Chapter 8

Natasha Romanoff dropped her 'Marla Drake*' act as soon as Dumbledore left with an almost invisible pop of apparating, almost as quick as he had come, somehow hiding the action from the neighborhood (He had a modified notice-me-not spell on him when he arrived). Petunia had barely been able to sip her drink at an angle where she could see and hear the less then ten minute exchange between Dumbledore and Natasha.

"What was that?" Petunia asked after a few speechless moments as she watched the woman who had taken over her sister's body become a shameless flirt or in the words of her grandmother, a coquette. They had gathered back into the living room at that point.

Natasha took off the sunglasses and tossed them on the table holding back a yawn. "Information gathering. Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable. I wanted to see how he'll react to a young, beautiful woman throwing herself at him. It did get him out of the house without suspicion. But he'll come back later. Hopefully by then we'll be gone."

It bought them at least twenty minutes, at most. Natasha was feeling very tired by this point. Her body ached for sleep, but she'll keep pushing until she had to rest. Unfortunately that seemed to be coming up quicker then she'll like.

"I'll say he's not into women. If I had a guess, as I am completely into women." Jamie said as he walked into the living from his post at the top of the stairs, the baby monitor in one hand, a drawn knife in the other. The knife he kept but the baby monitor was set on the coffee table.

James Potter was eyeing the wine with longing. He clearly wished he could drink again.

Natasha held back her amusement at Jamie's statement as she replied. "Very much not into women. Also doesn't like the name Tom for some reason."

Natasha crossed her arms and frowned, she used the name Thomas aka Tom as her 'lover' as she invaded Dumbledore's space. It seemed that wizards didn't understand micro-expressions or if they did, didn't have the training to pick up on it. She hated missing pieces of a puzzle. It rubbed her wrong as a spy.

"What do you mean? Not into women? He was probably being polite and didn't want to intrude on Petunia's time with a ah non-magical person. That's why he decided to come by later." Lily said, still a bit disturbed by the display as she eyed her sister who was slowly but steady drinking out of her wine glass. The other one still held the remains of the wine that was dumped on Dumbledore.

Natasha opened her mouth to explain but a huge yawn interrupted instead.

Lily's question wordless stopped on her lips as she frowned in concerned. "You need sleep," flickering her eyes at Jamie, "you both do. There is no way that you can go wherever you want to go now. I don't know what kind of bodies you had before but us humans need sleep."

Petunia backed up her sister's statement and exchanged worried looks with Lily as Natasha and Jamie walked up the stairs towards the guest bedroom. Thankfully it wasn't far from the stairs. The Potters were left to chat with Petunia or at least Lily did as James decided to go check on the kids as he didn't trust muggle technology.

Jamie took in the single bed at a glance. "I'll let you have the bed. I was stabbed to death, you sacrificed yourself off a cliff. You're probably more tired then me."

"It's against the wall, we'll share." Natasha said tiredly as she stripped all but her underwear off and snagged a shirt that Petunia said was in the dresser drawer. It was way too big for her, but she didn't want to sleep in the clearly older woman's pjs and she was too tired to go hunt down the clothes she bought that morning.

Natasha finished dressing and felt a genuine smile lit up her face as she took in one of the people, she if she was being truthful to herself and she usually was when she was tired, romantically loved. "You can turn around now James." She said in Russian, not knowing exactly how he would take that. Their romantic interlude was barely a footnote next to his thirty-five year marriage.

Bucky no Jamie's back was turned from her body and undressed quickly but for his t-shirt and boxers. He took the side of the bed that was nearest the wall, eyes still slightly avoiding hers for some reason.

Natasha settled into his side as if she had never left in the first place. But since these bodies were married, it was probably that skin contact that made her heart start racing but she didn't have time to linger on it as she and Jamie quickly fell to sleep.

Or at least she did, Jamie/James/Bucky looked at his companion's red hair and selfishly wished it was brown. He missed his wife Sarah with a sudden fierceness that took his breath away as his body was humming contently at the contact with its partners. He was glad for not being alone, but he didn't know Natasha as well as he thought he probably once did, and Sarah, but before he could even start to think of grieving, his body slipped into slumber.

Petunia eyed the decrepit looking townhouse with undisguised disgust. Petunia was staying at a hotel for a 'reconciling trip' with her sister or so Vernon thought. Petunia thanked the stars that Natasha and Jamie wasn't detected as they hadn't woke up until Vernon left the next morning for work and missed Dumbledore's second and much shorter visit. Leaving happily. Vernon was not happy about the addition to the family. But Harry will not be around him for much longer.

She let her 'sister' lead the way with the old fashioned key, as the agency was thrilled to get rid of the place and sold it to them right out, fast tracking the paperwork that had Natasha muttering something about a 'rich spark'. It had been on the market for over six years, not the two years she first was lead to believe since it was 'haunted' and each owner quickly moved out of the place, even the ones who liked living in haunted houses.

Thankfully the inside wasn't as bad as the outside. Overly dusty and the banister stairs looked in need of repair, as the Realtor did say as she gave a hasty tour of the house to Natasha and Jamie. The bones of the house were solid it just need some work done. At least the roof didn't leak and the foundation wasn't cracked.

Jamie who was carrying Harry, eyed the place with doubt. "Ok, first we get the kids out of here. Who knows what kind of germs are lurking about. Then we need cleaning supplies. Unless the magicals have superior cleaning supplies we non-magicals would be envies of?"

Petunia was thrilled to get the heck out of there even with her obsessive cleaning streak. She took her darling boy and nephew and went back to the hotel where they would be stay at for the next few weeks or until they got the townhouse up to her standards.

Lily was torn on going or staying. She finally slipped away to be with Petunia to help with the babies or at least try too and get a sisterly conversation going. The babysitting worked, the conversation never took place since it turned out that she couldn't leave her body's side for too long much to her frustration.

But the distance was growing, which she was grateful for since there were somethings she didn't want to be around for. She was not a voyeur nor was her husband. Not that Nat, as she finally asked them to call her, or Jamie did anything.

Nat sneezed, and just kept sneezing and she heard James sighing about a Winken, Blinken, and Nod.

"Winken, Blinken and Nod?" Jamie asked, confused as three loud pops sounded, a knife appearing like magic in his hands as Nat did the same, guarding his back. Three somethings appeared in very dirty

"Is that a pillow sheet? What? Why are they wearing pillow sheets? Did Yoda have weird offspring or something?" Jamie said confused but not letting down his guard.

James was thrilled as his house elves from his parents manor appeared and greeted them warmly, until he discovered that he went straight through them, and obviously couldn't see him.

"Merlin's balls." He cursed as the youngest, Nod was held back by his parents, as they eyed the knives in the Potter's hands.

"Who, what are you?" Nat asked, slowly lowing her weapons as it seems that James knew these creatures.

The oldest one with deep brown eyes, the most wrinkles, and the dirtiest pillow sheet, narrowed his eyes, hand up ready to snap his magic. "You are not mistress and you are not master, but I sense master's magic, faint as it is."

Winken's eyes widen as James's blue form appeared, his hand on Jamie's shoulder. "I am still here as is Lily and Harry, but Lily and I are like ghosts. We don't know why. Jamie and Nat are in our bodies, they died and somehow came here."

His ears drooped. "So it is true. You are dead, but can we trust these?"

Nat stepped up moving in a way that Winken never saw in Lily, but he recognized that she had the same loyalty that Lily has in others, and he had to smile inwardly at the tug of magic he felt when Nat started to talk,

"I, Natalia Alianovna "Natasha Romanoff" Romanova promise to never harm you or yours." Natasha noticed but didn't react to the tug of magic that flashed towards the pillowcase wearing creatures.

Winken's smiled and flicked his fingers and the dust that had gathered onto the floors vanished. "Our magic had responded to yours. Somehow our ties to the Potters now are yours. Now lets get this place fit for living."

Petunia couldn't help feeling impressed when Sirius came to bring them to the house a few hours later. It sparkled like new. Completely new.

"How did you know to come and get us?" Petunia asked as she looked around at the newer then up to date kitchen. She wasn't too keen on the black and silver decorate but she itched to start cooking.

The boys for once, were playing nicely together in their large playpen that she could see from where she was leaning against the stove, as water boiled for tea. The place had something called an open plan, which could be useful at times.

"Nat gave me something called a pager and she said it'll beep when I would need to swing by the hotel and pick you all up. Sirius didn't tell her that he volunteered to pick up Lily's sister as for a way to get out of cleaning once he apparate into the entrance hallway and almost got killed by a knife thrown from Jamie as a result. Thank Merlin for house elves. He still didn't know how the pager worked around magic.

The place was elegant in a high wizarding society kind of way. Or at least most of the rooms. Sirius suspected that the bathrooms and other common areas of living weren't so fancy. Or so he amended that statement when he with both boys in his arms as Petunia was carrying the tea tray, he followed Petunia up too many stairs to his liking to the room that everyone was calling the Study.

"What was so urgent that we all had to gather here instead oh I don't know the comfy living room?" Sirius snark as he fixed his tea just how he liked it.

The Potter's house elves didn't know what to do as they were all awkwardly standing with cleaned pillowcases and was ordered to stay in the room when Petunia went to get tea. Winken wasn't outmaneuvered very often but the woman who was in Lily Potter's body somehow got him to clean his family's appearance and the idea of something other then pillowcases without offending their pride as house elves.

Sirius's eyes roamed the white green wallpapered, golden pillared, muli-patterned carpeted room as he sipped his overly sweet drink. "Now I wouldn't mind her polishing my broomstick if you know what I mean." Sirius said nodding to the portrait with a leery grin as he sat down on one of the black leather couches in front of the unlit fireplace that was housing to his knowledge of a rich family.

But he wasn't looking there, a curvy redhead in a form fitting black uniform had caught his eye. Her red hair was braided with some blonde at the tips. She was holding two wand looking things.

"I don't know if I should be amused or disgusted Black." Nat said with a twinkle in her eye.

"She's a looker, not I'm into redheads, I'm more into blondes and brunettes. But the point still stands." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows and almost chocked on his tea at what Jamie said next as he rocked Harry to sleep as it was past his nap time.

"Then you wouldn't mind Nat kicking your ass later." Jamie said with a lethal smile, laughter dancing in his eyes.

Sirius swallowed painfully, coughing a bit as he glanced from the relaxed looking Nat and the 'triple impostor' portrait.

"What?!"

"That's Tony Stark's nickname for me. 'Manchurian Candidate' is James sorry, Jamie's. The rest of the portraits are our team the Avengers and Starks' family is above the fireplace." Nat ignored their confusion.

Sirius didn't notice he dropped his tea cup along with Petunia's but he did notice the orange glowing circle that appeared out of nowhere. Nat and Jamie exchanged a look. Unnoticed Blinken cleaned up the mess.

"Kreacher?!" His eyes widened. He thought Kreacher died when his brother did. The family ties snapped a little while after that.

A crisp British voice that sounded irritated that came out of nowhere and everywhere made Sirius draw his wand. "That is Mr. Kreacher to you Mr. Black."

"Hey JARVIS." Nat greeted the A.I. with a relaxed air, inwardly laughing at everyone else's bewilderment, as JARVIS started to play a low but beautiful melody that she recognized that Tony used to play for Morgan to get Harry and Dudley back to sleep who were being held by Jamie and Petunia. She noticed that Jamie's eyes softened at the melody.

"Now come, my mad geniuses are waiting." A few minutes later the Study was empty of life.

Author's note: *Marla Drake aka Lady Fury was the inspiration for Black Widow's now standard black uniform but without the mask, before that Black Widow was just in a veil and formal attire in the comics. A artist who was working on the Black Widow comics liked Lady Fury and suggested the now common outfit.

Any guesses on why I said mad geniuses as in plural? :)

I was going to have Nat see all the portraits in the Study with all Tony's nicknames but it would have been a paragraph of just names and nicknames so I skipped it.