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.
James, Charlus and Merlin were just about to head to the Unspeakables' Office, when Lily called them back. "Look, Albus seems to ready himself to leave Hogwarts."
The three wizards sat down again and observed how Albus Dumbledore put on a heavy travel cloak, before he walked out of his office.
"Well, we still need to go. Watch everything and tell us later on," Merlin decided, and the three Unspeakables left through the fireplace, leaving Lily alone with Remus and the children.
Santa and Claire were extremely busy this shortly before Christmas and only showed up for breakfast and dinner.
"Lily," Remus spoke up, smiling. "I believe that there is no need for you to take turns with James at the Unspeakables' Office. As I don't have any job right now, I can as well watch Harry and Bobby if you trust me with them."
Lily, who had been observing the children work together building some kind of igloo from blocks, looked at her friend in surprise. "Thank you, Remus. Of course, I trust you with the kids. If you really don't mind minding them, I'd love to join my colleagues more frequently."
Remus nodded. "I don't mind, and I believe that your research will be more efficient if you're able to continue on a daily basis."
"On the other hand," Lily recalled an earlier conversation, "did Merlin not say that he wanted your support for some kind of project?"
"Yes, there was something, but even though I was cured from lycanthropy, he hasn't said anything about it so far."
"Let's ask him tonight," Lily decided, before she turned her attention to Harry and Bobby, who had abandoned a half-finished igloo to transform into their canine forms and chase their sleepy familiars around the room.
"Lily, look at the screen." Remus caught her attention, and they watched how Albus Dumbledore entered what they recognised as the Hog's Head, the inn of Aberforth Dumbledore.
HP
"Aberforth."
"Albus." The wizard behind the bar acknowledged his presence.
"The blood wards around the Dursleys' residence seem to have completely failed."
"Is that so?" Aberforth, who seemed to be preparing the bar for the day, appeared grumpy.
"Yes. Does it make sense to re-cast them?"
Aberforth shrugged. "I suppose so. Perhaps, you should ask the boy's aunt why they failed in the first place?"
Albus nodded in apparent determination and left.
HP
Lily and Remus watched with eagerness how the old wizard disapparated and appeared in a small street of what seemed a quiet living area.
"My sister's house." Lily groaned.
"Oh, right. He doesn't know that Bobby is not living with them anymore, does he?"
"No, he doesn't." Lily chuckled. "I wonder what Petunia is going to tell him."
Albus spent at least twenty minutes casting some kind of spells or charms. They could only hear him murmur, but from his earlier conversation with his brother, Lily and Remus assumed that he was trying to bring up the blood wards again.
Finally sliding his wand back into his robe pocket, he stepped up to the front door and rang the bell.
Petunia opened the door, letting out a small shriek. "You! What do you want?"
"Hello to you, too, Petunia. I just wanted to ask how little Harry is."
"He's just gone to spend the day with a friend," Petunia replied, causing Albus to stare at her in apparent disbelief.
However, before the old wizard could further question her sister, Petunia shut the door into his face. Shaking his head in obvious annoyance, Albus apparated away without further ado.
HP
Remus frowned. "Do you know why he is so obsessed with Harry?"
Lily let out a deep sigh, before she informed Remus about a prophecy, which Trelawney, Hogwarts' new Divination professor, had made in front of Albus Dumbledore. "I don't believe in it, but as Albus and Voldemort do so, it won't help us. That was why we went into hiding in the first place. Considering that Voldemort marked Bobby though and not Harry, I believe that it concerns him and not the real Harry."
"Well, look at them." Remus chuckled at the sight of four canines peacefully asleep huddled against each other. It was hard to tell which limb belonged to whom. "They're going to do everything together anyway."
"I hope so." Lily smiled. "I'm glad that Harry has a twin brother. Even if we intend to have more children," she absentmindedly rubbed her belly, instinctively knowing that she was pregnant again, "it's wonderful that they have a brother of the same age, especially as we now live far away from everyone else."
"Do you know if there are any wizarding primary schools in Britain?"
Lily shook her head. "I don't think so, but we can ask Santa. If anyone knows such a thing, it'll be him."
"That's true." Remus smiled. "He's a wonderful wizard."
Lily full-heartedly agreed.
Suddenly, Merlin in his painting cleared his throat. "About the matter of a primary school, speak to my other self about it. Maybe, he'll be able and willing to help with it."
HP
Merlin remained pensive for a moment, before he conceded. "All right. In fact, I intend to set up a small, private school for very gifted magical beings here on the North Pole, the Selective Academy of Magical Science or SAMS. It is going to be an elite school for only approximately ten students at a time from all over the world. These do not necessarily have to be humans, and they will remain exactly one school year, from 1 September to 31 May. Actually, I intended to offer Remus the position of my assistant and teacher. However, seeing that we have the two little ones here, we can as well run it as a primary school until they'll be ready to attend Hogwarts. That gives us a couple of years to plan the academy and employ appropriate teachers."
Remus was the first to respond. "That is an amazing idea, and I thank you very much for offering a position at your academy to me, which I gladly accept."
"Thank you, Merlin," Lily smiled, "for considering making it a school for small ones for the time being. I appreciate it very much."
"You're more than welcome." Merlin remained pensive, before he continued, "While I make the school building, I'd like to ask you to watch the screen for appropriate children to join the twins. I believe that we should not have more than ten children, preferably not only humans."
"I shall see to it," Lily promised, already pondering the matter with eagerness. "I suppose that you wish to start the school in about twenty months from now, when the twins have turned three?"
Merlin nodded. "Yes, all children should already be potty trained. We will provide Portkeys for their travel to and from the school."
tbc...
Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.
