Advance Arrangement
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Seeing that Lily stared at him in anger, Merlin turned to his brother. "Santa, do you believe that the North Fir Tree could do something to help Remus? I'd love to invite him to assist with my project, but for that, it would be most helpful if I could rely on him on every day of the month."
Santa nodded; however, Claire shook her head. "Before any of you go anywhere, let's have lunch first."
"We should at least have a trial for Dumbledore," James returned the discussion to the previous subject. "Sirius, Dad and Merlin, will you please speak with Amelia and set everything into motion?"
Charlus nodded. "Right after lunch, we will do so. I'll also ask her to extend the trial to Molly Weasley who signed that betrothal contract together with Dumbledore."
"Yes please." Lily shook her head in annoyance. "Now, Harry and Bobby, please change back into your human forms, as we're going have lunch now." To her amazement, both twins immediately transformed back.
"That was very well done, both of you," she commended them, feeling incredulously proud of her children.
"Uncy Mooey!" An instant later, both boys were perched on Remus lap eagerly hugging their honorary uncle.
Lily smiled, noticing that Bobby still had a very faint line on his forehead, where his scar had been just a few hours ago. 'Thank Merlin that it was taken out earlier,' she thought in relief.
HP
"Now, that's interesting."
Everyone looked up from their meal to stare at the old Merlin in the painting, as he pointed to the screen. It was set to display Professor Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore put down a letter he had been reading wearing an expression of devastation. "Ah, Fawkes, what am I going to do? The goblins just locked my accounts for a year." Tears were leaking from Dumbledore's eyes, as he spoke to his phoenix familiar. "You're the only one who knows that I'm not as evil as I seem, my dear friend. I wished I was stronger and able to fight him, but ever since he stole the Elder Wand from me so many years ago, when he took me by surprise, it's just hopeless. I just hope that I'm not going to lose all my positions over his newest plot."
As he gently caressed the phoenix' crown feathers with tears now freely running down his face, Fawkes trilled a soothing melody.
HP
"What was that?" Lily turned to James.
"I have no idea. Dad?"
Charlus shook his head in apparent confusion. "He almost sounded as if someone forced him to do what he did."
"Shouldn't he be able to tell us who it was if we question him under Veritaserum?" Sirius gave the older wizard a questioning look.
Charlus sighed. "That depends on how proficient the other person is. If someone is able to force Albus Dumbledore to do something against his will, the person should be clever enough to use whatever spells or charms it'll need to hide his crime."
"Too bad, considering that the person seems to be on a warpath against Harry." Merlin shook his head in apparent annoyance, before he addressed his portrait. "Merlin, please watch Dumbledore's office whenever you can and inform us if anyone except for his colleagues visits him."
The old wizard nodded, grimly. "You can rely on me. I've been watching this screen for a very long time."
His younger counterpart nodded. "You're doing a good job, old man. The screen here is a privilege, which the Unspeakables do not have."
"Merlin? Mr. Potter?"
"Ah, Remus, please call me Charlus." The older Potter smiled at the werewolf.
Remus nodded. "Thank you, sir. Could we perhaps try to find out something using the screen instead of instigating a trial against Professor Dumbledore? I owe him greatly, as he allowed me to attend Hogwarts in spite of being a werewolf."
Lily acted before anyone else. "Yes, I believe that would be better, at least for now. We will not forget about the matter though, and we shall inform the twins about Mrs. Weasley and her plans for her children, before they're going to attend Hogwarts."
"At least they know to be careful around them." James nodded in agreement.
Santa sighed. "That's probably much too lenient, but as you're the victims in this story, it's up to you to decide. Are you really sure about that?"
James shook his head. "Santa is right. Lily and Remus, I'm really sorry, but I believe that Dumbledore should have a trial in any case. If the whole thing is not his fault, then nothing will happen to him, but maybe we'll be able to find out who is behind this. Just imagine what would have happened to Harry if we were not alive?"
"That would have been a disaster, not only for Harry, but also for Remus and me." Sirius let out a deep sigh. "Come, Merlin and Charlus, let's go and speak with Meli."
HP
Everyone watched quietly how Charlus and Merlin threw their Unspeakable robes over, before one of them gripped Sirius' arm and they simply popped away together.
"Do you wish to observe their conversation with Amelia? Otherwise, I suggest that in the meantime, I could take Remus to get to know the North Fir Tree." Santa sounded pleasant.
"Santa?" Lily cast the man a questioning look. "Will the North Fir Tree be able to cure Remus from lycanthropy?"
Santa smirked. "Unfortunately, it will not be able to completely cure him. However, it might do something to help with the transformation."
Remus' face fell in clear disappointment. "Come, Remus. I'll go with you," Lily offered, smiling.
Remus nodded. "Thank you, Santa and Lily. Every little change will help."
Together, they headed outside, and for the second time that day, Lily observed the North Fir Tree shed a cone that made its way right into the person sitting on the comfortable looking bench, which was free from snow and ice, in front of the tree. Soon, Remus was surrounded by a golden glow, which she already knew from the twins' treatment earlier the same day.
Only when the golden glow was completely gone, Remus opened his eyes and looked from her to Santa. "I feel much better than I can remember having ever felt before. Santa, are you sure that I am not cured?"
Santa sighed. "Unfortunately, the North Fir Tree is not able to heal you from lycanthropy. However, the transformation, which you will experience during the full moon, will be completely different from what you experienced so far. I will tell you more at that time."
"Thank you so very much." Remus smiled, even if his voice was laced with slight disappointment.
"You're very welcome," Santa replied with a smirk playing on his lips that told Lily that maybe there was still hope for some kind of cure.
HP
Just when they returned to the screen room, Sirius, Charlus and Merlin returned from the Ministry of Magic.
"Dumbledore and in extension Mrs. Weasley are going to have their trial on Saturday morning." Charlus sounded pleased. "Unspeakables Croaker, Merlin, Caesar and Fluffy as well as Sirius and Buckbean will be invited as witnesses."
"Are you certain that they won't question witnesses under Veritaserum?" Lily cast her father-in-law a worried look.
"First of all, they won't question witnesses under Veritaserum, and secondly, they will never ever question an Unspeakable under the influence of truth serum."
"Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley will be asked to arrive at the Ministry of Magic 24 hours prior to the beginning of the trial to make sure that they haven't taken the antidote to Veritaserum," Sirius explained, causing Lily to roll her eyes.
"Sirius, you're aware that Severus and I worked together to develop an antidote to the antidote for Veritaserum, aren't you? They could simply ask Severus to provide a dose and give it to them instead of making them spend twenty-four hours in a holding cell. Molly Weasley has seven children, and I am sure that she is needed at her home."
"Who'd trust Snivellus with a potion?" Sirius chuckled.
"Shut up, Sirius. He is my friend, and, as I said, we developed the potion together." Lily glared at the Marauder. "Please excuse me for a moment. I'll go and speak with Amelia and then with Severus." With that, she summoned her Unspeakable robes from their igloo and popped away under the amused looks of everyone but her children, who were fast asleep in exhaustion from their earlier Animagus transformations.
tbc...
Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
