Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything to do with him, just this particular plotline.
A/N: Alright, this one has probably the most detailed scene I have written or will ever write again as I got bored with it. There are two different versions of the song Our House. One is by Madness, the other by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both fit, but for different reasons. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: Disney, Moving & The Fidelius
Song: Our House
By: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young OR Madness
-Regulus' POV-
The past week had passed rather quickly for the group, as was to be expected when they were so busy. They had been to three graduation ceremonies, all of them dull beyond belief but exciting at the same time as it meant that his friends were now fully trained wizards in their field of choice. They had all been given a week off before starting work; a small graduation present from the Ministry and St. Mungo's to all of their recent graduates.
The group would be spending the week enjoying themselves to the fullest. They were planning on going to muggle amusement parks, lots of shopping, apparating to exotic places and so on. Regulus woke up on Saturday, their first day of organized chaos.
That day, they were apparating to Florida, U.S.A. Lily and Rose had told them about a muggle theme park there that sounded like loads of fun, so they were going to cause mayhem internationally for the day.
It was about 9:00 a.m. that Regulus awoke; they were leaving for Disney World at about 11:00 as they were all night owls and would spend the majority of their time there during the evening.
Regulus got up and took a shower, getting dressed in his favorite muggle outfit; trying to not look to blatantly like a tourist; some khaki shorts, a white muscle shirt, and a white dress shirt that was striped with emerald green. He finished the look off by putting a hat on over his medium length black hair and a pair of 'hangover' sunglasses on to protect his misty gray eyes.
Holly had woken up about five minutes ago and was getting dressed as well. She was beautiful in the morning, he concluded after watching her pull back her hair and put on the small amount of make-up she thought she needed. He went up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the top of her head. She turned and smiled up at him, leaning up for a more suitable good morning.
Once ready, they both walked downstairs, everyone else nearly ready to go. He and Holly grabbed a quick piece of toast and went to the entrance area to slip on their trainers. Once they were ready, they left for Disney World a whole hour and a half early.
They apparated behind some trees near the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. They made their way up to the ticket booth and purchased enough tickets for all eleven of them. They went in and looked about; they all wanted to go on some rides.
They found their way to the ride called 'It's A Small World' and waited in line a while before getting on. It was like nothing any of them had ever experienced. They got off laughing and singing the catchy tune.
There is just one moon and one golden sun;
And a smile means friendship for everyone.
Though the mountains are wide;
And the oceans divide,
It's a small world after all!
They couldn't stop singing it, over and over again. They went on several other rides, but resolved to go back later. They were enjoying their time at the park immensely.
-Sirius' POV-
"I'm sorry sir, but there is no alcohol served in the Magic Kingdom," a park attendant answered Sirius' query.
"You have GOT to be kidding me, right?" Sirius asked with a last bit of hope in his voice.
"No, sir, I'm not. There is, however, alcohol at Epcot. They have many different types of beer, ale and so on from multiple countries. I hear that the English booth makes exceptional ale."
"Can you not hear my accent? I'm British, if I wanted English ale I would have stayed home and gotten pissed there!"
"I'm very sorry sir, but if it's alcohol you're looking for…I'd suggest Epcot, perhaps you could try the German booth's lager."
"Thanks," Sirius said, turning around and mumbling the second half of his statement, "for nothing." Sirius and the others walked away. "There goes part one of our evening plans. I guess getting drunk and riding 'It's A Small World' several times is no longer a viable option. Oh well, on to part two; dinner in New York. James and I have received word of a hotel containing a restaurant with considerably spicy hot wings. If my information is correct, they also serve beer so all is well. That is where we had planned on dinner this evening." That said, they all received the address from James and apparated to their dinner destination.
They went in and ordered their food; James, Sirius and Regulus all ordering the 'nuclear' hot wings. Their waitress said that if two of them cleared their plates unassisted, she would comp. their meal; it was a challenge given to the three and accepted wholeheartedly. The three began eating their wings; after the first bite, Sirius looked up at Regulus and James and smiled, these were rather weak. He went to take his next bite and swallowed. It was then that the heat of the sauce caught up with Sirius. He again looked to James and Regulus to see their looks of shock as well at the complete spiciness of this food. It was a phenomenon! He continued eating; he made his way through four and thought to himself, only eight left. He got through six, half done, when he couldn't take any more.
His mouth was on fire! His eyes were streaming unwarrantedly, his mouth was a blazing inferno of heat that he couldn't describe to someone not having eaten this, and could you even call it food? He looked up to see James and Regulus still going at it, having each eaten seven, and decided to take one for the team and keep going.
After the ninth one, it was all downhill. His mouth had gone completely numb and he had given up hope of ever tasting anything again. He finished his plate with a defiant manner and wiped his mouth with his napkin. James was looking at the last wing on his plate as if it was Voldemort himself; something evil to be conquered and then forgotten. Regulus was giving his plate a look of utter defeat; he had three left as he had slowed down considerably.
"What, you gonna give up now and have Sirius be the only one to finish? That's not like you James, giving up a challenge so-" but Remus was cut off of his taunting with a glare that, if looks could kill, Remus would now be six feet under. James looked back at the plate, then threw Remus a defiant glare and picked up his last wing. He finished it with a gasp and immediately waved the waitress over, his eyes resuming their streaming. Regulus had managed to force down two more and was contemplating his plate with the look of a man who would finish it or die trying. He picked up his last wing and ate it, his eyes brimming with unwanted tears. He finished it and immediately picked up his beer, which he began gulping and gulping, trying to cool down his mouth.
The waitress was in time to see Regulus finish and, as promised, gave them their meal free of charge. She also brought out three pitchers of milk to help them cool off their mouths.
About five minutes after finishing his plate, Sirius began feeling nauseous and headed for the bathroom closely followed by Regulus and James. Upon arriving at the bathroom, he promptly vomited, being mimicked in other stalls by his friend and his brother. When they finished, the others decided it would be best to let them rest for the evening and so the three were side-along apparated home by their wives and girlfriend, who were having a thorough chuckling session about how they looked while finishing up their food.
Sirius and Rose went to bed; Sirius conjured a bucket up next to his side of the bed just in case. It had been two hours since eating his last wing, and still he couldn't feel his mouth.
-James' POV-
It was two days after the hot-wing incident, as it had come to be known, had occurred. James still couldn't feel his lips or taste anything properly and after a quick council with Sirius and Regulus, he found them to be in the same predicament. Yesterday had been spent watching movies on their television at home, ordering out for pizza at supper time.
Today though, they were going to go to visit James' parents. They left at about 10:30, wanting to have time for a quick game of quidditch before their late lunch. They got to the Potters' Manor and went in to chat with his parents for a bit before going out back for a quidditch game on their pitch.
Due to a lack of space in their backyard, the Potter's had made the ground of the pitch into a swimming pool, so the game was played over a pool instead of the traditional grass. They began the games, playing a few players short of course. Sirius and James were the captains, each choosing their teammates. Sirius chose; Rose, Regulus, Holly and Frank. That left James, gladly, with; Lily, Remus, Rina and Alice. Peter was going to make sure no-one cheated, being their referee. They were playing without beaters, as nobody wanted to get bloodied up. Sirius and James were the seekers; Rose, Regulus and Holly and Lily, Remus and Rina were acting as chasers; and Frank and Alice were the keepers.
They had asked Henry and Harriet to join them, but they had declined saying they preferred to just watch. The match began with Lily almost scoring on Frank, who narrowly stopped the quaffle from going through the left hoop. Rose gained the quaffle and flew low, almost skimming the water, and then shot up towards the hoops that Alice was guarding. Rose managed to get it in on the right hoop, having caught Alice off guard with her assault from below. Rina snatched the quaffle and went up the field, passing it between Remus, herself and Lily all the way down. They kept fake passing it and passing it for real to confuse Frank When they got to the hoops, Frank was looking expectantly upon Lily when Rina scored from the other direction.
James saw something golden fly past his head and immediately took off after the snitch. Sirius saw him and began flying towards it as well. They were neck-in-neck for a good thirty feet or so until James sped up and stretched his arm further than he knew it could go and snatched the snitch. He held his arm up in triumph and was cheered on by his friends, the other team included. They all landed on the edge of the pool and were talking about the match when James felt a shove on his shoulder and he fell. His first thought was, I'm wet. He looked up and saw Sirius laughing his arse off. He went under the water, gathering into himself momentarily, and then propelled himself to the surface of the water near the edge of the pool where Sirius still stood laughing. James grabbed Sirius' robes and pulled him in with him, dunking him under the water.
When he finally let him up, Sirius swam to the surface spluttering. Everyone was laughing at them, still near the edge of the pool. Sirius gave James a look that said 'I know what I want to do; you want to join me on three?' James nodded and they swam to the edge. Lily, catching on to their plan, grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her away from the edge of the pool foolishly thinking they'd be safe. James and Sirius started pushing their unsuspecting friends into the pool, and then set their sights upon their wives who were trying to run.
They were easily captured and tossed in with the others. Sirius and James jumped in after them, making as big a splash as they could in the process. They began a game of chicken; again Peter was the referee, with each couple as a pair.
James and Lily went after Sirius and Rose first, but were taken out from behind by Remus and Rina. Frank and Alice had been taken out by Regulus and Holly. Remus and Rina engaged in a battle with Sirius and Rose, but were knocked over by Rose when they got distracted by Regulus making loud noises. It was down to Regulus and Holly vs. Sirius and Rose. They squared off, Holly and Rose locked arms while their partners tried desperately to keep their balance. In the end, Sirius had slipped slightly giving Holly the chance to push him and Rose over. James observed all of this with great interest, laughing intensely when Rose fell on top of Sirius.
They all got out of the pool and dried off before their late lunch, which had turned into a picnic of sorts. Harriet had made roast beef, mashed potatoes and much more, including treacle tart. They all ate until they were about to burst. They shared an after-meal firewhisky with Henry, who pulled James and Lily aside for a moment.
"What's wrong dad? Are you and mum all right?" James asked, sounding concerned. Harriet walked in a moment later carrying some fresh drinks.
"No, no James; everything is just fine. We just wanted to talk to you about something rather important." Henry replied
"All right; what is it?" Lily asked, sounding truly intrigued.
"Well, James, your mother and I have made a decision. As you know, we have a considerable amount of money; money that you'll inherit someday and already have full access to. We'd like to give you a late wedding present, as it's only just been finished. We've had a house built for you, in a town called Godric's Hollow. There's a new type of contractor who, after being told about the people who will live in the house, can custom build a house to their desires. We told him a little about how you met and about your friends and life at school, and he came up with a very wonderful sketch that we gave him clearance to build. That was in March, and now it's ready for you. You'll have to furnish it, of course, but the rest is taken care of."
"Wow dad, thanks. I can't believe you guys bought us a house, much less a house custom built to our liking. When can we go see it?"
"As soon as you'd like to go we can. We thought tonight would be a perfect opportunity. We can apparate there with the others and then look around." Harriet contributed.
"Well then, let's tell the others and get going." Lily said, thoroughly excited at the prospect of seeing their new house.
They went and fetched the others, then apparated to Godric's Hollow to look about.
-Lily's POV-
They apparated to Godric's Hollow immediately. Lily looked around for a moment, not seeing any house, before realizing that it must be under protective charms. Once Henry and Harriet got there though, the house, better called a mansion, appeared. It was huge! There were six stories above ground and Merlin knew how many underground. It was made of brick, better than wood to withstand the English weather. At the very front of the house, there was a porch that wrapped around what looked to be the entire house. It came out from the house about ten feet at the front, and fifteen on either side. There were pillars holding up the overhang that was above the porch.
They all walked up to the gates, which had 'Potter Residence' lettered on an arch above the gates in gold, and waited for Henry to open them with a flick of his wand. Everyone walked up to the house; letting Henry and Harriet go first, followed by Lily and James, and then by the other's at a close distance. They got to the front door, which opened for Henry immediately, and walked into the entrance way; better termed a hall for its size.
The entrance hall was beautiful. It had had an old rug put down to wipe shoes on, a temporary arrangement to be sure. The ceiling must have been 15 feet high! Lily was astounded by this revelation. As promised, the house was completely unfurnished. Henry and Harriet did, however, give them a walking tour of their new home. They started in the bottom basement; there were two total, which was meant to be a potions chamber. The fact that it was underground was merely a safety benefit in case of an attack. It was bare except for a couple of book shelves built into the walls and some sconces on the walls for torches.
The next basement, a floor up, was a game room. It was absolutely magnificent! Lily saw James giving the room appraising looks, then glancing at Sirius and then at Lily herself. They finished with that room rather quickly as it was really just a huge room.
They were now back at the first floor, but decided to go up to the sixth and top floor and work their way down. The sixth floor was grand. It had a master bedroom that Lily and James explored alone for a few moments. In their new bedroom, they had a huge walk-in closet that was almost as big as their bedroom at the flat. It also had a private bathroom attached to it. The bathroom had a shower, a huge bathtub and his and her sinks set in a white marble countertop.
They left their new room reluctantly to move on to the next room of the floor. They discovered the rest of the floor to be other bedrooms. There were four bedrooms besides Lily and James', each with sizable closets and bathrooms. Harriet had said that they 'wanted to be sure there were plenty of bedrooms, just in case'. Just in case of what, Lily was positive she knew; this was Harriet's way of hinting for grand-children and James knew it as well. When Harriet told them, they grinned at each other before blushing furiously.
They next went to the fifth floor to find it like an apartment. It had a master bedroom, though smaller than Lily's and James'. There was also a small kitchen, big enough to sit in and enjoy a private cup of coffee. There were two bathrooms and three bedrooms on this floor as well as a sitting room.
After that floor, Harriet told them that floors two through five were identical in build, so they went back down to the first floor.
The first floor contained many things. It had the sizable kitchen; apparently Harriet had told the contractor of Lily's love of cooking. There was also a dining area that was big enough for an entire dinner party. They had had an office put in for James and a separate one for Lily; they had a door connecting them however. James' office was the exact mirror of Lily's. Floor to ceiling windows looking out over their back yard on one wall with a door built into the glass framework, bookshelves on another and places for portraits on the third wall; the fourth containing a set of large, French, double-doors made of glass and mahogany to go between offices. Upon inspection by Lily, the porch from the front did in fact wrap-around the entire house turning into a large deck at the back where it could be gotten out onto by their doors in the windows. She and James, followed by the others walked out back to inspect their yard. It was absolutely wonderful. It had been landscaped beautifully. On one side, there was a garden that contained roses and lilies. On the other side there was a giant pool with a diving board and a patio along one side. Straight down the middle though, was a quidditch pitch. When Sirius and James saw this, they whooped for joy. They had to be dragged back into the house to finish looking about.
Lily had noticed though, while outside, that there were small terraces attached to every bedroom with an outer wall; hers and James' included. They went back in and were showed to the living room, which was as large as the Gryffindor common room, and the sitting room, which had large fireplace in it. The fireplace was about eight feet tall, meant to floo through with comfort.
Harriet showed Lily the next room, telling her beforehand that this was a furnished room and a special gift to her for being so wonderful, which made Lily blush furiously. Upon entering the room, Lily saw a library. It had bookshelves on every wall except for one, that one containing the same floor to ceiling windows and a door. There were books lining every shelf in there with small gaps in-between for additions to the collection. Wonderful, glorious books! Lily was so excited, she nearly ran into one of the bookshelves. There were more bookshelves standing in rows near the walls, just like you'd find in a real library. These were also books lining these, again with room for added books. There were a couple of medium sized tables near the edge of the bookshelves, obviously for working at, with chairs placed around them. There was also room, Lily saw, for a couch and some chairs around the hearth in the center of the room.
"How do you like it dear?" asked Harriet.
"I love it!" squealed Lily, running over and giving her in-laws huge hugs and thanking them profusely. "Thank you so much, how could we ever thank you enough for what you've done and now this! It's just so wonderful!"
"Oh, it was well worth it. Besides, you two deserve it. You work so hard and do so well. Now, we did have the books installed in a system. They are put in categories; I think there are signs up over each section. We had it organized to be like the Hogwarts library, Madam Pince came over herself to oversee the organization of the books. She was nearly as thrilled as you at the library. We're so glad you like it, we were thrilled to reward you for your hard work and give you something nice for your wedding." Henry added, looking about the room. "I think we ought to have a meeting, just the four of us, in James' office. We have some papers you need to sign and some charms to enact."
"We can do that tomorrow, after we've got some furniture, if you don't mind." James said.
"Of course not, we'll have to meet back here tomorrow though. What do you say to 10:00?" James and Lily nodded their heads. "All right then. You'll have to wait outside for us though because the wards won't recognize you until you sign the papers. I can only get in until you sign the papers, after that you give clearance to anyone you want otherwise they'll have a hell of a time getting in, probably take Voldemort himself to break through these wards. Well then, we'll see you tomorrow." With that, the elder Potter's led the way out of the house.
"James, why don't we go to that furniture place in Diagon Alley tomorrow morning before we come here? We can pick up some furniture; just for our offices for now."
"Sounds good, darling; we can do that at, what, 9:00?"
"Sure. We can shrink it and bring it with us."
The entire group apparated home and spent the evening talking about the new house. Lily noticed, however, that Sirius was kind of distant during their talk and decided to confront him.
"Sirius, a word in the kitchen please," Sirius got up and followed her. "Look, I can tell something's up and I want to know why you're being so distant."
"It's nothing; just tired after the day."
"Oh, I'm so sure. That's why you're suddenly so cross and un-talkative? James hasn't caught on yet, but he will and then you'll have him upset as well. Just tell me and maybe I can help!"
"Oh bugger it all! I don't want you guys to move out! I'll miss you! James' been my best mate since first year and we started being best mates when you started dating James and now you got a new house and you're going to be gone!"
A look of dawning comprehension came across Lily's face. She should have realized earlier that this could be a problem.
"Sirius," she said in a soft voice. "We would never leave you behind. Like you said, we're best mates. James and I would never abandon you, alright? Besides, did you see how huge that house is! There's plenty of space for you and all the other's to visit whenever you want. And, I'm not making promises, but since I've got some pull with the head of the house there's a good chance you'll be visiting a lot." Lily said this last with sarcasm and a huge grin on her face as she thought to herself, I am half of the household and I'm sure James won't mind them coming to live with us at all. "Besides, you can't expect me to do all the cooking, can you? I mean, trying to feed James is like trying to feed the entire British Navy!" Lily smiled at Sirius, who returned her smile. Lily walked over, ruffled his hair, and gave him a quick pat on the back. "Don't worry mate, I'm sure there'll be many a quidditch game played on that field in the time to come. And I'll whoop you're ass every single time, too." With that, they walked back into the living room; James gave Lily a curious glance, but she just smiled at him and sat back down.
-Lily's POV cont.-
They woke up the next morning and flooed to Diagon Alley. They walked into the furniture store and began looking around. When they got to the office portion of the store, Lily perked up because she finally got to purchase something; she'd been making a list of everything she wanted for their house so far but had refrained from ordering anything until later on.
They each picked out a desk. Lily's was a pale pine wood desk. It was built solidly and was the perfect size for the room. It had several drawers and a smooth surface. James' was a dark oak. It was almost identical to Lily's, except his had a glass case in the front so that he could display objects there. They each got a chair as well, then four more; two for each office; for guests to use. James picked out a very comfortable couch that looked very nice. The frame was the same dark wood as his desk with burgundy velvet upholstery. Lily chose a chaise lounge for her office; it was covered in emerald green velvet and had some pale green pillows. The legs were of the same pale pine wood as her desk. They each got a couple of lamps and each also chose a chandelier to hang up. They were almost done, when Lily noticed the little knick-knacks for ones desk. They spent a few more minutes finding calendars, pen and pencil holders, pens and pencils, garbage bins, paper trays and the like. They went over to look at rugs next. Lily got a plush green area rug to match her chaise lounge, while James' rug was red to match his couch.
They finally finished, and just in time to gather their new belongings and apparate to Godric's Hollow.
-James' POV-
They had just apparated to Godric's Hollow, where his parents were waiting for them by the front door. James and Lily walked up to the house and entered with the couple, heading for James and Lily's studies. They set up Lily's office first; enlarging everything and placing it where she requested it go. When they were done, they went to set up James' office. When they were done, they all took a seat and started on the business at hand. When they finished signing the papers, Henry began to explain extra features of the house to the new owners.
"Alright, we had this house built for you as you know. We told the contractor about how you are close to your friends, if you hadn't noticed that's why there're so many rooms. He made enough for each couple to have a floor to themselves, all but Peter because he has his own flat. We didn't want to tell you that we had it built that way on purpose just in case you didn't want the others moving in with you."
Lily looked at James and spoke up. "I think that we should invite them all to live here. Even Peter, he can take one of the extra rooms."
"Really," James asked. "You mean that? I wasn't sure you'd want everyone living with us."
"I've gotten used to it. I think that if we were to try living on our own, we'd be terribly bored in all this space. Besides, there is more than enough room for everyone."
"It's settled then. We'll invite them to live here. So, dad anything else we need to know?"
"Yes. We also told him about your mischief making and how you all love adventure. He decided to put in sever al secret passages for you all to use. I'm not sure where they all are, but he's made a sore of sketch of the house for you to use to find them all if you want. It's a still drawing, and it's fairly easy to read. Ah, here it is." Harriet handed them the map of their new house. James looked over it and noticed some new things.
He saw that there was a broom shed out by the pitch and a changing room somewhere by the pool, he just couldn't tell where. It was confusing him, so he asked his father.
"Oh, that. That's one of the passageways. It starts in the first basement and there's a short walk to the changing rooms. From there, you walk some more and when you get to the fork in the tunnel, you take a right and when at the end of the tunnel you open up a door that comes out right next to the patio. There's one leading to the broom shed from that room as well. In fact, I believe it's the same tunnel you just keep going straight instead of take the right and it'll take you to the broom shed."
"Wow. I can't wait to show the guys!"
"Yes, well, that's not it quite yet. We also got you a house elf. Now, before you say anything, we thought you could use the help as you have to work almost all the time. He's a unique elf, wouldn't make the contract with anyone but you. He agreed to be here in," Henry paused to look at his watch, "two minutes. His name is Dabble and he has been set free by his previous master. He wouldn't say why, though we can ask him once he gets here I supp-" Henry was cut off by the popping noise that signaled the arrival of Dabble.
"Hello sirs and misses. Dabble was asked to meet here for an interview for employment. Dabble would like to thank sirs and misses for listening to him."
"Hello Dabble. I have a few questions." James started. "Why were you freed from your last master?"
"Sir, Dabble was freed because Master Malfoy's daughter threw a sock at me when she was upset. Dabble cannot say anything more on the matter, though sir."
"Malfoy reproduced? Who did he marry?" Lily inquired.
"Master Malfoy married Miss Narcissa Black, miss. Their Miss Cedrella was born a few months ago. But miss, Dabble is not supposed to speak of my old families miss. Dabble would be happy to work for sir and miss, but they must know that he cannot speak ill of his old Masters."
"Alright, Dabble, we'll stop asking you about them." Lily said with a smile.
"Thank you miss. Would you like Dabble to work here? Dabble likes this house and you are very kind, sirs and miss."
"Well, James, what do you think? It would be helpful having him about I suppose, especially with eleven of us living here. Oh, Dabble, we're planning on having nine of our friends live here as well. Will that be too much for you?"
"Well miss, I suppose I could handle it; but miss, might I suggest you also hire another elf? My friend Tinker is available for hiring at the time; she was recently subjected to freedom as well."
"I don't suppose you know why, do you?" inquired James.
"Her mistress passed away, leaving behind nobody from her family. She was an only child, who had been widowed and had no children or cousins to speak of."
"Well then, we'd be happy to have her as well as you. I don't suppose you'll take wages, will you?" asked Lily, ever conscious of other peoples' free will.
"Oh no, miss, we couldn't take wages. It would be disgraceful for you to pay us."
"Alright, I guess that if you're ok with it, I should be. Well, why don't you find Tinker and tell her she's got a job. Then you can come straight back here and we'll make up your contracts."
"Very well miss." With that, Dabble left to find Tinker.
"Thank you, Henry, Harriet. It's very nice of you to find us some help. Now then, what about the wards and the security measures?"
"Ah, yes. Well, when you signed the contract the ownership was immediately passed on to you two. What that means is it will automatically recognize you or your children, when you have children, that is. The gate will automatically open for you, you alone can apparate into the house, and until you change it you are the only ones who can floo through the network to and from this house. It is an untraceable network, so nobody can monitor the comings and goings of your fireplace. I also put up wards making it so that underage magic can't be detected here, just like at our house. There are anti-apparition wards all about the property that can be keyed to specific people and let only them through, though they still can't apparate into the house. There's a security panel on the wall by the front door and in each of your offices that flashes red when a new person enters the property. It's charmed much like that map of yours, James. It will show their name and location within a mile of the house and it can't be fooled by spells or potions. It's fascinating, really, how it's done. All the doors are set to lock automatically when everyone is either out of the house or everyone is asleep. It's still good just to check for good measure, but if you happen to forget a door on your way to leave for work you won't have to fret all day about a break-in. The fire in the library cannot, as you've probably guessed, be reached by floo. The one in the kitchen can though, thought it might save Sirius some time being able to go directly to the food. That's all that I can think of, dear. Did I miss anything?" Henry finished his long speech with a curious glance at his wife.
"I don't think so dear. Oh, yes, how to change the wards and floo. Since you're the owners, you get control over who enters your home. This paper has been charmed by the contractor so that only the owners of the house, or their children, can see what's on it. Everyone else will just see a piece of parchment with something official looking on it so that it isn't thrown away. What you do, is make a list of people that you want allowed in under that specific column. For instance, you'll want your friends to be able to apparate and floo in so what you do is put their names under the headline of 'Apparate' and 'Floo'. You can take a name off at any time by simply crossing it out, it will disappear shortly after. I believe that is all. We're so happy you like the house. We'll just head home and let you two look about again." Harriet got up quickly followed by Henry. They walked to the door, but Harriet paused a moment. "Also, before we forget again, you must choose a password for the floo. Normally Potter Residence would work, but that's taken. What you do is point your wand at the fireplace you want for that password and you say your password then 'Flamma Initium'. That will make it so that the floo network will bring whoever says your password to that fireplace. You can have a separate password for the kitchen fire, as well. That's it. Bye dears."
They promptly left once that explanation was complete. Lily and James immediately set to work on charming their fireplaces, an easy task for them. They decided on 'Kerfuffle' for the kitchen, at least temporarily, because they wanted something fun and they both liked the word. For the sitting room, where they were to greet guests, they chose a sequence of words; 'It's A Small World' became the password to enter their house.
Shortly after they were done with that, Dabble came back with Tinker. James asked Tinker if she'd like wages upon urging from Lily, but Tinker gave the same answer as Dabble. They made their contract, saying that they were the younger Potters' elves and that they were to listen to the people who lived in the house. Lily and James left to tell the others of their new home.
-Sirius' POV-
James and Lily had apparated to their old home about five minutes ago. They were upstairs getting some things packed. Sirius decided to go up there and talk to them; he didn't want there to be hard feelings between them. He walked to their room and knocked on their door. When he heard James call 'come in' he entered the room to see half their things shrunk and in a trunk.
"Maybe this isn't a great time. I'll come back later Prongs." Sirius turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his arm.
"Actually, Padfoot, we wanted to talk to you. We were thinking, if you don't mind that is, that since we have so much space we'd like you to live with us; all of you. You would each have your own floor. What do you say?"
Sirius looked around at Lily and saw her smiling and that was all it took for him to agree, as long as they were sure.
"Of course we're sure. We wanted to check with you before everyone else though, because you'll have to do something with the flat." Lily said smiling still more broadly that her friend was no longer angry at her and her husband.
"Oh, I suppose I'll just keep it for in case we need it. When will you tell the others?"
"Right now," James said, he shouted the second half of his statement. "FLAT MEETING IN FIVE MINUTES!" They continued to pack; Sirius went down to the living room where the others were starting to appear. Sirius saw James walk into the kitchen and heard him talking; he must be talking to Peter, Sirius thought. Two minutes later and everyone, Peter included, was in the living room looking to James and Lily.
"Here goes; we've talked to Sirius and now it's your guys' turn. We'd like you all to move in with us. You saw how big the house was, and we want you there with us."
There were excited murmurings throughout the group. Peter, however, spoke up. "I can't, Claudia is moving in with me. Thanks for the offer though." Claudia was Peter's girlfriend of one month.
"Well, you're always welcome there." Lily said.
"Thanks, guys."
"So, what about the rest of you? You'd each get your own floor and get to decorate it to your liking." James added.
"We claim the second floor," said Regulus.
"We'll take the third," said Alice.
"We'll take the fourth floor," answered Rina and Remus simultaneously.
"That leaves us with the fifth floor," Rose deduced.
"Good. Now then, I suggest you pack this evening because we'll be moving in tomorrow. We're just shrinking everything we want and putting it in our old school trunks for easy transport. Also, we're going furniture shopping tomorrow afternoon. Everything is on us, so long as it's bought tomorrow while we're already out. After that, you're on your own. We'll also have to furnish the potions basement, the game basement, the living and sitting rooms, the library, the dining room, and the kitchen. Other things can be added over time, such as the brooms and quidditch set and stuff for the changing room below the pool." Lily proclaimed.
Everyone got up immediately and started packing. It didn't take long because they had magic doing most of the work. They were done in time for dinner so Sirius made some homemade pizza. They watched a movie and talked about tomorrow. Peter had gone home after dinner, saying it was getting late and Claudia was expecting him. Sirius was in a much better mood that evening, less surly and less to himself.
-Lily's POV-
Lily never knew that so much was involved in the furnishing of a house. They had all decided to leave all the furniture at the flat and simply get new stuff so that they had a fall-back in case of emergencies. They had all split up to pick out their furnishings and would meet back at the front in two hours to congregate and decorate the first floor and the basements.
Lily and James started with the extra bedrooms and bathrooms. They decided to decorate two of the four extra rooms for guests and leave the other two empty just in case. In the guest bedrooms, they put queen sized, four-poster, featherbeds. One room was green while the other was burgundy in theme. The bathrooms were both receiving the same color theme as the attached bedrooms. They bought comforters, sheets, curtains, hangers, towels, washcloths and pillows to furnish the rooms as well as a dresser and a desk for each bedroom they were decorating. They bought a chaise lounge for each bedroom as well. All that was left was their master bedroom.
They decided on crème walls, a green bedspread, a king-sized four-poster featherbed with a dark oak frame. They decided to put down an area rug that matched the crème color on the walls. They bought two dressers of the same wood as the bed-frame. Lily chose a full length mirror of the same dark wood and James chose a small matching table to write quick owl responses on. For the bathroom, they had tan walls. They got red rugs to put on the tile floor and a matching red shower curtain. They purchased several sets of burgundy towels, rags, and so on. They were now done with their floor, so began heading to meet the others. It seemed they were just in time.
-Rose's POV-
Rose was so excited about getting to decorate another house! She absolutely loves this type of thing! She and Sirius had already decided on colors. The sitting room was going to be a crème room, one of the bathrooms would be painted silver and the other would remain white, they would decorate only one of the extra bedrooms. They were planning on painting the extra bedroom pale blue, the kitchenette would remain white, their bedroom would be painted a pale shade of gray and their bathroom would be left white. They picked out everything to match their color schemes for the rooms they were decorating, just the basics because they didn't want to overdo it.
For their bedroom, they chose a small writing table, two ornate dressers, a king-sized featherbed and a floor-length mirror. When they had chosen everything they needed, they met up with their friends to find that they had furnished their rooms similarly; they bought the same types of objects, just in different styles and colors. Once they were all there, their items being held at the counter, they set off to decorate the first floor and the basements.
-Remus' POV-
They were now looking for furniture for the library; this was largely being left up to Remus and Lily as they would use it the most. They settled on a set of furniture that had a large couch, two armchairs, a coffee table and two end tables. The fabric was a color very close to parchment with a slightly lighter shade for the stitching. They then moved on to the sitting room. They found some fancy Gryffindor red couches and chairs with dark wood for the frames. They got two chairs and a couch along with some golden pillows; they wanted anyone entering to know they were dealing with a bunch of Gryffindors. They got a golden pot for the floo powder to sit in atop the mantle.
After that they went to furnish the living room. They got some squishy armchairs and matching couches that reminded them of the Gryffindor common room. They got, all in all for that room, five chairs and two couches. They also got a coffee table, some end tables, and an entertainment center; they were going shopping for electronics later. For the kitchen, they bought a medium sized table, some chairs and some stools for at the counter. Lily and Sirius chose some pots and pans to cook with. For the dining room, they chose a beautiful crystal chandelier, a long table, and a bunch of chairs. They bought their dishes as well; white plates with gold in-laid lions around the edges. They got silverware and red napkins along with some candelabras.
They were now done with the first floor, so they moved on to the potions basement. They got several working tables and a couple of cupboards. When they were done with that, they went to work on the game room.
It was to be painted; the top half was going to be a scene of the sky and the bottom half would be grass. To separate the two would be a moving border with quidditch players chasing each other around it. They got a bar for one end of the room and some bar stools to go with. The guys picked out a pool table that was of a dark wood with burgundy felt. They also got an air-hockey table and a foosball table. James picked out a dart board to go on the wall and some pool-cue racks to hold their pool-sticks. The decided to put in wall-to-wall carpeting, it was off-white in color. They chose some lamps to hang above the various tables and some sconces for the walls by the doors and around the room. They were finally done with the furniture, so James and Lily made their way to the register and paid for everything.
-Sirius' POV-
They had finished buying furniture, so they went to a muggle appliance store. Sirius had noticed James looking away from the total on the receipt when it was handed to them. They had all the stuff shrunk and put it into bags, making a total of about twenty bags. They had clearly labeled all the boxes so that they could be sorted rather quickly back home. They walked into the muggle store and Sirius was shocked. The purchases here were being undertaken by Lily, Rose and Remus as they had the most knowledge of muggle affairs.
Lily and Rose went and picked out two large televisions; one for the living room and one for the game room. They then picked out four medium sized televisions; one for each sitting room on floors 2-5. Then they got some smaller televisions; one for each of the eleven bedrooms being decorated. They got a VCR, whatever that was, for each television as well. For the kitchen, they got a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, a toaster and a coffee maker. They got one printer for the library. They also got some tape players.
Then they involved the others. They told them to pick out some movies and tapes that they liked or wanted. They each went and grabbed a ton of movies and tapes. Sirius picked out all of his favorite music on tape. They paid for everything and left. Sirius began to wonder how they would get all of this to work as it was a magical house with no electricity, or even plugs for that matter.
"Lily, how's all this going to work?" Sirius asked after pondering this for a few moments.
"Well, when I started Hogwarts I wanted to bring my music with but I was told that the electricity stored in batteries wouldn't work due to all the magic so I started working on charms to recreate the effect of electricity. I've been working on it ever since, and I believe I've finally perfected it. When we get back to the house and after all the furniture's put away, I was going to try the charms on one of the TV's and see if it would work."
"Cool, I hope it does. No chance of shocking myself that way. Will you show me how to do the charms," asked Remus after overhearing the conversation.
"Sure, if you want to. They're really very simple to do. I've got the spells and how to use them and what for written down."
"Excellent!" Remus was obviously now looking forward to being done un-packing.
-Lily's POV-
They got everything put in its place quickly; ten wizards all working together using magic to unpack makes things go rather fast. When they were done, they had some dinner made by Tinker; Dabble did better with cleaning than cooking. After eating, Lily and Remus went into the living room and she began showing him how to charm electrical objects to work magically.
"So, first you have to determine how much power a particular item will need to go through it at any given time; muggles generally have a voltage level that will work splendidly for conversion to how strong a charm is needed. Once you have that figured out, you point your wand at the cord and say the charm with varying amounts of intensity and various extensions to the spell depending on the object. Once you've got the 'electricity' running through the cords, all you do is put on a permanent replenishing charm to make the electricity spell go on continuously, at least until a countercharm is used on it. It's rather simple really; the difficult part was in figuring out the charms. So, let's give it a try on the TV for the living room." Lily showed Remus the charms and had him check the voltage on the TV to see which charm and inflection to use.
Remus said the charms and spells; then Lily put a plastic cover on the plug so that nobody would get shocked if they touched it and she went around back to the front.
"You know what else I like about this? You can keep the cord bundled up so you don't trip all over it or have those unsightly things showing about the house. Why don't you turn it on, Remus, you charmed it."
"All right," Remus walked over to the TV and turned it on. "It works! This is amazing!"
"Good, now we can charm the batteries in the remote as well so that they never die."
When that was finished, they went around the house setting up all the TV's, radios, VCR's, tape players and kitchen appliances. It was well past midnight before all was said and done.
"Good work, Lily. You know, you could write a book about that. I'm sure Arthur Weasley would read it." Remus chuckled.
"I'm sure you're right. Thanks for all the help. Let's turn in; we have some stuff to do later today."
They both went up to their newly furnished rooms; James was watching a muggle game of tennis when Lily walked in.
"I just don't get it. All they do is hit a ball back and forth between them, yet I'm completely entranced by it." Lily laughed for a moment before regaining her composure. "What's so funny? Never mind. How'd you and Remus do on the charms?"
"Well. We've finished setting everything up."
"That's great. Tomorrow, we should tell Dumbledore about all out new space."
"Sounds good; we can all go to visit him after breakfast."
They went to bed shortly after their conversation; James was still transfixed by the tennis match and he got Lily involved as well.
-James' POV-
The next day, they had planned on going to Scotland for a festival but went to Hogwarts instead. They got up and ate a wonderfully prepared breakfast; made by Tinker, she wouldn't let Sirius or Lily help at all. Everyone flooed to Dumbledore's office when they were done eating.
"What can I do for you?" he asked upon seeing them all come out of the fireplace, one right after another.
"Well sir, we came to tell you about our new residence. You see, my parents bought Lily and I a, well it's a mansion, and we wanted to let you know that we've moved in there along with all those present now sir."
"How much space does this house have, James?"
"It's got six above-ground floors and two basements. On the first floor there're our studies, library, dining hall, kitchen, sitting room and living room. The first floor alone would hold the Order plus some. Why do you ask sir?"
"Call me Albus; and I ask because the Order is, once again, in search of a Headquarters. What is the security like there?"
"Private Floo network, anti-apparition, and all sorts of wards Albus. They're all keyed to Lily and me. We're going to add the others to the clearance list today. We just write their names on a piece of paper only Lily and I can properly read and they have as much clearance as we give them; no potions or spells can fool the wards or floo network." James decided to keep the bit about the security panels to himself, and saw that Lily would as well. "We'd be happy to have headquarters at our house sir, there's plenty of space for guests to sleep if they have to stay over as well."
"Thank you James. I'd also like to suggest putting a Fidelius Charm on the house; you would choose a secret keeper, anyone you wish including yourselves, who would be the only one capable of giving out the location of your home. I would volunteer myself if you so wish me to hold your secret."
"Thank you Albus, but we'll think on that for a few days before we give you our decision. We're not in any immediate danger, at any rate, so there's no hurry. But it's a marvelous idea, at any rate. I read about it in one of our books at our library." Lily went on to tell Dumbledore about the library and its many wonders. They told Dumbledore they'd be giving him full clearance and when they told him the words to get through the floo, he laughed at Kerfuffle. They left the office by way of floo once more and James distinctly heard Dumbledore humming 'It's A Small World' before he flooed out.
-Dumbledore's POV-
He had hoped the Potter's would get back to him rather quickly; they were in more danger because of the amount of people in their house. He was considering owling them when he heard the fire come to life. He spun on his heel and turned to see Lily looking at the fireplace awaiting James' arrival. When James spun into view, they dusted each other off and turned to greet him.
"Hello Albus," James began.
"Hello James, Lily. I expect you are well, as you're not bleeding, so let's get to business here. Have you decided if you're positive of the use of your house for headquarters?"
"Oh yes, that we're sure of. We've also decided to set a secret-keeper like you suggested. We think someone who lives in the house would be best so that they don't get cornered alone. We've also agreed that if we leave the house, it's with at least one other."
"Very well; who have you chosen to keep your secret? My offer still stands to hold it for you."
"We were wondering first, Albus, if it's possible to have joint secret keepers?"
"Why, I don't believe that I've heard of it being done before. Let me just check…" Dumbledore waved his hand and a book floated off of one of the shelves into his hand. He opened it up and began scanning a well-read page. "It says here, that while possible, it is rather a hindrance because both people have to share the secret for the place to become visible to the one being told. It also says it's a mite more difficult to perform, but that should be no problem. Before you choose for sure though, I would like to inform you that we believe there to be a spy in the Order."
"Why's that? We haven't noticed anything fishy. Who do you think it could be?"
"I have many suspicions, but the point is you'll have to be careful in choosing. However, if this news has no effect on your decision, we can perform the spell today."
"No sir, we have no doubt about the people to hold the secret. We decided that if it couldn't be done with a pair, we'd have Sirius; but since it can, we've decided on Sirius and me," Lily declared. "We thought it best to not have a married couple, as those will be our pairs on most days, and to have both be current residents of the house."
"That sounds plausible. Very well, the house will need to be clear of everyone but Sirius and you Lily. We can have the spell done by this evening. James, why don't you go tell Sirius to come here and you can begin clearing the others out of the house."
James left promptly. Sirius came through a few moments later, looking somewhat nervous.
"Sirius, I assume you've been informed of the part you're to play in this evenings undertaking?" Sirius nodded. "Good, I will now go into more detail for you about the charm whilst we give James time to get everyone out. The Fidelius Charm was invented to protect a man named Frederick Fidelius. He was being followed rather closely by medieval witch hunters and got tired of running, so he invented this spell to only allow those he told of his whereabouts to find him. It has been used many a time before now for the same reason; protection. Now then, you have many reasons to use this spell; one is that you have such a great number of Aurors and Order members dwelling at your home, another is that it is unsafe for anyone, really, to be about without protection. These are dark times, you see. The newspapers don't print all the deaths in articles; you'd have to thoroughly read the obituaries to find all the deaths. Alright, now on to the charm itself. The charm will be set up while in the house. We'll get to the rest of this at the house, as I believe James will have gotten everyone out by now."
They all flooed back to the house and searched it thoroughly, finding that nobody was there they began. They went to the fireplace in the sitting room and knelt before it as Dumbledore instructed them.
"You must do so here, as it's one of the more frequented entrances to the house. Now then, Lily you take Sirius' right wrist in your right hand, Sirius you do the same. Now, both of you grab my left wrist with your left hands." Dumbledore held out his left arm for them to take and once they had he continued. "Once I have finished the spell, you say the address of the house and the password for the fireplaces; sitting room first then kitchen. This will also block those off to anyone who doesn't have your permission." Dumbledore took out his wand and began incanting the spell. "Fidelio Amicus Defendo hec Domus!" When he had finished, Lily and Sirius said the address for the Godric's Hollow home. Once they had uttered the address, Dumbledore's wand emitted a glowing blue light that surrounded Lily and Sirius. "Now that that's done, I will have to leave momentarily until you join me outside and tell me the residence. Quickly now, I only have a few moments before I'm stunned."
They walked outside and saw the others looking about curiously.
"I guess it worked then, huh," said James, looking to where his home should be.
"Yes it did, wonderfully. Now then, just for the sake of formality, I'll need to check you all for spells, potions, dangerous intent and whatnot before I can allow Lily and Sirius to disclose the secret to you. I will also undergo these tests, if you so wish it."
Dumbledore then began testing everyone present for any possible intent of harm towards Lily, Sirius or anyone else who is supposed to live there. Everyone passed, of course, and then they tested Dumbledore; to practice their spell-work, of course. Once everyone had been cleared, Lily and Sirius took out a piece of paper and both wrote down the address for the others to read, promptly burning it when they were all done. They all went back in and invited Dumbledore for some tea and a tour. They showed him around the house and the grounds; he had to admit that he was rather impressed with the living space. He told them that he would set a meeting for that Saturday, and told Lily and Sirius to prepare to meet everyone outside the gate with their paper and quills; Dumbledore would be giving them clearance one-by-one and letting them in that way.
Dumbledore left after the tea and headed back to his office. He called Minerva up to discuss the next meeting; they had a lot to do to prepare for it. He told her to send out a patronus to everyone with the message 'Saturday; 7 p.m.; Hogwarts Entrance Hall'. They would meet here and he would give apparition instructions. He was rather looking forward to this weeks meeting; he always got a good laugh from the young Weasley twins, they would be a handful for Minerva in a few years, he knew. He retired for the evening, as he was rather drained from his day. As he got into bed he thought about the Potters and all the others inhabiting that house. One thing was for sure; they definitely caught on quickly to taking security measures. Of course, having Alastor Moody for a teacher could do that to anyone.
A/N: What'd ya think? Was it any good? Well, next chapter will be up shortly…my muse has paid me a much needed visit. The song It's A Small World is obviously not owned by me, but rather by Disney. If you didn't notice before, I enjoyed the ride immensely. There'll be a lot of events coming up shortly that will set more things into motion and so on; it's really an endless cycle. Oh well, plenty to write about at least.