"What are you doing here?"

Harry spun around, a bucket of ashes still in hand, slowly falling to the ground. This was definitely not how this was supposed to go.

"What are you doing here?"

"We went to go look at the Cerberus because I missed Fred and George's brother coming to take away the dragon, but then the door locked and we couldn't leave, so we had to come this way."

Harry had already killed one person today. What was one more to add to his list? "And just who else came with you?" he ground out through gritted teeth.

Ivy looked a little frightened all of a sudden and Harry made a conscious effort to relax his face. He was angry, but not at her, and he needed her to know that.

"Well, Fred and George, and Draco, Neville, Hermione, and Ron."

Harry exhaled. That was quite the group. "And how are they?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?"

Ivy shook her head and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "Everyone was fine when I left them in the last room."

That was good. "So why'd you come through by yourself then?"

"Well, it looked like only one person could go through, and I'm not sure why, but I really felt like I needed to come.."

Mustering every bit of willpower he possessed, Harry focused on not letting his rage show. He didn't want to frighten Ivy more than he already had. "Okay, I'm just going to cast a couple of spells on you, sweetie. Nothing bad, just need to check a few things."

Ivy, recognizing their code word for I-need-you-to-trust-me-and-just-go-with-this, nodded and walked the rest of the way over to where Harry stood, making a little face at the pile of ashes nearby.

Harry glanced between her and the ashes. "I'll explain later. Alright, here we go." He cast several detection charms, and upon finding the expected set of compulsions, set about removing them one by one. Due to their strength, he was rather impressed that Ivy wasn't a walking zombie at this point. And also extremely upset at the person who had cast them in the first place. Many things he could forgive, but hurting Ivy was not one of them, and never would be.

"Did you find something?" Ivy asked in a small voice.

Realizing that his anger was once again showing on his face, Harry did his best to relax again and nodded. "Yeah. I took care of it though."

"Are you mad?"

"Not at you," he said, pulling Ivy into a hug. "Not at you."

They stayed like that for a minute, but eventually, Ivy asked the previously unanswered question of "So what are you doing here?"

Harry grimaced. As much as he wished he could hide everything from Ivy, that wasn't going to happen, and he'd much rather she heard this from him than from someone else (Albus insert several creative curse words here Dumbledore). "Well, here's the thing…"

Harry really hoped this worked. He knew Dumbledore would likely use legilimency on Ivy, so this needed to be perfect. Memory charms were tricky as it was, but implanting false memories into someone who knew otherwise and couldn't occlude was definitely higher on the scale of oh-this-might-go-terribly-wrong. Still, it was the best plan Harry could come up with spur of the moment like that, so this is what they were going with.

They would claim "accidental magic" as the reason for Ivy's "defeat" of Quirrell. Harry was really glad she was more grossed out than scared by the revelation that Quirrell had had Voldemort in the back of his head. He really wasn't trying to give her nightmares or anything.

So accidental magic it would be, with Ivy losing consciousness before Quirrell's um… unfortunate demise. That way the memory could show part of Harry's memory, at least the part with Quirrell revealing Voldemort at the back of his head. Everything after that would essentially be blocked out. They would say Ivy lost consciousness, or, if absolutely needed, could go with something along the lines of "Oh this was super traumatic so she's suppressing the memories." Because there was absolutely no way he was implanting a memory of her killing someone. Nope. She did not need to deal with something like that.

Thankfully Ivy, in true Ivy fashion, had responded to Harry's explanation and plan with an "okay cool." Besides the whole being grossed out thing of course, but that was understandable.

"Okay, you ready?"

Ivy nodded, and Harry began the delicate work that was adjusting, concealing, and falsifying her memory.

"Done," he said after a minute. "Okay, I'll stick around to make sure everyone gets out okay, alright? My guess is that Dumbledore will be down shortly to come check in on you. Avoid eye contact if you can but if not I think these should hold. You'll probably be in the hospital wing for a while…"

Ivy groaned.

"…but I'll make sure to come and see you. Maybe Sirius will be able to drop by as well. We'll see. Anyway, you all set?"

Ivy, now slightly less dreading the possibility of being stuck in the hospital wing, nodded eagerly.

"Alright then." Harry gave Ivy one last hug. "Let's knock you out."

Ivy giggled and Harry cast a few spells that would render her unconscious but wouldn't show up on any normal diagnostic scans. She'd wake up on her own in the morning.

Satisfied with the scene presented, Harry slipped his cloak on and went to check on the others. He was taking no chances. When he found the a few of the others Ivy had said had come with him chatting happily in the room, he assumed a couple of the others had gone back to try to get out that way again. There was now nothing else to do but wait.

May 12, 1992

It had worked. It had all worked. Sure, it might have taken a few extra plans and adjustments and some liberal use of compulsion charms in the end, but it had worked. Ivy Potter had gone after the stone and had defeated Voldemort. Albus would really have liked to have been able to get a few more details on the entire encounter, but the details she had been able to provide had been rather vague at best, and his legilimency probe had revealed little else, though it did confirm his suspicions that Quirrell had been in league with Voldemort.

So, he had been forced to draw his own conclusions, but he felt confident that he had the general idea of what happened, and he was rather pleased with the result. He was a little taken aback at the fact that Ivy had seemed to break through all his compulsions. Of course, it could have happened when Voldemort tried to kill her, rendering her unconscious. But even still, when he had gone to remove them (no need to have people start asking unnecessary questions after all), they were already gone. No wonder it had taken so many to get her there in the first place.

Overall, though, the plan had been a success. Unfortunately, she was now in the hospital wing, still unconscious, and Poppy was pressing him to inform her guardian, which, if Albus was going to be completely honest with himself, he didn't really want to do. Maybe he could get away with contacting Sirius instead…

Of course, this would be an opportunity to meet Lord Peverell finally. On the other hand, the best time to meet someone is not when their… the person they have guardianship over is injured and in the hospital. But then again, maybe this would be a good time to be able to persuade him to relinquish guardianship. After all, she had been attacked by Voldemort. It might take some persuasion, but hopefully, Peverell would see the need for her to return to the blood wards at the Dursleys, or even go with Sirius, both of which would be much better options than Ivy remaining with her current guardian.

Yes, that was an excellent plan. Very excellent. And it had the added benefit of getting Poppy to stop glaring at him every time he checked in on Ivy to see if she could remember anything else.

"I can't believe it."

"Really?"

"Well, alright, I can, but still. Twenty four hours. It took him twenty four bloody hours to notify me."

"You do remember she's fine, right?"

"That's not the point."

"I know that, but I'm just making sure you remember. You have to keep your head for this."

Harry groaned. Sirius was right. He had to stay focused right now, and getting mad at Dumbledore wasn't helpful. There'd be plenty of time for that later anyway.

"I must admit, I am a little concerned that it took so long to notify me." Harry was keeping his cool, but just barely.

"Ah, yes. Well, there seems to have been a little mix up with the notification process, what with the change in guardianship and all."

Harry raised his eyebrow, channelling his inner Malfoy in what he hoped was a passable representation of the pureblood lord he supposedly was. Dumbledore spouted off a few more excuses, but finally, Harry managed to get the headmaster to lead him to Ivy. She was awake and had obviously been for a while now. She smiled when he came into sight and he gave her a huge hug when he reached her, ignoring the look of surprise on Dumbledore's face.

"How are you doing?" He could tell she knew what he was asking.

"Good. I'm good," she said.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. So far so good then.

She rehashed the entire story, leaving out of course the part where she ran into him, and even though he had already heard it (and lived it for that matter), he still felt relieved when the story ended.

After a few minutes, he allowed himself to be ushered away by Dumbledore, who proceeded to explain how Voldemort was back and how Ivy needed to go back to the Dursleys. Harry was suddenly very glad that Ivy was not within hearing range of them, and that Remus and Sirius had made him promise not to kill Dumbledore.

The headmaster, recognizing that he was getting nowhere with this approach, changed tactics and started advocating for Ivy to spend time with her godfather over the summer. Harry wasn't sure exactly why Dumbledore was so eager to get Ivy away from him, but he did not like it one bit.

"Yes, I agree."

Dumbledore was clearly surprised at Harry's response, probably expecting it to take a lot more time and persuasion before Harry relented.

"Oh? Well, that is good. Ivy will surely benefit from being around someone who knew her parents so well."

"I agree. I am sure they will have a wonderful summer together."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling and he was practically beaming. "Ah yes, that will be for the best I'm sure."

"I'm sure Remus will be happy to share more stories with her as well."

Harry couldn't help himself. He watched with glee as the headmaster's face fell slightly.

"She has spoken with Remus before?" The man asked a bit hesitantly.

"Of course. He was our guest at Christmas after all. And he stops by quite frequently to see Sirius and I."

"Sirius and…"

"Sirius has been living as a guest in my house ever since his release, after all. I know we are both looking forward to having Ivy home again."

Harry was enjoying himself, and maybe there was a little voice that sounded suspiciously like Remus saying they needed to be careful how they handled this, but at the moment Harry couldn't bring himself to care. He was angry at Dumbledore. Angry at what he had done, angry at what he was trying to do, and most of all angry that he himself had not seen all of this that much sooner.

"Yes, I see. Well, if that is all. I assure you Miss Potter is in the best possible hands at the moment and will be looked out for with the greatest possible care."

Harry had the feeling he was referring to more than just her stay in Madam Pomfrey's care.

He exchanged farewells with the headmaster and made his way back to Ivy to tell her goodbye. As he made his way back to the infirmary he was suddenly faced with three red heads who all looked a tad nervous.

"Could I speak with you for a moment, sir?" Percy asked.

Harry had no idea what this was about, but he nodded and stepped off to the side with Percy, the twins staying put but fidgeting in place.

"I just wanted to apologize, sir, for what happened to Ivy. I know the twins can be a bit reckless but I promise they didn't intend for…"

Harry held up his hand. "It wasn't your fault, and it wasn't theirs. Ivy is perfectly fine, and will probably be released any time now."

Percy seemed relieved by that. "Still, I'm sorry I couldn't keep a better eye on her. On them. All of them."

"Percy, you may be a prefect, but that doesn't mean you can keep an eye on everyone all the time." Because your brothers have the map, not you. "I do appreciate your efforts at keeping Ivy from causing mass destruction," Percy smiled and blushed a little at that, "but I in no way expect you to be able to watch her every minute or keep her out of trouble all the time. I've spoken to her, and I will continue to try to do my best to keep her safe, but sometimes there are dangers we can't prevent, and we have to deal with those the best we can. So thank you for looking out for her."

Harry turned to the twins. "Fred, George, can I speak with you for a minute?" He realized why they were likely looking so nervous, and he wanted to deal with this as soon as possible.

Percy gave them a little space, and the twins shifted nervously in place, neither really wanting to make eye contact with Harry.

Harry sighed. "Look, I just wanted to thank you both for keeping clear heads and getting everyone through that safely."

"We didn't…" Fred started to say, but Harry cut him off.

"You did. It wasn't your fault you all got trapped there, but you did do your best to get everyone out safely, which they did."

"But no one would have gone if it weren't for us," George argued.

"Maybe, but maybe not. Chances are Ivy would have ended up there at some point anyway, but if she had been on her own she might not have made it out, or might have been seriously hurt in the process."

"But she's in the hospital and we…"

"Ivy is fine. She had a little run in that caused her to lose consciousness, but there is nothing the matter with her and I'm sure she'll be set for another adventure tomorrow."

Both twins sighed at that, looking very much relieved.

Harry smiled. "Besides, maybe now she'll stop asking me for a Cerberus puppy."

Fred chuckled nervously. "Yeah, about that, I think she may be looking into dragons now."

Harry laughed. "Oh, she is. She tried to get me to adopt Hagrid's dragon but I wrote your brother and asked him to come get it before she could devise a way to bring it home with her."

"Wait, you wrote Charlie? No wonder he got here so fast," George said.

"You wrote him too?"

"Yeah, we didn't know anyone else who knew more about dragons so it seemed like a good idea."

Harry laughed again. "Yeah, me neither. Haven't even met him, but I still don't know anyone else. Glad it all worked out then."

"Yeah, Ivy was upset she missed it."

Harry grimaced. "So I heard. I take it that's part of what led all of you to the Cerberus again?"

"You, uh, you know about that first time?" The twins both looked slightly uncomfortable again.

Harry couldn't help but smile. "Of course I do. Parents tend to know what happens with their kids, you know."

He enjoyed the fleeting look of panic that crossed each of their faces as they no doubt wondered just how much their parents knew about their…antics. He was feeling generous though, so he decided to set their minds at ease a little. "Of course, it helps when the child tells you everything in the first place."

They both laughed, but as he was turning away Harry caught George mouthing "everything" to Fred. He smiled. Yep. It helps when your kid tells you everything. Also helps when you lived it.

"Well, this is… Not exactly what we planned…"

"I know, I screwed up," Harry said.

"Well, at least you didn't kill anyone," Sirius offered cheerfully. Harry and Remus both gave him a look. "I mean, more than one person… Dumbledore. You didn't kill Dumbledore."

Harry groaned. "I was this close," he said, holding up his finger a centimetre apart. He groaned again as he leaned forward and put his forehead on the table. "I'm a terrible person."

"No, you're not. Just, maybe let us know if it gets this close." Sirius's fingers were touching.

Harry made another face. "What good's that going to do?"

"We'll get to decide if we want to join in or not." Sirius was far too comfortable with murder as a solution to their problems.

Harry looked to Remus, but the man made no objection to Sirius's statement. That was… mildly concerning. All of a sudden Harry was less worried about accidentally on purpose murdering the leader of the light and more worried that these two might end up doing it.

"Wait, no killing Dumbledore, remember?"

Sirius waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. No killing. Got it."

"We're going to have to deal with him in some way or another, and probably sooner rather than later," Remus pointed out to the twin groans of Sirius and Harry.

"Can it be later?" Harry whined. Yes, whined. Because it had been a long couple of days filled with murder and staging an accidental death and dealing with the person responsible for his eleven year old nearly dying at the hand's of an evil dark lord, which wasn't what happened, but Dumbledore didn't know that so it still counted.

"Okay, yes, maybe. We should start planning now but I guess it wouldn't hurt to wait and see how things play out a bit, as long as Ivy stays safe."

"Agreed," Sirius said.

Harry nodded. Ugh. What had been wrong with his Hermione summoning idea again?