Thalia's POV

She didn't keel over this time, forcing Alton to keep her steady with a massive hand on her shoulder, he then rubbed her back to soothe her churning stomach, and she was pretty sure he was using magic with his fingers, how else would such a simple action alleviate the urge to upchuck her breakfast.

Her cousin had returned to Camp Half-Blood, and it was clear he was hella pissed, most of the nymphs and satyr got the hell out of dodge when he neared.

She got it, and at the same time, she didn't.

If anyone asked her what would be the best way to describe her cousin, she would say cranky, and followed by protective.

Perhaps it was the fact that he saved her, Luke, Annabeth and Grover from his dad's minions, that was colouring him in that light, or perhaps it was for probably the first time since, ever, an adult was doing the bare minimum and putting kids before themselves, though it sucked that it was essentially stranger that was doing it and not one of their parents, but hey she wasn't going to do anything to drive off the man.

He found her in the camp and told her to pack light, as he'd buy her what she needed when they got there. She did question why she was being taken to England and just her alone, but then again, she already knew the answer to that question, even Annabeth knew, though that didn't stop the waterworks when the girl found out the duo were going to be gone for the unforeseeable future.

The little blonde was going to get a massive bribe when they returned.

Softy, another fitting description of Alton, that or the blonde really had him wrapped around his finger.

"That's a better form of travel than apparition." She grimaced, nonetheless, the portkey was like a roller coaster, or well she assumed it was like that.

"Aye, but use it enough times, you'll get used to both." Something about his voice told her that even if it was quote-on-quote used to it, he didn't like it all that much himself.

She then looked around, taking in the sights of a different country, the first time she ever stepped foot beyond the States, and she was confused.

Assuming that they had 'magiced' their way into the magical equivalent of an airport, Thalia expected them to not draw much attention, they appeared in a hall of sorts, some people were dressed in a uniform and it was rammed packed with other colourfully dressed people who were either arriving or leaving in the same method they had.

And yet even with it full to the point of heaving, it was muted, as all eyes stared at us, at Alton.

"Come on, kiddo. New system in place, got to declare ourselves before we can leave." Alton ignored the stares as if he hadn't noticed them at all.

He then walked past a line that was clearly queuing, and not a soul said a word as they stared at the man in wonder, so I quickly ran forward with my bag slung over my shoulder and kept in pace with him, harder said than done with his fucking long legs and stride.

Hushed whispers followed us, him. Some people shrank into themselves, trying to avoid his gazes, while some stood taller, trying to do the opposite, whilst some women, reminding her so much of her mom, tried to make themselves desirable in that fleeting moment, some in their late teens, whilst some closer to Alton's supposed age.

Yet her cousin was playing oblivious to it all.

"Na-a-mes?" A boyish-looking man with a long nose said as we approached the desk, he pushed a paper forward and struggled to look at Alton in the face for long.

"Alton Geur." He pulled out his wand, and tapped the paper, "And my ward, Thalia Grace."

The man gazed at her for a fleeting second and then turned away when she stared back, there was something in the stranger's eyes that she didn't like, reverence, that's what Luke called it, when the monsters stopped their attack on them when Alton appeared.

But what did that have to do with her now?

Was there a deeper meaning to being Alton's ward? Whatever that was.

"Age?" The man asked Alton before throwing a 'my lord' into the mix, and like how Grover and the monster gave him the title, he clearly disliked it but this time he put up no fuss.

"She's 12 going,"

"13 soon," I added, and Alton turned his stony face to me, and it melted into his usual small smile.

"Really? Be sure to tell me when we'll do something nice for it." Living her life, she learned from a young age to never get your hopes up and yet here she was, knowing the man for such a short time and he still made her feel safe and warm.

"She will then need to present her wand, my lord."

"She's a muggle lad."

Muggle was the term for the non-magical, or that's what Alton called it.

The man let out an audible gulp, but and then he tried to speak to Alton in a low manner, "My lord, if you are to bring a muggle here, I would have to report it."

"I'm aware of the law," Alton said easily.

"I suppose I could," The man looked up and behind him as if to see if there was anyone who was eavesdropping, and there was, people kept their eyes on Alton, not daring to move, even still the man felt safe to continue, "not report it as it's you, my lord."

Alton shook his head, "You'll do no such thing…" He then motioned at the man, who puffed his chest out as Alton asked for his name, "Jamie, you have a job to do, what you do here, is to report to ministry, which helps safeguard our people. No exceptions Jamie." Alton's smile didn't reach his eyes, "So please do your job and report my ward."

Looking at my cousin in bewilderment, I wasn't sure what game he was playing, but I'm fairly sure he just got me reported to the police, magical police, what the fuck Alton?

"Of course, my lord." Jamie looked surer of himself and then motioned for a backroom as opposed to the exit, or what I'm assuming was the exit.

"We will have to detain you and your ward."

Though Jamie's newfound confidence crumbled when Alton snorted, "I said you can report Thalia, but lad, I sure as hell ain't getting bogged down here. The lass and I will be on our way."

"Bu-t-t, my lord, the Aurors will come after you." The way he said aurors didn't paint them in a good light, but Alton didn't seem all that frightened.

With a curl of his bottom lip, he shrugged indifferently, "Oh well." He turned to me, "Come on Thalia. We'll head to my home first."

The crowds of people parted as Alton moved, and the guards that littered the exit, thumbed their wands, though as we neared, they all found places to look that wasn't anywhere close to us.

"So, what was that?"

I had expected him to joke or just flat-out ignore the question but instead he shocked me by actually answering me.

"Traveling wizards or witches are not permitted to bring muggles with them, even if said muggles know of magic existences, you're still supposed to travel here with muggle means."

Ah, a plane, it's not like I have a passport, and we had rushed over here asap for what reason he still hasn't told me. Plus, I was a runaway, I'm sure Alton could've used a magic means of getting me one but that would've taken time.

"But won't you get in trouble? Won't I?"

"Nope."

"They were scared of you, the ones who didn't seem to be in love with you."

He gave me a cocky grin as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye, "Jamie was probably both."

Thinking about the spindly man, I had agreed with a laugh, "Not your type."

"Nope." He said an easy grin that once again didn't reach his eyes, as his hand reached for the rings attached to the chain around his neck.

He then placed a hand on my shoulder, and I felt a pull at my navel, once again he apparated us without warning.

"You're such an asshole." I groaned as I keeled over yet again, resting my hands on my knees.

"I think you'll be pretty great at flying." He said as he loomed over me, a twinkle in his eyes, "I fell on my arse at least a dozen times over before I got to the point where I could stick the landing."

When I confirmed I wasn't going to spit out bile anytime soon, I stood up straight, "Fly how?" Like a plane? "A broomstick or something?" I said with a laugh at the idea of flying brooms like the ones in scary stories about hags and witches.

"Yeah maybe. You're Thunder-Crotch's daughter so maybe you have the right stuff to get a broom to activate. We could give it a try later."

"Holy shit, you're serious."

"I'm not Sirius, I'm Alton." He grinned and I felt the need to punch him would be justifiable.

"...what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

Turning away I looked at what he was staring at, and the only thing I could say that felt fitting was, "Wow."

"Yep." As he kept his eyes on the humongous mansion, "Home sweet home."

"This is your home?" The disbelief was clear in my voice, I was tempted to turn and face him so he could understand this was not normal, but my gaze kept flickering to the various creatures that were roaming the place.

"Yep."

"No," I then waved at the place that was probably the size of a zoo, "this place. Is your home."

"Yeah," He then cocked his head, "well used to be, I don't live here anymore, but yeah, I grew up here. When I wasn't at that boarding school, I told you about."

"What was your school, a magical castle?"

"Is that not what you were picturing?" He said in genuine confusion.

Dealing with Alton was going to be headache-inducing, she just knew this was what her future was going to be filled with.

"Misty." He suddenly said and with the sound of air cracking, a small creature appeared from the thin air, but I wasn't able to get a good look at it before it let out a girlish squeal before launching herself at Alton, hugging his right leg with all her might.

"Masters Alton, you have returned."

Alton smiled down at the small creature, and he kneaded the creature in between its big floppy ears, "Hello Misty." The creature reluctantly pulled away from Alton but the massive grin on her face stayed. "Thalia, this is Misty, a house elf, the house elf that has served my family for a good many decades."

He then turned to the house elf, and motioned at me, "Misty this is Thalia, my ward." Misty let out a happy gasp as she peered up at me.

"Hello," I nodded at the little thing not sure how to interact with her, not wanting to be hugged.

"Mistresses Thalia?" Ummm? I looked at Alton, but he good-naturedly rolled his eyes at the house elf's broken English.

"Misty, could take our things and check if my bedroom is in a liveable condition and set up a room for Thalia?"

The house elf bobbed in her space, fighting the urge to jump in joy, "Of course masters." And with a snap the house elf had disappeared, and the weight of my bag had vanished alongside Alton's one.

Walking up the beaten path he had explained the various creatures that were in view, starting with the house-elf, not quite sure how I felt about the fact they were essentially slaves, but he just rolled his eyes at the title and explained how house elves lived off their master's magic and without it, they'd wither away and die. It felt like he was leaving some stuff out, but I trusted Alton to be straight with me, so I didn't press him further on it.

As we entered the huge ass 'home' of my cousin, I looked around and spotted all sorts of stuff hanging on the walls of the entrance hall. Swords, axes, suits of armour from different ages and countries, a lot of them looked like the ones you'd see in anime.

I was brought out of my thoughts as we heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards us, and for a moment I felt a sense of fear, thinking the man was Hades.

He and Alton looked exactly like each other, except for their eyes and the fact the man looked much older with the wrinkles and grey hair. Even still the similarities were so strong that I thought he was Alton's dad.

"Pipsqueak." The man grunted at the lumbering form of Alton.

"We're literally eye-to-eye." Alton snarked sounding like Luke whenever he got defensive.

"Once a brat, always a brat."

"Oh, go chew on a live wire."

The man snorted at Alton's words, though his amusement was replaced with a hint of fury when his eyes landed on me, "Do you have a daughter, that looks about 11 or 12?"

Alton looks unamused and the snark can be heard clearly in his voice, "Yeah uncle Artic, I had a daughter and didn't tell anyone about her."

I know he was being snappy shit, but I didn't hate the thought…

"She's ole thunder-cocks daughter, and my dumb-cunt of father wants her dead for existing, so as an ultimate f you, I'm taking under my wing, as my ward."

Despite the situation, I laughed, so this is him untethered without Annabeth around, wow he was really trying to be good.

Alton's uncle also laughed, "Still a wilful brat, not scared of shit." He then walked over and grabbed Alton into a bearhug, something my cousin returned. Odd, hadn't Alton said he and his uncle weren't on talking terms, she figured it was something like her and her mom, but perhaps it was easier for whatever anger that was between the two to be forgotten now that they were standing in front of each other.

"What are you talking about? Growing up I scared shitless of gramps." Alton laughed as he pulled back and ran a hand through his hair.

His uncle rolled his eyes, "Forget it, and tell me why you're here, I figured you wouldn't ever step a foot in the magical world again after the war ended."

Alton looked equal parts tired and angry, "The war never ended,"

"War?"

Both men ignored me, "What do you mean the war never ended? You killed the cunt. And only a handful of the rats survived you and your group."

"Dumbledore will be here soon, let him in will you? I'm going to get the lass situated. And I can explain what's up."

"Dumbledore? Is this about that letter of his I had forwarded to you?"

With that I followed as Alton walked further into his home, ignoring his uncle's questions, as the man wafted anger and hate now.

Hopefully, I would get some answers when whoever this 'Dumbledore' guy appeared.

Alton's POV

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin first class, grand sorcerer, supreme mugwump, chief warlock, was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. A healthy tan to his skin.

"Retirement looks good on you Albus."

The old man gave me a sad smile, things in the wizarding world were slowly mending, yes new rot managed to make itself home when we finished with the vast majority of Voldemort's ilk, but the old wounds, old fights, were essentially done. It was for the young to take over.

I'm guessing it would be funny for someone like Albus to hear me say that, considering he's been doing the good fight longer than I've been alive. We fought against the army of the disenfranchised that Voldemort manipulated into following him, and we won.

What a hollow fucking victory.

I left because of my grief, and Albus had simply hung up his hat. The man was tired, and he had every right to be, he tried his best to be a good man in a world where good men were ignored. He was far from perfect, and we clashed more times than I liked during the war, yet I never faulted him for it.

He advocated for peace, his Order fought with the intention of defending and duelling. My Knight replied in kind to those who fought them. While he and his subdue the enemy, mine spilt blood.

When it was all over men like me needed to be gone.

The wizarding world needed a voice of reason like him, especially when I carved a bloody path through it, yet when the dust settled and I killed Tom Riddle, the man retired, embracing what he told me was a childhood dream of exploring the world both the magical one and its muggle counterpart.

A world at peace needed Dumbledore, it would always need someone like him, but fuck it, the man earnt his rest, the new evils and troubles of the world weren't his concern.

New being the keyword. We both returned for a reason.

He pulled out a glass tank and enlarged it with his wand. A familiar curse of the language of the snakes escaped the vile familiar, "His?"

Thalia looked back and forth at the snake and me not understanding why I sounded wrathful.

Albus nodded gravely.

"Riddle's familiar?" Uncle Artic asked unnecessarily, yet he reached for the wand his father had gifted him from the family's weapon vault, seeing it reminded me of something that would suit Thalia well.

When Uncle Artic didn't let out a spell with restraint I thought he lost a long time ago, he turned to us and asked the very important question, "What the fuck does this thing even mean?"

"It's a Horcrux, Artic." Dumbledore provided.

"One of six." I supplied and the blood rushed from Dumbledore's pale face.

"Six?" I nodded and yet understandably he asked again to make sure he didn't mishear, "Six is monstrous," He licked his lips with dread, "How are you sure? I hunted this beast because I wanted to understand how it still lived for so long after its master's supposed death, and it took me far longer than I liked to finally understand how, but you're-"

"I swear it Albus," I cut him off, "I swear it on her memory, there's six of them," He understood more than anyone I would not use those words unless I meant it truly, so perhaps that's why he almost seemed relieved when I told him I had it handled.

I was calling in a lot of favours with Hades, but in the end, he understood, Voldemort would die, a real death, not this faux one he offered with his splintered soul, but first, he was going to lose what truly mattered to him first, I swore that on Lily's memory also.

A/N - Published - 2024-08-14

Yo, thanks to all for the support shown to this story.

Not much to say for this chapter, though I suppose there are story elements in this chapter relating to this fics sister, i.e. the new systems/laws and the group Alton created during the war.