Lady Augustus sank back in her seat, head heavy in her hands as the atmosphere in the room seemed to sink into despair. The Potters weren't the only ones having trouble with what had been expressed in the past couple of minutes. Quite frankly, it was a lot to take in, so no one could really blame her for such a thing.
"I—I…I think I need a minute" She whispered, looking more shaken than James had ever known the Longbottom matriarch to become. "This is unbelievable! I mean, if what you're saying is true, then this man—this mad man—made living horcruxes! To tear one's soul in half even once is a horror, but four-to-five?! How is there anything left? He can't be human anymore! What happened?!"
James sighed wearily, "By all accounts, he's no longer human anymore. Whatever ritual was used to make so many horcruxes has left him a cross between a man and a snake—presumably attributes taken from his serpentine familiar" He ran a hand through his messy locks, "He's got the whole ordeal: red eyes, slitted nose, bald, translucent scales in various patches—the works"
"Well, that's a terrifying image" Lady Harfang huffed good naturedly. "And its a far cry from the handsome-devil-visage that he had at school"
"I'd say" Andromeda agreed as Wheezy filled up her empty glass with a good measure of Ogden's Firewhiskey before the rest was drained by the Potter maiden.
"So" Lady Harfang breathed out a mouthful of carmine-coloured smoke, "Now that you have all of this information, what do you intend to do now?"
Lily sighed heavily as she drained her glass of Ogden's; the weight of the world seemingly settled on her shoulders. "As much as I'd hate to put Jean back under Dumbledore's thumb, it's become more and more clearer that Hogwarts is the place that she needs to be"
"After all of that you still want to send her back to him?!" Andromeda exclaimed, choking on her spit a little, in her haste to get the words out.
"I don't want to" Lily retorted, chin tilted upwards in defiance. "But whatever she knows—whatever she plans to do—can't very well be done from overseas or hidden behind manor walls"
"I mean, she's snuck out once or twice to do Merlin-knows-what" James added his two sickles.
"Jim, you know as well as I do that she was selling Girl Guide cookies"
"At six in the morning? You know I've snuck around quite a bit in my day, but even that's a bit suspicious. And what about that thing with your sister?"
Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Not this again"
"What thing with your sister?" Andromeda piped up.
The redhead sighed heavily, "She recently broke off her marriage with her husband because he was abusing her. She & her son lived with our parents for a time before they in with us. James seems to be under the impression that Jean was somehow involved"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the Potters. "And…was she?"
"How could she be?" Lily retorted, "Outside of Christmas, she's never interacted with them and she has no clue where they live. Besides it was Mum and Tuney's solicitor who wrote me about the situation"
"Okay, fine" James acquiesced, "But can you at least agree that that her sneaking out at that time was strange?"
"You said so yourself, that you snuck out all the time!" Lily retorted.
"Yeah, but that was at Hogwarts!" He argued.
"What's that got to do with anything?" The redhead snarked.
"Because according to Headmaster Black, Jean isn't the kind of person to just sit on her ass and twiddle her thumbs!" He replied.
Lily quirked an unimpressed brow at her husband, arms crossed. "Oh, so now you're taking his side?"
James—looking like he had been taken particularly off-guard—raised his hands in defence. "I am not dignifying that with an answer!"
In the background, Ted mumbled into his own glass. "Smart choice" He received a shove in the arm from his own wife for his efforts.
"That is a response!" Lily replied, hotly.
"No, its not!" James cried, their argument quickly turning to childish squabbles.
"Yes, it is—!" Lily all but snarled.
"—Children, children, children!" Lady Augustus clapped her hands; the sharp sounds echoing throughout the conservatory. "That's enough, now"
In the heat of the moment, Lily forgot her manners and spun around to snap at the woman. "We're not children!" She retorted, looking particularly chastised.
"You are to us" Lady Harfang sneered, hands folded in front of her.
"And why are you talking like an old married couple?" Ted chuckled, easily bringing the atmosphere back up to something a little more lighthearted. "You're both twenty-three!"
"And old married couple?" Andromeda quirked an amused brow. "I would've said they're bickering like a pair of infants"
"And that's enough out of you two" Lady Harfang then turned to the elder pair.
"What?" Andromeda squeaked, her face falling into a look of betrayal. "But—but we didn't even say anything!"
"Can we get back on track, please?" Lady Augustus interjected, trying to steer the conversation back towards the moment at hand. As enjoyable as the domesticity was, they actually needed to get this shit sorted out. "Now Potter, what was that tidbit about Jean? The thing about her not sitting on her ass?"
"It sounds like she's a bit of a go-getter" James answered, sobering a little.
"Ah" She nodded in understanding.
"Which is a bit of a problem for us" He muttered under his breath, though everyone else still caught it.
"Oh?" Lady Harfang perked up. "How so?"
The bespectacled wizard bore red-tinted ears at being caught out, but answered anyhow. "Because even if we sent her away, I reckon that she'd just come straight on back" He explained, "Her trust in adults to do the heavy lifting is astoundingly low"
"Can you blame her?" Lily tossed over.
He shook his head. "No, not really"
"Well then, if this Jean-child is not going to be sent back to her own timeline—now that things have been irrevocably changed—what do you plan to do?" Lady Harfang pursued; clouds of smoke trickling out from her lips with every word she spoke. It made her look like a dragon.
"I guess…we should try to integrate her into modern society as much as possible?" James suggested, sounding unsure.
"Yes, yes, that would be the most optimal option" Lady Harfang nodded. "And from what you've described, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders"
James smirked. "Not to mention a thirst for knowledge—"
"—Ravenclaw, surely?" Lily proffered, raising her brows in interest; a silent wager on her tongue.
Not one to be outdone, James eagerly took up the silent bet. "50 Galleons says otherwise?"
"Why? What's your opinion?"
"Gryffindor, obviously" He replied with a shrug and a proud smirk. Who else would be stupid-slash-brave enough to do something like this?
"You clearly haven't seen her in the library" The redhead scoffed.
"Bet?" The bespectacled wizard challenged.
"Deal" Lily shook his proffered hand, sealing the deal with a determined look upon her face.
"And with that out the way" Lady Augustus pursued, a little passive aggressively and cowing the Potters in the process. "We still have to worry about what Jean is, in fact, doing here and how you are going to handle it"
Lily's brows furrowed in confusion as she turned to the elder witch. "Handle it?"
"That's right" The Longbottom matriarch nodded, "You need to make sure that she has enough of a standing within wizarding society that she won't be taken out or stolen away, the moment she is away from the safety of the manor. I suggest that one or both of you go to Gringotts as soon as possible and pick out a piece of protective jewellery for the Jean-child" She pinned the Potters with a hard look. "Make sure that it's something small, but sturdy; perhaps a pair of earrings or a simple brooch. It wouldn't do to have it confiscated, lost or broken"
"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn" James replied, lips pursed in thought. "But I presume that you were thinking about adding something to alert to coercive potions and/or curses?"
"Yes, exactly" She nodded, "Although, it may be prudent to include poisons to that list as well"
"Poisons?" Lily asked.
"Just in case there other ways one might attempt to coerce the girl" She explained.
"Ah" The redhead nodded.
"Indeed" The elder hummed, thoughtfully. "This gift is a traditional gesture, given to people upon the joining of a House, so no one will question it"
"And I would like to suggest that you add additional familial protections as well" Lady Harfang added. "Perhaps, also get something for your other children as well" She nodded pointedly to Lily's rotund stomach. "And we will do the same for our own, as well"
"I hadn't thought of that…" Lily said softly, hand over her stomach.
"Yes, well, the manor walls can only guard you for so long and—as you have previously stated—Jean is bit of an escape artist. I imagine your other children will be no different"
"Merlin's beard!" James gasped as a look of abstract horror crossed his face and recognition struck. It slowly seemed to be dawning on him (despite already having a child of their own and another one on the way) that the children may very well be just like them. "Lily-flower! It's going to be the second coming of the Marauders!"
"Snrt!" Lily snorted, good-naturedly as she was already well-aware of that fact.
"Lily—! Lily, I'm an illegal deer!" James despaired, hands in his hair and an expression of distraught on his face. It was a look that continued to spiral downwards as his wife continued to laugh at him.
"Snck!"
"We—we made a map that shows everyone, every inch of Hogwarts, Lily!"
"Hee, hee, hee…"
"Lily—! We—we changed the gate plaque on the front of the school!" James despaired.
"What does it say?" Andromeda grinned wickedly, piping up from the background.
"Abandon—abandon pants, all ye who enter here—!" Lily chortled, one hand resting on her stomach.
The witch barked a laugh. "Ha—!"
"Lily—! Lily, you don't understand! There were so many pranks!"
"Ha, ha, ha—!"
"Stop laughing at me!"
Lady Augustus' lips twitched upwards at the corners in amusement. "You said that Jean-child has legitimate ties to a House?"
"Yes" Lily nodded as she wiped away the joyful tears that had gathered and calmed down some. "The Most Esteemed and Ancient House of Dagworth-Granger"
"Well that would explain the Luxembourgish" Ted hummed, still flicking through the diary.
"Yeah…" Lily nodded, "Do…do you think that we should contact the Dagworth-Grangers? Get their blessing to keep her here? Maybe as an offical ward?"
"What about that alchemist?" Andromeda volunteered. "The Dagworth one? Should we bring them into it?"
"The Dagworths?" Lady Harfang quirked a brow in derision; a scoff thick on her lips. "Bah! They won't help! Let me tell you, you don't know 'cold' until you've been to a Dagworth-Granger family gathering!"
"What? Why not?" James puzzled as he sobered.
"Those two Houses have been feuding for years; something about a stolen beau" Lady Harfang explained, "The Dagworths and the Grangers can barely be in the same room anymore, at least not without ripping each other's throats out. But contacting the (current) matriarch might be a good idea. As is the ward-thing. That is, if you truly intend to keep caring for the witch—and if she must be kept in Britain—then that would be the best option"
"Plus" Lady Augustus swallowed around a mouthful booze. "A wardship with the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter would do wondrous things for the witch. Muggleborn, did you say?"
"Yes, ma'am" Lily nodded.
Lady Augustus smiled secretly to herself, like she knew something that they didn't. "Yes, quite wondrous things, indeed"