Disclaimer- I own nothing. Thank you J K Rowling for creating this magical world for us to play in.

a/n: Thank you all for the kind words. This past week has been very trying and you all helped lift my spirits. You guys rock!

Chapter 15
"Normal Speech"
Thoughts
'Mental Conversations'

Outside Gringotts-

Lucius Malfoy was having a terrible morning. He received an owl from those pitiful goblins about his marriage contract. Damn that bastard! he thought. Sirius Black has become a thorn in his side. It was because of him that his marriage was no longer and half of his gold was gone from his vaults. It did not help that the truth about who the Potter's secret keeper come to life, which will clear Black's name in the near future; and to top his morning off, that bastard little half breed was spouting more lies about that damn muggle. It would seem I have some planning to do. Perhaps I should see if Crabbe and Goyle would be willing to help. As Lucius was walking down the steps he heard, "Aurors! Halt and show us your hands!" Lucius looked around and saw that he was surrounded, and in front of him stood Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE. "What is the meaning of this!" he barked out.

"Lucius Malfoy, I have a warrant for your arrest. Do not resist, we have been authorized to bring you in and will use force if necessary." Shouted Amelia with a grin on her face. She was finally able to put this bastard away for a long time.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? I have will your job and head for this woman! Just you wait till the Minister finds out about this." He spat back. He thought about going for his wand, but he just needed to wait for the right moment.

Amelia laughed at this and replied, "Who do you think signed the warrant death eater?"

"Why you stupid blood traitor!" he said as he went to pull the wand from his cane. He managed to lift the cane before he was hit with a single cutting spell that cut off the hand trying to draw his wand. "YOU STUPID BITCH! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I WILL END YOUR FUCKING LINE."

Amelia then sent a stunner at him that hit him with so much power that it threw him into one of the pillars. "Perhaps I should have told you that anything you say or do will be used as evidence." Amelia personally put on the magical suppression cuffs on him and turned to the closest Auror and said, "Auror Kingsley, place him in the most secure holding cell we have." She turned to leave when she stopped and looked back and said, "Make sure it is warded to the teeth! No one, and I mean no one is to see him. I will handle his interrogation personally."

Inside Gringotts- (a/n this is happening at the same time Lucius is being arrested.)

Bill Weasley was having an interesting morning. He was all set start work on a new vault that has been abandoned when he received word that his brothers were waiting in his office. This can't be good he thought. As he was walking towards his office, a messenger had given him a summons to meet with the Director. Just as he reached his office door he saw his father walking towards him. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Would you mind if we went inside? I think it would be best if we sat while we spoke." Asked Arthur. Bill opened his office door and found the twins pacing back and forth.

The twin's heads shot towards the door when it started to open. They saw Bill walk in first, followed closely by their father. "What?" was all they could ask.

Arthur looked over to them and said, "Fred, George, what are you two doing here? You're both supposed to be at home? And will only one of you speak at a time. I have already had trying morning and do not think I could give either of you the proper attention." Arthur took a seat and motioned for everyone to follow. "I have just come from the DMLE. Madame Bones' office to be more precise."

Bill handed his father a glass of fire whiskey before saying, "I take it has to do with the articles in the Prophet this morning and our mother." Bill took a swig from his glass of whiskey before adding, "and whatever else she has planned."

"How do you know? Wait, before you answer me Bill, I need to know why Fred and George are here." Arthur looked over to the twins and said, "One of you tell me what happened once I left the house this morning."

Fred and George looked at each other to figure out who would speak. Fred gave George a mock bow motioned for him to do the honors. "After you left Ron went on saying that Hermione was his and how we would make that bastard half-blood suffer. That he would make them both suffer."

Fred picked up the story by adding, "We silenced him and mum tried to order us to release him and told us that we were grounded till term starts. After you left dad, she had that look in her eyes that she was still planning to potion Harry and Hermione despite your warning."

Arthur wasn't surprised to hear this. He just shook his head and said, "Your mother never did listen to me. What of your sister?"

"We left her for now. Mum has been feeding her potions as well. We managed to get a few samples." Replied George.

"Why did you bring samples with you?" Arthur asked

"Those would be for me" replied Bill. "The Director has asked me to keep an eye on her, and have employed the twins to help. All that we learn, I pass on to him who then passes it directly to Harry. In fact, I have a meeting with the Director shortly. I will take the samples with me and ask that you wait here for me to return."

"You mean to tell me that you three knew that your mother was up to something and failed to tell me?" Arthur was becoming a little angry with his family. "How? How do you all know what is going?" Arthur was becoming redder and redder as he spoke. "You will tell me the truth this instant!"

"Dad, we heard mum and Ron talking one day in the kitchen about their plans. We sent an owl to Bill to find out what we should do." Replied Fred.

George continued the explanation by saying, "We came to Diagon Alley one day and ran into Harry here at Gringotts with Remus Lupin. We snuck outside and told him what mum was up to. He said he was working on a plan. He told us that when the time came that we would always be welcome by him and his family."

The red seemed to fade a little at this, but they could all tell that Arthur was still angry with them with he asked, "Why haven't you told me of any of this?"

"Dad, you have been working a lot of overtime lately and haven't been home much." The twins both replied. They saw their father's shoulders slump at this statement and George quickly added, "We know you are only doing it so we have food on the table and a roof over our heads. That you are doing the best you can to care for your family."

Bill stood up from his desk and walked over to his father and said, "I need to get going. You do not make the Leader of the Nation wait. Dad, I ask you not to do anything to mum just yet. We need to speak to Harry first, and need to figure out what to do with the twins. You know that they are more than welcome to stay in my flat, if they can stay out of trouble that is." He patted his father on the shoulder and left.

Arthur felt deflated and wondered if he let his family down. He made a vow to himself that from this day forward, he would always be there for his family. He looked to Fred first and then to George and said, "Let's wait for Bill to come back before we decide if you two will be returning to the Burrow. I would prefer you both at the Burrow. I know that I could at least trust you both to keep an eye on Ginny."

Tonks Family Home-

"It would appear that Amelia and Dora are currently unavailable. Don't worry Pup, I will tell them what we talk about today." Said Sirius as he was walking back into the living room. "Now, where were we?" he asked as he looked to Hermione and Harry. Hermione had finally stopped twitching, but her body was still sore. Harry lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. Harry went into detail about everything that has happened between their vaults and while they were at Avalon, with Hermione throwing in a few details here and there. At the end of their speech, everyone sat there in silence.

"Well, that is certainly an interesting tale cub. Perhaps we should have something to lift our spirits." Said Remus.

Harry look at everyone and smiled as he called, "Dobby!"

"What can Dobby do for you Lord Harry Potter Sir?" he replied as he was basically jumping up and down at being called.

"First off Dobby, call me Harry, you don't have to call me Lord. Second, would you please bring us some tea, and perhaps some whisky as well."

Dobby bowed and replied, "Right away Master Harry Potter" before popping away. Harry sighed as he shook his head.

Dobby brought the tray back a few seconds later. Sirius poured himself and Minerva a glass of whisky before saying, "You never do anything by half's do you Pup?" Sirius looked over to Minerva and asked, "How did things go over at Hogwarts?"

Minerva had an almost feral grin on her face when she replied, "Oh just how we would expect it too. Albus burned the paper after he read the front page. Then when I kindly pointed out that he missed the part about Lord Black, I thought the man was going to have a heart attack right in the staff room."

"HA! I always knew you were a marauder at heart Min!" laughed Sirius.

"Well, I did have to keep up with you lot didn't I?" That made Sirius speechless.

"Not that I mind this topic, but would we be able to get back to our original topic?" asked Hermione "As grateful as we are for Andromeda's hospitality, I think we should also discuss where we should stay for the rest of the summer."

"We could always go back to the cottage" replied Remus.

"No, it's too small for all of us" replied Harry.

"What about one of the Black properties?" asked Sirius.

"Harry, don't even worry about politely shooting that idea down. Sirius, we all know that is too dangerous. Who knows what lovely little presents our relatives left us." Replied Narcissa.

"What about Potter Manor?" asked Remus.

"My first reaction is to say yes; it is large enough for all of us. However, Would Dumbles think to try to look for us there?" replied Harry. An awkward silence fell upon the room as everyone wracked their brains.

"I got it!" screamed Hermione, causing everyone to jump. "Sorry. What about the house that Lily and James left Narcissa in Surrey?"

"What house?" she asked. "And what will are you talking about?" she added.

"I guess we need to take a trip to Gringotts then." Replied Harry.

"We can get mum her wand!" exclaimed Hermione. "Ooo! We could go to the bookstore too!"

Harry gave a little chuckle and replied as he pulled her into his arms, "Of course sweetheart. Only if she is up to it that is."

Hermione looked over to her mother and tried to give her best impression of puppy dog eyes. "As long as Andy and Poppy give me the ok, I would be happy to go dear." Replied Emma was a warm smile on her face.

Hermione tried to jump off the bed and run to give her mother a hug but was held back by Harry. "Don't even think about it sweetheart. You still need to be checked out and cleared to go by those two as well." Hermione tried to turn her puppy dog eyes on Harry, causing him to add, "Sorry love, but I have no wish to go up against Poppy at this time. I would like to live to see my next birthday."

Everyone laughed at this but it was Poppy who responded, "Well, it would seem that marriage has actually taught you something." Harry tried to look like he was offended by this comment, but his shoulders were shaking too hard from the laughter he was trying to hold in.

"Well, it looks like we have a place to stay this summer, but what are you both going to do in the mean time?" asked Remus.

"I thought that was obvious Uncle Moony? We train." Replied Harry once he was able to stop laughing.

Poppy saw a window of opportunity and said, "Well, if you plan to head to Diagon Alley, I would suggest everyone but Hermione and Emma go get ready. This should only take us few minutes." Everyone started to get up and file out of the living room turned hospital ward when Emma said, "Narcissa, would you please stay with us. You have turned into a rock for me, and I would like you present. Hopefully we can find out the sex of the baby today. Since Andy and Hermione will already be here, it is only right that you stay as well."

On the surface Narcissa looked calm and collected, but her stomach was doing flips and her heart skipped a beat. "If your sure Emma, and as long as Hermione is ok with it, I would be happy to stay."

"Narcissa, you have done so much for my mother over the last few days. Of course I want you to stay." Replied Hermione. Harry climbed off the bed and gave Hermione a kiss before being ushered out of the room by not one but two healers. Apparently he wasn't moving fast enough for them since someone of them sent a stinger at his arse. "Ouch!" he yelped as he jumped into the hallway. The last thing he heard was all the women laughing as they closed the doors.

He quickly looked around to see if anyone else caught what just happened to him while rubbing his backside and noticed Draco heading towards the study. It's now or neverhe thought "Draco, can I talk to you for a moment?" Draco stopped and turned his head a gave a nod before heading into the study. Harry quickly followed. Harry walked in a shut the doors and said, "Look Draco, I need to apologize for how things went on the train during our first year. Ron was my first friend, or at least I thought he was. I never had any friends growing up. If someone tried to befriend me, my oversized cousin would beat them and terrorized them. I spent my entire childhood alone and thinking I was a freak. I didn't even know my name till I started school. What I'm trying to say is, you were right. Some wizarding families are better than others."

Draco slowly walked over to a chair near the fireplace, giving him a chance to think. "First off, I accept your apology. Second, I need to apologize for my own actions. I was a pompous, arrogant git. You see, I had to present myself like that. My father has spies everywhere. If he heard that I wasn't living up to his expectations, he would beat me. If he thought it wasn't enough, he would take it out on my mother. Last year, he told me that if I didn't shape up, he would kill her. The way I have acted was all a rouse. I was never that person. I needed to protect my mother and that was the only way I could. Father wasn't happy to find out that Mother was trying to undermine his teachings." Draco and Harry sat in silence for a moment before Draco asked, "What's next Potter?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I was very serious about what I said. We train. Before you ask, Hermione and I would like to invite you to train with us as well. I am hoping we can use that time to get to know each other a little better. Who knows, you may even be in for one of my many adventures."

Tonks living room- this is going on at the same time as Draco and Harry are speaking-

"Hermione, did you really have to fire that spell at him?" Emma asked.

"Yes mum, I believe I did. Someone needs to keep him in line." She replied with a grin on her face that went from one ear to the other.

She went to go get off the bed when she heard, "Just because they have left does not give you permission to try to get off that bed young lady." She looked up to see Poppy giving her the evil eye. "Do me one favor Hermione." Poppy said.

Hermione tilted her head a little to the side and replied, "And what would that be Poppy?"

This soften the expression on Poppy's face and she said, "Do not take your husbands place in my ward this year."

"I think I can manage that, but I make no promises." Hermione said with a small smile playing at her lips.

Poppy gave a heavy sigh, knowing that was the best answer she would ever receive from a Potter. "Well, I tried. Lay back dear and let's take a look at you." Hermione did as she was told, knowing better than to try and argue. "Mum, are you hoping for a boy or a girl?"

"I…" Emma was quickly cut off by Poppy saying, "Don't talk. Just lay there." Hermione quickly stopped speaking and tried to lay perfectly still and turned her head to look at her mother, willing her to speak.

Emma just chuckled and shook her head at Hermione's antics and said, "To answer your question hunny, I'm hoping for a boy." She gave Hermione a small smile and place a hand abdomen and felt Narcissa put a hand on her shoulder to offer her support.

Poppy was just about finished with her diagnostic charms and started with the hands on part of her exam. She first gently squeezed Hermione's ankles, and slowly made her way up to her neck. With each touch, Hermione flinched more and more. Poppy sighed, shook her head and said, "We both know that you SHOULD stay in bed for the rest of the day." Poppy quickly put her hand up, silencing any argument Hermione was getting ready to start, and continued, "You really need to let me finish. I swear, Potter is wearing off on you. Now, as I was saying, you SHOULD be in bed for the rest of the day. However, I think we both know that was never an option. Here is the deal I will make with you. I will give you 4 hours. You will get only 4 hours to do whatever you need to do. After that, you are to either come back here or to where ever you will be staying. Your time starts as soon as you get out of this bed. Before you leave, we will give you a pain relieving potion. If at any time you become incredibly painful, you are to return to where every you will be calling home. No if ands or buts. Do you understand?"

Hermione hung her head in defeat. "Yes Madame Pomfrey."

"Good. I don't have to worry since your mother and Narcissa will be accompanying you. And don't you worry dear, I WILL be having a word with your husband. He may not listen to my recommendations for himself, but I know he will listen when they pertain to you." Poppy made sure she had gotten her point across and turned to go to Emma.

"Emma, I just want to run a few tests to see how you are and then we can check on the baby. Tell me, how are you feeling?"

Poppy started waving her wand as Emma said, "I'm still a little sore, but it will be nice to go out for a little bit."

"Are you having any trouble walking?" Poppy asked as she was trying to finish up her exam.

"I'm a little slower than I use to be, but the cane does help. It also helps that I have a few shoulders to lean on when I need them." Emma replied as she looked at Narcissa and gave her a warm smile.

Poppy finished her exam quickly and said, "Before we finish checking on the baby, I want to tell you that I will be placing the same restrictions on you as your daughter. But, I won't be as strict with you as I was with her. I think we both know she can be rather stubborn."

"Hey! I object!" replied Hermione.

"Yes, my little humming bird has always been a little too stubborn for her own good" replied Emma as she was laughing.

"From all that I have seen, she has gotten it from her brave mother." Replied Narcissa.

Poppy moved to stand beside Emma's abdomen. "Are we ready?" Emma grabbed Narcissa's hand for added support. Despite Poppy's warnings, Hermione come over to sit next to her and grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. Poppy decided to let this slide, and Hermione knew she was lucky. "Now, once I finish the spell, there will be a small flash of light and the color will either be blue or pink." Emma gave a nod of her head and started to pray. Everything happened exactly like Poppy said it would. As soon as she finished, the light flashed blue. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Poppy took Emma's and Hermione's hand in hers and said, "Congratulation. It's a boy."

The Burrow-

Molly Weasley quietly made her way down stairs after checking on her only daughter. She used what happened as a distraction to slip her a small sleeping draught to ensure she didn't stumble upon anything she wasn't suppose too. When Molly reached the bottom landing she found Albus Dumbledore standing in her kitchen. "Where's Ronald?" she asked as she waked towards the kitchen table.
"I sent him out to your quidditch pitch; told him to start practicing for the house team. This way we can conduct our business without being interrupted." Albus walked towards the table and pulled out a chair to sit down. Albus made sure he projected his grandfatherly image and asked, "What do you plan to do about this mess?"

"My plans remain unchanged. Once that Potter brat has ingested the potions, he will call off his betrothal to that Mudblood bitch. That damn contract is just a little obstacle in our path. The Potter fortune will be ours soon enough." Replied Molly. She conjured some tea and added, "What about your plans? Do they still progress as planned?"

Albus took a lemon drop out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth before saying, "This is all but a small glitch. I tried to enact my plans too early. No matter, all will work out in the end. Now, we need to discuss how we will take out the filthy little mud blood. I was thinking we have someone try to kidnap her and possible her mother. If we cannot get to the girl, then we will use her mother. She was lucky the first time by not being in the house when I destroyed it. She won't be lucky the second time."

Edited 7/4/17