Author's Note: Thank you to all who have reviewed my story so far, I hope you like it. I know that it may seem a bit extreme having them get married, but I just spent 3 months as a single mother and am not currently liking the idea of a single parent adoption. Besides, I always liked McGonagall with Dumbledore. Anyways, here is a new chapter. It's longer than my other's, and I hope you like it. Let me know what you think, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Lily

Number 4 Privet Drive was, as always, the picture of perfect to any passerby. The lawn was perfectly trimmed, and valiantly green. The house itself was also neat with a beautiful garden around the edge, the window's sparkling clean, fresh paint on the garage, door, the yard fence and patio support beams, and the large brass number 4 shone in the sunshine. Yes, anyone passing by would have no reason to think anything was out of the ordinary. Of course, that was how the Dursley's wanted it. There was absolutely no way they were going to let anyone believe they were strange.

On the inside, the show continued. Petunia Dursley was dusting the spotless living room while her husband Vernon was reading the afternoon paper in his arm chair, and her oversized son, Dudley, was in front of the television eating some ice cream. It all looked like a normal family, and that was how the Dursley's wanted it. There was no sign of anything abnormal, or that there was anyone else in the house.

There was however, one more person in the house. 11 year old Harry Potter was upstairs in the smallest bedroom, but for once, he didn't care. Harry had learned that the odd stuff that had happened to him didn't mean he was a freak. It actually meant that he was a wizard, and had magical powers. On top of that, he had found out that his parents had died as heroes in the wizarding world, and he himself was a living breathing hero. As if that hadn't been enough, his life had been made even better when the Dursley's started ignoring him! Being ignored meant that he didn't have Uncle Vernon yelling at him all day, Aunt Petunia ordering him around, and most of all; Dudley wasn't attempting to use him as a punching bag. No, Harry was absolutely thrilled to be left alone for the first time in his life. It was even better because his obnoxious cousin still had a pig's tail coming out of his fat rear. He would have to find a way to truly thank Hagrid for that one.

Up in that small room Harry was laying on his bed with his back against the lumpy mattress, and his head dangling off the side of the bed flipping through his Potions book while the blood rushed through his head. He had been in this position for 15 minutes when the doorbell rang. He smiled to himself as he realized that once more, Uncle Vernon wasn't going to shout at him to 'answer the damn door.' 30 seconds later however, the smile faded as Harry heard "Boy! Get down here!" Sighing, Harry let his Potions book drop to the floor before bringing his legs up over his head doing a type of back flip off the bed before heading down to see what on earth had made his uncle decide to speak to him again.

When Harry reached the bottom of the stairs, it took a second to take in the entire scene before him. Dudley was clutching his fat bottom as he attempted to hid behind his mother who had her arms spread as if trying to protect her son, but looked like she was going to faint any moment. Vernon was still standing at the front door with it wide open. He was purple faced as he glared at an old man with long white hair and a matching beard the hung to his waist. He was wearing half-moon spectacles and light blue robes. Next to him was a stern looking woman. She too was older, but not as old as the man. She had dark hair that was pulled back into a tight bun, and her lips were pressed thin. She stood tall and stern in dark green robes, and Harry's first thought was that this was not a woman to cross.

"Er, hi." Harry stammered as he jumped the last step to the landing.

"Hello Harry." The old man smiled, and Harry couldn't help but smile as well. He had light blue eyes that had a twinkle to them, and Harry immediately loved them. "Might we come in?" He asked politely, though it was clear that it was only a formality as he stepped across the threshold with the woman behind him.

"Good afternoon Harry." The woman gave a small, fleeting, thin lipped smile. Harry had no doubt about the sincerity behind it, but it was also forced.

"What do you think you are doing just barging in here unannounced?" Uncle Vernon had found his voice again as he followed the couple into his parlor. "We've already agreed to let him go. We don't need your continued harassment."

"Harassment my dear boy? I can assure you that that is far from our intentions." The man continued to smile kindly, but Harry could have sworn the woman's lips had grown even thinner. Both sat down in chairs next to each other. All 3 Dursley's remained standing, but Harry sat on the floor. This was going to be interesting. "We simply came to discuss Harry's living arrangements." At these words, the man seemed to grow a bit more serious, though his eyes still twinkled merrily.

"My what?" Harry couldn't help himself. He had assumed that he would just be living at Hogwarts, and that sounded absolutely fantastic to him. After all, he had no idea where Hogwarts even was? How was he going to bounce between there and the sodding Dursley's every day?"

As if reading his thoughts, the man smiled once more. "Yes my dear boy. While Hogwarts is a boarding school, it is only that, a school. A school is made to educate the mind of a young person and help one to grow, but it cannot replace proper guardians." At that Dumbledore looked at Petunia who shrunk behind her husband. The man however, ignored this and continued. "I am Professor Albus Dumbledore; Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This here is Professor Minerva McGonagall; Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor House, and Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes about popped out of his head. This was the famous Albus Dumbledore that Hagrid had rambled on about so much at Diagon Alley. He didn't know the woman, but Minerva McGonagall had been the signature on his Hogwarts letter. Not only that, but they had been discussing guardianship. What on earth? Were they going to force the Dursley's to be nicer to them? How was that going to work?

"I don't care who the bloody hell you are. You have no right to barge in here and..." Uncle Vernon was bellowing again, and Harry was actually shocked he had let Dumbledore finish speaking before starting in. McGonagall however, was not going to repay the courtesy.

"We have no right? You have no right you blundering, ungrateful..."

"Minerva dear, calm down." Dumbledore's voice was soft and still full of patience. Harry hoped the man had a lot of it, because he seemed the only one still calm. Well, calm and not cowering in terror that was. "As I was saying, I entrusted Harry in your care 10 years ago with the hope that you would care for him as your own son." Harry snorted at this, and McGonagall gave him an apologetic look. "I gave you complete protection in exchange for caring for Harry as his guardians."

"We never asked for the boy." Vernon snarled coldly. McGonagall's lips grew thinner, and Dumbledore sighed.

"We understand that, but you were, and are, the only living relatives that Harry has."

"Why does that leave us responsible for him? We didn't ask for his blasted parents to get blown up." Considering how calm Dumbledore was, and the fact he wasn't ten feet bigger than him, Vernon seemed to have a lot more courage than he had with Hagrid.

"Harry had nowhere else to go." Harry could tell Vernon was about to interrupt again, but Dumbledore held up his hand. "However, now that Harry has grown, and it is clear that you have no intention of caring for him as I have asked, I am prepared to offer an alternative. That is, if you are interested."

At this Harry's eyes about popped out of his head and he jumped to his feet. "Oh, were interested." Harry didn't know who these people were, or who he would even be staying with, but anything would be better than the Dursley's. Uncle Vernon however, grabbed Harry by the scruff of his shirt, and forced him to sit back on the floor.

"Sit down boy!" He ordered, still glaring at McGonagall and Dumbledore. "What do you mean you are prepared to offer an alternative? I thought you said we are his only family."

"That you are. Now, as I explained in the letter I left for you 10 years ago, there are magical bonds that cannot be broken if we are to provide Harry with complete protection. One of those magical bonds is that Harry must live with family. You are the only blood family that Harry has, but that magical bond will also work through a legally adopted family." Dumbledore let that sink in for a minute, and when he was met with silence, he continued. This time however, he spoke directly to Harry. "Now Harry, I understand that this is a major decision, and I can assure you that you do not have to decide anything now. For now, I would like you to just listen to our proposal." Dumbledore looked calmly at a completely stunned Harry, and then turned to McGonagall who took the conversation from there.

"Harry, Albus and I are willing to adopt you. Now as Albus explained, the magical bond requires you to be with legal family. Therefore we would legally be your mother and father, and you would have to take the name Potter-Dumbledore. You would not however, have to call us mum and dad. Away from the school situation you may call us Albus and Minerva, but in the school setting you would still refer to us as Professor McGonagall, and Headmaster, or Professor Dumbledore. We understand that this is a major decision that will most likely take time. Therefore, we are willing to let you see how you like us this year at Hogwarts, and if you so desire, you can stay with us for the last 2 weeks of your summer holidays." As McGonagall finished speaking she watched the shock remain plastered on the faces of her audience, but saw that Harry recovered quickly.

"Are you serious?" Harry was absolutely astounded. For years he had dreamed of a long lost relation coming to take him away from the Dursley's, and here was something just as good, if not better. He didn't fully understand the magical contract thing, or why he needed protection when he hadn't ever seen any kind of protection around him while here at the Dursley's, but that was just a minor detail in his eyes. "I could really come and stay with you guys?" When McGonagall and Dumbledore nodded in unison Harry jumped back to his feet in excitement. "Could I come with you guys right now? It won't take long to get my stuff. I'll be right back."

Before Harry could run off however, there was a heavy tug to the back of his shirt that made him stumble backwards and fall. Uncle Vernon was recovering from his shock. "Wait a minute, how do we know this isn't some kind of trick? We've never even seen you? Who says we would agree to this? We are his guardians after all. Why do you even want the boy?"

Harry couldn't believe this was coming out of his uncle's mouth. Hadn't his uncle wanted him out of the house as long as Harry himself had?

"Mr. Dursley, just by today I thought you made it perfectly clear that you do not want Harry. In fact, I have yet to hear you even call the boy by his name." Dumbledore once again let McGonagall speak, and she spoke firmly. She kept her voice calm, but there was a hint of annoyance in it. "As for why we would want Harry, he is a very remarkable boy who deserves to have someone that will care for him properly. He also deserves to have a place that he wants to come home to. Obviously, that is not provided for him here." McGonagall's tone had been harsh, and Vernon backed down. Obviously he was getting the same vibe that this was not a woman he wanted as an enemy; even though he was already on the verge of such a thing.

"Alright fine. Take the ungrateful brat. It will be less trouble for us anyways." Vernon muttered as he released Harry's baggy t-shirt. "Go get your stuff, and don't you think of taking anything that doesn't belong to you." He growled before turning to walk out of the parlor. "I want you all out of my house in 10 minutes."

"Alright Harry, let's go get your things shall we?" Dumbledore spoke in his cheery voice once more and rose to follow Harry to his bedroom. McGonagall didn't speak a word as she followed suit.

Once up in Harry's small bedroom, McGonagall's lips all but disappeared as she looked around at the utter disgrace. Harry saw this, and offered a small smile as he picked up his Potions book and hastily began stuffing the few school things not already packed, into his school trunk. "It's better than it used to be. Up until I started getting those letters I slept in the cupboard under the stairs." He started packing his oversized clothes, but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Don't worry about those Harry. We can buy you a few outfits that actually fit you." He spoke kindly, and he waved his wand. Immediately, Harry's loose end school things, and few muggle possessions he bothered to keep, soared into his trunk. The mess organized itself neatly so that everything fit perfectly, and then the lid shut. When everything was in order, Dumbledore waved his wand once more, and the trunk vanished. Harry's eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Dumbledore spoke first. "Do not worry about your trunk Harry; it is now waiting for you in your new room. Now, shall we be off?" With that he led the way down the stairs, waved goodbye to the Dursley's, and he, Harry, and McGonagall, walked out the front door, shutting it behind them.

"Alright Harry, now getting out of here is going to be slightly tricky because we can't let any of the muggles see us. Arabella's place is hooked up to the floo network for the afternoon, so we will head over there." With that Dumbledore walked off once more, and Harry was astounded to see him go right to Mrs. Figg's door.

Just as with Hagrid, there were a million questions floating around in Harry's mind. The trouble was that also as with Hagrid, he had no idea which questions to start with. Therefore he just kept his mouth shut, and followed. He became even more puzzled when Dumbledore led him to Mrs. Figg's fire place, and withdrew a small, purple, draw string bag. "Now Harry, you will need to pay close attention. This is called traveling by floo. It is how wizard families with children travel since underage wizards are not allowed to aparate, portkey's are not always practical, and nearly every home has a fire place." Very little of this made sense to Harry, but he just nodded, and Dumbledore continued. "You just take a handful of floo powder, throw it into the fire place, step in, and clearly speak your destination. Now, since this is your first time using the floo system, Minerva will go first to demonstrate, and then you and I will go together."

Harry nodded once more, and Dumbledore opened the draw string bag. McGonagall stepped forward, grabbed a handful of powered, threw it into the fire place, and Harry jumped back in shock when green flames burst to life before them. McGonagall didn't hesitate however. She calmly stepped into the fire, turned to face the living room again, and spoke. "Dumbledore Residence." With that she spun out of site, and vanished as Harry's mouth dropped open.

"Alright Harry my boy, it looks as if it is our turn." Dumbledore took a handful of powder before closing the draw string bag and replacing it in his robes. "I want to thank you once more Arabella for the use of your home. I hope to visit with you again soon." With that he threw the floo powder into the grate and beckoned Harry forward before, following closely. Once both were in the green flames, he spoke calmly. "Dumbledore Residence."