Author's notes:

Standard disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR. Except where I might use some song lyrics which I will call out at the time and give proper credit. Thank you JKR for letting us play with your toys.

HARRY POTTER AND THE MUGGLE'S DAUGHTER

Building Alliances

Part I

HPHPHP

Lord Sirius Black, was beginning to fume. The turn of events, that a month ago, had seen him freed from his incarceration at Azkaban prison had been sending shockwaves through the wizarding world ever since. It had taken a week of constantly being plied with Nutritive and Strengthening potions for him to recover enough strength to think coherently for more than a few minutes at a time. The ensuing three weeks had been filled with legal filings and various hearings related to his case.

Amelia had done the right thing by him, but there was most definitely a price to her actions. It was a price he was more than glad to pay. Cornelius Fudge was tied up with three lawsuits with a fourth on the way. On top of the half dozen suits Barnabas Crouch was fighting, he was facing an inquisition that more than likely threatened his career and very well could land him in Azkaban himself. Yes, the Black fortune was beginning to turn the wheels of justice and his solicitor was looking at a very profitable year.

What had him really fuming though was the situation regarding his Godson, Harry James Potter. The travesties of justice that had seen him wrongly incarcerated had reached their insidious fingers into Harry's life as well. Dumbledore had sealed the Potter will and sent Harry the one place Lily had expressly said he was not to go. It was the precipitating crime for all the rest perpetrated against his Godson.

"What do you mean I can't file suit against, Dumbledore?" Sirius demanded.

"Because," Andromeda said, "for the time being we need him."

Sirius glowered at her. "What aren't you telling me?" he demanded.

Andromeda set her tea down, leaned forward and took his hand in hers. "How many times do I have to tell you, when you can protect your mind to my satisfaction, everything will be explained?"

"I want to know what's going on!"

Andromeda slammed her hand on the table. "Grow up, Sirius!" she snapped at him.

"Don't tell me what to do!" he fired back. "Need I remind you whom is the Lord around here?"

"This behavior is exactly what got you thrown in Azkaban! You are an impetuous child whose failure to place the needs of his Godson before his thirst for revenge directly led to the circumstances that allowed Albus to place Harry with his aunt in the first place. If you are in need of someone to vent your anger on, you have no further to look than the nearest mirror!"

Sirius stared back at her for a few moments before slumping in his chair. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I wasn't Lily's first choice to take Harry you know; for exactly the reason you said… She's likely cursing James no end for insisting on me."

Andromeda gave him a measured look. "I think it more likely she blames herself for allowing James to have his way."

"I'm not looking forward to catching up to her, I can tell you that."

"No, you probably shouldn't."

He chuckled softly. "No, I shouldn't."

"Who was her first choice?"

"Remus."

She nodded slightly. "He always seemed the responsible one of you lot. Why were you picked over him?"

Sirius sighed. "Remus is a werewolf. Lily wanted him anyway, but James refused. Not that they couldn't have afforded it, but it would have cost a fortune in bribes to make it happen. Plus we'd started to suspect there was a spy in the Order by then. Remus had fallen under suspicion. Lily insisted we were wrong. James and I weren't sure, but he flat refused to name Remus as Harry's Godfather." He shook his head sadly. "It was one of the few times he went against her."

"That explains a lot," Andromeda observed. "Albus' suspicion of Remus never did set with me."

Sirius shrugged helplessly. "It shouldn't have with me either. Before the damn Dementors got ahold of me, I wasn't a slouch at the Mind Magics. I should have trusted him. Remus was like a brother to us."

"But wasn't Peter as well?"

"I thought so… But maybe not." Sirius shrugged again. "If the four of us were brothers, James, Remus and I were like triplets. Peter was more like the annoying little brother we couldn't get rid of so we took him along. I guess he was always just a bit outside the rest of us." He suddenly looked sharply at her.

Andromeda smirked. "A bit better, Siri," she said and calmly sipped at her tea.

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Harry Potter entered the parlour with Kaa across his shoulders. His mum rested her hand on his back and gently guided him to the couch where they took a seat. Across from them was sat a witch with hair as black as his own. It spilled down her back in loose waves. The skin of her face was milky white and very smooth. Her nose was straight and perfectly proportioned to her face. Though she was seated, she appeared fairly tall and carried not an ounce of extra weight. All in all, she was stunningly attractive. But her most compelling feature, were her eyes. If his glowed the green of emeralds then hers danced the violet spark of tanzanite. Harry was mesmerized.

"Harry," Mum said, "this is Andromeda Tonks. Andromeda, my son, Harry James Potter."

She beamed a smile, revealing perfectly even and stunningly white teeth. "Hello, Harry. It's nice to meet you." She held her hand out to him.

Harry blushed and shook her hand. "H–hello. It's nice to meet you."

She let his hand go and sat back in her chair. "I must say, you look amazingly like your father, Harry. Though if you were going to take one feature from your mother, her eyes would be the object of desire."

"You knew my dad?" Harry asked eagerly.

She nodded. "I did. And I can help you to know him as well."

"With Mind Magic?"

"Yes. The process of learning the arts of Occlumency and Legilimency will uncover many memories that are currently lost to you. Some of those will be of your father."

Harry nodded. "I read the book Mum gave me. I don't think I'll like some of it, but I think I probably need to do this."

Andromeda smiled gently. "We've more than two years before you can even expect to have your skills tested. I promise we'll go slowly and I'll be with you every step of the way. Plus I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will make the process a bit more gentle than the book suggests it to be."

"Ok," Harry agreed.

Andromeda eyed Kaa speculatively. "Perhaps you should introduce me to your friend. It's going to be important for you to trust me, and if she does, then it will be easier for you to as well."

Kaa raised her head from Harry's shoulder and swung around to face Andromeda. "Ask her to offer me her hand."

"She wants you to offer her your hand," Harry said.

"Perhaps if I demonstrate?" Mum gently interjected. Kaa swung around to face her, holding Lily's eyes for a second before seeming to dip her head slightly. Mum brought her hand up so her fingers were about an inch from the tip of Kaa's nose. She flicked her tongue against Mum's fingertips a couple of times before seeming to dip her head again and then swinging around to Andromeda once more. Mum lowered her hand to her lap and smiled encouragingly at the other woman.

"I swear she won't bite you," Harry said.

"I will if ssshe ever harmsss you," Kaa hissed.

"Is she speaking?" Andromeda asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"And what did she say?"

"She said if you ever hurt me she would bite you."

"She does understand the process of what I am to teach you will be, both, physically and mentally painful at times, yes?"

"The differencesss between pain that helpsss and pain that harrmsss isss known to me."

"She understands what you're going to teach me is different than hurting me."

Andromeda took a deep breath. She'd been warned of this situation and prepared herself as best she thought she could. Still, it was nerve-wracking. "Alright then." She slowly raised her hand so her fingers were only an inch or so from Kaa's nose. The serpent rose a bit, looking her directly in the eyes for a few seconds before dropping back to her hand. She edged closer and waited another second before flicking her tongue out across her fingers. Kaa then swung back to rest on Harry's shoulders. Andromeda withdrew her trembling hand.

"Ssshe fearsss you, but will learn," Kaa hissed

"Me?"

"It isss asss your mother hasss told you. The ssserpent isss feared. Therefore the one who ssspeaks with it isss alssso feared. You will teach her to sssee truth."

"What's she saying, Harry?" Mum asked.

Harry focused on Andromeda. "She says you're afraid of me. But that I'll show you the truth." Andromeda blinked.

"Harry, I warned you about this," Mum said. "If you insist on the world knowing the truth about Kaa, you need to accept that people will judge you because of it."

"If people can't accept Kaa, then I don't need them."

"I know, Love, but you need to accept it may take them some time. Just like you need to build trust in them, they need to build trust in you and Kaa."

"I didn't say I wouldn't try."

"And that's what we'll do," Andromeda interjected. "I suggest we get started, what do you say, Harry?"

"Should I try clearing my mind?"

"We'll work on that in a bit. I want to do something else first."

"What?" Harry asked.

Andromeda grinned and leaned forward a bit. "Cheat," she whispered conspiratorially.

"Cheat?" Harry asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"How?"

"If you'll let me, I'm going enter your mind."

"Enter my mind?" Harry squeaked.

"Yes. What I want you to do is lie down on the couch. I want you to just let me look you in the eyes. You might feel a bit disorientated at first, but it will pass quickly. The next thing you know it will be like you and I are taking a walk together."

"A walk?"

"Yes. We're going to go for a walk in your mind together."

"In my mind"

"Yes, we'll see how your mind is constructed and perhaps do a tiny bit of organizing together and that'll be it for today."

Harry glanced at his mum. "I'll be right here, I promise. Kaa will too."

He nodded. "Ok."

"Just go ahead and make yourself comfortable," Andromeda said. Harry lay back on the couch, shifting a bit while Kaa moved to coil near his head. Andromeda moved to his side. "Budge in a bit, for me, Harry," she said. Harry shifted again and she sat down next to him. "Now, just look into my eyes." Harry sniggered. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Just, that's what Kaa says to Mowgli before he tries to eat him."

"Mowgli?" Andromeda asked.

"It's from the story the Jungle Book. Mowgli is a boy who is lost in the jungle. Kaa is a giant python. He finds Mowgli and tells him to look in his eyes so he can hypnotize him and eat him."

"And that's where you got Kaa's name?"

"Yes. But she told me that's a new version of the story. In the first version Kaa befriends Mowgli and protects him."

"Well, that must make you Mowgli, yes?"

Harry grinned. "She's my best friend." He suddenly felt very dizzy.

"Easy, Harry," Andromeda soothed. He shook his head and when he looked up he was suddenly standing. Andromeda was in front of him, gently holding him by his shoulders. "Better?" she asked.

Harry nodded. He looked around, finding they were standing on the path next to the River Windrush in the town square. "How?"

"We're in your dreamscape, Harry."

"My dreamscape?"

She nodded. "And here comes Kaa." She stepped back as the snake wound it's way up Harry's leg, around his waist to his shoulders.

"How did she get here?" Harry asked.

"You made her."

"Made her?"

"Kaa is a part of you Harry. She makes you feel safe. We're in your dreamscape. This is a place you are both very powerful and very vulnerable. Subconsciously, you know this so you created Kaa and brought her here to help you to feel safe."

Harry reached up to stroke Kaa's head. "Is she real?"

"Yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"The mind is a magnificent and wonderful tool," Andromeda said. "Kaa and myself are as real as you believe us to be. As you and I work together, these are truths you'll eventually come to understand." She offered her hand to him. "Come, let's walk together." He took her hand and they set off towards the car museum. They reached the bridge and crossed over the river. "Do you understand what's happening, Harry?"

"Not really. Actually, not at all."

"Everyone's dreamscape is different, Harry. This place, the town square with the river running through it is a place that's very safe to you, isn't it? You've only been with your mum and Remus a short time, but you've been very happy here, yes?"

Harry nodded. "It's the happiest I've ever been in my life."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Harry, when I told you I wanted to enter your mind, were you scared?"

"Yes."

"And do you know what happened?"

"No."

Andromeda led him to a bench. "Sit with me," she said. He did and she sat, turning to face him. "Harry, our minds are the most sacred part of our being. There is nothing that happens to our body that does not also happen to our mind. Instinctively we know this and we seek to protect it. What you see before you is an attempt at Occlumency."

"It is?"

Andromeda nodded. "Yes. You have created this park to keep me from seeing things you don't wish me to see."

"I have?"

She took his hand. "Come," she said and led him down the path again. They crossed the street and she stopped in front of the toy store. While she looked in the window he began to fidget. "Shall we go in?" she asked.

"I'm alright to keep going," Harry answered.

She turned and smiled gently at him. "Are you certain? I've never known a young boy such as yourself to turn down a trip to the toy store." Harry began to tap his hand against his leg nervously. Andromeda took his hand and led him back to the park and another bench. They sat down facing the crystal clear waters of the river. "Have you ever walked in it?"

Harry shook his head. "I've not been here during the summer."

She smiled. "Yes, how forgetful of me. Look!" she pointed, "There's a fish."

"You're trying to distract me, aren't you?"

She turned to him. "Distract you?"

"From the toy store."

"Am I?"

Harry nodded. "The book said we put memories of similar experiences in compartments in our minds. If this," he waved his hand, vaguely indicating the park they were in, "is an attempt at Occlumency, then all the buildings and stuff are where I've hidden things I don't want you to see."

"Very good, Harry," she praised. "Very good indeed." Harry glowed with pleasure at her praise. He blinked and suddenly found himself lying on his back on the couch with Andromeda leaning over him. "I dare say you are going to be very good at this indeed," she said. Harry smiled but then his eyes closed. He was well and truly exhausted.

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"The Briar Patch?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "There's a bit of brambles and such in the fields."

"Fields?"

"You'll see. Ready?"

"I guess," Sirius hedged. The Mind Arts were one of the areas the pure-blood families worked hard to keep out of reach of Muggle-born and half-bloods. The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, being not nearly so noble as it was ancient and having more secrets to hide than most, instructed their children from a young age. He'd been fairly competent by the time he started Hogwarts and well into the 90th percentile by the time he graduated. His betrayal of his family had included instructing many of his friends from Gryffindor. Remus and Lily had been two of his better students. Peter, not so much. But apparently he'd been good enough to fool them all. Whatever, the three months since his release had been spent relearning the arts, it would likely be a year yet before he reached the levels he'd achieved before his incarceration, but Andromeda had deemed him sufficiently capable now that he could be brought up to speed on everything. He caught the look Remus was giving him. "I'm not going to enjoy this, am I?"

"Frankly," Remus said, "I'll be surprised if you live through the night."

Before he could respond, Remus grabbed his arm and apparated them away. "Bloody hell, Remus!"

Remus let him go and walked up the steps to the porch and opened the door. "In you go." Feeling much like an errant child, Sirius cautiously climbed the steps and entered the house. Remus let the door close behind them. Shrugging out of his cloak he hung it on the hook and held his hand out for Sirius'.

"Right," Sirius said. He shrugged his cloak off and gave it to Remus who hung it on the hook. Without a word he set off down the hall. Sirius followed till Remus reached a doorway where he stepped to the side.

Remus gave a jerk of his head. "Good luck."

"Should I cast a shield or something?"

"Probably better to just let it happen." Remus jerked his head toward the door again. Steeling himself, Sirius stepped through.

"What did I tell you?" Lily asked.

Sirius stared at her for a second before whipping around to Remus. "Real, and mad as hell," Remus said. Sirius whipped around to Lily again.

"B–but?"

"It's a very long story," Remus said quietly.

"L–Lily?"

She picked up a vase and launched it at him. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?" she screamed. Sirius ducked the vase. "DON'T YOU! YOU!" she grabbed a book from the shelf and threw it at him. Sirius dodged to the side. "ARRRGH!" Lily started grabbing everything and anything in reach, teapots, cups, books, pictures from the wall, knickknacks, a paperweight – which left a rather large hole in the plaster. Sirius ducked, dodged, and covered his head with his arms, retreating from her as she chased him around the room. "You bastard! You incompetent, unintelligent, moronic, dimwitted, mindless, daft, infantile, immature, juvenile, self-centered, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-important, egocentric, puffed-up, pompous, conceited, bastard, arse-wipe!" She stopped her rant within a foot or so of reaching him.

Cringing, Sirius pulled his arms away from his head to look at her. "I'm sorry," he whispered painfully. "You were right, I should never have been Harry's Godfather."

Her nostrils flared angrily. "Get out of my sight."

"Lily," Sirius pleaded, "Lils."

"Don't," she said sharply. "Just get out of my house."

"Lils," Remus said.

"Remus—"

"Don't Remus, me," he cut her off.

"Just, just, I need—" she suddenly sagged to the floor.

"Lily!" Remus and Sirius cried rushing to her.

She shrugged away from Sirius. "Don't touch me," she snapped. He quickly backed away.

"That's enough, Lils," Remus said.

"Need to rest," she gasped.

"Come on," he said and scooped her up. "Let's get you upstairs." She looped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his shoulder. Remus maneuvered her through the doorway. He turned back to Sirius. "You, sit," he ordered.

"I should go," Sirius answered morbidly.

"Sirius, I love you like a brother, but if you leave this house, I'll kill you." He disappeared up the stairs. Two minutes later he was back. Without a word to Sirius, he picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello, Martha? John Evans, can you please tell Daniel he's practiced plenty long enough for one day and send him home for me? Thank you." He hung the phone up, took out his wand and began setting the parlour to rights.

"Remus?"

"Yes."

"Who's Daniel?" Remus unlocked the liquor cabinet, selected up a bottle of whiskey and held it up. "Please!" Sirius said. Remus poured a glass and handed it over. Sirius took it and knocked it back in one go. "Puahhh!" he gasped. He blinked his eyes a number of times. "That's some strong stuff." Remus held his hand out for the glass and Sirius handed it back. Remus filled it again and passed it back. "Thanks." Remus poured a second glass and then took the bottle with him when he took a seat. He set the bottle on the table and swirled his whiskey in his glass. Sirius took the chair opposite him. "You gonna talk, or just get me pissed one last time before she kills me?"

Remus glanced at his watch, focused on Sirius and shrugged before taking a sip from his glass. Sirius glanced at his and knocked it back again. Remus nudged the bottle towards him. "Thanks."

Remus raised his glass to him before taking another sip. "She's more angry with herself than she is with you."

"She has a right to be angry with me," Sirius whispered.

Remus took another sip. "Yes, she does."

"Remus, how is she alive?"

Remus pulled the letter from his pocket that had started it all. He contemplated it for a second before offering it to Sirius. "Go on." Sirius hesitated for a second before taking the letter. He carefully unfolded it and began reading. Remus timed it perfectly, taking a sip just as Sirius reached the line about the Heart's Shield and glanced up at him. "We always said she was a genius," he said quietly. Sirius quickly returned to the letter and finished reading it. When he was done he read it a second, and then a third time. "Lily came to me two nights before Voldemort killed James. You can see the whole property so you probably didn't realize part of it is under the Fidelius."

The front door banged open. "I'm home!"

Remus knocked back the last of his glass. "In the parlour, Harry," he called.

"Harry?" Sirius gasped.

"Daniel is the name Harry is hiding under," Remus clarified.

Harry appeared in the doorway. "Hey Remus…" he trailed off when he spotted Sirius.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet your Godfather, Lord Sirius Black."

Harry eyed Sirius warily before focusing on Remus. "Where's Mum?"

"As we discussed, the reunion was a bit stressful."

"Is she alright?"

"She's resting."

Harry's eyes darted to Sirius then back to Remus. "I'm going to go see her."

"Alright then." Without another look at Sirius, Harry backed out the door and raced up the stairs.

Sirius stared after him, then slowly turned back to Remus. Remus offered him the bottle but Sirius shook his head. "What have I done?" Sirius whispered.

Remus set the bottle down and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't give a damn what you've done, Sirius. What I want to know is what you're going to do now?"

"What can I do, Remus?" he asked, his voice tortured. "They hate me."

"You can be the man you should have been the night you went after Peter." He paused. "They don't hate you, Sirius."

"Could have fooled me."

Remus glowered at him. "Lily is still Lily."

"Yes, but it's not some stupid prank this time. I really messed up, Remus."

"You did," Remus agreed. "But just like always, Lily will forgive you. Frankly, I'm more concerned about her forgiving herself."

"I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"You're doing it again, Sirius, wallowing in your self-guilt, your self-importance, instead of focusing on the people who need you."

Sirius sagged into his chair. "How do I fix this, Remus?"

"You be there, Sirius; for as long as it takes, you be there."

Sirius was silent for a long time and Remus just let him be, waiting him out. Eventually Sirius took a deep breath and blew it out. "I guess you better start talking." He focused on Remus. "Either that or Obliviate me."

Some three hours and the rest of the bottle of whisky later, Remus was standing on the porch with Sirius. "Prep yourself to meet, Kaa," he said. "He'll test you the first chance he gets."

Sirius shuddered. "Don't know how a person's supposed to prepare themselves to meet an adder."

"You'll manage."

"Maybe." Sirius pushed himself off the wall. "I should go. Andi'll be wondering where I am."

"Tell her I said, hi."

"I will." Sirius prepared to disapparate.

"Sirius," Remus said.

"Yeah?"

"If you decide you're not coming back… make it forever."

"I'll be back, Remus. I swear."

Remus nodded. "See you tomorrow then." Sirius nodded, turned and was gone with a sharp crack. Remus turned and found Kaa wound around the porch column. He backed up a half step. "Just stay out of my room," he said. She slid down the column, into the house, up the banister and out of sight. "Damn serpent is going to give me a heart attack," Remus muttered under his breath.

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Remus poured glasses of his favorite, single-malt scotch whisky all around. With Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Sirius, Amelia Bones, Lily and himself, there were six of them today. Harry was at a day long judo camp. The day would come when he would need to know the things they discussed, but that day wasn't today.

"Hitting the hard stuff already?" Sirius asked. This meeting was for his benefit, or so he thought.

Remus raised his glass. "First, a toast. To Amelia Bones, for having the courage do what was right; consequences be damned."

"Here! Here!" the group responded and knocked back their glasses.

As Remus refilled them, Lily said, "I honestly cannot thank you enough, Amelia."

"There is nothing to thank me for. My job is to see justice served and I did."

"Never-the-less, you've done a huge service to myself and my son and I want you to know the Potter name will always heed your call."

Amelia smiled. "Thank you."

Remus set the bottle down. "Shall we get started then?"

"Please do," Amelia answered.

Remus glanced at Lily. "It's your show, Lils."

She bobbed her head. "Right then." She knocked back her second glass and set it on the table. "You all know how we came to be here tonight; how it is that Harry and I survived that night. Amelia, you in particular, have been patient in waiting to find out just why it is that I wish to remain dead for the time being. Very simply, I am not the only person thought to have died that night who, instead, survived."

The four who didn't already know exchanged looks. Unsurprisingly, Amelia took the lead. "You don't mean to imply he did not perish, do you."

Lily locked eyes with her. "I'm not implying. I know it for a fact."

Amelia's hand began to shake, sloshing the whisky in her glass about. After a second she downed the contents and set it down. "Talk," she ordered.

"Do you know what a Horcrux is?"

Amelia stared at her for a second before jumping to her feet. "Oh hell," she muttered as she began to pace. "Damn. Damn. Damn." Remus refilled her glass.

"Erm," Sirius said, "wanna fill the rest of us in?"

"A Horcrux, is a receptacle – in theory, it can be anything; from a priceless artifact to a single grain of sand – into which a sorcerer places a piece of their soul. This object then acts as an anchor to the remaining bit of the soul. Meaning, that you can kill the body of the sorcerer, but the soul will not pass on. This allows the sorcerer the possibility to create a new body and, in effect, rise from the dead. As long as the Horcrux remains intact, the sorcerer is, for all intents and purposes, immortal. In theory, they can be killed and recreate bodies endlessly."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is not dead?" Andromeda whispered, horrified.

Amelia stopped pacing and rounded on Lily. "Do you have proof!" she demanded. "Have you found a Hor-Hor… one of them?"

Lily shook her head. "I haven't. But I would bet my life on it… I would bet Harry's life on it."

Amelia glowered at her, grabbed her glass from the table, downed it and slammed it back down before she started pacing again. Remus moved to fill her glass again. "Don't," Amelia barked. Remus set the bottle down. Sirius watched Amelia pace for a few seconds before he downed his glass and slid it towards Remus. Ted did the same while Andromeda simply set her full glass down on the table.

Amelia rounded on them again. "How did you find it?"

"I was an Unspeakable."

"Right… How is it you can talk about it? No, forget that, you've already lost your magic." She sat down in her chair. "Talk. What do you know? Who else knows? What have you found? We're going to have to track his movements, which is going to be a right bitch because no-one seems to know who the bastard actually was?"

"We do," Lily said.

"You do?"

"Voldemort, "Is part of an anagram for the name Tom Marvolo Riddle. If you rearrange the letters you get, I Am Lord Voldemort." Remus handed over the essay Lily had liberated from the Hogwarts' library so many years ago. "Note the highlighted bit," Lily said.

"An acrostic construction," Amelia whispered.

"I found this just before Voldemort came for us. I had a lot of this information in my journal, with instructions for Simper, my elf, to deliver it to Remus in the event that things unfolded as I feared they would.

"Through the obituaries he was able to trace the name Riddle to a Tom Riddle Sr of Little Hangelton. Sr happens to have been non-magical, a Muggle, by the way. From there he scoured the Ministry archives for any magical families known to have lived near the area. He found a Merope Gaunt, daughter of Marvolo Gaunt."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr," Amelia said.

"Yes," Lily said. "It gets worse."

"Wonderful," Amelia retorted.

"Mind you, this is actually in the Ministry's records, anyone can find it if they like. But the Gaunts were the last known descendants of Salazar Slytherin."

Amelia stared at her for another moment before grabbing the bottle of scotch and slugging back a good shot. She slammed the bottle on the table hard. "I want to see everything you've got, every scrap of parchment, everything."

"Not a problem."

Amelia focused on Remus. "You've been researching all this time?"

"Yes."

"Right then, you work for me now."

"No," Lily said.

"Excuse me?"

Lily leaned forward. "Amelia, just listen to me for a minute and then let's figure out who works for who and how we're going to take this bastard down."

Amelia raised her chin. She rarely ran into someone who could stand up to her but was quickly coming to understand just why Lily Potter had been recruited straight out of Hogwarts by the Department of Mysteries and the Unspeakables. "Go on," she said.

"You and I, we need each other. I need you running the DMLE, dealing with the Ministry and the mess it is… because, frankly, that is your forte. You are an extremely intelligent witch. You are a gifted politician. Yet you somehow remain uncorrupted by your ambition. I can only surmise Dumbledore supported Fudge for minister because he felt he could control him."

"Noticed that, did you?" Amelia muttered. "Bastard cut and ran on me at the last minute."

"And as long as it was something innocuous, he's backed Fudge since, but any legislation of importance, he's been on your side."

"Astute," Amelia said.

"I'm going to be perfectly blunt, Amelia. I want you in the Minister's office. And I will spend every knut of the Potter fortune to see it done."

"It's too bad Bagnold didn't wait another year to retire. It would have been a whole lot easier and cheaper to make that happen."

"Or I could have woke a year earlier."

"That too…" She studied Lily. "I'm looking at my bury Voldemort's arse team, aren't I?"

"Research, support, and muscle," Lily said, nodding to Remus, Andromeda and Ted and Sirius in turn.

"And you're the brains?"

"You run your area of the war, I'll run mine."

Amelia nodded. "I like it. It's off the books, no-one to interfere. I see just two problems."

"Only two?" Sirius asked. Lily and Amelia shot him a look. "Right, sorry."

"You were saying?" Lily asked.

"We don't have an active Unspeakable."

"An issue it would be good to solve if we can," Lily agreed. "Your next concern."

"Besides the obvious; loss of your husband, attacked me and my son, revenge motivation, what aren't you telling me?"

Lily smirked. "You mean, besides doing the right thing, and I'm not going to blindly turn my back and let him slaughter thousands of innocent people?

"Yes."

"Voldemort will attempt to come back," Lily said. "Frankly, I doubt we'll be able to prevent it. But the Horcrux, or possibly Horcruxes, don't matter one bit without my son."

"Your son? What's he to do with any of this?"

"He has everything to do with this. Because without him, we don't stand a chance."

"A prophecy," Amelia gasped. "Everyone thinks he was after you and James. And that Harry just happened to stop him after you'd been killed. But Harry's the one he was after that night, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Is it recorded?"

"It is."

"We need to retrieve it; if for no other reason than to prevent it falling into the wrong hands."

"I agree," Lily said. "For now it's reasonably safe, but the sooner we can penetrate the Department of Mysteries and take it, the better."

"You want to break into the Department of Mysteries?" Sirius squeaked.

"Ideally, yes. If not, I'll just have you take Harry there and get it."

"Take him and get it?"

"As the prophecy refers to Harry, it is his legal right to hear it. That's the easy part. Taking and replacing the record with a fake is the difficult bit. Don't worry, I've been working on a plan."

"Which is a far more comforting to hear than any of the times Sirius and James told me they were planning something," Remus said.

"Can't say I disagree," Sirius said. He surveyed the rest of the group. "You two are awful quiet."

"We fought against V– him before," Andromeda said. "Lily and Remus gave you back to me. I will follow her into hell if that's what it takes to protect her son."

"My daughter wants to be an Auror," Ted said. "If this bastard comes back, she'll be on the front lines fighting him. I'll do anything I can to see that doesn't happen."

Sirius gave a sharp nod, tossed back his glass of scotch and slammed the empty glass on the table. "Well then, I say we need a name."

Remus rolled his eyes. "That can be your first assignment. In the mean-time I think most of us have enough to consider for one night. Can I suggest we set another meeting and table things till then?"

"I think that might be a good idea," Amelia agreed. "I'd like to think on this for a day or two and then meet again if we could?"

"I think we should meet regularly to discuss where we're at and develop our strategy," Andromeda said.

"If it's not too much to ask," Remus said, "I'd like to have our meetings here for the next while. Lily is not up to traveling yet." She shot him a look but he ignored it.

"It's perfectly fine with me," Amelia said. Gives me a chance to get out of the office."

"We're fine as well," Andromeda said.

"Thank you," Remus said.

HPHPHP

Nine-year-old Hermione Granger set her book bag on the floor and dug her gi out before heading for the bathroom. She changed quickly then made her way to office. "Hello, Martha," she said as she made her way past.

"Hello, Hermione," the receptionist answered. "How was school today?"

"Brilliant," she answered. She grabbed an apple, a piece of string cheese and a bottle of juice from the fridge under the counter. "I started my last section today. I'll be studying geometry, Latin and Dickens this month." She sat down in the chair next to Martha and started in on her snack.

Martha shook her head. The Grangers' daughter attended the private Cotswold Academy, a very posh school for academically gifted children. Students studied subjects for a month at a time in groups of ten or fewer and moved at their own pace through the section. Hermione moved through sections faster than just about anyone. The girl absorbed her studies like a sponge.

"Do you know which of Dickens' works you'll be studying?" she asked.

"I hope to get through Dombey and Son and A Tale of Two Cities."

Martha chuckled. "And how much have you read already?"

Hermione grinned. "I started Tale of Two Cities over the weekend.

Martha returned the girl's grin. "That doesn't answer the question, Little Miss."

Hermione giggled. "I only have two chapters left." Just then Hermione's father came in the office. "Daddy!" Hermione squealed. She jumped off her chair and ran to him.

He caught her up. "There's my girl!" Nine might strike some as old to be greeted like this by his daughter, but he was more than happy to indulge her. It wouldn't be long before she hit the teenage years and he'd be lucky to get a disinterested grunt out of her. He kissed her cheek and set her down. "How was school?"

"Brilliant. I got a whole hour to just read today."

He chuckled. "Some day you're going to have read all the books there are to read and you'll be sorry you rushed through them so fast."

Martha laughed. "If there's anyone who could manage that, it'll be your Hermione for certain, David."

Hermione stomped her foot. "I don't read that much!" David and Martha shared a look before breaking into laughter.

"Sure you don't, Love," her father teased.

Hermione pursed her lips at him, stuck her nose up in the air and stomped out of the office with mock anger. "There is nothing wrong with reading!"

David and Martha laughed. "Don't forget I need you to help evaluate someone for the advanced class today."

"Alright."

Half an hour later Hermione knelt on the floor and studied the boy across from her. She ignored things like the color of his hair (black) or his eyes (the most amazing emerald green she'd ever seen) they weren't important. Instead she paid attention to things like his height – small for eight. He was also quite thin, but she thought he would be stronger than he appeared. Unusually, she would be bigger and stronger than her opponent.

Her most obvious advantage though, would be skill. Her father had first put her in a gi at the age of three. She had been coming to his dojo with him ever since. The last two years she he'd been practicing for two hours five days a week. She knew this boy, Daniel was his name, had only been practicing for a bit more than six months. She could also read that he was nervous. Most likely, like the last dozen or so boys she had helped her father evaluate, he would be hesitant to fight her. These were the lessons taught by a former SAS Officer of Her Majesty's Armies and the 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist Judoka.

Exceedingly bright child that she was – though she'd only been told she had done extraordinarily well, she'd not once scored lower than 157 on an IQ test – she was beginning to suspect her father was teaching another lesson with these evaluations. One directed at the boys; who in a few more years time would be looking to date his daughter. Namely, if you mess with my daughter, she will mess you up. From his position kneeling opposite her Daniel smiled.

She didn't smile back.

Her father stepped onto the mat. "Attention!" Hermione jumped to her feet. Daniel did as well. "Bow to Sensei!" Both of them turned and bowed to her father. "Bow to opponent!" They turned and bowed to each other before assuming a ready stance. "Begin!"

Hermione darted forward, grabbed Daniel's arm, ducked, shifted her hip and threw him. He landed flat on his back with his arm caught in an arm lock.

"Halt!" Hermione let go and backed away a step. She stood rigidly with her feet just more than shoulder width apart and her arms crossed behind her back. "Get up!" her father barked. Daniel quickly climbed to his feet and faced her in a ready stance again. Hermione mirrored him. "Begin!"

Five minutes later Hermione's father barked, "Halt," for the fifth time. Hermione released the lock she had on Daniel and backed away a step. Once again she stood with her feet just more than shoulder width apart and her arms crossed behind her back. "Get up!"

Hermione frowned, wondering how much longer her father was going to let this go on. Daniel climbed to his feet and once again assumed a ready stance. Her father stepped to him, bent and whispered in his ear. Hermione maintained the stoic continence she'd been drilled so relentlessly in. While this action by her father was new, it did not take a rocket scientist to know what was happening. Daniel was being challenged to stop coddling her because she was a girl. Most likely he was also being given some bit of advice on a weakness he could exploit against her.

Finished with his instruction, her father backed away from him. Hermione assumed a ready stance again. "Begin!" Once again she didn't hesitate in attacking. This time however her opponent was able to counter her throw and escape. She stalked him. They came together and a series of tugs, counters and attempted throws were exchanged before she managed to sweep his leg. Before she could capitalize on it he rolled away and was back on his feet. "Better," her father said. They closed again and after a minute or so of wrestling with each other she managed a one-hand reversal. She pressed the attack and had him in a submission wristlock a second later.

"Halt."

Once again she stood and waited for Daniel to be ready. He climbed to his feet and faced her again. Their latest exchange, coupled with the glint of determination in his eyes told her he was done playing noble. At the same time she could see he wasn't angry about being beaten by a girl. In fact, he was grinning at her. It earned him a point of respect and she couldn't help smiling back.

"You're really good," he offered.

"After six years of practice, I would hope so."

"I'm still going to throw you."

"Begin!" her father barked.

They closed again and inside of a minute she had executed a perfect two-hand shoulder throw. "You were saying?" she taunted before releasing his arm.

He climbed to his feet. "I didn't say it would be today."

Half an hour later, without Daniel having managed to throw her once, her father finally called a halt to their practice. Hermione stood facing Daniel with her feet apart and arms crossed behind her back. Daniel mirrored her. "Daniel," he asked, "what have you learned today?"

"Apparently, how to fall, Sir," he answered. Hermione couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her. Her father shot a look at her before focusing on Daniel. "You learn more being humiliated than you do humiliating others," Daniel offered.

Her father nodded slightly. "Perhaps a bit of a harsh assessment, but true for today." He focused on Hermione. "And you?"

"Not all my opponents will fall for the same tricks more than once."

"He almost got you there before you reversed him, didn't he?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very good. You can go warm up the class for me. I'll be along after I speak with Daniel's guardian."

Hermione focused on Daniel, giving him a quick bow. "That was fun. Thanks."

He gave a rueful laugh. "That wasn't fun. But thanks anyways."

HPHPHP

Author's notes:

Some more changes to note. Hermione's mother remains an oral surgeon. Her father, as you can tell from the story, is the owner of a Judo Dojo. Also, I don't know why, but I just couldn't seem to work in a description of Hermione till later in the story. But in honor of Noma Dumezweni, who was cast to play Hermione in Cursed Child, my Hermione is also of dark skin. Her father is of African descent. We'll meet her mother before long. She is of Indian descent. I can find no canon info from JKR on Hermione's parents names so I chose my own. David for her father and Malala for her mother. I named Hermione's mother for Malala Yousafzai, the young Indian girl targeted for death by the Taliban.

And for anyone looking for an interesting story, head on over to Nifty Niffler's page and check out The Beast Within and Unity in Diversity! Actually, check out all her stuff. There are some really great reads there if you've not yet found your way to her page.