Following the war and the trials that came after, the survivors have finally begun to move on. Harry, a trainee auror, knows he has one last person to thank, but little does he know that a well meaning social call will turn lives upside down as Harry begins to understand the strange world of his old enemies. Family, legal, drama.

HARRY (cont.)

"That's weird…why would old Diggory want you to give up being an auror. Surely after 'avenging his son' he would say he was glad you were becoming an dark wizard catcher." Ron said, after Harry explained to him and Hermione what had occurred. They were walking down the high street of a muggle town on the outskirts of Hastings on their way to visit Mrs Tonks and Teddy as Hermione was yet to see the baby since returning from Hogwarts. Harry shrugged, he looked to Hermione for an answer but she only marched on with a frown on her face. Harry glanced at Ron for an explanation.

"She's pondering the mistreatment of Vampires, probably." He muttered.

"And so what if I am, Ron! From what Harry says, he brought up a lot of very valid points."

"Hermione, house elves are one thing, but vampires…they are literally evil…they are made of evil." She rolled her eyes. "No, Hermione, seriously, I'm not backing down on this one!"

"How can you say that, we're are about to visit the son of a werewolf and our own dear friend. You said the same about werewolves once too. Don't you ever learn?"

"No, vampires are different!"

"How so?"

"They just are. They suck blood…every day, not just at the fullmoon…all the time."

"I've long been thinking about joining the Regulation for Magical Creatures. There's so much to be done there. I think I would really make a difference. McGonagall wants me to go into Law Enforcement, though."

"Well apparently its easy to move around once you're in." Harry said bitterly. "Not that you'll have a problem getting a job with your results."

"Oh shush, don't jinx it. I'm terrified about what results I'll get in my N.E. , I know I messed up transfiguration, my birds were slightly purple, I'm sure you could tell they were once thistles!"

"Yeah…I'm sure." Ron nodded.

Upon arriving at the house, Mrs Tonks answered the door.

"Ah, all three of you." She said stiffly as usual, almost as if she were annoyed by their presence, "Do come in, I'm about to put some more tea on."

Ron raised his eyebrows when her back was turned and followed her into the house.

Harry then understood why she might have been annoyed, she already had company. She already had company. In the living room, a very elderly woman sat with baby Teddy on her knee. She was a squat old woman, with thin blue rinse hair and by the way she was dressed, Harry guessed she was a muggle. She laughed merrily to herself as Teddy's hair turned purple.

"Oh…hello." The old woman said looking at the trio, then to Andromeda.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is my mother-in-law, Phyllis. Phyllis, this is Hermione and Ron and Harry Potter," she announced loudly, indicating the old woman was slightly deaf.

"Oh…I've heard of you, Harry Potter." The old lady smiled making her already wrinkled face crinkle even more.

"They've come to visit, Teddy."

"Oh, my dear. Shall I go? I didn't know you were expecting company." She said with a shaky voice.

"No, please stay. I'm putting more tea on now."

"Sit down, deary, I'll make it. As if you don't have enough to do. Here take Teddy?" The old woman offered Teddy to Hermione, who took hold of him gladly and eased herself out of the armchair with her walking stick.

"No…Phyllis…we don't have electricity, remember."

"Who needs electricity? I managed on a three day week back in the 70s and constant power cuts back in the war, sit down." She laughed. Andromeda let her pass before inviting them to all sit down on the additional chairs.

"That's nice that your mother-in-law visits you, Mrs Tonks." Ron said in attempt to make polite conversation while Hermione played with Teddy.

"My parents-in-law were always very kind. They tried the best they could with an outsider, it hasn't been easy."

"I know." Hermione said. "My parents are muggles too."

Mrs Tonks looked at Hermione and nodded in understanding

"How did you explain the war?"

An uncomfortable, solemn silence fell over Hermione, that Harry was not used to.

"I didn't. I altered their memories so that I never existed, then sent them to Australia for safety. I went to find them as soon as it was over, and they remember me now…but there are blank spaces…things that I didn't think they would forget, and they shouldn't have under any other circumstance."

"That must be very difficult for you."

"Mm…" Hermione nodded, Ron put his arm around her. "But how could I explain to them they had to leave me, because they'd be in danger with no way to defend themselves?"

"I understand. I also thought Phyllis might have blamed me for Ted and Nymphadora's death, it was my world, my sister…" She said with a look of repulsion. "If she ever did, she never showed it to me. She's been there when others were not. So you have graduated from Hogwarts now have you, Hermione?"

"Yes."

"And will you go to the auror office too?"

"Ow," she yelped as Teddy yanked a strand of her hair. "Um…no I don't think so." She put Teddy on the floor where he was trying to reach for a toy.

"Hermione wants to go to the Department of Magical Creatures to fend for House Elves." Ron said with mock encouragement, Hermione scowled.

Mrs Tonks frowned

"What on Earth for?"

Before Hermione could explain her reasons Phyllis entered the room with the tea, shaking as she walked. Mrs Tonks took it off her and handed out the tea in muggle fashion.

"Now…what were you all talking about?" Phyllis asked loudly.

"Hermione here, was just talking about what job she wanted to go into for work. She wants to work at the ministry of magic…like Ted and Nymphadora did."

Phyllis nodded with in.

"In the Aura department, was it? And Ted was in what was it? Animas?"

"Animagus registration." Mrs Tonks explained. "So why the interest in House Elves, Hermione?"

Ron groaned.

"Oh don't get her started."

"I think House Elves are very mistreated and wizards have allowed them to mistake their acceptance for enslavement with happiness and job satisfaction. Slavery is abhorred for all other creatures except House Elves."

"What's a house elf again?" Phyllis asked.

"Wizards keep them to take care of the house work. They are servants paid with bed and board." Mrs Tonks shrugged.

"No, they are slaves, and treating them better will benefit everyone." Hermione continued. "Since Kreacher's been treated kindly, he's become kinder and more trustworthy, isn't that right, Harry?"

"Well yes…" Harry agreed. Mrs Tonks frowned.

"Kreacher…" She said with interest. "Aunt Walburga's Kreacher?"

"Who the bloody hell is called Creature?" Phyllis laughed, but Mrs Tonks did not respond to her mother-in-law she was thinking very deeply.

"Then you…you're living at Grimmauld Place aren't you?"

Harry explained that he did. "And I will assume that you inherited the house from Sirius."

"When I was sixteen."

"After he died, Nymphadora told me he had inherited it. Although how, having been disowned he came by that, I still don't understand." Mrs Tonks turned to her mother-in-law again. "My Aunt Walburga, on my father's side married into another branch of the family who owned our town house in London. They had two sons, one died back in the late 70s and the other was disowned like me. The one that was disowned was Harry here's godfather and somehow, despite everything, he inherited the property and left it to Harry, here when he passed away three years ago."

"Oh…" The old woman said trying to make sense of it all.

"With it came a house elf I once knew…called Kreacher." She said wistfully, then shook her head. "So…sorry what were you saying?"

"The Department for Magical Creatures." Hermione added, with a little less courtesy in her voice, than she had previously.

"Ah of course. House Elves…well they are perfectly fine the way they are. I often applied to the Office of House Elf Relocation, but there's a long waiting list and very few house elves looking for new work. Larger houses always move up the list quicker." She sighed. "Tell me, is Amos Diggory still working in the Beast Division?" She asked with a slight sneer.

Harry nodded.

"Yes, I saw him today actually, he was having problems with a vampire."

"What a slug of a man, he was in my year at school. Did a vampire bite him? One can hope." She shrugged at Harry's surprised expression. He was reminded again why he felt unable to warm to Andromeda Tonks. Despite everything, she reminded Harry very much of the Slytherins at school. Harry reckoned Ron and Hermione felt much the same as it fell on Phyllis to take the conversation back to a light hearted chat.

AN: Thanks.