A lot of changes happened really fast when the adults had decided to become traditionalists, and there were a lot of them that the children had issues with. The one that bothered everyone the most was the distance between the families had gone from a short walk to having to use the floo just to see them. At first, Harry was constantly depressed about the fact that he could no longer just run to their house if he wanted to see his friends but that was quickly remedied when Remus gave him a set of 10 mirrors for him to pass out to anyone he wanted to be able to talk to. The mirrors worked the same way their parents worked and had already been linked to the four that Remus, Frank, James and Sirius had. It was a shared suggestion that everyone agreed with since it would be the children who would have the hardest time adjusting. Harry made sure that he gave one to each of his friends and while they did use it to make sure they all still talked, it also showed that everyone had someone they were particularly close to. When he told Remus that he had a couple spares, he was told that the people they belonged to just haven't been given them yet, it just wasn't being used yet which confused Harry to no end.

Neville and Ron grew a lot closer to each other over the appreciation of hard work though they were referencing two very different subjects. Cassiopeia was a completely different person once she had received one of the mirrors and even though she really liked Rose, it was Ginny and Luna that she liked the most. Fred and George were always going to be a package deal and it took a particular kind of person to be friends with them so when Draco suddenly started visiting the Burrow, it was truly a surprise especially since Austin Lovegood would be the one following him. Despite that, Draco was also one that was very hard to be friends with since he still looked down on a lot of people. Harry and Rose didn't get much closer, it was hard to get closer to someone you were always with anyway. They made sure that they spoke to as many of their friends as possible so that nobody would feel left out but when they weren't at the other's house they would be talking to each other. There were several instances where they would fall asleep after talking to each other late into the night and one of their parents would deactivate the mirror.

When the families moved into their new homes it was rather sudden and none of the children had even packed. All of the new houses shared building plans and crews because the adults wanted to make sure that if they ever needed to go to one of the other houses, knowing the layout would mean a much faster response and earlier warning for the family that lived there. The best part of each house was that the floo that was open to the public only brought people to the ballroom, there was a secondary floo connection on the third floor of each house that only connected the four families.

The houses were all four stories tall with a basement made entirely of redwood logs, giving them a very welcoming look and feel, each of them were still in the shape of a u. The roof was kept simple since each one had four brick chimneys and one large skylight in the front right corner to be used as a potions room. On the ground floor there was a library that took up the whole left side, a ballroom took up the entire right side but in the middle was the study connected to both the library and the sitting room. The rest of the ground floor was split with the sitting room on the left, the kitchen on the right and the dining room in the middle. The second floor was where everything for the family was, a regular library that was just an extension of the ground floor library, a sitting room with a fireplace for warmth rather than travel, a much more comfortable dining room, above the ballroom was a master bedroom with a walk-in closet and its own bathroom. The third floor had another master bedroom that mirrored the one on the second floor so that they both had the closet facing each other, the bathrooms were in between the closet and the bedroom to provide the most privacy. Above the other master bedroom were four other bedrooms, each of them had a small closet and a bathroom in between them that had two sinks, a toilet and a shower. Between those two wings, there were a series of empty rooms that could be used for various things with a large gap in the middle of it for the children to floo to one of the other houses. The fourth floor was kept blank so that each family could design their own area for relaxing which turned out to be the only thing they could agree on and the basement was kept blank as well for the same reason.

Each of the manors kept the grounds a bit different from one another though. Where the Potters had a quidditch pitch in the back, the Blacks had a sort of playground-obstacle course with a track around it and the Longbottoms had a series of greenhouses. In the front of the manors each of them had an extravagant garden that bordered on lavishness as a show to the public.

James and Lily shared the master bedroom on the second floor so that Harry would be able to have the master bedroom on the third floor with the floo close by. Sirius and Marlene also took the second floor master bedroom but they had Rose and Jessica in the inner rooms on the third floor sharing one bathroom while Samuel and Zachary shared the outer rooms sharing a bathroom. Frank and Alice took the master bedroom on the third floor with Neville and Albert in the inner bedrooms and Morgan in the outer bedroom furthest from her parents. Remus and Aurora had the master bedroom at their manor but kept Crystal in the room across from them.

Harry and Rose were only asked to leave a note and answer their mirror if they went to the other's house, which they did nearly every day. It was rare for one to be seen without the other close by and they took turns being at each house. The two of them would also change what they were doing frequently so that they wouldn't get bored. Sometimes they were in the library where Harry would help Rose with some of the things she struggled with, other times they would be in the woods behind the new Black Manor. There were a few times though that they had pranked one of their fathers or the Weasley twins and then wouldn't be found for a few hours despite answering their mirrors. The two of them had been inseparable ever since Harry had protected Rose and Neville from a wild wolf that had made its way into the back garden of the old Black Manor, now called the Lupin Den. It had given Harry a few more scars on his arms but it was 'just the right thing to do' as Harry explained it a few hours after the incident when the adults had finally found them. When their Hogwarts letters came, Harry had been seconds away from flooing over to tell Rose when she stumbled out of the fireplace and into him. They had both asked their parents if they could all go to Diagon Alley together on the day the Malfoys would be going so that they could say hello to Cassie.

August 17 1991

Rose quietly snuck into Harry's room just before six in the morning, intent on jumping directly onto him the way he had jumped on her for her birthday. Carefully, she positioned herself on top of the trunk at the foot of his bed, being as quiet as possible before taking a deep breath and screaming as she jumped.

"WAKE UP!" Rose hollered as she bounced over and over.

"You're a little slow today, blossom, keep up or we're leaving you behind," Harry said from the bathroom.

Rose looked at the bathroom door in shock. She knew she was jumping next to what looked like a person but when she pulled the blanket aside, she saw that Harry had stuffed a pair of pajamas with extra blankets to make a lump look like him.

"You really pulled the old pillow mimic trick on me? That's, like, the oldest trick ever!" Rose whined indignantly.

"Yet, you still fell for it so really, what does that say about your intelligence?" Harry asked with a smirk. He walked out of the bathroom in a pair of jeans and socks with a towel over his head. "You're also lucky I knew you would pull this stunt today, otherwise you wouldn't still be standing on my bed. Now hand me the shirt on my pillow so we can get out of here."

As Rose passed him the shirt, she noticed that he hadn't covered up any of his scars with his towel. 'Maybe he was finally starting to realize that people would always stare but that shouldn't stop him from being himself,' Rose thought. "Well then let's go! We have a lot to get today and I want to see you get your wand finally, oh Great Wandless Sorcerer. Plus, we get to go to the mall as well! I love that witches and wizards are starting to incorporate muggle clothes, they have so much more color, they're so much warmer and softer."

"I'm just glad that we're allowed brooms and backpacks at Hogwarts," Harry admitted. "You make a good point though, should I change into cargo pants like you?"

"Why would you need cargo pants? I wear them for the pockets, not for style."

"We're low on supplies and I know there are going to be a lot of people that deserve to get pranked when we get to school. I would like to be prepared before we get there so that we can introduce ourselves properly. The only issue is, we can't get a few of the ingredients we need without raising a few questions so one of our dads is going to have to help."

"That's not true, the Weasleys will all be there and I know Jasmine is more than willing to help us out. I'm her favorite."

"Even if you are her favorite, there's still no guarantee that she'll be the one guiding us around today. I might just use Apollo to order the ingredients and hope that my dad's the one who catches me."

The two of them continued to discuss the various ways to get the things they needed as they headed towards the third floor floo, where Harry's parents were already waiting to explain the events of the day. First, James was going to go to Longbottom Manor to pick up Neville and Ron, then the three of them would meet Lily, Harry and Rose at the mall where the six of them would pick up a few extra sets of clothes, backpacks and shoes. When the six of them were done, they would head to Diagon Alley where the rest of their families would be waiting for them.

Harry and Rose had a very general plan in mind about how they would go about getting the things they needed. Before they got to the mall, Harry would distract his mother for a few minutes to make sure that Rose had enough time to duplicate a little bit of muggle money. While they were at the mall, Rose would make sure that Lily took her to get her shoes while Harry used the invisibility cloak he had received from his father the week before to get a couple leather jackets and an extra bit of leather for experimentation later. The last thing they would get from the mall was a set of journals that were filled with parchment and wrapped in leather. It was strangely far better parchment than they would get from anywhere in Diagon Alley.

It only took them two hours for them to finish all of their shopping in the muggle world, though they got a lot more than they thought they would. Ron got a lot of extra clothes and a duffle bag that would hold quite a bit since his trunk was rather old. Neville got a few plants on top of a few sets of work clothes. Rose managed to get a few pairs of similar looking boots but the rest of her clothes were in a black plastic bag. Harry had gotten a few jackets, pants and two more pairs of shoes. When they all got to Diagon Alley, everyone else was waiting for them.

"Alright everyone, pay attention. We're going to be breaking up into groups so that we don't fill up the stores on our own," James explained. "There are twenty-seven of us and we have a lot to do today, so the groups are going to be centered around who needs what so that we can get everything we need. Bill, you'll be with me and Lily for the first bit since most of what we need is help dealing with Gringotts. Charlie, if you wouldn't mind leading Harry, Neville, Ron and Rose to get their school supplies that would be great. Jasmine, I'll leave you in charge of gathering all the books for everyone, including writing supplies.

"Arthur and Molly, can the two of you handle getting them owls? One for every student and one to replace Errol, I know you guys don't want to replace him but I think it's time he retired. Percy, Fred and George, you three are going to handle not just getting the trunks for everyone but also getting the trunks to them so they're not carrying a ton of stuff around. They're already chosen and paid for, just pick them up and distribute them. Alice and Aurora you two are in charge of getting anything extra the kids might need along with a few games and snacks because it's a long train ride. Sirius and Marlene will be here with Sammy, Zach and Jessica to make sure that we can floo to the Burrow after this while Remus and Frank take care of Crystal at Florean Fortescue's making sure nobody gets lost or strays away from their group"

Everyone had grouped up while James spoke and began funneling through the gateway that separates Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. Charlie led his group straight towards the apothecary.

"Now, I know that you guys might think about getting extra things here but I really don't recommend it. This place is really strict about how much everyone buys and all apothecaries report their stock and sales to the ministry at the end of the month," Charlie said. "So only get what you need for school."

Harry glanced over at Ron, hoping he would have any sort of explanation for why Charlie was talking so weird but had no such luck. Rose smiled and gently nudged Harry before walking into the store. With a shrug, the other three weren't far behind. It wasn't until Rose had started adding a few pre-made potions to her basket that Harry finally understood what had actually happened. After that, they made their way from store to store, picking up anything they needed and a few things to mess around with later. They finished at Madam Malkin's where they were only measured for their robes. Finally, they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius had had the foresight to rent one of the conference rooms for them to pack everything up before splitting up once again. Fred, George and Percy had lined up the trunks along the far wall, Jasmine had stacked up all the books on everyone's list in front of them and Alice and Aurora had everything else packed into the backpacks everyone brought with them.

"After everyone gets their things packed up, we will be going to get your wands," Sirius announced. "Everyone's owl is already waiting for them at home with stands and treats, you guys will all get to name them later. The adults will handle transporting everyone's trunks and backpacks while everyone else floos to the Burrow. Harry, Neville, Ron and Rose will be coming with me and James while everyone else gets ready for the start of the year."

James, Sirius and the four kids made their way back into Diagon Alley once they had made sure that nothing got left behind. The two fathers lagged behind to talk and to allow the kids to speculate about what their wands would be like and what spells they wanted to try first.

"Do you think we should ask them about a courting agreement?" James whispered. "If you just watch how they are around each other, it really seems like they might be able to handle it."

"I'm not sure," Sirius whispered back. "Sure, they're a lot like me and Marlene more than you and Lily but at the same time, that's one of the reasons I'm not sure. You remember how Amelia was with Thomas Perkins, yet they never once were romantically involved with each other."

"Padfoot, come on. She was the first one he asked about after the wolf attack, she was the first one he gave a mirror to, she was the one that made him depressed when we all moved apart. When she's not at my house, he's at yours. When they're about to go to bed, they are talking on the mirrors. He's the only one she's relaxed around, he's the one whose hand she held for two days while he was at St. Mungo's, even going as far as being grounded because she wouldn't leave his side."

"Yeah but neither would Neville, he was there too," Sirius countered. "Besides, if we approached them about it now then they might get all weird around each other because they might think they're supposed to act differently because of it."

Sirius was saved from the topic when they both heard the bell chime. He was never going to admit it but Sirius had given the topic a lot of thought and knew that either Rose or Harry would be asking for an agreement soon. Rose was his daughter and when she had first been born, he remembered every mean thing and each time he had taken advantage of a girl at Hogwarts. It was the first time he had truly been ashamed of himself. There was no way he would ever let a boy do to Rose what he did to a girl and a courtship agreement really wasn't that far off from a marriage contract.

Once, they were inside the shop, it took them a minute to get the old shopkeeper's attention.

"Well, it has been quite some time since I last saw either of you in here," came a raspy voice from behind the shelving. "Ah, it's so good to see so many young faces all at once. I'm sure you all know which is your wand hand by now so why don't we start with Mr. Weasley?"

Ron nervously stepped forward as Mr. Ollivander began pulling boxes off the shelves. When Ron was handed a wand, he would give it a small wave before it was snatched back out of his hand. Harry noticed that the wandmaker went from giving them to him at random, to only passing over ones that were fourteen inches long, then the ones that were only made out of willow before finally smiling as Ron shot sparks out of one. It was a very odd process to watch.

"Splendid, this wand was a particularly stubborn one for me but I'm glad to see that it has finally settled down. It is a fourteen in willow wand with a unicorn hair core, rather pliable but it will see you through any charms you may try," Ollivander explained. "Next, Mr. Longbottom. Why don't we start with a nice mahogany wand for you."

Once again, Harry paid close attention to the way Ollivander went about how to narrow down the search. For Neville, he narrowed down the length, something that Harry knew represented the amount of focus a wizard would need to learn certain spells. Next was the wood which would match the overall attitude of the witch or wizard using it but not the way their magic leaned. Finally the core was the most important piece of a wand but what it represented was the amount of effort one would have to put forth in their weaker areas. For Ron a fourteen inch willow wand with a single unicorn hair meant that he would never put a lot of focus on his studies which would lead to slower learning but since he wanted to put more effort into being a professional quidditch player, that was to be expected. Neville was smart and great at remembering what the spell was along with what it was supposed to do but very rarely got it the first few times. Though, where Ron was focused on sports, Neville was focused on his garden, to a frightening degree. In the end, it was a thirteen inch, cherry wand with a unicorn hair as well.

"Mr. Potter, I have a feeling that you're going to be particularly difficult, let's get you done next," Ollivander said with a gleam in his eye.

"Is there a reason you find the right length first?" Harry blurted.

"I take it you're one of the ones who has read a little bit about wand-making. The answer is rather simple: no. That whole book is only right when it comes to the fact that it is not the choice of the person that decides what wand you get, it is the choice of the wand. Wands are semi-sentient magical equipment with their own personalities. Don't believe everything you read and especially not when it comes to wands. Though I will admit that the materials they list do represent something similar to what Brokovitch claimed. Now, on to the choosing."

Harry stood still, as Ollivander brought him wand after wand. Some fizzled, some glowed, a couple burned him but the most interesting one was when he was handed a holly wand and it exploded in his hand. Everyone panicked for a minute while James healed his hand, Ollivander did a small jig when he was told that they were going to continue. Wand after wand, good reaction or bad, rejected Harry every time. When the last wand was placed in his hand, it threw itself out. Sirius even wound up having to take Neville and Ron home at some point throughout the process. Rose simply sat in a corner the entire time struggling to keep her worry contained. Harry looked incredibly upset and extremely uncomfortable.

"Fear not, Mr. Potter, fear not. You may have gone through all of my shelves but you have not gone through all of my wands. I have a select few others in the back that just might do the trick for you," Ollivander said. With a wave of his wand, all of the others put themselves away for him as he quickly ran to the back. After a few moments of awkward silence, the old man reappeared carrying a decaying wooden box. "These are the twelve wands that were made to perfection by my ancestors. Each of these wands are so unique that even if I tried to recreate them, I would fail. One of these just might be the solution you're looking for."

Harry slowly reached into the box and gingerly wrapped his hand around each one until he found one that fit him. It was cold at first but as soon as he tightened his grip on it, warmth flooded his body.

"That wand is incredibly special. Made from an ancient ebony tree this wand was infused with the drained fang of a basilisk and soaked in phoenix tears before being inscribed with ancient elven runes from before the time of Merlin to match the bloodstone focus on the bottom bringing its total length to a staggering twenty-one inches. The core is truly what makes this wand so unique, or I guess I should say cores. There is the powdered heart of a chimera that was dissolved into the venom of an acromantula, that solution was then added to a mixture of gryphon blood and powdered unicorn horn. Finally, that mixture was injected from just behind the focus but it never solidified the way it was supposed to, so you now have the only liquid core I have ever heard of," Ollivander said with a smile. "That is a wand that defies the very nature of how a wand should function. It will teach you much about how magic works, how it ebbs and flows, how every single subject is interconnected through magic and, if the rumors are true, it will show you how to control your magic internally so you will feel less strain when you use wandless magic."

Harry stared in awe of his new wand until his father spoke up.

"Would you be able to tell us why he needs such a unique wand?" James asked.

"Sadly, I don't know why myself. The only thing I can tell you is that wands like that are capable of wielding great power but it goes without saying that it is not the wand that makes someone powerful. It does suggest that there isn't a single subject that he is truly weak in magically though," Ollivander said. "Now, Miss Black, if you are ready then we can begin looking for your wand."

"Is there a way for you to just find it for me?" Rose asked. "I've been sitting here for the last few hours, I don't trust my legs to hold me up."

"Very well, I will need a few of your hairs," Ollivander replied sadly. She pinched a couple out and passed them over. The wandmaker muttered something under his breath and the hairs searched throughout his shelves. "The hairs will find suitable matches but you will still need to try them out to find the one that suits you the most."

When the spell was finished the boxes that held compatible wands glowed softly. Ollivander summoned the boxes and placed them all in front of Rose. She picked them up one by one until she picked up a white one.

"Ah, ten inches, yew, unforgiving, with a core of a dragon heartstring. Yes, this one is definitely more suited towards charms, specifically enchanting. Very well, for three standard wands, that'll be twenty-one galleons. Mr. Potter's wand though will be two hundred galleons. Would you like anything else?" Ollivander asked.

"Holsters!" Rose shouted.

"I want a couple polishing kits. Sure this wand may have lasted a very long time but if I want it to last outside of that box, I'll need to make sure it stays in good condition," Harry explained.

"The boxes are the corresponding holsters and underneath them is a polishing kit," Ollivander explained. He was met with complete shock from everyone. "Do you honestly think I would even bother selling wands to people without everything they needed to take care of them? Honestly, has nobody ever thought to lift the velvet to see why it's so lumpy underneath?"

"That would make a lot of sense actually," Sirius admitted.

"The holster for Mr. Potter cannot be used by anyone else though. It was made from a mixture of thestral and demiguise hair to maintain perfect invisibility, if anyone else tries then they will lose their wand to him. I admit that that is all the rest that I know about that wand and holster. If that will be all then your total is two hundred twenty-one galleons," Ollivander said. James paid before they left to head back to the Burrow.

When they arrived, Harry and Rose took off to join the rest of the kids in the orchard while James and Sirius sat down at the kitchen table. The others around them looked at each other, slightly concerned about the silence emanating from the two loudest adults.

"I'm afraid to ask but what's got you two so quiet?" Lily asked.

"There's a lot on our minds," James replied. "At first I just wanted to know Padfoot's thoughts on offering a courting agreement between Harry and Rose but when we got to Ollivander's we both figured that we should pay attention to the types of wands each kid got. Neville and Ron got fairly normal, very plain looking wands but Harry and Rose both surprised us."

"Stunned would be the more appropriate word here. You two look completely lost," Remus interjected.

"Rose's wand is a ten inch yew with a dragon heartstring core, and while that isn't all that weird, the only other yew wand I can remember is Voldemort's. I don't remember what yew represented though," Sirius admitted.

"Conviction in one's beliefs," Molly said as she passed out tea. "My wand is yew but I never bothered to pick up a polishing kit so it looks more like willow."

"That's another thing, Ollivander told us that under the velvet of every wand box is a holster and polishing kit," James said. "I never bothered to look but I always wondered why it was there."

"That's great and all but what about Harry's wand?" Aurora asked.

"He went through every single wand in the entire shop trying to find a match for Harry but he had no luck there, so he brought this old, decaying box from the back that held a dozen of the fanciest looking wands I had ever seen," Sirius began. "I figured that he would have preferred to make one from scratch rather than sell him one of those, especially since one of the wands disagreed with Harry so badly it exploded in his hand."

"What?!" screeched the mothers in unison.

"I healed it and he's perfectly fine. That said, the wand that chose him was like nothing I had ever imagined," James said. "The wood is ancient elder wood, from so far back that the runes engraved on it don't even really exist anymore. On top of that, it has a cleaned basilisk fang infused in it and it was soaked in phoenix tears."

"That all seems a bit contradictory to me though," Arthur said. "Elder wood is peace and wisdom, the basilisk is a creature of pain and death and the phoenix is the life cycle but the tears are strife and healing. How does any of that even go together?"

"If you take into consideration the paths to peace and wisdom, it starts to make sense. You gain wisdom through experiences in your life which will involve strife, pain, loss, death, healing and happiness. Peace comes with happiness and contentment," Aurora said.

"That was just the wood though, what is the core?" Marlene asked.

"The core is something else entirely. It's a mixture of four different things that I didn't even know could be used as a core. Powdered chimera heart and unicorn horn mixed into acromantula venom and gryphon blood. The one with the ph and not the ff. I don't think anyone other than Albus would be able to answer the questions I have," Sirius said.

"Then why don't you two go pay him a visit then?" Molly asked. "After all, we've been meaning to speak with him for a while ourselves."

The adults spoke for a little while longer, making a complete list of all their questions before deciding that it would be best if they just asked the headmaster to visit them.

While the parents were busy trying to find answers, the children had all split off into a few groups to do a few different things. Bill and Charlie were by their father's shed talking to Jasmine and Percy about which jobs they should try for when they graduated. Fred and George were at the back corner of the garden trying to convince Draco and Austin to visit them to talk about new ideas they had. The two agreed to go to the Burrow but warned the twins that they would both be bringing their sisters. Neville was inspecting the plants the Weasleys were growing while Ron and Ginny followed behind him trying in vain to explain that most of the plants there weren't planted by anyone. Harry and Rose stuck close to the back door talking about the ways they would work together if they were sorted into different houses. Unfortunately, Harry and Rose were speaking a little louder than they thought and they were soon joined by everyone else, even the four newly arrived friends.

"What's all this about being sorted into different houses?" Ron asked as everyone sat in the grass.

"We were just talking about how we would still stay friends if we were sorted into different houses," Harry explained.

"Where do you want to be sorted?" Neville asked. "Personally I think I would like to be in either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor."

"The Weasleys have all been in Gryffindor, so I think I'll be in Gryffindor," Ron said. "It's the house of the brave! The heroes that have come out of Gryffindor are legendary!"

"Slytherin wouldn't be a bad house for you Ron, not with the way you play chess," Draco said. "That's the proper house to be in. Ambition, connections and respect are all the things anyone needs to be successful in life, Slytherin will give you all of that and more."

"Ravenclaw sounds nice to me," Austin said. "I could learn so many ways to make cool pranks and I'd be smart enough to never get caught."

"Hey! It may not seem like it-" Fred started.

"-but getting caught is how people know who did it!" George finished.

"Yes, it's also how you anger mum and the reason the Weasley Scream is even a thing," Jasmine said. "Besides, it doesn't matter what house you're in, everyone will know about everyone after the first couple of months and then it's up to you to study hard and make friends."

"I don't care what house I get, all the classes are the same and we all have the mirrors so we can talk to each other," Rose said. "We can't let the house rivalries separate us."

"I think it would be better if there were a couple of us in each of the houses," Harry said. "It would give each of us different connections that we would be able to use throughout the rest of our lives. If all of us wound up in one house then there would be a very small number of people for us to get to know instead of guaranteeing us that there's someone in every house that would be able to help us."

"That's a good point," Bill ceded. "Gryffindor students generally learn the layout faster than other students because a lot of them explore or get detention. Hufflepuff isn't a bad bunch either, since they live next to the kitchens they always know how to make you feel better."

"Just because food works for a Weasley doesn't mean it works for a Malfoy," Cassie said. "Ravenclaw is very book smart while Slytherin is about to properly conduct oneself in polite society. Those are respectable houses."

Harry and Rose watched as everyone began arguing the pros and cons of each different house. No matter how many times someone repeated one of the points they made for or against one of the houses, it didn't seem to matter because someone else would argue against that point just to repeat what someone else said earlier. The two of them slowly made their way back into the house, hoping to get away from everything when they realized that the only thing they actually managed to do was go from one heated debate to another. Rose grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him to the fireplace. If nobody was going to pay attention to them then they were just going to leave, after leaving a note of course.

The two of them flooed to Rose's house and just allowed themselves a minute to appreciate the silence.

"I'm serious here, no matter what, we cannot let our sorting get between us. Promise me!" Rose pleaded.

"I promise," Harry said. "Did you hear our dads earlier?"

Rose shook her head. "They were a little too quiet for me to hear."

"I think they were talking about putting us in a courting agreement. I know I heard both of our names and the word agreement, the only thing I could think of that would make sense is a courting agreement," Harry explained as they began to make their way to Rose's room. "Do you think they would really just sign a contract like that?"

"If they do, I'd rather it be you than Draco, Neville or Ron. Those three always forget I'm a girl just because I keep my hair short!"

"Well, the fact that you dress like us might also have something to do with it as well but I don't see how anyone can forget you're a girl. I don't think I'd mind if it was you either. We're together all the time, I know almost everything about you and I don't really think either of us knows anything about courting someone. I just hope that if they go through with it, they do it when we actually know what courting actually means. I know it's like those romance books you read all the time but other than that I'm clueless," Harry said as he threw himself onto her bed.

Rose took a seat next to him silently and far more gently than Harry. "Do you not like the way I dress?"

"I think it's perfect, I can't even remember how many times I needed something that you had in one of your pockets. Your boots make it hard to hear you when we play in the forest and I've never seen you slip in them. Though, the tank top is one thing that doesn't really make sense to me but I don't really wear them so I don't think I can judge that. Why do you ask?"

"You said that because I dress the same as you, Neville and Ron it might make it harder for them to tell I'm a girl. While we were shopping today I got a lot of strange looks trying to pick out dresses and a few bra-celets!" Harry looked at her oddly but she wasn't going to tell him about the awkward conversation her mother had with her a few days ago. "I was thinking that I would start wearing dresses more if it helped or maybe grow out my hair."

"Don't change just to make other people think of you a certain way, I like you exactly how you are and I know that you'll meet plenty of other girls at Hogwarts that'll be your friend no matter what you look like. I kind of think you look a lot like Tinker Bell from that muggle movie we saw a little bit ago. You're cute but it'll take a little bit before anyone else realizes that you're pretty awesome the way you are."

A little bit earlier…

"-serious here, no matter what, we cannot let our sorting come between us. Promise me!" floated Rose's voice from Sirius's front pocket.

"Hey, everyone hold on, I think Rose is calling me," Sirius said as he pulled out his mirror.

"Did you hear our dads earlier?" asked Harry's voice.

There was a soft grunt before Rose replied. "They were a little too quiet for me to hear."

"I think they were talking about putting us in a courting agreement. I know I heard both of our names and the word agreement, the only thing I could think of that would make sense is a courting agreement. Do you think they would really just sign a contract like that?"

"If they do, I'd rather it be you than Draco, Neville or Ron. Those three always forget I'm a girl just because I keep my hair short!"

By that point Sirius had cast a spell so everyone could hear what was being said.

"Well, the fact that you dress like us might also have something to do with it as well but I don't see how anyone can forget you're a girl. I don't think I'd mind if it was you either. We're together all the time, I know almost everything about you and I don't really think either of us knows anything about courting someone. I just hope that if they go through with it, they do it when we actually know what courting actually means. I know it's like those romance books you read all the time but other than that I'm clueless," Harry's voice said shortly before a loud sound of springs came through.

"Do you not like the way I dress?"

"She sounds so timid," Aurora whispered.

"I think it's perfect, I can't even remember how many times I needed something that you had in one of your pockets. Your boots make it hard to hear you when we play in the forest and I've never seen you slip in them. Though, the tank top is one thing that doesn't really make sense to me but I don't really wear them so I don't think I can judge that. Why do you ask?"

The men all rolled their eyes when they saw all of the women place a hand over their heart.

"You said that because I dress the same as you, Neville and Ron it might make it harder for them to tell I'm a girl. While we were shopping today I got a lot of strange looks trying to pick out dresses and a few bra-celets!" Sirius' head snapped over to meet his wife's eyes. "I was thinking that I would start wearing dresses more if it helped or maybe grow out my hair."

"Don't change just to make other people think of you a certain way, I like you exactly how you are and I know that you'll meet plenty of other girls at Hogwarts that'll be your friend no matter what you look like. I kind of think you look a lot like Tinker Bell from that muggle movie we saw a little bit ago. You're cute but it'll take a little bit before anyone else realizes that you're pretty awesome the way you are."

It was then that Sirius decided it was time for him to hang up and give the kids back their privacy. "You were right Jamie. They might not know what it is but we could still ask them for their opinions on it."

"Why don't you two let Remus explain the basics of it before you two pull Harry aside to let him know what it is you boys are planning. While you handle all of that, Marlene and I will go talk to Rose and clue her in on what it all entails," Lily said. "We need to have this all laid out before they go to Hogwarts so I say we talk to them separately tomorrow morning, talk to them together that evening and then give them until the thirty-first to give us an answer."

Harry and Rose talked for another hour before Rose fell asleep. Harry, not wanting to leave his friend on top of the blankets, took off her boots and tucked her in. He waited a little while before pulling out one of his books, thinking that he would just stay until her parents got home, wound up falling asleep himself not long after. Neither knew it, but they were left alone because the adults already knew where they were and that they were safe.

When Jessica went to wake her sister up the next morning, she saw that Harry was still in the bed with her so she went to her mum instead. Marlene carefully listened to her three-year-old before climbing out of bed and sneaking into Rose's room. She knew, as a mother, it would either be a very cute story later or an easy way to embarrass them depending on how they woke up and she would be damned if she didn't get a picture.

August 31st

Harry and Rose had one of the most awkward talks with not just their parents but with each other's parents as well. In the end, they were so embarrassed that they spent a week apart before finally deciding that, based on what was explained to them, nothing would really change all that much. Neither of them had told anyone else about the agreement so when they approached the four of their parents hand in hand, everyone went silent pretty quickly.

"I take it the two of you have come to a decision then?" Lily asked.

"We have," Rose replied. "We'll accept the agreement as long as there's nothing in it about me having to change the way I am and as long as we can back out of it later."

"The only thing it says is that you two have full control over your futures and the direction of the courtship. That's literally all we have written down," James said.

The two kids nodded before signing their names at the bottom.

"Don't worry, the only thing that will be public is that you two have signed it, nobody is going to expect either of you to act differently or stay in certain areas. We're not that old fashioned. The only thing we want from you two is to come to us if you guys are having trouble, other than that just be yourselves and nobody is going to be able to tell the difference anyway," Marlene said. "Why don't you two go make sure you're all packed for tomorrow then you two can go off and do whatever you want. Harry can even sleep over again if it would help."

It took the two of them a while before they could finally come to a decision. In that time, in a very clear contrast to how the two of them behaved when they were first offered, the two of them were almost never seen as they spent a few days in Rose's room trying to figure out the pros and cons of the agreement along with whether or not they would act any differently with each other because of it. By the time they went back to their parents, James and Sirius were starting to think that they might have made a mistake by making the offer, though Lily and Marlene were sure that things would be just fine. In the end, Harry and Rose had managed to decide on a course of action: they would agree to the courtship, make sure there were a few ways out of it, not change their behavior at all with each other and if one of them felt like they wanted someone else then there would be no hard feelings. Their parents agreed, though their mothers shared a strange look with their husbands that confused the kids.

September first was rather awkward for everyone since Harry and Rose had a courtship going. It was a rather important day for everyone since it was such a big step, the first step towards adulthood. There wasn't much advice that anyone would be able to give since the way Hogwarts was run had changed drastically in just the last few years, it was nearly a completely different school at this point, which made it a bit more daunting for the kids but they had enough friends already on the train that they would be easily distracted. The adults however, had to be at the Wizengamot by noon for what was supposedly a very important meeting, though if that were true it should have been called as an emergency meeting.

"Do any of you know what the meeting is about?" Frank asked as they all waved their children goodbye. "I don't like that we've only been told that it's important."

"If it's not important I'm going to rip whoever called it a new one," Marlene said. "The weird thing is that they want the husband or wife to be there as well as whoever has the seat. Has that ever happened before?"

"No, but Lucius should have let us know a lot sooner," Sirius growled. "Let's go."

Wizengamot

The harsh bang of the gavel called the meeting to order despite the fact that the courtroom had been silent since Albus walked in. Sirius leaned forward a little in his chair, eager to find out what could be so drastic that attendance was mandatory. He was nervous, never before had there been aurors dispatched to collect members from all throughout the country. Something was off and nobody in his entire alliance had even heard so much as a whisper about what was going on.

"As this was not a scheduled meeting, I will not be acting as the Supreme Mugwump for the duration. I have not been given any details as to what this is all about, therefore I cannot say that I will be able to promise impartiality. With that being said I will do my best to maintain a level of order throughout the proceedings," Albus announced. "Now, who was it that called this meeting?"

"I did," Fudge said as he got to his feet.

'Of course the fool did. That doesn't explain how nobody has heard anything about it,' Marlene thought to herself.

"The reason I called this meeting is because it has come to my attention that despite everyone's best efforts, our population is drastically declining. I think it is high time that the Ministry stepped in on everyone's behalf. Some of you have thought ahead of time and have been negotiating with people about marriage contracts, betrothal oaths and courtship agreements which is wonderful, but it's not enough," Fudge proclaimed. "As the charter clearly states, that in times of great risk, the Minister may call a meeting of the Wizengamot to present the issue but the Heads of the families are required to bring their partner. The risk is great, the worry is greater and the lack of concern I see does not make me feel any better whatsoever."

"Forgive me, but are you attempting to meddle in the affairs of the family?" Lucius asked in shock.

"Why yes! You were the one who brought the issue to my attention Lucius, how does this not please you?" Fudge asked.

"I said that we should work towards having more people move here! We should make the economy stable! I would never suggest that you take this course of action!" Lucius shouted.

"We lack the funds and workers we would need in order to stabilize Diagon Alley alone, much less the country," Fudge retorted. "Therefore, in the name of Magic itself, I am declaring a state of emergency!"

There was a small glow around him for a moment and the crowd waited for a decision to be made. Many were in shock that Fudge would even try something like that while others were concerned about how long it would last. When the glow faded, the people fell into a panic.

On the train

Harry, Rose and Cassie were sitting in a compartment on their own, thankful that things were starting to calm down around them. The rest of their friends went crazy with panic and fear for a while before they excused themselves one by one. It wasn't something they thought they would wind up doing but the three of them fell asleep. Cassie stretched out across one of the benches while Rose used Harry's lap as a pillow, which then had him lean his head back against the wall causing him to fall asleep. None of the others lasted very long either, it was a very long and boring train ride that was only broken up by the snack lady. Nobody knew that there was a heated debate going on that would affect them most of all.

When they all woke up, every one of them was confused for a moment before everything came rushing back to them. One by one, each as nervous as the next, exited the train. It was going to be a very long seven years.

Not exactly happy with this chapter but I'm tired of trying to drag out things right now. The meeting and sorting are basically going to be the entire next chapter with an explanation of the changes at the end. A lot is different, there are a lot more students but that'll be explained soon. Just know that once I struggle through the first year, things will be picking up in both action and pace. Help me out a leave a review please.