Author's Note:
Reviews and Comments: I love that no one was surprised by Ginny taming Ebony. I think that says a lot about her character. To crunchy cheeseball: Who would be the best flier out of Harry and Ginny? Guess we'll have to find out because I can promise you, they will have that race ;) To theconfusedone: Harry needs to get back into his bold self, I agree, and I can promise you, he will. As to an old flame of Harry's, oh I can definitely promise that, but it won't be for a few more chapters I'm afraid. To daughterofwisdomandsea: Harry is their boy and they are both going to do everything in their power to take care of him. Harry's grief will come and go, but with the help of Ginny and his family, he is healing. To SylviaLestrange: The heart was beautiful thank you! I couldn't read your word art until I clicked directly on the comments section within the chapter on my laptop. I first pulled it up on my phone and had no idea what was going on lol, but thank you!
To what-is-a-social-life: Thank you! I hope that sixth year still manages to bring a few surprises your way! To Wolf's scream: I figured Colt would notice the marriage aspect over the babies as I wrote him like my Pipi, who was mildly insulted at the idea that anyone would do anything without marriage first lol. To uberdonut: Ah, not sharing your guesses isn't fun, maybe I need some hints for some truly evil scenarios? LOL. Don't worry, I have some semblance of a plan (kind of) and there will be some evil afoot as well. Also I love your long reviews! Please never stop them! Harry has a few wonderful things for his birthday — you'll have to wait and see ;) I am currently writing Ginny's birthday now and the beginning of the school year. To nothatchhavi: Aww, you think Theo and Finn are the new Wolfstar, thank you so much! To speedsONEandONLY: Oh, don't worry, Theo will find out exactly what he can do with that ;) And yes, Colt and Flo have taken portkeys to England many times before. To Menna Taha: Definitely not shying away from Sirius, we don't want him to be forgotten! And of course Ginny is already part of the family. To zacnelson0628: I always feel like Percy gets the short end of the stick and I wanted to change that. To supersandman86: Sirius is very much to thank and I like the idea of the Weasley brothers stepping up to help continue that legacy. I also like to think that Sirius will be having a word with Peter on him saving Zee when he sees him in the afterlife. To Saz J: Sensual wings, very kinky! Thanks!
To Firekel: Thanks and hey, they are real people in your mind, and that's basically the same thing LOL. What an amazing compliment though to compare me to any of those incredible authors, thank you very much! To coloredwords: You know they will! And it's true, no one is safe. To LittleEngland: Thank you! Glad the quarantine is good for something even if it's just catching up on my little old story, thank you for reading!
My posting schedule: Once a week.
Thanks to Dusk for her amazing editing skills.
Thanks to Steel and Bex for helping me months and months and months ago with this idea (like seriously back when Sirius first joined the Wizengamot back in chapter 134 and the whole Undesirable bill issue, that's how far back LOL).
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN:
Theo nervously stepped into the Chambers of the Wizengamot, unsure on how to proceed. He had talked to Finn (and then Blaise) about attending almost nonstop, and both had assured him that he should attend. It was his birthright, as both a Nott and as the Marquess of Norfolk. The thought made him uneasy though. His father had been denied entry into the Wizengamot and a Nott hadn't sat in the family seat since his grandfather had passed. Theo had to admit that his grandfather hadn't been much to brag about either. Finn had kissed him that morning and urged him to go, telling him that he knew he would be great. But now that he had arrived, Theo's nerves had settled into his stomach again.
A hand landed on his shoulder. He was startled to realize that it belonged to Dumbledore.
"Lord Norfolk, Bill Weasley mentioned that he was hoping you might attend today."
Theo nodded. "Er, well, I thought maybe… do I just join in?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Absolutely. You have every right to be here, Theo. Don't be afraid. Accio Wizengamot robe."
A robe of deep royal purple floated out of the closet on the side and Dumbledore passed it to him.
"You can wear that today and once you've been formally accepted by the Sovereign Chalice, a robe will be made for you."
Theo nodded, slipping the robe over his shoulders. "And what if the chalice doesn't accept me, Professor?"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked at him. "Lord Norfolk, I think that we can both say with absolute certainty that you are very different from your father."
Theo stared into Dumbledore's piercing gaze for a moment before he nodded. "Where do I sit, Sir?"
"I think you'll figure that out on your own. Head over to the House of Lords and Ladies side of the chamber."
Theo watched as Dumbledore headed to the centre to take his seat in the Chief Warlock area and he slowly made his way to the side where the House of Lords and Ladies sat. He looked up apprehensively at the seats and then he recognized the Nott family crest sitting on one of the chairs so he made his way over to it. The regal wooden chair had the Nott Family Crest carved into the back of it and he slowly sat down, nerves gnawing at him. The moment he sat, he felt the magic whirl around and cling to him. The power of the old blood magic, the old ties that had originally helped to create the chair, seemed to be testing him, as if trying to decide if he deserved the seat: If he truly was a true Nott heir. He felt his own magic react to it, a tingle in his blood and then it settled, leaving him feeling like an electric charge was vibrating under his skin on low frequency.
People began to arrive in the chamber, and he nodded at Bill and Percy as they made their way to sit in two of the Weasley chairs. He watched them both react as the magic did the same to them, and he wondered if they were as nervous as he was. To his surprise, the chair next to him was suddenly filled with Neville Longbottom.
"Longbottom!"
Neville smiled at him. "Hi, Theo."
"You're here, too?"
Neville shrugged. "My gran is passing it over to me, but since she is still holding the chair, I'm only here as a guest. But Gran wants me to claim my seat so that it's done as I'm taking on more responsibilities concerning Cumbria."
Theo nodded. "Are you going to be seventeen then?"
Neville shook his head. "Not yet, only sixteen in two weeks. But since Gran is still sitting on the Wizengamot, I can claim my seat, but not join in on the voting or discussion until it's time. Did your chair make you feel all tingly too?"
Theo grinned at him. "Yeah. It's our family magic."
"Wicked," Neville said, settling himself more comfortably.
It was only a few moments more before Dumbledore called the room to attention.
"As you all know, we have many things to discuss on today's agenda. First and foremost, the attack by Lord Voldemort with his Death Eaters and followers on the Ministry of Magic on the evening of the eighteenth of June. But before we get into the what ifs and the much needed discussion on why and how it happened, we have some new members to welcome into the Wizengamot as standing council members. Lady Cumbria, if you would like to start things off."
Augusta Longbottom, who had been sitting below in the guest area stood up and cleared her throat. "Yes, thank you, Chief Warlock. My grandson, Neville, while young still, will be taking on a more prominent role as Lord Cumbria. I'm not getting any younger so, I asked him to come today and be accepted into the Longbottom seat. I want him to listen and to learn as much as he can before he goes back to Hogwarts in September."
Dumbledore nodded. "Mr Longbottom, if you would please come down to the centre by the Sovereign Chalice to be officially sworn in."
Neville stood up from the chair and moved down to the centre of the chamber. His head was held high, but Theo knew that he was as nervous as he felt himself. He raised his wand in the air and when he spoke, his voice was loud and clear.
"I, Lord Neville Franklin Longbottom, Head of the Longbottom Family and of Cumbria, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Wizengamot Assembly, to the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, to the Ministry of Magic, and to my Magical Heritage both as a Longbottom and as a Wizard. With this oath, I shall strive to do right by all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will. I do swear on my life and on my magic, so mote it be."
Dumbledore pointed to the golden goblet in the middle of the room. "Please join us."
Neville accepted the ceremonial knife from his grandmother, slicing a thin line down his palm and carefully squeezing a drop of blood into the goblet. It sizzled for a moment before turning a blinding white. Theo jumped when the Longbottom chair next to him glowed brightly in the same dazzling white.
"Welcome, Lord Cumbria. You are now an official member of the Wizengamot."
Neville flushed, moving to sit back next to Theo. Bill and Percy each stepped down to do the same.
"I, William Arthur Weasley, eldest son of Arthur Weasley, do solemnly swear…"
The blood dropped into the goblet when he sliced his palm. The same blinding white flashed before one of the Weasley chairs glowed and Bill took his seat.
Percy held up his wand. "I, Percival Ignatius Weasley, third son of Arthur Weasley, do solemnly swear…"
The Sovereign Chalice again accepted the blood and Theo found himself walking down into the centre. His palms were sweating nervously and he could hear his father's voice in his head.
"That bloody chalice is cursed! It hates Notts! The Wizengamot meant for it to happen! It burned me! I caught on fire and my blood boiled! It was a dirty, trick! Come here, boy!"
He closed his eyes against the memory and slowly raised his wand, his eyes on Dumbledore.
"I, Lord Theodore Thaddeus Nott, Marquess of Norfolk, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Wizengamot Assembly, to the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, to the Ministry of Magic, and to my Magical Heritage both as a Nott and as a Wizard. With this oath, I shall strive to do right by all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will. I do swear on my life and on my magic, so mote it be."
He accepted the knife and sliced his palm, wincing at the cut before he let a drop fall into the goblet. His blood sizzled and seemed to boil a moment. It felt like ages longer than the others, but then it flashed in the blinding white and he felt his magic answer to it. The Nott chair lit up and relief coursed through him.
He had done it.
"Welcome, Lord Norfolk," Dumbledore said with a smile.
Theo moved back to take his seat and Bill clamped his shoulder with a smile.
"I told you. You're nothing like your father. Welcome to the big leagues."
Theo smiled warmly at him and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he felt a sense of belonging wash over him. He was the Marquess of Norfolk and it was time for him to make sense of what that meant. It was time for him to step up and take a stand.
He turned his attention back to the Wizengamot as Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Welcome, Lord Cumbria, Lord Norfolk, and Lords Weasley and Weasley. We always welcome new blood to the council. I now turn the chamber over to our Minister, who would like to say a few things."
Amelia Bones stood up, her back straight and her eyes somber. "Thank you, Chief Warlock. We need to discuss first and foremost, the fact that we nearly lost control of the Ministry on the eighteenth of June. My Cabinet and I have been working tirelessly to fix the physical damage done and the political ramifications of what that entails. He Who Must — I mean, Lord Voldemort." She paused as the room gasped audibly. "No, Chief Warlock Dumbledore has been saying it for years: Fear of his name only increases our fear of him — and I, for one, am bloody tired of cowering to this man! For that's what he is: A man. One wizard, not some god that needs to be revered. He's a terrorist, a sadist, a murderer, and it's high time that we as a Ministry, that we as a community, and that we as a country — stand up to him and fight back!"
Murmurs of approval rang through the auditorium.
"I'm not just talking about our new Defence Department, though that's part of it. I'm talking about every single day as individuals, as a community. The Defence Department is working with the Aurors and the Hit Wizards who will all be on call to help the DMLE reach out to the public on any suspected signs of dark magic. Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt have handpicked a group of officers from all over the DMLE to run courses on self defence for anyone who wants to participate. It will be on a volunteer basis and will be for anyone ages seventeen and up."
She let out a slow breath. "The Ministry of Magic will be guarded night and day by a security team so that we will be prepared if anyone tries to attack the Ministry again. There is increased security at St Mungo's as well and there will be officers patrolling the main magical markets such as Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and others similar in size. We've coordinated with the Muggle Prime Minister to make him aware of the situation and of the potential dangers our war may bring. We will be working with the Muggles as necessary, because if Lord V-Voldemort wishes to make this a war — we will give him a war."
Murmurs of approval rounded the room before a slim elegant hand adorned in gold bracelets rose into the air.
"Princess Aisling, you wish to speak?" Dumbledore asked.
Princess Aisling nodded, standing up. "In Tara, our guard is training stronger than ever. We've supplied members of our guard to be in your Terra Troops and in your Wing Guards and we are helping to work with them to create a good defence system and so far, it is working. We've been doing everything right in that regard, but unfortunately despite our attempts and good intentions, the Ministry did fall. My question is: Why didn't the enemy hold it? Why did they abandon it after they had won it?"
Dumbledore nodded. "That, your Highness, has been troubling me as well. Why show his hand with the giants and the Dementors? Why make such a show, only to vanish without a trace the moment he claimed it? It troubles me because it tells me that he is planning something bigger, perhaps a second attack here, perhaps somewhere else. We need to be on our guard. We need to be ready."
"Chief Warlock, we've distributed the GWCS coins to our units. The coins have proven invaluable in getting the message out to our allies, but the problem was that by the time we got the message out, a lot of our troops had to find a place to safely Apparate or find a Floo to use to gain access to the Ministry, and it slowed us down," Scrimgeour explained. "The attack on the Ministry alerted the public to this being more than just terrorism, but an outright war; volunteers have flocked to sign up. We have received over two hundred volunteers in the last week alone, and we're looking to distribute them among the four units accordingly."
"Lord Scrimgeour, what can you tell us about the defence squads? What happened to the preparations that we've made? Why was the response time slowed?" Bones demanded.
Scrimgeour cleared his throat as he stood. "Lord Black had sent word that we might find a need to be at the Ministry of Magic as he had intel that You Know — Voldemort —was going to attack that evening, but given that terrorist attacks by Death Eaters have been happening all over the country for the last few months, we didn't think going in en mass without certainty would be a wise move. When we got word that there was indeed an attack, I'm afraid that the troops who have been working diligently in my unit… many of them didn't answer the call. We had problems with arrival times and inabilities to get to transportation devices. People in unrestricted Apparition zones and not near the Floo network so our Terra Troops trickled in instead of arriving en mass. It left our guard down, it left us weak, and it left us vulnerable. We only called the Terra Troops in and not the other units and frankly, if Voldemort hadn't turned tail and left, he would have decimated us."
"Why didn't you call in the other units?" Bill asked, his wand in the air. "I was fighting alongside Lord Black and Chief Warlock Dumbledore that evening — we needed more help. We lost Lord Black that night in battle, and if that help had arrived, that might not have happened."
Scrimgeour nodded. "The Wing Guards are only just getting organized as we focused mainly on forming the ground troops over the last few months. Since we were inside of the Ministry, it didn't seem relevant to call them in. Same goes for the Aqua Protectors. As for the Spooks, CWM Shacklebolt hasn't been bringing them to drill with us so I'm not sure on their role quite yet."
Bones frowned. "None of this is a valid reason! We formed this defence department to stop Voldemort and his army from attacking us and the first moment he comes out of hiding and attacks — we completely crumble! It's demoralizing, and frankly, disappointing!"
"Minister Bones, if I may?" Dumbledore interrupted.
"Please, Chief Warlock, go on."
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I spent the battle duelling Voldemort and the frustration in his eyes in my luck at keeping him at bay, was clearly evident. Once he realized that Harry Potter was no longer in the vicinity, and when I blocked him again, he took off. With all due respect, I think that he had a goal in mind, and despite our immense vulnerabilities, he wasn't willing to compromise that goal in order to take over the Ministry — not yet."
Bones frowned. "Your service to us that night, Chief Warlock, will not be forgotten. No one else could have duelled him for so long without falling."
"I assure you it was luck, Madam Minister. Nothing more."
Bones gave him a look like she knew that wasn't true, but she turned back to Scrimgeour regardless. "What else can you tell me, Lord Scrimgeour? How many Terra Troops actually showed up on the eighteenth?"
Scrimgeour cleared his throat again, scratching in his moustache. "Fifteen, Minister."
"Fifteen out of forty six?"
"Yes."
"And we lost how many?"
"Four."
Bones frowned. "Was it merely a transportation issue?"
"For some," Scrimgeour admitted. "But the help we were promised also didn't show." He turned to look at Adrian. "CWM Roberts, none of the wolves showed up that night. The only wolf I saw fighting was Remus Lupin. Lord Clovenfield, none of the vampires arrived either. In fact, of the fifteen, twelve were volunteer witches and wizards and the other three were Prince Finley, Prince Tiernan, and one of the fae guard. You each were given a unit within the Terra Troops to help us fight and yet none of your kind even bothered to show up."
Lord Clovenfield smiled. "Our kind as you say, is my point, Lord Scrimgeour. You may be letting us fight with you and letting us sit here on your council, yet you still do not truly accept us."
Bones raised her wand. "Acceptance comes from both sides, Lord Clovenfield. If you're not willing to work with us, how do you expect us to work with you? You promised your unit would help in the fight and yet none of them came, why?"
He stared at her for a moment. "I ordered them to stand back. I wanted to wait and see how serious the attack was before I risked my unit."
Bones raised an eyebrow. "That will not happen again, Lord Clovenfield. You are no longer in charge of your unit." She turned to the woman sitting next to him. "Lady Marsala, who would you recommend to run the vampire unit of the Terra Troops?"
Lady Emmeline Marsala, a beautiful dark-haired vampire, smiled at her. "Adam Patrick, Minister. He's young, by vampire standards. Only sixty, but he's smart and he's been saying since day one that we need to do more."
Bones nodded. "Excellent. I will speak to him myself about his promotion. Lord Clovenfield, do you agree with Lady Marsala's choice?"
Clovenfield let out a slow breath. "Yes, Minister. I would still like to be in the unit if you'd allow?"
"I would," she said kindly. "I trust you won't make the same mistake again, and I am trusting you to trust me."
At his nod, she turned back to the room.
"Change doesn't happen overnight and we knew this going in, but if we can't trust each other, Lord Voldemort will tear us apart and destroy our world. CWM Roberts, can you tell me why your wolves did not present themselves?"
"Transportation, mainly," Adrian admitted. "The disrespect for wolves has made it so that most of us don't even know how to Apparate. Those that do are few and far between and because of that distrust, none of us have connections to the Floo network. Our only way to get to the Ministry is through Muggle means or by transforming and running. We're fast, Minister, but we were still only halfway there when word came that Voldemort had left with his army."
Bones frowned at his words. "So, transportation seems to be the main problem then? Was this something that we never addressed?"
Scrimgeour raised his wand. "We didn't know that it was an issue, Minister, until the moment came for us to be somewhere. As you know, Apparition in the Ministry is restricted. You can Apparate inside the main atrium and then, once inside within the Ministry itself, but until you reach the atrium, you cannot Apparate out again. It made access to the Department of Mysteries hard - which is where the battle originally started."
Bones nodded. "CWM Roberts, would your wolves be willing to learn to Apparate?"
"Most of them would, yes, Minister," Adrian told her, his eyes widening in surprise. "But if the next attack happens at the Ministry, we would still be in the same boat."
"Priority Portkeys could be built for that problem," a voice said from the back.
Bones turned to look at who had spoken and nodded at the wizard who stood up. "Yes, Lord Andrews?"
Andrews, a short portly wizard with a shock of flyaway white hair, smiled as he stood up. "We make them for expectant mothers all the time. My daughter-in-law has one right now that is set to bring her right to St Mungo's when she goes into labour within the next few weeks. How are you informing your troops of the need for them? Can you add a priority portkey into the mix?"
Scrimgeour frowned, his mane of brownish gold hair framing his face and making him look even more like the lion he resembled when his moustache curved. "Perhaps. But it is usually tied to a destination, and that we do not have."
"Lord Weasley?" Bones asked, when Bill's wand rose into the air again.
"I've worked as a curse breaker for seven years now and one of the tools that we have at our disposal is to use portkeys connected to the leader of our excavation site. Perhaps you could do the same. Each leader of the unit can set the destination given into their coins and the coins themselves could be made into Priority Portkeys to transport our men and women to their unit leader and therefore arriving safely and exactly where they are supposed to be at a designated time."
Bones smiled brightly. "That is a wonderful idea. Perhaps you could work with the Department of Transportation, Portkey Services, in creating those since your brothers are the designers of the coins?"
"I'd be delighted to, Minister," Bill replied.
Bones turned to Princess Aisling. "As to you, Princess, we thank your brothers for arriving when they did. It is my understanding that your youngest brother, Prince Finley, took down one of the giants himself?"
Princess Aisling smiled. "He had help, Minister, but he did do pretty well on his own. Finn is one of our best warriors. As to the gnomes and leprechauns, we are still working on forming them into the unit and we apologize for the delay on that front."
Bones nodded. "The DRCMC has the giant below in the menagerie, tending to his injuries, and a few of the agents are working on turning him to our side. In the meantime, this fiasco will not happen again. We will be prepared in every way to defend ourselves, our Ministry, and our people. All of our people," she added, her eyes on Clovenfield and Roberts. "Does anyone have anything else to add concerning the defence?"
Theo sat up a little in his seat and slowly held his wand up.
"Lord Norfolk, you wish to speak?"
Theo nodded, glancing at Bill and Percy nervously. "I do, Minister. Um, I know that I'm younger than you usually allow your members to be, but —"
"— None of that, Lord Norfolk," Bones said with a smile. "The chalice accepted you and so did your family seat. You have every right to be here as the Marquess of Norfolk, and I think that a lot of us can say, it's nice to have a respectable Nott back in the Wizengamot."
Theo brightened a little at that. "Um, thank you. Well, I just wanted to say that um, some of us, at Hogwarts that is, have been learning how to fight with archery and swordplay and... um, I wondered if that was something that the Terra Troops were learning as well."
Scrimgeour gave him a pointed look. "We're leaving those skills up to the fae, Lord Norfolk. It is for their unit and for them to decide if they want to teach others."
"I just..."
"Go on, Theo," Bill urged.
Theo nodded. "I just thought that those who want to help fight, but maybe don't have the magical means to do so like, er, Squibs for example, they could, you know, still help. I'm sorry — that's stupid, I don't know what I'm saying."
"No," Bill said, turning to Minister Bones. "That's an excellent idea, actually. Squibs should be able to help defend the community if that's what they want. It's their world too — why shouldn't they learn how to defend it? Princess Aisling, do you have someone in your guard who would be willing to teach those skills?"
Princess Aisling smiled. "We do. We spoke about it with Lord Black and he loved the idea of introducing both archery and swordsmanship to the unit, but we never managed to do more than an introductory course. That's something that we will rectify."
"Communication seems to be a problem," Percy said under his breath, catching himself. "I apologize, Minister, Chief Warlock. That was uncalled for."
"No need," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "I think Lords Weasley and Lord Norfolk all have excellent points. If we want the magical world to agree to making things equal, we need to start providing equal opportunity for all, and the defence units doing so is an excellent place to start. Any suggestions on how to do so?"
"Squibs for example," Bill chimed in. "They can still do magic, just not enough to qualify for a wand. But they can still use magical objects. I say that we put word out in the Daily Prophet asking for volunteers from all corners of the world and when they come, we can see where they want to help. Some who like to fly might want to be part of the Wing Guards in a reconnaissance capacity, others may want to join the Terra Troops helping learning sword fighting or archery. We could even have some working as messengers between us and the Muggles to discuss any concerns there. Perce, was there something that you wanted to add?"
"Yes," Percy said, perking up immediately. "The communication issue. Perhaps we could assign someone to the defence squad designed to help communicate the plans of each unit and have a weekly meeting with the generals to discuss how things are going, what still needs to be done, who needs support, and whatever else is necessary."
"Marvellous idea," Bones said. "Why don't you take care of that, Lord Weasley? Jameson is always telling me what an organized soul you are. If you need assistance, you can ask me and I will help you find someone suited."
Percy's face turned pink. "Y-yes, thank you, Madam Minister."
"Any opposition to those decisions regarding the Defence Department?" Dumbledore asked, looking around the chamber. "Excellent, then I think we can move onto the next piece on our agenda: The destruction of the Fountain of Magical Brethren. I am sorry to say, I am the one who destroyed it in my duel with Lord Voldemort, but as it protected me and Mr Potter, I would do so again in a heartbeat. Madam Minister, you had something to say about it, outside of blaming me for the destruction, I hope?"
Bones chuckled before she turned back to the chamber. "I don't blame you in the least, Chief Warlock, but yes, I do want to talk about the fountain. New faces and new ideas are being presented in the Wizengamot today and that is precisely what I want to discuss concerning the Fountain of Magical Brethren. Working together is the most important factor in all of this if we're going to succeed against Voldemort. That success is why I want to talk about building a new fountain in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic."
"Minister, surely we have more important things to discuss than adding a decorative fountain," Lord Tiberius Ogden insisted. "That hardly seems important when we can simply recreate the one that was already there quickly and efficiently."
Dumbledore held up his wand. "Importance can be discussed with the vote, Lord Ogden. Minister, please continue."
Bones nodded. "It might not seem important, Lord Ogden, but I've made mention of it many times over the past year. With the destruction of the Fountain of Magical Brethren having occurred, I want to use this opportunity to create something new to sit there; something all encompassing, to represent our community, and to show that we stand united against all who dare to threaten us. Something that can finally represent the magical world and what we stand for. Mr Jacoby?"
A young wizard who had been sitting in the guest area, jumped to his feet and waved his wand at the centre of the room. Lights erupted as an image of a beautiful fountain began to unveil itself.
"As Minister Bones has stated, she wants the fountain to represent what our world should stand for, and what we ultimately hope it will become in the coming months. We began with the idea of the Celtic Tree of Life. Going back to the CBC, which was formed to help write, discuss, and create Bill E72-WD9, otherwise known as the Phoenix Initiative. Brigit, King Taliesan's Mage of the Court of Tara and a known scholar of fae history, gave the original idea. If you recall, she suggested the name Crann Bethadh Cabinet otherwise known as the CBC, meaning Tree of Life Cabinet. Brigit told us that the Tree of Life explains how we in the world are connected. Each of us represents a root in the tree that connects to the greater good of the world, which can be symbolized as the trunk. It is our duty to work together and to branch out from that trunk, to grow our roots into branches to come together for one bright new future. That's what we want to do with this new fountain."
Bones smiled and stood up. "Thank you, Mr Jacoby. Daniel Jacoby is my secretarial assistant. As he explained, I want to use the symbol of the Tree of Life. As you can see in the image before you, the tree is an oak. Oak represents strength, morale, resistance, and knowledge — four important words that I think should represent our Ministry. This new statue will be more than just marble and stone, but it will come to life. I want to plant an oak tree in the atrium. To let its roots take hold in the earth, grow into the walls around it and to fill our Ministry with life. The Tree of Life itself represents warmth and shelter. We will plant it within a stone basin, as if the tree is emerging from the pot and symbolizing Mother Earth, the source that nourishes all forms of life and provides us with balance and harmony. I chose the ancient element of the earth because she symbolizes wisdom, strength, and longevity. As Jacoby said, the roots represent our connection to the greater good of the world, but roots penetrate deep into the earth, stretch up into the branches that grow into the sky reflecting endurance, growth, and nobility. Carved into the trunk of the tree will be Celtic knots, specifically the triquerta and dara knots interwoven within the wood and within the branches. Knots have no beginning and no end, which symbolizes eternity and the timelessness of nature."
Jacoby waved his wand and the image of the tree magnified to show the individual branches and roots.
"And most importantly, to represent our community, each branch will bear a symbol of our allies. Witch. Wizard. Wolf. Fae. Vampire. Veela. Goblin. Leprechaun. Merpeople. Centaur. Elf. Gnome," Bones finished, her eyes on the image of the fountain. "Because each of us, like the roots of the tree, are all connected: By magic, by life, by alliance, and by growth. It is only with each root can the tree grow to be something more, something bigger. For if you cut away the roots, the tree will die and the branches will wither. The Ministry of Magic is the Tree of Life, and we are the roots."
Theo raised his wand into the air, her words sending a thrill through him that he couldn't quite explain.
"Lord Norfolk," Dumbledore said, nodding at him.
"Madam Minister, that is an incredibly beautiful concept and I would be so proud to see that displayed in our Ministry."
Bones beamed at him. "Thank you. I want to build around the tree as part of the pot, a marble and stone fountain. One half will be the Celtic sun, representing healing and fertility, to show that we're growing. The other half will be the Celtic crescent moon, representing the ever changing and recurring symbol of life. The fountain will be full of water which is our life force. Carved above and around the fountain will be the words of Hermes Trismegistus, the Greek wizard famed for his philosophy: As above so below, as within so without, and as the universe so the soul."
"We are all one," Jacoby claimed, his eyes on the fountain.
"Around the fountain, we will form a small garden," Bones continued. I want the space to be calming, to be an area where we can admire it, take a moment to breathe, to think, to feel… this will be an important cosmetic change to the atrium of the Ministry, but I think what it represents makes all the difference: Strength, Morale, Resistance, Knowledge, Warmth, Shelter, Protection, Balance, Harmony, Wisdom, Longevity, Endurance, Growth, Nobility, Eternity, Timelessness, Healing, Fertility, and most importantly — Life. We are fighting for life. All of us. And it's about time that we have a Ministry willing to do that."
The image faded away as Bones sat down and Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you, Madam Minister for that enlightening idea. Should we put it to a vote? Those in favour of building the Tree of Life Garden and Fountain Statue within the atrium of the Ministry, please raise your wand."
Almost all wands raised in the air and Dumbledore raised his own wand.
"Splendid. Minister, we look forward to you building on that immediately."
Theo watched as everyone settled and when Dumbledore moved onto the next matter of business, he grinned. Bones was an amazing Minister and he truly couldn't wait to see this fountain. The world was changing and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he felt a surge of hope.
His father was gone and in his mind, the world had one less monster.
They were working on the others and he was honoured to be part of it. No matter how small.
~ ASC ~
Ron opened the letter with Hermione's writing on it, and smiled as he read about her trip. The Grangers had decided that they needed to go on a little holiday and took off to spend time in Spain. They'd left the day after the FUVP meeting so Ron was surprised to hear from her so soon. It hadn't quite been a week since she'd left. He read over her sight-seeing and looked up when Fred came into the back of the shop.
"Break's over, Ron. Back to work."
Ron nodded and stood up. "Hey, Fred, you ever think that the way we write letters so much and send it with owl post, that it's kind of old fashioned?"
Fred raised an eyebrow. "That's what the Floo's for, to talk in person."
"Well, yeah, but I mean, Muggles have that fellytone, you know. They can call each other and hear each other's voices."
"I suppose so," Fred said, his brow furrowing. "What's your point?"
Ron shrugged. "Harry has that communication mirror that Sirius gave him. Apparently James Potter and Sirius Black figured out how to enchant them. All he has to do is say the name of the person who holds the other mirror and he can see and talk to them. It just seems like a cool idea."
Fred stared at him before he reached over to drape an arm around his brother's shoulders, which wasn't easy considering Ron was a good ten centimetres taller than him. "You know, little brother, having you here might be a good idea after all. Let's talk more about these mirrors."
Ron raised an eyebrow. "You think that it could be something the two of you could invent?"
"Possibly. I'd like to see the mirror that Harry has."
"Well, he has his in Georgia, but I'm sure that Lupin has a copy," Ron told him. "And Sirius made a copy for the Grangers so that they could talk to Hermione on a regular basis when she's at Hogwarts."
Fred looked thoughtful. "Fascinating. Okay, why don't you send word to Professor Lupin about stopping by the shop for a visit — I think that I'd like to pick his brain. Brilliant idea, Ron."
Ron stared at his brother. "Really? I helped come up with something?"
Fred chuckled. "Even baboons have a thought or two."
Ron held up two fingers in response just as George came into the back room.
"Hey, this is a place of business!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "We're in the backroom."
George grinned. "Oh right — piss off then, both of you."
Fred snorted. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were going to Ballycastle headquarters to watch Angelina's first practice with the team."
"Turns out it's a closed practice," George said bitterly. "I'm going to pick her up when she's done and take her out. I can't believe that I'm dating a Quidditch star!"
"She's not a star yet," Ron told him. "But she definitely will be. She's a fantastic Chaser."
George nodded. "Yeah, she is."
"No, what's amazing is that you pulled your head out of your arse and finally got Angelina," Fred declared.
Ron snorted.
George only stared him down. "Don't snort at me. Are you ever going to ask Hermione on a date?"
"Hermione and me are complicated."
"Yeah, because you haven't asked her out on a date," Fred said.
Ron only crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And like you two should talk! Took this idiot well over a year to ask out Angelina and that was after he went to the Yule Ball with her. And you're single!"
George snorted. "But not alone. He needs to work on his silencing charms."
"I didn't expect her to be a screamer and we both know that's a bit hypocritical," he added, grinning at his twin before he turned back to Ron. "George and I have a book for you. We meant to send it with your birthday gift but we were a bit chaotic with the shop so consider it a very late gift." He reached behind the desk to pull out a thin book and passed it over.
"A book?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches," Fred said with a grin. "Trust me, if you follow it, it works."
Ron still looked apprehensive.
Fred smiled sympathetically at him. "Look, how did you get Lavender to go out with you?"
Ron shrugged. "I really have no idea. She asked me to go to the ball, and one minute we were talking, and then we were snogging."
George grinned. "Well, most witches aren't so easy, though the ones Fred likes are. You have to do things to show that you appreciate them. Comment on their looks or things they do in a nice way."
"You're serious."
"Completely," George told him. "Give it a read. In the meantime, someone needs to man the shop out front while Fred and I work on creating more merchandise."
Ron rolled his eyes but he headed out front, grabbing parchment and ink as he went. He still had a letter to send to Professor Lupin.
~ ASC ~
Spending the summer in Spain was the perfect idea in Hermione's mind. It had been Jean's idea, a place that she had always wanted to travel. Greg had agreed: History, hot sun, and beaches. It seemed perfect.
After three days of soaking up the sun's rays on the small Spanish island of Ibiza, Hermione had to agree. Her skin was already changing into a golden tan and she felt relaxed for the first time in longer than she could remember. She mirror-called Harry and Ginny on her third day there and was thrilled to find them on the back of a horse together. It seemed that Georgia was agreeing with them just as much.
When she'd written to Ron, she kept the letter light, telling him all about the history and the warm sun, but she would be lying to herself if she hadn't also thought about what her mum had told her. That day, watching movies in her living room, she'd been so aware of him. The way he moved, the way he reacted, the way he laughed... watching films with him was fascinating. The gloomy rain-filled day had let only a little light into her living room, but the light that did shine through reflected off his hair. His long fingers and wide palmed hands were covered in freckles on the back, the twists and twirls of light pink scars that escaped from his wrist up those strong arms, muscled and toned from Quidditch.
But she hadn't said anything. Neither had he.
And that frustrated her. He was the one who insisted that they had to talk, he was the one who had instigated the last kiss... though she had kissed him, but he'd told her to! It drove her crazy. But at the same time, she had been the one to tell him they would talk after OWLs and she hadn't said anything either. It's a two way street, Hermione, she told herself.
She looked down at the book in her lap. She had decided to spend the afternoon at the beach and leave her parents to go tourist shopping. They'd reluctantly agreed to leave her as long as she promised to meet them back at the hotel at five. She adjusted the sunglasses on her nose as a shadow fell over her. She found herself looking up a golden tanned blond haired young man with a winning smile.
"Hi," he said with a grin. "Do you speak English?"
"Yes," Hermione told him.
"Great," he said. "I'm Steve."
"Hermione," she said hesitantly.
"May I sit?"
Hermione dipped her sunglasses down to stare at him cooly. "Why?"
"To chat," he said wth another winning smile.
Hermione hesitated only a moment before she nodded. "Okay then."
The man sat down next to her, turning to smile at her. "So, you're from England?"
"Yes."
"I thought that you looked English. I wanted to practice my English a bit."
"You sound like a native speaker."
He grinned. "Caught me. I'm from Australia."
Hermione rolled her eyes. He suddenly reminded her very strongly of Cormac McLaggen and she had a sudden desire to punch him in the nose.
"I'm on holiday with my mates," he continued. "But I could be persuaded to ditch them if you want?"
Another shadow fell over her and she looked up at the tanned dark-haired bloke who stood there.
"Baby, I'm so sorry I'm late. You haven't been waiting long have you?" he asked in a slight Spanish accent.
Hermione stared at him in surprise before he nodded, his eyes twinkling at her to play along, and she felt a sudden urge to trust him. "No, not long. This Australian chap was keeping me company."
"Well, I'm here now, so no need for that."
The Australian looked put out, but he took off and the dark haired young man sat in his vacant seat.
"Sorry about that. He just hit on my sister and about three other girls down the beach, we thought that you could use the assistance getting rid of him."
"Thanks," she said sincerely. "He seemed a bit full of himself. I'm Hermione."
"Dario," he said with a smile. "That's my twin sister Daniella over there. You're visiting from England?"
She nodded. "Yes, with my parents. They went shopping."
"Nice. Niella and I are just taking a day to relax at the beach. We were thinking of going for a walk and into Ibiza Town. You're welcome to join us if you'd like or we can help you find a place on the beach where that idiot won't bother you anymore."
Hermione chuckled. "That's kind of you. I think I'll take you up on that walk, just not too far as I have to meet my parents soon."
Dario nodded. "Yeah, no problem. Niella likes to walk and shop for clothes. She's strange, that one."
"You call her Niella?"
He grinned. "Childhood name. We're sixteen by the way."
"Me too," she said with a smile as she slipped on her sandals and scooped up her beach towel and book.
"Reading anything interesting?" he asked as he steered her towards the dark haired girl.
"Just an old favourite. Do you read?"
"Religiously. Drives my sister nuts. She's very active and loves to play football and I'd rather sit and read a book. I like fantasy myself. I'm reading the Wizards First Rule right now? It's wonderful, ever heard of it? It's by an American."
She nodded, smiling at him. "I have. I haven't read it myself though."
"You should," he told her. "It's great! Hey, Daniella, this is Hermione. That Australian idiot was trying to pick her up too."
Daniella rolled her eyes. "I told you! I'm so glad that I sent you over there, he's trouble, I can just tell. Are you coming into town with us?"
"If you don't mind."
"We don't. Dario and I love meeting the tourists. It's how our English is so good. We talk to everyone all the time! Mama says that we'd start up conversations with complete strangers even as children."
Hermione chuckled. "That's lovely."
"Don't get too excited, Niella, she's a bookworm like me."
Daniella rolled her eyes again. "Good God, guess that means shopping for clothes is out of the question."
Dario grinned. "There's this really great book shop there. She hates it when I drag her inside. They have an incredible fantasy section! Come on! Plus, Niella, you can go to that clothing shop across the way."
Hermione couldn't help but grin as Daniella hurried after her brother laughing and thought meeting some new people would be good for her.
And she never turned down the opportunity to explore a bookshop.
~ ASC ~
Remus stepped into Weasleys Wizard Wheezes that afternoon trying not to gape in awe. He knew of the inventions, the tricks, the ingenious creations, and pranks that the Weasley twins had produced and supplied for the students at Hogwarts, but walking in and seeing it — it was incredible. The shop was a flurry of excitement. Shelves were half empty, five people waited patiently in line at the cash register and it was relatively full of eager customers.
"Professor Lupin," Fred exclaimed, moving over to shake his hand. "Welcome!"
"This is staggering. You two should be immensely proud of yourselves, Fred."
Fred grinned. "Thank you. Hey, I always wanted to ask, how come you can always tell George and I apart? Even when we were kids?"
Remus chuckled. "You smell different."
Fred's eyes widened. "Really? Harry mentioned that your sense of smell was pretty good, but I didn't know whether to believe him or not."
Remus nodded and leaned in a little to whisper. "My sense of smell has its good and bad moments."
Fred only raised an eyebrow. "You can't just sniff a person and know —"
"That young boy on the left has chocolate in his pocket and you had a sex last night... with a bleached blonde, I believe."
Fred goggled at him. "Merlin, how did you… you know what, I don't want to know. Let's just keep that last bit away from my mum, yeah? Come on back, we'll show you the business."
Remus followed him back into the shop where he found George working away. Sparks were flying from his wand and from a few various objects on the work station before him. Shelves were full of boxes around the walls, and music was playing from the wireless in the corner.
"Hey, George, Lupin's here!"
George turned to smile at him. "Hi, Professor!"
Remus smiled. "I think we can forego the formalities anymore. Remus is fine. This place is marvellous."
"Thanks."
"And you have Ron running the register?"
"Just for the summer," Fred said. "If business stays like this come September, we're going to have to hire some help."
"How are the Ministry orders?"
"Weighing us down," Fred admitted. "But in a good way. We're about sixty percent done with the final order."
Remus nodded, eyes moving around to the product on the shelves. "If this shop was around when I was a kid, I would have begged my parents to come here. My mum and I loved pranks and it was something I shared with Sirius and James."
Fred frowned. "We're sorry about Sirius, Prof — Remus. He was a great bloke and we owe our success to him."
Remus shook his head. "No, you don't. You two have done all of this on your own, Sirius just gave you a nudge. Now, what did you two want to discuss with me? Ron's letter said that the three of you wanted to collaborate?"
Fred nodded. "Yes! It was Ron's idea actually, but he was talking about the letter he received from Hermione, she's in Spain, and how it would be nice if he could talk to her like Harry could."
"Like Harry — oh," Remus said, reaching into his pocket to pull out the handheld mirror. "Like this?"
George jumped to his feet to inspect the mirror more closely. "Yes! We've seen Harry talking on it, but we never really thought about it until Ron mentioned it — you created it?"
Remus shook his head. "Indirectly. This was all Padfoot and Prongs. They made a set of four for all of us. Sirius broke Peter's the summer after seventh year and we never got around to making him a new one. I destroyed mine after Sirius went to prison because the thought of not having anyone to answer it was more than I could… We only have two, the original ones that belonged to James and Sirius."
Fred nodded. "But you know how they did it?"
"Yes. It's a mix of charms and interconnecting them is a bit of a hassle, but simple enough."
"When Ron mentioned it, we were thinking that we could make them. Talk to your family whenever you want. But it's the how to connect them to other mirrors bit that we'd be interested in."
Remus looked thoughtful for a moment. "That's the tricky part. You would want to keep it private so that no one uninvited could contact you."
"Exactly."
Remus stared at the mirror for a moment before he smiled. "I know just the thing."
~ ASC ~
Harry watched Ginny with the horses. He knew that he had a stupid grin on his face, but he couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. The way her hair glinted in the sun, the freckles against the alabaster. He knew that if he touched it, her skin would be as soft as silk. The way her chocolate brown eyes danced in happiness when the horse nuzzled her, it was just perfect. When her eyes met his across the paddock, love swamped him so sharply and so fiercely that he forgot to breathe. He couldn't imagine what he would do without her.
She hopped up onto Ebony, as naturally as you please, and the way the muscles in her legs quivered below her beautiful heart-shaped arse made an entirely different image flash through his mind… one of them alone somewhere, where those legs were straddling him instead of a horse. He missed that too, he realized: Touching her. Merlin, it had been ages since he'd had his hands on her, really had his hands on her. Sure, they'd snogged, but nothing more intense than that, not since before Sirius...
The thought of his father sent pain through his heart. Merlin, he missed him. Times like these, when he forgot to think about him, made him feel guilty, like it was wrong for him to be happy when Sirius wasn't here. But then he could hear Sirius in his head - Don't be daft, go snog your girl — and a smile would come to his lips. He missed him more than he could explain.
Watching Ginny helped calm him. The way her hair bounced behind her in her ponytail, the way the sun's rays reflected off each strand, sending fiery flashes of gold his way. She was so beautiful. The thought of her not being with him right now was something he didn't even want to think of.
He wanted his hands on her.
The thought washed over him so quickly that he was forced to reach down and shift himself as he hardened. He wanted his hands on her. He wanted her hands on him. He remembered the last time, on the way to meet Theo and Finn, the way those hands had wrapped around him; his cock twitched in his jeans. The way those hands had stroked and fondled, the way her thumb had brushed around his tip, under it, tickling and stroking... Fuck, now he was fully hard. Breathe, he told himself. But watching the muscles in her bum as she rode Ebony did nothing to help his situation.
When she finally hopped down and left Ebony to graze, Harry was at her side in seconds.
"Did you see how — mmm," she moaned as he crushed his mouth to hers.
Ginny stood on her toes, arms linking around his neck and he merely picked her right up, carrying her to the low paddock fence on the side and sitting her on the top as he kissed her. Her soft lips met his over and over and he relished in the feel of her in his arms, the taste of her lips, and he slid his hands up her back to play with the ends of her long ponytail. When her warm tongue met his, he groaned and eagerly deepened the kiss as if he was trying to become a part of her.
When he finally pulled away to catch his breath, he watched her beautiful golden lashes flutter open before he was greeted to those warm chocolate orbs.
"What was that for?" she asked him.
He grinned down at her. "Because you're the most beautiful vision that I've ever seen and I needed to touch you."
Her eyes darkened in desire. "Harry..."
Harry placed his forehead against hers and kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you and I'm so incredibly happy and grateful that you're here with me, not just in Georgia, but here with me."
Ginny smiled at him. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
He bent his head to catch her lips again for a long passionate kiss, his hands on the small of her back, her breasts pressed against him as their lips met over and over.
"Don't you two ever come up for air?" Calvin asked, causing the two of them to break apart.
Ginny leaned into Harry, resting her head against his shoulder. "Sometimes."
Harry chuckled. "When forced to."
Calvin grinned. "Well, consider yourself forced. It's time to round up the horses and get them into the barn before the storm comes." He looked up at the sky uneasily. "And it's coming fast."
Harry nodded, turning and urging Ginny to hop up onto his back piggyback style. She did, and as they headed out across the paddock to collect the horses, Harry was very much aware of her pressed up against his back.
By the time he made it up to his room that afternoon to shower and change for dinner, he was still rock hard. He had thirty minutes to shower and change before meeting his family downstairs. They were planning on dining in Flo's restaurant tonight and Harry was eager to show Ginny the diner, but at the moment, he was eager to do something else.
When he stepped into the shower, he wrapped his hand around himself before he'd even realized he'd done so, his thoughts on Ginny. He imagined her hair and her body and when he thought about her body, he remembered that sexy black garter belt she wore beneath her uniform, and he groaned. He wondered what kind of lingerie she wore beneath her clothing now that they weren't at school. He imagined something lacy and he stroked himself quicker. His thumb rubbed under his head as he imagined it was Ginny's fingers touching him, Ginny's hands wrapped around him, as she knelt before him wearing that garter belt and matching bra… water cascading over her… her pink nipple exposed…
His hand moved faster and when he imagined her mouth wrapping around him, he came in a wave of pleasure that washed over him. He moaned, his forehead leaning against the tile to help hold himself up as he milked himself into his hand. When he finally caught his breath, he quickly washed up and got dressed, feeling much better.
He met Ginny in the hallway and saw that she had changed into a black vest sundress with bright yellow sunflowers and a lace trim on the bottom. Her hair was pulled back in braids and as she walked in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder if her dress required the garter, and he felt his cock twitch again.
He really needed to get himself under control. But when she turned back to smile over her shoulder he knew that was highly unlikely.
He had a feeling another wank would be in order before bed tonight, and he wondered how long it would be until he could get his girlfriend alone.
~ ASC ~
Zee woke to the feel of fluttering and she moved her hands over her stomach protectively. It felt surreal, almost like butterflies flapping beneath her skin.
"I feel you, my darlings," she said, rubbing her stomach. There was a noticeable bump there now, starting to form, though still easy enough to hide under bulky clothes. But now, alone in her bed, she ran her hands over the bump experimentally.
She could still smell him. Forest and leather. It drifted through the bedroom as if he'd just been there and she swallowed, sitting up. The dream had felt so real.
They'd been lying in their bed, her snuggled into his chest, her fingertips tracing his tattoos. He had one hand resting over her stomach, fiddling with the ring there. His other hand rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner.
"You'll name the girl Minerva?"
"If a baby is a girl, yes," she said smiling up at him.
Those grey eyes met hers and he grinned. "The boy should definitely be the star."
"I don't know who's in here, Sirius."
Sirius' hand rubbed her stomach. "One of each, I know it. Our babies. One will be named after the goddess she will become and named after, and the other, a star like his daddy…"
"Not as vain as his daddy, I hope."
He grinned mischievously. "He should be so lucky. They're becoming little people in there."
Zee nodded, tracing Harry's name over Sirius' chest. "I'd love to give you a second son and a daughter. I don't want to ask the healer, I think that I want to be surprised when they're born."
Sirius' free hand picked up the hand tracing his tattoos. "I would have put their names right under Harry's, over my heart, where all of you belong." He kissed her fingers tenderly. "A goddess and a star, trust me," he said before he kissed her. The feel of his lips on hers made her sigh into him and when those grey eyes met his, she felt the love from him.
"Sirius..."
He kissed her again and then dipped his head to kiss the bump of her stomach. "I love you. All of you."
Then she had woken, alone in her bed, feeling incredibly loved and happy before the movement in her abdomen had startled her.
"Did you feel him, too, my darlings? He's watching over us. All of us and he loves you just as much as I do, your daddy does. Our goddess and our star," she said with a smile.
Ginny was already up and gone, and Zee knew that she was outside with Harry dealing with the morning chores concerning the horses. She made herself get out of bed and headed into the shower for the day. Once she was dressed, she moved downstairs into the kitchen. Flo was cooking at the counter and her eyes lit up at the sight of her parents sitting at the table.
"Mama!"
Sorcha jumped to her feet to wrap her arms around her, cradling her daughter to her shoulder. "Hello, my baby." She kissed her cheek. "How did you sleep?"
Tears welled up in Zee's eyes. "I dreamed of him. It felt so real, it felt like he was right here and when I woke, I could smell him, Mama. Then I... I felt the babies move."
Sorcha stroked her daughter's hair back from her face. "He is here, right here," she said, putting her hand over her daughter's heart. She lowered her hands to Zee's stomach as Misha came around to engulf his daughter in his arms.
He kissed her cheek tenderly. "You're feeling okay?"
Zee nodded, turning in her father's arms. "Yes. I felt the babies move, Papa."
Misha smiled at her. "I remember the first time your mama felt you move, she said it vas a terrifying and an exhilarating feeling." He kissed her forehead. "Your Papa's here now."
The words he used to say to her as a child when she needed him, made a lump form in her throat. Zee let him engulf her in his strong arms, sighing into him a moment before she pulled back.
"When did you two get here?"
"Early this morning," Sorcha told her, gesturing for her to take a seat. "Sorry it took so long. Misha was re-organizing some things in the department."
Zee raised an eyebrow. "Reorganizing?"
"Da," he said, sitting next to his daughter. "I'm taking a leave of absence and I need to set things up to run smoothly vhile I'm gone."
"A leave of absence? Why? Are you and Mama all right?"
Flo placed a steaming plate bowl of breakfast hash in front of her. "Of course he is, Zahira! Your papa isn't going to let you have these babies without him there."
Zee's eyes widened and Misha smiled.
"Sorcha and I vill be relocating to your cottage in December until after the Easter holiday. I just vanted to get a few things in the vorks before I came to Georgia."
"Papa..."
He kissed her cheek. "You need help da? And ve vill be there to give it to you. Your Papa is here."
Zee hugged him again, feeling emotional at the thought. "Thank you, Papa. Did you see Harry yet?"
"Da, I vas helping him muck out the stables. He and Ginny should be heading inside to shower any minute."
The back door opened and Colt stepped in, leaving his boots on the porch followed by Harry and Ginny. Colt kissed Flo before he headed upstairs to change. Ginny said good morning before she headed upstairs to shower and Harry washed his hands before sitting at the table.
"That looks incredible," he said, pointing to Zee's bowl.
"Grandma's breakfast hash, one of my favourites."
Harry beamed at Flo when she placed a bowl in front of him. "Thanks, Grandma."
Flo kissed his cheek. "Scrambled eggs, shredded hash browns, red and green pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon, ham, and cheese with a little bit of chilli flakes and fresh pepper. Eat up!"
Harry immediately dove into the food.
"Harry, Papa was just telling me that he and Mama are going to temporarily move into my old cottage in December to help me with the babies."
Harry swallowed, reaching for his orange juice before he spoke. "Good. I didn't like the idea of you being alone."
Zee sent him an adoring look. "You're sweet. How are the horses this morning?"
"Great," Harry told them. "Ebony really seems to love Ginny."
"You know," Colt said, digging into his own breakfast bowl. "You did say that this marquess business of yours gave you a ton of property, did you not? Do you have stables?"
Harry's eyes widened. "No, but there's definitely room for them."
"We'll see how the rest of the summer goes, but Ebony might do better in England."
He grinned. "I could have my own horses, couldn't I?"
Zee chuckled. "You could. Black Cottage isn't the place for them, but Sirius always explained Potter House to have extensive grounds."
"It does. I'd like to show it to you. Dobby's been taking really good care of it, but he says it needs redecorating and remodelling, whatever that means."
Zee smiled at him. "I can give you a hand with that when we get home."
Misha smiled. "Vhat have you three been up to since you've been here?"
"Horseback riding and chores, mostly," Harry told him. "We went to Grandma's restaurant last night for dinner and Zee mentioned that we might go to the beach one day."
"We're just taking it one day at a time," Zee replied. "We haven't made any real plans."
Misha nodded, turning to Harry. "I'd like to vork vith you some more, do more training."
Harry shrugged indifferently. "Maybe."
Misha stared at him for a moment. "Ve'll train more."
When Ginny came down, Flo immediately whipped her up a fresh bowl of breakfast hash and Harry made his way upstairs to shower.
Misha immediately turned to Ginny. "You vant to train vith Harry and I? He seems indifferent to it."
Ginny nodded. "I would, please. He's not indifferent, Mr Zacarias. He's angry at himself."
Zee's gaze moved to Ginny's. "Why?"
Ginny hesitated before she spoke. She didn't want to say something to betray Harry's feelings, but she knew his family needed to understand. "Because he felt like he learned so much and didn't use enough of what he'd learned at the Ministry. He blames himself for Sirius' death."
Zee frowned. "I thought that I'd gotten through to him about that."
Ginny smiled at her. "He's stubborn, Zee. He knows in his heart that it's not his fault, but in his head, he's blaming himself anyway. He thinks that he should have been faster and been more prepared, that he didn't use his skills wisely enough."
"That's bullshit," Misha declared. "I vill talk to him and ve'll train."
Ginny nodded, smiling at him. "Good. Mrs Jackson, this is delicious."
"Grandma, dear, and thank you."
Ginny's cheeks pinked at the words and she went back to her breakfast. Zee finished up her own, surprising herself by cleaning the bowl, her thoughts on Harry. She needed to make sure that he knew that no one blamed him for Sirius' death.
She excused herself to clean her teeth and knocked on Harry's door. He said come in and she smiled as he finished pulling a clean tee shirt over his head.
"Hi," Zee said, leaning against the doorjamb.
"Hi," Harry said back, grabbing his glasses. "Everything okay?"
"You tell me."
At his look, she stepped into the room and sat on his bed.
"You know, the first time that I went out into the field, I was barely eighteen. I was working with erumpents and I thought that they were the most beautiful creatures I'd ever seen. I knew everything about them. I knew how to deal with them, how to care for them, how to protect myself from them... I had trained so hard to be the best magizoologist that I could be. And the moment that erumpent charged in my direction, I started using spells and charms that I'd learned in first and second year. When it was over, I was embarrassed. I apologized to my supervisor three or four times, explaining that I knew my stuff, I just forgot in the heat of the moment."
Harry sat on the bed next to her. "What did your supervisor say?"
"That once we panic we often do irrational things that don't make sense. But the important thing was that despite my panic, I remained calm and clear-headed enough to deal with the situation. I held my own and both myself and the erumpent, remained unharmed."
Harry nodded. "You're great at your job."
"And you're incredibly brave," she said softly. "Going to the Ministry, you knew that it wasn't wise and you knew that it was dangerous. When Sirius and I found out that you had gone, we were so proud and so terrified at the same time. Sirius said that he was going to ground you until you turned forty, but he was proud of you, Harry. I'm so proud of you. You held your own. "
"But I froze, Zee. I barely used anything that Papa taught me or any of my new spells. Maybe if I had I could have —"
"— What?" Zee interrupted. "How would it have changed? You were outnumbered."
"It... I just should have used more," he finished lamely.
Zee leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You did great. You have a big heart, Harry, and part of you didn't want to hurt anyone and I can't blame you for that. But you held your own, all of you did. I'm proud of you, sweetie, but I also feel that if you run off and willingly go do something so stupid again, I will ground you forever."
He smirked at that, surprised at how happy that made him feel. "Yeah?"
"Definitely." She felt the fluttering in her stomach again and she took his hand, placing it over the bump in her abdomen. "I can feel the babies moving."
Harry's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"I don't feel anything," he told her, his eyes on his hand.
"Maybe it's too soon for other people to feel it yet. But I can feel them. It's like little butterfly wings quickening in my stomach. It's scary and brilliant at the same time."
Harry stared down at her stomach, a big grin on his face. "It's like you have a Bludger under your shirt."
Zee grinned. "Well, thank Merlin it doesn't feel like a Bludger."
"I wish Uncle Siri was here to feel it."
Zee smiled at him. "Me too." She continued to hold his hand over her stomach before her eyes met his. "Harry, I had a dream about Sirius last night and… it felt so real. I felt like he was really there. He told me that we're having a boy and a girl. One will be a goddess and one a star, just like his daddy."
Harry smiled. "That sounds like him."
Zee kissed his cheek. "I believe that sometimes those who leave us can visit in our dreams. I choose to believe that it was real."
"A goddess and a star, huh?"
She nodded, her eyes twinkling. "What do you think?"
He stared at her small round stomach. "I think that no matter who they are that they're going to be so incredibly loved."
Zee's eyes softened and she kissed his cheek. "Yes, they will be. Now come on, let's make today a beach day, what do you think?"
"I think that sounds brilliant," he told her.
End Author's Notes:
I was listening to my iPhone on shuffle in my car the other day and one of AJ McLean's new songs "Night Visions" came on and I just had this image of Sirius and Zee, the song is about missing the one he lost due to a breakup, but the chorus stuck with me, despite having listened to it a few dozen times before, this time I was inspired to write Zee's dream. This is the chorus.
Cause I'm having night visions
Of you and me on the edge of my bed
Your body on top of me
Slipping you out of your dress
Tracing your fingertips
Up and down my tattoos
Like you used to do
I'm having night visions of kissin'
Every spot I might've missed
Mixing whiskey and drinking
With the red wine on your lips
Can't be a dream 'cause I don't sleep without you
Baby, are you havin' 'em too?
Night visions
PS — Neville is shy so it makes sense that he wouldn't have spoken up during the Wizengamot, also at this point, he is still only fifteen and sitting there in an observatory capacity while his grandmother holds the seat. Mrs Longbottom wanted him to just listen, to learn, and to watch how it all unfolded, but she did want him to be officially accepted as someone who CAN sit in if she is unavailable, since he is taking on more responsibility as Lord of Cumbria.
PPS — As to Remus' sense of smell — that is one of my favourite moments from Angel, season two, episode five, when he immediately knows that Wesley had sex and I thought it would be a fun thing to add to Remus' visit. Remus is just too nice to bring up all of the stuff his nose tells him LOL
PPPS — I was asked to post an updated list of our couple chapters so here it is! And some spoilers as it's a few chapters ahead of what I've posted LOL!
Sirius/Zee (Zeerius)
Chapters: 65; 66; 68; 70; 71; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 85; 86; 87; 92; 93; 98; 99; 104; 105; 110; 111; 112; 115; 120; 121; 123; 128; 130; 131; 132; 134; 135; 136; 138; 139; 140; 143; 144; 148; 149; 152; 153; 155; 157; 158; 159; 162; 163; 165; 166; 167; 168; 169; 172; 173; 175; 176; 180; 183; 188; 189; 191; 194; 195; 196; 197; 198; 199; 201; 203; 206; 208; 211; 213; 214; 215; 216; 217; 218; 227;
Remus/Tonks (Remadora)
Chapters: 17; 19; 20; 21; 40; 55; 57; 58; 59; 60; 61; 62; 65; 70; 72; 73; 74; 75; 77; 70; 81; 83; 84; 86; 88; 90; 91; 93; 95; 101; 107; 110; 121; 123; 125; 130; 132; 137; 139; 140; 142; 143; 146; 150; 153; 157; 161; 167; 176; 179; 180; 181; 182; 183; 185; 186; 194; 200; 204; 211; 213; 214; 215; 216; 223; 224; 230; 231;
Harry/Ginny (Hinny)
Chapters: 19; 22; 23; 26; 32; 45; 46; 55; 60; 76; 78; 79; 81; 85; 93; 99; 100; 102; 103; 104; 105; 108; 110; 112; 113; 114; 119; 124; 125; 129; 135; 137; 140; 143; 148; 149; 151; 153; 155; 159; 160; 162; 164; 165; 166; 167; 170; 171; 172; 173; 174; 175; 179; 180; 182; 183; 184; 185; 186; 187; 188; 189; 190; 191; 193; 194; 195; 196; 197; 198; 199; 200; 201; 202; 203; 204; 205; 207; 208; 211; 212; 214; 215; 216; 217; 221; 222; 223; 226; 227; 229; 230; 231; 232;
Ron/Hermione (Romione):
Chapters: 202; 207; 210; 211; 217; 221; 223; 227; 230; 231;
Theo/Finn (Feo):
Chapters: 197; 198; 200; 202; 204; 206; 207; 209; 210; 212; 216; 220; 222; 224; 225; 226;
Thank you for reading and please review!