October 11, 1993

Draco ignored the idle tapping of Ivy's fingers. He was going to win this round. Nothing was going to stop him now. He wassoclose to finally properly trouncing Weasley in chess. He just needed a few more moves before he'd be in position, and then…

"But that's completely idiotic," a female voice shouted. "How can you possibly expect anyone to get anything done if they have to keep stopping to reapply a charm like that every twenty minutes?"

A much more familiar voice shouted back, giving reasons that made no sense to Draco, though he felt he could be forgiven seeing as he had no idea what they were actually arguing about.

He tried to just keep his focus on the game, he really did. But the two girls were going at it and it was sort of distracting, especially since he may sort want to figure out who was winning the argument.

"And how wouldyouknow anything about it?" Pansy yelled. "You never even leave the library."

"I do so!" Granger yelled back. "And I know plenty about it, thank you very much, seeing as I'm actuallypassingthe class."

The argument devolved back into insults at that point and Draco lost all hope in figuring out what they were originally fighting about.

"Er, Ivy?" Weasley asked. "You going to stop them?"

Ivy stopped her tapping and looked up from her book. "No? Why?"

"Uh, well, it's just that you make all of us be nice to each other, so I thought maybe you'd, I don't know, tell them to stop or something?"

Ro… No, Weasley. He was Weasley while they played a point. Draco wasn't going to inform him of this, but the point remained valid if unacknowledged.

"Well I can't geteveryoneto be friends," Ivy said as if it were obvious. Which, fair.

Ron (and darn it but now he was out of chess mode) nodded along, as if that made sense. It sort of did, but Draco still felt deep down that Ivy could just order everyone to be friends as part of her world takeover, but it washerworld takeover (even if still theoretical at this point), so hesupposedit was up to her.

Then Ivy gasped, looked as if she were about to cry, and ran out of the Great Hall. It was shocking enough to bring Pansy and Granger's verbal war to an immediate halt, as well as stir Theo from his book. Draco honestly hadn't even noticed him sitting there until now.

"Is she okay?" Theo asked.

Draco just shrugged, happy that Ron, Pansy, and Granger were all doing the same. He didn't enjoy being ignorant, but if he was going to be ignorant he preferred to at least not be alone.

Ivy Potter in the Hufflepuff common room wasn't that uncommon a sight. Ivy Potter with a tear running down her cheek and a slight waver in her voice absolutely was.

"Um, can I… I'll go find Cedric, yeah?"

Without waiting for a response Justin jumped up from his seat and went in search of the prefect that was generally acknowledged to be the one you went to when you had a problem. At least by the Hufflepuffs. And all the other students third year and below. What could Justin say, Diggory lived up to the hype. Or at least he'd better be able to, because he had left an upset Ivy in the common room and he was not at all confident in his ability to solve whatever problem was going on on his own.

Cedric was growing quite accustomed to younger students bursting into wherever he was at the moment and asking for help. He didn't mind, and he was honored that they all trusted him enough to ask for help, but he had yet to face such a scenario as this.

"But what if that's why I didn't get into Hufflepuff? Does that make me a bad person?" Ivy choked out in between worried tears.

He wasn't quite sure how to handle this. "Of course not," he began. Comfort, reassurance, support. Just stick to the basics and it would be fine.

"But I didn't try hard enough. Maybe if I worked harder to help everyone get along I…"

"Ivy, you can't possibly expect to be able to make everyone get along," Cedric interrupted. "People are people, and people are always going to be people, and people don't always get along. That's not on you, alright?"

"But…"

"No buts. You have done more to ease house boundaries and rivalries than anyone probably ever in the history of this school, and not even just within your year. Take Percy and Thomas for example."

Granted, their bonding had first occurred over a mutual desire to see Hogwarts remain standing, but that was neither here nor there.

"I doubt they had ever even considered the possibility of being friends before you came. Or Ron and about the Malfoy-Weasley feud. But you helped them find some common ground, and they discovered that they could get along."

"So what you're saying is I need to help Pansy an Hermione find common ground."

"No, not at all. You already did that with them. Now you just have to let them work it out. You can step in if it becomes dangerous, or if you think someone might get hurt, but you can't dictate people's feelings or actions."

"I know," Ivy said with a small pout. "I just wish all my friends could get along."

Cedric pulled her in for a hug. "They're both still your friends, even if they don't get along. And you're still an honorary Hufflepuff, no matter what."

"Really?" Ivy asked in a small voice.

Cedric knew there was more to her concern than the fact that two of her friends got in an argument, but he didn't feel there was anything morehecould do.

"Of course," he said. "Only Hufflepuffs get to play with Furball, after all."

Then he raced off to find Bridget, and thus Furball. A physical reminder never hurt.

Bridget watched as Ivy played with the pig. She was fairly certain that there would have been a riot in Hufflepuff if she hadn't taken her brother up on his offer to keep Furball there after his graduation.

"So, Ced told me you were a bit upset about your friends' argument."

"Just wished they'd all get along," Ivy said, not taking her attention off the unofficial Hufflepuff mascot. No one was stupid enough to try and bring a badger. At least not in the last few years. The class of '85 still had a lot to answer for apparently.

"And hopefully he told you that's not your responsibility, right?"

"Yeah."

"And?" Bridget was willing to press this point a little bit.

Ivy sighed and looked her way. "And that I'm still an honorary Hufflepuff, and I'm still good enough for Hufflepuff even if I'm in Slytherin."

"There you go," Bridget said. "You really did want to be in Hufflepuff then." She certainly liked her house, but she was not under any sort of delusion that other outside her house thought as highly of the badgers as she did.

"I did," Ivy said. "But the hat told me Slytherin would be a better fit."

"And do you agree?"

Ivy shrugged. "I like it."

"Well, the sorting hat has been doing this a long time," Bridget said. "Pretty sure it has a good idea. What else did it say to you?"

"It said I had qualities of each house, but that Slytherin would be the best place to help me 'achieve my goals.'"

"And what would those be?"

Ivy ducked, maybe slightly embarrassed. Bridget could understand. The goals one possesses at age eleven don't always carry through super well, after all.

"I didn't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else," Ivy said quietly.

"With your parents?" Bridget asked for clarification.

"Yes. And after," Ivy said. "Before Dad found me. And I wanted to make friends. Real friends. I made some, you know, after he came, but we travelled a lot. It was great, but I didn't have anyone that really stuck around."

"Well maybe that's why the hat thought you'd do so well in Slytherin then." Ivy looked confused at that so Bridget continued. "Slytherins tend to find a couple people and stick with them. How many of the upper years have you seen in Slytherin that have one or two people they are with almost all the time? Not all of them are like that, mind you, but you do all seem to make friendships that last a long time. I bet even some of your friends' parents could tell you that they've been friends sincetheirschool years. And world peace sounds like as big an ambition as you can get," Bridget said, nudging Ivy and giving her a wink.

Ivy laughed. "I guess so," she said. "And I don't have just one person, but I see what you mean. I can't really picturenotbeing friends with any of them just because we left school."

"So maybe the sorting hat looked at you, and figured out what it was that you really wanted. It tends to do that while it's rifling through your mind, you know."

"I guess he's pretty smart," Ivy said with a small eye roll.

"Course he is. Helga Hufflepuff herself helped," she said pompously.

"How come he's so snarky then?" Ivy asked with a grin.

"Obviously that was Slytherin's contribution," Bridget said with a wave before they both burst out in giggles.

"So… Is Ivy alright?"

Cedric nodded. "She was worried she wasn't good enough for Hufflepuff."

Justin let out a small sigh. "So, you fixed it?"

"No."

Justin's face must have shown his confusion because Cedric continued.

"Being a good, supportive friend isn't all about fixing problems. Sometimes you just have to be there to listen."

Justin nodded, but inside he was debating the validity of that statement. It sure seemed to him that fixing problems worked quite well. Why, just the other day Theo had been nervous about asking Ivy to play chess with him for some reason, so Justin had solved the problem quite spectacularly by asking Ivy on Theo's behalf. Problem solved.

"Hey, have you seen Ivy anywhere?"

It was probably better that Theo asked the question before he could, because he would have probably said it more as a demand than a polite question.

"She was in Hufflepuff a bit ago," Finch-Fletchley said. "Cedric was helping her feel better I guess."

Draco didn't know what Diggory had that he didn't have. He was perfectly capable of helping Ivy feel better. And destroying anyone who dared make her feel bad in the first place. Or at least letting their dads know so they could do the destroying. Draco was aware of his own limitations, thank you.

"I guess she was worried she wasn't good enough for Hufflepuff or something."

On the other hand, Diggory was a nice person who was probably good at comforting and other Hufflepuff things like that.

Draco noticed that Theo didn't comment on his friend's statement either.

October 14, 1993

"Alright, final bets for Boggarts. Pansy?" Tracey said, list and quill at the ready.

"Put me down for Weasley and spider, Patil and snake, Draco and mud, and Granger and failing a test."

"Oh come on, at least go for something past the obvious," Blaise complained.

"Hey," Draco shouted indignantly.

"Oh, and Blaise and the Hufflepuff pig," Pansy said with a smirk.

"You said you were never going to mention that," Blaise said. No one could tell if his offended air was real or exaggerated.

Tracey rolled her eyes. "Draco?"

"Longbottom and Lestrange, Pansy and a crup, Blaise and a badger…"

"I hate you all."

"…and Ivy and Tiger."

Tracey looked up from her note taking. "Wait, seriously? You're joking, right?"

"Fine, let me specify a Tiger that she can't talk to."

Someone let out a low whistle.

"That's dark, mate."

Draco just shrugged.

"Okay, fine. Daph?"

"Where were you three? We finished placing the bets ages ago."

Ivy almost laughed at Draco's face but didn't, knowing he'd just make another face and then she wouldn't be able to stop laughing. It would be a vicious cycle, no doubt.

"We were just talking about all the scary things in the world to make sure that we are all set for whatever the Boggart ends up being."

She felt a little bad for Greg and Vince. They hadn't enjoyed learning about some of the terrors of the deep ocean, but she doubted something they had just learned about would really end up being their boggart, and this way whatever they did face they might be able to feel a little better about. Besides, even if they were a little pale now they had both done rather well, and Ivy had only needed to remind them that she would protect them twice, so really she was confident they'd be able to handle the boggart just fine. They had made her promise that she'd stand right there just in case, but she was happy to oblige.

"But what about the bets?"

"I already gave Tracey my list. Yesterday, in fact."

"Fine," Draco muttered.

"Oh, do you know why Blaise was complaining about the rest of you? He said something about pigs but I wasn't sure what he was talking about."

"Well if you'd been there for the bets you would know," Draco said childishly.

Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Ivy Potter," an upset sounding voice came. "I need to have a word with you."

Ivy looked past Draco to see Fred walking towards her with a scowl on his face.

Draco made a hasty retreat, but Vince and Greg stood firmly by her side. She was so proud of them.

"Is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay, . You haveminions, and you didn't tell me. I had to find out from Luna. I was supposed to be your first one!"

"Who are my minions?"

Fred's eye twitched and he gestured to the boys standing on either side of her.

"Oh, they're not minions."

"We're not?" Vince asked Greg softly.

Seeing Greg shrug his shoulders and deciding she could answer any questions they hadaftershe was done reassuring Fred, she turned back to the redhead.

"You can still be my first minion," she said. "Besides, Dad told me no minions before I graduate."

At that Fred's face lit back up, scowl gone. "Oh, well in that case, carry on."

"She's going to protect us from the dementors," Greg chimed in.

Fred paused and looked at them quizzically. "How are you going to do that?" he asked her.

"I'm learning the patronus charm. It repels dementors. Unless you're Dad. Then I think it eats them or something, I don't know."

"You learned something really cool like thatwithout me?"

"Mmhmm. So did Draco and Neville and Blaise. You can come learn it with us, if you want. We meet Professor Snape once or twice a week to practice."

Fred's face broke into a grin that reminded Ivy of why he had made an excellent Slytherin for two weeks. "Done," he said.

"Okay great. I'll let you know when we do it next. George too?"

Fred scoffed. "Of course. Since when do either of us go anywhere without the other one?"

Vince raised a hand. "Then where is he now?"

Fred sighed in a most dramatic fashion. "Alas, we are no longer entirely identical. My somewhat less intelligent twin had decided that Runes are worth spending time in the library for. I am hiding from Runes and all books containing them, so, as you can see, we must spend this brief moment apart."

Ivy giggled. "I know what I'm getting you for Christmas," she said.

Fred fake gasped. "You wouldn't dare."

"Would so. And we have to go now. We have class."

"Anything good?"

"We're doing boggarts today. We were just in the library learning about all sorts of deadly sea creatures so I think it'll go well."

Fred did not seem to quite catch her brilliant vision, but he nodded. "Sounds exciting. Go conquer those… sea… things. You know what, I just remembered I needed to have a word with Diggory. I'll catch you lot later."

With Fred gone Ivy turned back to Vince and Greg. "Ready to make your worst fears look silly?"

"Diggory," a voice hissed. "Diggory."

Cedric looked around for a moment until he spotted a Weasley twin beckoning him over.

"What is it? And why are we whispering?"

"I can't do this. I am not cut out for this. I can keep Hogwarts standing, probably, but I can't be responsible for books too."

"What are you talking about… Fred?"

Fred, who it must have been, seeing as he didn't correct Cedric, shoved a book his way.

"Terrifying Tides: 803 Devastatingly Dangerous Creatures of the Deep," Cedric read out loud. "What is this?"

"Thatis the book Ivy was reading. In preparation for you see the problem?"

"Not really, but… oh. Yes, yes I do."

"Have youseensome of these?" Fred demanded, grabbing the book back and flipping through its pages.

Cedric made a face at a few of them. He didn't even want to read the descriptions but he couldn't quite look away either…

"Well, they haven't graduated yet, so…"

"Percy most certainly deserves this for thinking that we weren't doing a good enough job looking out for Ivy. And for suggesting that we actually spend time in the library looking through things like this."

"Oi, what's that book your brother handed you anyway?"

Percy pushed the volume towards Thomas without a word.

"Well it doesn't lookthatbad."

"They're doing boggarts today."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Well that ought to be interesting."

Sirius couldn't believe it was only Thursday. He so needed a drink after this.

"Alright then. Goyle? You're up next."

He had been mildly disappointed that Neville's boggart hadn't turned out to be Snape like Harry had said it had been before. Sure, it was probably a sign of a healthier psyche or something like that, but Snape in one of Augusta's hats was something he had been looking forward to about this class.

Also he had expected Ivy to have a dementor as a boggart, not Neville. Still, Neville's patronus had been strong, and the rest of the class had been suitably impressed. Sirius was confident that anyone who still doubted Neville would be rethinking their opinions now. Besides, the bear did look like it could eat them all if it so chose. It had certainly chased after that boggart.

And maybe a patronus wasn't exactly what the students were supposed to be practicing for this lesson, but Sirius was proud of Neville so didn't even bother correcting him. Besides, if someone could cast a patronus they could certainly castRiddikulus.

He would just make sure Neville knew the wand movements and everything would be fine.

His thoughts veered back to the lesson just in time to see the boggart turn into…

Well he honestly wasn't quite sure what that was.

Ivy, standing just a step behind Goyle, looked rather guilty for some reason.

"Ri…rid…riddikulus," Goyle finally got out.

Faster than several of his classmates. Sirius was impressed. The somewhat indiscernible blob now had a small yellow top hat and a green striped tie. Sirius wasn't sure what was funny about that, but it wasn't his boggart so he couldn't really judge.

"Well done, Mr. Goyle. Er, may I ask what that was, exactly?"

"You don't want to know," Goyle said, eyes still focused on the… whatever it was.

Crabbe shuddered. Ivy lookedreallyguilty. He would need to ask her about that later.

"Right then… Well, Ivy, you're up."

He braced himself for another dementor. Instead he got… Harry?

It was a very tense, very silent moment before he walked forward to intervene. He wasn't sure whyHarrywas Ivy's boggart, but she was practically frozen in place and there was no way this was going to end well.

Just before he reached the boggart though, it spoke.

"Leave,"it said."Get out you worthless…"

And then it was on fire. A fire coming from Ivy's wand. Well, at least it wasn't fiendfyre, which was good, since Sirius would have a hard time explainingthatto anyone.

And now that the boggart was… well, dead wasn't quite the right word, since they were technically amortal, but, well, if it had been alive it wouldn't have been now.

And that was why he had made sure Ivy was last. He was learning.

"Well, class, I think that will be all for today. An excellent job on facing each of your fears, and make sure to let me, your head of house, or Madam Pomfrey know if you experience any nightmares related to this."

He caught Ivy's eye, giving her a silent request to stay behind.

After all the other students had shuffled out, he pulled his goddaughter in for a big hug.

"He will never do that," he said. "He will never say that to you."

Ivy just nodded, a single tear finally escaping as she held on tight.

"We're your family, sweetheart, and nothing is ever going to change that."

Sirius hugged Ivy close for a long time after that, until she eventually let go and headed off to her class, a smile now on her face.

With his last class of the day now complete, he headed to his office to make a floo call.

"Well technically I never saidwhichPatil would get a snake, so it still counts."

"But you always talk to Parvati. So it feels like it was kind of implied…"

"Still. Counts."

Draco sighed, and mentally thanked Tracey when she put her foot down and ended Pansy and Blaise's squabbling.

Really he was fairly certain Blaise was just sore because his boggart had turned out to be an creature. Not an animal anyone had guessed, unfortunately, (for them), but it was still a little close to what theyhadguessed. At least it wasn't the pig. Blaise would probably have never lived that down, even if Draco agreed that waking up in the middle of the night with the Hufflepuff's strangest member on your face could be counted as startling. Perhaps not terror inducing, but startling Draco could allow.

Still, a quintaped was respectably terrifying and Draco knew no one was actually going to be teasing Blaise about that. Especially after witnessing his near maniacal laugh after turning it into the world's most terrifying starfish. Draco didn't know how that had been an improvement, per se, but Blaise had evidently found it hilarious.

And then there had been Neville with his stupidly perfect patronus. No, he was proud of Neville. And his stupidly perfect patronus. But Draco wasthiscloseto getting it, and he just needed to get it before Blaise so he could win that last part of the bet…

He should probably stop betting on his friends so much.

And speaking of bets…

No one had predicted Ivy's boggart. She had been a little quiet at dinner, even if she still smiled and talked to the rest of their friends. But Draco wasn't fooled. She had been affected by the boggart more than she was trying to let on, and he was determined that whenever she made it back to the common room she was getting a huge hug which he would not let her out of for at least a full minute. Maybe five.

Well, speak a demon's name…

He allowed her about fifteen seconds before he initiated the hug.

Ivy huffed. "I'm fine, Draco, really."

"One minute," he said.

She poked him in the side.

"Now it's five," he said.

Ivy rolled her eyes but relaxed into the hug. "You sure you didn't accidentally turn into a koala bear somewhere?"

"Positive. Now shush and let me enjoy my comfort-giving hug."

Ivy laughed a little. Mission accomplished.

They started chatting, and inevitably the subject turned to that day's lesson.

"So what was that with Greg's boggart, anyway?"

Ivy pulled back slightly. "Er, well, you know how I was trying to help Vince and Greg get ready for the lesson today?"

"Yes…"

"Well, I may have thought that looking through that book wouldn't have been enough to, you know, create a fear that strong, but apparently…"

"You meant that thing isreal?" Draco asked, mildly horrified. "Also, whatisthat thing?"

By the end of her explanation Draco was terrified of the open ocean, and decided that swimming was an unnecessary activity that he could forego for the rest of his natural life. But Ivy was laughing, so it was alright.

October 15, 1993

"So, hypothetically, could you talk to sea snakes?"

Ivy paused at that. "Well, assuming I could talk underwater, then yes? I think so? I've never tried before though. Why?"

Tracey flicked the end of her quill over her chin. "No reason. Just thinking about what Vince was telling us about yesterday. I went to find the book you were talking about but I couldn't find it anywhere."

"Ask Thomas then. He probably knows."

"Why would he… oh, is this about them trying to hide books from you?"

"You conjureonelittle hurricane and all of a sudden you might 'knock over the castle' or something. Honestly, it wasn't even that big."

"I thought it was about that spell you used on Corvin that one time?"

"That too. Oh, speaking of which, how is Linus?"

Tracey huffed. "Still annoying as ever. What is his deal, anyway?"

Ivy shrugged. "No idea. It's like he makes a point of finding you just to bother you."

"Ugh. I don't know why he won't just leave me alone."

"You can always borrow Tiger again if you want. Or he knows his way into the fourth year boys dorm and he's always up for a little adventure."

"Thanks, Ivy."

October 16, 1993

"We justhaveto stop by Honeydukes."

"Don't you have enough candy already?"

"First of all, there is no such thing. Secondly, it's not all for me."

Millie, Ivy, and Theo each gave Draco a face that told him exactly how much they believed that statement.

"Well, it's not," he defended, refusing to sound too much like a little kid.

"Who's it for then?" Theo asked.

"Other… people"

"Uh-huh."

"Fine, it's for Thomas and Macmillan, alright?"

"Why are you getting candy for Ernie?" Millie asked, puzzled.

"And Dean?" Ivy added.

Draco sighed. "They agreed to take over my unofficial potions tutoring. Or, as I like to call it, the Cauldron Preservation Society. This is their bribe to make sure that they don't back out."

"Oh, well in that case what are you planning on getting?" Ivy asked. "If it's going to be a bribe it had better be a good one."

"And since when is Thomas good at potions?" Theo interjected.

"Is it really so impossible to believe that I have hadsomesuccess?" Draco said with a huff. "Really it's Finnegan and Neville. Finnegan's ability to set anything on fire does not agree well with cauldrons that need to be set to very specific temperatures and that often contain volatile ingredients. And Neville. Well, his talent quota was clearly spent on other things, because I swear no one that has ever attended this school has gone through as many cauldrons as he has."

"Is that why you got him a cauldron subscription for his birthday?" Ivy teased.

"Yes. Now, any other unnecessary questions about my plans for the day?"

Draco didn't even give them time to respond, he just picked up his pace. As the tallest member of the group he was able to do so easily, and he took a small bit of delight in making the others have to work a little to keep up.

"I think Draco bought out the entire store," Tracey said in awe.

"He tried," Theo muttered, setting the bag he had been coerced into carrying on the ground. "I'd better get at least a few sugar quills out of this. He turned us all into pack mules."

"As much as I appreciate your opinion of my talents," Draco said, joining them at the table, "I'm afraid even I am not likely to be able to accomplish that until at least sixth year."

Theo smirked. Draco frowned. Tracey watched in anticipation.

"Hey Ivy," Theo said, once their friend was in hearing range. "Think you could change Draco into a mule?"

Ivy tilted her head slightly. "I guess. What for?"

"No reason," Theo said, still smirking.

"Alright fine, you made your point," Draco muttered. "Can we order now?"

Their now larger group managed to squeeze around the table, and they all placed their lunch orders.

"Ivy, isn't that your dad?" Daphne asked a few minutes later.

All eyes turned in the direction Daphne was pointing, then to Ivy.

"That… certainly looks like him. Here, let me try something."

With that Ivy pulled out her wand and cast some sort of spell the man's way. When he turned towards them with an exasperated look on his face Ivy grinned. "That's him," she said, and ran out the door.

The group of Slytherins all watched as she practically leapt into the man's arms, getting twirled around a couple times before being set back down.

The arrival of their food broke them out of their observations, and they each sheepishly turned away from their not so subtle watching.

"I can't believe you're here!" Ivy practically squeaked as Harry twirled her around.

"Surprise," Harry said with a small nervous laugh. "Hopefully this was okay."

Ivy laughed. "Of course it was. Why'd you come?"

"To see you obviously," Harry said, laughing as Ivy rolled her eyes. He sobered for a minute. "And Sirius told me about what happened Thursday and I wanted to see you; make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine," Ivy said with a small shrug. "What else can you expect though. I mean, it's not like I was going to see a dragon or anything."

"Yes, because no one would ever find a dragon scary," Harry said dryly.

Ivy gave him a little grin.

"I also heard something about sea monsters?"

Ivy's grin fell. "Who told you about that? Besides, I already apologized to Greg. And Vince."

"And did that book go mysteriously missing as well?"

Ivy's grin came back, though it was a little more mischievous this time. "As a matter of fact it did. Until Tracey asked Thomas if he had seen it anywhere. I really don't know why they bother anymore."

"Because they worry for the continued existence of Hogwarts?"

"Hey, I love Hogwarts and Hogwarts loves me. We get along perfectly well and she's not going anywhere."

Harry laughed. "Good to know."

"So… How's the animagus training going?"

Harry stumbled a step. "How'd you know about that?"

Ivy gave him a very unimpressed look. "Who do you think?"

"Honestly it could have been anyone and it wouldn't surprise me."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You know, your letter a few weeks ago was pretty interesting. Never knew that you could change the flavor of a mandrake leaf while it was in your mouth."

Harry opened his mouth but couldn't think of anything to make come out of it.

"Occlumency training is going really well, by the way."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright, maybe I forgot about that part of the letter, and of course you figured things out because you're brilliant."

Ivy giggled at that.

"So yes, Luna and I are both working on animagus training."

"Any progress?"

Harry scowled briefly. "I wish. Do you know how hard it is to get yourself to sprout feathers?"

"Not yet."

"Wait…"

"I think next summer we will have plenty of time, don't you think?"

"Now wait just a second…"

"I'm sure everyone else will want to do it too."

Harry's eye twitched. He ignored the absolutely beaming smile Ivy gave him at that moment. "Let's just… How about when you graduate?"

Ivy actually snorted at .

"Okay fine. How about this. You get an O in transfiguration and we'll start it."

"Do you think you'll have your form down by then?"

"Hey I'm not that bad."

"It's already been like three weeks, Dad."

Harry's chest grew warm at that. "Two and a half. And you're talking about eight months. I'm sure I'll get it in eight months."

"I can always have Luna help me."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Christmas. I'm going to have it by Christmas."

"Mmhmm. So, what do you want to do?"

He would have it by Christmas. Absolutely.

"So, what did you and your dad do?"

"Talked, mostly. I helped motivate him, and he agreed to help me learn the animagus transformation next summer."

"Really? No way. Do you think he'd teach me too?"

October 17, 1993

Harry looked at the note in his hand again.

Blaise wants to learn too.

No problem. No problem at all. Hogwarts could totally handle a bunch of underage witches and wizards becoming animagi, right? Right. Totally and completely fine.

Now, if he could just get the feathers to stay put a little better…

October 23, 1993

"It's going to be Halloween."

"Just because it is…eerily similar to what happened in your world, doesn't mean it's going to keep being the same."

"It's going to be Halloween."

"Why Halloween?"

Harry gave Remus a look that made the man squirm in his seat ever so slightly. Good.

"Because Fate hates me and something bad always happens Halloween."

Remus sighed. "Alright, fine. Bellatrix is probably breaking in on Halloween. What's to say she will even be successful though? I doubt she knows the passages like we do, and Sirius and Severus have them all monitored anyway."

"Don't know. But something is going to happen, and it'll happen on Halloween, and Fudge is an idiot, and even Augusta demanding the dementors get removed hasn't done a single thing yet."

"Couldn't you just, you know, banish them or something? Send them back to Azkaban?"

Harry didn't try to hide his confusion. "Sorry, what? How would I do that exactly?"

"Well, I don't know. You're the Master of Death, aren't you? Maybe there's some type of special power you can use to order the dementors to leave?"

Another look. Another squirm. Another small sense of satisfaction.

"Really?"

"Well, you never know," Remus said, sounding not too convinced of his own statement. "Or you could always go to Hogwarts yourself on Halloween."

Harry paused at that. True, he could. Maybe. Sirius and Severus could probably aid in that. Possibly Minerva and Filius if necessary. "Alright, that's not a completely terrible idea. I doubt Dumbledore would be inclined to allow me there, but if I could get in without him knowing…"

October 31, 1993

"Let's go over the plan one more time."

Sirius wanted to roll his eyes. "Harry, I swear you are more paranoid than Moody. Look, the plan is solid, alright? Remus and Luna are in the village, Snape and I are here, you are… also here, and Lucius and Amelia are on standby. Everything will be fine."

Harry kept pacing back and forth, and Sirius noticed even Snape looked about ready to roll his eyes.

"Fine. Fine. It'll be fine. Alright. And Bogrod is in position?"

"The goblins were, dare I say,gleefulin their assurances that they would be ready to dispose of the fugitive," Snape said.

Sirius allowed himself a small shudder at the image that brought to mind.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get if you keep a horcrux in their bank," Harry said sourly. "At least they're good for something other than making my life harder," he added with a mutter.

"All set then?"

Harry sighed. "Yeah, all set."

November 1, 1993

Amelia signed the report with absolute glee. She couldn't wait to hand deliver this to Fudge and see the look on his face. There was absolutely no reason for him to insist on the dementors remaining at Hogwarts any longer.

Not when Bellatrix Lestrange had been captured by the goblins.

Fudge was going to have an aneurysm.

Well, there were worse ways to go. Amelia could think of several.

Theofficialstory, of course, was that the goblins were meeting with Lord Black and Lord Peverell-Slytherin, both of whom had a vested interest in keeping Lestrange away from Hogwarts and Ivy Potter, being, respectively, her godfather and adoptive father. Due to Lord Black's school commitments that evening, the meeting had naturally taken place in his office, where they had been interrupted by a warning from Lady Peverell-Slytherin that Lestrange had been spotted just outside of Hogsmeade.

Werewolf senses could be useful like that, Amelia thought to herself.

And so it was a happy coincidence that the goblins were able to apprehend Bellatrix Lestrange, with a bit of help from Lord Black and Lord Peverell-Slytherin, and take the fugitive into custody.

Of course, with the goblins being the primary force that succeeded in capturing Lestrange, they had first rights to prosecution. Apparently she was wanted by them for harboring a soul remnant in her vault, which went against their policies or charters or something like that that Cuthbert would no doubt be able to explain in excruciating detail if needed. She really hoped it wouldn't be needed.

In reality it might not have worked outexactlylike that, but it's not like anyone could prove the meeting hadn't taken place at that precise time. Or that Lord Peverell-Slytherin had helped more than might have been strictly reported. He wasn't an auror, after all, so no one was obliged to disclose further involvement seeing as it could be argued it was done in self-defenseandsince the goblins themselves corroborated his story.

The goblins must really love Henry Peverell-Slytherin.

November 4, 1993

"Well, Lord Peverell-Slytherin, it has been a while."

Harry grimaced. "Yes, well, I've been busy, you know."

Ragnok grinned at him. Harry felt he was almost growing immune to these grins. About time, really.

"Well I for one am glad you came in today. We have so many things to talk about."

Harry recognized that face. That was not a face he wanted to see ever again. "No. Absolutely not."

Then the goblin . And Harry's newfound immunity to goblin smiles was suddenly worthless in the face of the newly discovered terror that was a goblinpout.

Luna took one look at Harry's face. "Which one did they try to land you with this time?"

"Gaunt."

Luna scrunched up her face a bit and Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought too."

"So you made a swift exit?"

"Strategic retreat of the greatest speed."

They both laughed.

"Maybe next time you want to go instead?"

Luna smiled. "Alright."

November 9, 1993

Harry looked over Luna with suspicion. She didn'tlookshocked or terrified, which were the appropriate reactions after talking with the goblins for an hour, but then again Luna rarely showed things like shock.

"So, did they get you with anything?"

"Oh, they tried," Luna said with a laugh.

"But you got out unscathed?"

"Well, if I ever want to change my name apparently Lady Ravenclaw is an option."

Harry just sank down into the sofa, laughing, with Luna joining him soon after.

November 12, 1993

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't sure information was really worth sitting through an evening of the headmaster's schemes and conspiracy theories.

"We didn't even get a chance to see how she would do going up against the dementors," Albus argued. "And now they are gone. Fudge has had some terrible ideas before, but this one it something else."

Yes. It was reasonable. Difficult to accept as coming form the man, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. It had to happen sometime.

"And of course 'Slytherin' is involved."

"Are the quotation marks really necessary, Albus?"

It was as if the headmaster didn't even hear him.

"We just need to find another way to test her. If only we had had some more time with the dementors here. Now, there are a few other chances we might have, of course, but…"

Severus spent the next twenty minutes offering increasingly ridiculous commentary to Albus's musings, waiting in vain to get a reaction that indicated the man was actually paying attention to anything outside his own voice.

Finally he gave up.

"Albus, leave me out of this. Surely there is no need to place Potter through these so-called tests, seeing as the Dark Lord isdead."

"He will return," Albus insisted. "And he may even be closer than we think."

Severus sighed, and regretting it before he even asked, he said, "Albus, what precisely makes you believe that Lord Peverell is at all associated with thedeceasedDark Lord?"

"Ivy was taken from her family, where she was safe, and their house was eventually burned down. Pettigrew was found out after hiding successfully for years, then died after only a month in Azkaban. Quirrell went missing, along with the stone. Barty Crouch wound up dead, and you know as well as I do his role in the last war. Bellatrix Lestrange went missing after an encounter with Slytherin, and it is only on the goblin's word that we are assured she has been captured."

Severus sighed. "Are you honestly accusing the goblins of covering up her, what, escape? Second escape? Why on earth would they benefit from such a scheme?"

"Slytherin must have promised them something," the headmaster mused.

Severus was so very tired of dealing with these same rants over and over. The headmaster was seemingly incapable of letting this go, however.

"Albus, has it ever crossed your mind that the Dark Lord is, as has been pointed out to yourepeatedly, quitedead? He is dead, Albus. The mark is completely gone, as you well know. He is not coming back. Whatever means of immortality you claim he managed prior to his downfall has obviously been dealt with. The marks would not have disappeared after a decade , headmaster."

Albus made to interrupt him but Severus pressed on.

"The marks disappeared at the same time as Quirrell's a connection that is not difficult to make. But the marks are gone. The marks that failed to fade even when it was believed he was dead are gone. And nothing Lord Peverell has done has in any way indicated his allegiance or affiliation in any way with the Dark Lord. What hehasdone, however, is do everything in his power to assure the safety of his daughter, first by removing her from the abusive homeyouplaced her in, and in every moment after that. When he learned there would be dementors placed at Hogwarts he taught her the patronus charm, knowing full well that any chance encounter with the dementors supposedly placed for the safetyof the students could be disastrous. The students hadn't even made it off the train before just such an encounter. And thenyoustopped fighting for the removal of the dementors because you felt the need to test Ivy Potter. She isthirteen, headmaster. I once swore an oath to you to protect that child, and a child she still remains. And as you seem to be the one intent on placing her in danger in the first place, or at least doing nothing to prevent it, I believe this is the point where I inform you that I will have nothing further to do with your little schemes. I will protect her, even if, no,especiallyif it is from you."

Severus did not wait to hear the headmaster's response, not feeling up to another falsely concerned speech on how he was "turning back to the dark" or "preventing Ivy from fulfilling her destiny."

He was done.