Harry and Hermione's Unexpected Family Ties
**OO**
A/N: Thanks to my wonderful Beta, LtsHrIt4ThBoyz.
**OO**
Chapter 15 Site for Sore Eyes
**OO**
Daisy made a shooing motion at her mate, and Dobby asked to speak to his friend. Alone. So Harry and Dobby went for a walk to talk, just the two of them.
"I feel bad about neglecting you Dobby. Ever since school started, I feel like we haven't taken two minutes to talk. And now, the winter holiday is almost over." Harry shared. They were heading to London just before the end of holiday in fact.
"Master Harry! You talk to me everyday, and ask how I am feeling. You make sure that I am happy; that Daisy is happy. And that is why she asked me to ask for some time with you."
Right. Wizards were more patriarchal, something that house-elves accepted, and worked with, but they were matriarchal.
"Oh? Is there something Daisy needs?" Harry asked, concern on his thirteen-year old face. He still hadn't learned to wear any masks, and Lord Black was not teaching him.
Probably due to his own horrendous childhood; Dobby was unwilling to suggest that Harry change. No one wanted Master Harry to turn into a poor copy of Draco.
"Before you be going to the Potters Will reading. I just wanted to ask you. May Daisy have…that is we want…you see, a child would be…"
Harry remembered something they learned in Magical Creatures, and thought it was horrible that people like Dobby and Daisy were listed in those books.
"You want to have a child? I give you my permission to have as many as you like! Please let me know if you need me to hire extra help while Daisy takes a few years off."
The look of horror on Dobby's face was priceless. "Daisy take off a few days to recover, but not need years Master Harry." They would share in the baby's child care, but house-elves were used to carry on their duties with a young one in tow.
His nervousness had him reverting to the patois of the house-elves, and Harry felt a great need to have him be more relaxed; reassured.
They had just been wandering around the area and wound up in the men's bazaar. Harry walked over to a veggie dealer, and overpaid for English cucumbers.
"You take these home later on, these are for just you and Daisy, and let her know I said yes. But don't tell Padfoot I gave these to you, alright?" Harry asked.
Dobby loved the treats, but Daisy absolutely adored them. They were easy to grow in England, but hard to grow in the dry soil of their tiny back garden that was mostly the pool.
Harry would later jot down the idea of enchanting a greenhouse to simulate the cold, dreary nature of a London day. Perhaps that would work.
Harry knew that once Sirius heard about this, he would give the elf some cucumbers as well, and wanted Daisy to have a lot of the house-elf version of chocolates.
Both elves were special people, and had been through terrible times. All four family members in the house were recovering from trauma.
"So Dobby? There are a lot of books about human babies. Emma was showing them to Hermione and I. I think she was teasing that it's never too early to learn, but I think she was just trying to scare us. Are there any good books about house-elf baby care that I could read? I'm going to be an uncle after all."
Dobby burst into noisy tears, and hugged Harry hard. One of the expat British wizards shopping nearby, offered to lend Harry his cane to beat his servant into behaving properly.
Harry didn't mean to push him down with the sudden dust devil that swirled up, but no one else seemed to notice it was magical.
"No thank you sir, " Harry intoned in a fruity posh voice, offering the man a hand up, "I just need to take him home. He is clearly overwrought. Bad form to beat servants."
"In public, yes. Thank you, young man." The wizard shook the offered hand after Harry helped him up.
Harry winked at Dobby, and they were indeed popped home so Dobby could share the good news with his mate and sneak the treats into her apron pocket for later.
Dobby would tease Harry then about buying him a fancy cane in order to beat his servants properly. Harry just maturely stuck out his tongue.
**OO**
The next few days were going to be difficult for both Harry and Padfoot. After several delays, it was time to hear the Potter Will. James and Lily's Will.
Ragnok had met with Sirius himself, the day before the Will Reading with two dark stones in his hand.
The goblin king held out what appeared to be black life stones, "As you know, the Wills for Charlus and Dorea were read thirty days after their disappearance due to pressure from Minister Bagnold, Director Crouch, and Dumbledore. They were concerned the elder Potters had been turned to inferi. Nonsense! A life stone doesn't gain a spark due to that, and the Goblin nation knew it. But they were insistent that for the good of the economy, it was essential to declare them dead and move on. I have personal theories as to their true motives, but only supposition, not fact."
Sirius looked away, "What are you trying to tell me?"
He turned back and gave a closer look at the stones and asked permission to cast at them. They were indeed linked to his adoptive parents.
"I am saying that your inheritance from Charlus and Dorea was real, and they have not been seen since they went missing years ago. You could ask a Seer to consult the dead, but that is not without price. I am merely warning you."
'And no one said anything back when they first disappeared?' but Sirius wasn't realizing that both he and James were very young at that time.
They were considered children by goblins. And they appeared to be completely in thrall to Dumbledore, and with the war on, the goblins feared trying to create a third side or split the defenses. A mistake, surely.
"What was there to say, Lord Black? It is just…odd."
Sirius nodded, unsure of what the crafty goblin meant. The life stones, sadly, looked as dark as his name to him. But he wasn't a goblin.
**OO**
Moony was coming to hear the Wills of James and Lily Potter read, as were the Weasleys. Ron again was mentioned in the Potter Wills, as were Arthur, Molly, Sturgis Podmore, and several other members of the Order of the Phoenix. Including a bewildered Severus Snape. Sadly, the list included people who had passed away, and unusually including the new Minister of Magic. Interesting group.
The one bright spot for Harry was getting to finally meet his godmother, Alice Longbottom, in person. She and Frank were being treated by a new potion regimen. And they were getting better every day. They still had a ways to go to be 'healed' but there was every reason to believe they would at least approach independence again. It was Cousin Severus' brilliant potion invention that was helping.
Woah. If someone had told him that he was going to wind up related to Snape and liking it, in first year? He would have told them their crystal ball needed to be retuned, was cracked, something.
Harry's black mourning robes with the House of Potter and Black sigils were ready. In Egypt, gold colored robes were worn for this sort of thing. Instead, Britain wore black. They wore black for weddings too, well, at least the wizards did.
No wonder Severus liked Britain so much. He was wearing the local robes until they came up with a darker color! Harry told him that and earned a slap on the back of his head. At least this time it was light.
Was he ready for this? No. Not really. But he was Gryffindor, and would see this through.
**OO**
Hermione took Dobby aside, "When are you going to tell him the truth?"
She was fingering the necklace Harry got her last year for Valentine's. Her tone was light, laughing, but Dobby's face showed his fear.
Dobby tugged his ears, "Mistress Hermione?"
Daisy shook her spatula at her mate, "I told you."
Dobby looked chagrined. "But, but…"
"Don't worry about it, Dobby. It's going to be alright." Hermione hugged him. "My parents told me after they figured it out."
Dan and Emma had taken the numbered jewelry box to the original shop and asked about matching accessories. They were shocked to find out how expensive this jewelry was. Hermione had been wearing a small village's worth of wealth on her neck, and it hadn't been stolen when she was kidnapped.
She had told them repeatedly it was a facsimile, but the owner had sniffed, and said that each piece was oath-sworn genuine, and he authenticated the necklace on their next visit for free.
They both felt that Harry was an honest boy, after hearing him talk about it, but that somehow he had been pranked. They unfairly blamed Padfoot, who was completely innocent of it. Well, in this case.
Hermione had deduced just who the prankster was this time.
"Just, well. Let it go for now. But I don't like keeping secrets from Harry. But this is more of a prank than a secret. Just know, we'll tell him. Not today.
"Someday."
Hermione winked and walked away.
Dobby slumped in relief. He wasn't worried about Harry being mad, he could deal with that. But feeling betrayed? Dobby didn't want that. Now? It was just a little prank, something the house was full of.
Just like the love, laughter, and hope for a brighter future for them all.
**OO**
Goldrub would be helping out with the Will-reading. At some point after this, the family hoped to be able to find the Potter lands. Lord Black had tried apparating to where he thought the house had stood, but he was used to apparating into the house. He had had no luck on his own.
The wily goblin had found an old map, so if all else failed, they at least had some starting places to look.
Spurnik appeared especially mournful during the Will-reading. His son-in-law and daughter wore their armor and stood guard, but there were no Death Eaters here. Well, other than Snape. Since his mark had disappeared, he had even been known to wear robes with the sleeves rolled up.
The bequests had gone well. Severus had to hide a tear, being given a private letter from Lily, and a public apology from James for the way he'd acted in school. The twenty-five thousand galleons to help fund his own shop or research was one way to say 'I'm sorry' that Snape couldn't ignore. He accepted gratefully.
Dumbledore would have gotten a mere thousand galleons for the Order if he wasn't dead. The Potter Heir would be allowed to keep or distribute that gold, and planned on giving it to the twins via the charity auction for Hogwarts they were having to buy permission for pranks.
Narcissa was so evil!
Ron wound up receiving enough gold to fund him going through a Mastery, though the gold was to be managed by Spurnik. No splurging and buying new racing brooms each year. The Weasleys were incredibly touched by the smaller gifts for each of their other children and themselves.
Meeting Alice was wonderful. Rather than talk at the bank, the Longbottoms, Grangers, Harry and Sirius went out to dinner after they were done there. Narcissa and Severus had been invited, but declined in order to get back to Hogwarts.
Frank gave Harry a funny look when he asked if Daisy and Dobby could come, but Alice saw what was going on. She had been best friends with Lily after all.
"Your friends are invited to an elf-party with Clive, and our elves. They will have fun, I assure you."
Harry looked dubious, but both Daisy and Dobby seemed happy with those plans. This wasn't Egypt where people dined with their own genies, imps and other non-humans. At least Frank hadn't offered his cane to hit them.
Neville and Harry had been exchanging letters every other week or so. Harry was taking far more classes than Neville, but had less homework per class. The Potter lad (and he liked being able to use his own name here) could tell that Cousin Narcissa was really trying to improve Hogwarts. But there was no way he was giving up Enchanting where he was.
His first term project for that class in Cairo was the equivalent to a NEWT project at Hogwarts. No. He wasn't going backwards.
Another thing that happened as part of the Will reading was that the so-called Death Fidelius was verified as ended. If Dumbledore was the one to cast it, well, it was broken now.
And no, he didn't want portrait Dumbledore telling him how disappointed he was that he wasn't claiming any more fame about Moldy being gone. Riddle was gone, Fudge said Lord Thingy was gone, and everyone believed it. Oh, of course Fudge was gone. From office that was.
Sirius pranked Fudge very, very well. Fudge wanted Sirius' support for re-election, so Lord Black hosted a fund-raising party at an infamous pleasure palace. The sign-board out front wound up in the Daily Prophet.
'Partiers for Fudge!'. The pictures were blurred, and inappropriate for children.
For some reason, the Ministry elected a new Minister. Elphias Doge, who also was given a gift of gold from the Potters during the reading. His platform was school reform, better control of dangerous magical creatures, and improving relations with the muggles to avoid their all-seeing eyes.
Elphias might still be a bit confused on exactly what a muggle camera was, but he didn't want to be fined for doing magic within its view and hired a team of muggleborn witches and wizards to prevent any British magicals getting caught.
Their job was to map out places all over Britain that were safe to apparate to and from, without breaking the Secrecy laws. They were put in Arthur's department.
Director Weasley was given a nice raise for managing such a large group. He was also directed to listen and learn more about the muggles from his new staff. Especially with all of the muggle versions of magical pictures!
Baby steps. Hopefully someday, these young people would become the Directors of their own departments. But the number of muggleborns now working in the Ministry was starting to grow for the first time ever.
**OO**
Sirius and Alice were named Harry's legal guardians per the Will. They worked out an agreement over this, since they lived so far apart. Alice just asked for visits whenever they came back to Britain, and left Sirius the important job of raising the boy. Well, getting him through the teenage years. And Alice knew that he had the Grangers' support in this endeavor.
She had her own teenager to look after, and though her health wasn't the best, she wanted to make up for lost time as much as possible.
That meant that Lord Black was Regent Potter. Officially. And it was a heavy burden for the man. Charlus and Dorea Potter had not updated their Will after taking Sirius in, so he only had a small gift, whereas James tried to share the Potter legacy half and half with Sirius. Much to Dumbledore's distress.
That had not happened, but Sirius had his own small fortune at the time, and was the designated Heir of House Black, skipping Orion, so James had stopped fighting about it.
They would both be Lords of their Houses, if they all survived.
**OO**
Padfoot looked at the vault key in his hands. Charlus and Dorea were the only real parents he had ever had, and then only for a few short years.
Harry patted his back in sympathy, but he wanted the door to be opened. Hermione poked Sirius. "It's going to be alright. We're here for you."
He turned and gave her a watery smile and opened the door.
Spurnik and a dozen guards were there, but they really didn't expect trouble.
Sirius finally turned the key, and opened the vault. As expected, there were trunks of gold on one side, and decades of armor and armaments on the other, but tossed in the very front were some curse-breaking books, journals, and a portfolio of sketches.
"This appears to have been tossed in quickly. If the manor was under attack, maybe one of the House-elves brought it here."
Sirius wanted to call for Juniper, but would quiz her and the other elves later on. They were all busy at Hogwarts, and for the most part, Sirius was happy with that.
For now, he put the precious documents in an empty carry-all that he had brought with him. He'd been unsure of what they'd find.
Spurnike spoke up, "Most of the Potter gold is invested, but Fleamont Potter insisted on keeping at least fifty thousand galleons of hard currency on hand in case of troubles. I can't tell you the number of times Dumbledore tried to convince us goblins of the necessity of that gold being used for the war. But I'm sorry to say, James was never Lord Potter, only the Heir. The Lord and Lady rings should have returned here upon their deaths."
Spurnik was unwilling to say that he was concerned that black magic of the inferius curse was causing those rings to stay on the Potters' hands. He and Goldrub disagreed on what exactly had happened and had a small friendly wager that might never be paid out. Forever a mystery.
Harry looked around, and saw something that appeared to be horse barding, but was sized wrong. Was that cutout for wing-flaps?
He had seen various medieval style pageantry on the television; this looked like it. Were those Potter colors? Black, red and gold?
"Yes, the Potters used to raise Pegasi, but with Charlus' interest in Archeology, he did not continue all that. That's flying equipment, as you can see." Spurnik shared.
There was history here in the abandoned tack that was never built for a normal horse, the lances, the arms and armament. Some of the items were stored in neat rows, shrunken chests, and bookcases. Other things seemed to have been tossed in; the most recent additions, surely. Tossed in willy-nilly; while the Potter parents were under attack, Sirius realized.
Lord Black turned away; this was all too much for him, and he stared at Spurnik who was watching over Harry.
The goblin had brought guards here, but there were no fights, not this time,
Sirius wanted to sit down somewhere and read, and left Harry and Hermione to peruse the vault without him. He gave directions before leaving.
"Heir Potter can't remove any gold, but please allow him to take anything else out." Sirius requested. "I'll be in the conference room you reserved."
The rules of the vault would not allow even the Lord of the House to remove any gold before he was twenty-five.
Sirius found the portraits of Charlus and Dorea. The rest of the family portraits seemed to be snoozing, the Potters' portraits were static, unmoving. Oh no!
Sirius would have to find and hire a professional painter. Maybe he'd have better luck in Egypt. Sirius was a dab hand at sketching, but had no interest in painting professionally.
Harry was taking his time. They had a plan of visiting the dragons here after the vault visit, though Goldrub was insistent that Harry not 'borrow' one this time. The king's orders.
**OO**
Emrys Point, Wales
There wasn't much time left of the holiday, but a couple of the more interesting items found in the vault were the family grimoire and the Ward book; the former of which, of course, had the coordinates of the main gate to the Potter lands in Wales.
Harry wondered what kind of creatures lived down in the vaults, as some of the pages in the ward book appeared chewed.
Goldrub hired Spurnik's children as part of the guard contingent. They were not leaving Sirius and Harry unprotected just in case there were some kind of booby traps left behind by the attackers.
All known Death Eaters had had a fair trial at this point, but who knew if there were lurkers in the background. Hoping for a chance at revenge.
Sirius touched the wrought-iron gates that were on hinges that connected to two massive stone pillars. Griffins, so realistically carved, it looked as though they were ready to burst into flight to protect the place.
Alas, they were just stone, and had been unable to render aid to the Lord and Lady when they needed it most.
"I remember when Dad - Charlus -, keyed me into the house wards, 'This is your home, son, just as though you were born to the House. You will always be welcomed here.' This should have been your legacy, Harry. The manor was big enough for all of us; James and Lily and your siblings; their spouses and children, my wife and future progeny, you and yours. Charlus and Dorea should be at the head of the huge table at dinner, sharing tales of adventures from their youth, and us sharing the latest prank ideas. It was all taken from us."
Harry patted his back, "Sirius, the only thing here might be ruined lands and a house. Just stuff. Mum and Dad are safe, and happy, and we'll be reunited with them someday. Gee, I didn't think of it then. I didn't see Grandpa Charlus there. But I got the feeling that those allowed to visit with me were limited, when I was there, temporarily. Hermione's grandfather had snuck in to see me. Sorry. What I mean is, your future doesn't lie in ruins, Padfoot. I'm here, Hermione's here in your life, and the Grangers. You have family."
Harry wasn't going to mention Severus and Narcissa. Everyone had been very well behaved for the wedding, and Padfoot had not pranked the newlyweds. But they would never be close.
"You're right, Harry. Sorry. We'll call the elves once we're closer, but Death Eaters somehow got in here. It's just hard, is all."
Sirius' touch opened the gates, and while he strode down memory lane, Harry took in the sights of his first home.
**OO**
The bones of the old manor still stood; nothing but siege weapons could have taken that down.
Juniper was shaking her head. She had been commanded to pack the library and get it to safety during the attack, and the other elves each had their own orders.
The history of the Potter family had been preserved with the portraits, books and so forth.
"Why didn't one of the elves save them, then, if you were there?" Sirius moaned in grief. This had been his first ever home, and the dark magic of the attack still lingered all these years later.
"Juniper tried! Jam tried!" Looking down, Juniper's cheeks greened, and ashamedly she stated, "We be dis…disobeying," she whispered. "We all wanted to, but they be taken, not being here when we returned. We tried to follow, tried to find, and couldn't. We couldn't feel them anymore.
"After we finish with manor and our last orders, we went to James. Terrible Mistress Lily free most of us - give us clothes like we were worthless, and sent us to Hogwarts. Juniper managed to bond to Master Harry when he was just a baby, so sorry about that, Master Harry, but Juniper not wanting to be thrown away like rubbish."
Harry comforted the distraught elf, but he had a question. "Why didn't I ever see you at Hogwarts, then?"
The elf pulled her ears, "Master James tell Juniper she had to mind Dumbledore before bonding. Juniper tried to fight it, but Evil Headmaster too strong. Almost as strong as you be now."
"Juniper, wouldn't you be happier as the head elf of Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
She nodded, "Being in charge of lots of elves is what Juniper is good at. Maybe Master Harry rebuild here one day."
Harry looked around, the feel of old magic still in the bones of the place. "Do you know how this attack happened with such great wards?"
Juniper pulled her ears, and started to wail. Sirius came over and barked an order for her to stop.
"You know something. Tell me!" Sirius commanded.
Harry gave him a sharp look; but his order got her talking.
"Headmaster Whiskers doing something; Juniper not being able to tattle before, Master Sirius. Thank you.
Dumbydore being here for dinner, asking Master Charlus and Mistress Dorea to join his order. Jam told me when serving soup, he saw a rat jump out of his pocket.
"Master Sirius pull many pranks, and Juniper not listening to Jam. Thinking it was prank. Then attack started, and Master Charlus asked Dumbledore for help. He summon firebird and left!
"Juniper thinking he bring back help. But hims never come back. Hims never came back!" Juniper wailed, knowing that Dumbledore was feared by even the dark one himself.
Sirius paced around, Harry looked grim, "You don't think…"
"Don't I? And Dummydore could claim innocence if he was caught with Wormtail in his pocket. 'Oh, just a little prank from the Marauders.' He brought a Death Eater inside the wards! We didn't know Peter was a traitor, but you can bet Dumbledore did! And then invited them in!"
Harry had an "ah ha" moment, as Sirius shoved the ward book into Harry's hands."Look! The control rune has been chewed. Attacked, betrayed. Oh, Harry!"
Harry held his godfather as he grieved. This was so sad for Sirius, but for himself, not so much.
It would have been nice to inherit a large home, big enough for generations of magicals, but he was happy with the life they were building in Egypt. He didn't want to live here, and the dark magic was just so…depressing.
"We need to get you out of here, Sirius. Come on. Let's go back to the shop. Let me make you some tea."
Padfoot held his ward closely for another minute, "Oh, so we're back in Blighty and now you think tea can solve everything?"
"Can't it? Well, it can't hurt. Come on. The dark magic here is making everything worse. Gives me an idea for another enchanting project. Dark magic cleanser. Can I use you, like the muggles use male models? Your beard is really wicked."
"What, as an advertisement to beware of Dark Magic? Or an antidote?"
"Umm, maybe we could have you go blond for the Black magic." Harry liked the dichotomy of a Blond Sirius for Dark magic, and his dark good looks for the Light. Sirius had no end of female admirers at school, though if he was dating, he had not done so openly. Not yet.
They both laughed weakly at Harry's jest, and Sirius let the team know they were heading back to the shop in the Alley.
Neither one was in a hurry to return to the Potter lands.
**OO**
The last day of the winter holiday, Narcissa invited the Grangers, Harry and Sirius to dinner. She couldn't invite Hermione without the Granger parents and Draco refused to have muggles in Malfoy Manor.
So Narcissa rented a private room at the Three Broomsticks and made it clear to Draco he was welcome, but if he said one nasty thing to Dan or Emma Granger, or Hermione herself, he'd regret it.
Considering that he'd kept his nose clean all the first term, Draco didn't want to start on any nasty detentions. Besides, it was only a dinner.
The meal was very formal, until Narcissa had done her best to draw everyone out a little. There were so many rumors about what happened to Dumbledore that he was asked again and again about it.
Finally, he'd had enough, "You do know that he planned to put you and Hermione together?" Harry accused.
"WHAT? A mud…muggleborn? Her parents mucking up the manor?" Draco spat without thinking.
Emma and Dan had not been introduced to the boy, as he had rushed in at the last minute.
Dan was wearing Dagworth-Granger House robes, as was Emma. He even had a prank wand at his belt the twins gave him to complete the look.
"The very thought!" Dan pompously stated,
"Though with the young lady at table with us, you really should apologize. You almost called her the 'M' word, Heir Malfoy." Dan intoned frostily; with more haughteur than many a pureblood magical.
Draco cleared his throat, "My words were hasty, and spoken without thought, Miss Granger."
Professor Flitwick, also invited for the meal, winked at Dan subtly and eyed the boy, "You do know that we have recently discovered that Miss Granger and I are related?" He would keep Dan's identity secret until it was funny to reveal it.
The Marauders might have been a bad influence on the half-goblin.
Everyone knew about it, there was a huge article in the Daily Prophet. It didn't hurt that Harry Potter was in the picture, though he kept trying to escape, but Hermione would pull him back and smile at him. Then he would smile a crooked smile at her, clearly completely besotted, Flitwick smiling indulgently at Potter and fondly at his new-found niece.
Draco had forgotten.
"You need to rethink your prejudice. Miss Granger and I are of the House of Dagworth-Granger. My father was never disinherited, you know."
An Heir, a magical Heir, appearing within three generations. They were both suitable.
"I will not marry again, so Miss Granger is my Heiress for the House. And she is under my protection.
Draco never put together that her actual parents were there, he was focused on the suddenly dangerous Charms professor with pointed teeth, and looking far more goblin than normal.
Draco went red before he went white. If he didn't start breathing, he would be going blue. Patriotic colors for muggle Britain, but it wasn't a good look.
"You're her Champion?"
"As is Ragnok. Aren't we lucky?" Flitwick purred, the growl unmistakable.
Moony came in just then, "There you are, Draco! I was to give you an update if you decided to come to dinner. Dan, Emma. Hi Hermione. Sorry, I got caught up at Hogwarts."
Moony was all innocence, but Padfoot caught his wink. Moony was a changed person since Dumbledore's death. They couldn't find any alchemical or potion remains, but daily, Moony was starting to see that just maybe, Albus hadn't been the great wizard they had been led to believe he was.
Draco stood and bowed, "Please accept my apologies. I will retire ere I continue to dine on my pedal appendages. Good evening."
Hermione smiled sweetly as Draco left, giving him a jaunty wave.
"He's never going to forgive me for going from a muggleborn to an heiress, you know." Hermione shared with everyone. "I'm so grateful to be going to a different school."
Moony took Draco's seat and vanished the remains of his dinner. A house-elf popped in with a new plate, taking away the old one.
"Thanks. This is lovely, Narcissa. Thank you for having me."
"You were supposed to walk Draco here and prepare him."
"Clearly, all of this is my fault. I am most sorry." Remus bowed his head.
"He apologized, and was embarrassed. At thirteen, I would hold onto my ideas and never let go. It shows he's thinking." Sirius shared with everyone. "And he stopped himself."
Narcissa gave Remus a sharp look, but said nothing more. Severus left shortly afterwards to check on his godson, but a bit of humble pie for dessert wouldn't kill him. And it did show that despite the progress, they had a ways to go before putting the teens together for a trip.
Maybe by summer, things would be better.
She could hope.
**OO**
The March Wizengamot meeting saw a very interesting investiture. It had taken time to track down the family ring, but Minister Doge was happy to review the documentation for the restoration of a family seat.
He rather thought that Dagworth-Granger-Potter-Black would be a mouthful if the Heir in twenty years turned out to be a son of Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. But that wasn't the issue at hand. There were still a few blood-purists out there.
It reminded him of the carnival game he'd played recently. A little mole figure popped up its head, and the goal was to strike it before disappearing.
These people needed to be struck hard and repeatedly until they got the message.
"There are real problems to solve out there. Hunger, lack of shelter, lack of other resources. And you are complaining to me because a beloved and honored professor is going to join the Wizengamot to add his wisdom? Look at how many houses out there are without heirs? Without proper Regents? Please. Choose better causes to champion. If you trust him to be with you children on a near daily basis for months on end, I think we can endure a few hours twice a month or so."
The grumbling didn't stop completely, but he was listened to. And many members had fond memories of the cheerful professor.
Having the Head of House ring on his hand proved his bloodline.
Filius Flitwick wouldn't change his name, any more than Draco would if he had inherited House Black.
But he did sponsor many muggleborn apprentices over the years, and from that point on, offered them a chance to become part of House Dagworth-Granger that he had inherited through his squib father Richard Granger. His, and Hermione's view was 'the more, the merrier'.
**OO**
The assassin from the guild happened to be one of the best. The guild only accepted honor contracts. And this was certainly the case here.
Most of the guild were vampires, but he, like a few others that rejected Wrerx, were goblins.
The Prince and Head of the guild was an honorable vampire. Years ago, during the age of discovery in the early part of the century had seen it decline. Assassinations bought and sold for gold, not honor. But the tide had turned, and a new "Prince" of Egypt ruled in the shadows.
"The last of them is truly dead?" The secretary demanded.
The goblin could smell she was in polyjuice, but he knew from long experience who this witch really was. Did she enjoy going out, looking like her great-grandmother? Perhaps so. Better than being gawked at like the veela she was.
"Yes. I questioned each one, as I was told, and the last tasted death cursing he was the last of his cursed clan. Haha. Clan, bah! False clan for kinslayers. You can tell Ragnok I expect a bonus."
"I don't know what you are talking about." The witch stated, handing over a small bag worth far more than it appeared. The goblin assassin had been well paid. This was his bonus.
"I know." He pulled it open, and smiled pointed teeth. "The Gitz clan is no more. Those terrorists are gone."
"If we could only root out the seeds of hate that started it in the first place. Can you do that?" The disguised veela asked sincerely.
The assassin shook his head, "Killing a man or goblin is one thing. Killing an idea like this, however bad, relies on a different power than I have. Love. Caring for one another."
The woman nodded, "I tried to keep my boss a secret. How did you know?"
"I didn't know for sure. Until just now."
The woman pulled her wand to obliviate him, but he was gone. He was under oath to keep her secrets, and he would.
It would take time for the pain and distrust to completely go away, but seeing a muealim walking beside a group of students of both human and goblin helped. And their society, with the poison purged, could move forward.
Just as they were doing in England with their Dark Lords now gone.
**OO**
AMA
The school year ended the last Friday of May, but the weekend before that hosted a fair for the parents.
Several student projects were on display that had gained the notice of their instructors. Working as a team, Harry and Hermione, with the permission of their Enchanting Professor Ericka Eiríksdóttir, had done it.
Harry and Hermione had made a portable well and were displaying how it worked.
"You see? If we don't key you in, the strongest Mameluke can't carry this off." Hermione asked Aufrer to try, and he grunted, but the circle of stones didn't budge.
"But once you are the authorized owner," Harry tapped the key stone with his wand, and called forth a waiting teen from the same clan that had rescued Hermione. He gave a soft embarrassed laugh, feeling odd, and Harry asked him, in careful Arabic, to pack the well.
The boy followed instructions and soon a miniature well was in his hand.
"Now, please set it up again," Hermione asked, repeating the request in French and Arabic for the people watching.
He did so, and then tapped the rune for water.
He lowered a bucket that appeared to go down to the length of its rope (but in actuality was only a few feet), and pulled it up, full of clean cold water that was shared around with those watching.
There was a smattering of polite applause, and the crowd moved on to the next display.
﷼"Thank you, thank you very much. You will save my mothers much work."﷼ the youth stated.
﷼"You are very welcome, Ahmed. Go in Peace with your well. We will bring more to sell soon."﷼
The pair earned not just an 'O' for the project, but earned a citizenship medal from the headmaster of the school.
And next year, Harry would be old enough to do carpet races. Yes!
And maybe in Engineering, they could learn a better way to do this project. But even as it was, it would help the people they had made friends with in the desert.
**OO**
Right now, this tribe was trading water from their well for animals, but they couldn't do too much, too soon, or they would come under unwanted scrutiny.
Harry was on a mission. He had seen the way that Dan and Emma had been treating him since Yule. Something had changed, and he was worried that it had to do with Draco. That they would be happier with him as a son-in-law rather than Harry since he was wealthier.
That was not at all true, but teen insecurity could manifest in the strangest of ways. Harry had been wanting to help others, that was true. But he also wanted to make money doing it. Win-win.
It would take time to earn those earrings, but earn them he would. And show Dan that he was capable not just of having money (like Draco) but that he was good at creating wealth like his grandparents and great grandparents.
There was no other witch that Harry wanted in the world, and one day, he would ask Hermione to be his wife.
**OO**
In reality, Dan had been a little amazed that Harry had gotten a trinket for his daughter worth that much, and when he asked Spurnik about it, got shouted at.
"Your daughter had best not get used to receiving such legacy adornments each year, or there won't be a legacy!"
Dan had wanted to talk to the boy about not needing to show Hermione his affection through sparklies, but it seemed to be a small part of the genetic feminine code that they needed at least small tokens now and then. So, he wound up confused, and unsure of how to give advice.
Talking to Sirius about it all had been less than useless as he had laughed so hard, the man fell to the floor.
What was a mere muggle to do?
**OO**
With NEWTs and OWLs review for DADA going well, the Headmistress pulled Professor Lupin in for an interview.
"My cousin seems to think that you are a prankster." Narcissa folded her manicured hands neatly on her clear desk. Far cleaner than Dumbledore ever kept it.
"I'm sure Bella does, though I doubt a wee firstie troubled her much."
"I meant Sirius. How can I offer you tenure if I am worried about the castle blowing up?"
Tenure was something that Dumbledore eschewed as once a professor had tenure status, unless he or she did something truly illegal, it was nigh impossible to sack them.
"Tenure is something I am very interested in. I have not created any pranks on school property, if that is a concern."
"Professor Trelawney has been offered a position teaching Seers. She's been successfully treated, and will be moving back to the castle soon.
Moony had heard rumors about the woman learning Occlumency. It was helping keep her Sight in check wonderfully, and she had given up her sherry drinking ways. But Remus was trying to focus on his boss' words.
"Sirius has generously offered to buy me a home of my own anywhere in the world, including another Hogsmeade home, if I allowed you to stay in that house. That Black townhouse has been refitted for your needs, and is perfect for you. It is yours, regardless of whether or not you accept my next offer."
Moony had to step up to the window a minute to hide his emotions.
"Sirius has been a good friend to me. As have you."
"This is not friendship, Professor Lupin, but good business." The headmistress stated succinctly.
She would deny she had ever had a crush on the Marauder when younger.
Remus nodded, "Right. Good business. So long as I keep my prank-making away from school? I can make a magical oath or sign a contract, as you prefer."
"Lovely. I thought it might be a sticking point. You chose wisely."
Remus was handed the standard contract that he knew well, having dreamed of this for 'some day', but truly never hoping it would be him chosen. He double checked: nothing hidden in it, and happily signed and initialed the codicil. No prank making inside the castle.
Did she forget that the Shrieking Shack was not inside the castle? Nor was her own home?
"I hope to work together for many years, Professor. Good day."
Everyone on staff who had proved themselves now had tenure, and the Board of Governors made it a rule that any professor who had taught more than three years was to be evaluated to see if it should be offered.
No more saving the budget by taking advantage of dedicated teachers.
**OO**
A small stink bomb went off near the Astronomy Tower, bothering the snogging couple, who came out choking.
Lupin, who had been walking the other way, was snagged to help to try and find the pranking culprit.
He cast his wand about and picked a random direction.
He hadn't wanted the sixth years' snogging to get too heated. He'd signed a contract not to make pranks in the school.
There was none saying he couldn't use them.
**OO**
End of Year Exams, Hogwarts
Minerva McGonagall was not a happy kitty. She'd been summoned to be chaperone and witness.
It was time to nip this problem in the bud now before it turned into a Devil's Snare.
"Miss Weasley, do you have any idea of why you are here?" Professor Flitwick demanded.
"Did I fail my exam? I thought I did alright."
An 'EE' at the top of the paper showed her that she did indeed pass, and with a decent grade.
"Look at the name!" Flitwick growled. He liked this girl not at all, and she smelled…off. She was scheduled for more care, and that was the only reason he did not advocate for her to be homeschooled. The way she had labeled her test though was beyond the pale.
"So? I know there's a contract somewhere. Dumbledore himself told me so."
"Have you been talking to him again? Is that why that corridor had to be fumigated?" Professor McGonagall queried.
The frame had been pranked so that anytime the man said anything, it smelled like a stink bomb had gone off.
The student remained quiet. The Charms professor always knew when she was fibbing.
"I need to try and get that picture moved. It's dangerous."
"Dumbledore is a great man!" Ginny declared.
"Enough! My niece is in love with Harry Potter. If you do anything, I mean anything to hurt her again, I will end you. That is not a threat, but a promise! She has faced danger at his side, and helped save our world. She daily works to improve the lives of others. What have you done? Oh, yes. Released a basilisk on a school full of children, and tried to get your own brother killed. You know it is only by Divine Intervention that he was not!"
Ginny folded her arms, and looked aside, "The diary had a compulsion charm. I couldn't help it. It wasn't my fault."
"That sounds very rehearsed to my ear, and has no remorse whatsoever. I'm writing a letter to Hermione and asking her to revoke your invitation to the theme park." Flitwick stated.
"You can't do that!" Ginny barked, "I've earned it! My grades are good enough. Ron is going, as are the twins! It's not fair!"
Minerva came over to see what the issue was. Oh. Instead of Ginny Weasley on the test, it said 'Mrs Harry James Potter, Ginevra of House Potter and Black.'
"This is the test paper that goes to the Ministry to be registered for grades. Ye cannot do this! It will reject it, and give you, Miss Weasley, a zero."
"The only way to get this grade recorded is to redo your name." the half-goblin stated.
"I haven't submitted mine, but I only glance at the names!" the woman paled. "Ach! Detention for a week. Do ye realize the amount of work ye caused with these shenanigans."
"I have submitted a request to the headmistress. I want you out of my class." Flitwick shared, not at all happy. "Good day."
"Come with me, Miss Weasley. I need to pick up a few exams along the way, but we have a home visit in store for ye."
She made a copy of Flitwick's exam with the false name, and made a copy of her own when she got there. She hadn't noticed the 'Ginny Potter-Weasley' on this one. Her 'O' mocked the professor for not noticing the name. Others included Mrs Potter or Lady Black.
How dare she!
Ginny didn't seem to understand the fuss. She and Harry were destined to be; why was everyone so mad?
Clearly the healing she had received at the Luxor was slipping, and Ginerva needed additional help - desperately.
And something needed to be done with Dumbledore!
**OO**
Diagon Alley, Quarters above the future Prank shop of the Weasley Twins, first week summer holiday for Harry and Sirius
Spurnik had arranged for them to stay at the flat above what was destined to be the prank shop that Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Weasley twins would own. The twins would wind up with the majority proprietorship eventually, through their own hard work.
Moony too was earning equity in the business through his genius ideas.
It was perfectly safe now, and the two elves had the place looking like new.
Sirius was looking at the diagram of the Egyptian dig site that Harry had seen in his vision. Fascinating. Hermione had found a pensieve in the vault towards the front, and he and Harry were going to look at memories when the teens got back.
'Stasis chamber for Egyptian grain storage.'
Everyone assumed it was a tomb that the Potters were looking into. It apparently was some kind of long-term storage facility. The transcription above the entrance was 'In case of Great Need'. In Egyptian. It had been transcribed and translated.
Hermione entered the room, and Sirius showed her the quote. Harry was smiling. Clearly they had fun on their lunch date.
Harry would tell Padfoot later about the fire in an out-of-the-way corridor. Hogwarts was still in session, but it was OWLs this week. Take that, Dumbledore, and now maybe he'd keep his dating advice to himself. If the portrait survived.
"Oh my, I need to talk to my mother. There was a story of Joseph, how he interpreted a dream of a great famine that was coming to Egypt. They saved up the extra from seven years of great harvests in order to survive seven years of want."
Emma went to her room and returned with her well-loved Bible.
"Mum, does it say in the scriptures how they stored the excess food?" Hermione asked.
While the ladies did some research, Harry looked at the pictures.
"This is like our water project in a way, Padfoot. Magicals helping the non-magicals in a way that is hidden." Harry opined. "If they were concerned about secrecy during Biblical times."
It was well before the Statutes of Secrecy, and there were famous court magicians in public back then, according to History class. And in the Bible.
Sirius nodded and then shouted, "Yes, yes!"
He had found the coordinates on the map. It had been unplottable, but that didn't mean the owners couldn't write down where the location was. Just no one could find it randomly.
"We need to get Flitwick to join us this summer, don't you think?" Harry asked.
"The goblin terrorists wanted to find this site for a reason. This is amazing magic." Sirius confirmed.
"Engineering, technology, technomancy…" Hermione was looking at the plans with curiosity. "Harry! Look at this! I think this might be a stasis chamber. No wonder the Potters were attacked. This is a lost magical art. If your grandparents had learned how to recreate this! Oh!"
Jars of corn and other grains from this era, sealed in these chambers, had been found. Seeds planted, sprouted, and herbologists had recovered plants long thought extinct.
"We need Professor Flitwick, and you, Harry, and likely you too, Hermione. And me of course. Dorea and I have the same lovely, pure blood flowing through our veins."
"Is that why you stole the last rasher of bacon? Entitled, I knew it." Harry teased, dodging his godfather's hand that wanted to ruffle his hair.
**OO**
The rest of the school year was spent with everyone working hard.
Flitwick indeed chose to spend some time with his newly found niece, and instead of taking a student apprentice that summer for a project, he decided to work with Hermione, and use the coordinates to see if they could open the Potter dig site.
**OO**
While Harry spent time with Sirius, Hermione was spending the day with Professor Flitwick, rather, Uncle Filius. Emma was at work so that Dan could also enjoy this time for family.
She was so glad she wasn't a student at Hogwarts where she would have to be formal with him!
They planned to review the memories stored in the beads. Daisy had made popcorn for them at Harry's request and brought imported butterbeers.
That beverage had a bad reputation in the area due to its name, but Harry had a rebranding idea to sell them at the Giant Wyrm Races. Hehehe.
Filius took out the first bead and put it in the pensieve-like device.
There was a scene of happy domesticity. Richard Granger, a young man in this memory, was holding hands with a goblin in fancy robes and they were repeating vows.
Dan was shocked that this was his own grandfather - he had never seen pictures of him this young!
The feast had a pickled boar's head, though some of the locals looked askance at the pork products, but also had more traditional wedding foods from the local area.
The next scene was the promotion that Filius' mother got. They never heard her name, even in these private memories, but she was one of the people hired by the Potters to work on their private dig.
Charlus looked so much like Harry, no, Harry looked so much like his grandfather.
Hermione sniffed tears seeing her younger beloved Papa working with his wife, and puzzling out the meaning of some of the carvings on the walls.
So smart, so clever, both of them.
In the earlier memories, both his and Charlus' hair seemed much more tame than in some of the later memories; their getting cursed wasn't shown. Actually, it seemed like several people had wilder hair after that. Dorea was seemingly safe, though.
Then came a memory of why Richard wound up with the beads. As she made new memories, she was adding them to her treasured necklace.
"I want you to wear this, my heart, to keep safe from our curse-breaking activities. You're carrying my love, my joy, and me when you wear this." And she kissed him, and put the necklace around his neck!
The bead in the machine showed that daily little ritual, and showed him at night, giving it back, saying that once again, he had kept her memories safe.
Then their little bundle of joy arrived in the form of Filius. The couple was so very happy.
Flitwick was brought near to tears more than once, both happy and sad, and clapped as he watched himself take his first steps.
There was even a party for Dorea's thirtieth birthday, and Hermione promised herself that she would share that with Harry. Dorea had cut a piece of cake for all the children, including baby Filius to enjoy. Not caring one whit that he was part-goblin like some of the other children.
There were even some memories of watching Goldrub and Filius race their toy sand dragons, clearly close even as tots. That was the last of the memories.
"This is priceless to me, my dear. Thank you so much. We could have lost this treasure many times, in many ways. I didn't think to see my parents again until the afterlife."
It was clear from the interactions with Charlus and Dorea that they were on good terms with the people working for them, but not close friends. There were other goblin/human couples, likely why this dig was one of the places hit by the terrorists. Though the Potters had clearly kept the nature of the site quiet, as there was no mention of stasis chambers in any of the memories. Well, Filius' mother was likely under oath, and being careful.
The only reason that the diggers' find was now known was due to discovering Charlus' meticulous notes on the dig.
Such a shame that so many died in that attack. Goldrub survived, as did his parents because his family had moved after being threatened; shortly before the attack. They left just in the nick of time.
Even if anyone had known that Richard Granger had survived the attack –which they might not have been told about– there was no was no way for them to know who Filius was or which clan he belonged to without checking at Gringotts.
Dan, in going through his grandfather's things, found receipts that showed Saint Martíns had been paid following the attack. In fact, he had only paid a portion - the majority was covered by the Potters but he had given something to the sisters there to help other squibs in need.
Hermione had borrowed Sirius' pensieve in order to share some of her memories of her great-grandfather, including his final words about his first wife and beloved "lost" son. This had made her wonder, would Filius want to see the attack? He had asked Harry about this experience in putting on the Heir ring. The story had been talked about after their escape on dragon back.
Maybe not, but the memory from the ring was a part of their family history. It would be kept safe for any who wanted to see it.
Hermione had purchased a good-quality bead to record that memory on, and asked Uncle Filius to help her figure out how to store that memory on a bead for future generations.
She could also add it to the family grimoire, but had not decided whether or not to do that since Filius' mother's death was shown, and it was rather graphic.
Not something to be viewed without warning. Happier memories were better. Then she had the idea of creating an edited memory that showed part of the attack, but left off the most violent parts.
It was a worthy project.
**OO**
Summer Holiday
Visiting at Yule had been one thing: They had stayed at Narcissa's house in Hogsmeade with Professor Lupin. Now, they were going to be going on some tours with everyone. Including Draco!
"Harry, I am very sure that Dumbledore lied to you about Draco having a crush on me." Hermione stated.
Harry nodded agreement, as he put another dagger in his boot. One sword, three daggers, two extra wands, his shrunken staff on his back, and the Sword of Gryffindor in its sheath at his waist. Oh, and his original wand.
"I'm not worried about him, well, not much. I'm worried about Professor Snape's fangirls. He's got his Order of Merlin, now, he's healed the Longbottoms, and he's working on something new for people like Ginny Weasley."
Hermione didn't say a muzzle, though she thought it. "That's good."
Draco showed up with Gemma Fawley. She was going to be a Prefect the following year, and had been invited along as well.
"That's such a lovely necklace." Gemma admired. Hermione always wore it.
Narcissa came out and smiled, not saying a single word.
"Are we ready to go to see the Welsh Dragons?" Lady Prince asked.
"I'm not sure. Can you please tell Harry no dragon flights today?" Hermione stated.
Gemma laughed thinking she was joking, but stopped when she saw the girl's serious face.
"Just so. Well, Potter, Granger? Ready for this? Emergency potions? Portkeys?" Severus asked.
"Tickets?" Sirius asked, handing them all out before passing around the rope portkey.
"Let's go! And Harry, no riding the dragons, unless you take me." Draco insisted.
"You're on!"
**OO**
Narcissa was happy that Miss Weasley was in treatment for she had heard a rumor, passed on to her by Severus that the girl had started to stare at Draco of all people before blushing and looking elsewhere.
No!
The girl clearly still had issues that needed addressing.
**OO**
The day had finally come. Sirius had decided to hire some of Aufrer's people for this jaunt. No offense meant to Ragnok or his people, but it was goblins who had attacked the Potters, and just in case there was some pureblooded, entitled goblin out there that felt this site should have been theirs, Sirius didn't want to bring him along with them.
That had been Dumbledore's method of killing apparently.
Nothing he had done with the portraits had worked. Three different experts said nothing was wrong, and checked on the other Potter paintings. Those now hung in Black Villa, happily chatting with Sirius and Harry, though several of the witches kept forgetting about the curse.
Harry was getting extra reminders to do something about his hair.
Professor Flitwick was there, dressed in local clothing that protected from the sun and heat. They had Dan's family sized carpet, and the Mamelukes joining them had their own much speedier ones.
They had taken a portkey for part of the way first, but then the rest of the journey was by carpet.
The trip out was fun, and they even saw Forsasha and some of her friends on the way out to the dig.
To Harry, they had gone from one sand dune to another, but Sirius had built some kind of detector. In appearance, it looked like an animeter, but was clearly scanning for something else.
Sirius sat in the front with Flitwick, and they made a motion down. Hermione was the first one off the carpet –she had slowly been overcoming her fear of flying by taking a low-dose calming potion, beforehand–; with Dan and Emma getting a hand up from a helpful Zahra. The Prefect was sworn to secrecy, but after being left out of Hermione's rescue, wanted to come along for this adventure.
She was studying to be a curse-breaker, and was a volunteer.
Sirius and Hermione were consulting a copy of the diagram of the dig.
"I hope we don't have to go back for the original." Sirius stated. He'd been afraid of losing it, but what if it had some subtle magic in it?
Harry though was closing his eyes, and listening. Hermione came up to him, and he put his finger to his lips.
After a time, she whispered "I don't hear anything."
"No animals? Nothing? The desert is alive, Hermione. This place is too quiet.
She nodded, and walked along the edge of a huge sand dune that seemed to reach up at least thirty feet.
What if the entrance had been covered by drifting sand? The memory of the party showed a rock face, but it wasn't tall.
"Harry? I have an idea, but we need to get everyone back." Hermione's grin was manic, as she rolled up her sleeves in preparation.
Sirius turned around, and started running for the carpets, laughing and calling in the guards.
"Careful everyone! A powerful sorceress has an idea, and she's sucked up my godson into it."
Emma looked unhappily at her daughter before heading to the carpet.
"Are you sure about this?" She asked Filius.
"That child is special, Emma. And I think I know what she wants to do."
The rest of the team made their way up and away from the two powerful teens. They in turn linked arms.
And did the sandstorm spell, for the first time ever at full power.
**OO**
Flitwick helped summon all of the dirt out of Hermione's hair with a miniature version of the spell she had just done. It left it in soft ringlets as well,
"Oh, I like that! I wish I was a witch, and could learn how to fix my daughter's hair." Emma complimented.
Zahra also nodded, and complimented the teens on finding the door.
Now was the tricky part as they wanted to un-ward a blood ward, not make it strong enough to last a millennium.
Sirius started to have a funny feeling. Not a bad one, just an odd one. He remembered the last memory from the Potters, thrown in an empty potion bottle, a silvery thread in the wrong container.
It was of Charlus, his adoptive father, engaged in battle, the house on fire. And nothing was working to allow them to escape; not apparition or floo, or anything. Not even popping with an elf, and they all tried, crying and pulling their ears in distress.
Then he remembered something. The look on his face was desperation. He pulled out a strange amulet from his neck. It had an Egyptian rune on it, like a Gringotts vault, but it was bigger.
Sirius remembered that - it was a memento from their former profession in Egypt.
"Charlus, No! It's insane!" That was Dorea, pleading.
"We'll die if we stay here. Dumbledore has abandoned us. Help isn't coming." Charlus replied, eerily calm in the calamity around them.
The fire encroached, the memory stopped. And nothing more.
Flitwick grabbed the animagus and asked permission to cut his hand. Everyone with family ties, even Dan, added blood to the keystone, as Flitwick intoned what should be the unlocking phrase.
﷼"Yuftah!"﷼
The door opened, and the curse-breaker wouldn't let anyone in at first. Then Zahra took out her own strange device, and declared the air free of toxins and the oxygen level was normal.
Muggle torches and wands were lit, and Zahra was given the honor of going first.
They came to another sealed door. Hermione saw that this one had the same runes as the stasis chambers on Charlus' diagram.
They went through the opening ritual again. This time though, after a time had passed, they heard voices. A man, a woman, from inside the room?
Padfoot motioned Harry and Hermione back, and the guards forward.
﷼"Adwa!"﷼ A man's voice called out, and Sirius gasped in surprise and shock.
The door was wide open, and lights suddenly flared from both inside the cavern and all along the hallway.
A man's voice shouted from inside, "Who goes there? I'm armed!"
Sirius gasped, "James? James?" Sirius knew that voice, no, it couldn't be James; Harry had seen him in the afterlife.
Then, a quavering voice called out to them, "Sirius? Is that you? Oh no! How long have we been in here?"
Sirius went around the corner to come face to face with the last two people he ever expected to see.
Standing there in front of him was Mum, Dorea Potter, his real mother. She appeared to be the same age as when they disappeared. Wearing the same clothes from the battle shown in that last memory fragment. Still covered in the dirt and debris of the fight. And next to her, was Dad. Charlus Potter.
Still very much alive.
**OO**
The End - thank you for all of the kind reviews and supportive notes. Our friends here are the reason why we post our little drabbles here.
Thanks to all those who left story recommendations too.
**OO**
A/N: Story recommend: Your story recommendation here -
**OO**
A/N: I love all of this great author's stories but one of our favorites is this:
Story recommend: Great story by dunnelos Through the Wormhole
Harry Potter was unhappy with his life in Post-Voldemort Great Britain. Tired of the threats and expectations, he agrees to go through the Veil to help the DOM learn more about it. And there he meets the Prophets. They send him back to DS9 with the Sisko. He has a lot to learn about where he ended up. Now finished with Year One of DS9. Possible sequel to come.
s/12729635/1/Through-the-Wormhole
**OO**
A/N: Story recommendation by our friend dunnuelos Dumbledore's Next Great Adventure Part I. VB says: One of my go-to stories. Just lovely.
In a Universe where Albus Dumbledore responded differently, he dies as a respected figure on June 24, 1991. He then is asked to go to a new universe and fix the mistakes of his alternate. What a mess. No Pairings yet (Not Canon). Year One Complete. Sequel will come - eventually.
s/9824342/1/Dumbledore-s-Next-Great-Adventure-Part-1
A/N
Alexandria Magical Académie (AMA)
ƺ parseltongue
₲ galleons
₰ sickles
ķ knuts
Matka - mother in goblin
Ɠ Goblin language
﷼Arabic language