Colonello kept his silence as Lal held his hand rather tightly while going through the halls of her old school while riding Gabriel. Phoenixes could carry grown men with ease... a couple of "toddlers" riding his back was cakewalk.

There were so many memories and more than a few triggers in this place. It was driving her poor nerves up the wall.

"Remind me again why we couldn't just ask Falco or Gabriel to send the invitation?" asked Lal quietly. They flew past a ghost. The first one had surprised him, but now he barely registered them.

"Because they don't know where Hogwarts is," said Colonello. "And you wanted me to see the castle... Viper refused to take me."

Lal grimaced.

"My word!"

Her grimace turned into a grin.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall. Or is it Headmistress now?"

"Ms. Potter. It's good to see you again," said McGonagall. "And you know you can call me Minerva... you aren't a student anymore."

"I'll try to keep that in mind."

"So what mischief have you gotten yourself into? Last I remember you were much taller," said McGonagall smiling. She noticed how her old student was holding hands with the cursed man beside her and seemed to be leaning on him for support.

Lal pulled out a broom and sat on that instead. It took Colonello a few moments before he joined her, and Gabriel flew off to explore...and possibly meet Fawkes. The older Phoenix (who was apparently bound to the castle, not the headmaster) had greeted them when they arrived.

"Well for starters it seems my luck is still as bad as ever. I ended up cursed like this," said Lal.

"And the young man beside you?" she asked, her lips quirking up in a smile.

"I'm Colonello, her husband," he said cheerfully. There wasn't an iota of deception in his announcement, and the fact her old student didn't refute it meant it had to be true.

McGonagall smiled.

"I'm happy for you dear."

"Actually we came to deliver an invitation to the Vow Renewal ceremony. It's only fair since we pretty much eloped without telling anyone, and this way everyone can pretend they're there for the real thing," said Lal with a straight face.

The look on everyone's faces when they found out it really was the wedding and not just a renewal of vows was going to be hilarious.

"We have invitations for Flitwick, Pomphrey and Hagrid," said Lal.

"Flitwick is currently away at a seminar in Ireland and won't be back for a few days, Poppy is stocking up on potions, but Hagrid should be at his hut," said McGonagall.

Lal perked up.

"I'll deliver Hagrid's then. I want to introduce Colonello to Fluffy anyway."

"For such a cute name the look on your face doesn't inspire warm and fuzzies," said Colonello flatly.

Lal's grin widened.

"Now I'm definitely suspicious."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"The last time you had that grin you threw me into a snake pit!"

"You were perfectly safe!"

"Yeah, but those damn things went everywhere kora!" said Colonello.

"Quit complaining you idiot! If you don't pass out later I'll show you the kitchens."

If Colonello wasn't suspicious before, he definitely was now.

McGonagall laughed. It seems her old student had met her perfect match. She took the invitations and promised to deliver them later.


Outside...

"He's huge! What did they feed you?" asked Colonello impressed.

"Lilac, is that you? You look smaller," said Hagrid, beaming.

"I was cursed. Hi Hagrid," she said, hugging him.

He didn't even mind that Colonello and Lal were now on his shoulders.

"How's Fang?"

Hagrid seemed a little sad.

"Fang died, about five years ago."

Lal hugged him again.

"I'm sorry to hear that. He might have been a bit of a coward, but he was a very good dog. Even if he did drool a lot."

"The thestrals will be happy to see you again."

"Actually I wanted to introduce my husband to Fluffy. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of that overgrown drooling mutt," said Lal.

"Fluffy's been doing well, but the Centaurs aren't happy with him. They keep running into his piles," said Hagrid.

"Well I do own a large patch of forest, and his breed do make good guard dogs. I'm sure I could find a spell that acts like a leash and let him have his fun," said Lal.

Hagrid beamed at her.

"Cor, he'd love that! All that forest without having to dodge arrows or the unicorns!'

"What sort of dog is this?" asked Colonello. From the sound of it, this "Fluffy" was one of the bigger breeds.

"You'll know it when you see it," said Lal, she was hiding her face.

She was right, and Colonello nearly yelled in shock.

"A Cerberus?!"he said in disbelief, then he looked at Hagrid with an odd expression. "You named that thing Fluffy?"

Lal was howling, and Colonello smiled. It was normally rare to see her laughing like this, but ever since they were cursed she had started to smile more.

She had been really lonely, and the pain of her lost Guardian bonds had taken it's toll on her.

Even the others had noticed she was slowly opening up more. Which only made their grumblings about the fact she was a Sky start to drop. It wasn't that she didn't want them as her Guardians... the bond was fairly strong, despite the sudden nature of it... it was that she was terrified that she would be hurt, or worse, that they would be harmed because of her.

Hagrid threw the massive three headed dog some meat, and it started eating.

"You can pet him if you want, just don't try to take his food."

"You think?" said Colonello, grinning. Much to the delight of Hagrid, Colonello immediately braved getting near the overgrown hound and started to give his ears a good scratch. It wasn't long before Fluffy's back leg was thumping.

Lal wasn't too far behind him petting another head. Both got a very slobbery kiss from the dog.

"To think you scared me half to death when I was still young and naive. Now roll over you big lummox," she said in a good mood.

Fluffy heard the order of the "Alpha Bitch" in her voice and rolled over, to the surprise of Hagrid. The two immediately started giving him a belly rub that had the dog wiggling and his tail going nuts.

Hagrid was beyond happy seeing how they were treating the dog.

"I like him! He's cute, kora!" said Colonello grinning. From the way Fluffy's tail was wagging, he liked the blond too. Though it was pretty obvious he liked Lal best.

Fluffy actually tried to follow them out of the clearing, but sadly Lal couldn't take him. Yet. Besides, she had to bribe Viper for her help in getting the dog a special Mist collar that would hide him from civilians and mundanes alike.

Hagrid was more than happy to come to the ceremony in two months.


"You want me to what?"

"I need a Mist collar for a Cerberus. Hagrid said Fluffy is getting too rowdy for the Forbidden Forest, so he agreed to let me take him. He's just a big goofball, if you know how to handle him right," said Lal.

"Considering you make grown men sit up and bark when you get going, a Cerberus is nothing," snickered Reborn.

Lal smirked, as if to proudly say "Damn straight!"

Skull looked at her with an odd expression.

"You look happy," he said.

"I do?"

"I think someone is glad to be back with their family, despite having left like you did," said Colonello hugging her.

"That reminds me, Kingsley asked me to come visit the Auror Academy later to see their training," said Lal with an evil grin on her face.

Reborn and Fon smirked.

"Those poor cadets," said Fon.

"They're probably trying to convince you to stay and become one of their police force," snorted Viper.

Lal smirked.

"Wait till they experience the full scope of what I put my trainees through," she cackled. Colonello was grinning just as evilly. "Who wants to join us in our visit and watch the cadets get their asses handed to them from normal military techniques?"

"I'll bring the popcorn," said Reborn cheerfully.

"I'll bring the booze!" said Skull grinning evilly.

"And I'll bring the cameras," said Fon.


Kingsley didn't bat an eye to the fact that "Lilac Potter" was so small. By this point news had already made the rounds she had been cursed. As was the fact she was married.

However he could never have expected what would be unleashed when the Woman-Who-Survives was unleashed on the Auror Cadets.

Lal was on Kingsley's shoulder and had an odd expression on her face.

"Hey Kingsley, mind if I give teaching these idiots a go?" she asked.

He remembered how well her DA group fared in the battle at Hogwarts, and didn't think there was any harm.

What he didn't see was her Elements gathering on the far wall with food, drinks and something to capture the blackmail with smirks on their faces.

She jumped onto her broom, and her partner was waiting with the others having their snacks.

"LISTEN UP MAGGOTS!"

Kingsley damn near jumped out of his skin and almost went into formation from the sheer tone, never mind the volume.

"I came here to see what has become of England's first line of defense against dark lords, and I have to say I'm disgusted! Look at yourselves! You can't even hold a wand properly, much less take out an enemy wizard or witch trying to kill you! And what's with those stances?! You're positively pathetic and you're only going to get yourselves and your partners killed with this sloppy attitude!"

Needless to say she had their attention.

Lal's expression was firmly set in her Demon Trainer mode. They were going to hate her for a while, but eventually they'd come to love her as much as every other student she taught.

"It seems to me I'm going to have to whip you sorry slobs into shape!" she said evilly.

Kingsley stared as she had them running laps just by barking at them with intent to hex.

"Dear Merlin, what the hell did I just unleash on the cadets?" he said out loud.

"Not just them. She's probably going to inspect all the active Aurors and put them through hell. If there's one thing Lal's good at, it's the Tough Love style of teaching," said Colonello laughing.

Kingsley stared at him wide-eyed.

"What do you mean, tough love teaching?!"

"You didn't know? What did you think she did for the past ten years, hide away with her thumb up her ass? Lal went into the Italian military and became one of the best trainers the COMSUBIN had until they told her to take a long overdue break. And then they found out she had a rare Soul Fire type, so now she's only allowed to visit," said Colonello.

No way in hell was COMSUBIN going to keep a Sky Flame on base. They'd have the familigias coming to bother them in droves trying to snag her. Easier to let her go and act as a Visiting Instructor, while at the same time offering support when she needed it.

Seeing the way Lal kicked the cadets into high gear without a single spell, he was stunned. He'd never seen anyone motivate people like this.

"So she has credentials?" he asked finally.

"She probably has an English translated copy somewhere," said Colonello shrugging.

"Not my problem. I'll have her slated as visiting instructor and let her play with the cadets," said Kingsley firmly.

"And we will be enjoying the show," said Reborn, holding up an espresso.

Lal was busy enjoying herself, tormenting the cadets.

She couldn't wait to get her claws into the active aurors, which ironically enough included Ron.

All this while she was flying alongside the cadets on a broom like a surfboard.