what she was already thinking. "Raj," she whispered, "'power not confined to a wand but surged through her whole body...'"

Minerva nodded sadly. "Albus thinks the witch is Lucy."

"Lucy?" Raj said, shocked. "No, no, no. Lucy can't fight a war."

"I know," Minerva said with a sigh.

There was silence for a while. The three of them thought of little six year old Lucy running off to battle and shuddered. It's not something any of them wanted. She was a child, not a soldier.

The silence dragged on. Everyone was done talking. There was nothing left to say now. No more secrets to be revealed. No more stories left untold. Everything was out there on the table for them to think about. Minerva felt the tears fill her eyes as she thought about her baby having to fight in a war. Amelia saw this and put a hand on her shoulder. Raj let out a deep sigh. There was nothing left to say.