A/N
Pgeraci: "benign evil", I like that. It's something I can imagine about Albus and you'll see more of that in this chapter.
In this chapter I'll concentrate more on Cullen and less on Harry scenes. You certainly read more than enough stories with extended "Harry going on holiday with the Grangers" description, so this will today only play a small part.
This story is unbetaed.
.
Family and Friends
.
Hogwarts – Headmaster's Office
.
Something was wrong, truly wrong and not going according to plan – his plans. He could feel it in his bones. The first warning had come from his silver instruments he used to watch over his followers – with the best of intentions and only to protect them, even from themselves if needed. Some of them had a tendency to act before thinking, to go against his orders and all reasoning, because of their short-sightedness.
Why can't they accept that I have more experience with this kind of things, that I simply have an advanced look behind the curtains?
Albus sighed. It wasn't a surprise. He had seen it often enough in the last decades, but still had hoped it would get easier with time. Sirius, he grimaced. It all started with Sirius' return. At least he was still confined to Grimmauld Place. I have to ascertain that it stays that way. Sirius on the loose would be a horrible development. Too often he had tried to meddle with Harry, his living conditions and his educations. It can't be allowed to happen.
It is awful, Albus mused with a tad of exhaustion. Minerva had warned him against leaving Harry at Petunia's doorstep. Naturally she had been right, but there had been no other way if he wanted Harry to stay safe. Every magical family would have raised him like a pampered prince, something that couldn't be allowed to happen. He could only hope that it wouldn't be as bad as Minerva had feared. Harry's behaviour and actions in his first year had partly proven Minerva's fears right but his hopes, too. Harry was poorly fed and only owned ill-fitted clothes, but overall he was healthy and his character, well… he was a hero in the making. He had first rescued that Muggleborn girl from the troll; he then defeated Quirrell/Tom and only needed small nudges to fulfil his destiny. Since then, again and again, he had shown his hero-tendency and his ability to gather loyal friends around him that would follow him anywhere, even into the depths of the Ministry as mere adolescents.
Albus wished Harry a chance at a real life, a normal life like every teenager should be allowed to have. However, it simply couldn't be. Harry was the one who had to kill Tom and only Albus knew why: the scar. The ugly, painful scar that allowed Tom to connect to the boy's thoughts, emotions and dreams; the scar that allowed him to even possess the boy for a short moment at the Ministry. The scar that would be Tom's downfall in the last battle when both died as the prophecy told years ago.
A single tear slipped down Albus' cheek as he thought about the necessity of Harry's death. So many lives depended on this fatality, so many lives. He sighed. At least he had a boy's youth. Albus had seen to that. His order members more than once wondered why he didn't train him. Filius, in particular, had been more than eager, once he realized the boy's duelling talents. He doesn't understand, Albus sighed again. How could he? Harry wouldn't beat Tom with his talents but with his sacrifice.
It was necessary. It was for the Greater Good. But the thought still bloody hurt.
.
"He's not there."
Albus stared at her in silence for some time, struggling to suppress a groan. He had feared this. After the warning signs from his instruments – a warning that Harry hadn't been home for the last 48 hours – he had sent Hestia Jones, a trustworthy Order member and Auror, to have a look at Privet Drive 4.
"And Mrs. Dursley?"
"She wasn't helpful. Polite, but not helpful. A bit deflated perhaps. She didn't seem concerned about his absence. I didn't use Legilimency on her; it would have been too obvious."
Albus nodded slowly. Like most Aurors, Hestia had a basic knowledge of Legilimency and Occlumency, but nothing noteworthy. She had to wave her wand and say words to use Legilimency and even then she wasn't very experienced at gathering information. Petunia would have known and wouldn't be happy about the mental rape. Petunia, Albus sighed inwardly. He remembered her letter, her pleas to allow her to go to Hogwarts. With her being a Squib, he could have done it but it was uncommon to say the least. She would have hated Hogwarts after her first run-ins with young wizards. Petunia's thirst for knowledge and enthusiasm about the magical world wouldn't have survived the insults for long and she would have turned into a second Filch in no time. Children can be so spiteful and hurtful.
Squib, yes Petunia was a squib, Albus pondered for a moment. Like her mother and grandmother before. It was one of the riddles even he hadn't been able to solve that sometimes in a family squib after squib lived without any knowledge of the magical world until one day a child appeared with real magical talent, often frighteningly talented. It had happened to Lily Evans. It was the same with Harry's little friend. Granger didn't know but her father was a squib as well, his core even bigger than Filch's. Her grandfather had been a squib as well as certainly many other Granger men before them.
Perhaps I could set her on track to solve that riddle, Albus mused. It could be a good distraction after Harry's death. He didn't want to lose another pupil, especially not someone as talented as she was. The magical world needed new blood, desperately. And researching something like that would allow her to still be a housewife, and mother of Ron Weasley's children. The boy was proud and wouldn't like to have a career woman at his side, a woman that overshadowed his own mediocre talents. The relation between both teenagers had changed since the Yule Ball and it was one of the things Albus wanted to nudge in the right direction during the next school year. Albus smiled. He would love to see them happy. Opposites attract, they say.
Suddenly he frowned as he stumbled over one of Hestia's words: polite? Petunia didn't do polite.
"Did she call you a freak?" He asked before thinking, cursing himself for the slip of words.
"No," Hestia frowned. "Why would she?"
"Nothing," Albus smiled unconvincingly. "A little quirk of hers, that's all. Thank you, Hestia. That will be all for today." Inwardly he groaned. Even he had been called a freak at every visit. It was as certain as fog in London at winter's time. Something happened and he knew he wouldn't like it.
Hestia nodded and left the office deep in thoughts. She paused in front of Albus' office. I should speak with Filius about this.
.
Grimmauld Place
.
"He's not here," Kreacher sneered at the headmaster and tried to close the door only to find a foot – a foot clad with a silly pale blue and pearl-embroidered shoe – stopping it.
Albus wasn't a happy headmaster right now. "What do you mean: he's not here? He has to be here." Hadn't he Sirius forbidden to leave? It was only for the best. It was too dangerous for him to leave the house, especially now with Tom's followers knowing about his Animagus form and Tom unhappy about his latest failure.
Kreacher looked down at the foot as if Albus had put his shoe in some dog excrement on his way to Grimmauld Place. "Master left the house with Master Cullen. He hasn't return."
Master, Albus stumbled. Kreacher never called Sirius 'Master', not like this, not like a house-elf would call his real master. It had always been accompanied with a pained look or a sneer and some insult or at least a whine about what had become of the proud house of Black. And Kreacher would absolutely never use the word Master describing some squib. He would rather have a stroke, of that Albus was certain. Still, he just did it and in a way it frightened Albus. It was a development he hadn't expected, and had no immediate reserve plan to counter the move.
"Did he tell you where he went?" Kreacher stared at him, obviously thinking very hard whether he wanted to answer. "Please, it's important. He may be in danger." It was a long shot to assume that Kreacher would care about his Master but apparently he got it right because after a moment of thinking Kreacher actually answered: "he went to Mistress Andromeda."
That did it: Mistress Andromeda? Mistress? Hell had finally frozen over.
.
Tonks Manor
.
"How could you be so careless?"
Albus had barged into the house of Andromeda and Ted Tonks, only to find them sitting together in the parlour, enjoying the afternoon in the company of Sirius Black and… Harry Potter. "Can't you see how dangerous it is to be here? And Harry? He has to be at the Dursley to recharge the wards. If he doesn't…"
Albus felt a small but determined hand on his shoulder pushing him into a comfortable chair. The same hand put a mug of tea in front of him. "Breathe, Albus," Andy smirked. "we don't want you to get a stroke." Her eyes told something different and Albus didn't like that look one bit. For a moment he thought about casting a spell on the tea. She wouldn't, would she?
"Everything is alright, Sir," Harry quipped. At least he was still polite. Sirius was surprisingly calm. Even more surprising were the glares he got from the Tonks. They know something they didn't tell Sirius, he assumed.
"He's only here for a few days," Andy's soothed Albus' concern. He felt relief wash over him. Albus closed his eyes for a moment, steadying his breath and his tense nerves. Because of this he didn't notice the warning look Andy exchanged with her guests. "After what happened at the Ministry, we thought Harry could use a few days with Sirius. And none of us likes Grimmauld Place very much. It's too dark, especially for a teenager."
"So, he'll only stay for a few days?"
"A week at most," Andy nodded. "Ted and I want to go on a bit of a vacation in July. But we'll be back for your birthday, Harry. Perhaps we could ask Molly to arrange a little birthday party. What do you think about that, Albus?"
"Splendid idea, Andromeda," Albus smiled, now feeling much better. Perhaps his feelings had been a tad in overdrive. Duelling someone like Tom could do that to a man. "Splendid idea, indeed."
.
"Why didn't you tell him? Why did you lie?" Harry wondered after Albus had left.
Andy blinked twice in mock surprise. "Lie? Me? Never, a lady doesn't lie. She omits a few details at most." Andy sipped her tea and allowed the tension to raise a bit. "Everything I said was true. Don't pout, Harry, it's unbecoming," she added seeing Harry's expression.
"I only thought…" he hesitated, his face sad.
"Of course you won't go back. I told Albus that Ted and I will go on a little vacation. Perhaps Sirius forgot to tell you that he organized it. We won't be all alone, however. A fluffy black dog and a young man will accompany us, together with his girlfriend and her parents."
"You'll take Sirius and I…" realizing the last bit of her statement, Harry stalled and blushed brightly. "'Mione isn't my girlfriend. She's only a friend, my best friend together with Ron."
"Oh, sorry, my fault," Andy mocked. "So you have the same feelings towards Ron and her?" She asked, hiding her grin behind her mug.
"You're evil," Harry pouted.
"You're welcome," Andy grinned.
.
London
.
"Ma'am, that's not possible," the man declared, gulping as he waited for her reaction. It was a rare sight to have a lady like her stomping into his office and he had the feeling she wasn't one he wanted to mess with. As she reached into her bag, he half expected her to draw a gun on him. Why, he wondered. Why did it have to be me? His eyes widened as the lady in black pulled a bundle of bank notes from her bag and put it in front of him. He guessed it was around 50,000 pounds.
"This is your bonus if the work starts within the next two days."
John W. Grisham, called Jock by his business friends, hadn't gotten where he was now without a keen business sense and an elastic conscience. This lady was at a pinch but he didn't believe it to be a legal one. She had promised that everything in her proposal was legal and he believed her. He expected it to be more of a "birthday present" king of pinch. Or a divorce pinch, he corrected himself, thinking about the nature of her proposal.
"Double that and we have a deal."
Without blinking she pulled another bundle from her back, adding a third, smaller one to the welcome sight. "There is a small condition…"
.
Grimmauld Place 12
.
"I can't look." Hermione hid into Harry's shoulder, not noticing the amused look of her mother Beatrice and Andromeda Tonks. Both women had offered to help and were eager to watch the wonder of Grimmauld Place now. The help of Dobby had been invaluable. To clear out a whole house within two days had been exhausting to say the least. They had decided on this course of action after Albus' visit, as Andy feared the headmaster's reactions should he discover their plans – perhaps after hearing about Sirius' trial. Amelia Bones had to inform him of it in two days at most and the shit would then start to hit the fan. Doing this however would create an irrevocable situation and Albus would have no chance to force Sirius or Harry back into their hated "homes".
You have to understand, Albus, Andy thought with a mock grin. It's for the Greater Good.
Most things would be left behind to be smashed with the house around them, taken away with the rubble they intended to create this afternoon. A number of book crates had been delivered to the Granger house while the bulk went to Sirius' vault until he found a new place to live. Kreacher had been in tears when Sirius allowed him to keep his mother's painting – not that Sirius felt any urge to keep it himself – and a number of things from Regulus. To clean his brother's room had been heart-breaking for him and only increased the hate he felt towards his mother and Voldemort another notch.
Andy brought Beatrice' attention to her daughter Dora, who was fruitlessly trying to calm down "Ted Tonks". Her "husband" behaved like a toddler on sugar rush. Perhaps it hadn't been such a splendid idea to add her little condition to the deal with the demolition contractor. It had been Cullen's idea actually, only the young Templar meant to put a heavy hammer or axe in Sirius' hand to allow him some part in destroying the house that had the home of his family for generations.
Because it was Sirius under Polyjuice, and not Ted, standing over there, barely able to concentrate on the explanations of the crane operator. It had been tricky but possible to get a crane and operator in reach of the house. She had chosen that one contractor especially for this job because they had a squib driver among their crew – a detail Dora found in the DMLE's squib list, a list most wizards didn't know about, luckily. It was completely illegal to use the list in this way but after all who would be hurt? Pushing a slip of paper with the address in his face had been enough to get him running – that and another 1,000 pounds to endure Sirius.
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Beatrice whispered.
Andy cackled. "I hope WE know what we're doing." Her eyes rested on the massive steel ball. In a few minutes it would crash into the house, break wood and stone as well as the wards around the house. In a few minutes the house would be gone and the neighbours would remember again that there was a No. 12, had always been a No. 12. The rest could wait and be done over the next weeks, but this had to go fast and thoroughly.
Only a few more minutes, Andy sighed. I hope everything is going well with Cullen.
.
Privet Drive 4
.
"I won't leave."
Sitting in his television chair, arms crossed over his fat chest, Vernon Dursley reminded Petunia of a pouting child. Did she want Dudley to grow up like this? Petunia wasn't certain anymore. Perhaps I should accept Mr. Tonks' offer, she mused.
Ted Tonks – the real Ted – had accompanied Cullen and the house-elf Kreacher today like the days before. The adoration in Kreacher's eyes every time he looked at the young Templar was still too much for Ted to grasp. The few times in the past he had met the grumpy, racist, house-elf hadn't been pleasant. Kreacher still couldn't be called cordial, but he was nearly polite now. And his help had been… yeah, helpful.
"I still don't understand why we have to leave the house," Vernon pouted. Luckily he was the only one, Petunia as well as Dudley had been far easier to convince. It certainly helped that Harry had offered them quite a bit of money, both to move into their new home as well as taking a vacation to allow a working crew to remove their things and prepare everything for their return.
"I'll tear the wards down," Cullen explained, Ted silently praising the young man's patience. "After that you won't be safe anymore at this house. Harry's enemies will be able to find the house."
"They're Harry's enemies, not mine," Vernon's pout intensified.
"He saved my life, Dad," Dudley reminded him. He still felt bad about the past, the "Harry hunting", a torture Harry repaid by saving his life or at least his mind back in that dark alley. Dudley still shuddered thinking about the Dementors coming for him.
"It was his fault that you were in danger," Vernon growled. "That freak…"
"Don't call him that," Petunia reprimanded him, astonishing nobody more than herself with her honest reaction. "And it's hardly his fault that some maniac first killed his parents and now tries to kill him. He did nothing wrong." The last words were whispered. Petunia had gone a long way since her talk with Harry and while she didn't expect him to ever forgive and forget about the past, she hoped that he had it in him to one day be real family again. They had exchanged quite a few letters since then, with Hedwig slowly warming to her. The first times she had picked at Petunia's fingers; something she certainly deserved, Petunia mused.
Irrespective of how Harry felt about his "family" at the moment, his enemies would simply kill them off – fast, if they were lucky. It was a simple fact Vernon wasn't willing to grasp so far.
Now Petunia was glaring at her unrepentant husband, unable or unwilling to accept the danger he was putting his family in. Ted Tonks had offered her to get through a divorce, not because of this behaviour but because Petunia came to realize that Vernon wasn't good for her and her son. The thought of raising her son properly, to eliminate the errors of the past, getting back to be Petunia Evans and allowing Dudley to change his name into something not so… disgusting… had its allure. She wasn't ready to do that but with Vernon behaving like this, it was only a question of time. That Harry promised to support her in the future, should she want to stay home or restart her studies, was a welcome bonus. Vernon would never allow me to do that.
"Please begin, Cullen," she demanded with a low voice, leaving the house with Dudley at her side.
Cullen only nodded and went to work.
Let's get started, Ted grinned. This will be funny.
.
Grimmauld Place
.
"The Fidelius Charm is down," Andromeda calmly announced to the rest of the little group. It had lasted long enough, proof of how powerful a wizard Albus still was. Like a toddler with a new toy, Sirius had used the wrecking ball to tear down his old house, the operator at his side ageing one year a minute by only watching him. The Fidelius however only crumbled now, as most of the house was put to pieces. Sirius had just started to speak with his neighbours – who now remembered him and "that there had always been a No. 12", explaining what he intended to do. Making some weird Feng Shui explanations – really a cover up for a number of cleansing rituals that Bill Weasley and Cullen intended to perform – he told them about the playing ground that soon would be there.
Andy rolled her eyes thinking about the long discussion between Hermione and Sirius. While her cousin wanted to have something "exciting" – Andy got the creeps thinking about what kind of place a Marauder would think of to be exciting – Hermione had demanded to get as much security measures on the place as possible. In the end Beatrice Granger had found a compromise and soon there would be a place for little children, some structures for climbing and a romantic pavilion at the far end. Bill would place a number of wards on the whole place, protecting it against accidents and the visits of drug addicts and alcoholics. While Beatrice was as open-minded as her daughter, she didn't assume the mothers of playing children would be amused about discarded booze bottles and one-way syringes in the sandbox.
Perhaps you could do the same at the playing ground in our neighbourhood, Bill, Beatrice had asked sweetly. You know, the playing ground where little Hermione had been running around.
Hermione had blushed deeply, but Harry had been interested to hear more about it, getting agitated when Hermione let slip a story about some not so nice encounter back then, when some of her primary school classmates had harassed her. Nobody was allowed to harass his 'Mione.
"What are you doing, Mione?" Harry is the only one she allows to use a nick name, Andy noticed suddenly.
"Counting… 80… 85… 90," she snapped her fingers and pointed towards an archway not far away. Nothing was there to be seen, causing Hermione to frown.
"What's over there?"
"The apparition point he usually…" She stopped and grinned haughtily as a trio arrived at the archway. "Later than I expected," Hermione commented the arrival of Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick. Filius instantly put a notice-me-not charm on himself, doing the same on Albus a moment later. With that sheer amount of colours and frippery on his body he would stir more attention than the part-Goblin.
"He's getting old," Harry shrugged, watching his headmaster getting closer.
"Harry, my boy, you shouldn't…" Albus started, completely ignoring the women for now.
"Hello to you, too, Headmaster," Beatrice Granger interrupted him with a glare. She hated rude people. Hadn't his mother told him to always greet first – especially with ladies around – before starting to… whatever?
Albus blinked, while Filius and Minerva did nothing to hide their smirks. "Oh, Mrs. Granger I assume?" He made a show of not knowing her and comparing her to her daughter. A bit late he tried to show manners. It didn't impress Beatrice in the slightest.
"As if you didn't know, Headmaster." Beatrice sneered, answering her daughter's unspoken question: "with you lurking around our house two years ago and again last summer." Albus actually blushed a bit.
"Why should…"
"Didn't you tell me about his orders about not to write Harry back then?" Hermione nodded, still uneasy that she had listened to the headmaster's command back then. "Perhaps he wanted to make sure that you obeyed his silly orders."
"It was for the best…"
"Pish-posh. Harry needed his friend, especially last summer." Beatrice wanted nothing of that nonsense.
"Why didn't you tell me, Mum?"
"We didn't want to trouble you. Dad and I knew how much you trusted your teachers." She glared at the trio. "Something they worked hard to change over the years." Minerva and Filius had the decency to blush. "By the way, Headmaster, when did you intend to tell us that my husband is a squib?"
It was a stab in the dark, but Albus' reaction was telling enough: he had known.
"Dad is a…"
"A squib, yes," Beatrice nodded, not taking her eyes away from the headmaster. "Cullen told me. Interesting, isn't it?" She continued to glare. "Every time you were 'ill' at Hogwarts, Dad could have visited you. The anti-Muggle wards wouldn't affect him." Her face softened a bit: "he so wanted to be there with you during the third task, supporting you, knowing how much it would tear you down not to be able to do anything else than watch and wait."
"I would have loved to have him at my side," Hermione admitted. Neville and Ginny had done their best to calm her down but her father would have been far better to have at her side.
"Cullen has been speaking with me about ways to change the wards around Hogwarts," Filius interjected. "He wants to allow the parents of Muggleborn to visit the school in special cases."
"That would be splendid," Beatrice hummed happily.
"He should have spoken with me about that first," Albus admonished, his eyes twinkling in rage.
Filius simply shrugged. "Perhaps he expected you wouldn't be interested in the matter, not after being headmaster for decades without changing that detail. And actually: the decision isn't yours anymore as it is outside of your field of duties."
Albus straightened his posture: "I'm still the Headmaster of Hogwarts."
"And Cullen is the Steward of Hogwarts. Decisions about security and guests ultimately belong to him. Lady Hogwarts apparently believed you have failed in that matter in the past. As do I," he added after a moment.
Cullen again, Albus groaned inwardly. He turned into a real nuisance very quickly, now he's even turning the staff against me. "Let's speak about something different," he tried to change the topic, smiling grand-fatherly which impressed absolutely nobody. "My instruments told me…"
"That the Fidelius has fallen," Andy interrupted with a broad smirk and pointed towards the house no. 12 – or better at the empty space where house no. 12 had been not too long ago. Only a heap of brick stones told of it anymore.
"Are you alright, headmaster?" Beatrice asked with mock concern. Albus stared at the demolition place with wide eyes, as if he would get a stroke anytime soon.
"I really like your mother," Harry whispered into Hermione's ear with a mischievous grin.
"Good to hear," she responded, "as you'll have to spend some time with us this month – with her and my father." Hermione grinned as Harry paled a bit. Ben Granger still intimidated him. He was always watching Harry very closely if he was around his daughter.
Minerva however had stepped at Andy's side and was thoughtfully watching Sirius, who was speaking with his neighbours in an agitated way, gesturing broadly and pointing here and there. "He looks happier," Minerva commented, feeling better herself after months and months of watching Sirius getting more depressed at every meeting of the order.
"He is happier," Andy agreed. "Cullen demanded the house as payment for the life debt, and asked to pull it down because of the 'dark aura' surrounding it." Minerva looked confused, earning her a shrug from Andy. "Whatever he meant: it was certainly one of his better ideas to tear it down."
"You… it… house…" Albus stuttered. For most it was a first to see him this helplessly struggling for words. He had hardly a moment to recover before Cullen appeared at their side. After escorting him to Grimmauld Place, he sent Ted home as two Teds at the same place would be a tad confusing and even a notice me not charm wouldn't be enough for Kreacher with the amount of people around.
"It's done," he announced simply. Ignoring Albus' look – a mix of confusion and rage – Cullen continued: "the wards are down and your aunt and cousin left the house. Your dear uncle wasn't willing to listen."
Harry shrugged without remorse: "it's his decision – his life."
"What are you talking about?" Albus demanded to know.
"I tore down the wards around Privet Drive 4," Cullen explained to Albus' utter horror. "Harry won't return there."
"Thank Merlin!" Was Minerva's only and completely honest reaction, something that improved her standing with the Granger women quite a notch and earned her a glare from Albus as well as a chuckle from Filius. He had endured Minerva's ramblings about Harry's "home sweet home" often enough in the past.
"But they were for Harry's protection, for his family's protection."
"They have never been my family," Harry snarked. After a moment of thinking about it, he added: "perhaps now we'll have a chance to become one."
"Perhaps you could talk with Vernon Dursley, Headmaster" Cullen suggested. "He wasn't willing to see reason. And influencing his mind should be more along your talent."
Minerva glared – however with her glare directed at Albus it seemed like she shared the opinion.
"What are you talking about?" Albus demanded to know.
"The blood wards you used," Minerva gasped at the explanation. "They were tearing down the layer protecting the house from the fade. Demons were gathering around the house, influencing the emotions of the inhabitants."
"Rubbish!" Albus commented haughtily. He knew better, did he not? "There aren't…"
"Only because you don't know about them doesn't mean that they don't exist." Hermione and Harry wondered for a moment if Cullen wouldn't be the right man for Luna with thoughts like this. He would never belittle her for believing in crumple-whatever. "I heard you're opposed to dark magic, Headmaster, an opinion I share. Because of this I had difficulties to understand that you forced Sirius to stay in a house filled with dark magic or used it to protect Harry. Blood magic isn't only dark; it's influencing the emotions of those around it. It's a slow, corrupting effect, but it's very real."
"Whatever," Harry stopped the discussion. "They're down. My aunt and cousin have a chance to be happy and I'll stay with Sirius from now on – somewhere away from this dark place." He laced hands with Hermione, a gesture not going unnoticed by the adults. Most of them were smiling – most, but not all.
"Harry," Albus tried to talk reason. "Sirius is still a wanted man. Until we…"
"Not for long at last," Andy stopped his rambling. It had been funny to watch Albus this… constipated. However, she was exhausted and wanted to go home. Knowing Sirius, he would need a few hours to calm down anyhow.
"Madam Bones will certainly inform you very soon," Harry stepped in, "about the trial – you know: the trial that wasn't possible to enforce for more than a decade, Sirius' trial." Albus wanted to ask something but Harry stopped him with a determined gesture. "Cullen and Aunt Andy," Andromeda Tonks smiled at his use of the nickname "caught Pettigrew a few days ago."
"Yes," Filius air-punched and Minerva was unable to stop smiling. Only Albus looked a tad sad.
"I have no doubt that he'll be proven innocent." Harry narrowed his eyes and hissed: "Miss Skeeter has been harassing me for weeks about an interview. So far I avoided her. Should 'somebody' try to mess with the trial in any way, trying to stir it away from the sole possible outcome, I'll accept her offer. How many pages do you think Miss Skeeter will reserve for my story about my childhood and everything else?"
Albus paled, thinking about the ramifications.
"Especially when Harry announces that he'll drag along the mysterious new steward of Hogwarts and the infamous Sirius Black?" Hermione put another nail in his coffin.
"That won't be necessary," Albus gulped hoarsely.
"Good, please see that it won't."
.
Ministry of Magic – Department of Mysteries – two weeks later
.
"Please have a seat."
Croaker smiled softly as he watched Cullen pull a seat for Andy Tonks before sitting down himself. It was nice to know there were still young gentlemen with manners around.
Unknown to Croaker, Andy had returned only this morning to accompany Cullen to this meeting. He felt a tad uneasy about it and Andy had taken something to a motherly role in his life since their first meeting. He trusted her and liked to banter with her – and flirt a bit, mostly from her side and purely to make him blush. She would return later to her husband as well as Harry and his family.
Family – Andy loved to think of the Grangers and Sirius as Harry's family. Petunia and Dudley were exchanging letters with him but trust and forgiveness needed time to bloom. Beatrice, in particular, was someone Harry direly needed in his life at this point and luckily she was more than willing to step in. They had departed together the day after Sirius' trial – a trial that went surprisingly smoothly despite the death glares Albus sent Cullen's way. He really doesn't like him right now, Andy mused. Hopefully he'll get over it soon. In her opinion Cullen and Albus had to cooperate in this war. They needed each other, and hopefully they would realize that soon. With Pettigrew admitting everything under Veritaserum and Sirius offering a number of memories to be watched, it had only been a formality to prove him innocent and sent Pettigrew to Azkaban. The veil hadn't been an option as it still was under heavy investigation.
Rome, Crete, Sicily, Pompei – the list of the places Hermione wanted to see went on and on. With a bit of house-elf magic it was no problem to change places every other day and Harry had been incredibly patient with Hermione's enthusiasm so far. It certainly helped a bit that Sirius was only willing to allow her to bring along a score of books after she promised to spend some time at the beach reading them. Only far later did Hermione realize that the beach meant wearing a bathing suit. Harry's open-mouth adoration after seeing her for the first time in a fitting bikini – far too tame in Sirius' mind and needing at least another two square foot of cloth in Ben's fatherly opinion – had done wonders to her self-esteem. The scar on her lower chest was barely visible now and Hermione had told herself to thank Cullen again for this after her return. She didn't know that Harry intended to do the same.
"You don't look too well," Croaker scowled at Cullen and Andy silently agreed with that. "Do you think it's a reaction of you being here?"
"No," Cullen said softly. He hadn't been well for a few days and he knew the reason. "Or in a way: yes. It's more a result of not being at home, not having my usual… let's say 'diet'."
"Do you need special nutrients?"
Cullen put a small vial on his table, a vial half-filled with a blue shimmering fluid. "That's a Lyrium potion. It's something my order uses regularly. Because I had only a small number of these vials in my bags on my… my departure… I decided to stop using them."
"If I didn't know better," Croaker commented, eying the vial warily "I'd say you've signs of withdrawal."
"I fear you're right about that," Cullen nodded.
"Why would your order…"
"Enhancement and dependence," Cullen stated far calmer than he felt. "Lyrium enhances our abilities. Drinking such a vial would give me a short-termed boost and more than triple my power." Croaker paled. He had heard enough about this young man stunning a quintet of Unspeakables with a single 'spell'. Tripling that would be… interesting to watch. "And it makes us dependant. Dependency equals control," Cullen continued. "There have been rumours about that part, but it was mostly hush-hush. Apparently the rumours were right."
"And what will you do now?" Andy asked softly. She fumed inwardly about the impertinence to force young men and women – men and women that as far as she understood decided to put their own lives into the service of their beliefs and community – into addiction. Regretfully – or luckily – she had no chance to speak with the culprits and give them a word or two, accompanied by more than a few hexes.
Cullen sighed. "I've been lucky. I have only been getting Lyrium for abound two years and I hadn't been promoted yet. Next year I was expected to become Templar-Sergeant which goes hand in hand with a higher dosage. So far the withdrawal is distracting but not too painful. I'll try to get rid of it as soon as possible. However I wanted to beg you to have a look at it and tell me if something similar is known over here."
"I don't think I've ever seen something similar but I'll examine it."
"Good," Cullen leant back looking a tad exhausted. "However, we didn't visit you to speak about my health."
"No," Croaker nodded. He liked Cullen's no-nonsense attitude and lack of whining. He put the destroyed locket on the table. "Let's speak about Horcruxes and the dangers of open portals."
.
Longbottom Manor – 1 AM on the 31st of June
.
"Sixteen," Neville whispered, holding tight to his glass of punch.
"Yeah, I still can't believe it," Harry agreed, sitting across of him in a very comfortable seat overlooking the Longbottom winter garden.
After returning from their Mediterranean vacation, they had agreed upon a small family gathering tonight to celebrate Neville and Harry's sixteenth birthday. Tomorrow they would continue with a much bigger party at the Burrow, including a dozen Weasleys, wild games and certainly a Quidditch game or two, but tonight was time for calm contemplation – as calm as possible with Sirius Black around.
They had invited the Tonks, Remus and the Grangers too. Hermione was dozing on a couch not far away, looking very cute in her sleep, very tanned legs showing under her skirt. "She turned into a real beauty this summer," Neville whispered with a knowing look.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. It was difficult not to see her as a girl anymore, not after those days with her wearing a bikini.
"Are you an item now?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't spoken with her about that. She has been my friend for so long. What if she doesn't reciprocate my feelings? What if it doesn't work? I can't lose her."
"You won't. She will always be your friend, Harry. That will never change." After a moment he asked warily. "What about Ginny?" Ginny Weasley and her brother had returned the day before but went to their family and would be present at the bigger party, while Luna and her father continued to search for… something… somewhere.
"I think she got over her crush on me."
"Do you regret it?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "It got a tad awkward in the end. I think she started to see the real me and while we still want to be friends, she accepted I'm not her Prince Charming." He smirked: "the path is open now for you, Neville."
"Was I that obvious?" Neville sighed.
"Yeah, since your dance with her at the Yule Ball. I wish you all the best."
"Thanks, Harry. Hopefully Molly will be as open about it. You know: she planned your dream wedding with Ginny years ago."
Harry snickered. "She'll get over it."
.
"I really like the picture."
"Thank you, Andy," Cullen gracefully accepted Andy's compliment. The picture she was speaking about was a charcoal drawing he had created for Harry, showing a wonderful look from the Circle Tower over Sea Calenhad.
"I only wished the tools had gotten better."
"Neville still appreciated them, I'm certain," Andy soothed him. Cullen, who had spent the last weeks mostly at Longbottom Manor, had used the small smithy – a relic from one Aloysius Longbottom, a great-great insert a few more greats grandfather of Neville – to create a number of garden tools for his use. The set of little knives and spatulas for finer plant works had proven another artistic talent of the ever-surprising young man. Andy suspected that it was a first dry run to craft something very different for a very special girl. At least Cullen buying some silver ingots and asking about her next birthday hinted at that.
"Everything went well since our departure?" Andy wanted to know.
"Yes, I'm content. Bill told me that the wards around the Granger house are ready, as well as those around Petunia's new home. Next month he'll start with those at Grimmauld Place. You wouldn't recognize the place now," Cullen grinned. "There is nothing left of the house. The Pavilion and the playing ground are nearly finished and the gardener will start his work in a week or two."
"And your… your cleansing?" Andy, despite not really understanding all those statements and explanations about dark aura and thin layers to the Fade, was far more supportive of Cullen's need to rectify the situation than Albus.
"It went alright," Cullen shrugged. "The place is better now. However it will need a few years of happy children running around to permanently change it. It will be a better place now."
"I'm sure it will," Andy agreed. Hopefully, I will be there when Sirius officially opens the place, Andy mused with a smile. I really want to see Nymphadora's face realizing that he named the place after her.
.
"Harry?"
Harry woke up from his slumber to see Augusta Longbottom with a Goblin at her side. He needed a moment to realize that it was actually a female Goblin, the first one he ever saw and a very old one to add. Hastily he stood up.
"May I introduce to you: Lady Ironsides, Chief Accountant at Gringotts."
"Happy to meet you," Harry bowed slightly. Why didn't he listen last time to Hermione's explanations about Goblin etiquette? To his relief, Lady Ironsides actually seemed to be quite happy about his manners. This lets me wonder how she has been treated by other wizards in the past.
"I didn't want to disturb you," the gnarly Goblin lady started "but Mister Weasley told me about your return and I assumed you would like to get your birthday present in this calmer situation instead of tomorrow's turmoil."
Harry blinked. Why would…? Neville nudged him with his elbow and Harry startled. "Oh, yes, thank you very much." Now he noticed the small package she had in her little hands.
"The present… or better presents… come along with an apology. You have to know that your mother was a dear business friend of mine. While the day to day business was handled by others, we had a few meetings about her plans to start a Muggleborn helping trust. She wanted to help the families of other Muggleborns in their interactions with the magical world and their magical life. Perhaps we could speak about those plans at another time. I always regretted that she died before they came to fruition."
Harry felt flabbergasted. This was one legacy he hadn't expected, a legacy he would love to continue. "I would love to… and Hermione… I mean Miss Granger… certainly too." He gestured towards Hermione, who was watching the conversation eagerly and commented his statement with a broad smile.
"Ah, the famous Miss Granger," Ironsides grinned a toothy grinned, prompting Hermione to blush. "Mister Weasley mentioned her once or twice. But back to business." She pushed the package into Harry's hands. "This actually isn't a present of mine but of your mother, Mister Potter. As far as I know it contains a number of letters, pictures and small gimmicks meant for you. She wanted you to get them on your birthdays, starting on your eleventh birthday; however your former magical guardian," she actually sneered "forbid me to interact directly with you. He told me some bull about not wanting to upset you." Her voice got surprisingly soft and passionate. "Your mother entrusted them to my care and I didn't want to deliver them via anybody else. I hope you can forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive," Harry responded hoarsely. "Thank you very much. This means so much to me." He felt Hermione putting an arm around his waist and promised himself two things: he would spend a quiet afternoon with Hermione opening the presents. And he would spend a loud afternoon with a meddling, well-meaning headmaster.
.
A/N
I hope you like my approach of "Albus-I-know-best-Dumbledore". At the moment he's not very happy and he'll need a few more nudges to actually change.
Ironsides is one of my favourite OCs, she simply had to make an appearance in this story (there will be a second one later).
Next time: Cullen's plan to help Harry, helping the Malfoys and Luna's return.