Thanks to: Cal, Judal Hiwatari, Colin Creevey, Vyxien, SeveraSnape6 and Guest for reviewing!

Questions:

What do Al and Lily think about Harry (and his actions)?
Albus is more forgiving, he thinks Harry is a good guy doing his best but has still made some terrible mistakes and poor choices trying to do that, he's tried to convince him of things in the past to no success so is happy Harry agreed to the alliance and is hopeful he's moving in the right direction, he's also sympathetic considering Ginny's death. Lily is less forgiving, she finds how he treats her patronizing so as a result doesn't really like him much so is more critical of his actions, she blames him for a lot of things including Ginny's death and while glad he made the alliance it doesn't change her overall negative opinion, she thinks he's too stubborn to change his mind and sees no point trying

So the key to the Rippers journal is Varanians blood?
Maybe

If Harry caused an end to the alliance by- say- dueling with Varanian and it's totally all Harry's fault, what would Alaric do if he's unwilling to fire him?
Alaric would come down hard on him and arrest him for the attack, he'd have to as he'd need to use it to send a message to Varanian that they condemn Harry's actions in the hope of rekindling the alliance. He values the alliance more then Harry right now and as they have a way to root out the spies he at least knows who isn't a Shadow now, he'd feel like he doesn't have a choice even it's very not ideal

What's the deal here (Scorpius and his family)? Would he prefer it if his family were all murdered?
Scorpius hasn't stopped caring about his family, he just expects an argument so he subconsciously keeps putting it off

"Well at least that's over with," Varanian commented after apparating them back to Hogan's place, breathing out a sigh of relief, "With any luck they'll deal with those spies soon, it'll be interesting to see how the Shadows respond if at all."

"Yeah," Scorpius found himself agreeing with both sentiments.

"I want to go work on some stuff and you should really consider working on your apparation at some point, it's an essential skill."

"I will," Scorpius agreed, feeling his teeth bare and his face burn at the thought of setting aside some time to fail repeatedly at the most basic of magical tasks. He was sure he saw Varanian nod in acknowledgement out of the corner of his eye but he couldn't bring himself to so much as look at him, in the next second Varanian popped out of existence and he was alone, "Calderon? Calderon can you hear me? I can talk to now, the meeting is over."

Silence.

Scorpius sighed, just his luck. He gave it a bit more time, attempting a few more times to speak to his cousin but was met with nothing. Somehow he wasn't surprised, he didn't think he'd ever managed to successfully speak to Calderon and still wasn't even sure if he could or not. Finally he conceded defeat and went back into Hogan's home.

"-theoretically I suppose you can but I also see no reason to rush," Hogan was saying to Molly as he went inside, the old healer heading upstairs as he spoke while Molly remained at the bottom, "And bring someone with you!"

"What's that about?" Scorpius asked of her, feeling a little concerned and he could've sworn she scowled briefly.

"I wanted to visit my grandparents' house," Molly admitted, stepping towards him and folding her arms, "Flan said I should run it by Hogan so I did."

"You want to go to the Burrow?" Scorpius wondered, confused why Hogan would want her to bring someone for that. He'd also been under the impression she wasn't up to facing her family yet.

"No, I mean my other grandparents' house."

"Um… Aren't they dead?" Scorpius inquired in confusion, her other grandparents were Roman's parents and he was pretty sure they were very long dead.

"Yes, that's why I said visit their house not visit them," Molly pointed out as if it was obvious, "Roman mentioned a while ago Magnus might've left something there for me, I think it could be important. My grandfather was a Seer too, remember?"

"I remember, I just also remember he died when Roman was a child so I'm not sure how useful anything could be," Scorpius said, worrying he sounded harsher then he meant to and maybe this was more of a sentimental thing he should maybe be supportive of, "I mean, if you think it's worth it then we should still go but Voldemort was still the issue of his time. I can go with you if you like, maybe when you've recovered a bit more."

"No, don't worry about it," Molly brushed it aside and started to head into the front room, Scorpius hastily following, "Anyway, how did the meeting go?"

"... following the most recent Shadow attack on Coventry, the Ministry has released a more positive statement…"

The blaring voice of the anchorwoman coming from the large flat screen television stuck to the wall was surprisingly cut off, a loud woman's wail in reality slicing through the compressed audio. Austin Latimer's dusty-haired head swiveled along with the majority of the people standing around in the waiting room to watch the broadcast, he caught a brief glimpse of a blond woman rushing out of the room before turning his tired gaze back to the screen as the newswoman recaptured his interest.

"… thanks to information from Gray, we have managed to arrest over two dozen suspected Shadow spies…"

"Sure you have," Austin scoffed disbelievingly, shaking his head and finally turning away from the screen.

Austin sipped the last of his bland coffee as he strolled away, tossing the paper cup in the trash as he passed it by and shoving his hands into his hoodie. It was hard not to feel like the Ministry were just lying about getting help from Gray to make themselves look more competent, it was certainly possible the direness of the situation had pushed them to put aside their differences and work together – especially with Hermione advocating such a thing – but he wasn't willing to stake their lives on it.

He walked through the sterile halls back to the equal sterile NICU ward, the neonatal intensive care unit for babies which he had become intimately familiar with the past month. The walls were lined with cribs sealed in a transparent kind of box and typical muggle hospital machinery, thrums and beeps were a constant backdrop that he hoped wouldn't drive the babies mad because it sure as hell drove him mad. There were also curtains in between each set that could be closed for privacy - rather drab shit colored ones at that – and comfortable armchairs by each one.

The place had actually been rather empty, or empty of patients anyway because the staff obviously were there and were bustling in and out frequently. He supposed that was good as it meant less sickly babies, there was a new one that had been born a few days ago but before that it had been a few weeks since the last occupant had gotten to go home. The new baby was actually closest to the door and he was surprised to see the mother – at least he assumed she was the mother – sitting beside it, not because she was there but because she was crying. He was pretty sure she was the woman he'd seen leave the broadcast in tears, maybe she had relatives there? That thought made his heart pang painfully.

As tempted as he was to console her, he just kept walking. There was a reason Annie and Varanian's kid was in the furthest corner to be as far away from everyone else as possible, keeping to themselves was safer considering the Shadow risk and keeping this baby safe was his priority right now. He returned to the child and settled himself back into the armchair that had become his home, naturally the infant was winging unhappily.

"What's up, Thorny?" Austin wondered of his charge.

The baby was still incredibly small, as if someone had just wrung out a normal one, leaving it wrinkled and lacking any meat on its poor little bones. The name tag reading 'baby boy Thorne' wrapped around his ankle was half the size of his leg, he also had a bunch of wires hooked into him including a tube on his face to help him breathe and obviously had a diaper, also a hat. What he looked like outside of that varied from moment to moment, the young metamorphmagi was rather like a chameleon and often took on features – particularly colors - of whoever was around him. Though he still cycled through looks at random by himself, he didn't seem able to stay as one for very long. His health was pretty poor, he needed help to keep warm – that's what the box did – and to breathe, he also couldn't swallow so he was fed via tubes as well. All things he needed to do to leave the hospital, and live, but also all things that really only came with time and a month wasn't enough.

Despite his health issues, 'baby boy Thorne' had a surprising amount of personality for a newborn which Austin hoped was a good sign and the staff had noted was very unusual. When Lat was born all he ever seemed to do – aside from sleep – was cry and poop, not this kid though. This kid hated staying still, he hated his hospital equipment and he hated hats. Austin knew this because he was always wriggling or squirming, currently the kid had half-managed to roll onto his side leaving him at a weird angle. He'd try to move his head away if you were attempting to put a hat on him and try to remove it once on, he was also always trying to pull off the wires keeping him alive. He'd even used his metamorphmagi ability to this end, shrinking his head slightly so his weak uncoordinated arms were able to dislodge the hat or altering his body to make the wires detach. The latter was particularly inconvenient as they were keeping him alive, thankfully they'd always been able to fix it in time.

"Did you miss me?" Austin asked, reaching through one of the circular holes in the box to take the baby's hand – or arm, his hand dwarfed the little guy's – which had been trying to claw at the breathing tube, "Huh, Thorny?"

The baby stopped to glance in his general direction, eyes taking on the same reddish brown as his own. He didn't have a name yet - Austin thought it would be rude to name someone else's child – and they'd wrote Annie's last name on the tag as it seemed safer considering Varanian was well known as the leader of Gray so he'd made a nickname for that. Not that it really mattered, the kid couldn't understand a word he was saying but babies still liked being talked at and he liked coherent sentences.

"Your Daddy was mentioned on the news today, pretty cool huh?" Austin continued and tapped at the photograph he put in the box, the one of Varanian and Annie. He thought it was good for him to see his parents – he often took on appearance from them as well, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the picture or genetics or what – and with any luck, he may recognize Varanian to some degree whenever he got to see him, "Do you remember your Daddy? Are you going to see him soon?"

The kid winged again, flailing his free arm in the general direction of the photograph – though Austin was sure that was just because he tapped it – and trying to move the other which was trapped under him. Austin sighed and repositioned him on his back so it was arms were free, making sure the wires weren't tangled. He also checked on that rock Annie had given him, after nearly losing it several times he'd also opted to put it in the crib – staff assured him it was fine – for safekeeping. It was safer then losing it surely because he was sure he would otherwise.

"Is that better? See how much better it is when you don't screw it up?" Austin wondered as the kid began waving both his arms aimlessly and kicking out his legs happily, he felt another pang of sorrow, of course it wouldn't be long before he tired himself out and fell back asleep, "It's okay though, Thorny, we all screw things up sometimes. Some of us more than others- I'm pretty great at myself, hopefully you won't be but you're a baby so you get a pass. Enjoy infancy while it lasts, it's the only time in our lives where we can do whatever the fuck we want without consequences."

The baby slowed down in his movements, instead starting to wriggle and whine again. Austin reached back out, caressing his head gently with his thumb and the kid tried to grab his hand, his hand being half the size of his whole body. Lat had never been quite that small, he'd been cuter though but Austin acknowledged he may be a tad bit biased there. Slowly he felt the kid start to relax, it was a poor substitute for cuddles but it was the best he could do since he mostly needed the incubator.

"Not that there's much to enjoy being all not well but that's life, she's a bitch like that," Austin continued saying words the child couldn't understand as the metamorphmagi's eyes flickered purple as they began to close, he moved his hand away sadly, "I was in hospitals with Lat all the time too, he was sick a lot with Dragon Pox growing up after… um… after the accident. Used to sit by his side, kinda like this, barely able to touch him, kinda like this, while he drifted in and out of consciousness, kinda like this… you have a lot in common if you really think about it."

Austin watched as his charge's body slumped slightly, tension leaving him as the baby succumbed to slumber once more. He watched his tiny chest rising and falling, breathing peacefully thanks to the wires the little guy so despised.

"I think you'd really like him if you got to know him, thankfully he wound more like his amazing mother and less like his loser father. I… I'm proud of him, it'd be nice if you got to meet him," Austin said more quietly now that the kid was asleep, putting his feet up and leaning back though it didn't ease the anxiety welling back up inside him, "Considering he should be with your dad and all, I hope you meet him. I don't even want to think about what it'd mean if you don't…"

Scorpius spent the rest of the evening at Hogan's, mostly talking about the events of alliance because it stupidly didn't occur to him that the others besides Molly – who he was glad to see still talking to him - would also ask how it went and then not making sure everyone was there so he wouldn't have to explain it multiple times. Varanian only returned much later and Scorpius insisted he have some left overs before bed, he was gone by the time he woke up though as Scorpius slept much better without having to put up with Hogan counting half the night. He didn't hear anything further from Calderon, on one hand he felt bad but on another he was glad as he was eager to finally fulfil his plans to speak to Brutus without further interruption.

"Are you ready to go, Ephraim?" Scorpius asked of the nervous werewolf who would be his ride after they finished cleaning up after breakfast, the taller man started bobbing his head up and down readily, "Great then, let's go."

"O- Okay," Lamb agreed and followed him as Scorpius led him outside, he still looked anxious.

"You okay?"

"Y- Yeah, its just- just I knew people in Coventry, m- makes me worry for my dau- daughter. Li- Like if- if some place I know gets at- attacked then may- maybe her home is next."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Scorpius tried to reassure him, recalling his daughter lived in a small town, "She's going after cities anyway and on the off chance your daughter's home is attacked then we'll just go save her."

"R- Really?" Lamb wondered, ogling him hopefully.

"Of course!"

"O- Okay then," Lamb said, his head bobbing again but this seemed to quell his fears right now, "S- So you wanted to- to go to the Em- Embry's first, right?"

"Yes, just briefly to check on my friends and then the base," Scorpius reiterated, holding out his arm for Lamb to take and the taller man took his hand.

In the next instant, Scorpius found his body being compressed through space in a way he consistently failed to manage on his own. They popped back into existence outside the quaint muggle home and Scorpius wasted no time moving forwards, he knocked and was greeted by Hermione of all people who readily stepped aside to allow them entrance.

"Morning," Scorpius offered politely.

"Morning," Hermione greeted him in equal tone as they entered, she closed the door behind him, "I was meaning to talk to you actually."

"You were?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, his heart sinking at the thought of something else getting in the way.

"Yes, I don't suppose you know where Varani-"

"Nope. He said he was working on something, was gone before I woke up."

"Well then this information falls to you, you remember one of the terms is that we must make reasonable effort to reunite kids with their legal guardians?"

"I remember…" Scorpius admitted, wondering where this was going as Hermione's tone switched to the same formal one she'd used for the meeting.

"Well having looked at the number of minors within Gray, there's only three who either don't have their parent or guardian's permission to be here or reasonable effort hasn't been made to reunite them: Lily, Martha Seneca and Sebastian Libra. Lily I've taken care of – she'll be coming home with Al when he's recovered, they can at least speak to their dad – and Martha we can get away with, her biological mother resided in Hogsmeade so is out of reach or deceased and all other known family members are deceased or Shadows so there's nothing we can reasonably do to reunite them. This leaves Sebastian."

"Um… isn't he basically in the same situation as Martha?"

"Not exactly, while most of his immediate relatives are deceased or imprisoned he does actually have living relatives. They rejected him before so probably will again but it doesn't matter if they say no, it just matters that we ask so you need to deal with that."

"Right…" Scorpius muttered, about to question why him but he supposed she had just asked him where Varanian was and he didn't know, "So do I have to do this right now or can this-"

"It can wait but the sooner we get it over with the better, I still need to get the addresses anyway."

"Well when you get them to me I'll get on it," Scorpius offered and she nodded as something else occurred to him, there was someone he really wanted to speak to in regards to soul and blood of all things, "Can you get the address of anyone?"

"Why? Did you have someone in mind?" Hermione inquired, seemingly catching on pretty quick.

"My Alchemy teacher, Rojer Voltur."

"Well theoretically I can look into it, depends if he has a registered address in this country."

"Okay, thank you," Scorpius nodded in understanding, "Is there anything else?"

"Good news actually," Hermione told him, a faint smile teasing the corners of her lips and reminding him sadly of Rose, "I don't know if you've heard- or if Varanian would have – but the Ministry acted on the list of names. We did a sweep of all named Shadows yesterday and enforced a mandatory wand test to clear out the rest, we'll be doing a sweep of everyone in the Ministry shelters as well today and changing the rules to rest the wands of those entering to ensure none get in."

"Wow, th- tha- that was fast!" Lamb spoke up in surprise, his brown eyes bulging.

"That's the point, act swiftly before they can catch on."

"Well that's great, good job," Scorpius offered with a smile of encouragement though internally his heart sank a little, it seemed so simple. How different would things have been if the Ministry had been with them from the start?

"I'll make sure to keep you apprised of any further developments, just remember to pass the information on to Varanian if you see him before I do."

"Will do," Scorpius assured her and she briefly nodded in acknowledgement before hurrying away.

Scorpius moved away, heading on into the still rather full hospital room but it was looking at least a bit livelier then last time he'd been in there. Sebastian, Wyatt, Albus and Byron were all visibly consciously, sitting up and engaging in conversation with those around them, Scorpius thought being more alert was probably a good sign for their respective recoveries though Professor Koray, Marigold – who was being attended by Michael - and Antonius still seemed unconscious. In addition to the patients it was still bustling, friends and family hanging around the people they cared for or maybe even acquaintances just trying to be nice to those who had no one, as well as obviously those tending to the injured of course. It wasn't loud though, conversations seeming quiet and contained out of respect for the others sharing the room.

"Hey Scor!" Albus called out to him immediately so Scorpius made his way over to him first, moving past Wyatt and Antonius. Antonius' dog was stretched out on her master's bed snoozing loudly and Cassia sitting beside him, currently beating a befuddled Wyatt at muggle chess on other side, "How's it go-"

"Don't strain yourself," Abby interjected, sitting loyally by her friend's side and scowling as Albus awkwardly tried to sit up straighter which seemed to strain him. He gave up at her word though, letting himself fall back and groaning.

"Sitting is hard when the part of you that needs to bend is the hurt part."

"How are you doing?" Scorpius asked of his friend.

"Alright, it's hard to complain when other people have it worse," Albus pointed out, his emerald eyes drifting to the others – especially the ashen Marigold - sympathetically, "Hogan says I'm through the worst of it, hopefully I can go home before the end of the summer."

"You want to go home?" Scorpius wondered in surprise that Abby seemed to share, he hadn't expected him to be eager to go home considering Lily's reluctance let alone to want to quit Gray.

"Just for a little while, don't think I want to quit Gray or anything," Albus amended quickly and they both relaxed, "After all of the loss we need to stick together, I can't wait to see them. I mean I haven't spent enough time with Freddie's little kids, Uncle George just lost the shop he founded with his twin, Uncle Bill only has Victoire left and poor Gran must be so heartbroken, no one expects to outlive their kids let alone their grandkids and Mum was her only daughter! And Dad… I mean things have been rocky with him but he must be so hurt right now, Mum was the love of his life…"

"Oh Al…" Abby said, gazing at him lovingly as he started to get choked up. She reached out and took his hand gently, giving it a comforting squeeze, "You're a good man."

"I th- think it's what she'd want," Albus pointed out, wiping at his eyes – dislodging Abby's hand in the process, she looked saddened - and taking a breath to calm himself, "You guys should see your families too, you never know how long you have. And your fiancé, Abby, Sequoia must be worried too."

"I know, I will," Abby insisted unenthusiastically, "Why don't I refill your water?"

"Um… Okay…?" Albus started to say in confusion as Abby left with the glass – which still had a good third left – off the bedside table instead of using the spell she was perfectly capable of doing, Albus sighed.

"You sure you're okay?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, I'm keeping it together, it's what she'd want and I need to be strong right now. I try to keep my mind off it anyway," Albus told him before nodding in the direction of Professor Koray in the bed beside him, "Do you know he's woken up three times now? Each time he startles awake freaked out of his mind, looking around frantically though he can't move much. You should see the way he looks at me, for a second I'm sure he thinks I'm James and he looks terrified. I tell him to calm down, it's okay, he's safe, I'm Albus and he relaxes a little then asks about his kids, I tell him they're with their mum and they're safe. He looks relieved, starts to nod and is asleep again before his head hits the pillow, he's so out of it he doesn't even remember for next time."

"Poor guy," Scorpius offered sympathetically as something occurred to him, "Has Antonius woken up?"

"Briefly, last night. Their infections are clearing so they're starting to ween off the sedation, that's why they're starting to wake. Antonius should wake up properly first, Michael said."

"That's great," Scorpius smiled in relief, sparing a glance for the unconscious Antonius.

"Yeah and they saved his leg so he should be happy, poor kid could use some good news. Hogan's mad about it though."

"Hogan's always mad about everything," Scorpius dismissed it and Albus did give a conceding nod while he spared a glance for Antonius. Cassia was still playing muggle chess with Wyatt beside him, Wyatt was either letting her win or really sucked at chess. Sebastian was in the bed opposite, Hugo was sitting talking to him. Scorpius thought he'd bring up trying to return him to his family later, hopefully he'd still be around because he thought it was good Antonius would have his roommate around.

"True, makes me miss Marigold," Albus admitted, drawing Scorpius back to their conversation, "Hopefully he'll be awake by the time I leave, it'll be cool having another trained Healer on our side too. I'm not a Seer like Molly but I reckon we'll need them."

So do I

"WAKE UP! BREAKFAST!"

Orous Knox jolted awake at the sound of his twin brother yelling through the door, each word punctuated by a bang on said door. He resisted the urge to groan at the rude awakening, it wasn't his favorite way to wake up anyway and on this particular occasion he had gotten little sleep in the first place. He felt as if he'd only just closed his eyes, the sunlight trying to fight its way in through the blinds wasn't that much stronger than it had been when he'd last seen. His partner didn't show the same restraint.

"Why does your brother hate sleep?" his long-time girlfriend, Lily Luna Potter, complained from beside him in the middle of a yawn.

He was feeling more awake instantly, becoming very aware of her very naked body still nestled against his own – there wasn't much choice with his single bed - beneath the covers. He turned his head to look at her, seeing on his shoulder scarlet strands spiraling across his frosted white flesh. She was without her ovular for once though the eyes he knew to be a welcoming shade of brown were closed, regardless he found himself smiling as he wrapped his arm around her to hold her closer.

He found her presence comforting, the warmth from her bodying pressing against his own and the closeness he felt to her right now was unmatched by anything else he'd ever experienced. He felt like they could lie there with her forever, nothing could hurt them here. She smiled.

"I don't know," Orous answered, realizing she might still be waiting on an answer. He sighed, idly caressing her soft shoulder as he looked back up at the much blander ceiling, "We should probably get up though."

"Do we have to?"

"Well if I don't get up when he calls he usually comes back in five minutes and barges in instead because he assumes I couldn't hear him so…"

"Ah, we should probably get up then because that wouldn't be so good," Lily agreed and he glanced back to her as she opened her eyes, struggling with another yawn, "Don't suppose you know where my glasses are? Unfortunately I still have my dad's crummy eyesight."

"Err… here," Orous said as he spotted them on the bedside table on Lily's right, having to reach all the way across her with his other arm to pick them up which rolled her over and put him on top of her again. She giggled as he handed them to her, putting them back on immediately to gaze up at him with a gorgeous grin he returned, "Morning."

"Morning," Lily returned the greeting, placing her delicate fingers on his chest as he leaned down to kiss her. And kiss her again as she moved her hands across his body, lacing them through his snowy white hair. You have to get up, his mind reminded him, "Do you think we have time to…?"

"No, we have to get up," Orous reminded her as she gently pulled his head closer so she could kiss him again, "Maurice, remember?"

"Ugh, goddammit Maurice!" Lily groaned and finally let go of him, he rolled off her and got out of bed before he could let himself get sucked back into the moment.

Instead he made himself think of awkward Maurice barging in would be as he looked around his room, the white walls decorated mostly with Hufflepuff paraphernalia and an overall dark wood theme to the furniture. It had the typical chest of drawers for his clothes and a desk wedged in the corner, a mixture of muggle and magical supplies resting on it along with some photographs of his family and friends. His bed was far from them in a kind of odd position as the bedside table – which also sported a small lava lamp, he found it comforting to watch when he couldn't sleep - was on Lily's side near the wall, he'd needed space when he was recovering from a spinal injury and while they'd removed the thankfully now unnecessary equipment they hadn't gotten around to rearranging the furniture yet.

Normally it was fairly neat and orderly but today it had clothes strewn haphazardly all across the thick navy carpet, he began rummaging through them for his attire. Since he was going to need a shower anyway, he figured yesterday's clothes would do for breakfast and Lily only had yesterday's clothes which were also jumbled down there with his own. He glanced back to her to ask if he wanted her to pass her some of her stuff but found she was still lying in bed, just ogling him.

"Are- Are you just watching me get dressed?" he questioned of her.

"Uh-huh, you're really fit," Lily confirmed with a nod and he felt his face flush, she giggled at this and he threw her t-shirt at her to block her view, "Hey!"

"We need to get up!"

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled as he started throwing more of her stuff to her before going back to quickly pulling his own clothing on, despite the summer weather his albinism compelling him to keep himself as covered as possible because he burned too quickly and he'd probably be outside training, "So do I get to have breakfast or do you want me to just sneak out and apparate?"

"You can apparate?" Orous wondered in surprise as he pulled on yesterday's shirt, he knew she hadn't been learning very long.

"Yep," Lily confirmed brightly as he glanced at her, seeing to his disappointed relief she'd put on the t-shirt and was now sitting up rifling through the clothing he'd given to her. Her red hair was even messier than usual, it only came down to her chin, "I can actually do stuff when I put my mind to it and you know I always wanted to apparate, was easier than I thought actually but Scorpius makes it seem hard. Don't tell anyone though."

"Why?"

"I'd just rather most people still think I can't, it's easier when people don't expect anything from you," Lily shrugged, "I mean, you heard what Aunt Hermione said about having to go home to my dad, you know the guy who still thinks I'm fucking five. It'll be easier to get away if he doesn't think I can apparate, I've done more to stop this war then he has and I'm not backing down now."

"Okay," Orous agreed as he went back to getting dressed, wanting to support his girlfriend though he found it hard to relate to her situation considering he had a good relationship with both his fathers, both supported him being Gray and were Gray themselves anyway. He was distracted again as Lily burst out laughing, "What?"

"I just thought how badly my dad would lose his shit if he could see me right now!"

"Right…" Orous muttered, not finding imaging Harry Potter's reaction to learning his daughter had just lost her virginity as pleasantly as Lily seemed to. He finished getting dressed and turned his attention back to Lily who seemed to have made no progress, she was holding her panties and scowling at the pile of clothes beside her.

"Shoot, forgot to my bra back on first."

"Well why don't you do that and I'll go down so you won't be interrupted," Orous suggested as he approached her, she glanced at him, "I'll save you a seat, if anyone asks I'll just say I picked you for breakfast."

"Okay," Lily agreed and he leaned in to kiss her goodbye, the kiss lingering as she kissed him passionately back and he had to put his hands on the bed to stop himself falling. Her bare thigh brushed against his hand, he ran his fingers over the supple flesh instead and started to wonder if Maurice would still barge in if he magically locked the door… Lily pulled away though, snapping him from such thoughts as he instead gazed into her eyes, "You were going, remember?"

"I love you."

"I love you too," Lily confirmed as he stepped back, reluctantly making his way over to the door and sparing her one last long lingering look before exiting the room.

He closed the door shut behind him and leaned back against it, taking a deep breath. Not sure why he found it so irrationally hard to tear himself away from her, he'd seen her in a minute after all and they saw each other plenty each day – even more then they had in Hogwarts - anyway. He'd resigned himself to death in order to avenge Vern, his best friend who had been murdered by James, killing his mother had almost destroyed his damaged soul and taking another life was likely to finish him off. He was fine with his decision, of course, but it left him with the feeling that any moment with her could be the last. Though he supposed if this was the last, it was a nice last to have. The thought comforted him and he smiled, pushing off the door to head downstairs.

"Hey Orous!" a voice called and he found himself intercepted by Tabitha Morse, his dad's Healer girlfriend who lived with them now. She was nice enough he supposed, "Can I um… Can I talk to you real quick?"

"Um… Sure," Orous agreed, seeing no reason not to and she was kind of in his way anyway.

"I just wondered if you know how to do the Silencing Charm?" Tabitha asked rather randomly, looking oddly uncomfortable though her tone was friendly and folded her arms awkwardly.

"Why, yes, I can."

"Then I suggest you use it, you know, the next time you have your girlfriend stay the night…" Tabitha said and Orous felt his face burn more fiercely then he ever had before in his life, he was sure he was as red as his eyes and found said eyes suddenly drawn to a rather uninteresting spot on the ground. He wondered if would open up and swallow him in his embarrassment.

"Were… Were we really that loud?" Orous managed to utter, his voice little more than a pitiful squeak.

"Well I put one up for you this time, I'm just giving you for next time," Tabitha said, sounding more confident now, "Are you aware of the contraceptive-"

"Yes!" Orous interjected in a panicked shriek, fresh flames flooding his face. He was sure he was on fire and he only fund capable of communicating through gritted teeth, "We wouldn't have done it if we weren't careful… we're not stupid…"

"That's good, it's important to do these things safely I don't think Hogwarts does a good job communicating these things to students and there's plenty of options available."

"Um-hum," Orous nodded in case she didn't understand the unintelligible sound though he couldn't look up, from the formal tone it occurred to him as a Healer she probably had experience talking about that stuff but as his dad's girlfriend he had no interest in having this conversation with her. His dad… "Are… Are you going to tell Cade?"

"I think you're the one who should be having that conversation with him."

"Right…"

"Well I'll see you at breakfast then," Tabitha offered and he nodded in relief, he hadn't wanted a conversation to end sooner in his life, "And if um… you have any questions, I exist, I am a qualified Healer so… I know things."

"I know…" Orous insisted and listened rather then saw her walk away, he let out a relieved breath when she left and relished her absence. Why hadn't he thought of a Silencing Charm? His face flushed once more as it occurred to him it actually could've been worse.

"Hey!" a more welcome female voice said cheerfully and was accompanied by a peck on the cheek, he was barely able to glance at his girlfriend, "Did I miss something?"

"Nope, absolutely nothing," Orous lied and forced a smile on his face to try spare her the same humiliation, he took her hand and saw she looked incredibly unconvinced, "I can never look at Tabitha again but that's all."

"Oh?" Lily wondered, raising an eyebrow, "Well that'll make breakfast and the rest of your life awkward."

"Probably," Orous conceded but gave no further explanation.

"Okay then," Lily laughed it off and let go of his hand, "I need the toilet so I'll meet you down there."

Orous nodded at this and she made her way into the bathroom, where Tabitha had come from he realized. He sighed once more and hesitantly made his way downstairs, towards what he realized was actually a rather enticing aroma. He heard a screech of delight and spared a glance in the front room where he saw Tabitha, she was thankfully occupied with Caradoc who was the source of the noise. Caradoc being the baby Cade had adopted recently, Tabitha was amusing him while getting ready to change his diaper. Orous moved on by and left them to it, he didn't really like being around Caradoc anyway. He didn't hate the baby, he just felt really awkward dealing with him. It was the same with Lydia – Vern's daughter – he just felt uncomfortable, babies didn't come naturally to him and he'd never had any experience with them until recently. He passed Amadeus on the way out, Amadeus being Caradoc's biological brother as Cade was also fostering the very odd five year old. Orous' own half-brother Oathan had murdered their parents, not they'd been good parents if the physical scars and obvious mental trauma Amadeus struggled with were any indication to go by.

He made his way into the kitchen, finding their three dogs drooling over the food Maurice was preparing. Maurice being his non-identical twin, aside from being the same height and having the same slight wave to their hair through Maurice's was light brown. The deaf teen had his back to him as he was shoveling sausages from the pan onto a plate, a glance at the table showed more plates already prepared with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, friend tomato and toast in the center for people to take as they pleased. Orous' stomach growled enthusiastically at the meal laid before him, though as he approached he was distracted by a map of the UK also on the table which had random locations marked with red x's.

"Can you move that out of the way, please?" Maurice asked of him in perfect English and Orous looked up, seeing his twin approaching to put the plate on the table.

'What is it?' Orous switched to sign language, while Maurice had a special necklace to translate speech to text for him to read he obviously was not touching it.

"Tabitha and I were going over the locations hit by the Shadow Master, trying to find some discernable pattern of attack in order to predict where will be hit next."

'Any luck?' Orous signed before picking up the map so Maurice could put the plate down.

"Nope, it seems completely random," Maurice answered briskly as he put down the plate, moving immediately back over to the counters while Orous put the map to one side out of the way, "However since the Ministry have taken many of their spies captive, I think the prison – when they're moved there – is likely to become a target. The Shadow Master did make a habit of destroying prisons in the past, wiped Azkaban off the face of the Earth so New Azkaban will probably follow suit. If it doesn't then I suspect she's become very unhinged, I don't know whether that's better or worse."

"Interesting," Orous commented as he sat down even though Maurice couldn't hear while his back was to him cleaning counters, explanations like that never let him forget his twin had been a child soldier trained by the Shadows thanks to their evil mother. He wondered if James would be recovered from his injuries enough to take part in the potential prison break, it'd be a good opportunity for Orous to take him out and he'd probably be weak from said injuries so easier to take down. That'd be good.

"Wow, that looks delicious!" Lily said before he saw her and he smiled as his girlfriend took a seat beside him, looking ready to start drooling like the dogs. The dogs that he realized had ran in the direction of the front door, likely marking Cade's return as the firefighter worked nights including last night, "Do we have to wait for everyone else or can we just eat?"

"I don't know," Orous shrugged as Cade returned as he'd suspected, he was tall with a shaved bald head and blond eyebrows.

"Hey, wow Maurice," Cade greeted them pleasantly though he looked very tired, approaching with the dogs that had gone back to ogling the food and likely forgotten why they even stopped, "Oh hi Lily, you're here early."

"I thought it'd be nice if we had breakfast together," Orous only half-lied as Amadeus the speeding blur made a beeline for Cade, Cade hugged his foster son, "She's basically family now."

"That's fine, you're always welcome Lily."