A/N Welcome all, to the Heritage Series Finale! If you're new here, this is novel 27 (there are also three shorts) and the series starts with the Jennifer Craw Series prologue followed by the first book, Jennifer Craw and the Phoenix Wand, in alternate to HP book five onward series which progressively contains more OC's than canon, so you'd probably get very lost if you started here... even if the writing is better now, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, for those of you who are returning, welcome back. I didn't get many reviews at the end of the last book, but I'll assume if you're back here for this one, it's a good sign. It was nice last book to do a light-hearted book that didn't take itself too seriously... especially considering that this book is a lot more serious in tone.

In fact, you can expect a lot more mature subject matter in this book than is in any other book in the Heritage series; because of that, there is a lot of heavy inferences and some forced perspective and requires some reading between the lines, with the goal being that there are some moments that may seem fine on the surface but sinister if you think about it too hard... if I get to a particularly rough one, I'll throw up a warning when I feel it's warranted. That said, there's a lot to catch up on, characters to welcome back, and guests to entertain, so I hope you enjoy the opening chapters of this book.

Meta: As always, expect 1-2 chapters a week in the earlier stages of this book, then going to a five a week publishing schedule once the rough copy is done. For teasers, hints, past book chat and so on, I'm on twitter at Doublequillmlp. This year is the 20ith anniversary of this series! I can't believe it's been that long. Thanks to everyone who's read this and passed it along to their friends and family as well over the years. ~DQ

Jennifer Craw and the Clockwork Menagerie

Chapter One

Homecoming

Laura Lupin sat down next to her grandfather in one of the clawed and weather torn wooden chairs outside her parents' house. She handed him a cold drink and sipped her own contentedly as they looked out to sea, appreciating the quiet of being on the small, intentionally uncharted island just off the western coast of Ireland.

"You have a bit of dust just there," Dorset teased her, pointing at her forehead. In truth, they were both a mess after all the work they had just put in.

"What do you expect? I'm too tired to care at the moment, but I think I'll get a swim in before we leave," Laura decided. "At least the house is finally clean and stocked for when my parents get back, so that they can just relax after they get home."

"Aye, for a day or two, perhaps," Dorset said. "It'll be waxing gibbous by then," he pointed out reluctantly. "Assumin' they arrive on time. Lord help 'im if there's a delay."

"I've noticed that Merlin seems to time his arrival a lot closer these days, Granda. It has something to do with the anchor, I think," Laura decided. "Maybe I should bring a dose when we go?"

"I expect you should check with Professor Craw, since it'd be likely tha' she'd have already thought of it," Dorset said. "I wonder what your father will think of yer man when he finds out about it?"

"Oh... well... maybe he'll have forgotten about it," Laura said hopefully. Dorset eyed his granddaughter dubiously and sipped his drink. "Honestly, I'd much rather talk to mother about it first, because she'll be a lot more understanding. Besides, it's not as if the relationship really has gone anywhere. Spending time with Andrew is more like hanging out with a close friend rather than a boyfriend," she grumbled.

"Good, I'm glad you've managed to keep him at a safe distance, then," Dorset replied.

"You've got it all wrong. I don't want him at a safe distance! That's his idea, not mine. As a matter of fact, I'd very much prefer it if he'd come on to me once in a while," Laura admitted with frustration.

"Laura Lily Lupin!"

"It's the truth, Grandfather," Laura said defiantly. "Somehow, I have got to find a way to break that block of ice around him. It's like he's still doing penance for his sins, really. But by punishing himself, he's punishing me too."

"Well, there's no need tae put yourself through that, is there? It doesn't sound worth the trouble. Find yerself a better man, Laura. One that's more stable, mayhap, an' more worthy of you," Dorset suggested. "That's a better plan, I think."

"If only it was as easy as you make it out to be. I love him, Granda," Laura explained.

"Aye, well, sometimes love alone isn't enough, now, is it?" Dorset pointed out.

"It was for my parents," Laura pointed out.

"Now, that took a lot of hard work, Laura. Love alone wasn't enough even then," Dorset pointed out. Laura thought about that with a sigh, sipping her lemonade. It wasn't as if they hadn't been working at it too. So why weren't they making any progress?

The two of them sat in silence for awhile, watching the birds and the ocean and enjoying the mild weather. Dorset leaned over a bit, peering down at the ocean.

"Huh, that boat in the wizard sea lane looks a bit familiar. Hand me the glass, Laura," Dorset said. Laura leaned over and picked the spyglass off the ground, handing it to him so he could get a better look at the sail. "Ah, that's Craw's boat, I think... the Wizard's Temptation. I wonder what it's doing out this way, then?"

"Really?" Laura said, standing up. "Andrew told me the other day that Leu was using the boat. I wonder if they can see us at all?"

"I'm certain they can, especially as clear as it is," Dorset assured her. Laura began waving wildly.

A moment later, she heard the cry of a hawk and looked up in surprise as an osprey flew down, followed by a northern gannet. As they began to land, the osprey turned into Leu Murphy and the gannet turned into Diana.

"Hey! Look at that! Leu, I thought you were going for the gannet!" Laura laughed at them.

"His mother didn't like it. I told him that it'd dishonor her wishes if he did," Diana explained.

"Besides, it's safer if she's the gannet. She has a harder head," Leu said, and got a slap on the arm for that.

"I meant that in the best possible way! You're stronger than me," Leu explained quickly.

"I apologize for his behavior. His tongue has gotten quite bold since we've been together," Diana explained.

"It's okay, Diana. You don't have to apologize for me when we're talking to wizards, just when we're talking to Fomorians," Leu informed her.

"Then it's a good thing we are leaving the city for a while, because I had to apologize for you a lot," Diana said dryly.

"Yeah... yeah, you did," Leu admitted with a grin.

"Leu, some introductions, if ye don't mind," Dorset protested, standing up. "Perhaps some lemonades for you as well."

"Thanks, that'd be great, although we can't stay long," Leu said. "Father is going back to work, and even though he didn't say anything directly, I know my mother well enough to know that she's probably been fretting about how we're doing. But anyway, Dorset Finn, this is my wife, Diana. Diana, this is Dorset Finn, Laura's grandfather on her mother's side, and also a personal friend of my parents. I think he even helped my Father to pick out Mother's boat."

"Aye, and get them a reliable crew," Dorset agreed. "But I am astounded that you are married already! Didn't you just finish school?"

"My family dictated the pace," Diana admitted. "Fomorians are bound heavily by their traditions. They're... a bit stifling," she explained cautiously. "But it has kept my people from being as extinct as everyone thought we were."

"But how does that affect you now that you're married to Leu?" Laura asked curiously.

"A wife is duty bound to follow the customs of her husband and her husband's family," Diana explained. "It does not specify in our laws that those customs must be Fomorian."

"I bet that's a big relief! But what an oversight," Laura commented.

"Nay, I don't think it's an oversight at all, Laura," Dorset replied, Laura looking at her curiously. "Fomorians, just like the Fae races, have had the occasion to intermingle with both humans and the Fae from time to time; it's part of their history. I expect that law is very much general on purpose."

"I believe so as well," Diana agreed with a thin smile. "But my grandfather was more than a little angry that he lost the daughter of his favorite daughter to a human, Mac Lir's descendant or not. My mother was a lot more understanding."

"Yes, I like Thera a lot. She knows a great deal about humans in general and visits the Ministry from time to time as an ambassador. And she knows my parents too, apparently," Leu said.

"Yes, that is how come I had a mission to learn about Wizard Magic at Hogwarts," Diana explained. "She taught me English, and then brought me to Wizard Family Services, telling them that I was a child of a human witch that they found in a shipwreck. I was taken in from there."

"You know, we should probably go see your foster mother straight away and explain all of this to her before we head to my parents' house. I don't know how much of this she's been told," Leu pointed out. Diana nodded slowly.

"You are right. She is probably worried considering my last letter to her. I told her that I didn't think I would ever see her again," Diana admitted. "I didn't think that I'd ever see anyone again. If I had been forced to race Delos as my grandfather wished, I most certainly wouldn't have."

"I'm glad my mother told me so I could go after you. But I still think you should have told me yourself before I got on the train," Leu told her sternly.

"Let's not get into that again," Diana said, accepting the glass of lemonade from Laura.

"It's hard to get into it 'again' when you never let me bring it up in the first place," Leu said with exasperation.

"My mother always told me to marry first, and ask questions later," Diana replied.

"That's because you're not allowed to ask questions until you get married," Leu pointed out.

"Are you sure the honeymoon is over?" Laura teased them.

"My father always told me that nothing worthwhile is ever easy," Leu explained.

"You two have been doing that the whole time, haven't you?" Laura grinned. "Exchanging parental wise sayings, I mean."

"Sure. It's kinda fun," Leu grinned.

"Not as fun as other things," Diana pointed out evenly.

Leu quickly downed his lemonade.

"Well, I think we'd better get going, we've a lot of people to check in with," Leu said as fast as he could, setting their glasses on the table. "See you on the mainland, Laura."

"If you see Andrew, let him know we finished with the house and we're going to Granda's 'til we pick up my folks," Laura said.

"Alright, I'll tell him," Leu promised, and the two of them left to meet the Temptation at the docks.

"And just like that, the two of them are together. Maybe I should have been born a Fomorian or something," Laura said jealously. She folded her arms and brooded as she watched the couple walk to the boat, hand in hand, as if it was the most normal thing in the world for them to do.

"If you were Fomorian, then you wouldn't be you, and I wouldn't be your grandfather," Dorset reasoned, getting up. "We'd best clean up this last bit and head to the Waveskipper, aye?"

"Yes, alright," Laura said with a sigh, cleaning up while her grandfather smiled at her gently.

"Don't worrae, Laura, your time will come when it's right and not 'afore," Dorset said. "You're still young yet, after all."

Laura sighed, knowing there really wasn't any way to get him to understand. If only she could think of some way to get through Andrew's invisible wall.

Anna had come into the BELA office, partially to get away from the empty house, and partially to get some much needed work done now that all Wizardnet and hybrid computers had been banned. But instead of helping Hugh Writ with the paperwork as she had offered, she spent most of the morning looking out the small office window at the city, marveling at how slow time seemed to pass now that it was getting close to when Sirius was supposed to get back.

Ben Clemmons had been typing away on the computer on the other end of the room; its wires all tied up and encapsulated in flame-proof, blast-proof, charm-proof tubes that ran all the way down to the single electric locket that was encased in a metal box with a padlock on it. Finally, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Well, you're all set." Ben said, taking out a yellow tag and a piece of wire and attaching it to the computer, dangling it in plain sight. "You now are the proud owner of the only 'Muggle computer' in the whole damn Ministry... all labeled and licensed properly. Mind if I just pretend to read the do's and don't's out loud instead of actually doing it?" Ben asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we can skip that part, but feel free to staple a copy of the rules on the wall next to the computer," Anna suggested. Ben nodded, getting up and doing just that. "Did you manage to get the old BELA Muggle website up and running?"

"Some of it," Ben replied. Anna frowned at that. "The entire database was erased during the CME, so comments, complaints, tips, and any research you might have kept on there are completely gone."

"Good thing we kept a printed file, then," Hugh Writ said to cheer her up.

Anna gave him a dirty look. It was Hugh who had always insisted on making a paper copy every day for the filing cabinet. At the time, Anna had thought it was a very silly thing to do, and had thought that Hugh simply had a distrust for computers because of being wizardborn. She sighed, realizing that she hadn't given him enough credit, and internally acknowledged that while advocating for Muggles, she sometimes became prejudiced on the motives of magicborn wizards.

"Hugh, thanks for making all of those copies every day. And thanks for not saying, 'I told you so," she added for good measure. Hugh smiled at her.

"No problem. Don't worry, Anna. The Wizardnet may be totaled, but we're not in a bad way just using the Muggle device. Still, I can't help but feel sorry for the countries that had been more reliant on the Wizardnet and those hybrids. I hear the U.S. is still a terrible mess."

"You're right, I've been hearing that as well," Anna mused thoughtfully. "You know what? Hugh, if you don't mind, maybe I'll go check in on Lunette and see if there's anything she needs me to do for a few days."

"Good idea. We have things well in hand here," Hugh said.

"You certainly do. See you later," Anna said and walked out. Hugh looked at the door thoughtfully for a moment, then turned to Ben.

"Think the Counselor is just going to take her out and get her drunk?" Hugh conjectured.

"Yep," Ben agreed. Hugh smiled in exasperation before going through the files to pull out some of the copies he had made.

It was a little damp and chilly, but despite that, no one complained about the weather as they entered the Twilight Arc and waited expectantly. It was Beth and Maurice who had the forethought to bring covered cups of tea and coffee for everyone, while Jennifer stood solemnly with potion in hand, the steam rolling over her fingers as it met the cold air. Severus stood between Jennifer and Anna with a large umbrella that covered both of them fairly well, while others, like Thomas, shrugged the rain off completely.

"It's not that wet," he said critically. "A cloak is more than enough for this."

"It's to protect the potion, actually," Jennifer explained unconcernedly.

"And what's your excuse?" Thomas asked Andrew, who was holding up an umbrella for Laura.

"Because if I didn't, I have a feeling that I would hear about it from her parents," Andrew said evenly. "I'd rather like to leave a good impression from the start, if it's alright with you."

"Considering they know what you're past is like, I think it's too late to even bother with it," Thomas said with a shrug. Andrew tried to ignore the comment, while Laura grimaced on his behalf.

"I'm sensing a change in the energy coming from the portal now," Anna informed them, and everyone looked over to where it normally appeared.

Finally the ghostly image of the seal could be seen, and the portal soon followed. A moment later, Albus Dumbledore stepped through.

"Oh, good evening," Albus said with a smile, and everyone greeted him in return.

"It's so good to see you! I didn't even know you were coming!" Jennifer said enthusiastically.

"I thought I'd surprise my sister since I've not been able to make it back for a bit," Albus said. "In fact, there's a very large group coming tonight."

"That much we know," Severus said. Mike and Delia came out next.

"Hey! Welcome home!" Beth said brightly, hugging her brother while Delia went over to get a hug from Thomas. "Did you have a nice trip?" Beth asked him.

"It was enlightening," Mike admitted. "And Delia is a bit of a hero, actually."

"You'll have to tell us about it once we get out of the rain," Maurice suggested. They all looked up as Minerva came out with a much smaller bundle than what she left with.

"Good evening," she said with a thin smile.

"Minerva!" Jennifer said brightly. "I have so much to tell you! You are not going to believe all that's happened!" Minerva laughed at that.

"Oh, I'm sure that goes both ways, especially for some of us," she said, looking behind her with a smile just as Sirius came out.

His eyes immediately darted around to find Anna and he smiled with apparent relief, immediately hugging and kissing her and then holding her tightly, while Anna was slightly confused by his behavior.

"Something's changed," Anna decided searchingly.

"Yes, a lot has," Sirius admitted with a smile, keeping an arm around her as Carol and Remus stepped out together, giving their eyes a minute to adjust. No one could help but notice that Remus appeared a great deal healthier than he'd ever looked before.

It was Jennifer who walked over to him first, cupping her hand above the potion.

"Welcome back, Remus," Jennifer said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, I did not miss this," Remus said emphatically, taking the potion and searching out the moon. He groaned when he saw that he only had one night left and drank the potion down.

"So it was you, then, Laura?" Carol asked out of the blue, making everyone wonder about the question. But Laura knew exactly what conversation that her mother was referring to, and she nodded to her with a smile. Carol smiled in return, but Remus had finished his potion and was trying to make sense of the exchange between them. That was when he noticed that Andrew holding the umbrella for Laura. He was already bracing himself for Remus' reaction.

"Oh, no. No, no, no... any other Snape, fine, but not him!" Remus protested loudly.

"All of the other ones are taken now, I'm afraid, except Quintin," Severus replied.

"Leu?" Sirius suggested.

"Married now," Severus informed him. Sirius blinked, wondering what else he had missed.

"Excuse me, can I come out too?" Zoe wanted to know, since Remus was partially blocking the way out of the portal with his fists clenched and seething. "What's his problem? Full Moon?"

"Rip Van Winkle Effect," Severus explained as Carol and Laura moved him away from the portal.

"We're all going to your grandfather's for the rest of the evening, and before we head to the island in the morning, we are going to have a long talk," Remus snapped at his daughter.

"Yes, Dad," Laura said somberly, glancing at Andrew apologetically. Despite his stoic composure, Laura didn't miss the look of concern that had crossed his eyes in the exchange.

Zoe greeted her mother and then turned around, waiting as Bael stepped out Aubrey Lynn, handing her off to her mother the moment they were safely through.

"Bael," Severus said in surprise.

"Bael!" Jennifer said excitedly, running over and hugging him warmly.

"Hey, how come he gets all of the hugs? None of these people would even be here if it wasn't for me, you know," Merlin complained as he stepped out and the portal faded. Jennifer laughed and gave him a hug as well. Ashley and Ambrose soon took over, and everyone began talking excitedly.

"Now, now, everyone... now... NOW LISTEN!" Merlin snapped, loud enough to get everyone's attention. "A lot has happened on both sides of this portal to everyone present... more than what can be sorted out in one night for certain. But since I have no intention of going back to the other side for a year, you all have plenty of time to catch up," he said, Ashley especially giving him an enthusiastic hug for that announcement. "For now, I suggest you simply work out who's going to sleep in what house and call it a night."

"I already let grandfather know that we'd come over," Laura told her parents.

"And you're staying there, right?" Remus said, giving Andrew another critical look. Andrew pretended he didn't notice. He was, however, reassured when he caught Carol's more understanding smile.

"Of course I am. I've been spending part of my time at Aunt Anna's and the other half at grandfather's," Laura reported.

"As long as it isn't at the Snape's house, I don't care. Let's go," Remus said. Laura offered up the key so they could leave.

"You know, it could be me, but I believe we've just been snubbed," Severus concluded. "But if anyone else needs to be put up during their visit, we have plenty of room."

"These two are definitely going with me," Thomas said firmly, holding Mike and Delia's shoulders. "In fact, let's get going."

"Delia," Sirius said suddenly, glancing at her. "Thanks, by the way."

"It's okay," Delia replied with a smile, turning to the others. "Shall we?"

"What was that all about?" Maurice asked curiously.

"Long story," Mike explained.

Thomas offered the key, knowing that Merlin's advice to just head home was probably the best solution.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to put me up for a night or two before I return to my apartment?" Minerva asked Jennifer. "Because I for one have been quite anxious to hear about your year at Whitebridge, Jennifer."

"Lovely! Anyone else coming with us?" Jennifer asked, looking at Bael questioningly.

"If you'll have me," Bael agreed with a nod.

"You know you're always welcome, Bael," Severus said.

"I'm off to my sister's," Albus said.

"Then I'll give you a lift, Albus. And with that, it appears that everything's sorted," Merlin decided, glancing at Zoe, Aubrey Lynn, Sirius, and Anna who were already in the process of getting out their key.

"Good evening, all," Severus agreed, and everyone used their keys, the Twilight Arc softly fading away in their absence.