((Nympha)Dora Tonks - PoV)

I smile, watching mom storm off towards that awful house in full Black mode. Those bastards are in for a nasty surprise.

I can't watch, however, instead turning back to my charges, or more specifically Iris. She seems to be holding up well, Coeus and Phoebe on either side of her, but I can't even imagine what she is thinking. Having a seer call out to the world, that your family doesn't want you?

...

I want nothing more than to grab the munchkin and just smother her. In fact, I might just do that.

"Umm...what...what is going on?" She asks, looking back and forth, from her former house to us.

"We are kidnapping you," Coeus answers.

Her eyes widen.

...Damnit Coeus.

"Adopting, brother. We are adopting her. Eventually. Probably," Phoebe corrects him.

Better.

"W-what?" she asks.

"You don't actually want to go back there do you?" he asks her, pointing at the house.

She hesitates but shakes her head.

"So don't. You are coming home with us. If we get it all sorted out nice and legal it will be adoption or something. If we don't? Kidnapping. Either way, you are not coming back if you don't want to."

I want to argue we won't be kidnapping her, but...yeah. She's not coming back here whatever the laws say.

*Pop*

I spin around, wand drawn at the telltale sound of apparition, only to find myself facing Albus bloody frickin Dumbledore, with his wand drawn.

We stare at each other for a moment in surprise.

"Nymphadora?" he asks.

I narrow my eyes. That does it, this is the same bastard that told everyone Iris was safe and well cared for this entire time!

"Get lost beardy! No one wants you here!" I tell him, brandishing my wand threateningly.

I have no chance in hell here, but I will throw down!

He blinks, examining all of us.

"Perhaps we should all put our wands away and use our words first?" he suggests, lowering his hand.

All of us? I glance behind me to see all of the midgets having drawn as well.

Hah, four verses one! The little ones have my back!

But if he is willing to back down, then we should as well. I don't know if my backup can even cast actual spells, and he is friggin Dumbledore.

I slowly put my wand away, the others following suit.

He smiles.

"An excellent start. Now, what brings your family here Nymphadora?"

I twitch at the hated name. Priorities girl, priorities.

"We are rescuing Iris," I tell him.

He blinks once more.

"Come again? These old ears you know. Rescuing did you say?"

I nod.

"Yup. Mom is dealing with the...whatevers," I forget their name, I wave vaguely at the house, "and then we are taking Iris home with us," I say proudly.

"I...I see. This...no, I need to talk to her immediately," he says, turning towards the house.

"Hell no!" I shout, grasping my wand.

"Pardon me?" he looks back, noticing my hand.

"I said hell no. You are not going in there. Mom is going to take care of things, and then Iris is coming home with us. That is final. You are not messing this up."

"Nymphadora please s-"

"She doesn't want to go back," Phoebe interrupts him.

He turns to look at them.

Coeus nods. "Right, Iris? You don't have to say anything else, anything about why if you don't want to."

Iris looks back and forth between the twins before looking at Dumbledore.

"I...I never, ever want to...to go back there. No matter what," she says, half hiding behind Coeus.

Dumbledore slumps.

"I...it's not that simple..." he says.

"Like hell it isn't!"

"Nymphadora, listen, I know it is hard, but it is very important that -"

"Now!"

We turn to see mom storming out of the house, dad close behind.

She berates him. He can barely get a word in before she slaps him hard enough to near knock the old man over.

Damn, go mom!

She rants a bit more, before taking Iris and calling for the Knight bus again. I hear a distinct crunch of glass as dad follows after her. Were those Dumbledores glasses?

He just smiles when I look at him.

We all board the bus, with Dumbledore waving off a very confused conductor as he attempts to fix his glasses.

As we are finding our seats, I think back to mom's last words to him. Did...did mom just send Dumbledore back to his room to wait to be punished?

-
(Coeus Black - PoV)

Even the Knight Bus can't get my mood down as we ride home.

That was awesome! I had been racking my mind, trying to figure out a way to convince Andy to let Iris come home with us, and then she goes and does it herself. Not only that but she went properly Black about it as well, driving that bastard back at wand point.

Then just, everything with Dumbledore, and even Ted got in on things, stepping on his glasses on the way out. Yes, today I am proud of my family. They really stepped up when it mattered.

I look over at Iris who sits, stunned and disbelieving between Phoebe and me, clutching her owl cage.

We should order a cake or something to celebrate. Wait, it is still her birthday, right? Two cakes. I wonder what kind she likes?

...

She probably has no idea, does she?

I assume we still need the Dursleys around for a little bit to sign papers or something, then they will get what's coming to them.

I grab the railing and hold tight after a particularly violent jump tries to dislodge us.

Don't care, still awesome. And we are almost home.

The moment I recognize the area I drag Iris out of her seat.

"We're here!" I tell her, pulling her through the bus.

We hop off the bus, where we (ok, I) end up waiting impatiently for everyone else to exit. Phoebe and Dora were not far behind us, but Andy and especially Ted take their time.

"Slow," I complain, before heading towards the house, Iris and Phoebe in tow.

It is no Black Manor, or even Grimmauld Place, according to Andy and Grandfather, but it is not bad. A decent two-story far enough out in the countryside to go flying without too much concern, as long as we stay on the property.

I am not normally so impatient, but we are not bringing over someone to visit, but to stay. Just like we did, all those years ago, after mom...

Barging through the front door, I start leading Iris around the house.

"Entrance, Dining Room, Kitchen, Bathroom..." and so it goes, until we go upstairs.

"And this is mine and Phoebes room!" I tell her with enthusiasm. "Come, look!" I drag her in after me, Phoebe following quietly behind.

It is rather crowded, with both of us shoving all of our things in here, but we make it work, and keep it organized. Having multiple spatially enhanced multi-compartment trunks works wonders.

I open one up.

"Here is where I keep all of my enchanting materials. This compartment is for books and notes, this one is for supplies I have saved, this one is for general tools I have bought, this one is for specialized tools, this one is a workbench, and this one is empty currently." I explain.

Iris watches quietly while I show off various bits and bobs.

I am eventually interrupted by a knock on the doorframe.

"So this is where you lot got off to. Come on down to the dining room, time to eat," Dora tells us.

Food. Food is good.

We follow her down and take our seats. Looks like nobody wanted to cook after such an eventful day, Chinese takeout tonight, not that I'm complaining. Though I did forget to ask about cake. We load up our plates.

Well, most of us load up, Iris is hesitant.

I look over at her.

"Do you not like it?"

The question draws more attention, causing her to wilt further. She finally starts to hesitantly add food to her plate. Very little food, as far as I am concerned. I don't like it, not after everything else today.

I look.

"WHAT!?"

I notice I am standing up.

My chair is tipped over on the floor, and everyone is staring at me.

I...I know I have been doing this too often, but I have to.

I bend over and hug Iris once more.

"I'm sorry," I tell her.

She is frozen stiff.

"I...we have never gone hungry, and you never need to again either. That was...they were," my words are failing me. I know starvation is a thing, and that there are people who sometimes struggle, but I saw that man, and that house. There was absolutely no reason to deny her food. None.

...

"I'm sorry," I repeat.

She still doesn't move.

I let her go, pick up my chair, and sit back down.

The table is silent.

Do we just, resume eating? I have no idea how to deal with this.

"Iris," Ted says.

She looks at him hesitantly.

"For now, don't worry about anything else. Just eat," he says.

She nods.

Dinner resumes.

After we finish eating, and the plates and remains are cleared away, serious discussion resumes.

Iris fidgets in place, anticipating it.

"Iris," Ted addresses her. "Do you know what my job is?" he asks her.

She shakes her head.

"I am a healer. Like a doctor. Have you been to the doctor?"

She frowns. "A long time ago maybe? I think I had to get a shot to go to school."

"I see. Well, people tend to get check-ups more often than that." He hesitates. "Especially since people who are not eating well, or who get injured often, can develop longer-term problems if not treated."

She looks away.

"So, tomorrow I am going to do a basic check-up on you ok? It shouldn't be anything too complicated, mostly just some wand waving. It is usually a lot easier for healers than for doctors. That is tomorrow, however, for tonight you lot should just get washed up and get ready for bed, alright? I expect the next few days will be rather busy."

Iris nods.

"Umm...Where should I put everything?" she asks.

She is still carrying her trunk, and her owl cage is currently in our room. Phoebe let her out at some point while I was showing off my stuff.

"She can use my spare room," Phoebe suggests.

"Do you mean your room?" Andy asks her.

Oh, right. Technically, our room is my room, and Phoebe has her own.

"Why would I want a separate room?" she asks.

Exactly. Ted and Andy eventually gave up trying to get her to sleep there, or even use it at all really, so it has been wasted for years. It is still fully furnished, so Iris could move right in.

Andy sighs.

"Iris, we will redo the guest bedroom for you. To be clear, you are not a guest, it is your room now," she says seriously.

Bah, I see she still hasn't entirely given up.

"Nymphadora-

"Dora!"

"Show her there, and help her get set up will you? I have to go write Arcturus."

Dora rolls her eyes.

"Come on squirt, let's get you set up," she says, pulling Iris up off the couch.

"We'll help!" I say.

"No, you two go get cleaned up, and then the other two can go after you," Andy continues.

It's a good plan, so I acquiesce.