Hogwarts, Headmasters Office - January 4, 2004
Albus was sitting in his office with Lily. Things just weren't going his way and he needed to get his people back in line.
"How has your job of getting close to Severus been going?" Albus asked in a kind voice. Really, he knew that she was failing completely.
"It hasn't been going well at all Albus. I don't know what is wrong with him. He doesn't even acknowledge me when we walk past each other in the halls." Lily all but whined.
"You must get close to him my dear." Albus admonished calmly. "You need to get to Sebastian through Severus. The only way to do so, is to get close to Severus first."
"I know, I'm sorry headmaster." Lily hung her head slightly for a moment before she sat back up like everything was just fine. "I really don't see why we need Severus, we could just get rid of him and then I could go directly for Sebastian."
"Because, without Severus, we have no way to get close to Sebastian. Severus is the only connection you will have with him." Albus forced his eyes not to roll. The woman still behaved like a teenager.
"We can just give him love potions like I did to Sev and James when we were teenagers."
"Because Sebastian and Severus are both Lords, and have their lordship rings. The only reason we were able to use those potions was because they were both young and vulnerable. The rings, plus Severus now being a potions master, make things a lot harder for us. They are now protected." Albus explained, again. He had been telling Lily the same thing for the past few years.
"Albus!" Minerva came rushing into the office.
"Minerva, what has happened now?" Albus sighed. Why was everything so hard?
"Lord Cuffe just came to see me since he couldn't get ahold of you." Minerva said.
Albus was even more confused now. Barnabas Cuffe was an old ally of his, not friend, but close enough that Albus was able to control the man. He was the current editor-in-chief of The Daily Prophet. "What did Barnabas want so badly that he couldn't wait for me to get back to him?"
"He's furious. The Quibbler managed to get an interview with the new Lord Slytherin." Minerva rushed out.
"What does that have to do with me? I can't control what that man does." Albus was confused.
"You told Barnabas to write about how Sebastian was going to corrupt Harry with Lord Slytherin's help." Minerva told him.
"Well, of course he is. Lord Slytherin is just another dark, evil, snake." Lily huffed.
"That's just it, he isn't. The new Lord Slytherin-Le Fay, is Harry." Minerva almost shouted.
"WHAT?" Albus demanded, all pretence of kind old man gone.
Minerva pulled out a copy of The Quibbler that she had gone and gotten from the village. "According to this, Harry got the titles through conquest rights. Everything we have been saying about the danger that Lord Slytherin poses to Harry has just been thrown back at us.
Barnabas is angry because Harry made sure everyone knew that he didn't like, or even read, The Daily Prophet. He says it's a publicity nightmare. They have spent months attacking Harry Potter himself, and now Harry has made what he thinks of The Prophet publicly known.
The Prophet has been getting howlers all morning accusing them of lying about Harry, and attacking him and his family."
Albus flipped open the foolish magazine and found the article. Going through it, his fury rose. That stupid boy was ruining his plans again.
He had been so close to convincing Fudge to remove the brat from the custody of Sebastian and the others, now it was all for naught. Then there was the discussion about the history of the witch hunts and Salazar Slytherin. Albus had arranged with Bathilda to make it out so that the witch hunts weren't portrayed to badly. In reality there had been hundreds of magical children killed every time the church became hysterical about witches.
Albus really didn't need any journals from the founders to be released. He was already struggling to ensure that those damnable portraits didn't tell the students too much.
Then there was Barnabas's anger. He had been using Barnabas and his position for years, but he didn't have full control over the man. Barnabas helped him because it was beneficial to him, Albus knew good and well that if Barnabas got a better offer he would turn on Albus in a heart beat. That stupid brat had just cost him his control of the media.
Hogwarts, Room of Requirement - January 17, 2004
After returning to Hogwarts at the end of the holidays, Hadrian quickly grew annoyed. Now that everyone knew he had three extremely powerful titles, it seemed like they all wanted to know him even more. It had been bad enough when they just thought of him as the-boy-who-lived.
He knew that soon enough the novelty of him would wear off, and he couldn't wait for it. Now, he spent most of his free time hiding in the ROR with only those closest to him.
"How are your dads doing?" Hadrian looked to the Weasley-Prewett brothers. All three of the boys had joined him in the ROR to use the books there to help study for their end of year exams. Even Fred and George were studying.
"They're great." Percy smiled as he thought of how happy his dads had been before they returned back to school, not even Ron and Ginny's attitudes when they returned could dampen their moods.
"They said that they would be starting to work on the nursery after we left." Fred said.
Arthur, Fabian, and Gideon had moved into the room that had originally been designed for Fabian. They had at first been thinking of turning Gideon's room into a spare room, but now they had decided to make it a nursery and play room for the new babies.
"Good. I wonder what it is with the magical world and twins?" Hadrian had a quizzical look. He was surprised at just how many sets of twins he now knew.
"It's the magic." Percy said in a matter of fact voice. "Twins are over five times as common in the magical world then they are in the muggle one. Magic allows for multiple births better.
In the magical world conception doesn't happen without the aid of magic. It's why there was so many fertility issues in the past when the rituals were banned. Magic wants our population to grow, and now that magic is strengthening again twins are going to be even more common until our power and population balance out. What?"
Percy looked up from the notes he had been going over to see all the others looking at him.
"Nothing Perce." George smiled at his brother. Percy really did know the weirdest things sometimes, but they loved him just the way he was, oddness and all.
Hogwarts - February 7, 2004
Hadrian and his friends were out on the grounds. Ever since the school had been forced to start to offer physical education, the students had convinced the phys-ed professor to start offering weekend sports clubs.
Professor Ulysses, the phys-ed professor, had lain down enchantments and heating runes in one of the back fields so that there would be an area for the students to play. During the fall he supervised cricket matches, and in the spring they switched over to football.
The students made up their own teams and set up their own tournaments every year. Despite what most thought about the students from the different houses inability to be around each other for any length of time without arguing, the students got along just fine. Sure, there was some rivalry between the different teams, but it was all in good fun. It was most likely because each team was made up of a mix of all different houses.
Hadrian was sitting with Fred, Luna, Neville, Theo, Blaise, and Tracy Davis. They were all watching George, Draco, Nox, and Daphne as they played.
"Nargles are coming." Luna sighed, her usually dreamy voice slightly flat.
Hadrian and those close to him all sighed.
"What does that mean?" Tracy asked in confusion.
Before anyone could answer her, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all pushed their way over to where the friends were sitting.
"What are you doing Harry?" Ginny asked, once again fluttering her eyelashes in what she thought was a flirty fashion.
"I am watching my friends play, Ethel." Hadrian sighed.
"My name is Ginny." Ginny said like she often had, she really did wonder what was wrong with Harry sometimes.
"And his name is Hadrian, what's your point?" Fred said in a bland voice, trying to give the girl a hint, again. Ginny just rolled her eyes and glared slightly at her older brother.
"We came over to talk about your resorting. We just thought we would let you know that we are going to help you to adjust to life in Gryffindor." Hermione said happily.
While their plan had originally been to turn his own house against him for being connected to Lord Slytherin, it hadn't been working out. The Quibbler had been printing sections of the founders journals every week. Some of the students had even started to listen to what the portraits of the founders had been saying for years. The rivalry between the houses was a new thing.
Many of the students thought it was awesome that Harry was the Slytherin lord. Whenever they brought up the darkness of the house everyone just said that they trusted Harry to do the right thing.
It was only those that followed the headmaster and had been trying to gain control of Harry, and the darker purebloods that had any problems with Harry having the lordship.
"I'm not going to Gryffindor. I have already told the headmaster, repeatedly, that I don't want to be resorted. I am perfectly happy in Ravenclaw. I have absolutely no intention of changing." Hadrian said in a voice that clearly showed he thought they were being stupid.
"But you belong in Gryffindor." Ron said stupidly.
"If I belonged in Gryffindor, then I would have been sorted to Gryffindor. But, obviously, I was sorted to Ravenclaw, so that is where I belong." Hadrian said.
"It was just a mistake. Everyone knows that you are meant to be in Gryffindor. It's where your parents were. Surely you want to be in the same house as them. Don't you want to honour them?" Hermione said in a bossy voice.
Everyone just gave her a stunned look for a moment.
"I don't have to be in the same house as my parents to honour them. I am not them, and I'm not going to try to be. I can honour my parents without being exactly like them. Any parent that decides how much they like their child based off what house they're in, is a terrible parent.
Besides, I like having a roommate." Hadrian said.
"You will be my roommate when you transfer to Gryffindor." Ron said, ignoring the rest of what had just been said.
"No, I won't. I would be in a room on my own." Hadrian argued, hiding a smile. He knew that this was going to infuriate the Gryffindor idiots.
"No you wouldn't." Hermione argued back. "You will be in the same dorm room as the rest of the boys in our year. Everyone shares a dorm room. It says so in 'Hogwarts: A History'."
"That isn't true." Fred said to the girl.
"Yes it is." Ginny argued back.
"No, it isn't. Well younger years do share a dorm room, upper years in the other houses don't. In fifth and sixth year, the students in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin are all separated into rooms of two, seventh years get their own rooms. It's so it's easier for us to study for our exams without so many distractions." Fred explained.
"That isn't fair. Why don't they do that for the Gryffindors? Why are we being forced to share rooms." Ron huffed.
"Ask McGonagall." Fred said. "The policy of separating the upper years was brought in when Charlie was in his last year. McGonagall refused to make the changes in Gryffindor. Don't you remember him complaining about it? He was so annoyed that she wouldn't let them have their on rooms. As head of Gryffindor, only she can make the change, and since she refuses, you're stuck."
"But if Gryffindors always share a dorm room, then Harry would be in with Ron." Ginny said in confusion. All she really knew was that she was going to make Mcgonagall give her her own room. Ginny hated most of the girls in her year.
"No, I wouldn't. Right now, I share a room with Theo, the rest of the boys are in the room across the hall. If I switched houses, then we would both be alone, and I wouldn't want that, even if I did want to be a Gryffindor, which I don't." Hadrian said. He knew this was going to lead to another argument.
"That isn't right." Hermione said in confusion. "We're only third years. Like he just said, you can't start getting double rooms until your in fifth year. Why would you and Theo get your own room while the rest are forced to share? It isn't right."
"We have our own room because both Theo and I have taken up lordships." Hadrian said calmly.
"So, that doesn't make you any better. You are still a student here. Really Harry, you shouldn't be using your fame to make others give you special treatment. It's wrong. You need to learn that you are just like everyone else, and that you don't deserve to be treated differently." Hermione said in a commanding voice.
Blaise just rolled his eyes. "He didn't say he was better, Granger. He said that they had taken up their lordships, so they have separate rooms. I've taken up my families title too, so, I have my own room.
It isn't because of special treatment, it is because of school rules and the law. Any student that has taken up a title is required to have a separate room"
"But that isn't fair." Ginny whined. She wanted her own room. This is exactly why she had wanted to be the Prewett heiress. She could force her uncles to step down and give her the title and then she would have a room just for her.
"It's the law. We have to use proxies on the Wizengamot until we are 16, but until then we are still required to do paper work and go over different proposals. There is a lot of classified information in the paperwork, so we cant just share our rooms with anyone. The only time a lord or lady at Hogwarts is allowed to share their room is in cases like Hadrian and Theo. When there are two students in the same year, and in the same house that have titles. Other than that, the rest of us are alone." Blaise told the others.
"But it isn't fair." Ginny whined again.
Blaise rolled his eyes again. "It's the law. It's meant to protect government documents, not give whiny children whatever they want."
"Don't you speak to my sister like that you filthy snake." Ron snarled, puffing up his chest like he could intimidate the other boy, before turning back to the others. "Once your in Gryffindor then I can just move in with you, then the two of us can spend more time together without having to deal with the other guys."
"What part of 'I'm not being resorted' don't you get?" Hadrian sighed. "And, that wouldn't happen. Like Blaise said, it is about protecting government documents. It wouldn't work if anyone could just go in and out of our rooms.
The rooms we have are sealed. Only the seventh year prefects and our head of house can enter our rooms. And that is only in the event of an emergency. Other than that, only those with a title can enter our rooms."
"It isn't right." Hermione said. "The government shouldn't be keeping secrets from the population. They are meant to represent the people. This is why we should be using the muggle system of government."
Neville just started to laugh. "Are you joking? Muggle governments have tons of secrets. Have you ever heard of MI6? A covert intelligence service that has been operating since the beginning of the 20th century, and was only formally acknowledged a decade ago. Even now they operate in near complete secrecy. Don't pretend like everything is better in the muggle world."
"What would you know about the muggle world. You're just a pureblood." Ron snapped.
"So are you. Just because you don't seem to know anything about the muggle world, doesn't mean the rest of us don't. My family often goes into the muggle world, so it was necessary for me to learn about it. I found muggle history to be interesting so I kept learning about it." Neville told him.
"Enough you three." Percy said, walking up behind them. He had seen them annoying the others and had gotten close enough to hear, but not so close as to be noticed. "Hadrian isn't switching houses. That is it. If you can't sit down and watch the game without causing problems, then you will have to leave."
Hermione went back to the school to work on her homework while Ron, and Ginny both flopped down on to the bench silently. Percy sat in between the two groups just to ensure that they didn't cause any problems.
Headmasters Office
Just after dinner Hermione, Ron, and Ginny went up to meet with the headmaster. They reported about Harrys refusal to be resorted, but they really didn't have anything else to add.
They all did talk about the rooming issue, but the headmaster just brushed them off. He had more important things to worry about. Albus really didn't care about their stupid little problems.
After the students left, Minerva and Lily joined him up in his office. They spent over an hour trying to think of ways to force the boy to switch houses.
The Burrow - March 13, 2004
Arthur was nervous as everyone sat down to dinner the first day after the kids arrived home for spring break. He was terrified about how Ron and Ginny were going to react.
"We have an announcement to make." Arthur waited until everyone was looking at him. "According to my healer, as of September 9th, our family will be welcoming a new set of twins."
Percy, Fred and George all cheered and acted as if this was the first time they were hearing the news. They didn't want Ron or Ginny to know that they had known about the pregnancy for months.
"What do you mean?" Ron was confused. He didn't understand what his dad was talking about. Where would these twins come from?
"Ron, dad's pregnant." Percy explained.
"But he's a boy?" Ginny said in confusion.
The older boys and their dads all exchanged looks.
"Ron, Ginny, it is possible for men to get pregnant. And, I am." Arthur explained to his children.
It took Ginny only a few moments for her mind to catch up to what was going on, she screamed her response. "NO!"
"Ginny, there is no need to yell." Fabian admonished.
"Shut up, you're not my father, you're nothing to me! You've ruined everything!" Ginny screamed at Fabian and Gideon.
"Ginny, that is enough. If you have a problem with this, then you need to calm down and talk to us about it." Arthur tried, his voice shaking slightly. His emotions were already unstable because of the pregnancy.
"NO! I won't let this happen, I won't, I won't, I won't…" Ginny carried on. It was clear the girl was completely irrational.
Bill got up, grabbed his sister by the arm and escorted her out of the room. He took her up to her room so to let her calm down somewhere she felt comfortable. The entire time, Ginny just kept refusing to accept her fathers pregnancy.
"I don't get it." Ron was still confused. "You can't have any more kids."
"Why not, Ron?" Arthur was glad that at least Ron was staying relatively calm and was willing to talk about it.
"Because you can't. You're to old and you're a boy." Ron said.
"Ron, because magic extends our life span, witches and wizards can get pregnant until they are in their late 70's. And, as we have already covered, men can indeed get pregnant. You will learn more about that when you have your sex education class during your fifth year." Arthur told his youngest son.
"We don't have the money or the room for another kid. You couldn't even afford to get me an owl." Ron tried.
"Ron, we have more then enough money. I didn't buy you an owl because I told you you needed to earn the money yourself. It was about teaching you personal responsibility." Arthur explained.
"That's stupid." Ron sneered at that. "We don't have room for another set of twins." Ron really didn't want any more kids in the house.
"There is plenty of room, Ron. We have already started to change the room Gideon had been using into a nursery for the babies." Arthur told him.
Ron huffed. He was completely out of excuses. "Fine, I don't want any new kids in this house."
"I understand that your surprised Ron, but it isn't up to you. I'm already pregnant. In September, you will have two new siblings. I just hope that you will accept them, and love them, just as all your older brothers did for you." Arthur said, glancing at his other boys.
"And if I refuse?" Ron challenged.
"Then we will treat you," Fred started in a cold voice.
"Exactly how you treat them." George finished. Neither twin was going to allow Ron or Ginny to be mean to, or hurt, their new siblings.
Ron just huffed and sat back in his chair. He was going to have to talk to his mum about this and get her thoughts.
After everything had been settled with Ron, Arthur went up to Ginny's room on his own. He knew that Fabian and Gideon would try to help, but Ginny clearly hadn't accepted them yet.
Bill was resting against the wall just outside the girls room.
"How is she?" Arthur sighed.
"I gave her a glass of juice that I had slipped a small amount of a calming draught from work into. She went quiet about 5 minutes ago. Dad… I'm worried about her. There just seems to be something wrong with her." Bill told his father.
"I know. I've already started looking at different mind healers that I can have her and Ron see over the summer. Their denial of reality, and their inability to accept or acknowledge anyone else's feelings isn't right. " Arthur knew Bill was right to worry. "I'm going to speak to her. You can head back downstairs."
"I'm going to wait out here. I know that she's still just a kid, but with the way she's acting, I just don't trust her not to do something to you or the babies." Worry was clear in Bill's eyes.
Arthur just nodded to his eldest son and clapped him on the shoulder before entering Ginny's room.
"Ginny, how are you doing sweetheart?"
Ginny just glared at her father.
"Ginny, I know that there have been a lot of changes over the past few months. I understand that you are overwhelmed and upset. But the rest of us can't just stop living our lives because you are upset."
"You don't know anything. I don't want any more kids in this house, I won't let there be any more kids in this house."
"Well I'm sorry you feel that way, but it isn't going to change anything. As i have already explained to Ron, I'm pregnant, and nothing is going to change that. I can just hope that by the time your new siblings are born you have grown up enough to accept and love them like all of your older brothers did for you." Arthur told his daughter in a kind yet hard voice, he wasn't going to allow Ginny to continue on the way she had been.
"I hate you!" Ginny screamed as she threw herself back on her bed and put her pillow over her head.
"I love you Ginny. You can come and talk with the rest of us when your ready to behave properly."
Arthur left the room, softly closing the door behind him. Giving Bill a small smile, they both went back downstairs to spend the evening with the others.
St. Mungo's - March 15, 2004
Regulus Black felt like the luckiest man in the world. He had survived what would have killed most. His family had found him and gathered around him while he healed. The only woman he ever loved came back from the dead, much like he himself had. And, she still loved him.
Now, Regulus sat next to his wife in the hospital looking down at his perfect baby boy. Rigel Phoenix Black had been born with the first light of the dawn after 18 hours of labour.
Although small, he was perfectly healthy. And, like his older twin cousins, his hair colour was already shifting calmly as he slept in his mothers arms.
Regulus had already sent letters to the rest of his family to announce the arrival of his son. Everyone was going to be getting together for a baby shower in a few days at Grimmauld Place.
As much as the rest of the family wanted to meet baby Rigel immediately, they understood that Regulus and Marlene would need a little while to grow comfortable with being parents before they were over run with family. Even with how close their family was, they all understood just how aggravating it was to bring a new baby home just to have others try to involve themselves and invade their home.
The Burrow - March 19, 2004
The next few days after Ron and Ginny were told about the pregnancy were difficult. Ginny spent any time she was around anyone else glaring. Ron kept trying to give reasons why Arthur shouldn't have any children.
By the time Ron and Ginny were set to go to their mothers, everyone was ready for them to go.
"I don't get why you are so supportive of this stupidness." Ron argued for what must have been the 1000th time that week.
"Because we support our family." Charlie sighed.
"Ron. Ginny. We know that you are struggling with this. We have all been through this. It's the I'm not the baby syndrome. You Ginny, as the youngest and only girl, and you Ron, as the youngest boy, you both have always been coddled, but now, you won't be. But just because you won't be the babies anymore doesn't mean that we won't love you anymore, it really doesn't change anything.
What you need to remember is that all of us, at one time or other, were the baby in the family. But that changed for all of us too. If any of us had behaved like the two of you have been, then neither of you would be here." Bill told them. He clearly remembered being less than impressed when he was first told of his new oncoming siblings for the first few times. He had really only immediately accepted and been happy about his expanding family for Ron and Ginny, when he was old enough and used to it.
Ron and Ginny didn't say anything and just flooed to their mothers a few minutes later.
Diggle Manor
"Babies." Molly opened her arms as her babies came through the floo and went directly into her arms. Ron was clearly tens and Ginny started sobbing as soon as she was in her mothers arms. "What is wrong my babies? What has happened?"
"It's dad." Ron growled. "He's being an idiot."
"Daddy's pregnant." Ginny sobbed to her mother. "He's forcing us to pretend that we're happy he's bringing another set of twins into our home."
Molly froze. Arthur was pregnant. Her Arthur was pregnant. Another set of twins. Her Arthur was having another set of twins. Those should be her twins. Her brothers were stealing more of her children.
"Mum… mummy…" Ginny tried to get her mums attention. This wasn't about her mum, this was about Ginny. Her mum should be paying attention to her.
"Yes Ginny dear?" Molly pulled herself out of her spiral to look at her daughter.
"Fix it. I don't want any more brothers. I don't want you and daddy to be separated. I don't want those men anywhere near daddy."
"I know sweetie, I know." Molly reassured. "Headmaster Dumbledore and I are working on making things better. Ronnie, are you ok?"
"I don't like it." Ron stated bluntly. "I want you home, and I want Fabian and Gideon gone. And, I want the others to stop being so mean, they keep saying that we need to let dad be happy. It's annoying."
Molly just nodded her agreement with her baby boy. She really had thought she had taught those boys that it wasn't ok to pick on her baby boy, but she was going to have to remind them.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - May 1, 2004
Sirius walked into the school board meeting room with a sigh. He was glad that he was going to get to see his best friend, but this was going to be annoying.
Shortly after the students returned from spring break the two youngest Weasley's and Hermione Granger started to complain to the teachers that the other students were calling them by the wrong names. Ever since Fred and George had called them by the names 'Eunice', 'Ethel', and 'Elmer', over half of the students had started using those names.
McGonagall and those that followed Dumbledore had started to take points and give detentions to any student they heard doing it. The problem was that the other teachers started doing the same to the annoying trio. While the other students had just accepted the detentions or point loss, Granger and the Weasleys didn't. This meeting was the result of the three filing a complaint about unfair treatment.
The complaint had been filed against so many members of staff, that only a select few were called to the meeting, Sirius amongst them. Sirius was going to go out of his way to make sure that those three were forced to serve their punishment, and get them to stop using the wrong name for Hadrian while he was at it. He knew just how much it annoyed and upset his godson.
"Alright, our next complaint was filed by Ginny Weasley on behalf of Hermione Granger, her brother, Ron Weasley, and herself, against, well, against a large amount of the staff. Sirius Black, Horace Slughorn, and Pomona Sprout have been selected to stand for the rest of the staff. Minerva McGonagall, Ted Tonks, and the Headmaster have chosen to come and speak in the defence of Hermione, Ron, and Ginny." Alice said. "Ms. Weasley, as you filed the complaint, what seems to be your issue?"
Ginny glanced towards Hermione. She had originally wanted Hermione to be the one to file the complaint, but the other girl was losing her mind rather quickly. Hermione had been driving herself crazy trying to do all her work and when Ginny had first gone to her to complain about the detention Hermione had screamed at her.
Hermione had only agreed to assist her with filing the complaint because she was struggling to finish her homework even more with all the detentions they were getting, and they were barely serving a quarter of them. Ginny had hoped that Hermione would speak for them once they were in the meeting, but now she was the one being asked.
"Well… Over the past few months, ever since we've gotten back from spring break, me, Hermione, and Ron have all been getting detention and having points taken for no reason. We've all talked to Professor McGonagall about it, and she has tried to help, but the other teachers just keep doing it. It isn't fair." Ginny's voice took on a whiny tone towards the end.
Alice looked to the three teachers that were representing the other members of staff, the young girl really hadn't explained anything. "If one of the three of you could explain the situation and why you have responded the way you have, it would be much appreciated."
Sirius stepped forward before any of the others could, he wanted to be the one to explain. "Allow me, Lady Longbottom-Hufflepuff.
After the return of the students after spring break, the headmaster and deputy headmistress implemented a new rule. The students must call each other by their proper name, or a chosen short form of their name. Any student caught calling another student by the wrong name is to lose points the first time, and receive detention and lose points if the behaviour persists.
A large number of students have all been receiving detention and point loss due to this new rule. All of them have accepted their punishment with only a minimum amount of grumbling. Ms. and Mr. Weasley, along with Ms. Granger, have all been getting in trouble for the same thing, but the three of them keep going to the deputy headmistress to have their punishments retracted or deferred.
In spite of repeatedly, and knowingly, breaking the rules, the deputy headmistress, as their head of house, has lessened, if not completely removed, 17 evening detentions and returned 145 points. Yet, they still seem to feel like they are the victims."
"That's not true. We haven't called anyone by the wrong name, their just picking on us because… Because they are mean." Ginny whined, she couldn't think of any real reason the other teachers were targeting them, but she knew they were.
"Since when is calling people by the wrong name an issue?" Amos Diggory asked in confusion.
"I think I can provide some context to that." Roger Davis, the sixth year Ravenclaw prefect that had been chosen to represent his house, spoke up. When everyone looked to him, and Alice gave him the go ahead, Roger started to explain.
"Over the past few years, really, ever since they started here, Mr. and Ms. Weasley, along with Ms. Granger, have continually called one of the students by the wrong name. Despite him repeatedly requesting they stop and start calling him by the correct name. They just ignore his request.
At the beginning of this year, a few students started referring to them as, Eunice for Ms. Granger, Ethel for Ms. Weasley, and Elmer for Mr. Weasley. A large number of the students have decided that they would call the three of them by the correct name when they started to do the same for the other students."
"We haven't been using the wrong names for anyone." Ron grumbled.
"Oh yes you have young man. Repeatedly." Slughorn added when he heard Rons grumble.
"Now now Horace, this really is just a slight misunderstanding." Albus twinkled.
"You say that now, Headmaster, but it was previously important enough for you to implement a new rule." Sophia Zabini said in a condescending tone.
"It is completely unacceptable for the other students to bully Hermione, Ron, and Ginny the way they have been. These three have done nothing wrong." Minerva huffed. She was so disappointed in her co-workers that they were being so unfair to her students.
"Looking over the reports, much of the detentions and point loss has come from you, Professor Slughorn. You might be the best person to explain a little more?" Alice said as she looked over to the man.
"Certainly." Horace sat up higher in his chair. "While young Mr. Davis avoided giving any names, the primary victim of this, disrespect, is young Hadrian Potter-Black.
They continuously refer to him as 'Harry Potter' despite his near constant correction of his name. Whit the headmasters new rule, they are punished for it every time it occurs. As they call him that pretty much every class, they get a lot of detention from me.
With Ms. Weasley, along with referring to Mr. Potter-Black by the incorrect name, she also has been bullying Ms. Luna Lovegood by referring to her as 'Loony Lovegood'. I have even caught her trying to convince her fellow classmates to refer to her in the same way."
"Come now Horace, they are just children. Harry is fine." Albus tried to placate the man. He really didn't understand why Horace was being so difficult on this issue, Sirius he understood, but not Horace.
"Yes, they are children, but that is no excuse." Slughorn snapped back. "As for Hadrian, I have spoken with him about the issue. He finds it extremely offensive that not only are there students at this school that will not show him the respect of calling him by his name, but also certain staff members.
Hadrian was named in honour of his great uncle. Hadrian Fleamont Potter was a great man, and a very dear friend of mine. He was a hero, and our Hadrian is proud to share his name. I will not stand by and watch anyone disrespect his memory."
Albus almost groaned. He had completely forgotten that Horace had attended Hogwarts with the first Hadrian Potter, and that they had been the closest of friends until the day Gellert had killed him. Horace was not going to let this go.
"I don't really understand why we are all here." Rowan Finnigan announced. Looking to each of the three students she simply asked them if they called Hadrian, 'Harry'. Each confirmed that they did, making excuses for it, but they did confirm it. "Well then… That is all we needed to know.
The new rule that the headmaster created says that a student will be punished for not calling a student by the proper name, each has now confirmed that they have. So, they will be punished. It is as simple as that. I do believe a muggle saying fits this situation. 'You do the crime, you do the time'."
"They haven't done anything wrong." Minerva really didn't like these people, she knew she needed to protect her students from them. She couldn't believe that Rowan was betraying her own former house this way. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were the perfect representation of what her house should be.
"Yes, they did. And, they just admitted it. By the headmasters own rule, a student must call another student by the correct name. They haven't been doing so, so they get in trouble." Helen Davis sighed. "There really isn't anything else to say. Hadrian Potter-Black, is Hadrian Potter-Black. Luna Lovegood, is Luna Lovegood. Calling them by any other names will result in point loss and detention, it's that simple."
"I'm sure they meant no harm…" Albus started.
"It doesn't matter, headmaster." Rowan spoke up again. Her own son, Seamus, had told her all about how rude those three were, she wasn't going to let them continue to embarrass her old house. "You created the rule, so you clearly believed it to be an important enough issue when these three were the victim of it, so now all the students get the same protection.
No one is above the rules. No matter who they are. These three broke the rules, so they received the same punishment as the others. The only difference is that they felt they should be above the rules when all the others simply accepted the punishment assigned. Bullying is bullying. And, bullies are punished, as they should be. Give us a moment while we decide on how to deal with this situation."
The privacy shield went up.
"My babies aren't bullies." Molly all but screamed at the other woman. Albus had told her that she needed to stay quiet, but she just couldn't hold back anymore. No one insulted her babies. With the shield up now, Albus never needed to know that she defended her babies against these fools.
"Yes, they are." Rowan snapped back. "They have just admitted it. If it is bullying when others do it to them, then it is bullying when they do it to others. You might not like it, you might prefer to ignore it, but they are behaving like bullies."
Rowan and Molly ended up arguing for close to ten minutes before Alice broke it up. She let it carry on for as long as she did because it just served to continue to destroy what little bit of a good reputation Molly did have.
"Rowan, Molly, I think that is enough. Whether you like it or not Molly, the children have all admitted to breaking the rules. Now, we need to vote on what we will be doing going forward."
A quick vote was held. It really wasn't close. Even with James and Pandora Lovegood abstaining due to a conflict of interest, Molly refused to even consider doing the same, the vote wasn't even close. Bringing the shield down, Alice once again spoke for the group.
"We have decided that there is no evidence of unfair treatment against the three of you. The only evidence of unfair treatment is that Professor McGonagall has been removing your detentions and returning the points when it is clear you had earned the punishment. As such, you will all have to serve the detentions that were removed now, and the points will be removed."
"But that isn't right. We didn't do anything wrong." Hermione just couldn't deal with this. All this on top of all the school work she had been doing was just too much. She didn't have time for detention, even with a time turner. "You just hate me because I'm muggleborn. You're jealous of how much better than your own kids I am.
Harry needs to be Harry. Hadrian is a stupid name. I refuse to call him by that stupid name. He needs to be in Gryffindor. His parents would be so ashamed to have a brat like him for a son."
Hermione continued to rant for a few more minutes. Sirius had seen this breakdown coming for weeks and had brought a calming draught with him. He quickly pulled it out and spelled it directly into the girls stomach. It took a few more minutes of ranting before Hermione started to relax and go quiet. She was still glaring and occasionally twitching, but she stopped her pacing and sat down.
"What was that about?" Helen Davis asked. She was suddenly worrying about the girls mental health.
"Over confidence." Sirius said. "I've been waiting for this breakdown for weeks. I knew that if this didn't go her way she would finally melt down, so I made sure that I brought a calming draught so that she wouldn't hurt herself or others."
"What does that have to do with over confidence?" Amos Diggory asked. He had found the girls rant to be highly offensive, but like Helen, he thought she might be mentally ill.
"Ms. Granger has decided to take on too much work. Rather than being responsible and only selecting a few courses, she has been trying to do too much and isn't getting the grades she wants." Sirius explained.
"Now Sirius, Hermione is just a little overanxious because of this hearing. She knows that she doesn't deserve to be punished and it is just upsetting her. The governors are now forcing her to serve weeks of detention that she doesn't deserve. She's the brightest witch of her age, a little eccentricity is to be expected." Albus twinkled.
"As has already been covered, she, and the others, have earned the detentions that they will be serving." Narcissa spoke up. "And that isn't eccentricity, that is a mental breakdown. If she is incapable of keeping up with the work, then she shouldn't be taking so many courses."
"Like Hermione said, you just don't like her because she's muggleborn. You're nothing but a filthy death eater. You'd kill us all if you thought you could get away with it." Ron all but shouted.
Molly nodded along, she completely agreed with her son, she still didn't understand why anyone thought it would be a good idea to allow someone like Narcissa Malfoy to become a school governor. She should be in Azkaban, like her sister, not near children.
Narcissa just gave the boy a cold look. "And that is why you get detention Mr. Weasley."
"I think this meeting is ready to end." James said, he had a headache from all the yelling that had been done by Molly, her kids, and Granger. "This complaint has been settled.
Now, Minerva, we will be discussing your behaviour at the meeting in June. Your behaviour over the past few years is troubling and we will be making a decision on what to do over the next few months."
Minerva gave the man an icy look. She hadn't done anything wrong. There was nothing they could do to her. When the school governors had started messing with the hiring, Albus had quickly drawn up a contract stating that she couldn't be fired without the headmasters approval for the next 20 years, and she knew Albus would never agree to fire her.
"I agree with Sebastian." Alice said. "It is time to end this meeting.
Professor Slughorn, as it is clear Professor McGonagall can not properly handle the punishment for these three, would you be so kind as to arrange their detentions as you see fit?"
Horace happily agreed. He wasn't going to allow these three to get away with disrespecting his dead friend. He knew he couldn't be too harsh on the kids, but he wasn't going to just let them get away with it, he was a Slytherin after all.
The Lion's Den - May 15, 2004
It was late in the afternoon that Hermione, Ron and Ginny arrived at the newest restaurant in Hogsmeade. Molly had arranged with Albus and Minerva for Ginny to be able to get out of school for the day. But, the kids had been kept at the school until well after lunch because Slughorn was forcing her poor babies to serve those detentions that they didn't deserve.
Molly was equal parts happy and furious. She was thrilled that her babies, and Hermione, were there for the opening of the restaurant. But, she was furious that the three of them were late because of the mistreatment by the teachers and the other school governors.
It had taken a few months longer than they had planned for, mostly due to Molly's continuous changes to the designs, but the restaurant and pub were finally open. There was a small area, that would probably only seat a dozen people, off to the side of the building that served as the pub part of the building. The pub area was completely separated from the restaurant, Deadalus had had to argue non-stop for weeks to even have the pup area at all. The only reason Molly had allowed for it was because they needed to have a pub area if they wanted to receive the insurance payout.
The main area of the restaurant could only be described as kitsch. Molly had personally designed and decorated the room. It was all in her overbearing style. For some reason, even though they had space expansion charms, the room was overly cramped and cluttered. Molly had felt that the charms were just to much work to cast and maintain, so she had refused to use more than the minimum amount needed to have everything fit.
Albus had arranged for a few people as staff, but other than that, Molly had felt that she had had to do everything. In truth, Molly wasn't so sure about Albus's choice of staff, none of them really met the standards she planned on setting for her restaurant. Albus might own the building, but she had already claimed it as her own.
Now, Molly was smiling happily at the best table in the place as she added more food to her babies plates. She knew that there was plenty of food at the school, but it was no where near the standard her babies deserved. Ron was stuffing his face, as usual. Ginny, while eating, preened as she was the only second year that had been able to go to Hogsmeade. While Hermione was pecking at her food as she occasionally twitched. She had so much work to do, but both Ron and Ginny had whined until she agreed to go with them, in truth, Ginny had stolen many of her books and refused to give them back until Hermione said she would go with them.
"Hermione dear, you need to eat something." Molly fussed as she added more food to the girls plate.
"Yes Mrs. Wea… Diggle." Hermione said as she took a few quick bites before she went back to obsessing about all the work back at school. This was already her second relive of the afternoon, and she thought she might need to turn back her turner at least once more before she went to bed, if not more.
"Ronnie, Ginny, have you finished your homework?" Molly gave the children an expectant look.
"How can we when we are always being forced to do detention. There just isn't enough time for us to do all that stupid work, do those detentions, and everything else we need to do." Ginny whined. She was sure her mother could just make those stupid teachers stop giving them detention, or, maybe make them give them less homework.
After spending so long dreaming of going to Hogwarts, Ginny didn't really like it. There was just so much work involved. Her eldest brothers had all just talked about hanging out with friends and the different parties they went to, but Ginny now thought that they had just been lying to make themselves look good, because school was nothing like they described. Almost all of the other students were annoying, and she hadn't been invited to a single party, so there obviously weren't any real parties.
"Have you heard anything from your father?" Molly asked in a nonchalant voice. She wanted to know everything shoe could about the pregnancy and new babies, after all, she was going to be their mother when she and Arthur got back together.
"He keeps sending letters every week." Ron grumbled.
"It's just the usual stupid stuff, I wrote back the first time and told him I won't write back until he stops being stupid and agrees to get rid of the babies." Ginny said in a smug tone. She had already decided that if her father decided to have these two new brats she was going to make him put them up for adoption. She was the baby of the family, not them.
The annoying trio spent the rest of the afternoon with Molly. Molly took her babies to the different stores to buy them anything they needed. Arthur was still being mean and refusing to give them enough money to make sure they had what they needed from Hogsmeade.
Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Dorms
After spending the afternoon of celebrating his sisters and Lyra's belated birthdays in Hogsmeade with his friends, Hadrian returned to his room. Looking in, he saw Nem sitting on her bed on the windowsill, staring out at the grounds.
At four years old, Nem was still fairly small. She was about the size of an average house cat. As Charlie had said, Nems second tail had started to grow when she turned three and was now fully formed. Around the same time as her second tail finished growing the tips of her ears and tails changed colours, they were now gilded gold. This marked Nem as a elemental kitsune with a lightning inclination.
The bond she and Hadrian had now extended much further, but they still usually stayed together. Today however, Nem had stayed up in the dorms while Hadrian had gone into town. It hadn't been the most comfortable way to spend the day, but she had refused to go, and when Hadrian said he would stay she got up to leave.
Nem was in full pout mode.
The day before Fred and George had managed their animigus transformation. The first thing they had done was bound off to find Hadrian in the ROR. They had spent almost the entire evening before curled up and snuggling with their little soul mate, much like Nem usually did. Nemesis was seething with jealousy.
She had not liked having to share Hadrian with two other foxes, and was letting everyone know it. She had even nipped at Fred and George's tails. Which had just gotten her into trouble.
Now she refused to even look at Hadrian.
"Nem…" Hadrian whispered as he came into the room. He knew how dangerous it could be to startle a lightning kitsune. "I'm back."
Nem turned her head further away from where she knew he was.
Hadrian slowly made his way over to where his familiar was laying. "I brought you presents. Come on, you know you want to see what I got you."
Nem glanced quickly at the bag her human set down as he sat down on the sill next to her. She quickly looked away, although she could feel his joy that she had looked.
Hadrian pulled out a new, extra soft and fluffy, bed. The one Nem was currently sitting in was the one he had bought her before first year. Next to the bed he set down a container of Nems favourite treats and some new toys.
Despite herself, Nem found herself pleased with the peace offerings.
"Come on Nem, please don't be mad at me. You are just being silly." Hadrian said.
Nem huffed at that and gave Hadrian a glare.
"Well… You are." Hadrian forced himself not to smile as Nem finally gave him her attention. "Fred and George could never replace you, no matter what form they are in, and you know it. I never realized you were so insecure."
Nem huffed as she slowly got up and tested the new bed. It was perfect.
Seeing that Nem was accepting her presents, Hadrian quickly swooped down and cuddled her in his arms before spinning in circles. He received a few minor shocks, nothing to extreme though as Nem had been expecting it but still wanted to keep Hadrian on his toes.
"Oh come on you silly little kitsune. You love me just as much as I love you and you know it." Hadrian grinned as he felt Nem open her side of the bond. He could feel her love and exasperation.
Hadrian gently place Nem back in her new bed where she sat primly after fixing her fur from where Hadrian had messed it up. Hadrian grinned unapologetically before he once again swooped down on her, this time he just pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Hogwarts - May 29, 2004
Hadrian was sitting down in one of the courtyards working on an essay for alchemy when Draco came storming over and flopped down next to him in what must have been the most undignified act ever preformed by a Malfoy. Fred, George, and Neville all smirked, while Luna giggled at him.
"What has upset our little dragon so much?" George asked. Tyche jumped out of Draco's robe pocket and seeking comfort from him as he did so.Tyche had not liked being in Draco's pockets when he had flopped down.
"Granger." Draco snarled.
"What has Eunice done now?" Fred sighed.
He knew that he wouldn't get in trouble because the rule about names had bee retracted. Rather than making Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, start calling Hadrian by the proper name, the headmaster had just gotten rid of the rule so his puppets would stop getting so many detentions. McGonagall had tried to make it so they wouldn't have to serve the detentions they had earned prior to the retraction of the rules, but she was stopped by the other teachers. Just because it was no longer a rule didn't mean they should't have to serve the punishments they had already earned.
"You know that report on hippogriffs that we have to do for COM?" Both Neville and Hadrian nodded to their classmate. "Well, Granger with the help of the other two have taken out every single book that even references hippogriffs.
It's like she thinks her grade will be better in the class if she stops the rest of us from doing the assignment."
"She has every book?" Neville was shocked. There were limits on how many books each student could take out of the library at a time.
"Yup. McGonagall gave them a pass so they could take out more books." Draco sighed. "Now what do we do? We have to get that report done."
"Why don't you all go and get your COM stuff and meet us in the entrance hall in half an hour?" Fred smiled at the others.
"We know how to help you." George added.
Half an hour later, a large group of students met up in the entrance hall. When Hadrian, Draco, and Neville had gone back to their own common rooms to get their things they mentioned what was going on to a few of their classmates. By the time they each had everything packed up word had spread to pretty much every other student in COM in the different houses.
After they all gathered in the entrance hall, Fred and George led a group that consisted of every single third year COM student, other than their brother and Granger, down towards Hagrid's hut. They knew he would be able to help the students.
Hagrid managed the grounds and creatures for the school. Professor Kettleburn had wanted to retire, but the headmaster had convinced him to stay one more year. Kettleburn was one of those that did most of what the headmaster said so Albus hadn't wanted to lose him and risk having to hire another staff member that he couldn't control.
Arriving at the cabin, George walked up and knocked.
Hagrid was sitting in his cabin reexamining his life. Right now, he was trying to decide if he should stay at the school. Although he loved his old school, a part of him felt like it was just holding him back now. He had his diploma and his handlers license, there were many other things he could be doing. The only reason he hadn't left yet was because he didn't want to leave behind the creatures he had spent so much time looking after.
Then he heard the nock on his door.
Opening the door he saw Charlie's younger twin brothers, and a large group of students.
"What can I do fer all ya?"
"Hello Hagrid we have some students that need to learn." Fred smiled at the giant man.
"What ya mean?"
"Don't even." Draco quickly stepped forward and silenced the twins before they could go into one of their long winded, dramatic explanations. "Hello Mr. Hagrid. We are the students of the third year COM class.
We have an assignment due next week on hippogriffs but two students in our class have taken every single book on them out of the library leaving the rest of us with nothing."
"And she hits." Seamus muttered from the middle of the group as he rubbed his arm. He and Dean had figured they could borrow one of the books as Granger had been working on an assignment for a different class, but she had screamed and yelled at them after punching Seamus.
"We were hoping that you would be willing to give us more in-depth information about hippogriffs. If it isn't to much of a problem." Draco said in a slightly formal voice.
"O' course I'll help ya out. And, it's just Hagrid. None of that mister stuff." Hagrid was thrilled that the students had come to him for help.
Hagrid led the students out behind his hut and let the children arrange themselves on the grass before he started. Resting against the back steps, Hagrid began a lecture on hippogriffs that lasted for well over an hour, and kept the students interested and paying attention the entire time.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - June 5, 2004
With the school year drawing to an end, it was time for another governors meeting. There were only a few things that needed to be addressed, so James didn't think that it would take to long.
After the meeting had officially been called to order, and the minutes read, James turned to where Cedric Diggory sat. Cedric had been selected to represent Hufflepuff.
"First order of business is a recommendation by our student members. Young Mr. Diggory, you have been chosen to speak. What is it that the students would like?"
"Thank you Lord Peverell-Gryffindor." Cedric nodded to the man. "This isn't a rule change or anything, it is more a motion about staffing.
Professor Kettleburn has been planning on retiring for years, but he keeps being convinced to stay. This year however, he has sworn that he is going to leave. He announced to the students in his classes that he will not be returning, and all the students think that thats fine. He deserves to retire after being here for so long. His classes are becoming increasingly dangerous as he can not pay the appropriate amount of attention to the students due to his increasing age.
We have been approached by a large number of students requesting that we put forward Hagrid's name as a possible replacement. We feel that Hagrid would be a great teacher. Over the past few months many of the students have started going to him for help with assignments anyways."
When Cedric finished, James smiled. He knew Hagrid would be a great teacher if given the chance. "Thank you Mr. Diggory. The students recommendation will be taken into consideration."
Many of the schools governors privately agreed that Hagrid could be a good teacher. They would just need to make sure that he didn't start showing the students anything to dangerous to quickly. But they were sure he would do fine if he had access to Professor Kettleburns old teaching plans.
"Next order of business, Gryffindor." James said with a resigned look.
"What could you possibly have to say about my house?" McGonagall snapped immediately. She, and a few other teachers had been requested to be present.
"There are a few issues that have come to our attention." Rowen said. "The rooming issues, the lack of study groups, and the clear evidence of bullying are just some of the problems."
"There aren't any issues." Minerva huffed. In her mind, her Gryffindors were just fine.
"Yes, there are." Jaanvi Patil said. Her daughters, being in two different houses gave her insight on the differences between the houses. "Gryffindor consistently averages the lowest in grade point averages. The students of Gryffindor have ranked at the bottom of every year for close to a decade, and that includes OWLs and NEWTs. It is the only house that doesn't have any study or quiet area for students to do their work. They don't even have bookshelves in the common room.
Despite this board ordering the heads of house to arrange for more rooms so older students can have their own rooms, it has not been done. The governors didn't tell you to do that just for fun, they told you to do it, so you would do it. Instead, you chose to ignore them.
And, to me, the worse part is the bully issue. Gryffindor is supposed to be the house for the brave and bold, but all they have been in recent years are bullies. Looking at the detention records, a vast majority of the students that get in trouble for bullying are from your house.
It is clear the students of Gryffindor need to learn what is expected from a functioning member of society. Bullying is not acceptable."
"To that end, the governors have decided to assign a co-head of house." Alice announced. "Sirius Black has agreed to take up the position. As a self confessed reformed bully we feel that he will be able to get through to the students better."
"You can't do that." Minerva was stunned. She didn't need Sirius meddling in her house. He had caused nothing but problems since he himself was a student.
"I must agree with Minerva." Albus twinkled. "Gryffindor is just fine. Sirius's assistance isn't needed."
"This isn't up for debate Albus. It is already done. Starting in September, Sirius will be co-head of Gryffindor." James said in a flat voice, hiding a grin.
"The last issue we must address connects to the previous issue along with previously addressed issues. Minerva, your behaviour in recent years is extremely concerning.
Over the past few months, many of the governors have been discussing the issue and have come to a few conclusions." Alice said as she looked to the already furious Scotts woman.
"You can't do anything to me." Minerva said sternly. Just who did these fools think they were, she had been teaching at this school for decades, and she wouldn't be leaving any time soon. "My contract stipulates that you can't fire me."
"Yes, we are aware of the alterations you and the headmaster made to your contract. As a tenured professor we can't fire you, but that doesn't mean we have no recourse for your actions." Alice continued. "Your contract will be up for negotiation in five years, and we will be reevaluating your position then.
But, until then… You are being kept on probation for the next five years. Your complete disregard for both the students and us is clear in your behaviour.
Also, you are being stripped of your position as deputy headmistress."
"WHAT?" Albus, Minerva, Molly, and Hestia Jones all shouted at the same time.
"Now really my dear, there really is no need for something so ridiculous." Albus started to fiddle with his beard in his agitation." Minerva is an excellent deputy head, and she will be retaining her position."
Hestia Jones had been brought onto the board to replace Emmeline Vance after her nephew had transfered to a school in Japan when his father was assigned to the embassy there. Albus had managed to argue her inclusion just like he had done with Emmeline. No one had really cared as it was just replacing one Dumbledore fanatic with another.
"No, she won't. We have the needed 3/4 of the boards agreement." Sophia Zabini said.
"As I was saying, as of September, you will no longer be the deputy head. Maybe you will be able to spend more time dealing with your students and their issues without all the extra work.
After much consideration, of which Sebastian was not involved, we have decided to offer the position of deputy headmaster to Severus." Alice announced, looking to Severus who, like Sirius, had been invited to the meeting.
"I have already submitted my acceptance of the position. I have also spoken with Aurora, as I feel that I will not be able to continue on as co-head of Slytherin, on top of the deputy head position. She has accepted my leaving but has requested that alchemy Professor, Lucian Zarno, take over my position as co-head of Slytherin." Severus said formally.
"Of course." Narcissa smiled. She figured Lucien would do just fine in the position.
"This all really isn't necessary." Albus butted in.
"Yes, it is." Amos Diggory said.
"Minerva needs to keep her position as head of Gryffindor and deputy headmistress. It's for the greater good. And, if anyone is to become co-head of Slytherin, it will be Andromeda." Albus said in a demanding voice.
"No." Pandora Lovegood said. Although she was very much like her dreamy daughter, Pandora could also be very strong willed when she needed to be. "Both Minerva and Andromeda have shown themselves to have questionable judgement, and will not be rewarded for such."
"I really must disagree…" Albus tried again.
"Disagree all you want, but it isn't going to change anything." Francis Bole snapped, he really didn't like this manipulative old man.
James saw that Albus was getting ready to turn this into another dark versus light argument, he cut him off. "With all that said and done, I think this meeting has come to an end, there are no other issues on the agenda that we need to address."
Alice sighed happily as she, James, and Narcissa left the room after the meeting was formally called to an end.
Headmasters Office
Albus stormed up to his office after the school board meeting ended. Anyone who had seen him could practically see storm clouds over his head. It was clear the headmaster was furious.
"Albus?" Lily asked in a timid voice. She was in the office waiting with Andromeda and Ted.
"That… That…" Albus couldn't find the words.
"How dare they? How dare they do this to me?" Minerva was muttering to herself.
Molly rushed into the office a few moments later. "Albus, I'm so sorry. I didn't have any idea what they were doing. Sebastian Peverell is just terrible. He makes sure no one tells Hestia or I anything."
"What has happened?" Andromeda demanded.
Everyone in the office was just as furious as Albus and Minerva after Molly finished explaining what had happened.
"What are we supposed to do?" Andromeda almost whined. "How could they put a former death eater in the position of deputy headmaster? It is just ridiculous. It's practically advertising that blood supremacists are taking over."
"How could Sebastian do this to us?" Lily whined. She had already started to fantasize about the relationship she wanted with Sebastian, much like she had done with James Potter while they had been in school.
"We can't let Severus be the deputy head. It will give him to much control over the school and the students." Ted said in a thoughtful voice. "I'll go over the schools charter and guidelines over the summer to see if their is any way we can force him out of the position."
"I can't believe they're putting Sirius in charge of students." Andromeda fumed, forgetting temporarily that Sirius was already in charge of students due to his role as a teacher. "He will be terrible. He's just as dark as the rest of the family."
"I don't want either of those dark wizards having any control over my babies." Molly agreed with Andromeda.
Albus just sat and stared out the window as the others all chattered. What was happening. He had lost so much, and when he thought there was nothing more that could be taken from him, they took more. He needed to regain control. He needed Lily to get together with Sebastian, now. He needed to get Severus out of the school. He needed to regain control of the Potter brat.
"Enough. Everyone leave. Rose, stay." Albus said, making sure to call Lily by her new name. Although Minerva knew who the woman is, the others don't.
"Headmaster?" Lily questioned once they were alone.
"You need to get Sebastian in your bed. Now. I don't care what you have to do, you need to gain control of him."
Lily smiles slightly. This was what she wanted, permission to do what needs to be done, no more trying to seduce Severus. "Of course headmaster."
"I will tell you now, though you must keep it to yourself, we are planning on hosting the tri-wizard tournament next year. I will arrange for Sebastian to be one of our judges. That should give you plenty of access to the man."
Lily just smiled. Lady Peverell-Gryfindor. It would be perfect.
Platform 9 3/4 - June 26, 2004
As the train pulled into the station, Hadrian was happy, like always. This time, his life was so much better.
One of the main things that he was thinking about, was that the last time around, at this point in time, he had been headed back to the Dursley's with his beloved god father on the run from the Ministry. He had felt so hopeless with what had been going on. It was like he wasn't allowed to be happy.
This day, was much more preferable to what it could have been.
Glancing over, he saw Nem curled in Luna's lap, partially ignoring him once again. Earlier on the ride, Fred and George had shifted to their fox forms and cuddled with him. It was something they had done often since they first managed their forms, so Nem was getting used to it, but she still didn't like it. Whenever the twins shifted, she would always just walk away from Hadrian and sit with one of the others. Whenever she did this, Hadrian could feel the jealousy coming from her, but he could also feel the acceptance. Nem was finally getting used to the twins in fox form, but she still wasn't overly fond of it.
Once the train stopped, everyone gathered their things and made their way off the train, ready to start the summer.
As they moved through the crowds, Hadrian noticed the small grin on Percy's face. Hadrian knew that Percy had been planning to apply to the DOM, so Hadrian had mentioned to him a few days before that he had seen Granger with a time turner. Percy had written to Regulus to check if she had permission to have one, as he didn't think that the DOM would ever let a 13 year old have such an important instrument.
Regulus, as Percy had expected, had confirmed that the DOM hadn't given the girl the device. But, he also mentioned that one of the turners had disappeared years ago, and the DOM believed that Dumbledore had it. He told Percy that the unspeakables in the time chamber would greatly appreciate its return. The missing turner had been a point of great dismay and anger for years.
Since they knew that if the turner suddenly disappeared, the headmaster would more than likely have the entire school, and every student searched, the unspeakables had sent a fake turner. Percy just needed to replace the one Granger had with the one Regulus had sent him. The fake turner would fade away over time so that Dumbledore wouldn't know what had happened to it and it would give Percy plausible deniability.
It had been just after the last exams finished that Percy had gotten his chance. He had seen Granger leaving the exam room, taking a chain from around her neck and tucking it into one of the pockets of her bag. Before she had gotten her bag closed Percy had sent a small tripping jinx at the girl. As he had hoped, she dropped the bag and all her things spilled out. Moving forward quickly, Percy helped her to gather everything, quickly trading the fake turner for the real one. Granger had been so busy checking to make sure none of her notes had been ruined by the spilled ink to see what he had done. Telling the girl to be more careful, Percy had walked away happily.
Percy was sure that returning the turner would definitely get him a job at the DOM.
Further down the train, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, were getting off the train.
Hermione was both excited and sad. Her year had been terrible. She had been so excited to get to school so that she could use magic, but now she was just exhausted. The teachers had given her so much work. Even with the time turner, Hermione had only been getting three hours of sleep since the end of the first week at school.
By the end of the exams, she had been so tired. She had ended up sleeping the entire next day and had only made it on to the train because Ginny had practically dragged her out of her bed.
As much as she hated to have to do it, Hermione had had to give the time turner back and cut back on her schedule. She just couldn't live through another year like this one had been. Hermione was sure, that regardless of her course load, she would be able to maintain her position in her year.
The hardest thing for her was that she was once again unable to do magic. Since there were no wards around her house anymore, she wouldn't be able to practice for next year.
The year rankings had been posted on the notice boards before the exams, to display where they were in their year at that point in time, and had shown Hermione in the top position. What Hermione didn't pay attention to was that the rankings took into account how many classes a student was taking along with their grade point average. Another thing she had failed to notice was that the list only consisted of Gryffindors. This was because the listings posted in each house was only that house's listings, if a student wanted to know their ranking in comparison to the rest of the school, they had to go to their head of house.
Both Ron and Ginny were both looking around for Harry. They really needed to get closer to him. How was anyone going to know just how important they were in his life if he was never seen with them. Ginny was thinking that next year she would get that weird Creepy boy, or whatever his name was, to start taking pictures of her whenever Harry was anywhere near her.
Moving further down the platform, they looked for their parents.
Spotting her parents, Hermione went over. Then she noticed the looks on their faces. "Mum, Dad? What's wrong?"
When neither of them said anything, Hermione followed their eye line. She saw what had shocked them. Arthur Weasley was standing a little ways away.
The man was huge. His stomach was ballooned out. Hermione knew that he was due in three months. Hermione still hadn't gotten over the fact that men could get pregnant in the magical world. Didn't the magical world understand just how wrong and unnatural that was. She was going to make it illegal for men to get pregnant once she was minister. It was up to her to save the magical world from their own immorality.
Having already said good bye to the others, Hermione moved her parents away. She was going to have to explain what was going on once they got home.
"Ronnie! Ginny!" Ron heard his moms voice shriek.
He really didn't understand why she was so excited. He had just been at the restaurant with her only a few weeks ago. Ignoring that fact, Ron led his sister over to their mother. That was until he caught a glimpse of his father.
He still didn't understand how a man could get pregnant. So, seeing his father with a huge pregnancy belly was just weird.
Ginny happily went directly into her mums arms. She had seen her father and was furious that he really was going through with this stupid idea of having more kids.
After properly greeting her babies, Molly led them over to where her Arthur, her horrible brothers, Percy, Fred, and George stood greeting each other. Both Bill and Charlie hadn't been able to come home this weekend as they both had to much work. Since they were planning on taking the last two weeks of the summer off so that they could attend the Quidditch World Cup, they needed to do the work now.
"Alright kids. Let's head home." Arthur said cheerfully.
Originally, Arthur and the twins had been standing with their friends, but had moved away when they saw Molly arrive and the train pulled into the station. They didn't want Molly, or Ron and Ginny, to get caught up in trying to convince Hadrian to come over to their house over the holidays again.
Arthur was sure the other boy would come to visit, but he was sure Hadrian would only come over on the weekends he knew that Ron and Ginny would be with Molly.
Fred and George smiled happily as they watched Hadrian greet his own family. They watched as James and Severus quickly ushered him to the portkey area and he disappeared. Hadrian had kept an eye on them while they had watched him, and just before they left, Hadrian had waved. They had their own contact mirror now, so they would be talking to him soon enough they knew.
"I'm going to go to mums." Ginny's voice cut into Fred and George's minds, disturbing them from the peace they had had from watching their soul mate.
"No you're not, Ginny." Arthur said in a calm voice. "You will be coming home with me. You will be going to your mothers later."
"Arthur. If Ginny, or Ron, wants to come home with me, then they will be coming home with me." Molly almost snarled.
"No, Molly. Ron and Ginny will be coming home with me." Arthur had no intention of allowing the children to continue on as Molly let them.
"Arthur…" Molly growled.
"No, Molly. If you remember, you signed a custody agreement stating that. It will not be changing, we will follow the agreement that we made. If you wish to contest the custody agreement, then you will need to get a lawyer, and file a formal complaint with the ministry. But, until then, we will be following the agreement. It's as simple as that." Arthur stated calmly before turning and ushering the children away. "Ron, Ginny let's go."
"And if we refuse." Ron tried. He really wanted to stay with his mum. She never tried to make him work.
"Then I will report you to the DMLE as a runaway." Arthur looked directly at his son. "And, you will not be attending the Quidditch World Cup. I have already arranged for tickets. But if you don't want to attend, then I'm sure I can find someone that will take your place."
"Mum could just get us our own tickets." Ginny sneered.
"The tickets are already sold out. So unless your mother got the tickets four months ago, when they first went on sale, then no, she won't get you tickets." Arthur explained.
Ron and Ginny looked to their mum. It was clear from the look on her face she hadn't gotten tickets. As much as they didn't want to have to deal with their dad and all the others, they wanted to go to the world cup.
"Bye mummy. We'll see you later." Ginny said as she hugged her mum again and started walking away. She was not going to give up tickets to the world cup. Besides, she was sure that her mum wouldn't have agreed to a custody agreement that would allow her to be separated from her children. Her mum loved them to much to let their dad have more control over them than her.