A Better Plan
by Roff
Chapter Two
While Moody had his men gather up the prisoners, Lily walked over to Alice.
"I'm heading home, Alice. Do you want me to have Trixie bring Neville back?"
"Actually, I think I would like to go over with you so we can chat for a bit first. Will that be alright?"
"Of course. You're welcome anytime."
Lily looked through the aurors using portkeys on prisoners until she located James and Frank talking to Dumbledore and Moody.
"James, Frank?" she called out to them.
They broke from their conversation and looked over at Lily and Alice.
"Alice and I are going to the castle together now to check on the boys. We'll see you later, okay?"
James and Frank nodded that they understood then turned back to their conversation.
"Hang onto me, Alice, so I can take us closer than the Receiving Room which is all you can get to by yourself."
Alice took Lily's arm and they both apparated to Potter Castle, landing in the main lounge. They made their way through the castle checking a few rooms before they made it to Harry's room. Lucy was watching over her charges as they played on the floor. Lucy popped away as soon as Lily and Alice arrived.
They stopped at the door to see Harry float a stuffed toy over to Neville who reached up with his hands and grabbed it out of the air before hopping up and down on his bottom, happy as can be. Harry then pointed his finger at Neville and said something unintelligible. Neville didn't seem to understand either so he kept looking at the toy Harry sent his way.
Harry giggled then sent another stuffed toy toward Neville who looked up and grinned at the new toy floating his way. He then ignored it and raised his hand which started floating the first toy. It went a little way before it fell halfway between them. Harry finished sending the new toy to Neville then floated the one that fell between them back to himself.
Neville tried again and floated the second toy toward Harry but as soon it started to fall again, Harry lifted his hand and held it in the air for Neville while he helped him send it all the way to Harry. Neville and Harry both clapped when the toy landed in front of Harry.
The two mothers started clapping too which drew the attention of the two toddlers. They both stood up and toddled over to their mothers, happy to see them. The boys were picked up before being smothered in hugs and kisses.
Alice turned to Lily. "That's the first time I've seen my baby do magic! Wait until I tell Frank."
"Neville's going to be a strong wizard just like his parents, Alice. Fifteen months is very early for any magical child to exhibit their magic, especially controlled like that instead of accidental."
"I think he's learning from Harry. Did you see Harry help him on that last one when it started to fall?"
"Oh yes, Harry is my sweet, sweet baby," she said giving him another hug then put him back down on the floor. "You guys better get your playing done. It's almost time for bed," she told them.
Alice put Neville down too then watched as the two boys toddled over to each other and hugged before sitting back down to play some more. The mothers thought that was the cutest thing ever.
As the boys began to play again, Alice turned to Lily just as Lucy appeared with some tea for both of them.
"Thank you, Lucy," Lily told the elf as she was leaving.
"Lily, I'm so sorry it turned out to be your son. Don't get me wrong. I'm very happy it was not my son who has to face that mad man someday, but you know I care a great deal for Harry and I know Frank does too. Wherever we can help, please let us know."
"Thank you, Alice," Lily said handing her friend a cup of tea. "That means a lot."
"Harry and Neville have always played well together and I hope their friendship continues to blossom as they grow older. It would be tremendous if they entered Hogwarts as the best of friends. They could look after one another."
"That would be great! We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out."
"Now, are you guys planning on having additional children?" Alice asked then took a sip of tea.
"Wow!" Lily said when she stopped herself from taking a sip. "That came out of the blue." She went ahead and took her first sip of tea before continuing. "As of right now, we haven't really discussed it. Given everything we've been through and our obsession with protecting Harry, there hasn't been any time really. However, I wouldn't mind having another child in a few more years perhaps. I think after we see how this latest change in the war makes ripples through magical society, we will be better able to plan for it. What about you and Frank?"
"We've discussed it once or twice but nothing has been set in stone. We will definitely be waiting for a while too. I think I would like Neville a bit older before introducing another baby. With my auror job I have to plan these things out carefully."
"I guess I have a little more leeway with my job. I can work at home if I need to since I have my own projects that I work on by myself mostly. Plus, Remus helps since we work together sometimes and he can bring me anything I need from the office if I can't get there myself, which was the case while we were under the Fidelius."
"You Unspeakables and your secrets!"
"Wouldn't you like to know!" she said smiling at her friend.
"As a matter of fact, I would, but I know you can't tell me."
"Nope! Sorry, Alice. We have to keep our secrets. You know, now that we no longer have to live under that Fidelius, I believe I'll be able to spend some time at the office. James is here most of the time with his work and we always have Lucy to take care of Harry when we are both away or just too busy."
"Do you plan on spending a lot of time at the office?"
"No. Not a lot. I would miss my baby too much," she said giving a loving glance at her son. "I'll probably just do my own running back and forth now and not have Remus do it for me. He has enough to do without being my gopher."
"What does Remus do exactly?" asked Alice hoping she would get a straight answer by slipping that question in.
Lily smiled. "He's like me. He does a lot of Unspeakable things."
"You are always ready aren't you?"
"No, but I can fake it when needed."
Alice laughed. "Well, I'm glad Remus has such a good job where he can support himself. Most werewolves aren't doing so well."
"Remus is very smart and does his job well. The Department of Mysteries could care less that he has lycanthropy. In fact, they treat it as a bonus instead and help him to use it as an extra talent instead of a curse. His job is one of the best things to ever happen to Remus and he got it almost straight out of Hogwarts, after his defense mastery that is."
"Well, the boys are looking tired. I guess I better get Neville home and to bed so you can do the same for Harry."
They both picked up their toddlers who were laying down and staring at each other. They carried them to the Leaving Room. Alice sent a patronus message to Frank to open the floo again. It was too uncomfortable to apparate a small child so it was only done in an emergency. Floo worked better with them. Elf travel was also gentle on young children.
Alice received a patronus message back from her husband so she stepped into the rather large fireplace and took the floo home. It behaved like an atrium floo at the Ministry and didn't require floo powder thrown in first. She stepped out to find her husband and Augusta waiting on her arrival.
"I saw Neville do magic today!" she said excitedly before either one could say a word. "He's very tired though, so let me get him to sleep and I'll tell you two all about it."
They both nodded excitedly before she headed toward the nursery.
Magical people were going crazy all over the country celebrating the end to the war. Some even came dangerously close to revealing the magical world to the Muggles. The Ministry of Magic had to rein them in quickly.
The very drunk ones were locked up for the night in the Ministry cells where they could sleep it off and be chastised for their recklessness in the morning when they were sober. No potions were provided for their hangovers either.
The Statute of Secrecy was no laughing matter!
Word got out about James and Lily's part in killing Voldemort so they had to deal with some recognition and thankful fans whenever they were out in public. Lily started apparating straight from the castle to the Department of Mysteries if she needed to go to the office. That way she avoided the fans.
If she had to get out in public she would usually wear her Unspeakable cloak so her face was hidden. Everyone recognized the cloak of an Unspeakable and knew not to bother them at all. Most were afraid to bother an Unspeakable.
As the head of the Potters, James had to go to the Ministry for Wizengamot business on occasion. Sometimes Potter business had him out and about as well, but he generally didn't mind all the attention. It could become too much at times but he usually knew the right thing to say to put the people at ease and deescalate the situation. He was just good at that kind of thing and had the personality to match.
Plus, the Potters were a well-respected and a very old, important family. They garnered a lot of respect in the magical world. In fact, many did not think it that strange that a Potter ended up being the one to take out the dark lord. The Potters and the Peverells before them were well known for being powerful and deadly when called upon to do so.
This caused the adoring fan problem to slow down some after a few weeks as they learned about the Potter family and their role in magical society for centuries. They were also reminded of Fleamont Potter's role in the war with Grindelwald.
While it was widely known that Dumbledore was the one who defeated Grindelwald and put an end to his war, it was a little less known that Fleamont Potter was the main wizard that cleared the way for Dumbledore to face Grindelwald.
It seemed no one could stand against Fleamont wand to wand. He was just that good and waded through Grindelwald's followers like they were paper and he was a big pair of scissors. While a powerful wizard he was still not as powerful as Dumbledore or Grindelwald, nor was he as powerful as Voldemort.
Voldemort seemed to get renewed and stepped up the attacks right after it was reported that Fleamont and Euphemia Potter had succumbed to Dragon Pox.
The war was turned to Voldemort's favor after December of 1979 and he was making good headway with his plans for the magical world. The Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix were losing badly. That was why Voldemort's defeat at the hand of James and Lily Potter was such a big deal.
People were no longer afraid and now had hope.
James and Lily threw up a big Notice-Me-Not around the Godric's Hollow house just before cancelling the Fidelius and creating a new one. Lily cast the spell and made James the secret keeper. Since they were not going to live in the house under the Fidelius then it worked to have James serve in that role.
The Notice-Me-Not was removed once the new Fidelius was up. James told Lily the secret so she could see it again. She then apparated back to the castle while James popped off to Diagon Alley to hire a construction crew to rebuild the house. He carried with him the original plans his mother used when she had it built. They only made a few minor adjustments to the design.
James would let the crew he hired in on the secret so the house could be rebuilt and no one in Godric's Hollow would be the wiser about the house's destruction. Once it was back up and livable again, they would remove the Fidelius.
James ended up hiring the same company Euphemia hired to do the work. They were still in business and were happy to help the Potters again.
As Harry grew up, he was taught about magic at a very early age along with his regular Muggle education. He saw all the elves doing magic wandlessly so he naturally thought that was a better way to do magic. By the age of three, he could summon his toys with barely a hand movement. He could even make his little Quidditch player toy fly around the room on its tiny broomstick.
After they bought him a kid's broom for his fifth birthday, they even saw him flying around in the castle a couple of feet off the floor while he levitated and flew his little Quidditch toy ahead of him like he was chasing it.
Lily was worried he was going to hurt himself but James assured her he would be fine. His boy was a natural on a broom and he had no doubts he would be an amazing Quidditch player one day.
After he turned six, they found an old ancestor's wand that matched him. It was in a wooden box where they kept a lot of Potter and Peverell wands from over the years. Harry didn't match up with any close relatives but did finally match after a long search with an old wand from an ancestor who was many greats his grandfather. He went so far back that he was before magical portraits were invented.
The wand was a little shorter at nine and half inches and made out of red oak with a gryphon talon core. It was a very nice-looking wand and it matched him so well that they thought he could use it as a spare once he turned eleven and bought one from Ollivander. They also decided not to take him out in public in the magical world until he turned eleven. They felt it was too risky before that. They took him out in the Muggle world instead.
They started teaching him some basic spells with the wand but spent just as much time having him learn spells wandlessly since he was so good at it already. They also gave him a wrist holster for the wand and taught him how to be safe and careful with it, allowing him to carry it with him at all times.
They both wanted him to be very comfortable with always having a wand on his person, whether he needed it or not. It should be second nature to him to be able to release it from the holster and use it as quickly as possible.
It was also very good preparation for him. They were making sure if he had to face Voldemort someday, then they wanted him ready. They had no worries about underage magic being detected at Potter Castle due to the advanced wards at the place. The place was way too big for the Fidelius Charm. However, the castle and lands were unplottable and the wards very powerful. Many of the wards went back to the Peverell days.
They found out that red oak was good for someone with unusually fast reactions, making it a perfect dueling wand. The ideal owner was usually light of touch, quick-witted and adaptable. The user was also often the creator of distinctive, trademark spells.
James and Lily thought that was very telling of their son's possible future since that wand matched him so well. It would be interesting to see what wand chooses him when he turns eleven. Would it be completely different or something similar? A wand normally matches a witch or wizard's personality and attributes so it compliments their talents, making them better. Which wand chooses him should be telling.
Harry was coming along nicely with his wand work and wandlessly too so Lily removed the partial block on his magic. He was so incredibly powerful for a child so they were reminded once again of the prophecy that made them go into hiding in the first place. It basically said that the one to defeat the dark lord would be equal in power to him. Voldemort was extremely powerful and talented as a wizard, which was why he was so feared. Only Dumbledore was said to be more powerful.
They believed the prophecy to be true so that would mean their son would be as powerful as Voldemort. Given what they were seeing with his power levels as a child, they had no doubts he would one day be extremely powerful as an adult.
James taught his son all he knew about dueling or fighting with a wand, but he knew that he wasn't the best teacher in the castle. With that in mind, they consulted with the portrait of the one who trained James as he grew up. While James learned everything his father taught him well enough, he never reached the dueling ability level of Fleamont Potter, who was in a class all his own.
Fleamont's wife and James' mother, Euphemia, was no slouch with a wand either, so sometimes her portrait would help too.
Fleamont Potter was well known in his day as the best dueler around. No one really wanted to fight him, including Voldemort who avoided a confrontation with the older wizard at all costs. The last thing Voldemort needed was a bad showing with another duelist. He had a reputation to build and maintain after all.
Voldemort knew he was more powerful than Fleamont and liked to believe that he could also out duel the old wizard. However, there were many who doubted whether or not Dumbledore could out duel Fleamont. His reputation as a dueler was that good and no one had any doubts about Dumbledore's ability.
Not only was Dumbledore known as the most powerful wizard alive, his dueling ability was not in question. After all, he single-handedly out dueled the dark lord Grindelwald in a one-on-one match that ended the war.
No one was able to stop Grindelwald. Many tried but he out dueled them all and usually did it quickly. Sometimes he even fought more than one at a time. He was that good. That is until Dumbledore entered the fray and beat him soundly. He could have killed Grindelwald, but he didn't. However, he did take his wand after he won its allegiance and locked Grindelwald up in his own prison - Nurmengard.
As good as Dumbledore was, he respected Fleamont Potter's ability with a wand. His style was very difficult to overcome when you faced him. There were many that realized that too late.
Fleamont was not only extremely talented at dueling, he was also more powerful than his son, James, who was a powerful wizard in his own right. Fleamont wasn't quite as powerful as Voldemort, but he was still a very powerful wizard with an amazing ability with a wand and that made all the difference.
Once Fleamont started instructing his grandson in the art of dueling, Harry began to come into his own. There were many things about Harry's developing style that reminded Fleamont of himself. The Potter's had a training room in the castle that was magical. It could provide training dummies to spar with. This allowed Fleamont and James to watch Harry in a real duel and pick up on where he needed improvement.
Lily would join them at times too and add her two cents. She was really good at charms so helped Harry with those spells. James had a specialty with transfiguration so he helped Harry more with that. Lily was also his potions instructor, which was another area she excelled in. She would have Harry help her make potions when more were needed so he could learn. She would walk him through every step as he learned to make several potions that were used frequently within the household.
James and Fleamont were watching Harry duel a training dummy in the training room one day when James noticed something.
"Hey, Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Harry reminds me of someone when he fights. Do you know who he reminds me of?"
"Me?"
"Exactly! He fights almost the same as I remember you fighting. Do you think he inherited that?"
"Probably."
"Well, that's a good thing. He'll need all the help he can get when Voldemort returns."
"From what I'm seeing, James, Harry has a very good chance of being ready. He's a natural."
"You see the wand he's using, right? Red Oak with a gryphon talon core. Red Oak is very good for dueling."
"So is aspen," Fleamont replied. "That's what my wand is with a phoenix feather core. Did he try that one?"
"Yes, it worked fairly well but it wasn't as good a match as the one he's using now. It's a very old wand, from a Peverell ancestor, but it's in perfect condition. I'm interested to see what wand chooses him at Ollivander's. If it's another dueling wood then that will confirm my suspicions."
"Oh, there's no doubt Harry will be an excellent dueler once he's fully trained up," Fleamont assured his son. "Look how well he speeds up his casting if the dummy speeds up. It doesn't matter how fast his opponent goes; he always manages to go a little bit faster. One day he will learn to just duel at his fastest pace from the beginning, then vary the speed to confuse them. Very few will be able to keep up with him."
"He still needs to learn subtlety and how to use tricks to confuse his opponent."
"It's too early for that. He may be ahead of schedule, but he needs another year maybe before we teach him that. He needs to continue to perfect his style and be comfortable while he fights. Too much tension and he'll get tired very fast."
"Should he start exercising for endurance purposes?" asked James.
"Give him another year or so. Right now, he gets enough exercise sparring and all the running around he does when he plays. Start taking him outside more to get him familiar with all the grounds. Make sure to introduce him to the gryphons that roam our lands."
James nodded.
"He can start running around the property next year to increase his endurance. Even if you don't want to go with him, if the gryphons know him then they'll watch over him. With them around, nothing on this property will be dangerous to him."
"Sounds good," James replied, "but I plan to accompany him for a good while before letting him run on his own."
Two weeks later, after Harry had been introduced to the gryphons, they allowed him to go outside and play by himself. His instructions though were to stay in the back garden and not go anywhere else.
About thirty minutes later, Harry came back inside with a snake wrapped around his arm. The snake was a female adder and was close to a meter in length. Lily screamed when she saw her son with a large poisonous snake. Lucy was wanting to get the snake off of Harry but was afraid it would bite him if she tried anything. James tried to remain calm.
"Harry, hold real still while I get that snake off of you," James told him.
"No!" Harry replied turning so the snake was away from them. "She's my friend. She likes to talk to me."
Everyone froze, realizing something was different about this.
"And, you understand what she's saying?" asked Lily a little more calmly.
"Of course, I do, and she understands me."
"Can you talk to her now so we can see you do that?" asked James curiously.
"They want to see me talk to you," Harry said hissing in Parseltongue. "I don't know why."
"They're not speakers like you so they can't talk to me in my language."
"I'm talking to you in your language?"
"Yes, it's the language of serpents. When you talk to them in their language then I can't understand what you're saying. I can only understand when you talk to me in the serpent language."
"Oh, okay!"
"She said that I'm speaking to her in the serpent language and that's how she understands me." Harry said turning back to his parents. "She doesn't understand us when we talk like this though."
"The language you were using to speak to the snake is called Parseltongue, sweetie," Lily told him as she was much calmer now, knowing the snake would not hurt him.
"A Parseltongue speaker is a very rare ability, son. That's why we were afraid for you when we saw the snake on your arm. We didn't realize you could speak to snakes."
"She's very nice though, Dad."
"That's good to know," he said looking over at his wife who just smiled.
"It's almost time for lunch, Master Harry," Lucy told him. "Please take your friend back outside where she belongs, then come back in and wash up so you can eat."
"Yes, Lucy."
Both James and Lily mouthed to Lucy a big thank you as Harry left with the snake and took her back outside and put her down on the ground. They all watched him from the doorway and a window.
"It's time for me to eat so I have to go back inside." Harry then got an idea. "Are you hungry?"
"A little."
"What do you like to eat?"
"I like a nice plump mouse or a fat rat usually."
Harry waved his hand and a field mouse was summoned from way out in the grass close to the woods. He let it land in front of the adder.
"There you go. Lunch!" he said.
The snake saw the mouse and struck before it could get its bearings and run off. It quickly coiled part of its body around the mouse and held it there until it died. She then began to swallow it whole. Harry watched with fascination before he remembered he needed to go wash up and eat his lunch too. He said good-bye to his new friend and hurried back into the house.
James and Lily sat Harry down one day when he was still six years of age and told him he was going to be a big brother. They also told him that they knew he would be the best big brother in the world and his new little brother or sister would love him very much.
Harry promised that he would look after his little brother or sister, teach them all about magic, and make sure nothing would ever hurt them. He received lots of hugs and kisses for that.
Neville came over a good bit and played with Harry or Harry would go over and visit with Neville at his house sometimes. Harry loved to show his friend all the magic he could do and of course Neville had to have a wand too since his friend Harry had one. Frank found an old Longbottom ancestor wand that came the closest to matching with Neville but they knew it was not a perfect match. Nevertheless, he was able to use it well enough for someone so young.
Harry made sure Neville learned as much as he could share with him and then would show him how to duel too while his grandfather in his portrait would work with both of them. Neville was not as powerful or as advanced as Harry but there was no doubt Neville was going to be a powerful wizard in his own right.
Surprisingly, after he found out he was going to get a baby brother or sister, he spoke with is friend Neville about it and was told that Neville was also going to be a big brother.