Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter or Oh My Goddess.
School had never been something that Harry ever enjoyed or looked forward to. This was a view he shared with many children his age, as any activity that takes a child away from whatever it is that they do to "have fun" is bound to get a bad reputation.
Harry's reasons for disliking school were different from those of his fellow students. It was not the fact that he was doing something he didn't want to do - he never had fun at his "home" either and was constantly being forced into doing things he didn't like. In that regard, school was just more of the same without the threat of being beaten for any mistakes he made.
At least, not in the classroom. At least one part of Number 4 Privet Drive followed Harry to his school, in the form of Dudley Dursley. Who had quickly established himself as one of the principal bullies in the school and had used that position to continue his efforts to make Harry miserable. The game of "Harry Hunting" that Dudley had developed with his gang of fellow bullies was first played in the grounds of the school that Harry attended, though at least on the school grounds Harry had adults he could hide behind. That luxury was conspicuously absent at Privet Drive.
The classroom itself was not much of a relief, as Harry had quickly learned that doing better than his cousin in any academic field would result in more bullying from Dudley and punishments from his Aunt and Uncle. Considering that Dudley was not one of the brighter sparks in the school, this forced Harry into deliberately under-performing in order to avoid attracting any more attention than his very existence would normally garner.
The staff of his school had apparently been blind to Harry's plight as no concrete action had ever been taken to look into why Harry's academic record had taken a nose-dive shortly after he had reached an age where school results became something teachers would discuss seriously with parents. Nor did anybody ever seem to notice that Harry's clothing was always a lot more worn than Dudley's, and never the right size.
All of this added up to Harry treating school like any other part of his existence with the Dursleys - just another unpleasant task that he endured in the hopes that his performance would avoid raising the ire of his relatives.
Harry was now, however, going to a new school. One that did not contain his cousin, which was a serious improvement in its own right. Furthermore, Harry had been away from the Dursleys and in a loving, caring environment for two months already. A lot of his pre-conceptions about his place in the Universe had already been changed, resulting in his self-confidence growing daily. So he was nervously optimistic about his new school.
Belldandy had walked him to his school, which was close enough that Harry could walk home for lunch if necessary. Belldandy had informed him that he was to do this only if he had the approval of the Principal or Deputy Principal. What Belldandy had not told Harry was that the school administration had an understanding that Harry would only leave the school in the presence of one of his guardians or a member of the school staff.
"Hello, Harry. I am Mrs Wood, the Principal of Richmond Primary School. I would like to welcome you to our school, and extend a very warm welcome to you."
Gwendolyn Wood was keenly aware that Harry was a student in need of special handling. While the full details of Harry's background had not been disclosed due to Belldandy wishing to maintain Harry's privacy, but enough had been shared with the school administration that the teachers were aware that Harry came from a troubled background.
Mrs Wood already had some ideas on how to help Harry get beyond his past. The school had a strong music program as well as inter-school team sports, something that the Principal hoped that Harry would not only get involved in but would also enjoy.
Harry looked at the older woman nervously, before he glanced at Belldandy. He received an encouraging smile in return.
"Your books and supplies are waiting for you in your classroom. Come this way, and let's introduce you to your teacher for the year. Her name is Mrs Forward..." Mrs Wood said as she led Harry and Belldandy into the school. It was to be a day of introductions.
Life at the Ministry of Magic was usually fairly predictable. The bureaucracy ticked over with its traditional inefficiency while Department Heads played political games that meant little and achieved less. Significant changes, such as the laws that banned "muggle baiting", were rare occurrences and usually were a reaction to a major event that was not a part of any Ministry-authorised plans.
In the case of the first ban on "muggle baiting" came about after some drunken wizard had decided to replace several door-knobs in Number 10 Downing Street with the biting variety. As this nearly led to the muggle government declaring war on the Ministry of Magic, new laws were fast-tracked through to give the appearance of trying to address the problem. Naturally, the laws in question were rarely enforced.
The trial of Sirius Black III had succeeded in stirring up more activity in the Ministry than anything since the Death Eater trials that had taken place several years earlier. It was too great an event to be simply swept under the carpet. The heir to an old and established family that arguably counted as "pureblood royalty" had been incarcerated in Azkaban for 8 years without charge or trial, purely on the basis that the Aurors involved had decided that Mr Black was "obviously guilty".
Several careers had already ended thanks to that rash judgement. A few of those were not Aurors.
Barty Crouch Snr had been the most obvious casualty, the former Head of the DMLE now marking time in Intoxicating Substances. He had successfully pre-empted the more aggressive members of the Wizengamot who had been pushing for the former Director to be put on trial for his actions. Intoxicating Substances was a dead-end career posting, and was sufficient punishment for most of the Wizengamot who had more important things to worry about.
The simple fact of the matter was that they were scared by the implications of Sirius Black's imprisonment. If he could be thrown into Azkaban without charge or trial, then anybody could. All it would take is one carefully stage-managed "criminal event" and a port-key.
Naturally, nobody in the Wizengamot wanted that to happen to them. Or their family and friends, for that matter, but the principle was the same. The net result was a large amount of legislation intended to reform the judicial process being pushed through the Wizengamot.
Any student of British History (the non-magical variety, at least) would have recognised a lot of the reforms as being near carbon-copies of laws that had been present in the muggle world for centuries. In truth things like Habeus Corpus had been present in British Magical Law for at least as long as it had in the muggle world, but up until now the enforcement of such provisions had been lax to say the least. No important Lord wanted something silly like Ministry law to get in the way of removing troublesome muggleborn from interfering in their business by providing "competition".
The shoe, however, was now on the other foot. As purebloods woke up to the fact that the same lax enforcement that had allowed them to neatly get rid of troublesome mud-bloods and half-bloods could also be used by ambitious rivals to get rid of purebloods, a new campaign to see the judicial process handled properly developed.
Amelia Bones was right in the thick of all this, and she was making as much hay as she could while the sun was shining. She had long been frustrated at how the department she ran was corrupted to the point where she could not be sure exactly where the loyalties of her staff lay. Previous attempts to remove the cronies and enforce regulations had been stymied by interference from the Minister's office, which had always favoured the interests of rich pureblood families.
The trial of Sirius Black had given Madam Bones the leverage needed to fix a lot of the problems in the DMLE. Starting with the fact that the gross incompetence demonstrated by the arresting team had allowed her to fire a great many corrupt DMLE personnel and replace them with people more deserving of the roles the idiots had previously occupied. She had an excellent ally in the form of Rufus Scrimgeour, whose political ambitions meant that he wanted the Aurors to be working both efficiently and for the DMLE (as opposed to working for whichever influential pureblood decided to throw their weight around at any given instance, which was the old system).
Of course, ambition like that could be dangerous. Madam Bones was not worried about it at this point in time, however, as Scrimgeour had too much on his plate to even think about his next promotion.
Right now the problem facing the Director of the DMLE was the simple fact that the Minister of Magic had received her share of the blame being thrown around in the wake of the Black Scandal. While it had been demonstrated at an early stage that Minister Bagnold had been only marginally involved in Black's incarceration, there was no denying that she had been in a position that meant she should have been paying closer attention to the entire Death Eater situation. Accordingly, she should have taken an interest in the fate of one Sirius Black, even if the only purpose he had served was to provide information on his fellow Death Eaters. That she had done nothing was evidence of incompetence.
At least, that's how Bagnold's opponents in the Wizengamot were portraying things. Bagnold's approach to the war with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had won her a lot of enemies on both the light and dark sides of politics. The Darks resented her authorisation for the Aurors to use the Unforgiveables (mostly because it resulted in the deaths of relatives who were "under the Imperius") while the more extreme Lights hated her authorisation for the Aurors to use the Unforgiveables (apparently it was better to lose than to "taint" yourself).
Bagnold had a large enough body of supporters (mostly the Neutrals and more sane Lights) to stay on in spite of the enemies she had made. Now, however, the Neutrals were wavering in their support. This gave Bagnold's opponents an opportunity to replace the Minister with a candidate of their own.
Amelia Bones was not sure which side of politics offered the worst choice. The Darks would naturally send a "proper Pureblood" who would immediately try to implement laws that would discriminate against muggleborn while also repealing laws that restricted muggle-baiting. The Lights would appoint somebody who would roll back a lot of the emergency laws that had allowed the Ministry to remain intact over 10 years of war with the Death Eaters, on the grounds that those laws were "not needed". While those laws were in abeyance due to the lack of a declared emergency, Madam Bones knew that having them struck from the books would mean that any future emergency would take months or even years to react to. That was before the inevitable law reform aimed at removing centuries of ingrained anti-muggleborn practices from Britain's magical society, something that Amelia was convinced would kick off a brand new war overnight.
What was needed was a candidate who would not rock the boat too much. To that end, Amelia Bones had arranged for a meeting with the most influential of the Neutrals and Albus Dumbledore to be held in her office.
The Director escorted both gentlemen in personally. "Supreme Warlock Dumbledore, Lord Cadwallader, welcome to my office. Thank you both for coming."
Dumbledore smiled genially with twinkly eyes. "Thank you for inviting me, and please call me Albus. Or Headmaster if you must be formal."
Lord Alistair Cadwallader showed no emotion as he allowed himself to be escorted to a chair in front of the Madam Bones' desk. Then again, this was normal for the unofficial leader of the Neutrals.
"I know that you are both busy men," Amelia began as she took her own seat, "so I will cut straight to the meat of the matter. Minister Bagnold's days in her current position are numbered. We will have a new Minister in a year's time, if not sooner. I wish to discuss this with you both with the mind of canvassing our options."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement should be playing politics, Madam Bones?"
Bones just sighed. "It is inevitable that the Director does play politics, Headmaster, considering that the position has had a vote in the Wizengamot since at least the 18th century."
Lord Cadwallader chose this moment to enter the conversation. "She is quite correct, Albus. The role has a vote and as such whoever is the Director has one foot in the political arena at all times." He turned to Amelia. "You would not have called this meeting if you did not have at least some idea of who should get the job."
Amelia leaned forward and folded her hands in front of her. "Headmaster, are you willing to take on the role of Minister of Magic?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Madam Bones, I have no interest in the job. I would be compelled to retire from Hogwarts, and I feel I can serve our community better as a teacher than as a politician."
Amelia sighed again. "I thought you might say that. Unfortunately it leaves us with a problem. A candidate from either the Lights or the Darks would be disastrous at this time. We have not, as a society, recovered enough from the war to be ready for the large reform agendas that a Minister from either faction would certainly have."
Dumbledore looked troubled, but nodded. "I am afraid you are correct in that concern. Even I as the notional 'Leader of the Light' can see that my allies would try to push things too far and too fast. Equally, the Darks would attempt to unravel decades of reforms overnight. The net result would be political chaos at best and a return to the troubles of 8 years ago at worst."
Cadwallader looked thoughtful. "There is no chance of any of the Neutrals getting the job. The only people I know to be qualified would never take the role on." He glanced at Madam Bones. "Do you have anybody in mind?"
"Not at this stage," Amelia admitted, "but I was thinking that we could go down a well-established safe route and appoint somebody who is a relative unknown to the Wizengamot. There are a number of senior Ministry officials who have no links to any interest groups in the Wizengamot."
"The public may not react well to that," Dumbledore mused, "as the Ministry's reputation has taken a bit of a battering as a consequence of the recent scandal. Any person from the Ministry would have to be completely free of any taint from the unjust imprisonment of Sirius Black."
"True," Madam Bones said with some reluctance, "but I maintain that this is the best approach to keeping our society stable. All we need is a senior Ministry official who has not been tainted by the Black Scandal."
A short silence filled the office as the three people considered their options. It was finally broken when Lord Cadwallader shifted his gaze from the rather tasteless ceiling decorations he had been studying back to the Director of the DMLE.
"Cornelius Fudge. He was the Junior Minister for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes back in 1981. As I understand it he was on the scene to deal with the explosion when Black was taken into custody, but had no involvement beyond that. Since then he moved into the Office of Misinformation, where he has been liaising with the Muggle government on major breaches of the Statute of Secrecy. He's nothing inspiring, but he's also very unlikely to try and disrupt anything."
Dumbledore pondered the name for a moment. "I believe I remember him from when he was a student. Middle of his class, not a great achiever but not a poor student either. Evidently he has some skill as a manager else he would not have reached the position he has, as I do not recall his family having any influence here in the Ministry."
Amelia nodded as she heard the description. "Possibly not the most inspired choice, but he might well be our best option at this point."
"Very well," Lord Cadwallader said as he stood up, "I will approach Mr Fudge privately and appraise him of the situation. I will also consult with my esteemed colleagues to sound them out about all of this." By that he meant his fellow Neutrals.
Dumbledore rose as well. "I will explain things to my friends in the Wizengamot. I am sure that we can build enough support to allow for a smooth transition. What about our present Minister?"
Amelia Bones was already on her feet. "She will not be easy to persuade, and a no-confidence motion at this time would further damage the reputation of the Ministry. I propose that we meet with her jointly to present our views. Hopefully we can persuade her to stand down with dignity sometime next year."
Albus Dumbledore and Alistair Cadwallader glanced at each other, before they returned their attention to the Director. "Agreed. We will talk again, soon." Cadwallader said simply.
All in all, Harry's first week at Richmond Primary School had gone well. He'd learnt enough of the campus layout to be able to get around without becoming lost and his new class had gone from "hey, it's a new kid" to "hey, it's Harry" by the end of the second day.
Harry had even taken the first steps towards making a few friends. The school staff had plans to help Harry get beyond his troubled background and had effectively drafted the new student into the school music program on his third day. After being assured that he could play whatever instrument he wanted, Harry had chosen guitar on the basis that all the famous rock stars he'd seen up until then had been photographed with a guitar in their hands. Of course, he was rather surprised when he was first handed an acoustic guitar as it looked quite different from the electric guitars that rock groups favoured, but he soon got over it.
More crucially, the existing trio of guitar players in his group were more than welcoming to the new student. Two were naturally friendly and the third was passionate about guitars in general, and a quick bond was formed in the newly instated quartet. Greg Hall, who told Harry about how his love of guitars had started when he had seen Dire Straits live when he was a child, started a search for guitar quartets that would be within their skill level. He went on to say that if he couldn't find one he'd write something suitable. Harry was duly impressed, but the other two had just grinned knowingly. Their names were Ben Ashforth and Sam Fitzpatrick. Both of them professed to be in it more for their mutual friend Greg, though it helped that they actually liked playing guitars.
Harry had found the experience of a school which did not contain Dudley Dursley to be very different, and quite enjoyable. He was actually looking forward to returning after the weekend, though saying this out loud had resulted in Urd chuckling wryly.
Harry had been told that Saturday mornings had been given over to his martial arts training with Sun Wukong, as there was only time for one hour refresher lessons during the week. Harry didn't mind as his lessons in mixing magic and martial arts had advanced beyond simply throwing tennis balls at Monkey while doing katas. The new exercise had Monkey use his magic to throw tennis balls at Harry from all sides while Harry was engaged in the kata. Harry's job was to use his magic to "catch" the balls and then throw them back in the direction that they came from. The exercise was quite taxing on his concentration and energy, with Harry finding himself tiring after only a few minutes. Sun Wukong alternated with basic martial arts training between the "magic martial arts" sessions in order to avoid over-tiring his student.
It was now Sunday, and Harry was surprised when Keiichi told him that a full day was already planned.
"You've progressed well with your bicycle," the young engineer explained, "so I thought that today we can start teaching you how to ride your motorcycle. I've borrowed a trailer suitable for carrying bikes and there's a motorcycle club just outside of town where we can practice."
Harry was not sure if he should be excited or scared. He looked to Belldandy for support, not noticing Urd's small smile as she noticed the move.
"I think you'll be just fine, Harry. I ride bikes myself and I can help you learn." Belldandy said with her usual warm smile. Harry smiled back, reassured that things would be OK.
"Belldandy got you some protective clothing for this," Urd interjected, "better try it on to get a good fit before you start riding. I'll be busy with my shop today and I think Skuld has something lined up with her schooling."
Skuld pouted. She had a test to complete, meant to determine her progress with her magic lessons. So far, the catch-up work was taking her away from her family more than she liked.
"OK, we'll get going after breakfast then. Just relax, Harry, you'll love this." Keiichi said reassuringly.
Every Gryffindor student currently attending Hogwarts was gathered in the Gryffindor Common Room. The Welcoming Feast had included the surprise announcement of a new Head of House, along with a message that all Gryffindors should assemble in the Common Room to hear from their new Head.
Older students knew Aurora Sinistra from Astronomy lessons, but beyond that few had been able to learn much about the teacher as a person. As such she was a total unknown as far as how she would do her new job.
Up until the Feast, few had even known that the Astronomy Professor had been in Gryffindor.
The background chatter of the assembled students disappeared as Aurora Sinistra walked in front of the crowd. Turning to face them all, the Gryffindor Crest was obvious on her robes.
"Welcome, everybody, to House Gryffindor. As you are aware, the previous Head of House stepped down from the position over the summer break due to personal reasons. I ask that you do not bother Professor McGonagall about this. I'm sure that if she wants her reasons known that she will tell you in due course.
"As your Head of House, I am here to help you adjust to the school environment and prosper as students. To this end I will aid you with any problems that the Prefects are unable to deal with. I trust that all Gryffindor Prefects know their responsibilities and will do their best to live up the expectations the school has for students in their position."
Several of the Prefects glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. At least one made a mental note to re-read the Prefects' Handbook.
"What kind of problems am I here to help you with? In short, almost everything. I am in effect acting as your guardian here in the school and am responsible for your well being. To that end, any and all issues regarding Hogsmeade weekends will be sorted by myself. Any matters regarding detentions and point losses are also within my purview. If you feel that any detention or loss of points is unfair or unjust you may raise the matter with me, but be certain of your position because I am entitled to increase any penalties if I find that you are being frivolous.
"I have posted a timetable on the noticeboard that has my office hours listed in detail. My office can be found in the ground level of the Astronomy Tower. Please do not approach me outside of the posted hours as I will be busy.
"Finally, I hope that this year is a good one for everybody here and in the school at large. Please do your best to keep the learning environment productive and friendly. That said, I also want to see the House and Quidditch Cups in my office by the end of the year, so keep that competitive edge."
As the new Head of House finished, two red-headed first years glanced at each other. They had heard a lot about Minerva McGonagall and had thought they knew what to expect, but this really threw a kneazle amongst the post owls.
A red-headed third year noticed the two first years eyeing each other and leaned over to whisper. "I don't know what you're planning, but you two had better be on your best behaviour! Got that, Fred? George?"
"Sure thing, Percy. What else-"
"-do you expect from us?"
Percy Weasley glowered at his younger brothers. "You should know not to ask that."
"OK Harry, the first thing you need to know is that while riding a bicycle is similar to riding a motorbike, there are some important differences," Keiichi began, "the first is that motorbikes are a lot heavier and are harder to control as a result. So, let's look at the brakes..."
Harry listened keenly as he absorbed the lesson. Keiichi had borrowed a few trail bikes for himself and Belldandy for the lesson, and was using one of them as a teaching aid.
"Remember to lean into the turn, and grip the fuel tank with your knees." Keiichi finished. "That's the basics, now let's give it all a try, OK? We'll start off slow and practice everything first until you're comfortable with it. We can go faster later on."
Harry nodded, before picking up his helmet. Belldandy moved to help him put it on.
"Keep the chin strap nice and tight, Harry, we want your helmet to be firmly on your head." She advised her charge.
Fully kitted out, Harry walked over to his bike and straddled it. Running through the checklist that Keiichi had given him, he started it up.
"OK Harry," Keiichi called from his own bike, "now let's get in gear and move off."
Harry nodded, and was soon moving. After 10 metres he was in love with his new mode of transport.
I have to learn more, this is great!
It was a good day for Sirius Black. After years in prison and months in hospital, he had been given a clean bill of health and was now allowed out to live his own life again.
"Well, I must say that your progress has been remarkable, Mr Black." One of the healers was saying. "It has been nice meeting you, but I do hope that if we ever do so again that it is not in my professional capacity."
"Likewise." Sirius said as he winked at one of the nurses standing behind the healer. She blushed heavily and looked away. I've still got it, Sirius thought to himself wryly, remembering a few nights when things had been...interesting.
As he exited the hospital building, he saw a familiar figure waiting for him. His already present smile broadened into a full grin as he increased his pace.
"Andromeda! It has been far too long." Sirius greeted his cousin.
"Hello Sirius. Yes, far too long indeed." Andromeda Tonks said as she embraced her relative. "Come on, I have lunch waiting at home. Ted wants to talk to you as well."
"Lead the way." Sirius said as he turned towards the gates of the hospital grounds.
Cornelius Fudge walked to his office distractedly. He had been summoned to a meeting with Albus Dumbledore of all people that morning, and had been told of the upcoming political turmoil and the role that Fudge might play in it.
Minister of Magic? I've always wanted the job, but to see it happen...
On the one hand, he was immensely proud that he had been chosen - by Dumbledore, even! - to lead his society in such an important position. On the other hand he knew that the only reason he was being considered came down to the delicate balance of the Light and Dark sides of magical politics.
It pays to avoid choosing sides, sometimes. Fudge thought. It certainly has gotten me the ultimate pay-off. Minister of Magic! Why, in that office I'll be able to...
Fudge came to a halt just inside his office. Actually, just what do I want to do as Minister? I've always wanted the job, but what was it that I wanted to do in the role again?
Urd half-listened to Harry's excited babble as he talked about the day's motorbike lessons. She was still thinking about her shop and the role it was going to play.
I've got the St Mungo's and DMLE contracts now. The Holyhead Harpies will sign tomorrow, and a few other Quidditch teams are interested. Once I've got them all locked in I'll have a big enough presence that I'll be able to flash around plenty of gold without anyone wondering where it came from.
While it had been useful, Urd sometimes wished that the convenient lottery win had not happened.
We needed it to get the property, my shop, the things we need to survive here...but having that much money without any obvious income stream will eventually arouse interest from all sorts of people. The shop will give us a good cover for our financial success in the magical world, at least.
A small cough from Belldandy attracted Urd's attention. She looked over to see Belldandy looking at her sister expectantly.
"Urd? I believe you said that you had something you needed to talk about?"
Urd blinked. "Ah, yes. I just wanted to let everybody know that I have more news about the wedding. Keiichi's sister has it all organised, so when we get there we won't have to do much apart from get ourselves appropriate clothing."
Harry looked stunned. He'd never been to a wedding before.
"We leave on the 22nd, right?" Skuld asked.
"Correct." Belldandy said calmly. "We are due to return on the 5th of January. That will give us time before and after the wedding, so we can avoid rushing things."
Harry put up his hand. Belldandy looked over. "Yes, Harry?"
"Do I have to do anything in this? It's just..." He was cut off by a chuckle from Urd.
"Relax, Harry. All you have to do is sit in the crowd and watch. Everybody there will either be a friend or a member of the family so it is a good opportunity to meet new people. You can just relax and have fun, it's the rest of us who have to get things done."
Harry visibly relaxed. Belldandy smiled, even as she reflected that Megumi Morisato was already arranging to have Harry chaperoned on the day to make sure he did not get overwhelmed by all the strange people.
"By the way, Bell? Urd? Can I talk to you in my lab after dinner?" Skuld asked.
"Of course, Skuld." Belldandy replied.
Sirius Black paused before he knocked on the door to the Headmaster's office. Every time I come here I feel like I'm a student again, being called on the carpet to explain another prank. Gathering himself, he knocked firmly.
"Come in Sirius." He heard from within. Suppressing a grin, he opened the door and walked in to see Albus Dumbledore standing to one side of his desk. The old man quickly walked over, offering his hand. Sirius took it and gave a firm shake.
"My boy, it is so good to see you fit and well again. I cannot begin to apologise for the way you were..."
Sirius cut the Headmaster off. "Albus, there's more than enough blame to go around for what happened to me. Your part in it was small compared to others." Including my own. "Let's just allow it to rest for now, OK?"
"As you wish Sirius." Dumbledore said evenly before he gestured for Sirius to take a seat. The old man took his own seat before Sirius spoke up again.
"So, how are things at my old alma mater? Still chaotic?"
"Not nearly as wild since you left," Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes, "but we still have our moments."
"Heh, nice to know we made a difference." Sirius said, smirking. "I see Minerva stepped down as the Head of House."
"Yes, she felt that she didn't have enough time to do that and be Deputy Headmistress and a teacher all at the same time. Fortunately we have a very able replacement in Aurora Sinistra." Albus replied.
"I remember her. Dab hand with her telescopes and a quick wit in the classroom." Sirius mused. "Here's hoping that she's good for Gryffindor."
"Quite." Dumbledore said. It was his old House too, after all.
"Now, to the reason I came here." Sirius said as he leaned forwards. "What happened to my godson, Dumbledore? Where is Harry? Nobody I know seems able to answer the question."
Albus Dumbledore mentally braced himself. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.
For all that it is spread across the British Isles, the community of British wizards and witches is quite small and interconnected. The theory of "Six Degrees of Separation" applies to the magical community strongly, though in most cases there is only about three degrees involved.
In such a community, advertising products and stores is a different ballgame from the muggle world. When word of mouth can break a reputation faster than the speed of light, it is often more about impressing the right people rather than slick packaging and marketing.
Urd knew this and had planned her business approach accordingly. She had not spent a single knut on advertising yet, though a small ad in the Daily Prophet was on the cards. Between the hospital, DMLE and Quidditch teams, however, Urd knew that she had managed to get some of the most connected people in the entire community to give her shop a tacit endorsement.
She could not have bought that kind of advertising with all the gold in Gringotts. The reputation of Urd's Elegant Potions had gone from "totally unknown" to "the hottest new gossip" almost overnight. Within a year it would be every bit a part of the society's social fabric as Ollivander's wand shop was.
For Urd, this was the plan. The ad in the newspaper was more for appearances' sake than anything else. She already had the name of her shop firmly embedded into the gossip of the magical world; the customers might as well have been queuing up around the block.
There were, however, risks to this strategy. One bad potion could destroy her reputation forever, the gossip-mongers would be quick to see to that. Urd had taken pains to keep the bulk of her inventory as simple and generic as possible to avoid the possibility of anybody having an allergic reaction. She was depending on the quality and quantity to win over the big contracts, while subtly suggesting that custom potions would be available on consultation.
Word of this was spreading quickly, and already some notable persons had visited the new shop to acquire unique remedies for their afflictions. These remedies worked without fail and were even pleasant to drink, leading to increased chatter amongst the richer parts of society that could afford the services of a potions master to develop something specific to themselves.
This chatter was already penetrating to all corners of magical Britain, which was just fine for Urd. What she had not yet realised was just how far that influence would go. In one manor, elderly eyes gazed into the distance as a shrewd mind contemplated the newest gossip to be making the rounds.
Sirius Black was in a foul mood. Dumbledore's summary of what had happened to Harry Potter since the death of James and Lily had come close to bringing out his true Black heritage.
"Are you totally insane, Dumbledore?" Sirius half asked, half snarled.
The older man looked hurt. "I acted as I thought best, Sirius. Surely you cannot blame me for that."
Sirius brought a fist down onto Dumbledore's desk with a crash. "Blood wards, Dumbledore! Blood wards! Even my family avoided those like the plague, surely that should have been a big sign that they should be avoided!"
Dumbledore carefully righted his bowl of lemon drops, avoiding Sirius' eyes. "The Blood Wards were invoked by Lily herself and almost certainly saved Harry, destroying Voldemort in the process. I thought that they had already proven themselves effective and could not think of a more robust protection for the child."
Sirius glared. "It never occurred to you to look the damn things up? Even I knew that wards based on blood can be damn dangerous in the long-term. Why didn't you at least do some research?"
Albus paused before replying. "I have asked myself that same question recently, Sirius. I can only offer the excuse that at the time I was overloaded with work related to the clean-up in the wake of Voldemort's death. There were Death Eater reprisals still happening, mass arrests made, trials being set up in a hurry..."
"Don't talk to me about trials, old man, you don't want to go there." Sirius ground out. "Even if we allow for Blood Wards, surely common sense should have told you that the Dursleys were the last people on this planet who should have been given custody of Harry. I only knew them vaguely from Lily and even I knew that they were bad news."
"I had no other option. The Blood Wards demanded blood relatives of Lily to work." Dumbledore protested. "I knew that Harry would not have the best upbringing but he would at least be safe."
"And yet more blood relatives have turned up," Sirius said sarcastically, "perhaps they just appeared out of nowhere? Or is it another case of the great Albus Dumbledore not looking into things hard enough? Just how long did you spend looking for relatives of Lily, old man?"
Dumbledore paused again. He did not want to admit that he had not even thought of the possibility of any relatives other than Petunia Dursley and her family. "Again, I have to excuse myself with the workload I had at the time..."
"That's your damn excuse for everything, isn't it?" Sirius interrupted. "Maybe you should catch a hint and reduce your workload then? If you keep making mistakes like this due to a lack of time you should stop making important decisions."
Albus glared. "I will thank you for not telling me how to do my job."
"Which job, Dumbledore? Headmaster of Hogwarts? Your work at the ICW? The Wizengamot? Or trying to be the 'Leader of the Light' and fighting the Dark Lord?" Sirius responded belligerently. "Considering how you've messed up with Harry, I'll tell you your job all I like. Just tell me which one you're actually trying to do at any given moment first."
Dumbledore sighed. "I see that civil discussion is not possible right now. Perhaps we should meet again later on when we are calmer."
"Oh no, you don't just dismiss me that easily." Sirius growled. "I'll go but I want something out of you first. You know where Harry's new family is, nobody else does. Tell me and I'll get out of your hair."
Albus pursed his lips before summoning a quill and a piece of parchment. He quickly wrote out Harry's new address and handed it over. "Be warned, Sirius, they do not appreciate anybody trying to interfere in Harry's affairs. Be careful when approaching them."
Sirius glanced at the address before he pocketed. He rose to his feet, and turned to the door. On his way out, he turned and spoke over his shoulder.
"Don't worry, old man. I know better than to just barge in like you did. I'll get into their good graces, don't worry about that."
The door slammed as Sirius left the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore sagged into his chair, his hand absently reaching for a lemon drop.
Packing to go overseas was a new experience for Harry, but by that stage he was getting used to the idea of doing things he had never done before. He had found a way of coping with the stress involved in trying something he had no idea about - he asked Belldandy for help.
"Don't bother with any formal clothing, we'll get that in Japan." She advised. "Bring plenty of warm clothing as it will quite cold where we are staying."
"OK. Should I bring anything other than clothes?" Harry asked.
Downstairs, Skuld had cornered Urd. "I need you to come and look at something in my lab, Urd. It could be important."
"Important, eh? Sure you don't want Bell to help?" Urd asked diffidently.
Skuld frowned. "Yes, I would, but she won't have time before we leave for Japan. You and I should be able to handle it until we get back and Harry is back at school."
"OK then, lead the way." Urd said in a resigned tone. The pair walked out to the backyard and made their way to Skuld's lab.
"It's the system I set up to divine the locations of those soul fragments," Skuld explained as she unlocked a fortified door, "the results are in but I can't figure them out."
Urd raised an eyebrow as she made her way to the terminal that was attached to Skuld's divination system. Skuld tapped a few commands into the keyboard, and a large map of Britain appeared in the air.
"It should give us precise locations for every other part of the soul we have a piece of," Skuld explained, "but the results are very vague."
Urd examined the map closely. Skuld was right in one respect, the divination code used should have allowed them to zoom in to a point where they could get the position of a soul fragment to the nearest millimetre. Instead, they had one circle that incorporated all of London with a message stating "2 (?) items" next to it. A larger circle seemed to cover a significant chunk of Scotland, with a message "1 (?) item" next to it. Finally, there were two slightly smaller circles on parts of England, each with a message "1 (?) item" next to them.
"What's going on, Urd? This thing is giving us a possible area for each item, measured in square kilometres!" Skuld said in exasperation.
Urd leaned over and tapped a few commands into the terminal. After looking at the message that came up, she grunted.
"Two things, dear sister. The first is that the soul fragments are in locations that are heavily shielded with powerful magics. That makes them hard to pin down."
Skuld pouted. "But Yggdrasil should be able to divine through any magic they have down here."
"True," Urd said, "but that's where the second part comes in. We've just run right into Prophecy Fulfilment rules again. We are being blocked from finding these soul fragments because it is beyond our assigned responsibilities regarding the Prophecy that involves Harry."
Skuld looked frustrated. "Damn it! So what should I do with all this?"
Urd leaned back and shrugged. "Keep it. It is good work for all that we are being blocked, and it might be useful someday. Just keep checking it occasionally, you never know when circumstances might change and we get better results."
Skuld nodded, before she shut down the map display. "I guess. Are you packed for the trip?"
"Of course." Urd said with a smirk. "The question is, are you?"
"Banpei is doing it for me." Skuld explained. "What about Welsper?"
Urd paused. "I knew we forgot something. We'll have to introduce him - I mean her - to Harry and then find a cat home while we're away..."
As it happened, Belldandy had already started the process to get Welsper out of quarantine. One day before the family was due to travel to Japan, Welsper was finally brought into the house in Hinckley.
"Harry, there is somebody you need to meet. Her name is Welsper and she is a magical cat. She's been in quarantine since we arrived in Britain, so we haven't been able to introduce you until now." Belldandy told Harry.
"A magical cat? What can she do?" Harry asked.
"Talk. Fly a bit, on occasion. Needless to say, she falls under the Statute of Secrecy so don't tell any of your friends at school about her, OK?" Urd put in.
Harry nodded. Belldandy smiled before she opened the door. A black cat with white feet and a white mark on its forehead walked in.
"So, this is the new one. My name is Welsper, you may add 'sir' to that on formal occasions." The cat said by way of introduction.
"Welsper! Behave!" Belldandy scolded, causing the cat to shrink into itself. "Now, Harry this is Welsper. Welsper, this is Harry Potter."
Harry eyed the cat with some suspicion. It hadn't sounded like a "her" but he wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it being a magical cat.
"Er, nice to meet you, Welsper." Harry offered.
The cat eyed Harry coolly, before nodding. "Charmed, I'm sure. Now if there isn't anything else, I'd like to familiarise myself with the house..."
"Don't get too familiar. We're going overseas tomorrow, so unless you want to go through quarantine all over again you'll be going to a cat home this afternoon." Urd said with a mischievous smile.
"What?! A cat home?! But I only just got out of that infernal prison!" Welsper half-shouted with some alarm.
"I'm sorry, Welsper, but the red tape had you all tied up in there. We couldn't get you out until today, which is just bad timing. I guess you and Harry will get to know each other in the new year." Urd said without at trace of sympathy.
"I swear, somebody has it in for me..." Welsper muttered as she was put back in the cat basket.
In Asgard, Peorth sneezed.
"Hello, Professor." Sirius Black said warmly. Minerva McGonagall nodded and took the out-stretched hand.
"Hello Mr Black. It is good to see you again." The teacher said as she stepped aside to let her old student enter her office.
"It is indeed, Professor. How have you been?" Sirius asked as he moved towards a waiting chair.
"As well as one can expect. A lot better than you have been." Minerva said as she took a seat behind her desk. "I must apologise, Mr Black. I should never have doubted you..."
Sirius held up a hand to interrupt as he sat down. "No need, Professor. There was more than enough doubt amongst friends back then, and I was just as guilty of pre-judging old friends and allies. And please, call me Sirius."
"Only if you call me Minerva. I haven't been your teacher for more than ten years now." Minerva said as a small smile grew on her face.
Sirius chuckled. "I'll try, but long ingrained habits will be hard to overcome I'm afraid. I heard you stood down as Head of Gryffindor?"
Minerva pursed her lips and looked at a paperweight on her desk. "Yes. I realised that in trying to do three jobs at once I was quite delinquent in my duties towards one of them. There was no way to make more time so something had to give."
Sirius nodded. "It never occurred to me before but in hindsight you were given a lot to do, Professor. Well, Aurora should do well enough."
Minerva looked up with an interested look. "You can call Professor Sinistra 'Aurora', but you can't unbend far enough to call me Minerva?"
Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Ah, you have no idea just how many schoolboy crushes our esteemed Professor of Astronomy had when I was a student here. She was always Aurora to us outside of class, even if we never said it to her face."
"Am I to understand that you had a crush yourself, Sirius?" Minerva said with a gleam in her eye.
"No comment." Sirius replied with a leer.
Minerva chuckled again, before she adopted a serious expression. "I understand you had something of an argument with Albus the other day."
"That's one way of putting it." Sirius said testily. "I'd be willing to bet that he didn't tell you what it was all about."
"He didn't." Minerva said with a faint look of surprise. "How did you-"
"-know?" Sirius finished for her. "The topic in question is one that I am certain causes our esteemed Headmaster no end of embarrassment. We'll get to that in a moment, I had a question about something else first."
"Oh?" Minerva said, impatient to find out the cause of the rift between Albus and Sirius.
"Where is Remus, Minerva? I haven't heard a word from him since I was released. Heck, I haven't spoken to him since just before James and Lily went into hiding." He paused as a pained look flashed over his face. Then he looked Minerva straight in the eye.
"What happened to my old friend, Minerva? Just what happened to Remus Lupin?"
Minerva sighed. "Mr Lupin has not had an easy time of it, Sirius. The anti-werewolf prejudice was worse after the fall of You-Know-Who thanks to the actions of individuals like Greyback. He has been drifting from job to job, and has spent quite some time in the muggle world due to the lack of employment options here in the magical world."
Sirius looked pensive. "That's a real shame. He was always the smartest of the four of us, academically at least. But why hasn't he at least tried to contact me now that I'm free?"
"I couldn't possibly guess as to why." Minerva said neutrally. "I do have his most recent address though if you want to look him up."
"I think I'll have to. I have an idea about why Remus has been silent and it isn't a good one." Sirius said in a resigned tone.
Minerva quickly wrote out an address on a scrap of parchment and handed it over. Sirius glanced at it before he put it in a pocket.
"Now, are you going to tell me what had you and Albus almost come to blows? Or will I have to prove that you aren't too old for me to assign a detention?" The Transfiguration Professor asked.
Sirius looked distracted. "Tell me, Minerva, what has the Headmaster told you about Harry Potter?"
Harry had found the whole process of flying internationally to be exhausting, both physically and mentally. The long waits at the airports at both ends, the queues, customs checking his baggage and, of course, the flight itself, had all worked to tire him out in a way that no physical challenge could.
It had helped that they had all been flying first class, giving a level of comfort that had allowed Harry to get some sleep during the flight. The excitement of the new experience, the background noise that never seemed to go away and the general nervousness of being high in the sky had meant that he had not received nearly enough rest.
As a result it was unsurprising that he spent most of his first day in Japan relaxing and napping at the temple that he had been told was where Keiichi and Belldandy had lived before they moved to Britain. He had been introduced to Keiichi's sister Megumi, who had been positively bubbly at meeting her "new nephew", but beyond that he had mostly spent time recovering.
Now he was being measured for a suit. Belldandy had some connection with a professional tailor who had sworn on his honour to have something appropriate for Harry ready by the day of the wedding. As far as Harry was concerned, it meant a lot of standing around while somebody measured various parts of him.
Urd watched from a distance away as the tailor and Harry did their best to work past a language barrier. Harry was doing well with his Japanese lessons but was far from fluent, while the tailor only had rudimentary English skills at best. Belldandy was her usual endlessly patient self and was translating when needed.
Her own outfit was already sorted. Urd was a dab hand at creating her own outfits when needed, and had already whipped up something appropriate for the ceremony. She glanced at her watch.
Time for a meeting. This one won't be pleasant.
In a small cafe in Tokyo, a very tanned woman was sipping her tea when Urd walked in. The two quickly spotted each other and an unspoken message flashed between them. Urd braced herself and walked over to join the older woman.
"Urd dear, how are you?" Daimakaicho Hild asked as Urd took a seat.
"As well as one might expect, Daimakaicho." Urd replied formally.
"Oh, Urd, please. Can't you call me 'mother' just once in a while?" Hild asked with a pout.
"Not today, this is formal business." Urd retorted stiffly.
Hild sighed. "Ah, what has the world come to that a mother cannot have tea with her daughter without discussing business..."
"Stop it. You know why I am here." Urd said with some heat.
"Maybe I do. Please explain why Asgard has formally asked me here." Hild said blandly.
"You have to know about the latest assignment that my sister has been assigned to." Urd began.
"Yes, there is a high priority Prophecy at risk. Dear Belldandy has been sent to fix things that the mortals messed up." Hild said disinterestedly.
Urd nodded. "Skuld and I have been assigned to assist. As such we are now all officially assigned to a Prophecy Recovery and Fulfilment task."
Hild nodded in return. "Indeed. Such an important job, but what can one expect from my daughter..."
"Stop it." Urd repeated. "A background story has been created to allow us to take Harry into our care. To be blunt, that story does not have room for you in it."
Hild looked hurt. "Are you disowning me, Urd?"
"I sometimes wish I could." Urd muttered. "But not in this case. What I - and, by extension, Asgard - are asking is that you refrain from interfering in our handling of Harry Potter until such time that the cover story is no longer necessary."
Hild looked up sharply. "Are you sure that the cover story will have a finite life, then?"
Urd looked uncomfortable. "It is inevitable. We'll have to tell Harry the truth at some stage. The later the better as far as I'm concerned. I just hope he'll react to it better than I would."
A faint trace of sympathy crept into Hild's expression. "Don't worry, Urd dear, I'm sure Belldandy has something planned. As far as non-interference goes, that was a given the instant you moved into Prophecy Recovery. I have no interest in upsetting that particular apple cart."
Urd glared. "Why? I would have thought you'd just love to thwart Asgard on this."
"Urd, please think. Do you think that Asgard is alone in issuing Prophecies?" Hild asked enigmatically. "Both sides have a vested interest in not starting fights over this kind of thing."
Urd stared. That was one piece of information she had been unaware of. "Anyway, about the wedding. You'll be there I'm sure, there's no way we can stop you from coming. But can you please not spoil things with Harry?"
"Don't worry," Hild said with a smile, "I'll make sure I don't upset your plans. It is the least I can do for my daughter."
"Stop it." Urd said for the third time that meeting.
The mood in the Headmaster's office was chilly. In the same way that the geographic south pole in the middle of winter can be considered "quite cool".
Minerva McGonagall was there in her official capacity as Deputy Headmistress. Albus tried to avoid looking in her direction; he had yet to fully recover from the professional dressing down she had given him after she had found out about what had happened to Harry Potter since 1981.
Half of it had been in Gaelic. Albus would have applauded the performance had he not been on the receiving end.
The other two people in the office were Severus Snape and Aurora Sinistra. Both of whom looked to be ready to duel each other to the death. Albus was not sure which party he would bet on in such an encounter - Severus Snape was very good at the Dark Arts, but Aurora Sinistra had participated in the underground duelling circuit to help pay her way through her apprenticeship after leaving Hogwarts. That she was still alive and in one piece said a lot about her skill with a wand.
"Shall we get to the point?" Albus asked with a trace of exasperation. He wanted this over before a fight broke out.
"Certainly. This man has been blatantly biased and has been making unfair - and unjustified - point awards and reductions. I demand that something be done to rein in his behaviour." Aurora said icily.
"Just because I am more strict than other teachers, doesn't mean -" Snape began before he was cut off by Minerva.
"You subtracted 100 points from Gryffindor this week alone for 'infringements' such as breathing too loudly, being a know-it-all, being two seconds late and for reading too far ahead in the textbook. That is not strict, Snape, that is an outright abuse of the House point system."
Snape snorted. "Just because it was your precious lions involved, you see fit to-"
This time he was interrupted by a spell that narrowly missed his nose. Minerva glowered, lowering her wand.
"Be careful with accusations like that, Snape, or you'll find out just what it is like to teach while under probation."
Albus decided it was time to intervene. "Now, Minerva, you can't just-"
"Yes I can. It is entirely within the power of the Deputy Headmistress to place teachers under probation following official complaints regarding their behaviour. I'll do that and more if Snape doesn't shape up. And if he wants to appeal, he'll have to go to the Board because that's where I'll be headed."
Albus paused. He did not want the Board investigating teaching standards at Hogwarts; he had too many enemies itching to find the smallest hint of something amiss.
Aurora leaned forward. "I'd be hot on her heels if it came to that. As it stands, all I ask is that this person leave his petty grudges against the Gryffindors he went to school with outside of his professional life."
Snape's eyes flashed. "You dare to suggest that-"
"-you are allowing a decade old rivalry with a dead man and his friends turn you into a despicable bully? Yes I am, Snape, care to make something of it?" Aurora snapped back.
Albus quickly cast a cannon-blast spell to ward off any potential fight. "Let us not get personal here."
"Too late, Headmaster." Minerva said as she glared at the Potions Master. "I will be personally reviewing all disciplinary measures, points awards and reductions made by Professor Snape for the rest of the year. I will not go so far as to put him under probation, but be warned! If I or Aurora receive any more complaints about your conduct during lessons, probation is just a signature away!"
Dumbledore rubbed his temples as a headache formed. When it rains, it pours.
Christmas in Japan was a mixture of new and old things for Harry. The new aspect was that he was involved in the celebrations, something that had never happened with the Dursleys. The old, familiar stuff was the array of food available (though now Harry was allowed to eat it as well as help prepare it) and the exchange of gifts (again, Harry was in the novel position of receiving gifts for a change).
The party was quite small, Belldandy not wanting to overwhelm Harry with a lot of strangers. He did, however, get to meet Keiichi's parents. Keiichi's father seemed a little skittish, and spent most of his time doing things with Megumi's motorbike. He also seemed scared of all the women in the temple, but stopped short of bolting in fear.
Keiichi's mother, on the other hand, was a wonderful mix of warmth and absent-mindedness. It was obvious that she dearly loved her family, and was immediately willing to include in Harry in that. On the other hand she had come up with no less than eight different theories of how Harry had come to be part of the family, starting with "Harry is the secret child of the Queen of England" and running through to "Harry is a spy in disguise".
Nobody really had the heart to argue. Particularly not when she handed out cookies.
Receiving presents was still something of a novelty for Harry, for all that his birthday had been a success on that front. Thanks to the mixed crowd it was all non-magical in nature. Keiichi had given Harry more tools for his motorbike, Belldandy had given him a hand-knitted jumper, Urd had bought some more games for the Sega and Skuld had given him some Lego sets.
Keiichi's sister had given him some stickers for his bike helmet and a pair of stylish sunglasses. Keiichi's parents had come with intricate pieces of glasswork for everyone - Harry got one of an owl that he thought was quite nice.
Eventually the excitement and rich food had gotten the better of Harry and he drifted off to sleep at the table. Belldandy carefully put him to bed while the other adults smiled knowingly.
Sirius Black cast a warming spell on himself as he marched towards a lone cottage that stood out against the snowy landscape. Patting a pocket to check for a vial he had placed there earlier, he braced himself as he headed towards a confrontation he knew had to happen.
Inquiries with old friends and Order members had not told a pleasant tale about his old friend Moony. It seemed the man had turned into a recluse following the death of James and Lily, avoiding social engagements, turning down invitations and generally not talking to anybody in the magical community if he could avoid it.
Sirius thought he had figured it out. Now he just had to confront his fellow Marauder and find out for certain.
He paused at the door, before he pulled out the vial and drank its contents in one gulp. He waited for a moment until he felt the tell-tale tingle that revealed that the potion was working. Once he was satisfied that it had kicked in, he knocked on the door.
After a few moments, it opened to reveal the somewhat dishevelled looking Remus Lupin. The man's eyes widened as he saw who was at the door.
"Sirius!" Anything more seemed to be beyond the werewolf.
"Hello, Moony. May I come in?" Sirius asked politely.
"Of course, come in." Remus said as he stood to one side. Sirius entered, taking off his heavy coat and shaking off some snow.
"It has been too long, Moony. How have you been?" Sirius said as Remus closed the door.
"I've been managing, Sirius. You know what it's like."
"No, I don't, Moony. Why don't you tell me?" Sirius said as he stood upright.
Remus paused, before he walked over to a pair of armchairs arranged in front of a fire. "Nobody wants to employ werewolves, Sirius. I've been jumping from job to job in the muggle world, making ends meet."
Sirius shook his head as walked over to join Remus in front of the fire. "James and I both gave you access to our vaults, Remus. Why didn't you take our offers of help?"
Remus stiffened slightly as he sat down. "I don't want charity."
Sirius gave an exasperated sigh as he sat down himself. "There's pride in not accepting charity and then there's stupidity, Moony. Look at where you are now."
"I've managed." Remus said tightly.
"I can see." Sirius said sarcastically as he looked around the sparsely decorated room. He returned his gaze to his old friend.
"What happened, Moony? Where were you since Halloween '81? Why did you avoid Harry? He could have used your help."
Remus looked at the fire, refusing to meet Sirius' eyes. "You all pushed me away. Apparently seven years together at Hogwarts wasn't enough to allow you to trust me."
"Damn it, Moony, I'm sorry. But remember what was going on! It was obvious that there was a spy in the Order leaking things to the Dark Wanker, and every day brought more stories of werewolves joining the Death Eaters. I know we shouldn't have doubted you, but the stress of everything that was going on..."
Remus sighed. "I know. It was petty of me. Especially as we were all wrong."
Sirius winced. "Yeah. In hindsight Peter was the most likely one to break. He was always the first to want to back out of any of our pranks, worried about getting caught."
Remus nodded. "As for what happened back then...James died. Then so did Peter, or at least it appeared that way. You were apparently a traitor and in prison, Harry disappeared..."
"About that." Sirius interrupted. "Why didn't you try to find him? I know Dumbledore was trying to keep him safe in hiding, but you of all people had a right to stay in contact."
Remus looked up from the fire. "I didn't think it would be a good idea for Harry to be in contact with a dark creature like myself. He had a childhood ahead of him, he didn't need-"
Remus Lupin was cut off as Sirius launched himself from his chair. Faster than even the werewolf's reflexes could follow, the former Azkaban inmate slugged his old friend in the jaw, pushing him backwards and tipping the armchair over.
"Goddammit, Remus, when are you going to fucking stop the pity party about being a werewolf!" Sirius roared as he advanced on the fallen man.
Enraged, Remus shot to his feet and swung wildly at his opponent. He was surprised when his werewolf-speed blow missed as Sirius dodged out of the way. Caught off-balance, he was in no position to block Sirius' next punch that caught him in the stomach.
"You've never gotten past it, have you? Yes, you're a fucking werewolf! Get over it, we did! Quit letting Moony run your bloody life and be a man for once!" Sirius continued.
"Like you know what it is like!" Remus shouted back as he recovered from the blow to his gut. He snapped out a kick which caught Sirius in the knee, sending the man tumbling to the carpet. "You don't know what it is like to have a monster waiting to escape!"
"Like being a Black meant it was all fluffiness and kittens!" Sirius shouted. "I had half of the school treating me like a Death Eater in training, even after James stood up for me! I was thrown into prison on the basis of my last name for God's sake!"
Remus snarled and launched himself at the other man, only to be caught in a wrestling hold and pulled to the ground. The two gave up any attempt to speak as they set about trying to pummel each other into a pulp.
Normally Remus would have had the advantage, as even in his normal state he had improved strength, stamina and reflexes from his werewolf side. What he did not know was that the Black family had a long history of hunting exotic and magical creatures, including werewolves. The potion Sirius had taken earlier was an old Black recipe meant to give a hunter a short period of super-strength, inhuman stamina and lightning fast reflexes...all to give a "regular human" an advantage over any werewolf in any state.
That combined with the brutal hand-to-hand fighting lessons that all sons of the Black family were obliged to go through from an early age (and old tradition meant to give a surprise to anybody who thought a Black without a wand was defenceless) meant that Remus was quickly on the back-foot and losing badly.
Sirius generally avoided using any of the Black family's stock of private potions, as they generally weren't all that safe. This particular brew was dangerously addictive and had severe long-term health consequences if used regularly.
Eventually Remus found himself flat on his back and too woozy to get back up. He saw a battered Sirius Black standing over him, but could not muster the strength to have another go at him.
"Damn it, Remus, you're too important to spend your life wasting away fretting about Moony. Get up and get over it, you have too many responsibilities to be this damn selfish. I need you, and Harry needs us both. He needs us both working at our best. If you can't live for yourself, try to live for him OK?"
Remus just nodded, and it hurt.
"Good. Now let's get cleaned up and get you moved out of this hovel. I have more than enough houses with more spare rooms than I can count, we'll find some place to stay."
Remus nodded again, it still hurt. Sirius leaned down and helped the werewolf to his feet.
"Shake?" Sirius asked as he offered his hand.
Remus took the offered hand and shook it. That hurt, too. Though this time the physical pain seemed the least of it.
Harry sat in the front row and watched as the wedding ceremony got underway. Keiichi was standing at the front, looking immaculate in his new suit but also extremely nervous. Next to him was some person from a club that Keiichi was apparently a member of, standing in as the Best Man.
Harry looked over his shoulder as the music changed, and saw Belldandy enter at the far end of the room on the arm of some man Harry did not recognise. He looked very imposing and impressive, Harry guessed that it must be Belldandy's father. As he was looking the other way, the Boy-Who-Lived did not notice that Keiichi's nervousness doubled as Belldandy entered.
Eventually the bride arrived at the altar, and the celebrant began.
"Dearly beloved..." Harry checked to see that the translation charm Urd had given him was still in place. The whole wedding was being held in Japanese and Harry's understanding was not up to the task of following things yet.
For Harry it was a bit confusing. He was not entirely sure just what it meant to be married. Obviously his aunt and uncle had been married but he had been told that they were not good role models for anything. His parents had been married but he could not remember anything about them beyond a few fragments of memory so that did not help.
He resolved to listen to the service as well as he could and see if what was being said would help. There were vows that Keiichi and Belldandy made to each other which seemed to make sense, declarations from the celebrant about love and duty and things like that which made less sense and a lot of crying bridesmaids which made no sense at all. Harry eventually decided that he'd just ask Aunty Urd about it all later.
Finally, rings were exchanged and Keiichi kissed Belldandy. Then, after some other things that Harry did not quite catch, the newly married couple walked slowly back down the length of the room to the sound of what Harry had been told was Mendelssohn's Wedding March. It sounded familiar to Harry, though he was not sure where he had heard it before.
After the bride and groom had departed, everybody else made their way to the reception which was close by. Harry did try to ask Urd about many of the details which had confused him, which amused Urd no end.
"Don't worry about it, Harry. You're a bit young to understand a lot of this. We'll talk tomorrow when we have more time, but I think for some of it you'll just have to wait until you are older. OK?"
Harry nodded. Whatever it all meant, it had made Aunty Bell and Uncle K very happy. That had to be a good thing.
Author's notes: It has been a while since the last update. This should be the last chapter before I get into the Hogwarts story arc.
I copped out on the wedding because frankly I'm not sure I can do it justice. I've decided to leave a lot of it to the imagination - venue, participants, exact details of the ceremony, the music - just think big and spectacular and work from there. Considering that one half of the guests would have been deities and the supernatural...
A few people have commented in their reviews that Urd was not denied 1st class status because she tells lies. I know this, but Skuld doesn't, and that part was written from Skuld's point of view.
Regarding Welsper - Welsper is a demon who was sentenced to live as a cat for a major crime. The gender confusion arises because Welsper the demon is male, but Welsper the cat is female (the gender bending is part of the punishment). Belldandy does not know the true nature of why Welsper is with the Norns or the punishment (and isn't going to find out any time soon) but Keiichi, Urd and Skuld all know.
Hild is Urd's mother, but has no relation to Belldandy or Skuld. Hild is also the effective ruler of Niflheim. Urd does not like her mother, in large part due to Urd rather dogmatically staying to her goddess side while ignoring her demon ancestry. I rather like Hild as a character and I wish I could write her in more than I have, but to be honest I doubt I could do her justice and it would introduce horrendous complications in the plot.
Next time: Harry's letter arrives. Yes! After all this time, I finally get close to Hogwarts!
Until then, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for reading.