Author's Notes: First off, I stopped getting email notifications for reviews which is highly annoying. I'll make a point to check in manually and reply. I do reply to emails. I caught up on a few, but stopped at last March because it was just a lot. I was in a very remote part of northern New Mexico with no internet and when I had time, I wrote more. Mostly I watched my youngest attempt to fish with a stick and random line and hooks he found on the ground. It was super cute and he had a blast doing it.

Second, find me on the book of face- Sarah Jaune
or patreo n where you can read some of my full original stories FOR FREE. Same- Sarah Jaune. If you join up, it's pretty cheap and you get my full body of original work.

Third, thank you for reviewing! We're about one year until the end in their timeline, give or take. Thank goodness because half a million words is LONG
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 85

"How about this one?" Ginny asked, holding up yet another dress for Nat to inspect as Nat tried to appreciate that she was allowed in a shop. Alright, she was allowed in a shop because Hagrid and Ron were standing just outside the empty shop keeping an eye on things, but it was something!

"No," Madam Malkin said dismissively. "She's too small. Something with that much material will swallow her whole. Here," she said, handing Nat another garment. "Go try that one on."

Nat sighed and took it into the dressing room. It felt like this was the four hundredth set of robes that she was about to try on and none of them had looked good on her. She was doing her best to be dutiful and not complain about them, but it was disheartening to say the least.

She heard the door to the shop tinkle as someone came in. "I have the information, Nat," she heard Audrey say. "I've also let the woman from the Ministry know that you and Al want to adopt. She's going to send you an owl to get an initial meeting set up."

Nat finished zipping up the dress and walked out. Their faces said it all. This one wasn't the right dress either. She fought to hold back tears as the dress maker held out yet another garment. "I think we're going to just go for the least bad, if you know what I mean."

"We'll find something!" Ginny said firmly. "If not today, we'll keep looking. Rose said she'd help tomorrow if we need it."

Nat held up the new dress, which was simple satin, that didn't look like much on the hanger. "All right."

She went to try it on and didn't even look in the mirror this time. It was getting down right depressing. If she weren't so short or had any curves at all this wouldn't be so painful, but she was four-foot-nine and only ninety-three pounds… there wasn't a lot out there to fit her.

She sighed, steadying herself and walked out. No one moved or said anything for a full minute while Nat fidgeted. "If it's that bad just tell me!"

"You… you look amazing, Natalie," Audrey assured her.

Ginny stood and walked over to hug her, tears in her normally dry eyes. "You look beautiful! This is the one!"

Nat turned to look at herself in the mirror, but it just looked like her in a white dress. She didn't feel like it was the one but then again, nothing had felt totally right. "You're sure?"

"Positive," Ginny said. "You don't like it?"

Nat shrugged. "I just look like me in a dress. It at least fits, though." She didn't want them to argue about it, though, so she said. "Okay, I'll take it."

"No, Natalie, if you're not happy with it, then we'll keep looking," Ginny told her firmly.

Blowing out a breath she turned to the mirror to study herself. The simple satin dress had tiny pearls along the hem and the top of the bodice. It was nice… she looked okay in it and she was comfortable, so it wouldn't be a pain to wear it for several hours… "It's good."

Ginny's face showed her concern. "Nat… I think you look amazing in this dress. What do you see?"

"I see me in a dress," Nat answered, unsure of what to say, as she cocked her head to the side.

"It looks great," Audrey said gently, coming up onto her other side.

Nat turned to her. "Okay, then. Sold."

"Nat, if you're not—" Audrey began, but Nat cut her off.

"I'm good with this dress. It's the best of the lot, by far. I'm getting hungry, so let's be done and go get lunch." Nat moved off to the changing rooms. "I want to hear about the adoption process in the wizarding world."

She bought the dress, which took nearly every galleon she had, and they left to go home where Al would meet up with them for lunch.

"Basically, the adoptions are done through a magical version of foster care," Audrey said, gazing down at the parchment through her reading spectacles. "Any magical children who get bumped into foster care here in England get instantly turned over to the Ministry of Magic. They have implemented a method for tracking those children and the Muggles don't know what's happened, just that they're too overworked to handle the extra children and they're being routed through a private agency, which is our Ministry."

"Why do you they do that?" Al asked, spearing a green bean with his fork.

"After the war it was implemented to try to prevent another child like Tom Riddle," Ginny told them. "I remember when they started it. Your dad was called in to testify to what it was like growing up with the Muggles. It was decided that Muggle parents weren't bad, but the added strain of adopting a magical child might push them over the edge."

"I'm still not entirely certain I agree with the legislation," Audrey told them wryly. "But they did add in a clause a few years after that if the Muggle adoptive parents were deemed to be open and accepting to magic that they could adopt a magical child. Most magical children, though, come through the Ministry of Magic. That includes magical births that would otherwise go up for private adoption."

Nat stared at them in confusion and Al voiced her question. "How do they manage that?"

"They have a registry set up at the Ministry, a lot like the one Hogwarts uses for school lists, that lets the Ministry know if a magical child is up for adoption when the baby is born." Audrey told them, taking a sip of her wine. "Then a team from the Ministry sets out to investigate the adoptive parents. They interview them and if they feel the couple can handle it, they let the adoption proceed and let them know there are resources if they need help. If they feel that the couple will not be able to cope with a magical child, they halt the adoption, modify the couple's memory and look for magical parents to adopt."

"That's… wrong," Nat said flatly.

Audrey shook her head sadly. "It's actually working. The number of abused magical kids going into the Muggle foster care system has dropped dramatically since they put the legislation in place. Magical parents don't get scared if their kids accidentally blow up the couch, whereas Muggle parents are understandably terrified."

"So what will this mean for us?" Al asked.

"Well, you have to be married for the Ministry to certify you," Audrey told him. "The head of the department is willing to start the paperwork today because you'll be married shortly. You will be interviewed and if that goes well, then when children become available you'll have the option to parent them. However, just like normal foster care they could still go back to their parents. On the rare occasion that an infant comes through the agency, that adoption usually proceeds quickly."

Nat's stomach twisted as she thought about her health. Would that be an issue?

"How many foster families are there?" Ginny asked her.

"Not many, only two right now. There isn't a lot of call for them so," Audrey said gently, "you two could be in for a long wait. They do, however, work with agencies around the world. England's success has led to reforms worldwide and for all the problems we have in a lot of areas politically, this one is one where agencies everywhere cooperate beautifully. Sometimes children in other countries need a home and if they don't have one, the call goes out."

Al leaned over and kissed Nat. "Sounds good, then. How did dress shopping go?"

"Okay," Nat hedged. "I got one. How about rings?"

"I haven't had time yet, but I'm going to go after work," Al told her as he sat back in his seat. "So, what's the dress look like? Or am I not supposed to know?"

"It's white," Nat said helpfully, taking a bite of her chicken.

He quirked an eyebrow and looked to his mother and aunt. "What am I missing?"

"We think it's lovely and she looks great," Ginny told him. "Nat said she looked 'okay' in it, but isn't in love with it."

"Ah," Al said shortly. "You didn't want to keep looking?"

Nat shook her head. "It was too depressing. Nothing fit."

Al frowned but didn't comment further. "When would be the interview with the Ministry?"

"Before you answer that," Nat interjected, staring down at her plate. "I have to ask," she said as calmly as she could, "Will my health be an issue for them?"

Audrey shook her head. "No, and it's all down to Polly."

Nat glanced over to Polly, who was in the kitchen, her son Skip playing at her feet with some toys. "What?"

"When you adopt, you'll have Polly in the house," Ginny said quietly, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "Most of the time you're doing very well, but when you have a baby, you will have to stop working and Polly will be there as a backup. She's already said she wants to."

She really, really wished she didn't need a backup but she knew she did, so she nodded. "Thank you," she said as she glanced up at Ginny.

"Absolutely."

~*~

"They named him Jonah George," Louis told James and Caroline three days before Al and Nat's wedding, having just come from Fred and Eva's home. He'd come over just after he'd heard the news of the baby, but it was pushing it for how late it was. Alex was already in bed asleep, but the baby wasn't down yet. "Eva is good and the baby is cute, but she's going to miss the wedding. Fred said he'd see how she was doing on Saturday, but Eva's parents said they could stay with her so she wants him to go."

"You know," Caroline mused as she continued to nurse the baby. It was something she wouldn't have done in front of him, Louis knew, when it was Alex, but with Asher she was more confident and definitely healing. "On the one hand, I am not shocked at how Al and Nat hooked up, but on the other hand with how long it took them to get here, it also feels odd. I expected more fireworks or something."

"They're getting married in just under a week of being together, though," James pointed out as he stretched out on the sofa next to his wife while Louis sat across from them in their big chair, his feet being squashed by Rufus. "Actually, it's decent timing as I've heard the Muggles are being let out of their quarantine now that the vaccine is widely available."

"Did Andrew really have something to do with that?" Caroline asked Louis. "Your dad is helping with his finances, right?"

"He is," Louis agreed with a small shrug, "Although truth be told Andrew seems to be a natural all on his own. He took the lessons Dad gave him and he's branched out. I spoke to him about setting up a charitable foundation to help with trafficking and he's interested." It was something Louis was passionate about, especially after his own past, but he didn't have the funds or resources to do much. The girl he'd hurt, the one he'd sponsored to go through school, was finished and had her teaching certificate. She was back in her community making a difference, but that was one life. Still, as his therapist pointed out, it was better than not doing anything at all. He did what he could.

But with Andrew, he could do more. He knew Lily wanted to be involved in charitable organizations, possibly in hosting parties to raise funds, and he'd mentioned such to Andrew. It was possible that in a few years, when Lily didn't have any small children at home, they could get something going.

Then again, it was Lily and she was quite young. It might be fifteen or more years before she'd be ready to take on such a task. Louis wasn't going to wait for her, but try to get things off the ground with Andrew now, especially since his cousin-in-law was willing.

"How was your date with Lena?" James asked casually.

Louis shot him a look as saw his best mate was grinning down at his feet, not looking at Louis. "It wasn't a date. We go out to dinner every few weeks."

"You pick up the tab," James pointed out.

"She didn't start earning any real money until a few weeks ago!" Louis sighed in exasperation. "It's not like they pay trainee Aurors well."

"Let it lie," Caroline said and it took Louis a moment to remember that was an American expression.

Louis pointed at James. "I don't feel that way about her. She's been a good friend."

A very loud silence fell heavily on the room.

"Leave it, James," Caroline said again, quieter this time. "It's his business."

It wasn't what she said, but the way she said it that caught Louis' curiosity. "Wait… is he going to say something I don't expect him to say?"

"It doesn't matter," Caroline told him with a smile. "Now, the baby is asleep and I'm going to take him up. You two have five minutes before I want my husband upstairs to help get Asher settled." She rose smoothly, the baby still cradled in her arms and went up the stairs.

Louis waited a full beat, then two, just to make sure she was gone. "Alright, just tell me."

James let out a long sigh and rose. "Lena is in love with you, mate. You're stringing her along."

With that, James left the room as well.

Louis felt… he didn't know what he felt, but it wasn't good. He genuinely liked Lena as a person and as a friend, but he just didn't see her that way.

Then again, his dating choices hadn't been exactly the sanest. He could admit that now. He stood by the fact that girls who weren't what one might consider the best looking were often the sweetest, loveliest girls he would ever meet. But then he'd gone off his rocker and tried to date someone old enough to be his grandmother and that, he could admit now, had been a cry for help.

He'd just been too drunk all the time to verbalize it.

But Lena… oh, he did not want to hurt her. He didn't want to break her heart! He didn't want to sacrifice their friendship and now that he knew… but no. James was right to tell him. He didn't want to string her along. It would be like Al and Nat all over again, only this time with the feelings actually one-sided.

Rufus raised himself up. It looked like a lot of effort. Then he stuck his big head in Louis lap and his soulful eyes met his and peace swamped through Louis in a way he didn't feel when he wasn't with this unbelievably huge dog. He ran his fingers through the dog's soft fur and along his silky ears. "What should I do?"

Stop running.

Stop hiding.

Stop fighting.

Stop hating yourself.

It wasn't as though the dog had any answers, but his calm definitely helped Louis think and he knew all of those things were a problem. He was a flawed man, one who had made many mistakes and who had done many things he wished he could take back. But some of it, he wouldn't, because it had led him this far and had shaped him into a better, stronger person.

Some day he wanted what James had. He wanted a wife and children. He wanted love and a family. He saw how his Uncle Charlie had lived and he'd thought, at one point, that would be his fate, as well, but he knew now that it wasn't the right path for him. He didn't do well on his own.

Case in point, as soon as he knew Fred and Eva's baby was safely out, he'd headed for James.

But James had his own family and now it was time for Louis to go, dowsing the lights on his way out.

He didn't know what he was going to do about Lena, but he wouldn't do anything right now. He had to think about it, long and hard, because she was a good friend and she'd been there for him.

He was going to try very hard not to hurt her.

~*~

"Are you nervous?" Rick asked Al as they made their way through the Ministry down towards the Minister's office.

Al was getting married in two days and no, he absolutely was not nervous. Nope. Okay, he was a little nervous because he did not want to mess things up on their wedding night, but any chance he'd had to get Nat alone, he'd spent kissing and holding her. It almost felt like he was making up for lost time and he was starting to think he might not make a total mess of it. "No, I'm glad."

"Good," he said as they rounded a corner and Rick followed Al's lead as he'd never been down this hallway and into the outer chamber of the Minister's office. Al hadn't been in this room in a few years, but he'd been here often when Kingsley had been Minister. Al was glad Kingsley was going to make it for his wedding. It didn't feel right not to include him, and he'd only seen him sporadically over the last few years. Kingsley had been working towards locating Crabbe, but not in any official capacity for the Ministry. He'd never married and had no children, so he wasn't tied down and could travel if needed. Al didn't know how they were financing his travels, but something his Uncle Bill had said led him to believe that Andrew might be contributing.

It was funny, thinking about his cousin's husband, a man who had been his friend for many, many years, as being extremely wealthy. Rose had been forced into a new wardrobe when she was around the Muggles and Al always wanted to laugh at the fancy outfits she wore. Oh, it wasn't anything showy. His Aunt Fleur called them tasteful and understated. He was pretty sure Scorpius' aunt had been helping her with her clothes as that was her job with the Muggles.

But no, this office had transformed just as surely as Rose, who now almost never wore jeans. She wore slacks. What on earth did that word even mean? Al didn't even bother to glance at all the photos which the Minister had decorated with. He tried to ignore the flowers but whatever they had in the vases had a powerful smell and it made him want to sneeze.

"Do you have a message for the Minister?" the secretary, a woman about sixty with short gray hair and blue eyes asked from her desk.

"Yes," Al agreed as he came over with the scroll to her.

"Wait here," she instructed and was up and gone before Al could tell her they didn't need to wait. Al slumped down onto one of the couches and noted it was a lot more comfortable than the one Kingsley had furnished the room with years before. There were throw pillows, too. Al glanced around and saw that Rick was staring at a photograph in a frame on a bookshelf full of old books and knickknacks. "What's up with you?" he asked Rick. "You thinking of throwing Honor over for that duck?"

That snapped Rick out of his stupor. "Who is this?"

"I dunno, mate," Al shrugged helplessly. "I imagine it's a family member to the Minister."

"I need to know who this is!" Rick insisted as he pointed back at her. "It's important."

"Alright, alright," Al said, holding up his hands. "We'll ask her when she comes out. Why does it matter?"

Rick turned back to the photo and shook his head. "It's Lorelei."

Al's gut clenched. "That's very definitely not my niece."

"Same energy."

Al blinked in confusion. "What?" And then he remembered. "You can see someone's magic in their photo? I'd forgotten since you never talk about it! Wait, why can't you do that with a portrait?"

"I have no idea," Rick admitted. "I could have just gone to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore's portrait."

"Mate," Al blew out an exasperated breath. "The Daily Prophet will have thousands of pictures of Dumbledore you could look at!"

Rick turned slowly to him and then let out a snorting laugh. "Merlin, I am a flipping idiot."

"We all are," Al assured him. "It's not just you."

The door opened and the secretary came out smiling. "She said you may leave."

"We need to ask her something, actually," Al interjected quickly. "It's actually… uh… it's really important. It's to do with Rick's special ability."

Rick picked up the picture and held it out. "I just need to ask her a few questions about this person."

The secretary shook her head. "She is quite busy. What do you need to know about her?"

Al finally caught a look at the woman in the photo. She looked quite old and wrinkled and the photo was in black and white. "Well, her name and who she was would be helpful, but I'm not sure if it will be enough."

The woman hesitated for a moment and then said, "That's Hilla Gleam. She was the Minister's great-great Aunt and if the rumors are to be believed, she was an extremely powerful seer, but that wasn't known until after her death. Her husband forced her to keep her abilities a secret, as Grindelwald would have tried to capture her. She died before Grindelwald, unfortunately. The history books don't have a lot to say about her."

"Ah," Rick said as Al's heart constricted painfully.

It was not going to be easy for Lorelei.

"Thanks," Al said and after putting the frame back on the shelf, he pulled Rick from the room. As soon as the door was closed, he said, "We need to go tell her."

~*~

Lily studied her sweet baby's face, her blue eyes piercing as they met Lily's, as Scorpius rubbed her back and people talked around her.

A seer.

She had been worrying for weeks now about her daughter and just what the magical energy might mean, but now that she knew… it didn't make her feel any better. If she was as powerful as Nat suggested, then her daughter would be tormented by visions. True prophecies would be lost to her, of course. They would go to the Hall of Mysteries and Lorelei wouldn't remember them, but she'd have the same sense of people and dread of what was to come that Lily had been dealing with… only it would be worse for her child. She would know more.

"Hey," Scorpius caught her attention and she glanced up at him, registering that everyone had fallen silent. "We'll get her a dog, just like Rufus. We'll ask Caroline to train one just as soon as she can."

She knew she'd missed part of the conversation, but her family had made a connection that Lily hadn't. Caroline had come over with her boys and the dog the week before and Rufus had glued himself to Lorelei and Lorelei had slept calmly. She'd assumed it was just the natural magic of the dog calming the baby, but what if… "What's happening with her right now? Is she hurting?"

"I doubt it," Bill told her gently. "Her body is made for this gift, Lily-Lu."

"But then why won't she sleep?" Lily asked everyone in the room.

Nat blew out a breath and scrunched up her nose. "Alright, let me try something." She came over and put her hand on the baby's stomach. She closed her eyes and a moment later, her very alert baby just slumped in her arms and went straight off to sleep.

Nat held out a hand and waved it frantically and to Lily's surprise, Rick raced over and grabbed her hand, swearing loudly as he shut his eyes.

Then Rick began to speak and it was not his voice. It was deeper, rougher and terrible to hear! If she could have put her hands over her ears, Lily would have done it!

"The broken woman will not fall until the rise of the dark orb and her last tie is gone from this earth. The blood will run freely in the streets. The seas will rise into a wall. The dam will break and she will show herself for who she really is. The one to end her will do so without aid or help and her scars will tell of the victory."

Nat let go and Rick's knees hit the carpet. Many, many, many expletives that began with the letter F poured from his mouth as he shook out his hands and dropped his head to the carpet.

"What the hell was that?" Harry asked quietly. "Was that a prophecy?"

Lily looked down at her daughter and then to Nat, who didn't look drained. "What did you do?"

"I syphoned off some of her power to try to give her a little relief," Nat told her with a wry grin. "I wanted her to sleep. It worked, a bit, but it started to come back immediately as I can't do much, but I didn't know how to channel it."

"Are you okay?" Al asked, as he crouched down next to her, running his hands along her hair. "You look okay."

"Oh, yeah, I feel fine," Nat assured him as she smiled up at Lily's brother. "It was bad until Rick took it and I pushed it into him. I ended up being a conduit."

Al tenderly kissed her and shook his head. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm fine," came Rick's muffled voice from the carpeted floor. "No one worry about me."

Lily's mum, who had been quiet through this whole thing, let out a snort. "You finally saw a picture of Dumbledore and confirmed you have the same level of power that he did. No one is worried you can't handle a baby's magic." But she moved over to help him sit up. She studied him carefully and said, "I think you'll be alright after I get a few biscuits into you."

"Probably," Rick agreed as he glanced over to the baby. "So, I gave out Lorelei's prophecy? I remember what I said, which I didn't think was possible. Why would that happen?"

"The real question," Ginny said slowly, "Is what did it mean?"

a/n: Did you read the note above? If not, go back and read it. ~Sarah