Thanks to: Colin Creevey, Constance, laceyowens50, HannahEscobedo, Bratwurst and IcyChains7 for reviewing!

Questions:

Is this flashforward one where Antonius is alive?
No, Oathan just hasn't realized he's dead yet. Att has Antonius' wand, he'd have to have a different one if he's in a future where his uncle is alive

Is it spoilery to ask whether Atticus is dyslexic or is he simply that illiterate because Cassia thought that being a soldier was the only necessary education he needed?
It's not spoilery and he isn't dyslexic, he really is just that illiterate because Cassia prioritized his being a soldier

Att walked- stumbling a little- back over to the far wall with the mirror and tapped it with his wand, another spell mumbled incomprehensively under his breath. To Oathan's surprise, the mirror vanished revealing some kind of shooting range stretching down what seemed like unnecessarily far, different sized targets and different colored dummies were set at different distances. Att then instructed him to aim for, at first stationary targets but then moving at different speeds, even in different directions, he had him going after different sized targets, then hitting targets while dummies kept wandering around the firing range, hitting targets while deliberately trying not to hit these dummies, trying to hit specific color dummies while avoiding hitting other colored dummies, trying to use certain spells on specific color dummies while avoiding hitting other dummies. Att seemed perfectly capable of controlling their movements with his own wand, in between checking his wristwatch and jotting things down on the clipboard.

It was harder than Oathan expected, he wasn't used to having to aim spells so far away and while it wasn't like they never had to duel, in his experience it was still different to trying to hit moving targets like this. He was finding it increasingly frustrating and more tiring than he was expecting, he wasn't used to jumping about casting spells for hours, or at least what felt like hours.

"Is this even possible?!" Oathan exclaimed after a while, breathing heavily, frustrated and fed up trying to hit a moving target the size of a grape while trying not to hit the stupid fat-headed dummies that kept idling through his field of vision.

"Yes," Att confirmed neutrally, Oathan stared at him.

"Really? Are you sure it's not some kind of trick question?"

Instead of responding to this, Att sighed and moved towards the center of the range, gesturing for Oathan to move aside. Oathan did so curiously and crossed his arms as he watched, Att rubbed his tired, heavily bagged eyes then held out his wand and those eyes locked down the shooting range with a look of intense focus, the dummies and targets sloshing around. There was a pause.

The firing range then lit up with spellfire, streaks of magic shooting with practiced accuracy, deftly weaving between the dummies to strike each and every one of the targets, he didn't even miss. Pointedly, he finished by hitting the target Oathan had been struggling with and did so with a blinding streak of green light that blasted the target off its hinges. The Killing Curse. Att ceased the targets' movement with a twirl of his long wand, only then did he lower his arm.

"Impressive," Oathan offered genuinely, deciding not to comment on his choice of curse.

"I can do better," Att said dismissively, stumbling back to his clipboard which he summoned to his hand with Accio before tapping the wall again, restoring the mirror, "W- We're just about done anyway, we don't really expect newcomers to be able to do all of the advanced levels so we can stop when it gets too difficult."

"Right," Oathan muttered, suddenly regretting his complaining and wondering if this would look bad to Cassia that her child could do better than him… not that he cared if Cassia thought it looked bad because he had no reason to care what she thought. He watched as Att holstered his wand and went back to scribbling things down on the clipboard, reminding him how strange it was for a kid his age to be illiterate, even the Shadows taught their child soldiers to read. He felt sorry for him.

"O- Okay, only one more section left," Att spoke up before Oathan could ponder too much on this, "It's just a few questions, we're nearly done."

"Alright, hit me," Oathan agreed and Att glanced at him with a bemused expression, "It means go on."

"R- Right, sorry," Att apologized and rubbed at his eyes again, "Are you a metamorphmagus or an animagus?"

"No."

"Are you a legilimens or an occlumens?"

"No."

"Can you apparate?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever killed before?"

"What kind of question is that? Isn't this supposed to be about gauging my skill?"

"Specters can't possess people who have tainted souls- not without their consent anyway- and killing is the most reliable way to taint your soul, it's relevant to know who's vulnerable to specter attacks on missions," Att explained, not looking remotely perturbed.

"Well I already told you I did," Oathan sighed and Att blushed a little, biting his lip.

"I- I know but I have to ask them in order, I'd lose my place."

"Do you ever think it might just be easier to learn to read?"

"I- I don't have time and I d- don't want to bother anyone," Att muttered and cleared his throat before jumping into the next question more loudly before Oathan could respond, "Do you have any experience or practice with spellcasting using your non-dominant hand?"

"Not really."

"Do you have any experience with healing magic?"

"Yes."

"Last question then, are you capable of any wandless magic?"

"Yes."

"What can you do?"

"What would you like me to do?" Oathan wondered curiously as Att looked up at him, his brow crinkling in confusion.

"What do you mean 'what would I like you to do?' Most people who can do wandless magic are usually only able to do specific things they've practiced."

"Well I can do pretty much anything I've ever tried to do," Oathan admitted and as Att continued to gawk at him like he didn't believe him, was it really that unusual? His family had been so isolated for so long that he legitimately didn't remember what was supposed to be normal when they had such variety of magic amongst them, "See."

Oathan put out his hands, palms up and concentrated, conjuring a fire between them. Att gasped, the different colors of the flames reflecting on his transfixed face, highlighting his amazement as Oathan effortlessly had the fire change colors- something the twins had found soothing as infants- then froze it to ice that he kept levitated in his palm, he then transfigured it to crystal (the ice was uncomfortably cold) then transformed it into a cube that he started to shrink, and shrink, until it was small enough for him to clasp within his palms. Finally, he tossed his hands up, transfiguring the cube into a flock of hummingbirds that flew out in every direction before he vanished them with a grand sweeping motion. This was usually the part Hess and Pyxis would clap.

"That's incredible," Att breathed, so awestruck he didn't even seem to realize his mouth was still hanging open.

"If you think that's cool, you'll like this. My dad taught me it," Oathan offered with a grin and snapped his fingers, willing Att's wand to come to him but… it didn't. It twitched a little at his side but remained resolutely in place while Oathan felt a sudden small jolt like static electricity in his fingers, he frowned a little and rubbed said fingers. He'd never experienced that before, "Guess I'm out of practice."

"You seem pretty in practice to me," Att said, still sounding impressed and likely not being aware of what Oathan had tried or failed to do. He scribbled a final thing down on his clipboard as his expression shifted to disappointment and he sighed, "I wish I could do that, I can't even do that thing my mom can do when she snaps her fingers to conjure a small flame to light her cigarettes. Wandless magic is such a great asset to the war."

"There are more things to life than the war, you know," Oathan pointed out, more than a little worried that was the place his mind went to and wondering why Molly had been so determined to rejoin these people.

"Not if you're a soldier there's not."

After asking his grandmother if she had any fudge and her having none, she had decided to just start making some, even though she was still working on the lunch and despite Albus trying to insist it wasn't necessary and he had only wondered. In hindsight, he supposed he should've known she'd react like this but he did at least convince her to let him help… as long as they were very simple tasks that he could do sitting. Still, Albus ended up having a good time, it was nice to feel marginally useful and he was enjoying conversing with his grandmother who was more than happy to chatter away about how the family were as she worked and coo over baby Lydia with him, often seguing into stories about one of his uncles or cousins when they were young. Vale was also with them helping, though he seemed content to listen more than contribute to the conversation despite their attempts to include him.

Time flew by and before long the others in the Weasley-Potter clan- because no one would let Albus lift anything- were carrying in plates and bowls emitting the mouth-watering aromas Albus had been helping to create, setting the table and cramming into the assorted mismatch of wooden chairs around it for them all to sit on. His grandmother had gone all out, cooking up not only a roast of beef but chicken and turkey too, there was a mountain of Yorkshire puddings, bowls of sprouts and carrots and swede and peas, a trough of gravy and a variety of differently cooked potatoes whether someone fancied mashed or roasted or even just chips. And if that wasn't enough, there were several pies cooling for dessert, chocolate mousse and a cheesecake to look forward to on top of the fudge.

"And remember, Al, you're still on a limited diet," Hugo chimed in just as Albus was about to join in the others with helping himself to some of the food, "Nothing too spicy or solid."

"I remember," Albus sighed, regretfully putting back the huge slice of beef he'd been trying to put onto his plate.

"Don't worry Al," Charla chimed up and patted his elbow reassuringly, "Baby Lulu can't have solid food either."

There was a wave of laughter at this from everyone older than four and Albus grinned sheepishly along with them.

"Yeah, don't feel bad," his Uncle George agreed, his mischievous smile on his face as he took the slab of beef that Albus had wanted, "Baby Cres also can't have solid food."

"Don't forget baby Godric," Caitlin, Freddie's girlfriend, added to renewed laughter from most of the group while Charla leaned over to whisper to Vale if he understood why everyone was laughing.

"Okay, we get it," his dad spoke up a little protectively but Albus hadn't minded, "You can knock it off now."

"Yeah, you lot are just jealous, don't have the sophistication to appreciate pureed food," Albus decided, causing a renewed bout of laughter and he smiled to himself. Man, did it feel good to be home.

Albus helped himself to some more medically friendly of the foods such as the mashed potato and some of the softer vegetables, he and Teddy split a couple of Yorkshire puds with Teddy giving him the softer bottom part and keeping the tougher edge part to himself, Albus also treated himself to some gravy as he felt like as long as it was a relatively small amount he should be able to stomach it and he figured it'd help soften up the rest of his meal anyway so he felt like the potential positives outweighed the potential negatives. He also had to stick with water instead of getting to enjoy some of pumpkin juice or even the wine that some of the adults had, not all though as Aunt Hermione and Uncle Bill both pointedly stuck to pumpkin juice. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione let Hugo try a glass of wine though, in contrast his dad snatched Lily's glass away when she attempted to pour herself some and chastised her for being 'far too young for such things' leaving her pouting in disapproval and Hugo looking guilty. He didn't think Lily would mind so much being denied alcohol if she wasn't paranoid about their dad viewing her like she was still a child, she looked just about ready to explode when their dad asked 'would you like me to help you cut up your food?' before she realized he'd been talking to Vale.

"I still don't see why Orous couldn't come," Lily sighed heavily as their dad did go to help Vale and the thrum of dinner conversation settled in around them, "Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin gets to be here."

"Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin lives here," their dad pointed out without looking up from slicing Vale's beef into small pieces for him, "You're too young to have a serious relationship."

"S- So how are Neville and Hannah?" Albus asked loudly to cover the sound of Lily's fork clattering onto the plate, their dad was lucky that looks couldn't kill. He had also promised Abby he'd ask about her parents.

"Well they're in one of the shelters," his dad said as he went to go sit back down at his own seat, oblivious to the fact Lily was still glaring at him as she stabbed at her chicken, "I've only seen Hannah briefly but I just got Neville to agree to come back as Acting Deputy Head Auror for the time being, he didn't seem to be doing too well but hopefully having something to do will help take his mind off… things. How's Abby by the way? They were asking for her."

So Albus told his dad about Abby calling it off with her fiancé and then actually went on to have an amicable conversation with his father about his recovery, which somehow ended up transitioning into a conversation about hospital food with Teddy and then morphing again into a conversation with Charla about how she found it odd both gravy and chocolate sauce were brown yet tasted completely different as well as speculating on what food would be like if you switched the two. The Burrow was filled with pleasant conversation and laughter all around as they ate away at their delicious feast, Albus was glad, it was nice for the war to just leave them alone even if it was just for a little while and they could feel like a family again.

There was only one of the Gray family members he started to notice didn't seem to be relaxing. It wasn't Uncle Ron, who seemed to be settling in fine with his family again and even seemed to have made up with his dad. It wasn't Aunt Hermione or Hugo, who both seemed to relax the more the meal went on as they let go of the worries on their minds for a little while. It wasn't even Lily, who seemed in fine spirits as long as she was engaging with someone besides their father. It was Molly. Sometimes she was fine chatting to Freddie about how great the ministry shelters were but then her eyes would drift off, her gaze shifting to a spot of nothingness but her eyes wouldn't glaze over lost in thought but instead have the sharp focus of staring at something, something that more often than not would have her shudder as she looked away except there was nothing there. He'd seen that kind of behavior before, he saw it every day now because it was exactly how Lawson would react to his hallucinations.

"Alright, alright," Freddie spoke up suddenly, snapping Albus from his thoughts to see his cousin was now on his feet and tapping his glass with a spoon to be heard over the collective conversation and clattering of cutlery as they were about to start clearing the table for dessert. His girlfriend, Caitlin, also got nervously to her feet beside him but Freddie was smiling, "Before we move on to what I'm sure is a delicious dessert, Caitlin and I wanted to make an announcement."

"Was Molly wrong?" Lily whispered to Albus from across the table and Albus recalled her saying that Caitlin wasn't pregnant earlier, he shrugged and waited to see what they'd say but did notice Molly had sat up hopefully.

"Well Caitlin and I have talked it over," Freddie continued, taking his girlfriend's hand and she tried unsuccessfully not to smile, "We've decided that after over half a decade together, over half that time living together, with three kids sharing our genes and the fact that we're still madly, deeply in love despite everything, that it's just about time we tie the knot. We don't really have a ring to show for it because of, well, everything going on right now but since when did we ever do anything in the right order? All that matters is that we know we're engaged and now we'd like you all to know it too, we all need things to look forward to and I hope you'll join us in looking forward to this very special day when we make official what we've felt in our hearts for a good long while now. I love you so much, Caitlin."

"I love you too," Caitlin whispered, her eyes tearing up.

Freddie encircled her in his arms and leant down to kiss her, not passionately but deeply and gently then they just held each other as the family applauded or cheered or offered their congratulations or one person Albus swore he heard saying 'about time' and Charla started doing a jig in her seat as she clapped excitedly about her parents getting married. Albus himself wiped a tear from his eye while his grandmother burst into a fresh wave of sobs and stood up to hug the couple, crying about her little grandbaby getting married. He noticed Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione talking quietly and hurriedly amongst themselves before he caught sight of Molly again, instead of looking happy for the couple she had instead sunk sadly back into her chair and was staring at nothing again while she swirled the last of her wine listlessly in her glass. He was tempted to go to her before he heard Uncle Ron clear his throat and saw he'd gotten to his feet too, he glanced at his wife as if in askance and she nodded despite not looking quite convinced.

"Hermione and I would also like to make an announcement," Uncle Ron spoke up and the young couple sat back down, eyes turning to them curiously. Except for Molly, who didn't look remotely interested, and Aunt Hermione herself who was staring at her hands on her lap with a look akin to shame, Uncle Ron looked like he didn't know whether to be pleased or nervous and his words came out garbled and hurried, "This probably going to come as a big of a surprise considering we're a bit older now but we're… um expecting."

"Expecting what?" Uncle George asked, not seeming to understand as he went to take a sip of his drink and Uncle Ron's ears went pink.

"Expecting a baby, you dolt!" Uncle Ron hissed and Uncle George was so shocked he started choking on his drink, everyone was looking shocked- Albus himself included, though a part of his mind clicked that it explained her unusual bathroom habits lately- except for Molly and the small children as well as Aunt Hermione who looked very embarrassed whereas Uncle Ron smiled sheepishly as he continued, "Due around New Year's if everything goes well. We know it's a bit of a surprise, it's kind of a surprise to us too to be honest but… y'know, life happens."

"Congratulations," Freddie was the first to over, leaning comfortably back in his chair, "And if you need to borrow any old baby clothes, we have plenty to spare."

"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandma again," his grandmother started sobbing again and hobbled over to hug his aunt and uncle as the tide of congratulations swept through the room, his aunt and uncle both seeming to relax at the acceptance from the family and the shame ebbed off his aunt's face to be replaced by a cautiously optimistic smile.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Uncle George announced, raising his glass and the rest followed suit even though their glasses were mostly empty or with little left, "In honor of the fact we'll soon be gaining new family members in the form of my daughter-in-law and unborn niece or nephew, a toast to new family members!"

"To new family members!" they chorused and clinked the mostly gone glasses together regardless, Charla and Vale having a delayed reaction as they tried to copy what everyone else was doing.

"And to old family members," Molly added quietly, sounding like she was almost talking to herself but somehow she was heard and silence dropped like a bomb, "To the ones we'll lose along the way."

"To old family members," they chorused much more solemnly and drank to their lost loved ones, Molly then got to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I need the toilet. I'll be back."

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" James said happily to Yannis as they strolled through the streets of the newly liberated Kuwait City, "I'm so great at this, we're done before lunch!"

He turned to glance at Yannis to hear his assent but found his slave wasn't beside him, he scowled and glanced around frantically, the Elites guarding him were still hovering around but he located Yannis a few feet behind. The slave was holding Cyrus' hand and seemingly helping him navigate the corpse covered road, James opened his mouth to scold him for this but thought better of it, figuring it'd be more inconvenient if they had to keep stopping because the stupid blind child kept tripping over bodies and falling.

"Very impressive, Master James," Yannis added in his usual monotone voice, seeming to realize James had wanted his assent and was still within earshot.

"I am impressive, aren't I?" James grinned to himself gleefully as he turned away, it was his very first liberation after all and it had gone so well. He only wished his father could see him now, see what great things he'd accomplished and there would be more to come.

They caught back up to him so he started moving again, trying to be more mindful that Cyrus was stupid and slow. Despite his efforts, either Cyrus had screwed up or these people were just very stupid as there were bodies or at least pieces of them littering the ground everywhere like garbage in pools of dark crimson blood that also splattered the sides of once beautiful buildings. They smelled like garbage too, either them or the Inferi that lined the streets like guardian statues, the rancid scent of death clung to the air so cloyingly that James had been tempted to put up a Bubble-Head Charm.

There were still plenty of survivors, he'd ordered Cyrus to tell them to follow the directions of the Soul Eaters as now they all needed to be sorted and the muggles all branded, they could obey or die. As a result there were crowds of muggles shuffling fearfully through the streets being pointed in the right direction by strategically placed Soul Eaters, their eyes were still wide with fear and many of them were trembling as they walked in small crowds around all the death, mostly silently but from others he heard quiet muttering amongst themselves and a few were sniffing, their frightened faces damp with tears. They were so ungrateful, couldn't appreciate that he was saving them from themselves.

"They should erect a statue in my honor," James declared so whoever would listen, glancing back to Yannis and Cyrus who were navigating around a rather obese corpse.

"They should, Master James," Yannis agreed, not sounding as enthusiastic as James would like but then that was just how Yannis was.

James continued walking, glancing around as he tried to see where would be a good place for a statue, wasn't much else to do since he was just supposed to oversee the boring stuff now. So he started thinking how large he'd want his statue to be and of what material, his first thought was gold naturally. It was suitably grand and fitting for a Gryffindor whose house colors were scarlet and gold, however he was worried someone might try to steal it and if gold would really last outside in the elements, or if that mattered because there might be spells they used to shield it. He also began to wonder what pose would be good, he wanted-

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud obnoxious wailing, it was coming from somewhere nearby and getting louder as they got closer, from one of these side streets. Scowling in annoyance, James started peering down lanes as he sought the source of interruption. Finally landing on the culprit being a toddler, a little boy was down an alleyway sitting in blood pooling from the woman's decapitated corpse next to it, on his lap he was clutching the severed head. He was shrieking and sobbing uncontrollably, smacking the woman's face in a frantic attempt to awaken her and occasionally whacking shaking the corpse's shoulder like he wasn't sure which part of her he needed to hit to get her attention. Of course the answer was neither as she was very clearly dead, this kid was a moron.

"Would you shut him up?" James commanded to the nearest Elite, snapping his fingers to get the man's attention and gesturing to the boy in the alley, "His crying is getting on my nerves."

The Elite nodded in understanding and immediately withdrew his wand, hitting the boy with a Silencing Charm that ended his stupid sobbing though James could still see him trying to waken the dead, confusion now spilling onto his face at the quiet. James didn't care and instead turned back to thank the Elite, however he hadn't even had time to open his mouth before he heard a yell from behind him.

Glancing around, James saw a man had broken away from the nearest group of muggles and was running towards him, yelling angry words that James couldn't understand. He didn't get far, of course, there was a bang and the other Elites had him on his knees, struggling against invisible bonds. The other nearby muggles were watching, a few looking angry now and glaring in his direction.

"Permission to execute this disruptor?" one of the Elites asked but James ignored him to glance towards Cyrus.

"What did he say?" James demanded of the boy, that was what he was there for after all.

"Master James, I- I don't think what he said was very um… impor-" Cyrus stammered out nervously.

"TELL ME WHAT HE SAID!"

"He… He asked if you were the leader then said… then said…" Cyrus muttered, shifting uncomfortably, his voice getting quieter with every word, "Y- You caused this, didn't you? You did this, you killed my wife. You killed my wife, you scar-faced bastard, I'll kill you for this. I'll kill you. Then he got silenced."

"Oh he said that, did he?!" James spat out angrily, one hand going instinctively to the new scar on his face while the other whipped out his wand, "We'll see who's scar-faced now!"

James slashed his wand violently at the man's face, the man screamed as the spell cut across his face leaving a gory gorge from his chin to his temple. That wasn't enough though, James felt his blood boiling with rage as he struck with the Acutus Curse several more times until the man's face resembled a sliced up pizza. But he still wasn't done, James weaved his wand into a more complex spell then yanked it and the skin from the man's face was ripped clean off, showing off the butchered layer of muscles beneath. The man was crying in pain now, doubled over as much as he could against the spell binding him. James let him sob for a moment, soaking up his sorrow while the small crowd watched in horror.

"Fine, now you can kill him," James spat at the Elite who quickly finished him off with the Killing Curse, he then turned to Cyrus, "Tell the muggles that's what they get for insulting me and if they don't want to be next then they should keep fucking walking."

Cyrus quickly reeled off the information to the onlookers who began moving off rather faster than they had been going before, none of them attempted to come at him. James couldn't decide whether to be pleased by their obedience or mad that he couldn't punish more of them, well at least he could punish Yannis as much as he liked later, and he would.

His hand went back to tracing his scar, was it really so prominent that it was the first thing people noticed about him? Or had that guy just making a big deal out of it to try get to him? Probably the latter, James thought, logically it made more sense and yet… it still bothered him to think it might be too obvious. Especially compared to the people around him, Cyrus and the Elites' faces were pretty much the only part of them unscarred but also the only part really visible besides their hands, Yannis had the brand of a slave but it had faded with time so wasn't as livid as James' fresh scar.

James looked at Yannis' handsome face, if he gave him a new scar then it'd be stupid for people to call James 'scar-faced' when comparatively Yannis was worse. He didn't really want to mess up Yannis' face though, he liked Yannis face very much and didn't want it to be all scarred and ugly. He could probably scar one of the Elites, it didn't matter what those robots looked like but he wasn't guaranteed to be around the same ones again. His eyes drifted downward towards Cyrus, he was far too young for James to care what he looked like and quite frankly with his freakish white eyes, it wasn't like Cyrus was ever going to be good-looking anyway so it was a victimless crime really. Not even a crime, how was it fair that Cyrus got to be unscarred when James didn't? It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all so if anything, Cyrus deserved this.

"Acuta!"

He swiped his wand a final time down at Cyrus, the blind boy cried out in pain as the curse struck him. Cyrus fell to his knees and his hands flew desperately to his face, clutching at the scarlet rivulets trickling through his fingers. Yannis crouched beside Cyrus and started trying to help him with his wound while James pocketed his wand, feeling much better about himself again.

They cleared away the table to make way for dessert and started bringing it out, 'they' not including Albus who was yet again forbidden from helping. Molly still hadn't come back and after Charla rejoined him at the table bragging about how she'd gone to the bathroom all by herself because she was a big girl, he realized that Molly must not even be in the toilet at all. He excused himself to go look for her, passing by his father and Lily carrying in a pie and fresh plates for the dessert.

"Now you know you're too young to be using magic outside of Hogwarts," their father was saying to her, Lily very visibly biting her tongue as anger swirled in her brown eyes behind the oval frames of her glasses, "Nothing wrong with using your hands."

Unfortunately for her, Albus was more concerned with Molly right now to intervene so could only hope his sister could keep her temper in check until he got back. He heard her telling him she used magic with Gray all the time as he ascended up the stairs, he wasn't entirely sure where she'd be but considering she had a room in the Burrow where she'd been living before going to Gray, he had a feeling it was a good place to start.

His intuition proved to be correct as that was where he found her, the door already ajar as she sat on the edge of her bed staring at the beautiful landscaped painting with an overcast sky of swirling gray clouds over a vast field that adorned the wall in front of her. She was staring in a way that made him unsure whether she was actually seeing it though, her sky blue eyes look unfocused and distant. He cleared his throat so his appearance wouldn't startle her, she didn't react but she did speak.

"I'll be down in a minute, Al," she said distractedly but he settled in and leaned against the doorframe.

"Knut for your thoughts," he offered, even though he didn't actually have any money on him. She glanced sideways at him.

"You should know I can't really talk to you about seer stuff."

"Right, right," he muttered and her eyes shifted back to the painting, her expression was sad, "Can you tell me what you see when you hallucinate then?"

"Is it that obvious?" she wondered, her swiveled back to him with a look of mild surprise that quickly switched to a small scowl of concern.

"Not really, not unless you've been spending a lot of time with Lawson like I have anyway," Albus explained as he approached her slowly and sat down on the bed beside her. She gave a snort and looked back to the painting, up close he also noticed she was holding a framed photograph in her hand of her with her parents and sister.

"I'm not like Lawson. These aren't random hallucinations, they link into my abilities as a seer."

"But it's still stuff that's bothering you, maybe talking about it will help. I know we're not exactly the closest but sometimes an impartial listener can be good."

"Al, I can't-"

"Come on, I'm not asking you to tell me about the whole future just these brief glimpses that are upsetting you," Albus insisted and she sighed heavily, looking quite defeated, "I doubt it can do that much damage, if it's mixed with hallucinations it might not even be pure visions you're seeing and if it's already bad then it-"

"Alright, you really want to know what I keep seeing?" she asked and Al nodded, her eyes hardened and her words cut like Inferi claws back through his stomach, "The Burrow, in ashes. Uncle George, Freddie, Caitlin and their three children's bloody bodies all skewered on spikes amongst the wreckage. Grandma is on her knees looking on sobbing, Vale pats her arm gently. That's what I keep seeing ever since I got here, I keep smelling the smoke and hearing the screams or sobs. Sooner or later the Shadow Master will come here in her quest to make our family pay for the deaths of her parents, that much is as set as the sun rising tomorrow."

"Well I erm… I can definitely see why that would be… err… upsetting to you," Albus admitted, twiddling his thumbs nervously but still clinging to optimism all the same, "But even if she does attack, it's possible they could be gone by then and have joined Uncle Bill and Dad and stuff in the shelters."

"They won't be," Molly scoffed bitterly and looked away, "I already asked them about it, they said they'd probably go to the shelters maybe, possibly, some time."

"Well maybe that'll be enough, you do only see possible futures… right?"

"Maybe but I doubt it," Molly said quietly and gave another sigh, "That meal we just had? That was the last one, the very last one we'll have here altogether like that."

"How do you know that?"

"I just know things sometimes, like I knew Caitlin wasn't pregnant and when I knew when I got up from that table that it would be the last time we'd all be sitting there together like that."

"But you can't be right about this," Albus pointed out as he realized she had to be wrong, "We're about to sit back down for dessert so it can't have just been the last time."

"I don't know what to tell you, Al," Molly shrugged disinterestedly, "I'm not wrong, something will happen or someone will leave. That was the last time."

"Well we'll see," Albus said, feeling dubious but also realizing he wouldn't put it past his father to have to go back to work, just like he always did. He supposed he should hope for that, it was better than something more serious stopping the dessert… "Anyway, did you try telling Freddie about the vision of death and everything?"

"No."

"No?!" Albus spluttered out in shock and Molly glanced at him again, "Why wouldn't you tell him?! He trusts you, odds are he'd listen to you."

"Maybe."

"Isn't 'maybe' better than death?"

"Albus, have you ever heard the expression 'man often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it'?"

"No…?"

"What about the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy?"

"Erm…"

"It's what happened with Voldemort," Molly explained seriously and Albus sat up a little straighter, "Hearing the prophecy is what led him to decide to go after your dad in the first place, setting into motion the events of the prophecy that would lead to his downfall, the prophecy being heard is what triggered its events so it essentially fulfilled itself. Likewise Voldemort's downfall was also the thing he was most trying to avoid so you could also say that he met his destiny on the path he took trying to avoid it, they're similar concepts. I tried to and failed with preventing Hogwarts from failing and I can't… I often can't help but wonder if I hadn't tried so hard I would've succeeded, maybe if Scorpius had known what to expect he could've reacted better, that he would've stayed."

"You don't know that," Albus said gently, not wanting her to blame herself.

"You're right, I don't know and that's exactly the problem with being a seer. If I act on what I see, do I prevent these bad things? Or is acting on them what causes them to occur in the first place? Trying to save Freddie could be what kills him, he might also just not believe me."

"Right, I think I can understand that," Albus confirmed with a nod, "But don't you think that it's still worth try-"

CRASH!

"What was that?" Albus hissed worriedly to Molly but she was already on her feet, wand gripped shakily in her four-fingered hand.

"I don't know everything, Al," Molly told him, sprinting to the door with Albus on her heels, "Wand out, stay behind me."

Albus fumbled for his wand as he stumbled after her out the hall and down the stairs, she could move a lot faster than he could as the exertion caused his still-healing stomach to give off unhappy twinges. His heart was racing and his wand slippery in his sweaty hands, he wasn't really in a great condition for a fight. Though as they got further downstairs, he was relieved to realize it wasn't a fight- or at least not one that required wands- as he heard Lily's angry voice screeching up the stairway.

"-DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!" she was yelling at their father as Albus joined Molly at the foot of the stairs, the rest of the family sprinkled around awkwardly and broken shards of tableware were at Lily's feet.

"I know you're grounded," their dad retorted calmly, crossing his arms, "And you're not going back to Gray, Albus is an adult but you're still a child."

"STILL A CHILD?!" Lily spat, her face twisted into a sneer of rage, "DAD, I'M NOT EVEN STILL A VIRGIN!"

"I'm sorry, what?!" he spluttered and Albus shared in his shock but Lily had already turned on her heel and was stalking towards the exit, she had successfully got their dad mad though and he stormed after her, "Hey! Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!"

"H- Hey let's all try to calm down," Albus tried to interject, scampering after his father and sister as they went outside where the sky had clouded over.

"And what, you think using all these adult words is going to make you sound like a grown-up?!" his dad continued yelling after her, the sky above spitting angry raindrops down on them like it shared in the Potters' rage.

"No, I think the fact you refuse to believe the adult words makes me seem like the grown-up!"

"Where do you even think you're going?! You know you can't get far!" his dad yelled as Lily finally stopped on the property boundary where they'd apparated in, "You might as well turn around and talk to me!"

"Oh, now you want to talk?!" Lily snapped, spinning back around to face her father, "Sure you wouldn't like to go off to work instead?! And do you actually want to talk to me or to your little imaginary Lily? The sweet, school-loving, studious little girl with a silly crush, that one who's super obedient and well-behaved, who doesn't know what the big scary grown-up words mean and who would shatter like a pretty porcelain doll at the mere mention of war! You know, that girl who doesn't fucking exist because you don't know the first fucking thing about me!"

"Lily-"

"Gray only has to try take us home once, Dad, so they tried and failed! Failed, because you know what else I can do that you probably think is far too adult for poor, baby Lily?!"

Lily threw up her hands with a look of sheer triumph on her face. There was a bang like a thunderclap and in the blink of an eye, she was gone, she'd disapparated. His father stared at the spot where she'd been like he couldn't believe what he'd seen, rain starting to cascade from the sky in sorrow at her absence. His dad looked back to him pitifully, looking somewhere between sad and concerned.

"You don't think she splinched herself, do you?" he asked of him.

"I- I didn't even know she could apparate," Albus admitted as his dad headed back over to him to get inside out of the rain.

"Told you," Molly whispered into his ear, he barely had time to glance at her before she slunk back inside the house, "That meal was the last."

"W- Well that's it," Att said, tucking the clipboard under his arm, "We're done, if you'd like I can take you to the mess hall for Second Meal, I've got to talk to my mom about your assessment."

"You mean… dinner?" Oathan wondered, raising a confused eyebrow as he was pretty sure they'd missed lunch.

"We call it Second Meal here, it's better for morale then when we called it Last Meal. First Meal is in the morning, Second Meal is in the evening and if we have enough food there's Half-Meal in between them," Att explained as if this confusing system was obvious as Oathan followed him out of the room, the boy's expression became apologetic, "We don't have enough food for Half-Meal right now though."

"Why don't you just use the normal names?"

"These are the normal names," Att stated, again as if it were obvious and Oathan decided he didn't care enough to argue the point and went to change the subject.

"So I'm guessing your mom is onboard with you being a child soldier?"

"Yes."

"But what about your dad?"

"I don't have a dad."

"That's great!" Oathan exclaimed before he could stop himself, relief flooding him at the thought that Cassia wasn't taken then felt immediately annoyed with himself for even caring. Att looked at him confusedly and he felt even worse, "I mean… not great, I'm sorry about your dad. I lost mine too, I know it's rough."

"Oh don't feel bad," Att offered, seeming surprised, "I didn't lose my dad, I just don't have one."

"But everyone has a dad?"

"No they don't? Some people just have moms, some just have dads, some don't have any parents-"

"I know people can lose parents but everyone still has a mother and a father even if they're not around anymore."

"No they don't," Att insisted again, stumbling a little on his leg but managing to right himself.

"Att, do you um… do you know how babies are made?"

"O- Of course I do, they're made with sex but I don't see what that has to do with having a mother and a father," Att told him, managing to leave Oathan somehow even more confused and more than a little amused at Att's ignorance but it was hardly his place to clear up the boy's misconceptions. He just hoped Att wouldn't mention this embarrassing conversation to his mother, because he was hoping he could join them for di- 'Second Meal.' Not for any weird reasons of course, he had questions about Gray and Cassia was the leader of Gray after all so- "Look, there's Dunstan!"

"What?" Oathan wondered, realizing Att had lowered his voice hiss at him in a whisper and was pointing an approaching teenager out to him.

"Your nephew that I told you about."

Oathan straightened up and eyed the boy as he drew nearer, he was a teenager around fourteen or fifteen and didn't look like he was having a particularly fun time with puberty. He was gangly, nothing but elbows and knees, with dark curtain of greasy, shoulder-length hair that had the slight wave to it that Oathan was all too familiar with. He had a sour face peppered by acne with whiskers sprouting unevenly on his lip, a rigid scowl was embedded in his features- that did resemble Orous, he thought- but he did have quite bright brown eyes that looked too warm for his cold look.

He was dressed similarly to Att except his jeans and jacket were both black and looked too big for his lanky frame, his wand hung from a holster on his hip and in his fingerless-gloved hands he was carrying a plate of food. Oathan was just trying to figure out how to handle the interaction when their paths would cross momentarily when Att tripped over his leg beside him, completely missed his attempt to grab the wall and fell flat on his face instead. Oathan bent to help the poor kid up, his face red and riddled with shame.

"Have a nice trip, Atti-klutz?" Dunstan sneered cruelly as he passed, his eyes burning with hatred towards the younger boy and smiling coldly at his misfortune. Att hung his head further to the point his face was covered completely by his messy mop of extremely dark auburn hair and clutched his clipboard, Oathan didn't like bullies.

"You tell me, Dunst-ass," Oathan called back, lazily flicking his wrist and sending Dunstan hurtling to the ground, his food flying all over the wall and floor. Dunstan scrambled to his feet, shock and rage on his face as he tried to draw his wand but Oathan send it flying with a wandless disarming charm, his nostrils flared but he seemed at a loss of what to do, "Didn't anyone tell you that you should pick on someone your own size?"

"I didn't trip him," Dunstan said and his voice squeaked embarrassingly at that moment, his face flushed and folded his arms crossly but his next words were harsh again, "Who are you to intervene anyway, newcomer? You don't know anything about us."

"Well apparently I'm your uncle," Oathan informed him and surprise flickered onto the teen's face, "And I know a bully when you see one so knock it off, it's not nice to mock people when they're down even if you didn't trip them."

"It's not nice to ruin people's meals either, we only get a certain number of rations a day and you just wasted mine."

"Good, then maybe you'll think twice before picking on a kid."

"He's a soldier!" Dunstan protested indignantly.

"Well so are you so behave yourself!" Oathan insisted and for some reason at this, Dunstan's face was swept by a wave of humiliation. The teen gave a grunt then made to pick up his wand and scoop what he could of his mean back onto his plate then stalked off without another word, "That was an odd reaction."

"Th- That's because he's not a soldier," Att provided in a quiet mumble and Oathan looked down at him in surprise, "Mom won't let him go on missions because she thinks he has an attitude problem, he's pretty mad about it… which is kind of the whole problem with his attitude to begin with…"

"Oh," Oathan muttered, feeling slightly bad that he might of came across a bit more of a jerk then he'd meant to then, "Whoops."

"Th- Thanks f- for sticking up for me though," Att continued in his barely audible mumble as he started walking again, his head still down, "B- But you don't need to next time, I don't mind."

"You should mind people treating you that badly."

"Maybe I deserve it," Att said more clearly and barreled on before Oathan could object to this, the boy looked back up at him and he saw awe in his face again, "That was so cool how you used your wandless magic though, that'll be so great in battles. D- Do you think you could teach me to do that?"

"Probably not," Oathan admitted truthfully and Att's face fell again, "I mean I could try but it's hard for normal people to pick up, if I was going to teach you anything though then the first thing should be to read."

"You know reading isn't really that important to soldiers," Att pointed out, his expression settling somewhere between disappointment and shame.

"There should be more things to your life then being a good soldier," Oathan insisted, very fed up with this child soldier thing that Gray seemed to have taken from the Shadows, "What do you even do in your free time?"

"Train."

"Besides that."

"Sleep?"

"Things you need to do to live don't count."

"Well… s- sometimes I- I like to line up all my things in a row and then count them," Att told him, smiling slightly as he mimed it then biting his lip and looking back to him, "D- Does that count?"

"Um… sure," Oathan agreed cautiously though he remained confused as they stopped outside of the mess hall, "Why erm… why do you do that though?"

"I- It relaxes me," Att admitted, giving a nervous half-shrug before gesturing to the hall, Oathan looked but he didn't see Cassia, "A- Anyway, here we are."

"Where's your mother?"

"In her office, probably."

"I thought you were going to talk to her about my assessment?"

"I am, after I finish dropping you off here," Att explained as if it was obvious and Oathan sighed, "See you later, enjoy Second Meal."

"Thanks…"

Dessert was a bit more uncomfortable than lunch had been after Lily had stormed off but they did still manage to salvage something of a good afternoon out of it, Albus was saddened when the afternoon drew on enough that Aunt Hermione suggested it that it was about time for them to be thinking about heading back. Saddened both because he was enjoying his time reconnecting with his family and because his conversation with Molly had hung over his head the whole time, Molly herself had been increasingly withdrawn all afternoon and at some point had even slunk off to her room and had a small bag of some more of her things to take with her. Making up his mind- and deciding he would tell Molly that if anything bad came of it she could blame him- Albus went over to Freddie.

"Hey Al," Freddie flashed him a friendly smile, "Gran's just packing up your fudge for you, she and dad will be right back."

"Yeah I know, I just wanted to talk to you real quick…" Albus began and started to warn him about her having had a vision of his family dead but Freddie cut him off with a frown.

"I heard, Molly was telling me about that already actually, Mum's been trying to get us to join her there for ages too. I've been putting it off though to keep the peace though, Mum and Dad can barely stand to be in the same room since the divorce," Freddie explained then heaved a sigh, "Caitlin and I'll have to have a reccy tomorrow though, see if we can't get moved in the next few days."

"A few days? Freddie, I don't know if you get how serious this is," Albus insisted and Freddie cocked his head to one side with a more severe expression than he was used to seeing on his cousin's usually upbeat face, "Molly said lunch would be the last time we all ate together here and then Lily took off, if Molly says the Burrow is going to be attacked then it's not worth the risk. If you want to make it to your wedding then just be Fast Freddie Weasley one last time, just grab your stuff and go, don't even be here by the time the sun rises tomorrow."

"You really think it's that dangerous?"

"You really think it's worth the risk that it's not?" Albus countered and Freddie sighed, giving his head a slight shake causing his red dreadlocks to swing around his face and Albus felt a surge of relief, "Good."

"I'll talk to everyone about it after you leave."

His grandmother then hurried over to hand him off the fudge and his heart was much less heavy as he went around bidding them all goodbye, desperately hopeful that this wouldn't be the very last time he saw any of these people alive. Finally, there was only his father left and his dad pulled him into a firm hug that lingered a lot longer than most of the others.

"I know I haven't always been the best father, Al, and I may not always agree with you but I will always love you," his dad said as he pulled away, his voice low and serious, "And I am proud of this person you've become, and I think- I know your mum would be too."

"Thanks, Dad," Albus breathed, the words thick in his throat and he wiped at his eyes, "I love you too, I know if nothing else you always tried your best and I do appreciate that. I hope that… that someday things won't be so hard between you, me and Lily."

"Just don't be a stranger, okay?" his dad urged, saddening at the mention of Lily and Albus could only nod while Vale came over and his dad put an arm around the little orphan.

"Oh, also Happy Birthday for tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"Bye Al," Vale offered quietly and Albus gave him a friendly smile as he returned the farewell.

After finishing their farewells, Albus trudged outside into the yet again dry and very bright summer evening as the sun sinking into a honeyed sky, after the rain it was a little more pleasantly cool than it had been of late. He, Hugo, Molly, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione trudged over to the same boundary then looked back to the swarm of waving- and his grandmother's case, crying again- relatives, they returned the waves.

"I'll be seeing you," Molly said somberly, more to them than the others as she alone would be returning to Hogan's house instead of the Embry's and disapparated before Albus had had time to even finish opening his mouth to say anything to her.

Uncle Ron went next as he had to take Hugo, who hadn't learned to apparate yet the way that Lily had, then Aunt Hermione and finally, with great reluctance, Albus himself. He was gazing at them and waving with his non fudge-holding hand until the very last second when he felt the compression of apparation, again desperately hoping that this wouldn't be the last time and a part of him not even wanting to leave. But he had to and in the blink of an eye, he was back outside of the Embry's and soon following the others back towards then inside the Embry's home.

Albus poked his head into the infirmary briefly to check on everything and was immediately surprised to see that Lawson's bed was empty, he figured he must be in the loo. He pulled his head back out and continued following Gail and the others through the hall towards the kitchen, he needed to put the fudge away there anyway as he'd already decided to save it for tomorrow when everyone would be more alert and awake because the injured often went to bed early. Albus was planning to do just that, as much as he'd enjoyed spending time with his family, he was a lot more wiped than he'd probably like to admit. Fully healed, he was not.

"Ooh I love fudge," Gail said eagerly as Albus told her about the fudge and she meant to put it away, oddly he noticed that her husband was standing staring out of the window into the backyard. Before he could question this, he heard the toilet flushing and Michael stomped down into the kitchen.

"Wait, where's Lawson then?" Albus wondered in confusion while Gail set about making a fresh pot of tea.

"Oh, he's out here," Richard spoke up and Albus went over to him by the window, his brow only furrowing further as he saw the ex-prisoner was indeed standing at the end of the garden with his back to them.

"What's he doing out there?"

"I'm not sure, he took Anton's dog out then stayed out there even when she was done her business. I figured after being cooped up in a prison and then here he was enjoying the fresh air or something so I left him," Richard explained and as Albus watched, he realized it looked like Lawson was maybe waving at something? Even though there was, of course, nothing there… "I was just about to go get him actually, he still needs to rest and I think it that's probably long enough."

"I'll get him," Albus volunteered and made to open the door, pausing to look back at Richard as Michael swept out of the room, "I erm… I don't suppose if you noticed Michael talking to him at all?"

"Erm… No, not that I can recall," Richard said with a frown like he was trying to recall and Albus sighed heavily, figures Michael wouldn't have bothered to do the one thing he'd asked of him, "Why, is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's fine."

Albus pushed open the door and went out into the grassy garden, striding down to the end to where Lawson was standing. Standing quite oddly actually, his left arm was held up and his fingers clenched like they were holding something but there was nothing. He also wasn't waving, Albus realized, with his right arm he seemed to be plucking at the air and then he would bring the hand over to the left one before reaching back out to pluck the air again.

"Hey Lawson," Albus greeted him, putting on a friendly smile despite his concern and Lawson glanced back to him in surprise

"Bou're yack! Quick, check chis out," Lawson grinned excitedly, holding out his clenched left hand to him and unfurling his fingers slightly. There was nothing there, "Diamonds!"

"Diamonds?"

"Yeah! They're all just… just floating here," Lawson told him interestedly, gesturing with his right hand to the space in front of him, "It's the frangest thing."

"Lawson…"

"Of course, I'm not exactly sure what use they'll be," Lawson continued and went back to plucking at the air, "But I fibure they might have magical properties or thomsing."

"Lawson…"

"So sow was things with your family? Did you have a good time?"

"Lawson…" Albus tried again and sighed heavily, Lawson glanced at him again and cocked his head concernedly to one side, "There's… There's no diamonds."

"What?" Lawson wondered, his mismatched eyes sliding from his face to the space of air in front of him, "But- But I can see them…"

"But they're not there," Albus insisted, trying to make his tone gentle but firm while panic flitted across Lawson's face, "You said it yourself that it's strange. Which is more likely? That there's invisible floating diamonds only you can see or that this is just another hallucination?"

"B- But I can feel them in my hand," Lawson breathed desperately, looking openly panicked now as he gazed down at his left hand, slowly unclenching it, "They feel so real…"

"I know they do, buddy, I know but… they're not," Albus continued gently and reached out to put his hand over Lawson's frail one, the older man was trembling now and still staring miserably at where the 'diamonds' had been in his hand, "C'mon, let's go back inside. It's pretty cold out here."

"I'm not going to be okay, yam I?" Lawson said very quietly as Albus attempted to guide him back towards the house, he froze at his words though, "With these calluhinations… I'm never going to be okay."

"Hey, we don't… we don't know that," Albus offered, trying to be optimistic but a hard expression was already overriding the melancholy and he looked like he regretted saying anything, "It's still early, you're still recov-"

"It doesn't matter," Lawson snapped abruptly, pulling his hand away and starting to go back towards the house, "I'm just joing to go back and rot in prison after this anyway, if I even survive, long as I can keep it gotether long enough to be useful in the war that's all that matters."

"I mean, you never know," Albus said as he walked along beside him, "Maybe-"

"You know you don't have to be nice to me just cebause you feel guilty that your dad is Head Auror."

"I know that, and I'm not!" Albus insisted and silently cursed Michael, Lawson continued to gaze at him dubiously, "I think I know my own motivation better than Michael, thank you very much."

"Ralight," Lawson sighed, still not looking entirely convinced but seemingly had decided he was done talking about this regardless, "So how was the family lunch?"

"Eventful," Albus offered brightly as they reached the door and he held it open for Lawson to get back inside, "Just wait till I tell you…"