"If we were to go for the wardship—officially, I mean" James began, a little hesitantly as he spared a look with his wife. "Would you be our sponsor, ma'am?"

Wardships were similar to adoptions only in the fact that a court of witnesses, notaries, mountains of paperwork and sponsor testaments were required. As for the former, they were pretty self-explanatory. But as for the latter, the testaments from the sponsors were required to be given by someone who vouched for the couple, 'least Child Protective Services decided that the young mage(s) were better off in the care of the system of some other guardianship.

Typically speaking, wardship was only granted to those who did not have any (legal) living family within the magical world—or at all—and there was no will & testament to contest, or direct where the child was supposed to go. As for the ward, themselves, they would be the offending party's responsibility until they reached their Coming of Age; which was typically around seventeen-to-eighteen years old. In fact, when you thought about it like that, it wasn't too dissimilar to the fostering system that the muggles had. Although the wardship rituals in the Wizarding World found their roots in medieval Camelot instead of Victorian Cheshire.

"We will, of course, be your sponsors" The Lady of the House smiled, fondly before a serious look overtook her features. "But I have conditions"

"Of course" James nodded whilst Lily sat there, confused. "What were you thinking?"

Lady Harfang spoke first, sparing only a passing glance at her sister who appeared to be of the same mind. "We expect the paperwork for the wardship to be completed & filed in a timely manner—"

"—And given a copy of the final print too!" Lady Augustus added.

"Yes, thank you, Gus" Lady Harfang nodded stiffly, sparing her sister a cutting glare for interrupting her. Lady Augustus simply huffed and mumbled something unintelligible into her glass. "Doing thus will ensure that we can get the process hastened through the channels. We'll explain it away as you having wanting to fulfil the roles of your Family Charters and, upon finding a magical child within the muggle system that fit those requirements, did so"

"But to do that, you needed to bring her up to speed on the traditions of wizarding society and so on" Lady Augustus continued, picking up the trail where her sister had left off. "Everyone is aware of your relationship" She nodded pointedly to the pair. "And the Potters' stance on the war, so it will not come as a surprise to very few people in our world. They will explain it away as worries about the war and your family name, so they won't question it"

"And if they do" Lady Harfang continued, "It will be put down as eagerness at finally being able to marry her off or your eagerness to return as an auror, and end this war. This will be assume that you are eager for wardship with our vouches because of a betrothal made from someone within the (Un)seelie Court. I'm sure that we can find someone if that need actually arises—"

"—The Weasleys have several in their brood who have shown interest in the Court" Lady Augustus piped up. "The elder ones—what were their names? The one who liked puzzles and the one with the fondness for dragons?"

"William and Charles?" Lily offered, not quite sure as she shared a look with her husband. She'd only met the Weasleys in passing and heard of Arthur's brood through the many, many proud parent tales told around the Order of the Phoenix's table. "But they're Weasleys! They're unfalteringly loyal to Dumbledore! How—?"

"—Yes, yes, yes, the materfamilias may very be under Dumbledore's thumb, but those two have good heads on their shoulders" Lady Augustus nodded, placatingly before she moved to explain. "Why, just the other day when they came to deliver their rent, the eldest posed me the most interesting query about the use of billywig honey in tinctures"

"How does that help us?"

Because yes, whilst the Prewetts—and by extension, the Weasleys—and the Lovegoods were of old fey blood, it was the Longbottoms who ran the estate of Ottery St. Catchpole. So, they had a bit of sway over their livelihoods; if only in so far as they were able to evict them from their generational lands, if they so pleased. Which was useful to know, but that still didn't explain how it helped their current situation.

"Because, whilst the Weasleys may no longer hold favour with either of the Courts anymore, the Prewetts still do and their Family Charters are not so easily swayed" Lady Augustus conversationally replied. Her lips quirked up and her eyes sparkled as she dared to gossip about her tenants. It was hard not to though.

The way James had heard it, the current materfamilias of the Weasley clan were in some serious hot water with both of the fey Courts. All thanks to Molly, who dared to defy the Prewett Family Charters and break a contract with another young man to whom she had already been betrothed. The story went that there was a particular Love Compulsion potion used to convince the usually level-headed and pushover Arthur to elope with her. Doing so had landed the pair in hot water and stained the Prewett's family name. The Weasleys, less so, but that's because they weren't as enthralled in the Courts as the Prewetts.

But Dumbledore had reassured them time and time again that they would be safe under his care. And they had, for a price; a very, very steep price. One that had damn-near bankrupted them, especially with that fertility curse placed upon them by the Courts (it was one that would take an arm and a leg to remove). Typically people thought that the more children there was the merrier, but when dealing with the fey, that was not always the case. Afterall, there was a reason that you shouldn't lie or trick them; they would return your gesture with the premium upgrade. One you'd soon regret.

"Madam Weasley's involvement and scandal with Master Weasley has sent many rumours flying over the years" Lady Augustus gossiped, "And—as her children—they have the right to take up the Prewett name in her stead, even though she has long since abandoned it. Doing so, is something that would bring them back into the Courts—back to us—and sever the shameful ties that Madam Weasley has so callously knotted"

"As for your rush to the wardship, you may pass it off as your insistence to get it done" Lady Harfang continued. "Perhaps…you are rushing the wardship in case we fickle old witches change our minds and rescind that sponsorship"

"Mm…yes, if that is the case, then you would have only twenty-four hours after submitting the paperwork to complete the wardship" Lady Augustus hummed in agreement as she gestured to her sister with her lipstick-stained glass. She then turned to the Potters with a forgiving smile. "It may not be how you envisioned your family growing, but it will protect you all. Most importantly, your children"

Lily looked closed to tears as the elderly witches so easily laid out the plan. She blamed the pregnancy hormones. "I—I don't know what to say" They made it seem so easy, bouncing ideas off of each other like they had been doing this their whole lives. Like they were doing nothing more than discussing weekend plans instead of scheming like a couple of cartoon villains.

"Then say nothing" Lady Augustus shrugged as if it were obvious. "The longer that Jean-child is without familial protections, the more nervous I would, personally, feel. All it takes is for one person to take interest in her. So, you will work with the girl to build her occlumency shields. For, should her memories be rifled through, it could be disastrous for us all"

"Besides" Lady Harfang sighed around a plume of smoke, "The last thing we need is the attention of Wizarding Britain, thinking her a seer or worse. Is it possible for you to arrange the wardship papers before, then?"

James shared a look with Lily, looking just as flabbergasted as she felt. "Uh, I—I s'pose we can stop by the Ministry before we return home?" He replied, sounding unsure of himself. "Get that process started, at least"

"Good" The sisters nodded, shortly. "Now, we will need a copy of this diary and the accompanying translations. Plus a list of the families that you believe are currently in coalition with either Riddle or Dumbledore"

"Riddle, I understand" Lily puzzled, "But why Dumbledore too?"

"Well, it wouldn't do to pull someone into the fold like that Snape-boy, now would it?" Lady Augustus smirked, "A player so easily misled and so easily confused"

"Then we'll compare lists and go from there" Lady Harfang nodded in agreement, "We will also need as many names as you can give us from each side during Jean-child's original timeline. We'll need a clear idea of who to avoid and who to workaround as a starting point. Do you have any other suggestions?"

"I have one" Lily spoke, raising her hand as if she were in class and only continued when they gestured for her to go on. "Before the wardship is solidified, I do think that it would be a good idea to contact the Dagworth-Grangers, no matter how tense unhelpful things may be. Jean is technically of their House and we don't need any more spanners in the works should things go awry"

"We also need to confront Jean about this whole thing" James added, "Merlin knows how headstrong we were as children and that was without the world-impending doom hanging over our heads. If she doesn't know that we're in her corner, I—I'm scared of what she might do"

"That is a good suggestion" Lady Harfang nodded, "And it may be able to be done, but it will—by no means—be easy"

"Is anything?" He joked, a half-hearted chuckle falling from his lips.

"You've been remarkably calm and rather quiet about this whole thing, Andy" Ted couldn't help but note.

Andromeda snorted at that. "You forget, Teddy, I grew up in the Black household, so I'm used to all of this scheming and plotting" She reminded them with a teasing smirk. "Besides, I am an adequate occlumens and Wheezy snuck a Calming Draught into the whiskery earlier, so that's certainly taken the edge off of it. It also means that I need not obsess over the—frankly absurd—conversation we've had this morning. But make no mistake, Teddy, I am not calm. I feel like I could vomit, but that is not the way we do things in my family, so instead I'll just focus on fixing this, so that Riddle fellow does not bring about that horrid prophesied end of the world"

At her side, Ted openly gaped at the woman he called his wife, having rarely experienced such a candid answer from her. Apparently the Calming Draught had made her lips a little looser than normal. Usually, she—like the rest of her family—was the kind of person who was typically known to play her cards close to her chest; a necessity when growing up in pureblooded families like the Blacks. Today had been a day full of surprises on both ends; he could admit to that.

Andromeda laughed at his expression; the chortle sounding a little tinged with the slight air of hysteria in it. "I am only human, Teddy dear" She playfully nudged him before sobering a little. "And this morning we've been regaled with stories about how the Potter wards is, in fact, a time-travelling witch from at least fifteen-to-thirty years in the future. That a mad man-turned-homunculus has kept himself alive through diabolical means and is intent on destroying the world. And that our children will fight in a war that we could not finish. You'll have to forgive me if I am finding it a bit challenging to employ my usual filters"

Ted only nodded dumbly, completely blank-faced. "A-ah, of course, dear"

"Now" Lady Harfang then turned to the Potters, at large whilst the Tonks muttered together in the background. "I think you need to go see a time traveller about this whole shit show"