30 May 1983
Longbottom Castle, Devon
It was unprecedented, their meeting with the Longbottoms, but there were so few neutral families left in this war and the Potters wanted—no, needed—a second opinion on this whole time-travelling-teenage-witch-thing. And they couldn't very well go to Dumbledore, not after all that had happened. Besides, if Augusta Longbottom were anything like Frank, then they would be in good hands, James was sure of it. Which is the reason why they had come here, to the baron estate of the Unseelie Court in Devon.
Admittedly, part of that reason that they had come to the Longbottoms did have to do with their former matriarch—the dowager duchess, Lady Harfang Black (neé Longbottom)—aunt to their classmate, Frank and distant relation to Sirius. The word through the grapevine was that Harfang had gone to school with Lord Voldemort, and the Potter parents—rightly presumed—that any information she could give would be rather helpful, considering what little they had managed to extract from Jean's diary. The other part, they hoped, was due to the (Un)Seelie's brand of magic; if anyone could help them to unravel this mystery, it was those of either Court.
Back in John O'Groats, the children—Potter, Dursley and Granger, alike—found themselves preoccupied with (pre)school these days, whilst Petunia spent her hours toiling away in the local John O'Groats apothecary. It was an effort to get back on her feet, despite her sister's protests to rest & recover. But the Evans' women had always been go-getters, so there was little reason to think that the elder sister was so different from the younger. A clerical job had opened up in some nondescript apothecary in the village and they had been rather impressed with her printing & organisational skills, even if she was just a muggle. Which is why she had quickly found employment straightening their books & such.
So, the Potter parents could be safe in the knowledge that their family was (relatively) safe as they Flooed across the country. It also helped their nerves to know that a certain pair of canines remained at the manor, to keep an eye on the children once school let out. It had taken some time and a fair amount of grovelling, but it looked like Lily was finally starting to let up with her grudge against Remus, but James couldn't say for sure. He certainly couldn't tell you how that witch's mind worked and he was married to her! But he knew, personally, that the redhead's grudges were legendary, so that fact that she was starting to forgive was a good thing.
In any case, the Potters arrived at Longbottom Castle without much hassle, mere moments before the grandfather clock in the foyer struck half-past nine that morning. There, they were greeted by the Longbottom's footman—a dapper little house-elf by the name of Wheezy—who showed them into the eastern-most conservatory where the table had been set for brunch. Ducking beneath the overhanging vineries of Devil's Snare, James soon found himself in a smaller imitation—of what he could only assume to be—of the Unseelie's Court.
Silvery flagstones decorated the floor and marble statues of notable faery figures reached up towards the ceiling. And up there in the heavens, lay a great ornate stained glass roof that cast the room in the shades of jewel blues, purples and pinks. Beyond the balcony where their little table sat, a pool of water stretched out towards the other end of the conservatory and all around them, all manner of climbing, stretching, cloying fauna reached. James recognised some from his studies and there were others that boggled his mind. With a place like this in their backyard, the bespectacled wizard could see why Frank had loved Herbology so much, who wouldn't? The Potters own garden couldn't ever hold a candle to the Longbottom's one. But maybe that was just a faerie thing.
Frank's no-nonsense mother & current matriarch of the family—Lady Augusta Longbottom—was the one who greeted them as they entered the conservatory. She wore a discerning eye and a monstrosity of a hat upon her crown; something stuffed & fluffy, from what James could see. Robes in tartan green encased her shoulders and flowed down from where she sat, hiding the tap-tap-tapping of her pointe shoes upon the flagstones.
An inquisitive & primly-plucked brow raised as they entered. "What have you done with those delightful children of yours?" She asked politely, looking around for any sign of the youngsters. To her left, Andromeda Tonks (neé Black)—another neutral witch & relation to Sirius—sat nibbling on a delicate-looking pastry with great gusto. Her chocolate brown curls had been pulled out of her face and she wore more modern wizarding robes in a tanned mustard colour.
On her other side, sat her own muggleborn partner and the reason that she'd been blasted off of the Black's Family Tree, Ted Tonks. Ted was still garbed in his slightly tarnished Healer's uniform; the lime green robes stained with a collection of miscellaneous splotches that had James' lips curling down in disgust. Though, they twitched up again in amusement when he noted how the buttons of the elder wizard's uniform seemed to be hanging on by spite alone; the seams bulging around his rather rotund belly as he helped himself to the delectables laid out on the table.
"They're at school, ma'am" Lily replied, shucking her coat in the warmth of the room and handing it off to one of the house-elves. "Harry & Dudley are ever so excited about some school play that they have been working on and Jean is settling in nicely with her peers"
"Pity" Andromeda replied, licking the icing off of her fingers. "They could've played with Nymphadora & Neville"
The aforementioned children in question were sequestered away in another corner of the castle under elvish care as the adults conversed, but if ten year old Nymphadora was anything like Jean and three year old Neville was anything like Harry, then that poor boy might have just found himself as the sole star of his own fashion show. Merlin knew how much little girls liked to play dress-up, let alone when little children were involved. Besides, there was only so much time that one could rightly persuade the younger one to play dress-up before they started thinking that it was lame. Nevertheless, the photos were darling and Lily had promised to save Harry & Jean's until their respective Coming-of-Age ceremonies. The fact that it was good blackmail for when they were older & more ruly, may have also crossed their minds.
"I think that Neville's getting a bit sick of playing dress-up" Ted whispered knowingly to them, sparing the pair a boyish smile that crinkled the crow's feet up by the corners of his eyes.
"Dudley…" Augusta mused, "That's the muggle one, right?"
"Yes, ma'am" Lily nodded as James pulled out her seat for her, old habits still ingrained in him.
"And you just…let them prance about, unguarded in this day and age?"
Lily shared a glance with James, "O-oh, I reckon they're safe enough in the highlands. The village is pretty tight-knit and we've managed to fend off the Nosey Nancys, so far"
"Snrk!" Ted snorted, uncaring for the decorum of the ladies' table as he swept back his fringe; his fair hair glittering beneath the light of the stained glass ceiling. "Dumbledore's a persistent one, I'll grant him that!"
"Yes, yes, that old coot could never really leave well enough alone" Harfang chuckled as she entered surrounded by a great cloud of red smoke that emanated from her cigar. It smelt strongly of pomegranates. "But what's this I hear about your little grudge against Dumbledore's werewolf pup?" She asked, turning to the redhead with another discerning look; brow raised in question.
Lily had the pretence to look a little ashamed at the call out. "The pups adore the children and its good for them to spend time together; we intend for Sirius and Remus to be their uncles, afterall"
The redhead acquiesced as she gave in to the elder witch's questioning, her disappointed stare doing scores more than any words could have ever done. Lily felt like she was a young child being scolded for Accidental Magicks that she could not control; like that time her primary school teacher was doused in brightly coloured paint thanks to the redhead's ire. Harfang raised a pointed brow at the younger witch, silently telling her to go on.
"We've been…distant" Lily continued hesitantly as she recalled the incident which started this whole shebang and the Vow she made him take, only very recently. "But we are trying to make amends and, for me, that means learning to forgive Remus"
At her side, James smirked around his glass. "Was that so hard to admit?"
Lily bared a playful grin at him, her smile all teeth. "Like pulling teeth"
After brunch and the plates were cleared away, it was time to get down to business. Normally at this point, decorum stated that the wizards and witches would part for their Society Wives and Gentlemen's Clubs, respectively. But today was different and besides, the witches out-numbered the wizards four-to-two. So, they remained as a whole around the conservatory table.
"Now" Harfang began, pinning the Potter parents with a look as she leant back in her seat at the head of the table, "What is it you wished to discuss?"
The Potters shared a look before slowly—hesitantly—Lily pulled out Jean's diary from her pocket and placed it on the table in front of them, her hand resting gently on the cover.
"Oh?" Harfang perked up at the sight of the old & well-worn diary.
"We'll copy it for you should you wish to read it in its entirety, on your own time" James forewarned them, "However, before we hand it over, I—we—insist on warding them both"
Eyebrows around the table shot up towards their respective hairlines as surprise bloomed across each face in varying stages. "And what" Augusta piped up, "Would lie inside that diary to require such a thing?"
"That's just it" Lily replied, patting the cover a couple of times. "The diary was in a bag, in Jean's pocket when she arrived—"
"—Your ward?" Harfang doublechecked.
"Yes, ma'am" The redhead nodded. "The bag was enchanted to the teeth with a series of charms & hexes; including an Undetectable Extension Charm on it" Her tone held a tinge of bitterness as she recalled her own interactions with the cursed bag. "The bag itself contained an innumerable series of items, this however, contains most of the more…dangerous information, should it fall into the hands of the wrong sort of people"
"An Undetectable Extension Charm?" Ted sat up, "Aren't those illegal?"
"I think we're about to delve into greyer waters than just illegal charms, love" Andromeda replied, not at all soothing the muggleborn's nerves.
"A-ah"
Harfang turned to the Potters at large as the Tonks conversed, her beady eyes baring this calculating stare and expression carefully blank. "And what do you mean by the 'wrong people?"
Lily licked her lips, throat suddenly dry. "What do you know of Thomas M. Riddle Jr?" She eventually asked.
Harfang's brows shot sharply straight up towards her hairline. Whatever she had been expecting, that most certainly had not been it. "Tom Riddle? Slytherin's Princeling?"
"He attended school around the same time as you, didn't he, ma'am?" James continued.
"Aye…" Harfang nodded softly her gaze darting back & forth between the two Potters. "He had been the Head Boy at one time. But how, Potter, do you know that name? That was long before your time"
Again Lily tapped the leathery cover. "The diary"
"I see" Harfang was visibly suspicious now. "And what exactly do you want to know about him? What has Tom Riddle got to do with this Jean-child of yours?"
The bespectacled wizard licked his lips, swallowing dryly as he shared another look with his wife. "Before we answer any of your questions, ma'am, we'll need you to answer ours and then we're gonna need you to make an Unbreakable Vow—"
"—Dear Circe, Potter!" Lady Harfang exclaimed, jerking upright. "An Unbreakable Vow? Just who is this child?"
"Please, ma'am" Lily pleaded. "We just need you to understand the severity of the situation—!"
"—What you are asking for is right our of pocket, young lady!"
"Lady Harfang, please" James interjected in an effort to support his wife and steeled himself for the serious conversation that would surely follow. "We just want to keep our family safe. If this information ever got into the wrong hands…"
The former lady of the house sighed, clearly weighing out her options. "I might know some things about the princeling and his plans for the wizarding world—"
"—Sister!" Lady Augusta gasped, aghast. "Did you…were you…involved with him?"
"What? No! Nothing of the sort! Why would you think that?" Lady Harfang retorted, offended that her sister would think such a thing. "But he had spread ideas about the school when he was there; ideas about his plans for the wizarding world and so forth. And whilst I never attended any kind of his Knightly meetings, Abraxas Malfoy was of another mind. He'd asked me to attend a meeting with once, but I refused. Still, he tried to sway me with ideas about changing the politics or our world. The kind that required the support of several prominent families"
"I see" James sighed, wearily. "Still, I must ask: will you consent to the Vow"
"You cannot take me at my word, Potter?"
"No" He replied softly, weakly shaking his head. "Not when my children's lives are at risk—not when all of our lives are at risk. We can walk away, if you'd prefer, but I—we—must insist on a Vow if you wish to continue"
The older witch straightened her spine, pinning the pair in place with a rather shrewd expression. "No, no, you have me sufficiently intrigued, now" She pursed her lips as she sucked in a hissed breath. "I will consent to your Vow—"
"—Sister!" Augusta hissed.
"Quiet, Gus" Lady Harfang scolded her younger sister, before she turned back to the pair. "I hope—for your sake—that this is truly necessary. Are you going to be the bonder or the second party?"
"I'll be the second party" Lily answered, visibly relieved. "And James will be the bonder"
"And…" Ted licked his lips, visibly shaken at what he had heard thus far. "Are you going to be wanting Vows from us as well?"
Lily shared a look with James, brow quirked in question before the redhead turned back to her fellow muggleborn. "I think that would be best, yes"
"Right…"
As one, the mages stood up from the table and moved over to the side. There, they stood in a small circlet and clasped hands, so that they might complete the Vow in one go instead of repeating it over and over again. James stood between the Longbottom sisters and nodded to his assent to the redhead, signalling for her to begin after everyone seemed to have settled down. Where their clasped hands met, Lily pointed her wand and began to quietly enchant. From her wand slipped a chain of silvery mist that wrapped around the circlet, magically binding the mages to each other and their other.
"Do you promise not to reveal the information we give you in relation to the diary and our ward" James began, laying out the terms of the Vow. "Unless we have discussed it and agreed?"
"I promise" Chorused the recipients.
"Do you promise not to reveal our ward's true origins to anyone whom we have not already agreed to tell?"
"I promise"
"And do you promise, that—if you feel you cannot aid us—you will not actively strive against us, in this trying time?"
"I promise"
The sound of the chain links solidifying as if they had been pulled taut, echoed about the conservatory as Lily ended the spell. The silvery chains fell away and the tense atmosphere which had once been there, fell away to the peacefulness of the conservatory once more. "It is done" Lily spoke softly, practically whispering into the quiet of the room. "Thank you"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna need a drink" Lady Harfang sighed wearily as she slumped back against the bannister at her back. "Where's Wheezy? Wheezy—!"
"—Sister! It's barely noon!" Lady Augusta exclaimed, aghast.
"Trust me, Gus, you're gonna need a drink for this conversation. Now where is that house-elf?"