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Chapter Text

Sirius heard Bellatrix’s cast the Killing Curse and felt something hit him in the chest.

But it wasn’t the instant death like he’d always assumed it to be.

No, he had time to turn slightly and see the scared expression on Harry’s face before he began to fall backwards. Seeing the arch of the Veil pass over him, he realised that he might not actually be dead, that Bella’s curse might not have actually hit him. If he’d been too close to the Veil then there was the possibility that the Veil had converted the Killing Curse to a blast of air, but that would still have been enough to knock him backwards into the Veil’s surface.

Harry’s face faded, the colour leaching out followed by the light, leaving blackness.

Abruptly, that blackness gave way to light. Bright, clear light. A second passed as Sirius shook off the shock of passing through the Veil. A second that cost him, he was falling. And falling from a height. A great height. He was in the mountains. Britain didn’t have mountains like these, these were more like alps than mountains, they went as far as he could see, in all directions.

He forced his arms to work and reached into his coat pocket for the shrunken broom that he’d been working on, when Snape’s alert reached Grimmauld Place. A few more precious seconds passed before the broom was large enough to ride, but soon he was soaring in  large circle, looking for any evidence to pinpoint his location. If he found none, he’d land and cast a tempus et locus, casting a locus when you weren’t in contact with the ground was doomed to failure. How could magic tag your location on the earth’s surface, if you weren’t on the earth’s surface?

There! A straight line, that had to have been man-made.

Oh, it was. It was a railway line.

“Oh, thank the Gods.” Sirius whispered and spun the broom in that direction, wary of pushing it too hard, it had been sitting in Grimmauld for years, he could remember learning to ride on it, well before going to Hogwarts. Who knew what it had been through, how it had been used or when it had last been tended to?

A train burst from a tunnel and barrelled around the mountain. As Sirius watched, puffs of smoke came from different places along the train’s length and as it got nearer him, cracks were heard that matched up with the puffs, fractionally delayed by distance.

“That’s not apparition.” Sirius frowned. “Bombarda’s?”

A blast blew a massive hole in the side of the train, up near the engine, a part of the carriage wall peeled away like bark from a tree-trunk.

“Yep, Bombarda.” Sirius huffed. A flash of blue light silhouetted a man’s shape within the hole before he was flung out of the carriage, barely grasping at a handhold on the peeled back wall. “Hold on, Bomarda’s aren’t blue.” He frowned at the discrepancy before focusing back on the train and what was happening there. A few seconds later, a blonde man reached the hole and screamed at the man hanging outside the train and began to clamber along the twisted metal, an arm reaching towards the other man.

As the dangling man reached for the blonde, ignoring the empty space between their outstretched hands, the bar he was clinging to, gave way. Man and bar began to fall.

“Shit!” Sirius exclaimed and pushed his broom into a dive, he couldn’t let someone die, not when he could do something to help them.

His focus turned from the train to the falling man and he leant forward, pushing the broom to speeds ill-advised for an unstable broom. His feet skimmed barely inches above the surface of the snow-covered mountain, just high enough to be above any rocks that protruded but low enough to lessen the drag of air against his body.

Down and down and down. The man’s arms swinging and grasping at nothing were still too far away for Sirius to reach. He snarled and did something that wasn’t a good idea. He flicked his wand at the broom and disabled the safety charms and ‘pushed’ at it with his magic, forcing it to even greater speeds. This was supposed to be a training broom not a quidditch or racing broom, it was supposed to have a top speed of twenty miles an hour, not nearly fast enough to catch someone freefalling.

The man caught sight of Sirius on his broom and his eyes widened even further. His hands moved from reaching for anything, to reaching for Sirius’. Ever closer Sirius crept, uncertain if he would reach the man before the man reached the bottom of the mountain.

Finally, their fingers touched. A gasp and a lunge from Sirius and he had hold of the man’s wrist, the man’s fingers closing about his. Sirius leant back and began to pull back on the broom, trying to get it to level out and slow down. Their mad dash became a slow descent but the broom finally used up its last charm and failed. They were close enough to the bottom of the ravine that the fall wasn’t nearly as dangerous but they still fell thirty-odd feet into the icy river.

When Sirius came up spluttering, gasping for breath and spitting out water, he saw the man a few yards away face down in the river, bobbing along like a waterlogged cork, surrounded by the broken pieces of what had been Sirius' broom. He drew in a quick breath and, thankful that he still had hold of his wand, accio’d the man to him. Or that was what he intended to do but the man obviously outweighed him, as Sirius was the one to be dragged through the water. Once he had an arm around the man, tilting the dark head over his shoulder, he focused on the riverbank and apparated out of the water.

It was dangerous apparating without knowing what the man's injuries were, yes, but his life was at risk and Sirius would rather fall from a couple of feet in the air, than have the man drown. His focus was good and they only fell a few inches. He slid the man from his arms to the snow-covered ground and rolled the prone body onto to its side. A few flicks of his wand and the man’s medical condition was floating in the air above him.

“Excellent…” Sirius sighed. “No injuries other than shock and a concussion from hitting the water headfirst. Ouch, shouldn't have apparated with him, that's going hurt for hours.” A few more flicks and the man was dry and a waterproof blanket was between him and the snow, more flicks and Sirius was also dry and warm. “Now to try and wake him.” He was unsure whether a rennervate would work on a muggle. If the man was a muggle. “Rennervate.” He whispered.

The man jerked upright with a scream. “Steve…!” He looked around frantically.

“Easy…” Sirius knelt in front of the man. “Easy. You’re alright. You’re alright.”

“Wha…?” The man looked at Sirius. “What...? You… You’re the man that… you caught me… You were flying… you caught me…”

“I did.” Something about this man, made Sirius not want to hide what he was, something said that this man needed to know Sirius was a wizard. “Until my broom failed, anyway.”

“Broom…?” The man asked, tilting his head in confusion before groaning.

“You’ve got a concussion, mate.” Sirius warned. “I can’t fix that, so don’t shake your head. Okay?”

“…’Kay…” The man whispered.

“So…?” Sirius asked. “Where are we?”

“You don’t know?”

“Mate, the last thing I knew, I was in London.” Sirius snorted. “Everything went black and I was falling from the sky above the mountains.”

“Steve!” The man’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit, Steve thinks I fell.”

“You did fall.”

“Yeah, but Steve doesn’t know you caught me.” The man argued. “He’ll think I fell and died. I have to get back to base camp.”

“Do you know where that is?”

“I have the coordinates, yeah.” The man started to nod, only to groan again.

“Okay, no moving your head.” Sirius said. “You can’t apparate with a concussion, so we’re going to have to walk. Which way are we going?”

“Um…”

“What’s the coordinates?” Sirius asked. “No. Who’s someone you know was going to stay at this base? Their name, I mean.”

“Um… Colonel Chester Phillips is our CO and Peggy Carter is his British aide.” The man whispered.

“Right, I can work with that.” Sirius rolled his hand and let his wand sit flat on his palm. “Ad illud Colonel Chester Phillips.” He focused on his magic finding the man with this name. His wand wavered for a second before it spun gently to face back upriver. “Oh, good, we can follow the river for a bit.” He sighed in relief.

“What…?” The man huddled in the blanket asked.

“Your Colonel?” Sirius replied. “He’s in that direction.” He pointed back upstream. “We can follow the river for a while.”

“Oh… Okay…” The man just looked at him blankly and began to shiver.

“Ah, right.” Sirius grimaced. “Okay, soldier, on your feet.” He did his best to channel Moody ordering the Auror trainees around, he needed the man to move.

The man blinked a few times and began what was clearly the arduous exercise of getting upright.

“Good.” Sirius flicked his wand and the blanket became a winterweight robe, more flicks and warming charms were laid over it. “Let’s go.” He looped his arm around the man’s waist and dragged the man’s arm across his own shoulders. “I’m Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black.”

“Serious?” The man whispered, his head hanging low.

“Sirius. Not serious, like ‘seriously mean that’. Sirius, the dogstar.” Sirius chattered. “My family have a habit of naming their kids after stars. My brother was Regulus, my father was Orion and my grandfather was Arcturus.”

“Whoa…” The man muttered. “I thought I had it bad.”

“Yeah? What’d you get?”

“James Buchanan Barnes.”

“My best mate was a James. Great guy, he loved a good prank. Buchanan… eh, that’s not too bad, at least by wizarding standards. Barnes is a muggle name, so there’s not much I can say about that.” Sirius shrugged, raising and lowering James Buchanan Barnes’ arm as it lay across his shoulders. “So, James? Where the hell are we? Or where were you supposed to be?”

“Bucky. Call me Bucky, I can’t stand James, he was my father and he wasn’t a good one. And we're in Germany... I think.”

“Ah, you got one of them, too, did you?” Sirius ignored the comment about where they were, they weren't in Britain, so it didn't matter, just yet.

“Yeah, he’d rather hit me than work.”

“Know the feeling, mate. Mine would rather hex men than do anything else.” Sirius nodded.

“No hexes, whatever a hex is, the old man preferred to use his fists.”

“Hexes are…” Sirius paused. Was he really going to tell this man, Bucky, about magic? He sighed. Yes, he was. “There are four types of spells or different ways to cast magic. Charms, jinxes, hexes and curses. Charms are usually basic things, but you can do some amazing things with charm-work, if you have the skill. Jinxes are a bit darker, not really life threatening and can be shielded against quite easily. Hexes are darker again, they can still be shielded against but you need to cast the right shield or the hex will go straight through your shield. Curses are dark, usually intended to injure or kill, most can be shielded against, but there are three that shields won’t stop. One will kill you, one will make you wish you were dead and the other can make you kill everyone around you.”

“Whoa…”

“Nasty stuff, curses.” Sirius nodded. “I’m trained in everything but those three. I know the theory but I’ve never used them.”

“Huh” Bucky grunted and kept trudging along.

“Any idea how far we are from your base?” Sirius asked.

“We were dropped off about ten miles from base and then climbed over the mountain.” Bucky answered. “As the crow flies? Maybe fifteen miles. On the ground? At least on the other side of that mountain.” He waved his hand in the direction of the mountain in front of them.

“Oh, joy. We’re going to be walking for days.” Sirius sighed.

“Being in the mountains at night is not a good idea.” Bucky warned him. There’s bears and wolves and avalanches.”

“The only one of those we have to worry about are the avalanches.” Sirius snorted. “I can ward against predators.”

“Ward?”

For the next few hours, Sirius talked about magic. How it manifested in children. how they learn to control it. Where they went to learn how to use it. About the various different fields. About Purebloods. About muggleborns. About halfbloods. About squibs. About muggles. About the war that had claimed so many lives. About his time in Azkaban. About Harry and Hermione rescuing him. About living in Grimmauld Place. About the frantic summons from Snape about Harry and his friends going to the Ministry. About falling through the Veil.

Darkness came and Bucky watched in awe, his head having dropped to bearable levels, as Sirius transfigured a handkerchief into a tent, summoned pieces of wood and made a cheery little fire, summoned fish from the river and transfigured rocks into pans and bowls. Plants were summoned and force-grown, to add to a pot.

“Magic is amazing.” Sirius grinned and handed over a bowl of fish stew.

“I love magic.” Bucky grinned back.

Chapter Text

For the next few hours, Sirius talked about magic. How it manifested in children. how they learn to control it. Where they went to learn how to use it. About the various different fields. About Purebloods. About muggleborns. About halfbloods. About squibs. About muggles. About the war that had claimed so many lives. About his time in Azkaban. About Harry and Hermione rescuing him. About living in Grimmauld Place. About the frantic summons from Snape about Harry and his friends going to the Ministry. About falling through the Veil.

Darkness came and Bucky watched in awe, his head having dropped to bearable levels, as Sirius transfigured a handkerchief into a tent, summoned pieces of wood and made a cheery little fire, summoned fish from the river and transfigured rocks into pans and bowls. Plants were summoned and force-grown, to add to a pot.

“Magic is amazing.” Sirius grinned and handed over a bowl of fish stew.

“I love magic.” Bucky grinned back.

The guards at the Howling Commando’s base saw Falsworth stare at the two men staggering up the road and, after raising his binoculars to try and identify them, the Howlie quickly sent soldiers to help them.

“It’s Barnes!” He called to the squad seated below the watchtower. “He looks injured. Go get him, take him to Phillips’ tent. Him and the fella with him.” When the squad just looked at him, he yelled. “Now! Move!”

The squad leapt into action and within seconds, both Barnes and his helper were being not-so-gently manhandled into the camp and into the tent that Col. Phillips used as his Command Centre. Currently the tent was empty of all but a couple of intel-weenies, that were writing up charts. The two men were deposited in seats and medics swarmed them, demanding answers to a multitude of questions but failing to give either man a chance to actually answer a single question.

Soon the medics declared that Barnes was suffering the remains of a concussion and exhaustion. The unknown man with him, was in a similarly exhausted state but was also identified as recovering from starvation. It was postulated that he may have been a gulag prisoner that escaped into the mountains but the medics considerately didn’t ask. His upper-class British accent identified him as a possible intelligence agent and that put a halt to any questions they wanted to ask, even without him saying anything more.

A tired and saddened Phillips sat in the passenger seat as the jeep was driven into camp by one of the newer members of the Howlies, a young rookie named Juniper. The young man leapt from the open jeep and signalled one of the medics to take Agent Carter to her tent.

“Sir?” A British accent caught his attention and he turned his head to glare at Falsworth.

“Not now.” Phillips snapped.

“Yes now, sir.” Falsworth snapped back. “Barnes is alive. We got back four hours ago and Barnes wandered in an hour later. A civilian found him and helped him get back here. They’re both in the Command Tent.”

“What?!” Phillips exclaimed, turning to look at the man standing beside the jeep.

“Barnes is alive.” Falsworth repeated. “He and his helper are in the Command Tent, under guard. Jones, Dugan and Morita are watching them, sir.”

“Take me there.” Phillips ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Falsworth saluted, climbed into the jeep’s driver’s seat and put the jeep into gear. It took a few minutes to cross the compound and reach the Command Tent, with Falsworth bringing the jeep to a halt in front of the tent’s opening.

“Let’s go.” Inside, Barnes and a second man were both leaning against the same post from opposite sides, their heads nearly touching. Both men were clearly asleep. “How long have they been here?” Phillips made no effort to keep his voice down but while Barnes leapt to his feet, the other man merely opened an eye and closed it again.

“Sir!” Barnes saluted his CO.

“At ease, Barnes.” Phillips nodded back at him, before turning to the Howlies. “Leave us. I’ll send him along once I have his report.” The four Howling Commandos nodded and left the tent and Phillips turned back to Barnes. “I’d like a report and now.”

“Yes, sir.” Barnes answered. “We cleared the train and-”

“Stop.” Phillips held up a hand. “I’ve had many reports of what happened on the train. Start from you being blown out of the hole in the side carriage.”

“I managed to grab hold of a handrail but it was damaged. Steve… The Captain tried to get to me but he was still a few feet away when the handrail gave way.” Barnes glanced at the unknown man and raised an eyebrow, the man nodded in reply. “I fell. This is Sirius Black, a displaced Brit, he managed to catch me using a…”

“Call it a personal flying device.” A very proper British voice cut in, when Barnes hesitated.

“A personal flying device?” Phillips snorted. “What sort of flying device? A plane?”

“A broom.” Black answered.

“A broom? Like a witch uses?” Phillips snorted.

“Pretty much.” Black shrugged. “Witches’ brooms have different cushioning charms to wizards’ brooms but other than that, they’re the same thing.”

“If you’re not prepared to take this seriously, sir, I will have you-” Phillips cut himself off as he felt his feet left the ground and he rose into the sir supported by nothing more than Black’s angry gaze and the thin stick being pointed at him.

“My name is Sirius Orion Black and I was being serious.” Black’s glare slowly softened as Barnes placed his hand over Black’s and pushed it and the stick, towards the ground.

“How’s about you explain it to him, like ya did to me?” Barnes suggested.

Black looked from Phillips to Barnes and back before sighing. “Fine.” He shrugged and Phillips was lowered to the ground.

“What was that?!” He snapped out.

“Magic.” Black answered.

“Like what Schmidt does?” There was clear distaste on Phillips' face.

“No, he could only dream of what I can do.” Black snorted. “Think Merlin and Arthur and you’d have a better idea.” Black flicked his stick and the canvas chairs blurred and became elegant armchairs. “Let’s get comfortable and I’ll walk you through a short-ish explanation. Yes?”

“Yes.” Phillips nodded, gingerly sitting in a chair, running his hands along the chair's leather-clad armrests.

The next four hours were filled with Black’s explanation and questions asked by Phillips and Barnes. But at Black’s request, nothing was written down.

Nearing dark, Phillips told Black that he would like to bring another person into the discussion and after Black agreed, Carter was recalled from her tent. While waiting for her, Barnes asked after his friend.

“Captain Rogers…” Phillips hesitated and sighed but continued. “We’ve just come from the mission that ended Schmidt. Captain Rogers was able to board Schmidt’s aircraft as he was attempting to escape. There was a fight and Schmidt died, but he’d put the aircraft into some type of automatic control and it was headed straight for New York. Rogers couldn’t remove the auto-control, he could override it but only manually. Every time he let go of the controls the craft would correct course for New York, again. He was forced to put the craft into the water.” Barnes gasped and slumped, Black catching him and easing him to a chair. “There was no time for any other options.”

Carter wasn’t all that pleased to be called out of her grief but listened carefully and asked a multitude of questions.

One of which was, ‘would he be able to locate the remains of Captain rogers?’

Black was extremely apologetic as he explained that unless the craft that Rogers was in had settled to the seabed, he wouldn’t be able to use magic to locate him, both the caster and the being/item being located, had to be in contact with the earth’s surface, even if only via a building's foundations, or the spells just wouldn’t work.

Carter nodded sipped at her tea.

Phillips asked Black how he’d come to be in the air above the alps and while Black grimaced, he gave a brief explanation.

“An archway?” Carter asked. “About thirty foot tall? Fifteen across? The surface ripples like water or really fine silk in a breeze?”

“Yes.” Black nodded. “The stonework is blackened, rough edged, almost broken.”

“Like the wall it was part of had collapsed but it hadn’t.” Carter added. “I know it, or of one like it.”

“Where?” Black asked. “If possible, I’d like to see if I can get it to send me back. My godson is fifteen, alone and there’s a war coming.”

Carter and Phillips shared a long, silent look before Phillips nodded.

“New York.” Phillips said. “You’ll have to wait until we head back. I’ve been notified that we’ve been recalled. Germany surrendered. The war’s over. Carter will see that you are among the first to head to the US and she’ll get you in to see the arch. If you can get it working, we might be able to help you. Maybe send some troops.”

“No, don’t.” Black said. “Your people… It’s supposed to be a one-way trip. Up until now, we believed the Veil killed those that went into it.”

“But you lived.” Barnes argued.

“I did, but you also have to take into consideration time travel.” Black said. “I entered the Veil sometime between one and two in the morning on the 18^th of June... 1996...” Both Phillips and Carter caught their breaths. “Exactly. Me re-entering the Veil? Well, there’s a chance that I’ll just be returned to where and when I came from. But your people? Going forward in time is… bad… the variables are… enormous. For your people, there’s no way back.”

“I have nothing to come back for.” Barnes said. “My family is gone. My father’s an abusive asshole. Steve’s dead. There’s nothing for me here. If I can help you keep your godson alive, I’m coming with you.”

“I-” Carter opened her mouth and was cut off.

“No.” Black frowned at them both. “You’re not making a choice now. You’ve had a bad shock and any decision you make right now, will be a bad one.”

“Exactly right.” Phillips nodded sharply. “It’ll be weeks before we can get Black and Barnes to New York and then Black still has to study the arch-Veil thing, before he can work out whether he can get it to do what he wants. No hasty decisions, Missy, Barnes. Get your heads back on your shoulders before you make too many plans. Understood?” Barnes reluctantly nodded.

Carter glared at the commander before nodding sharply. “Yes, sir. Shall I see to accommodation and clothing for Mr Black?”

“Put him in with Barnes.” Phillips said. “Pack up Rogers’ stuff, we’re not leaving his personal stuff for the Army's Press ghouls to dig through. I suggest you conveniently misplace anything you want to keep.”

“I can help with that.” Black said. “Find me a box and I’ll enchant it with an undetectable extension charm, it makes the inside larger than the outside.”

“Good, do that.” Phillips said. “Just leave some or the brass will be complaining that someone’s taken it all and launch an investigation. Let’s avoid that.”

Later that evening, an unlabelled army trunk was subject to a number of different types of magic. Mostly runes and charms. The result was a trunk that was extended inside, that would shrink to the size of a deck of cards. As Barnes, Black and Carter sorted through Rogers’ things, stories were told, tears fell and the trunk was packed with memories of a man that was larger-than-life.

One year and seven months later, Sirius stepped into the small set of rooms that he shared with Barnes, in the nondescript building, in Brooklyn, New York, that housed the Veil. He shed his coat and crossed the room to the kitchenette and hugged the other man from behind.

“I found it.” He said, resting his head on the taller man’s shoulder-blade.

“You found it? The cypher?” Bucky wriggled until he was able to turn around within Sirius’ arms and raised one hand to rest on Sirius’ face. “You found it? Good or bad?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“I can get it to send me back.” Sirius said. “I can even get it to send you there, but…”

“But…?”

“The Veil’s designed to be accessed using magic and you have none, if you go through it, it will change you.” Sirius avoided looking at Bucky's eyes.

“Changed? How?” Bucky asked.

“I don’t know.” Sirius sighed. “That’s the problem, it just says, ‘changed’. Not how. I mean, the how is magically, of course, but I kind of meant I don’t know what the changes will be.”

“Yeah, I figured that.” Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of Sirius’ head and looped his arms around the older man. “I’m still coming with you.” He clasped Sirius’ upper arms and pushed him back far enough to look him in the face. “You said, your friends won’t judge me for being a muggle, right?” 

“Right. They won’t care, other than it makes you vulnerable to someone casting magic on you.”

“They have to know I’m there, first, Siri, I’m a snipper, I’m used to being up high and out of sight. But what about Harry?”

“He won’t care, neither will Hermione, his best friend. She’s a muggleborn, her family are muggles. And Harry grew up with muggles, not nice ones admittingly, but still muggles. If you aren't aggressive or abusive towards him, he’ll be fine.” Sirius said soothingly. “Moony won’t give a damn, his ma was a muggle. A number of the Order have muggle family or were muggle-raised, they won’t care. It’s only the purebloods and the DeathEaters that will object.”

“And neither of us gives a damn about them.” Bucky nodded. “When are we doing this? And what are we taking?”

“I need to send word to Carter and Phillips.” Sirius said. “That was part of our agreement. I keep them up to date on my research and they give me unlimited access to the Veil. Giving us accommodation, an income and providing you with employment while I’m here, was a bonus.”

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded. “I expected to be dishonourably discharged, the minute the brass found out we were sleeping together.”

“Thank Phillips for that.” Sirius chuckled. “He blasted someone’s eardrums out. Told them that what we did behind our doors was our business, but if they were really demanding more information, he was of half a mind to ask us to tell them. But that personally, he didn’t want to know. And he also reminded them that James Buchannan Barnes was no longer in the army, he was employed by the SSR, so an army discharge wasn’t going to happen.”

“Whoa…” Bucky whispered.

“Yeah. He really laid in the beater’s bat.”

“Phillips doesn’t suffer fools.”

“Oh, no, definitely not.” Sirius laughed. “He reminds me of my Auror mentor, Moody.”

“The guy with one leg?”

“That’s him. Constant vigilance. That’s his motto. Likes to yell it, when we least expect it.”

“Great.” Bucky sighed.

“The fact that you’re a sniper and see just about everything? He’s going to love having you around.” Sirius frowned. “Once you explain what a sniper is and what they do, that is.”

Phillips and Carter sat opposite Sirius and Bucky and listened carefully as Sirius laid out his research finding and explained what he and Bucky planned to do.

“So, the solstice?” Carter asked.

“Almost, that’s December 21^st.” Sirius nodded. “We’re going to go in, a couple of days earlier. The 18^th.” 

“Why the solstice?” Phillips asked.

“The solstices are the turning points in the natural world.” Sirius explained. “Summer to Autumn, Autumn to Winter, etc. I went into the Veil three days before the June solstice and was spat out here, three days before the March solstice. My arithmancy says that for the best possible result, I should enter the Veil three days before the December solstice and I’ll be spat out there three days before the September solstice.” He shrugged. “Either that or it’ll be three minutes after I entered the Veil. That’s a little vague. Both possibilities come up equally viable.”

“Then we’ve got a lot to do in the next few weeks.” Bucky said.

“Write up your wish lists and I’ll see what we’ve got in stock and what I can requisition.” Phillips ordered.

Chapter Text

“The solstices are the turning points in the natural world.” Sirius explained. “Summer to Autumn, Autumn to Winter, etc. I went into the Veil three days before the June solstice and was spat out here, three days before the March solstice. My arithmancy says that for the best possible result, I should enter the Veil three days before the December solstice and I’ll be spat out there three days before the September solstice.” He shrugged. “Either that or it’ll be three minutes after I entered the Veil. That’s a little vague. Both possibilities come up equally viable.”

“Then we’ve got a lot to do in the next few weeks.” Bucky said.

“Write up your wish lists and I’ll see what we’ve got in stock and what I can requisition.” Phillips ordered.

“Okay…” Peggy looked from Bucky to Sirius. “The first thing we need to know is…? What weapons are you taking?”

“I want a couple of sniper rifles.” Bucky said. “But I was thinking… Maybe not standard ones. What do ya reckon our chances are of getting Stark to customise somethin’ for us?”

Peggy blinked. “I might be able to talk him into something. I don’t know, it depends on what you want?”

“We were hoping that he could modify some of the stuff we use in the field.” Bucky answered. “Mainly the Colt, the Walther and the Johnson. Siri thinks he can charm the magazines to be… what was it… never-ending?”

“Ever-full.” Sirius corrected. “I’d need to take the magazine apart and etch a series of runes on the inside of it, that were linked to a second set inside a second magazine that bullets were funnelled into.”

“That would require a bit of work.” Peggy mused.

“Not really, a large box of bullets and some time, is all.” Sirius objected. “I can summon them out and lay them all out, butt-first, then we’d need some sort of physical linking mechanism. Like those bullet-chains used for the big anti-personnel guns. I can link smaller bullets together using magic but the moment one goes passed the linking runes for the magazines, the magical link between bullets would fail. A physical link wouldn’t. ”

“I’ll call Howard and get him to come over.” Peggy nodded. “Between the three of you, you should be able to work it out.” She made a note on the notepad in front of her. “What else?”

“Some knives, KA-bars and the like.” Bucky replied. “Not a lot, maybe a dozen. I don’t expect to need them but I’d rather have them and not need them, than need them and not have them.”

“That’s true.” Peggy nodded. “Anything else?”

“Not really.” Bucky shrugged. “I thought about some grenades, but… I can’t see the point. Sirius says that he and Remus can always make up some Molotov cocktails using potions instead of alcohol.”

“We can use some of the more volatile potions.” Sirius grinned. “We can add some Erumpent potion, some exploding potion, some garrotting gas, maybe some jawbind potion… if we can made it contactable rather than ingestible… Then there’s the prank potions, marauder bombs, we used to call them. Laughing potions make the user laugh uncontrollably, laxative potions do what you think, manegro makes the user’s hair grow rapidly, stink-it-up potion turns into a noxious green gas that on contact with a warm surface… a living body… turns into a sticky green acidic goo, polyjuice turns someone into an exact replica of another person but if you substitute the human hair with animal hair… you get some interesting results.” He laughed and turned to Bucky. “Remember to ask Hermione about second year and where she messed up with polyjuice.”

Peggy eyes opened wide. “Can anyone make them?”

“If you can get ingredients, yes.” Sirius nodded. “Getting them is going to be the hard bit. Here, I mean. There, it’s easy, I can just owl-order anything I want. You? Some things grow naturally but I don’t know if the muggle plants will have the same properties as those grown around magic.”

“Ah.” Peggy sighed. “Well, it was a nice thought, while it lasted.”

“Yeah.” Sirius grimaced.

“What else is on your list?” The woman asked.

“After the weapons?” Bucky asked in reply. “Only clothes and some food.”

“Why so little?” Peggy frowned.

“A number of reasons.” Sirius answered. “The main reason is I have resources back there, an entire estate’s worth, plus, we just don’t know what we’ll be stepping out into. And that causes some issues. There are four options for our exit from the Veil. One? We exit three days before the September solstice, in the Veil chamber. Two? We exit three days before the September solstice, in my preferred location in Scotland. Three? We exit three minutes after I entered the Veil, in the Veil chamber. Four? Three minutes after I entered the Veil, in Scotland.”

“And the benefits or issues of each?” Peggy had her pen ready to take notes.

“One?” Sirius held up a finger. “September solstice, in the Veil chamber. The Veil chamber is underneath the Ministry, getting out could be a problem. I might be able to use a portkey but I won’t know until we’re in there.” He held up a second finger. “Two? September in Scotland. Kind of depends on how far above the ground we exit. The Veil chamber is underneath the Ministry, right in the bowls of London, I exited as far above the alps as the Veil was underground. The Veil here, is at ground level, so I’m hoping that we come out at ground level.” A third finger. “Three? Three minutes after entering the Veil, in the chamber. The Aurors and DeathEaters will probably still be there. If they aren’t, the Unspeakables will be. We might have to fight our way out.” A fourth finger. “Four? It's my preferred of all the options. Three minutes later, in Scotland. I can contact a few people and get things in place pretty fast. By the time the sun rises we should be set and ready to move forward.”

“And because the situations can be anything from isolated, to the middle of a security nightmare…” Bucky added. “We have to be able to carry everything on us. The less we take the better we’ll be able to move.”

“I see…” Peggy was scribbling as she nodded. “Yes, yes, I understand.” She looked up. “How many weapons will you be taking? Assuming I can get Howard here and assuming that you and he are successful in modifying them, that is.”

“Each of us will have a modified M1941 Johnson rifle strapped to our backs and the pistols in harnesses, everywhere.” Bucky answered. “I want at least four of the Walthers PPKs, Harry and Hermione are both smaller, the Walthers will suit them better. A dozen of the Colt M1911s, more if you can work out a way for us to carry them.” He shrugged. “A backpack with clothes and some food. The shrunken boxes of ammo have to be attached to our belts. That’s it.”

“I think we can work this out.” Peggy nodded with a smile. “Let me call Howard and see how soon he can get here.”

It took Sirius and Howard two weeks to stabilise the modifications to the various gun magazines and work out a method of connecting the bullets. A fine thread was attached to each bullet using a speck of synthetic glue, the thread was enough to physically link the bullets and funnel them into the first of the linked magazines. The rune at the base of the first magazine linked to a rune-set at the base of the second magazine, as each bullet reached the first rune, it was banished to the second rune-set, ensuring that the magazine in the gun was always full. As each bullet moved up the magazine, towards the firing chamber, it passed a third rune-set that dissolved the glue and the thread, leaving behind only a minute speck of high-quality gun oil, nothing that could get jammed in the firing mechanism.

Howard even came up with the idea of shrinking the boxes of ammo and attaching them to the base of each gun’s handgrip or magazine with magnets, enabling them to remove the boxes and resupply them. He also designed harnesses for the excess pistols, that could be attached to the harness for the Johnson rifle that would be worn on their backs.

Peggy took Bucky’s preferred uniform (or lack thereof) and had it altered for him. The trousers and boots were fine but she had his blue double-breasted jacket made into a longer greatcoat, while still keeping the colour and cut. His utility belt would now be worn under his coat and would have a number of small pouches, each one containing a shrunken bag; of clothing, of food or other supplies.

After that, it was the long and arduous task of making the bullet chains and as they wanted each pistol to have a minimum of 10,000 rounds, it was going to take them most of the time between then and entering the Veil.

“So…?” Howard Stark looked from Bucky to Sirius and back again.

“So?” Bucky repeated back, more focused on the large table and its contents, than Howard’s curiosity.

“So? You two are… are… you know…” The genius trailed off, gesturing from one to the other.

Bucky and Sirius exchanged amused glances and Bucky continued to check their supplies against the list Peggy had written up.

“We’re what?” Sirius raised a brow at Howard. “Lovers? Yes, we are. We’d be married if we weren’t in Merlin-be-damned 1946.”

“Huh.” Howard grunted. “How’d that happen?”

“You really want to know?” Sirius smirked.

“No! Not the details.” Howard squawked. “I meant… How’d you get together? Who spoke up?”

Sirius laughed. “He’s a sniper, Howard, a sniper. They see everything.” He threw a half-hearted glare at Bucky, who ignored it and kept ticking things off the list after he went over each item. “Even when you don’t think he’s looking, he still sees everything.”

“I saw the way his eyes followed some of the guys.” Bucky chuckled. “Particularly, when they were walking away. So, I cornered him one morning.”

“Before I was wake properly, I might add.” Sirius snarked. “I hadn’t even got a cup of tea and he was asking questions that I shouldn’t have answered but I wasn’t awake enough to stop myself and before I knew it, he’d talked his way into us sharing a room.”

“And a bed.” Bucky added and got swatted for his efforts.

“Hush, you. Keep checking that stuff.” Sirius ordered.

Howard laughed. “That’s the best way to get answers. Well done.” He congratulated Bucky.

Peggy walked in the door as both Howard and Bucky smothered their snickers at Sirius’ red face.

“Oh, dear.” She sighed. “Do I want to know?”

“Nope.” Howard laughed. “But I win, Barnes was the one to make the first move.”

“Bugger.” Peggy swore and dug into her pocket, pulling out a handful of crumpled notes. “$5 wasn’t it?”

“Yep.” Howard grinned at the stunned looks on both Bucky and Sirius’ faces, as he snatched up the held out money.

“You… You were betting on us?” The wizard squawked.

“Yep.” Howard nodded.

“Of course.” Peggy said at the same time.

“How long?” Phillips snapped as he stomped into the SSR’s version of a Veil chamber.

“About five minutes, we estimate.” Peggy answered.

“You got everything?” He directed the question at Bucky and Sirius.

“Guns with enchanted magazines. Knives. Clothes. Food.” Bucky answered. "Shrunken boxes. We're good to go."

“Documentation?” Phillips asked.

“No point.” Sirius said. “We’re travelling fifty years into the future, any documentation that Bucky had is going to be worthless.” He frowned. “And I’m not entirely certain, it’s even the same world.”

“Meaning?” Phillips snapped.

“You’d never heard of the magical world.” Sirius explained. “During the muggle World War Two, there was a magical war going on at the same time and I kind of expected there to be hints of it, it should have been obvious if you knew about magic but I’ve heard nothing. Mind you, I’m not familiar with how MACUSA runs things in America. I could just have missed it altogether.”

“Ah. I see.” Phillips nodded.

“Anyway, I’ve got a contact that can get him papers and get them lodged in the muggle world, if we need to.” Sirius went on. “But if we stay in the magical world, it doesn’t really matter. Identification works on blood. As soon as I can get Albus or Moody involved, we’ll bond… ah, that’s the magical equivalent of marrying… and that should be enough for Bucky to register on a Gringotts’ test. They handle all the identity related matters in the wizarding world.”

“Right.” Phillips nodded. “What about finances, when you get there?”

“I’m the last Black.” Sirius grimaced. “By default I inherit the title and the estate. It’s worth a mint. But Bucky’s a stubborn man, he cashed in his army pay and given it to Howard to invest. If we are in the same world, that'll give him a nice nest egg, once we arrive. If Bucky's not contacted either Howard, Peggy or one of the Howlies by December 1997, it's to be used to support returned vetrans.”

“It’s not a huge amount.” Howard added. “But I'll invest it as best I can. Should have a nice return by 1996.”

“Thanks.” Bucky said.

“Come see me, when you get there.” Howard mock saluted and sauntered from the chamber.

“Only Stark.” Phillips muttered.

“Be grateful there’s only one of him.” Peggy warned.

“Oh, I am.” Phillips nodded. “I most certainly am.”

An alarm quietly beeped.

“One minute, gentlemen.” Peggy warned.

“Yes, ma'am.” Bucky stood up and began to check Sirius’ gear, once he was done, Sirius checked his in return. “We’re good to go.”

Chapter Text

“Come see me, when you get there.” Howard mock saluted and sauntered from the chamber.

“Only Stark.” Phillips muttered.

“Be grateful there’s only one of him.” Peggy warned.

“Oh, I am.” Phillips nodded. “I most certainly am.”

An alarm quietly beeped.

“One minute, gentlemen.” Peggy warned.

“Yes, ma'am.” Bucky stood up and began to check Sirius’ gear, once he was done, Sirius checked his in return. “We’re good to go.”

Sirius Black landed on his hands and knees, while his travelling companion (and lover), Bucky Barnes, landed on his feet and with some staggering, managed to stay on them.

“Bugger.” Sirius muttered.

“Did it work?” Bucky asked.

Sirius raised his head and saw the familiar shape of the Shrieking Shack. “We’re in Scotland, but I don’t know when, yet.” He replied. “Give me a moment and I’ll check.” His wand was pulled from the holster that Howard had made him, from very fine metal cables woven like fabric. “Tempus et Locus.” He cast and watched as his own writing appeared in the air.

11:15pm

17^th June 1996

12 Cuthbertson Lane

Hogsmeade, Scotland.

“Oh…” Sirius exclaimed almost silently.

“What?” Bucky raised his head sharply and looked to Sirius, who was still studying the floating writing. Bucky turned his attention to them and frowned. “Was that an option?”

“No, it wasn’t.” Sirius replied.

“I think we have another problem, too.” Bucky was now looking at Sirius’ face.

“What now?” Sirius muttered, still focused on the writing.

“Um…?” Bucky hesitated, causing Sirius to turn away from the floating lettering and look at Bucky.

It took less than a minute for Sirius to realise what Bucky was seeing. “Oh, Merlin…” He whispered. “You’re younger.”

“Not just me.” Bucky protested.

“Me…?” Sirius grimaced.

“Yep.”

“Ah… By how much, I wonder?” Sirius lifted his wand and cast again. “Aetate Revelare.”

In front of Bucky’s chest a series of numbers began to form, they started slowly before speeding up and blurring, eventually settling into a steadily glowing series.

25yrs, 3 months, 8 days, 4 hrs.

“Right…” Sirius said slowly.

“Well?” Bucky asked.

“You’re twenty-five.” Sirius responded. “But I can’t cast that on myself.”

“So we need another wizard?” Bucky already knew the answer to that.

“We do.”

“So... how do we get someone here?” Bucky asked. “And who?”

Siris didn’t answer, instead he reached out and took hold of the collar of Bucky’s coat and pulled him closer, close enough to press his lips against Bucky’s for a few seconds. When he pulled back, he whispered. “Expecto patronum.” Once the silvery, patronus version of his Animagus form shimmered into place in front of him, he whispered again. “Message to Remus, don't deliver until he's returned to Grimmauld Place.” The Grimm nodded and it’s mouth opened in order to accept the message. “Umm… Think something went sideways, there. Meet me at the house of the moon?” He nodded and the Grimm turned and vanished into the nearest tree. “Right, that should reach Moony sometime after the Ministry debarkle but he's not likely to turn up here until after half-two.”

“So, where do we have to go?” Bucky asked. "And how do we fill that time?"

“There.” Sirius pointed at the tumbledown shack about a hundred yards away. "And I want cuddles. Right now, my alternate self is running around frantically, trying to find why our godson left the school with five other teens. Just the memory makes me feel sick with worry."

Three hours later and four-hundred-and-fifty-odd miles south, a sandy haired man slumped in a dirty chair, in an equally dirty room. He’d just watched his best friend killed and the nephew of his heart, possessed and tortured by a madman. His elbows rested on the dirty table and his head lay on his arms, while his shoulders trembled with suppressed sobs.

A warmth infused him, a familiar warmth and the feel of his friend’s magic surrounded him.

It was quickly followed by his friend’s voice. “Umm… Think something went sideways, there. Meet me at the house of the moon?” He raised his head, just in time to see his friend’s Patronus collapse in on itself.

“What the…?” He gasped silently. He sat there for a few seconds, in a state of shock, before the shock faded enough for him to grasp what the Patronus meant. “Alive…?!” He leapt to his feet and ran from the kitchen, passing Molly and Arthur Weasley in the hallway.

“Remus?” Molly asked.

“No time.” Remus yelled over his shoulder.

“Remus?” Tonks asked as he reached the door.

“No time, must dash.” He ran out into the night and stopped in the middle of street, pausing briefly, then apparated away.

The shack appeared before him and he hurried towards the only external entrance of the building that he’d spent so much time in. Inside, he climbed the stairs to the trashed sitting room that was the marauders’ meeting place.

Over near the fireplace, stood an impossibility.

“What do we say?” He snarled.

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” The impossibility answered.

“How do we ask?” Remus asked a second question.

“Mr Padfoot requests the assistance of Mr Moony, in working out how the hell, whatever the hell it was, happened.” Sirius snorted. “And maybe setting up a prank on the Ministry and old snakeface, as they believe that Mr Padfoot is dead.”

Remus leapt across the room and engulfed the smaller man in a smothering hug.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d be jealous.” A third voice said, causing Remus to let to of Sirius and spin towards the unknown voice, a hex leaving his wand as the man came into view.

Sirius gasped as a red light flew towards the man. It dissipated as it touched him, leaving the three men staring at the man’s chest. “Was that supposed to happen?” The man asked.

“No…” Remus frowned and cast again and again the red light cut off as it touched the man.

“Oi, leave him alone.” Sirius swatted at Remus.

“What was it supposed to do?” The man asked.

“Uh…” Remus grunted his confusion.

“Stunning spell.” Sirius answered.

“Like what you used on Howard?” The man asked.

“Yep. The same.” Sirius crossed to the man’s side. “That didn’t touch you?” He laid a hand on the man’s chest.

“It did.” The man nodded. “It just didn’t do anything.”

“I wonder why?”

“Padfoot?” Remus asked.

“Oh, right, introductions.” Sirius pulled the man with him as he re-joined Remus. “Moony, this is James Buchannan Barnes, also known as Bucky.” He patted Bucky’s arm.

“Moony?” Bucky asked. “Remus Lupin, right?”

“Yes, love.” Sirius nodded.

“Love?” Remus asked, raising a brow.

“Love.” Padfoot nodded.

“How long?” Remus narrowed his eyes.

“Nearly two years.” Sirius grimaced.

“The Veil sent you somewhere, didn’t it?”

“Germany, 1945.”

“For two years?”

“One full year and three solstices.”

“And you were with him? All that time?”

“He saved my life within minutes of arriving there.” Bucky answered. “I wasn’t letting him go.”

“Squib?”

“Muggle.” Sirius shook his head. “Or he was…”

“Was…?” Remus tilted his head.

“I cast an age revealing cast on him earlier and it worked but your stupefy didn’t.” Sirius had a contemplative expression on his face.

“We need more information.” Remus wore a similar expression.

“For those of us not marauders, an explanation, please.” Bucky sighed and shook his head.

“My magic worked on you but Remus’ didn’t, we need to know why.” Sirius explained in a single sentence.

“The Veil-thing?” Bucky had sat through enough of Sirius and Howard’s sessions to know that the Veil changed things that entered it.

“Yes, but how, in what way?” Sirius said. “Is it just my magic that works on you or is it just offensive spells that don’t work? Or is it just stunning spells that don’t work? Or is it that charms work on you but hexes don’t? What about jinxes and curses?”

“Ah.” Bucky nodded. “Have Remus cast few non-offensive spells. That should give you something to base future research on.”

“True.” Sirius nodded. “Remus? Colour change jinx, followed by a toe-biter hex, then a tickling jinx and a warming charm. If you please, Mr Moony?”

Remus looked at Bucky and when the man nodded, he cast the spells, waiting a few seconds between each one to see if they worked or not.

“Nothing…” Sirius frowned. “Try the age revealing charm, please.” Remus nodded and cast and the three watched as still nothing happened. “Huh… Okay. So we can rule out Remus’ magic.”

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded. “But is it only his or is it all but yours?”

“We’d need another wizard for that.” Sirius said.

“So, who we calling, this time?” Bucky grinned.

“Hold up, hold up.” Remus held up his hands. “A minute ago, you mentioned the ministry and snakeface thinking you were dead. Let’s focus on that, please. We can sort out his magical immunity later.”

“He’s right.” Bucky said.

“But-”

“Siri.” Bucky said firmly.

“Bugger.” Sirius muttered. “Alright. I went into the Veil. There were witnesses, right? Not just you and Harry. Oh, Harry…” Sirius shook himself. “Focus, focus. Right. Witnesses.”

“Yes, the Minister heard Bellatrix claim to have killed you.” Remus nodded. “Moody told Albus what happened. The kids were taken back to Hogwarts and Albus was going to talk to Fudge before he headed back there, too.”

“I’m dead, right?” Sirius grinned. “If snakeface thinks I’m dead, he’s not going to be looking for me.”

“Particularly, as you look a lot younger, now.” Bucky said, causing Remus to blink and focus on his friend.

“Gods, he right, you do look younger.” Remus whispered.

“Cast the age revealing charm in him, please.” Bucky requested. “The Veil-thing changed my age, too. I was only a few months off of turning thirty and now, according to Siri’s charm, I’m a few months passed twenty-five.”

“Aetate Revelare.” Remus said firmly, his wand pointed Sirius and waited for the letters and numbers to appear in front of Sirius’ chest.

25yrs, 7 months, 16 days, 19hrs.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Sirius beamed at Bucky and the two shared a private moment without Remus feeling like he had to turn away.

“It’s also very handy.” Remus said after a few moments. “A minor transfig of your features and no-one is going to assume you’re Sirius Black, you’re too young.”

“Excellent…” The other marauder smirked.

“What do you plan to do?” Remus asked nervously, Sirius’ plans tended to be convoluted.

“New identity for me.” Sirius started. “New papers for Bucky. Marry Bucky. Get Albus to approve Bucky and I training Harry… and maybe Ron and Hermione. Get Albus to actually explain why he thinks Harry is so important to this war. And help Harry do whatever it is he has to do, to end this war.”

“Hmm…” Remus hummed. “New identities and papers are going to mean Moody followed by Gringotts. The rest requires Albus’ involvement.”

“I know.” Sirius shrugged. “I’m hoping he can see the benefit of letting me play dead until the war’s over.”

“Shall I send him a Patronus?” Remus asked.

“Please do.” Sirius nodded and raised a brow at Bucky’s frown. “Ah…?”

“I’m not kissing him.” Bucky objected.

Remus started to laugh and Sirius went bright red.

“You… You don’t need to.” Remus chuckled. “Patronus charm is powered by positive emotion, having Sirius back is positive enough for me.”

“No-one’s kissing you, but me.” Sirius growled.

“No, I’m fine with that.” Bucky nodded and pulled Animagus against him, resting one hand on the other man’s hip, his thumb into the waist of his trousers.

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he left Minister’s office and headed for the atrium and the apparition points. Before he could reach them, however, a Patronus in the form of a large wolf, reached him and delivered its message.

“Albus, I need you to come to the house of the moon, I have Grimm news.” There was an odd emphasis on the word ‘Grimm’.

He knew, of course, that the wolf was Remus Lupin’s Patronus, but the message confused him. The barely hidden excitement and the phrasing made Dumbledore frown and he decided that perhaps he had best see what had upset the werewolf before he retired for the night, even though dawn was only a few hours away.

Upon reaching the atrium, he apparated away, appearing in a hidden spot between Hogsmeade and the Shrieking Shack. He sighed and entered the shack, greeted by a beaming Lupin.

“What is so important that it could not wait until morning, Remus?” Dumbledore asked.

“Turn around.” Lupin pointed behind Dumbledore.

Dumbledore spun in place and blinked in shock at what he saw. A clean, tidy and very much younger Sirius Black being passionately kissed by another man.

“Ahem, excuse me, gentlemen.” Lupin interrupted them.

“What?” Black raised his head, only to meet the amused gaze of his former Headmaster. “Albus!” He cheered.

“Sirius Black.” Dumbledore whispered.

“I’m ba-ack…” Sirius said in a sing-song manner.

Chapter Text

“What is so important that it could not wait until morning, Remus?” Dumbledore asked.

“Turn around.” Lupin pointed behind Dumbledore.

Dumbledore spun in place and blinked in shock at what he saw. A clean, tidy and very much younger Sirius Black being passionately kissed by another man.

“Ahem, excuse me, gentlemen.” Lupin interrupted them.

“What?” Black raised his head, only to meet the amused gaze of his former Headmaster. “Albus!” He cheered.

“Sirius Black.” Dumbledore whispered.

“I’m ba-ack…” Sirius said in a sing-song manner.

“But… But the Veil?” Dumbledore stammered.

“Spat me out the other side.” Sirius shrugged.

“The other side?”

“From researching the Veil, I’ve been forced to the conclusion that where the Veil spits out those that enter it, is different for each person.” Sirius started.

“Research?” Dumbledore asked. “Where did it send you?”

“Germany, 1945.” Sirius replied. “I’ve spent the last year and a half, since then, studying it. Finally, I worked out how to get it to send me back, here.”

“How…?” Dumbledore was reduced to simple questions.

“Runes, Albus.” Sirius explained. “Hours upon hours of studying runes and working out what each of them represented. They’re not ideographic like is taught in Study of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts. They’re used as individual alpha-numerical symbols. It took me months, after figuring that out, to work out how to get it to… well… basically send me ‘return to sender’ using the point of origin of the last use. Even then, it was touch and go. I had four possible ‘return’ destinations. The first was September solstice in the Veil chamber, the second was September solstice outside the shack, the third was three minutes later in the Veil chamber and the fourth was three minutes later outside the shack.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “What actually happened was three hours earlier, outside the shack.”

“I see.” Dumbledore nodded but Sirius was unsure whether or not he really understood. “And what do you plan to do now?”

Sirius snorted. “Look at me, Albus, actually look at me.” He ordered. Dumbledore did as Sirius directed and, after a few seconds, he caught his breath in shock. “Yes, exactly. But here’s the thing. Sirius Black died tonight. And I’m thinking we can use that. Get Bucky and I, new identities and let us train Harry.”

“Bucky?” Dumbledore asked.

“That would be me.” A clearly American voice spoke out and Dumbledore blinked, his wand spitting out a stunning spell, he’d forgotten about the other man.

“Really?!” Sirius exclaimed.

“Well, it’s not just Remus, is it?” The American man asked the room.

“Apparently not.” Remus responded.

“What just happened?” Dumbledore asked.

“Bucky seemed to be immune to any magic that’s not Sirius’.” Remus told the Headmaster.

“Immune?”

“It’s beginning to look that way.” Remus said, looking at Sirius and Bucky standing close together.

“I see.”

“I’m glad someone does, ‘cause I don’t.” Bucky huffed.

“Sirius, do you know the core defining charm?” Dumbledore asked the Animagus.

“Yes…?” Sirius frowned. “That’s one of the Greek-based charms, right? Vasikós Orismós?”

“That’s it.” Dumbledore nodded. “If you would cast it, please. It should give us an idea of what degree of immunity he has.”

Sirius looked to Bucky and the soldier nodded, so he cast the charm. “Vasikós Orismós” A nebulous shape fluttered into being in front of Bucky’s stomach. “Now what?”

“Vasikós Orismós” Dumbledore also cast but his wand was pointing at Sirius. Within a few moments a similarly nebulous shape formed in front of his stomach, too. “And that would be what I was looking for.” Dumbledore nodded.

“What?” Sirius looked from the shape in front of him to the one in front of Bucky and over to Dumbledore.

“They’re the same.” Bucky said.

“Exactly.” Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Exactly. And that means that only Sirius’ magic can affect you. To anyone else’s, you are a Void.”

“A void?” Bucky asked.

“A Void is someone like yourself, who is immune to magic, however, they are usually immune to all magic, it just fails to affect them in any way.” Dumbledore answered, putting a little emphasis on the word 'Void'. “I’ve only ever come across one other Partial Void, which is more likely what you are. It’s so rare.”

“Is it dangerous?” Sirius asked, concern filling his voice.

“No.” Dumbledore shook his head. “Not really. It just means that you are the only one who can cast magic on him and any potion that he takes will have to be made by you.”

“Good thing, I got an O in my Potions’ NEWT, then.” Sirius huffed.

“I’d say so, yes.” Dumbledore laughed gently. “I’d also say that you appear to be significantly young than I know you are.”

“Yes.” Bucky nodded. “Remus did an age revealing charm and it showed Siri as being twenty-five, he lost eleven years returning here. I lost five years.”

“The Veil is a most magical item.” Dumbledore mused. “We know little about it. However, I would postulate that unless you were to enter the Veil again, your ages will not be affected any further than they already have.”

“In English?” Bucky tilted his head.

“It’s not likely to be reversible.” Dumbledore summarised.

“Huh.” Bucky grunted.

“New identities?” Dumbledore asked. “Did you have names you’d like to use?”

“I was thinking that I’d use Alphard as my father, keep the Black name and title.” Sirius said quietly. “Cyril Paddrick Black.”

“Yes…” Dumbledore mused. “That would work well.” He turned to Bucky. “And you, sir? Will you be using your existing name or choosing a new one?”

“A little of both.” Bucky answered. “I've been James Buchannan Barnes since I was christened but Bucky Barnes is a member of the Howling Commandos under the leadership of Captain America, my best friend and brother-in-all-but-blood, Steve Rogers. If this is the same world I came from, we can’t risk some muggle raised kid recognising my name. So, we talked it over with a few advisors and came up with the idea of portraying me as the grandson of James Buchannan Barnes and named after him and Steve. Buchannan Steven James.”

“I have no idea of whether that will work or not.” Dumbledore tilted his head. “My knowledge of muggle history of the time is a little vague, we in the wizarding world were more concerned about Grindelwald, you understand?”

“I do.” Bucky nodded. “Which is why we hashed out as much as we could before we left.”

“I shall call Alastor and get him to see to the parchmentwork. And what of Harry?”

“We get to train him.” Bucky said firmly.

“He needs to return to his Aunt’s house.” Dumbledore started, only for Sirius to cut him off.

“No, that’s not safe.” Sirius explained. “Riddle, snakeface, whatever you want to call him. He took Harry’s blood in his resurrection, remember?”

“Yes, I recall Poppy having to treat the wound.” Dumbledore nodded.

“But that would mean that the blood wards on Privet Drive would see Riddle as an extension of Harry.” Sirius said. “It negates the purpose of your wards, completely.”

“Oh, my.” Dumbledore blinked in surprise, that had never even occurred to him, he’d been so focused on the wards protecting Harry, that he’d forgotten the implications of Tom having taken Harry's blood that night in the graveyard.

“Exactly.” Sirius nodded. “Now, we also plan not to tell anyone, other than a few trusted advisors, who I am.”

“Alastor, of course.” Dumbledore nodded. “Severus, I-”

“No, not Snape.”

“Sirius, you must put your differences aside. I trust him implicitly.” Dumbledore assured him.

“You might but I don’t.” Sirius argued. “And unless you are prepared to explain why you trust him, I won’t be. Especially given the way he’s treated Harry, since he arrived at Hogwarts.” Sirius wasn’t rude, he wasn’t abrupt, he was just stating a fact.

Dumbledore frowned. “I’m not sure that I can do that. It is an intensely personal subject.”

“Ask him.” Sirius said. “Just don’t tell him about me, I won’t give that permission until I know why you trust him. I have that right, Albus, and you know it.”

“Regardless…” Bucky said. “If Snape is still your spy in Riddle’s ranks, it’s better for him, if he doesn’t know about Siri, safer for him if Riddle questions him. Riddle can do that mind-reading thing, right?”

“Occlumency, yes.” Dumbledore nodded. “And yes, I see what you mean. It would be safer for him and for you both, if he didn’t know of your survival. I also understand, now, your need to understand why I hold him in such regard. I shall speak with him sometime tomorrow.” He shook his head and corrected himself. “Sometime today. Dawn is fast approaching.”

“It is.” Bucky nodded. “And Harry?”

“I shall speak to him, as soon as I’ve spoken to Severus.” Dumbledore stated. “But I do believe that it would be wise to limit who is told. Mr Ron Weasley is a good and loyal friend, but he has his mother’s temper and his father’s inability to withhold information. Miss Granger, on the other hand, is loyal and is quite capable of keeping her mouth closed. Mr Longbottom is an up-and-coming wizard, he’s gained confidence following Harry, this last year. Miss Lovegood sees things in a unique way, but that didn’t stop her from following Harry into the Ministry. Other than them, I’d also suggest Mr’s Fred and George Weasley, they are marvellous with their pranks, Miss Weasley is a powerful witch, seventh children often are. And Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt.”

“Sirius?” Bucky asked.

“Harry, of course.” Sirius replied. “I’m hesitant about Ron and Ginny, I’ve heard some of Molly’s tales and love potions are frequently mentioned.”

“No?!” Dumbledore gasped. “Surely not? You don’t think…?”

“I don’t know what to think.” Sirius shook his head. “What would you think? Hermione and Ron argue whenever the two of them are in the same room. And Ginny looks at Harry like he’s a feast and she’s starving of hunger. But to me, she always looks like she’s trying to hang on the edge of whatever group that Harry’s in.”

“Hmm…” Dumbledore hummed and thought about the few times he’d seen the children. “You might be right.”

“And the twins?” Sirius shrugged. “They’re working hard towards their shop. I can’t see that they’re going to have enough time to train with us.”

“We’re talking multiple hours each day.” Bucky added.

“Then it might be best to leave omit them, as well.” Remus suggested. “Which leaves Harry, Hermione, Frank and Alice's lad, Neville and Pandi’s girl, Luna.”

“Pandi?” Sirius asked.

“She married Xenophilius Lovegood, remember?”

“Oh, yeah… I forgot that.” Sirius turned to Dumbledore. “Can you get permission from their families? Augusta is formidable witch, she might not be agreeable. Pandi and Xeno should be fine.”

“Pandora Lovegood was killed in a spell-creation accident in April 1990.” Dumbledore told Sirius.

“Ah, is that likely to make Xeno stop Luna?” Sirius asked.

“It shouldn’t.” Dumbledore frowned. “I think I might go and speak to him personally, instead of sending a request.” He paused in thought. “Same with Augusta, too, I think.”

“And the Grangers, too.” Remus said. “Only courteous, Albus.”

Dumbledore sighed. “Yes, I suppose it is.” He nodded. “I’ll speak to the families and see to permissions, Alastor will see to your parchmentwork and getting underage exemptions for the four children. The Express leaves Hogsmeade in a few days, I’d like to have all this settled by then, but I’d prefer not to tell the children of your survival until then. If I have their families’ permission, I’ll have the children met at King’s Cross by Remus, Alastor, Nymphadora and Kingsley and brought to your location. Do you have somewhere in mind?”

“Uncle Alphard’s island in the Irish Sea.” Sirius replied. “It’s unplottable and has been under fidelius since before I started Hogwarts.”

“You father’s island?” Dumbledore put heavy emphasis on the ‘father’. “Might I ask, who is the Secret Keeper?”

“I am.” Sirius replied. “I’ve been the keeper since fifth year. Alph- Father insisted.” He corrected himself. “I can make the portkeys and issue Moody with a copy of the secret.”

“Excellent.” Dumbledore beamed. “I’ll send Alastor a Patronus and get him to meet me in my office, first thing this morning. Then I’ll speak to Severus. After that, I’ll pop out and see Mr Lovegood, Lady Longbottom and the Grangers. Hmm… Should I tell Petunia that Harry shan’t be returning to them?”

“I would. Give them some warning of the wards coming down.” Remus said.

“Yes, I suppose I should. After that, I’ll speak to Harry and whichever of children I have permissions for.” He looked at the three men. “Remus, I suggest that you very briefly return to Grimmauld Place, pack up your things and join Cyril and… will you still go by Bucky?” The last question was directed to Bucky, who nodded. “Very good. The Express heads for London on Saturday, we have a lot to do and little time to do it in, gentlemen. I suggest we get what sleep we can, in what remains of tonight, for the next few days are going to be rather busy.”

Chapter Text

“Excellent.” Dumbledore beamed. “I’ll send Alastor a Patronus and get him to meet me in my office, first thing this morning. Then I’ll speak to Severus. After that, I’ll pop out and see Mr Lovegood, Lady Longbottom and the Grangers. Hmm… Should I tell Petunia that Harry shan’t be returning to them?”

“I would. Given them some warning of the wards coming down.” Remus said.

“Yes, I suppose I should. After that, I’ll speak to Harry and whichever of children I have permissions for.” He looked at the three men. “Remus, I suggest that you very briefly return to Grimmauld Place, pack up your things and join Cyril and… will you still go by Bucky?” The last question was directed to Bucky, who nodded. “Very good. The Express heads for London on Saturday, we have a lot to do and little time to do it in, gentlemen. I suggest we get what sleep we can, in what remains of tonight, for the next few days are going to be rather busy.”

Harry and Hermione watched as Molly Weasley gathered up her children and chivvied them in the direction of the public floo-fireplaces, before turning to look for Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody. Since a day after the trip to the DoM and a private interview with Dumbledore, their mother and someone from the DMLE, Ron and Ginny had been avoiding Harry and Hermione. Thankfully, Madam Bones saw fit to tell them why. Molly and her children had been reminded that love potions like amortentia are illegal and will net both the maker and the dispenser a nice long stay in Azkaban. And that if a person were to sign any magical contract, say a marriage or betrothal contract, under the influence of such potions, the contract would flare and not be considered valid, and that the influenced person would have to be treated with purging potions which would remove any traces of any potion from their system.

Whether Ginny and Ron were involved in the conception of the plan to marry Ginny to Harry and Ron to Hermione, or not, made no difference, not at this point. They’d been involved in the ongoing planning and had small phials of the potion in their luggage, that was sufficient for the DMLE to act. Ron would be forfeiting his NEWTs, his grades were low and the DMLE saw little reason to delay his sentence, he would be joining the Auror academy, where he would remain a trainee for the next ten years. Ginny, on the other hand, had good marks and it was suggested that she return to Hogwarts for her OWLs and possibly her NEWTs, depending on her OWL results. She would no longer be a member of Gryffindor but would be housed in separate accommodation, she would be under heavy restrictions and only be permitted to attend classes with the other students, the rest of her time, she would be remanded to her rooms. Molly was incredibly lucky, in that when the DMLE searched the Burrow and found traces of the potion, they were unable to definitively pinpoint her as the only or even primary brewer. The traces of her magic were there but so was someone else’s and while initially, Arthur was questioned, he was quickly discarded as a suspect after a magical scan, leaving the DMLE still on the hunt for Molly’s accomplice.

“Are you sure your parents are okay with this?” Harry asked Hermione.

“Yes, Harry.” She sighed, he’d asked a dozen times since the Headmaster had told them. “I love my parents and they love me, they just aren’t all that keen on me being a witch. It’s turning out to be a bit too dangerous for their liking.”

“But they’re still going to let you learn to fight?” Harry wanted to know.

“Oh, yes.” Hermione nodded. “Daddy was in the Royal Marines, when he was younger and he said that while he still wasn’t happy about how dangerous the wizarding world was, me getting training in how to defend myself, actually lessened his concern. He’ll always worry, but he knows how stubborn I am and that I can’t leave the wizarding world until I finish my schooling. So, as far as he is concerned, me knowing how to fight and defend myself is a good thing."

“Oh, okay…” Harry nodded and shrugged. “There’s Remus.” He pointed off to one side.

“Good. Let’s go.” Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and headed in the direction that he’d pointed.

“Hi, Remus.” Harry gave his honorary Uncle a sad smile.

“Hello Harry, Hermione.” Remus gave them a tired smile. “Where’s Neville and Luna?”

“They went to fetch Luna’s trunks, she didn’t get a chance to shrink them before the elves put them on the train.” Hermione answered.

“They were going to ask a seventh year to do it for her, now.” Harry added.

“Here they come.” Moody told them without turning in the direction of the luggage carriage.

“Oh, good. It wouldn’t do to be late.” Remus smirked. “We’re going to the home of an amazing man.”

“You just like him because he can shut the other one up.” Moody muttered.

“Of course, I do.” Remus replied, keeping his voice bland.

“Humph…” Moody grunted.

“Do we want to know?” Neville asked as he and Luna joined them.

“No.” Moody rumbled. “Read this.” He thrust a small piece of parchment at Harry. “All of you.”

The Marauders’ Training Ground is on Freedom Island, in the Irish Sea.

“Uh…” Neville exclaimed in confusion.

“Fidelius.” Was all Harry needed to say, for Neville’s face to clear.

“Got it.” The other boy nodded sharply.

“Everyone take hold of the rope.” Remus instructed and once Moody and the four teens did so, he activated the portkey.

“I hate portkeys.” Harry said as he crashed to the ground.

“Pup!” A barked yell startled Harry enough to look up.

“Si-Sirius…?” He whispered and stood dumbfounded as he was enveloped in Sirius’ arms.

“And that’s one of the surprises Dumbledore told you about.” Remus said to the three other teens. “The Veil didn’t like the way he tasted, so it spat him back out.”

“It what?!” Hermione squawked.

“It spat him out, again.” Remus said as he watched the reunion between godfather and godson. “It just didn’t do it in the same place. Or at the same time.” He went on. “As you can see, he looks a lot younger, that is a result of him making the Veil send him back here.”

“Back here?” Hermione asked.

“Initially, he was sent to Germany.” Remus replied. “Germany in 1945.” Hermione gasped in shock. “Yes. He spent nearly two years in that time, before he forced the Veil to return him, here, to this time. He was spat out, outside the Shrieking Shack, about eleven pm, the same night as he went into the Veil.”

“But…  but he didn’t arrive in the DoM until after one-thirty in the morning.” Hermione objected.

“I know.” Remus sighed. “Technically, he was back before he even left.”

“Oi, Bucky!” Sirius yelled over his shoulder, to the house behind him. “Bucky! Come meet the pups.”

“Pup?” Neville asked.

“I am not a pup.” Hermione glared at Sirius, only to gasp as a tall dark-haired man left the house and walked towards them. “Bucky? Bucky… Barnes…?” She whispered.

“They’re not pups, Siri.” The man shook his head. “They’re too old for pups. They might not be wolves, yet, but they’re not pups, anymore.”

“Harry will always be my pup.” Sirius argued.

“Er… Hello?” Harry looked at the newcomer.

“Hey, kid.” The man said. “I’m Bucky and when this idiot stops being an idiot, he might introduce us, properly.”

“Are you Bucky Barnes?” Hermione asked and when he nodded cautiously, she went on. “I did an essay on your disappearance, at primary school. It’s documented that you returned from Europe and joined the SSR, then a year and a half later, you closed down your back account and just… vanished.”

“Yep, that’s pretty much what happened.” Bucky said. “My last mission with the Howlies, I fell from a train in the alps, the Veil tossed Sirius out, pretty much above the train and luckily he had an old broom in his pocket-”

“Undetectable Expansion Charm?” Hermione cut in to ask.

“Nah, shrunken broom.” Bucky corrected. “Anyway, he caught me before I hit the ground, but the broom couldn’t take the abuse and fell apart. We landed in a river and I got a pretty good concussion. Sirius pulled me out and did a point-me to our base. We had to walk for nearly three days to reach it.”

“He shouldn’t have apparated with you, if you had a concussion.” Hermione nodded.

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded with her. “We arrived back just hours after Steve killed Schmidt and Germany surrendered. Only to be told that Steve had crashed Schmidt’s plane into the ocean somewhere.”

“He was your friend?” Hermione asked quietly. “The Captain?”

“He was like my brother.” Bucky whispered.

“I’m sorry for your loss…” Hermione’s voice was even quieter.

“Thanks.” Bucky gave her a small smile.

“And that’s why you came with Sirius or was that an accident?” Neville asked.

“Oh, no. No accident, there.” Bucky objected. “I wasn’t letting him get away from me.”

“That’s why Dumbledore suggested that each of you bring a set of formal robes.” Remus added. “These two are getting married, tomorrow.”

“Married?” Harry looked from Sirius to Bucky. “Really? You want to marry him?” Harry pointed at Sirius.

“Yep.” Bucky grinned. “And seeing as how he’s still being an idiot, how’s about you introducing your friends?”

“Sure.” Harry blinked at the change in subject. “This is Hermione, she’s been my best friend since I started Hogwarts. Neville shares a dorm with me and Luna came to the DoM with us. They’ve worked hard this year in the D.A., Neville’s come a long way and Luna’s been doing great.” Harry gestured to each teen as he spoke.

“Good to hear.” Moody said. “Come Monday, Tonks will take you to the wandier in Dublin, for a set of custom wands.” He saw each teen grasp their wands tighter, while Neville's fingers clenched like he was griping his father's broken wand. “Nothing against what you’ve already got but yer need more than one wand. The wandier will test your wand against yer core and depending on compatibility and access levels, you’ll get at least one, possibly two or even three wands custom-made to match you and your magic.”

“We’re going to work you hard over the summer.” Remus agreed. “Having backup wands is always good.”

“In addition to wand-work, I’ll be teaching all four of you how to fight, muggle style.” Bucky said. “Not just fight but fight dirty. Street fighting, knife fighting, hand to hand and the little bit of martial arts I-” he cut himself off and frowned into space.

“What is it?” Remus asked.

“Martial Arts.” Bucky mused. “Morita was good at that. What are the chances that we can see if he’s still alive and if he can teach them that?”

“You want the Howling Commandos to train us?” Hermione was almost bouncing with excitement. “Oh, yes! Please? Pretty, pretty please?” She begged.

“It would make things a bit easier, having some help.” Bucky shrugged. “But I don’t know who’s still alive, it’s been fifty years since I saw them last.”

“James Morita, James Falsworth and Timothy Dugan are still alive.” Hermione was quick to answer. “Or were as of the 1^st of September, last year. Samuel Juniper Jnr died in 1946, Gabe Jones died in 1954 , Jacques Dernier in 1979, Percival Pinkerton in 1987 and Sam Sawyer in 1992.”

“What about Chester Phillips, Peggy Carter and Howard Stark?” Bucky asked.

“Colonel Chester Phillips died in 1970(?) or '71, on the training field yelling at an unnamed private. Howard Stark died from cancer in 1992.”

“And Carter?” Bucky wasn’t sure he wanted to know. 

“Margaret Carter is still alive, she only retired from S.H.I.E.L.D last year.” Hermione said. “Apparently she returned to England to retire, but that’s been kept very quiet.”

“I have an address.” Bucky said. “She and Howard both told me to come visit them, but…”

“Howard’s gone.” Hermione said quietly.

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded. “But if Carter’s still alive, she’ll have a way to contact the Howlies.”

“I can take you.” Tonks said, she’d been leaning against the house for most of the conversation. “Sirius won’t really blend in, in the muggle world. You’re not too bad. Let me change your coat and we can go.”

“Better get Sirius to do that.” Remus warned. “Bucky’s a Partial Void. So far, only Sirius’ magic works on him.”

“Uh, okay.” The pink-haired woman blinked.

Half an hour later, Bucky pressed a button beside a large gate.

“Yes?” A disembodied male voice asked.

“Looking for Peg Carter?” Bucky said. “I was told that this was the address and I was to give a password.”

“A password? Please hold.” The speaker clicked and went dead for nearly a minute. When it crackled back to life, the voice was quite different. “You mentioned a password. What is it?” The female voice asked.

“The Veil. 18^th December 1946. 2:15 am.” Bucky said.

“That is… correct.” The gate unlocked and began to slide open. “Please wait inside the gate, a vehicle will be with you shortly."

“Yes, ma'am.” Bucky replied and once the gate was open far enough, he stepped through and encouraged Tonks to join him.

“I have could just apparated us to the house.” She said.

“Muggles.” Bucky said. “And you have a Statute about using magic in front of them.”

“What are you, then, if you’re not a muggle?” Tonks asked.

“I’m a Partial Void and the betrothed of a Lord of an Ancient and Noble House.” He replied. “And as a Void, even a partial one, the Statute doesn’t consider me a muggle, or so Dumbledore said.”

“Oh.” Tonks grunted. “I didn’t know that.”

“Now you do.” Barnes gave her a sideways look of amusement.

“Shuddup…” She muttered.

A strange little vehicle came around the tree-line and down the drive, before coming to a halt beside Bucky.

“Barnes.” Peggy Carter nodded to him. “I take it worked.”

“Pretty much.” Bucky nodded. “A few minor changes, though.” 

“Oh?”

“Sirius and I are both twenty-five, now.” He grimaced. “The Veil altered our physical ages. I lost nearly five years but Sirius lost eleven.”

“Ah.” The older woman acknowledged. “Well, get in. we can go back to the house and talk.”

“I’m kinda on a deadline, here, Peg.” Bucky warned. “I’m hoping that you have a way to contact the Howlies. The kids need training and Morita was the best at hand to hand.”

“He’s already here.” Peggy replied. “So are Falsworth and Dugan. We meet up, every year and as I knew you were hoping that the Veil would send you to Scotland or England sometime late this year, I agreed to host the boys.”

“Fabulous.” Bucky grinned. “Now all we have to do is tell them about magic and convince them to help out.”

His grin made both Tonks and Carter groan.

Chapter Text

“I’m kinda on a deadline, here, Peg.” Bucky warned. “I’m hoping that you have a way to contact the Howlies. The kids need training and Morita was the best at hand to hand.”

“He’s already here.” Peggy replied. “So are Falsworth and Dugan. We meet up, every year and as I knew you were hoping that the Veil would send you to Scotland or England sometime this year, I agreed to host the boys.”

“Fabulous.” Bucky grinned. “Now all we have to do is tell them about magic and convince them to help out.”

His grin made both Tonks and Carter groan.

The three Howling Commandos looked around in excitement and interest, as the portkey landed them in a lush garden.

“We’re really somewhere else…” Dum-dum grinned.

“Hey, Dum-dum!” A long-forgotten voice called.

The three men spun around and saw a familiar face.

“Black.” Dum-dum laughed. “So, you’re a wizard, huh?”

“Yep.” Sirius nodded.

“And the kids are, too?” Morita asked cautiously.

“They are.” Sirius waved off to one side. “They’re over there.”

The old soldiers looked where Sirius pointed and saw a tall black man putting four teens through a series of spellcasting drills. Lights of different colours left their wands and impacted on a quartet of timber dummies.

“The darker girl and the larger lad need to work on their aim.” Falsworth offered.

“Will you work up a training schedule for us?” Bucky knew that Falsworth had been in charge of the Howlies’ scheduling.

“I can do that, but I’ll need a better idea of what each of us are doing. What we’re going to be teaching them.”

“I can help with that.” Moody grunted as he and the others joined them.

“Hi.” Harry said. “Thanks for coming and agreeing to help us.”

“You might be thanking us now, but that won’t last long.” Morita warned.

Harry grinned. “Why do you think I’m saying it now?”

Sirius barked a laugh as Hermione reached out a smacked Harry’s arm. “Behave.”

“Laugh while you can, you won’t have the energy from tomorrow, onwards.” Falsworth told them.

“Not tomorrow.” Bucky said. “Tomorrow, Sirius and I are getting married.”

“Married?” Dum-dum asked. “You really want to marry him?” He asked Sirius.

“Oh, yes.” Sirius nodded.

“I’ve been told that I have to go and get Director Carter, she wants be here.” Tonks said.

“I don’t see a problem with that.” Sirius nodded. “It’s not like she’ll know where we are or be able to get back here. Muggle tracking devices will be knocked out by the portkey before she even leaves home.”

Moody squinted and huffed but finally nodded.

“The only issue I have with assisting in the training of the youngsters,” James Falsworth spoke in an accent very similar to Sirius’, “is that Dum-dum, Morita and I are old men, now. Of the three of us, I’m the youngest and I turned eighty-three last month. Morita’s two years older and Dum-dum is almost ninety. If Barnes hadn’t gone with Black, even he’d be in his late seventies. We’re not kids, anymore.”

“I can show them most of the moves, but some are just beyond me, now. Arthritis is a bitch.” Morita added.

“You saw me walking.” Dum-dum said. “I’m going to need a hip replacement soon. I can tell them what to do, but I can’t show them.”

Moody growled, they’d been so close to having decent tutors for the kids.

Sirius was looking at Bucky, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“What? What’re you thinking?” Bucky asked.

“I lost eleven years coming through the Veil.” He replied. “You lost nearly five.” He turned to Moody. “Do de-aging potions work on muggles?”

Moody’s smile was a frightening thing. “They do. As does skele-gro, pepper-up, blood replenisher, most nerve- and musculo-regens, invigorating draught and all of the amortentia family.”

“How long does a de-aging potion last on them.” Remus asked. “Most magicals burn through it in a matter of hours to a few days, at most.”

“For muggles it tends to last months, not days.” Moody answered. “And it reverses itself in stages, if given a booster during one of these stages, it can last for a year or more. The downside is, when it wears off, completely, the muggle can’t use it again for a full moon cycle.”

“If we’re going to do something like that,” Falsworth said, “we’re going to need a medic.”

“School’s out.” Harry grinned. “Do you think Dumbledore would lend us Madam Pomfrey?”

“Nah, lad.” Moody shook his head. “Pomfrey’s only worked on kids for the last twenty plus years.”

“And I doubt she’s ever had cause to work on muggles.” Sirius added.

“What about mum?” Tonks asked. “She’s got her healer’s badges and is also familiar with muggles, she works in our local hospital during emergencies. They think that she’s a specialist from Leeds.”

“And she’s worked with both the Order and the DMLE before,” Kingsley said, “getting her to take an oath before she’s given too many details, isn’t all that unusual.”

“Plus, the apothecaries are used to her getting muggle- and squib-friendly variants of the healing potions, so getting them shouldn’t be an issue.” Moody nodded.

“Shall I go and ask her?” Tonks asked.

“Yes.” Moody nodded again.” I’ll go with you and get her oath before we come back here. Black? See to rooms for everyone and put aside a couple extras, they might not stay but have a room for them just in case.” He turned to Tonks. “Come on, Missy, let’s go.” He waited until she nodded before apparating away.

“If we’re looking at bringing in some others?” Harry asked. “Can we get someone that can teach us how to use a sword or knives or something?”

Sirius and Kingsley shared a hurried and almost silent conversation.

“The only one that we know of that can teach you properly, is Flitwick.” Sirius warned. “Are you sure you’d be okay with that?”

“Flitwick’s fine.” Harry nodded after exchanging glances with Hermione, Neville and Luna. “He’s also a Duelling Master. His height might be a problem, though.”

“Transfiguration.” Sirius said. “As long as he stays to scale, increasing his size is not going to affect his abilities.”

“Wicked.” Harry grinned.

“Are we going to have time to study everything?” Hermione wanted to know.

“You’ll be fine.” Falstworth said. “We’ll target each session to match your current ability and most sessions will be one-on-one. That means that you don’t need to be hesitant or embarrassed by your friends, you don’t have to push yourself to keep up with someone else, nor will you be held back by someone else.”

“No studying at the level of the lowest student, you’ll all study at your own pace and each subject will be altered to get the most out of you.” Morita went on. “As we progress, you may be told to drop a subject, you may be given new ones, or you may be told to specialise in a particular weapon or skill. Until we know what you are capable of, right now, we can’t do that.”

“The first week with be mostly test you.” Falsworth warned. “Then the hard work will begin.”

“And this island also has a limited time dilation capacity.” Sirius said. “Limited in that, one week is stretched to four, but then it takes a week to recharge the rune crystals.”

“How long will that net us?” Falsworth had been given too much information for him to do the math.

“Summer holidays are eight weeks” Sirius answered. “We’d be able to use the time dilation crystals four times, turning four weeks into four months, then there’s the four weeks that are needed to charge the crystals. All up, we’d have nearly five months, twenty weeks to be exact.”

“How does that work, Sirius?” Hermione asked.

“It slows down the effects of time within the area set out by runestones linked to the time crystal. People can still apparate in and out, they’ll just be dizzy for a bit on incoming, outgoing seems to be the same as normal. Portkeys won’t work, the time connection clashes with the charm sequences used to create them.”

“Can we learn to apparate?” Neville asked, he wasn’t as hesitant to put himself forward as he had been before joining the D.A.

“Flitwick’s licenced to train and register you for that.” Kingsley said. “Should Remus ask him, or should I?”

Sirius bit his lip as he thought. “Probably better for it to come from Remus, we don’t want to hint at anything official. Tell him to speak to Dumbledore if he has any queries.”

“Why not ask him to meet you in the Headmaster's office?” Luna said. “That way Professor Dumbledore can provide assurances that what we’re doing is for the war effort and that he knows and approves.”

Remus and Kingsley both nodded.

“I’ll give you a copy of the Secret to show him.” Sirius said and headed for the house. “Oh, hey, come one in. I got a pair of elves from Hogwarts, Dobby and Winky. Dumbledore said you’d know who I meant. Winky insisted on being bound, her health was too fragile not to.” Sirius paused in a doorway, as he saw the distaste on Hermione’s face. “Did you know that without being bound to a family or somewhere with a large influx of magic, elves die? They use the bond to balance their magic, without the bond their magic gets unstable and wild and will eventually shatter and kill them.” Hermione gasped in horror. “Which is why Hogwarts takes in any elf that turns up there. Dobby, however, he’s different, the abuse that the Malfoys dished out on him, caused an abnormal alteration in his magic. Dobby doesn’t need a family bond, he’s converted it to a friendship bond, that lets him work for whomever he wants and he can be paid for it, all without negating his bond to Harry.” He entered a large and bright office and crossed to a desk, opening draws and pulling out parchment.

“Me?” Harry asked.

“You.” Sirius nodded. “He used your freeing him from the Malfoys to initiate a bond. He had to alter the bond as only a Head of House can offer a bond and while you are the last Potter, you can’t take your Head of House position until you are seventeen.” He wrote as he spoke.

“Head of House?”

Sirius frowned at Harry. “Surely Dumbledore explained this to you?”

“Nope, never said a word.” Harry shook his head. “I know nothing about the Potter family. I didn’t see a picture of mum and dad until the end of first year, when Hagrid gave me a photo album. I still don’t know where they lived or what they did for a living or anything else, other than I look like dad but with mum’s eyes.”

Sirius groaned. “Bloody hell, Albus…” He turned to Remus. “Tell Albus that I need to have a word with him. And it bloody well better be today.” He held out a slip of parchment to Remus.

“Will do.” The werewolf took the parchment and headed for the apparition point.

An hour later Tonks and Moody returned with a woman that Harry assumed to be Tonks’ mother, who was introduced as Andromeda Tonks, nee Black. Sirius said she was the sane sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, who’d run away from home at sixteen and married a muggleborn called Ted Tonks.

Andi, as she insisted on being called, took the three Howlies away and after giving them general health scans, said that they would be fine to use de-aging potions, that the potions would actually increase their overall health even after the potion wore off.

As she was dosing Morita, Dum-dum had an interesting suggestion.

“We should do this to Peggy, she can teach the girls to fight, too. How to bring down a man and keep him down. You said it might help with other health problems? She’s forgetting things.”

“We can correct that.” Andi said. “Alzheimer’s and dementia can be pre-treated against.”

“I’ll go ask her.” Tonks said and ran out the door.

She was back inside half an hour with Peggy and a suitcase of clothing.

“Do you really think this will work?” Peggy asked, clearly nervous.

“Oh, yes.” Andi replied. “We’ve a fair number of cases we’ve used it on. In many cases we only de-aged a person by a few days, but we do have documented cases of de-aging muggles and magicals by years and even decades.”

“Auror Tonks said that it wears off, after a limited time?”

“It does.” Andi nodded. “Magicals burn through the potion in a matter of days, if not hours. Muggles, however…? It can last for months and if a booster is given at the correct time, a year or more.”

“Is there a permanent version?” Peggy asked, tilting her head, to look at Bucky.

“There is, but it’s only used in very rare cases.” Andi said. “Usually when someone has received a traumatic head injury.”

“Um… excuse me?” Neville raised a hand. “Why wasn’t something like that used on my parents?”

Andi blinked and blinked again before frowning. “I… don’t… know…” She mused.

“If Gran okays it, can we bring them here and try it?” Neville asked. “Dad was an Auror, too. That would give us two more Aurors, if Moody, Tonks and Kingsley had to go back to the Ministry.”

“I’ll speak to… who’s their primary healer?” Andi asked.

“Miriam Strout is in charge of the whole ward, but Kyle Ambrose is their main healer.” Neville answered. “He has been, since they were first admitted.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.” Andi sighed.

“It does?” Hermione asked.

“Ambrose is a long-term care specialist not a trauma healer, neither is Strout.” Andi explained. “I’ll go and talk to Augusta and we’ll see what we can do. But… Not until you four are stable.”

“Very well.” Peggy nodded. “Where do you want me and should I change first?”

Four hours later Andi sighed and sat back. “Well, it seems we have a problem, Miss Carter, gentlemen.”

“And that problem is?” Peggy asked, her throat still raw from screaming.

“You aren’t a muggle, you’re a squib.” Andi said. “And that changes how your body reacts to the potion.” She sighed. “I’m sorry… The changes were a little more extreme than expected and are… permanent…”

“Meaning…?” Peggy’s face was hard and set.

“You’re ten years old.” Andi said. “And we have no way of reversing it. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to grow up like any other ten-year-old.”

“I’m…” Peggy snarled, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. For a few minutes that’s all she did. When she opened her eyes, she spoke. “I will need to speak to the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D, he will need to be made aware of my age alteration. And I will need someone that is, on paper at least, my guardian.”

Everyone turned to look at Bucky.

“Me?” His eyes widened in shock. “Why are you looking at me?”

“It can’t be one of us.” Morita said. “Dum-dum and I are American and Peggy’s English. Plus once the de-aging potions wear off, we’ll be back to being old men. You’ve been permanently de-aged. And you’re marrying a wealthy British wizard, you keeping the squib child of a deceased friend, will be a one-day wonder, then it’ll be forgotten. Us? Not possible. You? How else are you going to get kids?”

“I am not a child.” Peggy snapped.

“No, you’re not, but only those of us here, know that.” Morita reminded her.

“Dammit.” Bucky muttered.

“Bugger.” Peggy swore at the same time.

The following morning shone bright and clear, not a cloud in the sky and as the island lay between the English west coast and the Irish east coast, the weather was liable to change at any time. But right now, it was a beautiful summer’s day and it was time for a wedding or the magical version, thereof.

Albus Dumbledore stood in beside a delicate table and took a deep breath.

“Wait!” Sirius said.

“What now?” Dumbledore muttered, forgetting that he’d cast a minor sonorous charm on himself, earning him a laugh from Harry and Neville.

“We can’t do this without McGonagall.” Sirius whined. “I thought I could but… I can’t.”

Chapter Text

“Wait!” Sirius said.

“What now?” Dumbledore muttered, forgetting that he’d cast a minor sonorous charm on himself, earning him a laugh from Harry and Neville.

“We can’t do this without McGonagall.” Sirius whined. “I thought I could but… I can’t.”

Minerva McGonagall accepted the message from Fawkes the phoenix and sighed, it seemed Albus had another mad, rash plan for the order.

Opening the note she frowned. “One of my lions is getting married?” She tilted her head in thought. “I wonder which… And they want me there? Now?! Today?!” Fawkes trilled in agreement. “Well, I had better get changed, hadn’t I?” She opened her wardrobe and found an outfit suitable for an outdoor summer wedding and held it up. “Yes. That will do fine.” A flick of her wand and a quietly whispered ‘verto’  and she was ready to go. “I’ll just have to send them a gift later.” She told Fawkes, who trilled again and rose into the air, he settled on McGonagall’s shoulder and with a cheery chirp, flamed them away.

They landed in a lush garden, bright summer flowers dotted about the rich green foliage.

“Professor!” Harry Potter’s voice came from behind her and she hurriedly turned around, with Potter were Granger, Longbottom and the Lovegood girl, as well as a few members of the Order. “This way Professor, we have a seat for you, right here.” She was gently manoeuvred into a chair that was much the same as she used in her office.

“Thank you, Potter.” She nodded to the teen.

“No worries, Professor. Enjoy the show.” He was almost laughing.

“Lovely.” Albus’ voice reached her and she looked in its direction, spotting her employer standing in front of the spectators with two unknown men, one with his back to her and one facing her. She studied the man facing her but there was nothing about him that was familiar. “Now that Professor McGonagall has joined us, we shall start…”

Ten minutes later, she figuratively leant down and picked up her jaw off the floor and approached the grooms.

“Mr’s Black.” She gave one of the men a soft smile while the other got a hard glare. “Congratulations. Although…” She raised a brow to man who would now be known as Buchannan Black. “Why on earth you would choose this reprobate as your husband, I just do not know.”

Sirius whined and Bucky laughed. “Harry said that you’d say something like that. But… in all honesty, I haven’t found him to be nearly as bad as everyone says he should have been.”

“Really…?” McGonagall said blandly.

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded. “After listening to a lot of people say the same thing, we put together a series of memories, in a pensieve of course, for the doubters to watch. Even Moody says that Siri grew up.”

“I would like to see these memories.” McGonagall said. “Not that I doubt either of you, just that I want to see more of the two of you together. Marriage is a large step and with Sirius being on the run from the Ministry for the last couple of years, finding time to be together must have been difficult. Especially, as he was supposed to be under lock and key in London.” The last sentence was directed, not at Sirius, but at Remus Lupin.

“Oh, it’s way more complicated than that.” Sirius laughed. “Come on, and I’ll get you set up with the pensieve, when you’ve watched that, you’ll have a better understanding.” He lead her into a solid looking manor house and through to a neat office. “When you’re ready, just come through there.” He pointed to a door that she could see opened into a large ballroom.

“I shall.” She nodded and approached the pensieve that sat on a desk in the middle room.

When she emerged, however long later, she stood there for a few moments before sighing and going in search of her lions. Spotting the pair talking to Harry and Tonks, she gestured for Harry, Tonks and Bucky to not acknowledge her presence and quietly eased up behind Sirius.

“Fifty points from Gryffindor, Mr Black.” She snapped, after winking at the other three.

Sirius spun in place and squawked, “Fifty!” Before he remembered he wasn’t a student anymore. “Don’t do that to me, Professor…” He whined.

Bucky laughed and pulled Sirius back against his chest. “I like her, can we keep her?”

“You like everyone that gives me a hard time.” Sirius muttered.

“Of course, I do.” Bucky grinned. “It means you come sulking to me, for cuddles.”

“Oh.” Sirius blinked in surprise.

“The more people tease you, the more cuddles I get.” The American explained, resting his cheek against Sirius’ hair.

“That will only work up to a certain point.” Remus warned as he joined them. “Once he hits the limit, he starts pranking.”

“Oh, I know…” Bucky nodded vehemently. “Howard used to tease him. A lot. Used to. Until Siri turned all his clothes pink and yellow. Right down to his underwear. After that he was a little better. Siri only had to remind him a few times before he got the message. Teasing is okay but only in moderation.”

“Colour change jinxes are easy,” Remus shrugged, “they require little power and can be set to expire at a certain time. They can also be tied to a person and to a type of item, so that every time the person touches that type of item, it changes to the set colour.”

“Yes.” Bucky grinned. “Siri explained.”

“Mr Potter?” McGonagall asked.

“Yes, Professor?” Harry replied.

“I wouldn’t have expected to see you here.”

“Ah…” Sirius grimaced. “I reminded Albus that Riddle took Harry’s blood to use in his… resurrection…”

“Yes…” McGonagall pursed her lips.

“That would mean, as far as blood wards are concerned, that Riddle is a part of Harry.” Sirius explained. “It would negate the wards Albus put around the Dursleys’ home.”

“Oh, my…” McGonagall gasped.

“Which means that Riddle could just walk right in, anytime he felt like it and take Harry away.” Sirius growled. “Not happening. Not on my watch.”

“No.” Remus nodded. “Which is why we are here. This island belonged to Alphard Black, who according to the blood adoption potions that Alphard left in his vault, is now Sirius’ father. It’s been under fidelius since before we started Hogwarts, with Sirius as the Secret Keeper. So, we decided to take advantage of it and…” for the next ten minutes Remus explained what was planned for Harry and his friends.

“I see…” McGonagall nodded.

“Albus has finally agreed to explain exactly what is going on and why it has to be this way.” Sirius added. “He says, he’ll answer any and all questions we have, but only if we agree to keep it among ourselves.”

“He’s going to ask Professor Flitwick if he’ll come and teach us some sword and knife fighting.” Harry said. “But he’s not going be told everything, just that it’s for the war. Nothing else.”

“I’d like to know exactly what you’re going to be taught, Mr Potter.” McGonagall requested. “As your head of house, it might be wise to be aware of your capabilities. The last thing I need is you turning Mr Malfoy into a ferret as imposter-Moody did in your fourth year.”

“That was wicked.” Harry grinned. “He totally deserved it.”

“He might have, but regardless of whether or not he was actually Alastor Moody, Bartemius Crouch jnr, was portraying a Professor and should have had a more professional attitude.” McGonagall said sternly. “If I hear of you, or your… compatriots doing anything similar…” She left the threat hanging.

“Not until we finish school, Professor.” Harry assured the witch.

“That is not what I meant, Potter.” She huffed.

“I know.” He grinned, causing Sirius to laugh.

“You remind me of your mother, sometimes, Potter.” McGonagall shook her head fondly. “She could always talk her way out of detentions, mostly by using what we’d said, against us.” She blinked a few times and regained her stern demeanour. “Now, I need a word with Mr Falsworth. Please excuse me.” She gave them a head bow and left, in search of the Howling Commando.

“Mr Falsworth.” McGonagall finally cornered the man near the drinks table.

“Ah…?”

“James Montgomery Falstworth, I believe.” Minerva McGonagall raised a brow as she spoke.

“Miss McGonagall?” Falsworth blinked in recognition at his neighbour's daughter.

“Indeed, Mr Falsworth.” McGonagall nodded. “How did you get mixed up with this lot? I remember you coming home from the war and other than Remembrance Day, you’ve been living a very quiet life. Malcolm and Robert were ever so disappointed that you refused to teach them to fight. What changed?”

“Ah… Well…”

“Mr Falsworth.” McGonagall simply stared at him.

“We’re old men, now. And-”

“You certainly don’t look it.” McGonagall cut him off.

“This?” He gestured to his body. “This is potion induced and while it will last for a few months, it’s not permanent for us, like it is for Peggy. The four of us are the last of the Howling Commandos, when we die… There’ll be no-one left, other than Barnes. No-one that was there, no-one that will remember us, the way we want to be remembered.”

“And what, may I ask, brought this on?”

“Barnes.” Falsworth answered. “Like the public, we never knew what happened to him or Black, they just vanished. Only Phillips, Stark and Peggy knew and Peggy is the only one of them still with us.”

“I see.” McGonagall nodded fractionally. “I wish to see your training schedule.” It was not a request. “I may have a few things to add to it.” She hummed. “I’ll need to have a word with Albus, too. And maybe Augusta and Xeno.”

As she spoke, Falsworth was leading her in the direction of the office, again. He went to a smaller desk and opened a folder that lay on it.

“This is what we’ve come up with so far.” He gestured to a sheet of parchment.

“Testing? This is only for one week?” McGonagall frowned.

“That’s right.” Falsworth nodded. “We need to know what the kids are capable of before we go throwing them in over their heads and expecting them to swim, first time. Plus, Harry wants to learn sword and knife fighting and we don’t have anyone to teach that, not yet anyway. Albus was going to speak to someone he knew, but that’s supposed to be later today. This is a rough list of what we hope to teach them, depending on time.” He held out a second sheet.

“I see.” McGonagall repeated after a quick reading. “Very well. Add animagi to that list, please. Right at the top.”

“Not how it works.” Falsworth said. “Once we know what they can do, we’ll sit down with them and work out who’s going to learn what and how much they already know about it. Then I’ll do up schedules, one each and only for a week at a time. When they’re competent in something, we’ll drop it from intensive training to daily revision.”

As the sun set that evening, McGonagall sat at a large round table, with all the other residents of Freedom Island, in the manor’s grand ballroom.

“Alright, Albus.” Sirius looked at the Headmaster. “Start talking and keep going until we tell you to stop.”

“Very well.” Albus Dumbledore nodded. “We’re here to help young Harry end this war. To do so, we need to know all there is to know about his opposition. His birth name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. The public calls him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. I shan’t say the name that he gave himself, as I have recently been informed that he’s planning to put a taboo curse on it, if he hasn’t done so, already.” He lifted a sturdy crystal glass and took a sip of sweet, golden orange juice. “The son of Merope Gaunt, a near squib, and Thomas Riddle, a wealthy muggle, he was born in a London orphanage on…”

It took Dumbledore roughly an hour and a half to divulge everything he knew about Riddle and lean back in his seat.

“Horcruxes?” Sirius whispered. “He actually made horcruxes? Is he insane?”

“He is now, even if he wasn’t when he started.” Remus muttered.

“I’m not sure I understand.” Albus looked at the werewolf.

“Horcruxes don’t just split a soul.” Remus said. “They also split a person’s sanity and intelligence.”

“What can be done to save him?” Albus asked.

“Nothing.” Remus sighed. “The damage is done. That was the main reason the Egyptians gave up on them. You can’t salvage the sanity or the intellect. About one in a thousand can re-merge the soul shards with the original, but not the sanity or intellect.”

“You mean…?”

“He’ll always be insane?” Remus asked. “Yes. And he’ll never regain his mind.”

“Oh, dear.” Albus whispered. “I had hoped to redeem him.”

“No, not possible.” Remus said.

“What about the one in Harry?” Bucky asked as Sirius seemed unable to speak, the idea of a horcrux in his godson's head, freaked him out.

“There is no way of removing it without-” Albus started.

“Yes, there is.” Remus cut him off. “But we’d need a Curse-breaker.”

“It can be removed?” Albus sat forward. “Nothing I’ve found indicates that.”

“It can.” Remus nodded. “The ritual is simple, it’s standard in most curse-breaking apprenticeships. Spirit possessions happen to them on a regular basis. Poor Bill Weasley has had it happen to him a number of times, according to Molly and Arthur.”

“Is he a member of the Order?” Hermione asked. “Could we ask him to do?”

“Even knowing what Molly and the two youngest planned, you’d trust William?” McGonagall asked.

“He works for Gringotts.” Moody said. “And Gringotts only take on the best.”

“Bill is not Molly.” Tonks objected at the same time.

“No, he’s not. Nor is he Ron or Ginny.” Kingsley said. “Arthur is most annoyed with them and if it had been left to him to hand out their punishment, it would have been a great deal harsher.”

“Bill’s cool.” Harry said. “I liked him and Charlie.” Harry might have been stressed by the Tournament but he clearly remembered that Bill treated him like a family friend, not the Boy-Who-Lived.

“Very well, I shall approach William and inquire if he would assist us.” Albus said.

“And we’ve a list of the other horcruxes.” Tonks said. “Although getting our hands on them is going to be difficult.”

“The cup is going to be the hardest.” Kingsley warned. “We’ve no way of getting into the Lestrange vault.”

“Actually, no, that’s going to be the easiest.” Sirius objected. “I’m Lord Black. I claimed that before I did the adoptions from Alphard, so I kept it even after the adoptions. I can enter Bella’s vault, I can’t remove anything, but I can access it.”

“How does that help us?” Tonks wanted to know.

“If Harry can get another fang from the basilisk, I can take that with me into Bella’s vault and kill it, still inside the vault.” Sirius answered.

“Professor Lupin?” Hermione asked. “Is there a curse-breaking ritual that will kill all the horcruxes at once?”

“Not that I know of, but we can always ask Bill. He’ll know.” Remus answered.

“I think…” Harry bit his lip as he spoke, mangling his words a little. “I think I would prefer to destroy it, then there can be no confusion. It can never be used again if it’s got a hole through it. The idea of drinking from something that was a horcrux is… ugh…”

“You have a point.” Albus nodded.

“Do you have pictures of the items?” Falsworth asked.

Albus tilted his head in thought. “I’m uncertain, but I can conjure replicas of them.” He flicked his wand and one by one, a number of items shimmered into being, floating in front of him.

“Hey, I know that locket!” Hermione gasped. “I saw that at number… at number… why can’t I say it, Professor ?” 

“Headquarters’ address?” Albus asked.

“Yes!”

“It’s under fidelius, my dear, and you are not the Secret Keeper, thus you cannot tell the Secret.” Albus explained.

“Oh.” Hermione frowned. “That locket was in a heap of stuff that Mrs Weasley wanted to throw out but Mr Weasley wouldn’t let her. He said that it was jewellery and it belonged to the house of Black and it was not for her to say what should be thrown out and what should be kept.”

“Sirius made Kreacher put it in a trunk with a whole lot of other stuff with the Black crest on them and put it in the attic.” Harry said.

“I did?” Sirius asked, blinking.

“You weren’t really awake,” Harry laughed, “and sort of growled at Kreacher to do what Mr Weasley said.”

“That sounds more like me.” Sirius laughed.

“Well, that gives us two.” Morita said. "With five left still to find."

“Three, maybe two.” Hermione corrected. “Second year, Harry destroyed the diary. The one in Harry. We know where the locket is. And we have a strong lead on the cup.” She nodded to Sirius.

“Oh, yes, I forgot about them.” Morita made a note. “So, that leaves…?”

“The diadem and the ring.”

“Is there any way of checking how many he’s made? If he’s made more since his resurrection?” Hermione asked.

“Actually, yes.” Remus nodded. “There are some scans, that should tell us how many pieces are left.”

“Alright, until we know for certain how many pieces there are, I think that we should concentrate on getting this one out of Harry.” Bucky said. “We can meet each evening, to discuss the day’s activities. At least until Siri starts up the time dilation field, we’ll have to re-access timing later.” He looked around the table. “All in favour?” A chorus of agreement answered him.

“Excellent…” Dumbledore twinkled. “I shall be off to speak with young William. If he gives an oath of secrecy, would anyone be concerned about telling him what we’re doing? Not just an outline but the complete truth?”

“If he makes the oath. Sure.” Sirius said. “And don’t forget to speak to Snape. I still need to know why you trust him so much.”

Dumbledore’s twinkle faded a little, but he nodded. “I shall go to him directly and then to William. I shall return as soon as I can.” He stood and Fawkes flitted from the owl stand he’d been roosting on, over to Dumbledore’s shoulder. A quiet trill and the pair vanished in a burst of flames.

“Right, who’s for hot chocolate?” Sirius clapped his hands.

“Me.” Remus was the first to climb to his feet and head for the kitchen.

Chapter Text

“Excellent…” Dumbledore twinkled. “I shall be off to speak with young William. If he gives an oath of secrecy, would anyone be concerned about telling him what we’re doing? Not just an outline but the complete truth?”

“If he makes the oath. Sure.” Sirius said. “And don’t forget to speak to Snape. I still need to know why you trust him so much.”

Dumbledore’s twinkle faded a little, but he nodded. “I shall go to him directly and then to William. I shall return as soon as I can.” He stood and Fawkes flitted from the owl stand he’d been roosting on, over to Dumbledore’s shoulder. A quiet trill and the pair vanished in a burst of flames.

“Right, who’s for hot chocolate?” Sirius clapped his hands.

“Me.” Remus was the first to climb to his feet and head for the kitchen.

Nicholas Joseph Fury stomped into the elegant Victorian country house, followed closely by Phillip Jefferson Coulson. Neither were pleased to have been called halfway around the world by a panicked Andrew Carter, nephew of former director, Peggy Carter. Apparently, Peggy had gone out with a few friends, namely James Falsworth, James Morita and Timothy Dugan and the four of them had come back with very different ages.

Andrew greeted Fury in the entryway and pointed in the direction of an informal sitting room. After Fury entered the sitting room, he took two steps and froze.

“I didn’t believe it.” He muttered.

“It does sound a bit farfetched.” A ten-year-old Peggy Carter allowed.

“A bit farfetched?” James Falsworth looked to be in his late teens or early twenties.

Timothy Dugan just grunted and Fury judged him to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

Fury looked at the third Howling Commando and frowned, judging James Morita’s age was much harder, he guessed the Asian man to be somewhere between twenty and fifty, but narrowing it down to anything closer was going to be nigh on impossible. Even at eighty, he still hadn’t really looked his age.

“What happened?” Fury asked.

“Spiked drink.” Peggy replied.

“Reversable?”

“Not according to the medical experts that we’ve spoken to.” Peggy said. Leaving out that as yet, Falsworth, Morita and Dum-dum were only under the temporary effects of a de-aging potion. It would all depend on whether or not Andi could get them the permanent version and whether the men would take it. They were more than happy to have new documents and if/when they allowed the de-aging to reverse, they could always say ‘oh well, it seems the expert was partially wrong, see Peggy’s still a kid, maybe it’s only permanent on females’. Or some of the like.

“Motherfu-”

“There’s another issue.” Peggy took no notice of Fury’s swearing.

“What now?” Fury snarled.

“We found someone.”

“Who?”

“That would be us.” Bucky entered the room with Sirius at his side.

“And I’m supposed to know who you are?” Fury snorted.

“Yes, you are.” Peggy said. “Phillip? Who does he look like?”

Phil Coulson frowned but looked at the man, his frown deepened before his face went completely slack in shock. “Oh, dear god…” He whispered.

“Cheese?” Fury blinked at the man’s expression.

“Barnes.” Coulson whispered. “James Buchannan Barnes.”

“What?!” Fury screeched. “You’re trying to say that this… man… is Bucky Barnes?”

Coulson just nodded, barely aware of anything other than the man standing there.

“How did that happen?” Fury demanded.

“I was providing security to Mr Black, here, in the SSR building in Brooklyn, when the building shook and we fell into the archway that he was researching.” Bucky shrugged.

“Carter?” Fury was asking a lot with just her name.

“As far as I can determine?” She said. “Yes, this is Bucky Barnes and Sirius Black. They were able to repeat a conversation that we’d had the morning of their disappearance. Plus, Barnes had the only weapon we were able to document as missing, serial numbers have been confirmed and it’s in exactly the same condition now as it was then, no evidence of wear or aging. Both men were wearing the exact clothing and Black had with him a copy of his research that I’d viewed only that morning, with my signature under Col. Phillips’, approving the next step of his research.”

“Ironically enough, it was going to be sending items into the archway.” Sirius said. This was all true, but without telling Fury and Coulson about magic, this was the closest they were going to get, to telling them what happened.

“If it’s irreversible, what do you expect me to do?” Fury asked.

“We need new documents.” Peggy said.

“Documents…?” Fury asked flatly.

“Of course.” Peggy replied. “Now, while I could have just spoken to Phillip, I felt that you needed to be involved. If you hadn’t seen this, would you have believed it?”

Fury sighed. “No.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.” Peggy agreed with him. “But now you have seen, you do believe. So… I want this off the books. Completely... Utterly…” The last two words were said in a hard, cold voice, belying her young appearance.

“I don’t want to know.” Fury headed for the door. “Coulson, you get to deal with it. Don’t tell me. Don’t show me. Put the paperwork in place and cover your ass. Delete any links to S.H.I.E.L.D., any at all. Nothing is to connect them to us.” He paused. “Except you. Keep a contact number or an address, but don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. Have someone take you to a hotel, tonight. I’m talking the car and as you’ll be here for a few days getting this sorted, I’m taking the plane, too. You can find your own way home.” He stalked out of the room and out of the house, cursing under his breath, all the way.

“Yes, sir.” Coulson said to the empty doorway, he sighed and crossed to a sofa. “I’ll need some details, please. Miss Carter, you first. Who are we making you into?”

“I’m sure that you are aware that my children and their spouses are dead.” She replied and Coulson nodded. “My daughter-in-law, Lydia, died as a result of injuries caused by childbirth. I want you to make documents that state that I am that child. Named after myself, of course, I have no intention of changing my name too much.” She warned. “But a minor change must be there to support the story. So, instead of Margaret Elizabeth, I shall be Margaret Victoria. Born 1^st of April 1986, after all, according to the medical experts we consulted, I am physically ten years old. Thankfully the dates are fairly close, Lydia died on the 3^rd of April that same year.”

As she’d spoken, Coulson had made notes in a small notebook that he’d pulled from a pocket.

“Yes, ma'am.” Coulson nodded. “Margaret Victoria, born 1^st of April 1986, daughter of Matthew Carter and Lydia Carter, nee…?”

“James, Phillip.” Peggy said.

“Lydia Carter, nee James.” Coulson kept writing. “What of schooling?”

Two hours later, Coulson laid down his notebook after repeating back the rough outlines of new identities for Peggy, Bucky, Sirius, Falsworth, Morita and Dum-dum.

Peggy looked at each man and each man in turn, nodded.

“Yes, Phillip, that will be fine.”

“The last thing I need to know are addresses and finances.” Coulson said. “Here in the UK and back home in the US.”

Peggy looked to Sirius for an answer.

“For Peggy, Bucky and I?” Sirius replied. “Eleven Grimmauld Place, Islington, London will be our main postal address. The school where the Bucky and I will be working, is extremely private and all mail to the school goes via a Royal Mail Box in London.” Sirius had bought the townhouse next door to where he'd grown up, specifically for getting and sending muggle post to and from Harry.

“And you gentlemen?” Coulson asked the other three.

“Put down my place.” Dum-dum said. “I’m on the corner of Venting and Lucas Roads, Florida, Massachusetts.”

“Let’s alter that slightly.” Coulson suggested. “What number Venting Road? Technically?”

“1432-1576 Venting and 821-974 Lucas.” Dum-dum replied. “And I have a PO box as well.”

“No, we won’t need that.” Coulson said. “I’ll put Morita down on Venting and you on Lucas. And what of you Mr Falsworth?”

“Crab-apple Farm, North Kilphedir, Scotland.” Falsworth replied. “Usually, I just put the Royal Mail Box address, but just to make it a bit different, I’ll use the farm name.”

“And death certificates?”

“Hold off on that, just yet.” Peggy said. “Let separate them, say a month or so, gentlemen?” The three nodded. “Missing persons reports can be lodged by Andrew. He can say that the four of us went on a highland drive and never returned.”

“I suggest altering that.” Coulson said. “Perhaps it would be better for your brother, Michael, to state that he was aware of your visitors and was allowing you the privacy to reminisce together. That he came to see you, expecting your guests to have left but all their luggage was still in the guest rooms, your purse and identification were still in the house with none of you to be found. He knows nothing more.”

“Yes. Yes, that would be better.” Peggy nodded. “Would you explain it to him? His Alzheimer’s will likely allow him to accept that as fact. His son, Andrew, is be the one we should be keeping in know.” She gestured to the patio where Andrew was visible, reading a magazine.

“I’ll interview them, myself.” Coulson said. “What of your finances?”

“Wills… Margaret Elizabeth Carter left everything she owns to her only grandchild and namesake, Margaret Victoria Carter. If it can be processed quietly, I’d much appreciate it.”

“And for the gentlemen?”

“Much the same.” Falsworth said. “Leaving it to my grandnephew Montgomery Falsworth.” He handed over a number of envelopes.

“My grandson, Tim Dugan.” Dum-dum said.

“My great grandson, Lucas Morita.” Morita added.

“Phillips ordered Barnes’ army pay closed out and left in the care of Howard.” Peggy said. “Someone’s going to need to talk to Anthony about it.”

“We can provide documentation to show that Buchannan James is James Barnes’ grandson and request Stark transferred back to the family. A photo will back that up, a slightly different haircut, along with the documents we’ll put in place, should be enough to convince Stark.” Coulson made a note. “And you Black?”

“Mine’s already been seen to.” Sirius replied. “My Will was activated when I had been missing for three months. It went to Alphard Black and his family, the family solicitor is a close friend of mine and, while quite shocked to see me turn up after all these years, he’s ready to go ahead with transferring everything to me, once I have a legal identity.”

“I’ll get it done, either tonight or by close of business tomorrow.” Coulson assured them. “I am assuming that you three will be staying in England for a while?” When they nodded, he went on. “I’ll get passports, travel docs as well as entry and work visas stamped before I return. Shall we say… 8pm tomorrow evening? That way if any of you have concerns or feel that I’ve missed a document, I can correct it before the end of the week.”

Bill Weasley looked around at the garden that the portkey given to him by Professor Dumbledore, had deposited him in. Lush and green with bright flowers dotted here and there. He had no idea where he was and he was a little nervous about it.

“Wotcha, Bill.” Tonks greeted him from a nearby gate in a hedge.

“Tonks.” He said. “Care to tell me what this is all about?”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “Not without an Oath of Confidentiality.”

“And what will the Oath say?” Tonks handed over a slip of parchment and Bill carefully read it. “That sounds fine.” He nodded. “Are you the witness?”

“Yep.”

“All right.” Bill produced his wand and quickly, and carefully, made his Oath.

“Brilliant.” Tonks beamed. “This way, then. Come and meet the crew that’s going to take down old snakeface.”

Bill blinked and shook his head before following Tonks into the elegant manor house. Down a broad hallway and into a grand ballroom to be greeted by a humming Luna Lovegood who was dancing with Neville Longbottom, the two using the twirls and spins of a waltz to avoid the beams of light being thrown at them by Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“Hiya, Bill.” Harry Potter called from his position on the other side of the ballroom, where Hermione Granger was trying, and failing, to teach the young seeker to waltz.

“Hey, Harry. Hey, Hermione, how’re your toes?” Bill laughed as Harry stumbled yet again.

“Sore.” Hermione sighed.

“Give it up, Mione.” Harry grumbled. “You know I can’t dance.”

“No Potter can.” Remus Lupin wandered into the room. “I warned you. Fly? Like birds. Dance? Like drunken dragons. Thankfully, it doesn’t stop them from moving well, when fighting. Duelling? They’re not too bad. But once they start fighting? That clumsiness all goes away.”

“Aye, I remember Fleamont fighting with some of Riddle’s Inner Circle in the first war.” Moody grinned. “Moved like liquid lightening, he did.”

“Then what’s the point of me giving poor Mione sore toes?” Harry demanded.

“Honestly, Harry.” Hermione huffed. “Everyone should know how to dance.”

“Except Potters.” Remus chuckled. “James used to fall over sideways every time he tried. Nothing Lily did, helped either.”

“Mostly?” Kingsley ignored Remus. “Distraction, until Bill got here.”

“Why am I here?” Bill asked.

“We’ve got a horcrux to deal with.” Moody said.

“A horcrux? Really…?” Bill whined. “I though it might be something challenging.”

“Oh, it’s challenging alright.” Harry snarled. “It’s in my head.”

Chapter Text

“Honestly, Harry.” Hermione huffed. “Everyone should know how to dance.”

“Except Potters.” Remus chuckled. “James used to fall over sideways every time he tried. Nothing Lily did, helped either.”

“Mostly?” Kingsley ignored Remus. “Distraction until Bill got here.”

“Why am I here?” Bill asked.

“We’ve got a horcrux to deal with.” Moody said.

“A horcrux? Really…?” Bill whined. “I though it might be something challenging.”

“Oh, it’s challenging alright.” Harry snarled. “It’s in my head.”

“Harry?” Bill asked sharply, his eyes focusing on that famous scar.

“Yep.” Harry nodded. “When Riddle attacked us, whatever mum did made his Killing Curse ricochet back at him. Professor Dumbledore believes that he’d already done part of the ritual to create a horcrux and intended to use my death as the act of splitting his soul. However, mum’s protection changed that and when the Killing Curse hit him, his soul split, but because he wasn’t able to direct the soul-shard into the vessel that he intended to use, it went looking for its own vessel, preferably one with magic. And as I was the strongest magical signature in the room and had a cut on my forehead that the blast the Killing Curse hitting him caused? It latched onto me.”

“That sounds about normal for the damned things.” Bill nodded.

“Fast forward a few hours and Dumbledore’s taking me from Hagrid, who took me from Sirius in Godric’s Hollow. He scanned me and as he wasn’t aware that horcruxes can be removed, he took no steps to have it treated.” Harry continued.

“Bloody hell…” Bill sighed.

“So… I’ve had a passenger in my scar for the last fourteen and a half years.” Harry finished.

“Horcruxes are useless.” Bill shook his head in disbelief. “Sure, they can resurrect someone that died, but they don’t increase the length of their life.”

“Really?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah.” Bill nodded. “The oldest known witch or wizard, not including the Flamels with their philosopher’s stone, was a wizard from Spain, Senor Jorge Martinez. He died of natural causes at one-hundred-and-forty-seven.”

“One-hundred-and-forty-seven?” Harry did some quick math in his head. “Riddle’s only half that. Less. From what Professor Dumbledore says, Riddle will be seventy on New Year’s Eve.”

“Right.” Bill grimaced. “And we don’t need him around for another seventy-odd years.”

“No.” Harry said. “Hence the Horcrux in me needs removing and we need to kill a few more.”

“More?” Bill asked. “You’ve already killed one?”

“I’ve killed one.” Harry nodded. “The diary in my second year. It was possessing Ginny and forced her to open the chamber of secrets. We know about six, all up.”

“That’s what happened in her first year?” Bill demanded.

“Yes.” Harry replied.

“Oh, sweet Nimue…” Bill groaned. “That puts a different slant on things.” 

“Why do you say that?” Hermione asked.

“Because horcrux possession leaves traces and those traces, if not treated can create susceptibility to compulsions and mind magics like the Imperius Curse.” Bill said. “I’ll have to scan her when I get home, work out how much resistance she actually has.”

“You mean… she might not have been fully responsible for her actions?” Kingsley sat up sharply.

“Exactly.” Bill said. “But to what degree? I don’t know until I scan her.”

“Oh, hell…” Kingsley grimaced.

“We can talk about the girl, later.” Moody said. “Right now we have to get that mess out of Potter’s head.”

“Right.” Bill nodded. “I’m going to need a few things.”

“Like…?” Moody glared at the curse-breaker.

“Some fine white sand. Some good clean charcoal. Some refined salt. At least a cup of each. A raven feather. A silver potions knife. A handful of pure wool. Some red Runic Ink. And some pure distilled water.” Bill ticked off his list on his fingers. “And it would probably be a good idea if there were some healing potions for Harry, for afterwards.”

“Andromeda Tonks is in charge of the infirmary.” Kingsley told Bill. “She’ll want to be there when you do it.”

“So will he.” Hermione warned.

“Ah. Yes, he probably will.” Moody grunted.

“He?” Bill asked.

“Ah…” Harry bared his teeth.

“Um…” Hermione winced.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake…” Neville groaned.

“We’re back!” A voice yelled and a group of people entered the room. “Ah, Bill Weasley, I take it? You got here alright, then?”

“Sirius Black?” Bill stepped between Sirius and Harry, only to have Harry dart around him and step directly into Sirius’ arms.

“Um… We haven’t told him anything yet.” Harry told Sirius, he leant back to look at his godfather.

“Ugh…” Sirius grunted.

“Wand down, Weasley.” Moody ordered. “Black’s working with us and always has been. He wasn’t the Potters’ Secret Keeper, Pettigrew was.”

“But what about your third year?” Bill asked.

“Peter Pettigrew is better known as Wormtail.” Bill’s eyes widened at Harry’s comment, he’d seen the map, the twins had asked him to check it out after their father had given them the ‘don’t use something if you can’t see where it keeps its brain’ talk between their first and second years. “But you know him better as Scabbers the rat.” Bill nearly choked on nothing but air, that little… He’d slept in Ginny’s room…He'd had the run of the Burrow... Including the kitchen...

“Oh, fuck…” Bill whined. “What’s the bet that he’s the other magical signature that the DMLE recorded at the Burrow?”

At his question, Kingsley and Moody gasped and ran from the room, or rather, Kingsley ran while Moody hobbled as fast as he could. Hermione, Neville and a few others just looked blankly after them.

“Oh, shit…” Harry whispered, he’d figured out what Bill was thinking. “If Pettigrew's been loyal to Riddle from the start, what’s the chance that Molly, Ron and Ginny’s actions have been planned by him and he’s either cursed them into it or confundus-ed them?”

“Oh, dear.” Hermione said.

“You don’t think…?” Sirius gasped.

“Would you put it passed him?” Harry asked.

Sirius tilted his head back and glared at the ceiling. “No, I bloody well wouldn’t…” He swore.

“Exactly.” Harry said. “If he did, then the healers might be able to help them, if he didn’t, nothing will change.”

“He’s got a point.” One of the newcomers said in an American accent. “Until we know, we’re still in the same position.”

“Which is getting that thing out of Harry’s head.” Hermione reminded them.

“Well, I told you what I need.” Bill repeated his list of requirements. “Get me them and I can do this in a few minutes.”

“Back in five.” Sirius and Remus left the ballroom.

“How about some introductions?” A tall dark-haired man said in an American accent.

“Sure.” Harry nodded. “This is Bill Weasley, he’s a Curse-breaker employed by Gringotts and brother to Ron, Ginny and the twins that we told you about.”

“Hello.” Bill gave a half-hearted wave and nodded.

“When I say your name please give Bill a wave. And Peggy? If I mess up, will you correct me please?” Harry addressed the questions to a small girl.

The girl nodded. “I will, Harry.”

“Right.” Harry took a deep breath. “First is Sirius’ husband, Bucky, he came back through the Veil with Sirius from 1946, which is where the Veil spat  Sirius out, after he entered it during the fight in the DoM. Next is Peggy Carter, she’s been accidentally, permanently de-aged, prior to that she was the director of the muggle equivalent of the DoM. Then the next three are James Falsworth, Dum-dum Dugan and Jim Morita, they were part of Bucky’s army unit in the muggles’ World War 2, the Howling Commandos. They’ve been temporarily de-aged, to train us and help us get rid of Riddle. Everyone else you should know.”

“Riddle?”

“His name’s under a taboo curse, so don’t say it.” Harry flicked his wand and letters formed in the air.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

After a few moments, the letters began to move and formed new words.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

“Now you know his greatest secret. He’s the son of a muggle and a near-squib.” Hermione said.

Bill’s eyes were wide and his face pale.

“He’s not a man anymore, he made horcruxes.” Harry said. “Six of them.”

“At least six.” Hermione corrected. “We don’t know if he’s made more since his resurrection.”

“Now, you see why we want that thing out of Harry’s head.” Remus said entering the room, carrying a silver tray.

“We got everything, plus, Andi cast purifying charms over them all.” Sirius said, from behind Remus.

“The feather is willingly given by an Ice Raven, the only black feather it had.” Andi came in after them.

“Excellent.” Bill lifted a pair of dragonhide gloves from his belt and slid his hands into them.

He carefully picked up the feather used the knife to sharpen the feather to a quill-point. “Harry? Over here, lay on the floor in front of me.” He dipped the quill into the bottle of ink and crouched down to begin writing on Harry’s face, first outlining the scar, then his eyes, nose and mouth, chanting all the while.

“There you go, Harry.” Bill stood up and stepped back, cracking his neck to release the tension across his shoulders. “All done. Madam Tonks? He’s going to need a Systemic Purifying Draught.”

“Maybe now that that thing is out of his head, I’ll be able to repair some of the damage to his body.” Andi grumbled.

“Yeah, they object to a lot of healing.” Bill said. “They allow for structural integrity of the object holding them, body or item, but little more can be done in the way of healing or repair.”

“Curse-breaker Weasley, I’d be obliged if you would allow me to consult with you on further treatments for Mr Potter.” Andi spoke formally.

“Not necessary, Madam Tonks.” Bill said. “Once the Systemic Purifying Draught does its job, he can be treated as any other patient would. If you have any concerns, you can contact Healer Flickhammer at Gringotts in London, she’s the primary healer for the Curse-breakers based there.”

“Thank you, Mr Weasley.” Andi nodded. “I shall. For now, someone bring Harry through to the medical rooms, while I get the draught Mr Weasley suggested.”

“Call me Bill, ma'am.” Bill said as Bucky gently lifted Harry up off the floor. “Mr Weasley makes me feel like I’m back at Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall after me for some prank.” He grinned as he followed the American.

An hour later, the group were seated in the ballroom at the round table again, Moody and the other Aurors having joined them, to give an update on the latest news regarding the Weasley family.

“Well, Mr Potter’s going to be out of it for a day or two.” Andi said. “Releasing the binds that Pettigrew placed on him in 1991 has hit him like a bludger.”

“If we ever catch Pettigrew, we got a string of charges to cast at him.” Moody growled. “Imperius on Molly Weasley. Confunduses on Arthur, Ron and Ginny. Brewing of illicit potions. Intent to poison. Attempted Line Theft. Theft. Abuse of a minor. Memory charms on minors. Murder. Destruction of public property. Destruction of private property. Extortion. Palcing Illegal Binds.”

“And that’s just so far.” Kingsley added.

“It also means that Molly, Arthur, Percy, Ron and Ginny Weasley are staying in St. Mungo's.” Moody said. “All of them bear the traces of Pettigrew’s magical signature on their cores and bodies.”

Hermione grimaced. “Bodies?” She asked.

“The three children have been memory charmed and sexually abused.” Kingsley said softly. “Healers are doing what they can to correct it, but Pettigrew is a slippery rat. The healers have stated that they may have to de-age the three of them, just temporarily. That would remove any physical effects but there’s still the mental and psychological damage. Ron was conditioned to be Harry’s best mate but he was also conditioned to see him as a clone of James.”

“Harry’s nothing like James.” Sirius said. “It took me a while to look passed the surface but once I did, Harry’s far more like Lily.”

“Yes.” Kingsley nodded. “But Pettigrew didn’t see that, so neither did Ron.”

“Doesn’t sexual abuse create problems for the victims, magically?” Neville asked.

“No.” Andi shook her head. “Magic is all about intent and in the case of sexual abuse the intent of the abuser overrides that of the abused. If charms, potions or force are used, magic rejects the possibility that the victim has intended the act to happen. Once the de-aging happens, they’ll be considered as pure a newborn, magically. Well… Unless they’ve willing used Dark Magics.”

“How does that impact their convictions?” Hermione asked.

“Once the curses and charms are lifted all three will have to be dosed with veritaserum and questioned by a mind-healer using legilimency.” Moody answered. “Depending on their answers as to what will happen. But given what was found, there’s a good chance that they’ll have their sentences amended or possibly even revoked.”

“We just don’t know, yet.” Kingsley said. “It’s going to be days before they can be questioned.”

“Brilliant…” Sirius muttered.

“You don’t have to worry about that, the DMLE have it well in hand.” Moody told them. “Even Fudge is being helpful. He ordered Bones to do whatever it took to find out who was responsible. Amelia took that and she’s playing Lead Beater, no-one’s safe from her bludgers. Dolores Umbridge landed herself in custody for forcing Fred, George, Ron and Ginny to use a Black Quill, during her time at Hogwarts.”

“Go, Madam Bones.” Neville chuckled.

“Indeed.” Andi nodded. “Mr Longbottom?”

“Neville, please, Madam Tonks.” Neville said. “Like Bill said, I keep looking for Professor McGonagall whenever you say Mr.”

“Very well. Neville.” Andi gave the teen a regal head dip. “Please call me Andi. And that goes for all of you.”

“Why don’t we just say, no titles?” Tonks asked. “All except Moody, of course.” She threw a quick smirk at her mentor, ignoring his grunt.

“That will work fine.” Andi said. “Neville, you parents are responding well. I’ve been giving them small doses of de-aging potion, boosting the dose just before the previous one wears off. So far, I estimate I’ve removed roughly two years from them. I prefer to do it this way as I wish avoid any major injuries that they had suffered prior to the last attack. Yes, I know I could give them a large dose followed by smaller ones, but this gives me a chance to boost their overall health as I go and reintegrate the pieces of their minds that I recover along the way. All the pieces of their memories are there, they’re just shattered and scattered. I’m using legilimency to locate small pieces and put them in rough chronological order, as I do, larger pieces are automatically slotting back into place.”

“So, the de-aging is working on them?” Peggy asked. “They’ll recover?”

“I believe so.” Andi smiled at Neville. “They remember Neville, I can see the progression of time as Neville aged, in their memories. I’m trying to use that as a gauge for progression. But I’m taking it slowly. I want them fully recovered, or as fully as we’re going to get them, and rushing is not going help. I’d much rather take a month or two and have them fully recovered than take a week and have them remain semi-invalids.”

“Yes, please.” Neville had tears running down his cheeks, but his smile was bright and cheery.

Chapter Text

“So, the de-aging is working on them?” Peggy asked. “They’ll recover?”

“I believe so.” Andi smiled at Neville. “They remember Neville, I can see the progression of time as Neville aged, in their memories. I’m trying to use that as a gauge for progression. But I’m taking it slowly. I want them fully recovered, or as fully as we’re going to get them, and rushing is not going help. I’d much rather take a month or two and have them fully recovered than take a week and have them remain semi-invalids.”

“Yes, please.” Neville had tears running down his cheeks, but his smile was bright and cheery.

“Yes, Harry.” Andi nodded, studying the eager teen’s latest scan. “You’re fine to go. Bill stated that with the horcrux removed, you may find that your current wand no longer matches your core. Something to do with the connection you had with Riddle during your formative years, not being there anymore. Especially, as we were forced to de-aged you to repair the damage to your body. I had expected that I would have be able to repair it without resorting to such drastic measures. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.” Andi spoke with the same elegant formality that had been ingrained into both her and Sirius, as children of House Black.

“It’s fine Andi.” Harry assured the healer. “This works better, as far as I’m concerned. I’m taller. My scars are gone, including this one.” He rubbed a finger over an unmarked forehead. “All the damage done by the Dursleys is gone. I’m more than fine with that.”

“Of course, you are.” Andi shook her head. “Go on, get out of here. Tonks and Sirius are waiting to take you to Dublin.”

Harry gave her a bright smile and darted from the room.

Tonks and Sirius apparated to Dublin with the four teens, who were wearing subtle glamours. Harry had lighter hair and eyes, Hermione’s hair was straightened and darker, Luna’s hair was shortened and Neville’s went to a dirty blonde.

The old wandier took no notice of their appearances and after casting a charm on them and telling them to cast a lumos before the charm expired, told them that only Luna and Hermione’s wands were strong matches. Luna’s matched her core well, a compatibility of 91%, with Hermione’s a few point higher at 94%. But that Neville and Harry’s wands were barely registering on the charm and Sirius’ wasn’t much better.

He looked over at Tonks. “Not you. You already have three excellent matches.”

“I do.” Tonks said. “All of them 98% or above.”

“Good. Stay out of the way.” The wandier grunted as he heaved a box onto the counter. “You first.” He pointed at Neville. “Hand over the box and pulse your magic into the box.” Neville did as he was directed and three pieces of wood began to glow.

“Right, here’s how it’s going to work.” The wandier said ten minutes later. “The two lasses only need two wands apiece but you gentlemen will be getting three each. I can bond them to you, once complete, but it involves giving the wand your blood.” All five nodded. “Excellent. Now the question is… Do you want all your wands to be identical or do you prefer some individuality?”

“Um…” Sirius looked to Tonks.

“For the girls, I’d say go identical.” Tonks answered. “They already have a well-matched standalone wand.”

“Right.” The wandier made notes.

“For the men, can you do one standalone and the other pair identical?”

“Of course.”

“Do that, then.”

“Just remember these wands are going to be far more receptive than what you’re currently using.” The wandier cautioned. “They’re all going to have to get used to the change in their core-access levels.”

“We know.” Tonks laughed. “We’ve got them slated for some rigorous training, this summer.”

“Good, they’re going to need it.” He laid the trays on a rolling table. “Come back in a couple of hours and I should have these ready to go.”

Later that evening, Sirius activated the time dilation crystals and the group watched as birds flying over went from darting across the sky to a slow crawl.

“That is wicked.” Neville exclaimed.

“Isn’t it?” Sirius barked a laugh.

“Alright. Inside.” Falsworth ordered. “Time to set up a training schedule.”

“Dumbledore should be along before seven.” Moody said, pointing to the grandfather clock at the base of the stairs to the house’s second floor. “One side-effect of time dilation is that all timepieces remain on the external time.” The clock read twenty-five past six.

“So, all our watches are running on outside time?” Hermione asked.

“They are.” Moody agreed, as the group entered the ballroom. “Take yer seats. Falsworth? All yours.”

“Thanks, Moody.” Falsworth gave the old Auror a nod. “It’s time to start your testing. We need to know what each of you can do as far as magic is concerned. Then we also need to take into consideration your physical condition and what type of hand-to-hand we’re going to teach you and who will teach whom.” He spread out a large sheet of paper on the table in front of him. “Now, Minerva, Remus, Moody and Kingsley have been most helpful as far as putting together a list of spells. First through third year, we’re only going to ask, if you can do the spell. Fourth and above, we’ll have you cast them. Although, I understand that there are a few spells that some are arguing over it being unfair to expect you to be able to cast, while others say you can cast them.”

“Sorry we’re late.” Albus Dumbledore lead Filius Flitwick into the room. “Filius has given his Oath and I have here a copy of my memory of that.” He gently laid a phial on the table.

“Good to have you with us, Professor.” Harry bounced out of his seat to shake the part-goblin’s hand. “Come and have a seat. Has Professor Dumbledore explained what’s happening, to you?”

“Oh, yes.” The little duellist chirped brightly. “And I’m delighted to help out.”

“Grand.” Falsworth said. “We were just about to go through the list of spells that Minerva gave us.”

“Perhaps, a quick introduction?” McGonagall suggested and when people nodded, she quickly went around the room naming people and giving a very brief outline of their history and skills.

“Thank you, Minerva.” Albus patted McGonagall’s hand. “Now, where were we?”

“The list of spells.” Falsworth said. “We’re just going to ask yes or no to the first to third year spells.”

“I really don’t see the point...” Flitwick said with a frown. “They’re all in fifth year, barring Miss Lovegood. They’ve all passed the end of year exams for each class, irrespective of OWL results. Albus? I asked you to bring along the students’ records. Did you?”

“I did.” The Headmaster laid four folders on the table. “I’ve had a quick peek and yes, all have passed their end of year exams.”

“Then we can discard the first through fourth year spells.” Flitwick said. “Even taking Madam Umbridge into consideration, all of them have passed fourth year. Mr Longbottom has progressed rapidly this year, going from near-bottom of the class to the upper one-third. And Miss Lovegood is as competent as many who sat OWLs this year.”

“In that case we’ll get you, Minerva, Albus and Remus to test each of them over the next day or so.” Falsworth made a note on a notepad beside him. “In the meantime we need to work out what each student is going to learn. Both magically and from a muggle standpoint.”

“I’d like to test each of them to determine if they have the ability to become animagi.” McGonagall looked at Sirius. “It might be an idea for you to consider, too.”

Sirius grimaced. “Uh…”

“What?” McGonagall asked flatly.

“We… um… we already did...” Sirius muttered, refusing to look the transfiguration Professor in the eye.

“You already did… what, exactly?” McGonagall’s voice was blank.

Sirius didn’t actually reply, not by speaking, at least. Instead he rose from the table and took two steps back before leaning forward and dropping onto all fours, as Padfoot. One look at McGonagall’s face and Padfoot whined and pushed his head into his husband’s lap.

“Oh, you…” McGonagall nearly snarled. “Who else?” She looked to Remus for an answer.

“James and Peter.” Remus replied quickly.

“And they were what?”

“James was a stag and Peter was a rat.”

“Expecto patronum.” Harry whispered and Prongs burst from his new wand. “That’s dad’s animagi form.” He said. “And Pettigrew was Scabbers.”

“Weasley’s rat?” McGonagall blinked.

“Yes…” Harry sighed and nodded.

“You can cast a Patronus?” Moody asked, his brows rising.

“Of course.” Harry replied. “We all can. Hermione’s is an otter.” He paused and nodded to the young witch, who then cast the charm and her otter joined Harry’s stag. “Luna’s is a Hare.” The hare bounded around the stag’s legs. “Neville’s wasn't corporeal yet, but with a wand that matches him…? Try it, Nev.”

They all watched as the young wizard drew in a deep breath and held it before casting the spell.

“Expecto patronum.” A massive cloud of mist slowly solidified and formed the shape of a fully grown lion, its shaggy mane ruffling in a non-existent breeze.

“Good one, Neville.” Harry cheered.

“Oh, well done.” Flitwick clapped his hands. “Well done, indeed.”

“How…?” McGonagall gasped.

“Harry taught us.” Luna said in her usual breezy voice.

“He did.” Neville said.

“He’s been our DADA teacher this year.” Hermione said. “We weren’t going to let Umbitch stop us from passing our OWLs, same with the twins, Lee and the quidditch queens.”

“Your… D.A., wasn’t it called?” Remus smothered a smile, while ignoring mangling of Umbridge’s name.

“Dumbledore’s Army, we called ourselves.” Harry said, looking proudly between Dumbledore and McGonagall. “Mostly fifth years and mostly Gryffindors but we had a smattering of students from other years and even some from other houses.” 

“And you taught them all?” McGonagall arched a brow.

“He did.” Neville said.

“I started with third year stuff and went up.” Harry added. “Dennis Creevey and Natalie MacDonald were the youngest, they’re in second year. They struggled for a few weeks but soon caught on. From there we went through the practical stuff, we got enough theory with Umbitch, so I didn’t bother with it.”

“How far did you go?” Remus’ curiosity was clear.

“NEWT practicals.” Hermione said. “Harry owled Oliver Wood and asked for his seventh-year stuff and a breakdown of what was in his NEWT practical examinations. And the twins brought in the seventh-year books from their brothers’ collections.”

“You covered from third year to seventh year, in one year?” Even Remus was surprised.

“Oh, no.” Hermione objected. “We didn’t start the D.A. meetings until after Halloween. It took weeks to convince Harry to teach us. Then we had to find somewhere big enough to fit us all, where Umbitch wouldn’t find us.”

“Not including holidays, you’ve had six months doing this?” McGonagall asked. “Correct?”

“About that.” Harry nodded.

“And all of you reached the same level?” Flitwick asked.

“Of course, Professor.” Harry said. “It did take a little more for Dennis and Natalie to do some of the NEWT level stuff, but other than being a little more tired and hungrier than usual, they were fine. We made sure that they didn’t strain their cores.” He assured the Professors.

“I see…” McGonagall looked at Harry sternly. “Did you keep notes on what was taught and when?”

“I did.” Harry grinned and pulled out a satchel and from that he retrieved a pile of muggle notebooks with subject dividers. “One for me, with an overview of what had been taught and when and ideas for possible suture classes and one for each student, each division is the equivalent of each year’s work.” He said, spreading them out on the table.

“May I?” McGonagall asked and when Harry nodded, she picked one up at random. “Mr Macmillan?”

“Ernie was okay.” Harry said. “Not great but okay. He kept up but didn’t put in as much effort as he could have. If I had to grade him, I’d say a low to mid EE.”

“He managed a disillusionment charm?” Flitwick asked, trying to look over McGonagall’s shoulder, even though he barely came up to said shoulder. "That's the most difficult of the standard charms that I teach at Hogwarts."

“Of course.” Harry stated. “We covered everything in Practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, that was issued by Remus for years three to seven.”

“And what of other subjects?” McGonagall asked.

“Nope.” Harry replied cheerfully. “Didn’t need to do anything about them. We had decent teachers for them. Although… I could use some potions catchup, Snape’s idea of teaching was to write the recipe on the board and sit down.”

“We can look at that for later, Harry.” Hermione said. “We have to concentrate on Tom and getting rid of his horcruxes.”

“Ah, there I have news.” Dumbledore sat forward and slid a small jewellery box onto the table. “I managed to find this. The Peverell Family Ring.” Looked at the box and sighed. “However it came at a cost.” He held up his hand, it was blackened and looked badly bruised. “I wasn’t expecting the compulsion charms to be quite so… insidious. Severus was only able to slow the withering curse, not stop it. At most, he believes I have a year before it reaches my heart.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Bill Weasley snarled. “You should have come straight to me, Professor. Withering curses are nasty stuff. I can break it but… I may not be able to reverse the damage its already done.”

“Anything that you can do will be gratefully accepted, William.” Dumbledore gave the Curse-breaker a tired smile.

“Come on, then, no time to waste.” Bill stood up. “Andi, you had probably better come, too.” He turned back to the table. “We’ll be back as soon as we can but it’ll take a while. Don’t wait on us.”

“Alright, back to it.” Falsworth said. “Magical levels can best tested later, let’s look at muggle stuff.” Looked to Flitwick. “You’re here to teach sword and knife skills, right?”

“I am.” Flitwick nodded.

“Who’s interested in that?” Falsworth asked.

Harry looked from Luna, to Hermione and then Neville. “Looks like it’s just Neville and I.” he said.

“Right.” Falsworth made at note on his notepad. “Animagi?”

Another look around from Harry. “All of us.”

“Good.” Another note was made. “Guns?”

“All of us. But the girls are more interested in the long-range stuff and Neville and I are only looking at pistols as backups.”

“Fair enough.” Notes were made in two places. “Hand to hand? We have couple of different types. Peggy believes the girls need some gender specific basics regardless of whether they go any further or not. Bucky can teach you street fighting, the no-rules stuff. Morita will teach the more refined martial arts, Dum-dum will teach the more blunt-force stuff, boxing and wrestling sort of thing.”

“I suggest that everyone be taught some basics in everything and then we can look at additional training.” Peggy said. “The last thing we need is for you to be in a position where you could see to your own defence, if you’d had a little more training.”

“She’s right and you know it.” Sirius pointed to each of the teens.

“In that case let’s start with some physical conditioning.” Dum-dum said and Morita nodded.

“Once Albus and Bill return, we need to kill whatever this is.” Moody grunted pointed at the jewellery box.

“That means a trip to Hogwarts, and the chamber of secrets, for a basilisk fang and if possible, some venom.” Remus perked up at the chance to see the fabled chamber.

Chapter Text

“I suggest that everyone be taught some basics in everything and then we can look at additional training.” Peggy said. “The last thing we need is for you to be in a position where you could see to your own defence if you’d had a little more training.”

“She’s right and you know it.” Sirius pointed to each of the teens.

“In that case let’s start with some physical conditioning.” Dum-dum said and Morita nodded.

“Once Albus and Bill return, we need to kill whatever this is.” Moody grunted pointed at the jewellery box.

“That means a trip to Hogwarts, and the chamber of secrets, for a basilisk fang and if possible, some venom.” Remus perked up at the chance to see the fabled chamber.

Three days later, or perhaps that should be… three training rotations later, the group met in the ballroom, again. All of them were ignoring the darkness outside the window, that was incredibly slowly turning to daylight.

Living four hours for each one that passed on a clock, was a peculiar thing. Rest times were scheduled by the clock and someone was always up and about. Rooms had to be blacked out with heavy curtains, to allow people to sleep. Dobby and Winky were having to prepare twelve meals a day, instead of three and that meant a lot more shopping for groceries. Then there was the fact that most people were running around and getting dirty and sweaty for hours on end, meaning the laundry was a never-ending chore.

And that didn’t take into account the hunt for the last horcruxes. They had already destroyed the diary and removed the one in Harry’s scar, they had the ring under heavy wards in the house’s ritual chamber. That left them the cup, the locket and the diadem, if they were lucky. The locket, they knew was in Grimmauld, assuming that Mungdungus Fletcher hadn’t stolen it and would be retrieved on the same trip that they used to go to the chamber of secrets. The cup would require a trip to Gringotts, while the diadem was still missing at this point.

“Magically?” Dumbledore said. “I agree with my colleagues, we should have listened to Harry. All four of them are capable of sitting their NEWT practicals and passing. Mr Longbottom and Miss Lovegood might not achieve O’s, but they would certainly pass.”

“Physically…” Falsworth paused. “Just for clarification… We’ve split their training into magical and physical groupings. Magical is like it sounds, anything they would learn solely from the magical world. Physical, covers everything else, everything they could learn in the muggle world. Clear?” He looked around the table and saw most people nodding. “Good. Physically, Harry’s far and away more fit than the others but given their histories, that’s to be expected.” The Howlie told them. “Peggy’s taking the girls for the next few sessions, while Neville will work with Morita and Harry with Bucky. Sirius, and Remus will join Neville. Tonks? You’re in with the girls. Filius? I’m hoping you can work with Andi and Minerva and come up with a way to have some guns fire charms or hexes instead of bullets. Those of us that are squibs or muggles, or Bucky, need a way to incapacitate the enemy but we also need it to be password protected.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Flitwick frowned. “Password protected?”

“If you don’t have the right password, you can’t remove the charm.” Falsworth said.

Flitwick’s face cleared. “Oh, yes, of course. Why didn’t we think of that?”

“You haven’t the experience with computers and passwords, like most muggles have.” Falsworth said. “Minerva, another thing we need you and Andi to work on, is the animagi potion.”

“I’ve got that.” Sirius said. “James and I worked out a few shortcuts to the usual recipe and procedure.”

“What did you do?” McGonagall looked at her former student sternly.

“We altered the section that has you holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month, to soaking it in a combination of blood and saliva for a week. The other change we made is the electrical storm, we did heap of lightning charms, just kept going until we could feel the static in the air and the potion started to sparkle.”

“I’ll need to view you memories, Sirius.” Andi said, sharply.

“As will I.” McGonagall nodded.

“Excellent.” Dumbledore beamed at them.

“We’ve decided that we’ll wait until mid-afternoon to head to Hogwarts and the chamber. Professor Snape is more likely to be engrossed in brewing for the hospital wing, at that time.” Hermione said. “Less chance of running into the man.”

“We can’t take the chance that he learns something that would be a risk to him.” Bucky said. “His position is precarious enough.”

“It is.” Dumbledore nodded. “I spoke with him, last night and requested his permission to explain where my trust in him originates from. He was… reluctant but agreed to it, if Oaths of Confidentiality were given.”

“Professor?” Harry asked. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Yes, Harry?” Dumbledore tilted his head in question.

“I’m wondering…? Do we all need to know? Or can we have a select few take the Oath and tell us that your trust in him is worth it?” Harry asked. “It would tell us, not necessarily why you trust him, but that your trust a good thing. If Siri, who really can’t stand him, and say… Peggy who doesn’t actually know him, both believe your reasons are good, I’ll accept that and won’t ask for more.”

“Me, Peggy, Moody and Andi.” Sirius corrected. “I won’t insist on more than that but Moody is a suspicious bastard, he won’t believe without knowing for himself. Peggy is used to working with spies and secrets. Andi, as our primary healer, needs to know everything, just in case we are forced to bring Snape to her, for treatment. And me. I… Before the Veil, I would have said I hated him… but for me, it’s been nearly two years since then. I’ve seen a lot and done a lot. I’d like to think that I’ve grown up a little. I don’t think I hate him, anymore, but he’ll never be my favourite person. My favourite DeathEater, yeah, sure, but not my favourite person.” He shrugged. “I think it’s safe to say that those at this table rank higher in my affections than Snape, but if I have to choose, his life or Fudge’s? Snape gets my vote.” He finished with very false cheer, causing the teens and Bill to laugh at him.

“Then perhaps, you, Miss Carter, Alastor and Madam Tonks would join me in the infirmary for a private discussion?” Dumbledore asked.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Moody agreed.

“Shall we go now?” Sirius looked at Dumbledore.

“We shall.” The Headmaster stood and offered his arm to Andi. “May I escort you, Madam Tonks?” She nodded regally and linked her arm through his.

“Don’t even think it.” Peggy glared at the two other wizards. “I am quite capable of escorting myself.” She followed Dumbledore and Andi from the room.

They were back before a clock said they’d been gone fifteen minutes, which under the time dilation, was actually an hour.

Sirius had a furious expression on his face and Peggy was no better, Andi’s face was blank and for some reason that told the people still working on the finer details of their training, that the healer was just as angry as her cousin was. While Moody? He’d stomped into the room in a veritable tower of rage.

And… all of it was directed at Albus Dumbledore.

“Well?” Harry asked, he knew anger well enough to know that it wasn’t directed at him and wouldn’t be taken out on him.

“Albus too-many-names Dumbledore is a bloody frigging idiot and given his stupidity, you are NEVER allowed to be alone with him, nor are you allowed to go anywhere with him, not without getting my consent first.” Sirius sounded very much like Harry assumed Padfoot would, if he could talk and was angry with someone.

As he spoke, Dumbledore winced and quietly took his seat.

“Quite rightly so.” Andi agreed. “Having said that, we now know why the Headmaster extends his trust to Professor Snape.” She spoke formally, any warmth completely leeched from her voice. “And while we do not like his reasoning, he at least had the foresight to get an Oath on the man’s allegiance. Severus Snape is most definitely not working for… Tom Riddle. I wouldn’t say Professor Snape’s on the side of Light, more... that he’s on whatever side Riddle isn’t. He will do whatever he can to bring down the monster responsible for killing Lily Potter.”

“Ah.” Remus nodded. “That explains a lot.”

“It does?” Neville asked.

“Oh.” Harry made the mental leap. “He was in love with mum…” He whispered.

“Yes.” Remus confirmed.

“Oh, well, yes… That makes… Everything he’s done makes so much more sense, now.” Harry rubbed at the back of his neck.

“It does?” Hermione asked.

“Think about it.” Harry said. “Knowing that? First year, the troll, it was Snape and McGonagall that found us, our head of house and Snape. It was Quirrell jinxing my broom but Snape was casting the counter jinx. He also cornered Quirrell and threatened him in the corridors one night. Then there’s Fluffy, Snape was bitten insuring that Quirrell didn’t get passed Fluffy and let’s not forget that his part in the protections was a logic puzzle. Hermione, how many times have you said that wizards have no logic and yet he uses a logic puzzle? Then Second year? He did the duelling club with Lockhart The Incompetent but Professor Flitwick is the Duelling Master, not Snape. We brewed… well… you brewed polyjuice in a bathroom, how many times a day did Snape walk passed that bathroom? He’s a potions Master, he’d be able to smell it brewing and he did nothing. Then, there was no retribution from him, after Crabbe and Goyle woke up, he had to know it was us that dosed them. He knew Ron and I were there when he challenged Lockhart to go after Ginny, looking back, he was trying to show us that Lockhart was useless. Third year, he brewed Wolfsbane for Remus, every month. He followed us to the Shack. He stepped between us and Remus, as Remus became Moony, he shoved us behind him, the instant he realised what was happening, the instant. And remember, his bogart was a werewolf. Fourth year, he never picked on me in class, not once. That might not sound like much but this is Snape, he’s given me a rotten time in every class since I first arrived at Hogwarts, it’s huge. And this year? Occlumency lessons, I think now, that he was trying to make my mental shield snap into place. He told Umbitch that he didn’t have any veritaserum. He could have left it at that, but he also told us that she’d used the last of it on Cho and he didn’t tell her that he could brew more or get more from the hospital wing or the Headmaster’s office. He could have just left it at the same point I did, flooing headquarters and leaving a message with Kreacher, instead, he hunted around and told the all the members of the Order and sent them after us.” He ranted. “And let’s be honest, given how many times I’ve been in the hospital wing, if he wanted to kill me, all he’d have to do is make a small mistake in a potion. He does all the brewing for the hospital wing, after all.” Harry ended his rant and sat back, breathing hard.

The expression on the faces of the magicals was amusing.

“Oh, my…” McGonagall whispered. “We never gave it a thought. We just expected him to be professional about it…”

“Harry’s right…” Remus was just as quiet as McGonagall. “If he wanted to kill Harry…? It would have been so easy for him and it would never have been picked up. Just a minor mistake in dosage or strength.”

“Or suggest a potion that had an ingredient that Harry was allergic to.” Andi said darkly.

“So, it’s safe to say that Snape is on our side until we get rid of Riddle?” Bucky said. “What’s he likely to do, then?”

“I would say, he’ll probably wait for the furore to die down and offer me his resignation.” Dumbledore sighed.

“Can Hogwarts afford to lose a potions Master of his abilities?” Hermione asked.

“It will be a great loss.” Dumbledore admitted. “And will costs us, to either buy the potions he brewed or to hire another brewer.”

“Then why not hire him just to do the brewing?” Harry asked. “He doesn’t have to do classes, doesn’t have to put up with students, unless someone’s absolutely brilliant at potions, then maybe he could have an apprentice?”

“House Black will fund half of his wages, if he’ll undertake research into creating a cure for lycanthropy.” Sirius said.

Harry nodded, quickly. “House Potter will fund the other half.” He’d had a few sessions with Sirius learning the extent of the Potter holdings and while they weren’t quite as wealthy as the Blacks, that was only because Dumbledore had locked down Harry’s Gringotts vaults, putting a stop to changing any investments.

“House Longbottom will add to that, perhaps the same amount, to go towards the ingredients and materials needed.” Neville added.

“If I had anything, I’d help, too.” Hermione muttered and Luna nodded her agreement.

“In that case,” Andi suggested, “you should really go to Gringotts and get an inheritance test.”

“Actually, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for all of you to go.” Remus added. “I know a number of people that have died since the war ended... or paused I should say... that have left money to Harry. And Hermione? You may be a muggleborn but with the surname of Granger, there’s the possibility that you’re connected to the Dagworth-Grangers and that might mean a vault’s waiting for you.”

“Alright.” Falsworth said. “If we’re going to do that, I suggest that we alter the timing of our trip to Hogwarts from half-four to three o’clock. We go straight to Hogwarts, to the chamber and get a few basilisk fangs, from there to Grimmauld Place for the locket. Send Sirius back here with the locket, while a few of us take Harry to Gringotts.”

“Can I suggest a change to that?” Peggy looked around the table.

“Suggest away.” Falsworth said. “We’ll decide as a group.”

“Right.” Peggy nodded. “Swap things around a little, do Gringotts first, just the testing, then Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place. Leave the cup for another day. As far as Hogwarts and Grimmauld is concerned, I’d change nothing but making them later. But for Gringotts and Diagon Alley? I’d suggest going a little more… obvious. Dum-dum, Falsworth, Morita and Barnes dress in duelling robes or something similarly threatening, Sirius in his Animagus form with a heavy chunky-studded collar, make them all look like a protection detail.”

“Bodyguards, you mean?” Hermione asked.

“Yes.” Peggy nodded. “Have four men, clearly armed and escorting Harry, calling him Mr Potter, or Sir, ignoring anyone else that speaks to them, deferring to Harry when approaching a shop or person. Maybe with Remus as Harry’s guide?”

“No, not Remus.” Harry shook his head. “Tonks and Kingsley. In their Auror robes. Moody? Any chance you can get Madam Bones to sign-off on them being assigned as my security or trainers? And getting her okay on muggle bodyguards as well?”

“And how do you plan to get around the fact that they know about magic?” Moody asked. “I should be obliviating them not getting official approvals.”

“Tell her that they’d been magically de-aged.” Neville suggested. “Or that they’re squibs.”

“Peggy’s a squib, but the others aren’t and Madam Bones will insist on testing them.” Andi reminded them. “And the de-aging can be reversed. Best to keep that to ourselves.”

Harry grinned, an evil grin. “Tell her I’ve already hired them and had them sign Gringotts’ contracts.” 

“She’ll want to see the contracts.” Moody grunted.

“Hermione? Can  you write up something that sounds really heavy and binding... but isn’t? Bill? Can you approach Gringotts about getting it made into a contract?”

“That’s my pup!” Sirius cackled.

“How far do you want to go?” Hermione asked.

“How about you, Bill and I do this, together? If you’re happy with it and Bill’s happy with it, Harry should be fine with it. Right, Harry?” Peggy countered and the trio quickly moved to a smaller table and began scribbling notes on a pad.

“Tell the goblins that we want it backdated to… say the 25^th of June?” Harry added, nodding in answer to Peggy’s last question. “Imply that we had a muggle contract, but that we’d all feel safer with a magical one.”

“Will do.” Hermione just waved a hand over her head.

“We might wanna put the trip to Gringotts off until they get that done.” Moody suggested.

“If they take an hour to put it together, it should only take Gringotts another hour to formalise it.” McGonagall said.

“Then Alastor can take copies to Madam Bones and we’ll be good to go.” Sirius added.

“In the meantime?” Falsworth looked at Harry and Neville. “Boys? Back to it.”

Harry groaned but got to his feet and followed a grinning Bucky from the room.

“Bugger.” Neville sighed, but he too got to his feet, only he followed Morita out a different door.

“And you two.” Falsworth pointed at Sirius and Remus. “You need this almost as much as they do.”

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and huffed. “Right.” Remus nodded. “Come on, Padfoot.”

Chapter Text

“We might wanna put the trip to Gringotts off until they get that done.” Moody suggested.

“If they take an hour to put it together, it should only take Gringotts another hour to formalise it.” McGonagall said.

“Then Alastor can take copies to Madam Bones and we’ll be good to go.” Sirius added.

“In the meantime?” Falsworth looked at Harry and Neville. “Boys? Back to it.”

Harry groaned but got to his feet and followed a grinning Bucky from the room.

“Bugger.” Neville sighed, but he too got to his feet, only he followed Morita out a different door.

“And you two.” Falsworth pointed at Sirius and Remus. “You need this almost as much as they do.”

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and huffed. “Right.” Remus nodded. “Come on, Padfoot.”

Moody handed Harry a set of four badges on lanyards.

“These are to tell anyone that asks, that the bearer is a DMLE-approved, privately contracted personal security guard.” Moody explained. “It’s rare to get DMLE approval. The last time was during the Grindelwald war, Newt Scamander was  asked to courier something from MACUSA to Hogwarts. Theseus Scamander may not have liked his brother much but he didn’t want the man dead.” He also laid four wand holsters on the table. “Madam Bones also suggested that your guard be provided these. These are dedicated wands. They are only capable of a couple of spells and can be used by squib or even a muggle.” 

“What spells?” Peggy leant forward and studied the wands.

“A couple of shields, as well as Stupify and incarerous. We’ll walk you through using them.” Moody answered. “They’re also tied to the badges so only the person wearing the badge can use them.”

“Excellent.” Harry grinned. “Tonks has also just got back. She went to Luximbell’s for their robes.”

“You should see them, they’re wicked.” Tonks said, brightly. “There’s nothing to get in the way of movement. They’ll be able to fight in them, magical or muggle style. And they can wear their combat gear under them, if they like.”

“Did you get the Potter crest on them, like I wanted?” Harry asked.

“No.” Tonks said. “Madam Bones said not to. There’s a lot of guards out there, most of them aren’t DMLE approved but they’re still out there. The Purebloods employ them as their bully boys. She was the one to suggest Luximbell’s, as most of those that are employed for security work go there, they all tend to wear much the same robes. It’s almost like an unofficial uniform. Wearing a crest means that they have to be DMLE approved and she said that we were better off to keep that quiet until we need it.”

“She also suggested that we let the masses think the DMLE or Dumbledore have provided them, not you.” Moody said. “Having Tonks and Kingsley, in uniform, assigned to you, will just reinforce that. The fact that the rest of them are muggles might never be known to anyone outside of us and Madam Bones.”

“Unless we tell them.” Tonks added, with a grin.

“So…?” Harry asked. “We can go to Gringotts, now?”

“Whenever you’re ready.” Tonks agreed.

“Give us ten.” Harry was already heading for his room, Neville, Hermione and Luna not far behind him.

Leaving Gringotts with new keys, Harry walked between Bucky and Dum-dum, with Morita and Falsworth at his back, Neville and the girls in front of him and Tonks and Kingsley in front of them.

He waved to a few people he knew and stopped to chat to the Creevey boys and their father for a few moments. Neville greeted a couple people and Hermione darted into Florish and Blotts to pick up an order, while Luna just enjoyed the summer sun. They floo-ed from the Leaky Cauldron to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and got a few things from Honeydukes and Spintwitches.

From there, they meandered their towards the school. Hagrid was on holidays and Professor McGonagall met them at the gates, letting them in and escorting them up the path to the castle. They entered the portcullis and into the Bell Tower keep, the expressions of wonder and awe on the faces of the four Howling Commandos was enough to make Remus smother a laugh.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” He asked.

“And then some.” Morita nodded.

“The architecture varies so much.” Dum-dum said, his eyes darting here and there. “There’s tenth century masonry beside fifteenth century stuff and that’s a nineteenth doorframe, right there.” He pointed to parts of the DADA tower. “It’s fascinating to see how the different styles have been brought together.”

The other three Howlies stopped in their tracks and just stared at Dum-dum's back, in shock. He turned and looked at them.

“What? I studied architecture before and after the war. How do you think I always knew how to find the weak points on the buildings we targeted?” He shook his head and kept walking. “Idiots.”

Remus chuckled and gestured to a set of stairs but spoke quietly. “Harry? Check the map. Snape should be in his dungeons, brewing.” Harry nodded and subtly pulled out a folded sheet of parchment. A tap and some almost silent words and ink spread across the sheet. “There’s a zoom feature, tap Snape’s label and say ‘show’ and the map will enlarge that area of the castle and show you what he’s doing. Just…? If he’s in his bedroom or bathroom, don’t use it.”

Harry’s eyes widened and he snorted and tried to hide his giggles as he followed Remus’ instructions. “He’s brewing. And how did you map the staff’s bedrooms and bathrooms?”

McGonagall blinked and looked sideways at Remus.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Remus muttered and glared at Sirius. “Where’s the entrance to the chamber?”

“Second floor of the Main Keep.” Harry answered. “Down to the right, near Ophelia Wimplesilk’s portait.”

“Ophelia Wimplesilk?” Remus asked. “I don’t believe I know her, who was she?”

“Lady Ophelia was the first witch to serve as DADA Professor.” Harry said. “Or at least, that what Headmistress Burke’s portrait told us.” He lead them down the corridor and around the corner before coming to a stop in front of a painting of a homely looking witch in leather robes sitting at a desk, writing. “Lady Ophelia, greetings and salutations.”

“Master Potter, Lady Hermione, Master Longbottom, Lady Luna.” The witch stood and gave them a masculine bow, as opposed to a curtsey. “Professor Flitwick, Lady Minerva, gentlemen. My greetings to you. What do you do here, this day?”

“We seek to acquire the means to destroy a great evil,” Harry told the portrait, “and we would appreciate it, greatly, if you would keep our confidence.”

“Of a certainty, Master Potter.” Lady Ophelia nodded. “The destruction of true evil is the duty of all gentle beings.”

“Indeed it is, my lady.” Flitwick bowed back to her.

She gave him a regal head and shoulder bow before returning to the defence text she had been writing.

Harry took a few more steps and into a doorway. “In here.” He called.

“It’s a bathroom.” Remus stated, looking at a collection of sinks.

“It is.” Harry smothered a smile.

“Why are we in a bathroom?” Remus asked.

"§Open§"

The hiss coming from Harry’s mouth might have startled Tonks and Kingsley but the sound of grinding stone and the reservoir above the sinks rising into the air while the sinks and their mirrors slowly moved away from each, had all but Remus, Bucky and a now human shaped Sirius, taking a quick step backwards. Then one sink sliding down into the floor leaving a hexagonal hole of darkness had McGonagall frowning.

“Hmm…” She hummed. “I doubt that Riddle would have just jumped into nothingness, Potter. I suggest asking for some stairs.”

“And some lights.” Sirius muttered.

"§Lights§" Harry waited until the hole was well lit before adding, "§Stairs§" and watched as a stone slid out of the hole’s wall just below the lip of the hole.

“Much better.” McGonagall nodded to Harry. “Who’s first?”

Harry just shrugged and moved to the stone, it vibrated under his foot but stayed firm, once his second foot touched it, however, it began to move. Slowly and smoothly, the stone began to slide around the wall, another stone sliding out of the wall to take the place of the one he was standing on.

“Well…” McGonagall muttered and after taking a deep breath, touched her foot to the new stone that had appeared at the edge of the drainage grill. Nothing happened. She put her full weight on it and still nothing happened. She lowered  her second foot to the stone and just as slowly as the stone that Harry was standing on, her stone began to move. “Give it a few seconds and step onto the stone.” She instructed.

“Will that work for us?” Morita asked.

“Only one way to find out.” Bucky said and stepped onto a stone, it vibrated and shuddered for a few seconds before beginning to move. “It works.” He said over his shoulder.

It took forty-five minutes to get down the hole, into the tunnel under the castle and into the chamber itself, get a handful of fangs and get back to the bathroom.

It took another forty-five minutes to calm Hermione and Bucky down. Hermione wanted to eviscerate Lockhart, while Bucky was all for being given five minutes alone with Riddle. Sirius might have been able to kiss Bucky down from rage to grumbling but Harry was having little success in slowing Hermione’s rants. Eventually, he decided that if Sirius’ idea worked on Bucky, it might work on Hermione. Maybe? If he was extremely lucky?

But there was no way in hell he was kissing Hermione, in front of his godfather and his Professors. He let Hermione rant while he told McGonagall that he was going to try and get Hermione to follow him to the arithmancy classroom which was a few yards down the hall. McGonagall was pursing her lips firmly to avoid laughing at the teen’s frazzled speech.

Harry touched Hermione’s arm and gestured to the hall, she didn’t stop her cursing but she did stalk in the direction that Harry had indicated, her arms waving in time with her words. In the classroom, Harry let her pace and rant while he figuratively ‘girded his loins’, then he stepped in front of her and stopped her, his hands resting on her upper arms. One hand rose and cupped her cheek.

“Oh, Hermione…” He whispered and leant forward.

His lips touched hers and it seemed to take a moment for her to realise how her rant had been stoppered. Then shock held her frozen. For a few heartbeats, Harry was afraid that she wasn’t going to react at all.

Then she blinked and her hands clutched at his jumper. She leant into the kiss and everything changed. Their relationship, their friendship, their lives, their future. In that second, Harry knew what Dumbledore meant when he said, ‘love is the greatest power there it, Harry’.

When they left the classroom, Harry’s hand was held in hers and while she no longer looked ready to render the smarmy ponce into potions ingredients, as they left the school the occasional muttered growl could still be heard to come from her, Harry hugging her or patting her hand would cause the mutters to fade into the odd huff.

Sirius and Remus would look at the two teens and bite the inside of their cheeks to stop themselves from teasing pair. McGonagall just shook her head and handed Flitwick a golden coin, when the pair couldn’t see.

Back on the island, Remus laid the box, containing the fangs on the round table in the ballroom.

“You got some, then?” Peggy asked.

“No problems?” Moody wanted to know.

“Other than learning how Hermione wanted to use a few basic spells on Lockhart, in a rather frightening manner, no.” Remus chuckled.

“He deserves it.” Hermione glared and Harry pulled his chair closer to hers, leant his head beside hers and began to whisper quietly. It took a few minutes, that those watching found fascinating and amusing, depending on who they were, before the young witch heaved a sigh and sat back.

“Alright…” She muttered. “But you owe me.”

“Hermione, my love, I owe you so much already, I should just give you my vault, right now.” Harry laughed.

“Oh, no, you don’t, mister.” She narrowed her eyes. “No gold, you owe me time, one whole day doing exactly what I want. From breakfast to supper. All day.”

Harry smiled. “Of course, dear. Just tell me when.”

“Whipped...” Sirius whispered almost silently, but Harry still heard him and gave him a bland look that foretold retribution in the future. “Oh, crap…” He whined.

“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?” Remus sighed. “You said that Harry takes after Lily more than James. You know what happened whenever she looked at us like that. And you still had to push him, didn’t you?” He slumped back in his chair. “Why am I always the one that pays for what comes out of your mouth?”

Harry just gave Remus a bright smile, that did nothing to lessen the werewolf’s sense of foreboding.

“So, how do we kill the ring?” Morita asked.

“I used the fang to stab the diary.” Harry said. “It’s going to be a bit hard to stab a ring, isn’t it?”

“Maybe stab the stone?” Neville suggested.

“Maybe let Bill tell us if the stone is… infected.” Luna spoke so rarely that everyone listened to her.

“I can do that.” Bill nodded. “Give me a few minutes.” He flicked his wand and levitated the box and its contents out the door, onto a wide patio. “Now, let’s see what we have here…” He began casting obscure diagnostic charms that were the sign of a Master Curse-breaker.

Five minutes later, he took a deep breath and stepped back.

“The stone is heavily enchanted, but it’s not Dark, just… mostly necromantic stuff, still not a good idea to handle the thing, directly. The band is where Riddle put his horcrux. If you notice? It doesn’t quite meet up, under the stone. If you can use a fang to cut the band, the venom inherent in the fang should permeate the gold and be enough to destroy the horcrux. Unless you want to keep the ring, Sirius. That stone is the signet for the Peverell Family and as far as I recall, the Blacks have as much claim to the stone as the Gaunts.”

“How do you figure that?” Dumbledore asked. “I was under the impression that the Potters were descended from the Peverells.”

“They are.” Bill said. “But the Potters come from the third son, Ignotus, while the Blacks and the Gaunts are descended from the second son, Cadmus. Gringotts researched the story of the deathly hallows and come to the conclusion that the three brothers’ items were actually all made by the eldest brother, Antioch, who was a wandmaker and runes Master. The famous elder wand was, according to Gringotts’ lore-readers, a custom staff that Antioch had made himself and had etched it with runes that allowed to access a greater portion of the wielder’s core and store a portion of the wielder’s magic, when the wielder dies, then permanently shrunk, to wand size, with charms tied to his magical signature. The Cloak of Invisibility was studied back in the early 1800’s with the permission of the then Lord Potter, Jareth. It was found to be made from a mix of demiguise hair, like a typical cloak, but with acromantula silk, thestral wing leather and house elf magic woven into the fabric along with a dragon-load of runes incorporated into the fabric’s designs. The Stone and I’m fairly certain that this is that Stone, was made for Cadmus as a focus stone for his necromancy obsession.”

A number of those watching on, just blinked, it wasn’t often that someone knew something that Dumbledore didn’t.

“I see.” Dumbledore nodded to Bill. “Thank you for that information, I shall add it what I already have.”

“I’ll ask if I can give you the research summary, that Gringotts put together for Jareth Potter in 1827.” Bill offered.

“That would be most appreciated.” Dumbledore replied.

“Well, I don’t want it.” Sirius said. “The Peverells might be my ancestors but it’s bad enough that I have to be Lord Black, I don’t want to be Lord Peverell, as well.”

“There’s no Peverell Lordship.” Bill said. “The brothers split the estate. Antioch had no kids, Camdus had one son, as did Ignotus. But Cadmus died before his son was born, which meant the title passed to Ignotus and his son passed the Lordship to his son-in-law, Hardwin Potter, ennobling him in the process. It was a couple of generations later that the then King Ecgherht allowed the Potters to change the name of the estate from Pevermere  to Puddlemere and the title from Peverell to Potter. King Aethelwulf ordered a new Signet Ring and Seal made for the Lord Potter when his daughter, Princess Mary, married into the family.”

“Puddlemere?” Harry asked. “Princess?”

“Later, Harry.” Hermione chided. “You can quiz Bill on the Potter history later. Kill the horcrux, first.”

Harry opened his mouth to object before closing it and sighing. “Right.” He nodded. “I know nothing about any signet rings or seals, but… if this ring is what you say, destroying it… it doesn’t sit right. Is there any other way to kill the horcrux?”

“No, Harry, I’m sorry but there’s not.” Bill shook his head.

“If you cut the band, you can always have the ring remade.” McGonagall offered. “Almost any jeweller can do that for you.”

“Or you can just have a new ring made and have the stone put into a new setting.” Sirius suggested.

“Yeah, let’s do that, instead.” Harry was already wearing dragonhide gloves and holding a fang, so all he had to do was smash the fang into the ring and watch as the cloud of greasy black and green smoke billowed from the destroyed horcrux. The stone was popped free and flew across the patio and over the railing into the garden, Harry’s seeker trained eyes following its path easily. He jogged down the broad stone stairs and using a handkerchief, picked up the stone, returning to the patio and those that waited, before dropping the stone into the jewellery box that had held the ring and snapping it closed. “I might look at having the stone cleansed of magic and leave it as a plain ring.”

Chapter Text

“Or you can just have a new ring made and have the stone put into a new setting.” Sirius suggested.

“Yeah, let’s do that, instead.” Harry was already wearing dragonhide gloves and holding a fang, so all he had to do was smash the fang into the ring and watch as the cloud of greasy black and green smoke billowed from the destroyed horcrux. The stone was popped free and flew across the patio and over the railing into the garden, Harry’s seeker trained eyes following its path easily. He jogged down the broad stone stairs and using a handkerchief, picked up the stone, returning to the patio and those that waited, before dropping the stone into the jewellery box that had held the ring and snapping it closed. “I might look at having the stone cleansed of magic and leave it as a plain ring.”

“What did you find from your scans of the Horcrux, Bill?” Remus asked.

“Good and bad.” Bill replied. “Good, we know what and where most of them are. Bad, there’s one not accounted for.”

“What?” Harry looked over at the Curse-breaker in alarm.

“We’ve destroyed the diary, or Harry did.” Bill ticked over the known horcruxes on his fingers. “We’ve removed the one from Harry. The ring is dealt with. Sirius is going after the cup in the morning. The locket is in Grimmauld Place and he’ll bring it here after he’s done the cup.” He tapped a finger on the sheet that held the list of possible locations for the diadem. “That leaves the diadem, that we knew about and one we don’t know anything about.”

“Is there any way of… magically finding out?” Falsworth asked.

“No, not as far as I’m aware.” Bill answered.

“Remus?”

“Bill’s got far more knowledge about this field than I do.” Remus replied. “The only thing I know of that might help us, is the protean charm, if we could retro-direct it at a soul-shard, we might be able to identify the current containers. Might…”

“In that case…?” Harry looked at Falsworth and got a nod. “We’ll remove you from the training schedule and you can work on adapting that charm. Who do you need, to work with you?”

“Bill, Sirius and Luna.” Remus answered.

Harry blinked. “Okay. Bill's fine but Luna? You can only have Luna part time. Our training is going well but…”

“I won’t need her for the first couple of hours.” Remus said. “She’s more of a… um… It’s the way she sees things. She can see if we’re heading in the right direction or not.”

“An hour or so, at the end of each training session?” Harry offered.

“Yeah, that’ll work fine.” Remus nodded.

“Any news on Frank and Alice?” Sirius asked.

Andi nodded. “Yes, they’re doing very well. Better than I’d expected. Frank in particular. He’s aware enough to notice where he is. He’s been asking for Sirius. How he knew about Sirius, I don’t know.”

Sirius laughed. “I’ll drop in and see him. He’s probably remembered that this is where he and us guys stayed in the lead up to his wedding. We did turn him bright blue, after all.”

“Oh, so that’s why he keeps looking around checking his hands and muttering about, ‘not blue?’, then?” Andi laughed.

“That would be it.” Sirius nodded. “How about I bring dinner up, with me?”

“That would be fine.” Andi said. “I think they should be right to start interacting with the group in another session or two.”

“That’s excellent news, Madam Tonks.” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled brightly.

“That is great.” Falsworth nodded and jotted a few lines down on his notepad. “I’ll amend Luna’s schedule to allow her a half-hour at the beginning of a session and a full hour at the end of the session. And drop Remus from his sessions for the time being.”

“Thanks.” Remus said.

“Next is… Sirius, Andi and Minerva.” Falsworth said. “The animagi potion. How’s that going?”

“Good.” Andi said. “We’re just waiting on the mandrake leaves that are soaking and for the full moon dew to settle. They both need seven days, then we can bring all the components together.”

“Great.” Falsworth made another note. “Sirius? The cup and the locket? How’re we doing on them?”

“The locket’s good.” He answered. “Learnt something interesting, there.”

“Oh?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, apparently, my brother, Regulus, figured out that Riddle wasn’t all he said he was. He was the one to find the horcrux.” There was a small uproar. “Hold on, hold on. He found it but getting it, got him killed and Kreacher, mother’s foul elf, has been trying ever since, to do what Reg said and kill the damned thing. Needless to say, he’s been failing. And the thing has been poisoning him the entire time. If it hadn’t been Regulus that told him to destroy it, he’d have given up years ago.”

“So, where is it?” Peggy asked.

“Kreacher’s still got it.” Sirius said. “I promised him that he could hold it until we were ready to kill it and that he could watch us do that. I hate the damned elf, but he loved Regulus and he’s been trying for over fifteen years to do what his Master said.”

“Then, we’ll see to getting that done in the next hour or so.” Falsworth said. “And the cup?”

“We’ve hit a snag.” Sirius said. “Not a severe one, just a snag. I claimed the Black Lordship and the goblins accept that but unfortunately, the Ministry insisted on Sirius Black’s Will being read. And that’s fine, it’s all done, but until I face the Wizengamot, the transfer isn’t legal. Then and only then, will the goblins allow me into the vault.”

“But you said, they accepted you as Lord Black?” Hermione phrased it as a question.

“Yes, they did,” Sirius nodded, “but the treaty between goblins and wizards mean that while they accept it and will allow me to access the Family Vaults, they won’t break the treaty, by allowing me into a personal vault, without the Ministry’s acknowledgement of my new position.”

“Oh…” Hermione nodded. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“When does that happen?” Bucky asked.

“Friday.” Neville answered.

“Friday?” Bill asked. “But it’s only Monday, now, that’s days away.”

“I know.” Sirius sighed. “But outside of Dumbledore calling for an emergency session, there’s nothing to be done.” 

“Why Albus? Why not you?” McGonagall asked.

“I haven’t be recognised by the Wizengamot yet, I can’t do anything.”

“So, what do we do in the meantime?” Harry asked.

“We kill the locket and keep working.” Sirius replied. “It’s all we can do.”

Sirius entered the sitting room of the suite that he’d set aside for Alice and Frank Longbottom and carefully laid the tray he was carrying on the coffee table.

“Hello, Alice, you look as lovely as ever.” He said, with a half-hearted leer.

“Eyes o-off, B-Black, that m-my wife.” A cracked voice ordered.

“He-ey, Frankie, how’re ya doin’?” Sirius made a show of acting like a schoolboy being caught looking at naughty pictures.

“Don’t you ‘h-hey’ me, Black.” Frank mock glared at the younger wizard. “Wh-what happened to you? You look...? Shouldn't you be older?” The more Frank talked, the less he stuttered.

“Ah, I took a trip through the Veil, courtesy of Bella.” Sirius answered. “Remus says, it didn’t like the way I tasted, so spat me back out. In 1945…” he spent ten minutes giving Frank and Alice a brief overview of what they were planning on doing and how far they’d gone. “… so, now we just have to wait.”

“W-we’re on the island, r-right?” Frank asked.

“We are.” Sirius nodded. “We’ve been using the time dilation field, we’re almost at the end of the first week. It’ll drop out before the sun sets, today.”

“Huh…” Frank nodded. “What level are we on?”

“Level?”

“Level.” Frank repeated. “Four-in-one or ten-in-one?”

“Er…” Sirius tiled his head. “I only know about four-in-one.”

“Oh…” Frank bit his lip in thought before huffing. “There’s a ten-in-one setting as well. Alice and I put our little cottage on that level for our honeymoon. Middle of the w-war meant we could only get two d-days off for it.”

“Two days becomes… twenty…?” Sirius asked.

“Y-yes.” Frank grinned, lopsidedly and Alice, who had yet to speak, reached over and slapped her hand against Frank's arm.

“Hush.” She whispered, her voice was still rough and sounded like she’d been gargling gravel.

“Nice…” Sirius grinned at them both, ignoring Alice’s glare and Frank’s gurgling laugh. “So, tell me more about this ten-in-one, we need all the time we can get. You’ve no idea what the pups have been through as far as schooling is concerned. They’ve had Quirrell, Lockhart and Barty Crouch jnr, as DADA Professors. Not to mention, Umbridge was one of Fudge’s toadies, remember Fudge?”

“S-short, fat and useless?” Alice asked.

“Pretty much.” Sirius nodded. “He’s actually being the Minister, now, backed by Bones, Moody and Dumbledore. And he’s seen Riddle with his own eyes, so-”

“R-riddle?”

“Oh, right.” Sirius grimaced. “Riddle. Our favourite Dark Lord. You-Know-Who. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Or whatever hyphenated mess you want to address the leader of the DeathEaters by.”

“His name is V-Volde-” Frank started, only to be cut off.

“Stop!” Sirius snapped. “He put a locating taboo on it. You say it, he knows where you are.”

“B-Bastard…” Alice stammered.

“He is.” Sirius nodded. “Literally, he is. His mother was a squib who used amortentia on his muggle father, who took off as soon as he was clear of the potion.”

Both Frank and Alice blinked in surprise.

“The worst Dark Lord since G-Grindelwald is a squib-b-born?” Frank demanded.

“Yep.” Sirius grinned. “And once I get the cup, we’ve only got the diadem and one unknown Horcrux to kill. And him, of course.”

“His snake.” Frank blinked. “I-It has to be. He never let it go anywhere without him.”

Sirius’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “It… oh, yes. Oh, you’re right, it has to be. Oh, Frank, thank you, thank you. And thank you, again. That’s brilliant.” Sirius laughed and did a little dance around the sitting room, earning himself a laugh from both invalids and a glare from Andi as she entered the room.

“What are you doing?” She demanded. “Sit down, like a decent human being, Sirius Black.”

“But Andi…” Sirius whined. “Frank just identified the last horcrux.”

“He did?” Andi turned from Sirius to Frank. “You did?”

“The s-snake, his snake.” Frank repeated.

“Oh…” Andi leapt to the same conclusion that Sirius had. “Oh, my... Alright, Sirius. Dance away.”

“Thank you, I will.” And he did just that for another minute. “Okay…” He huffed. “I’m danced out. Tell me more about the ten-in-one dilation.”

“You r-remember the activation ch-chant?”

“Yes…?”

“Instead of saying four hours, you say ten hours.” Frank explained. “And you’ll n-need to give w-whoever’s apparating in, an amulet, it l-lets them slide through the d-dilation field without being knocked out.”

“How many amulets are there?”

“H-how should I know, this is a Black island, n-not a Longbottom one, idiot.” Frank huffed.

“Go look in the wardroom, Siri.” Andi suggested. “They should be somewhere around the main dilation crystal.”

“Oh, good idea, Andi, I’ll do that.” He gave her a smile before turning back to Frank. “Does it change the charging time?”

“Not that I know of but you c-can check the crystal, you’ll know if it’s not f-fully charged.” Frank answered. “The field won’t take if the crystal’s not charged.”

“And it changes colour from clear to whatever colour your family designated when the field was first laid.” Alice added. “The Longbottom crystal went dark blue.”

“Yeah, Alphard had this one changed from black to Gryffindor red.” Sirius nodded.

“Ew…” Andi screwed up her nose. “That’s going to make it look like it’s full of blood.”

“I really don’t care.” Sirius said. “As long as it does the job, I don’t care.”

“Maybe look at changing it to gold?” Andi asked. “Have a little class…”

“Not ass.” Sirius finished Andi’s favourite complaint.

“Ooh…” She glared at him. “Get out and let my patients eat without you around to spoil their meal.”

Sirius grinned and gave Andi a deep elegantly formal bow. “As you command, dear cousin.” He gave Frank and Alice quick and gentle hugs. “Listen to her, she might be a harridan but she knows what she’s doing. We need you pair back on your feet.”

Harry looked at the twisted metal that had once been a beautiful locket.

“Done.” He sighed. “Now we just need to find Ravenclaw’s diadem. “Any ideas?”

There was a smattering and mutters but no-one seemed to want to speak up, until Luna spoke in her usual airy voice.

“You could ask the Grey Lady, she was Helena Ravenclaw when he was alive.”

Everyone looked at the blonde girl in surprise.

“Helena Ravenclaw?” Harry asked.

“Rowena’s daughter.” Remus explained. “She’s reputed to have stolen the diadem and run away, not long before Rowena died.”

“She did.” Dumbledore nodded. “Rowena sent Baron Aldrich Fothergill to fetch her back, but neither of them ever returned.”

“But they did, Professor.” Luna said. “Not alive, it’s true, but they did return. Helena Ravenclaw became the Grey Lady and Baron Fothergill became the Bloody Baron.”

“And you think she might know where Riddle hid the diadem?” Harry frowned.

“Perhaps.” Luna said.

“It’s worth looking into, anyway.” Sirius said.

“We’ll go to Hogwarts, tomorrow.” Harry said, he had full confidence in Luna’s suggestion.

Chapter Text

“But they did, Professor.” Luna said. “Not alive, it’s true, but they did return. Helena Ravenclaw became the Grey Lady and Baron Fothergill became the Bloody Baron.”

“And you think she might know where Riddle hid the diadem?” Harry frowned.

“Perhaps.” Luna said.

“It’s worth looking into, anyway.” Sirius said.

“We’ll go to Hogwarts, tomorrow.” Harry said, he had full confidence in Luna’s suggestion.

The Grey Lady looked at Harry steadily. “It’s here… in the castle… in the place where everything is hidden.” She floated backwards away from Harry. “If you have to ask, you’ll never know… If you know, you need only ask…”

Harry’s mind spun. “Thank you.” He gave her a bow and watched as she faded from sight.

“Well that was a bust.” Sirius muttered.

“No. No, I know where it is.” Harry grinned.

“Oh, of course.” Hermione smacked her palm to her forehead. “Why didn’t we think of that, earlier?”

“Uh…?” Sirius grunted.

“Come on, we have a bit of a climb.” Neville said.

“A climb?” Remus asked.

“Seventh floor.” Luna said from behind them.

“You know where she meant?” Sirius looked from one teen to another.

“Yeah.” Neville headed for the Grand Tower and started to climb its steps.

“Care to share?” Bucky asked.

“The Room of Requirement.” Harry said.

“It’s where we held the D.A. all year.” Neville said.

“The D.A.?” Bucky asked.

“Depending on who was asking, it was either the Defence Association or Dumbledore’s Army.” Hermione answered.

“Why the difference?” Bucky linked his fingers through Sirius’ and grinned as the Animagus looked up the centre of the Tower and groaned, even as he started to climb.

“Umbitch and the Ministry were convinced that the Headmaster was creating an army, so he could take over the Ministry.” Hermione shook her head. “And that’s what we called ourselves amongst ourselves, but if we were in public, we called it the D.A. or the Defence Association. Just to avoid attention, you understand. Certain words or phrases draw more attention than others and the Minister was paranoid that Dumbledore wanted his position.”

“As if.” Neville snorted. “The Headmaster’s got more brains than to willing put himself in that nest of vipers.”

“You don’t have a very high opinion of the Ministry, do you?” Bucky asked.

“Nope.” Neville shook his head and sneered. “Bunch of useless toadies for the most part.”

“There’s very few in the Ministry that do the job that they’re paid to do.” Hermione added. “Those that do are pretty much neutered by those that don’t.”

Tonks laughed. “You got that right.”

“It might be a bit different now that Bones, Moody and the Headmaster are the ones backing Fudge, not Malfoy.” Neville shrugged. “With Malfoy literally caught in the act, I’d hope that he’s going to Azkaban.”

“Oh, he is.” Tonks laughed. “His trial was swift and behind closed doors, the Minister wasn’t giving the ponce the chance to drag him down with him.”

“Robards and Moody are transferring him, this afternoon.” Kingsley added.

“Oh, good.” Neville grinned. “I just wish the bitch had been caught.”

“I’d rather think that you’d want to take her down yourself, Neville.” Sirius commented.

“Nah, I think mum wants first go at her.” Neville countered.

They continued to chat among themselves as they climbed.

“Is that Barnabas the Barmy?” Sirius asked, pointing at a nearby tapestry.

“Yes.” Hermione stopped and watched as Harry stepped forward. “Hang back, let Harry open the door.”

“Door?” Sirius asked. “There’s nothing there.”

“Just wait.” Neville grinned.

“See…?” Luna nodded as a large door faded into being.

“Wha…?” Sirius gasped.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Bucky asked.

“It’s the Room of Requirement.” Hermione said. “Harry ‘required’ it to have a door for us to use.”

“It’s a little more involved than that,” Neville corrected, “basically, it’s the heart… and the magic… of the school. How it came into being we’re not sure, not even it can provide that information.”

“Really?” Remus was curious.

“It’s a wicked space.” Neville said enthusiastically. “There’s two aspects to the space. The Room of Lost Things and the Room of Requirement. The Room of Requirement can change to match whatever the person that called the Room into being, wants. If they want a summer’s day at the beach in January, that’s what they get. If they want a massive library with every book ever written, that’s what it is. If they want a bathroom, they get a bathroom.”

“Wait.” Harry frowned at Neville. “If I wanted a room with just the diadem, I’d get a room with just the diadem?”

“Yeah…” Neville trailed off. “Oh, we are idiots, aren’t we?”

“What’d we miss?” Bucky asked.

“Everybody out.” Harry ordered before they’re even really go in the door. “I’m going to change the room.” He pushed and shoved until Sirius and Bucky were back in the hallway, before pacing up and down until a smaller door appeared. “I need that fang, Sirius.” He opened the door and looked into the room. “Excellent.”

When the others looked over his shoulder, they saw a small room, maybe half the size of a classroom, with a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. On the pedestal sat a white metal tiara-like piece of jewellery.

“Here.” Sirius held out a box lined with acromantula silk and on that silk lay a pair of large fangs, larger than what Harry had used in the chamber to destroy the diary. “All yours, pup.”

Harry grinned at his godfather and after pulling on a glove, stabbed a fang’s point down into the diadem’s main blue gem. He quickly stepped back, leaving the fang embedded in the stone. He didn’t want to be too close when the venom reached the actual horcrux buried inside the gem. He’d just reached the safety of Remus and Sirius’ shields, when the diadem exploded. The gem shattered and tiny fragments went in every direction, while the horcrux itself screamed and erupted in a cloud of greasy black-green smoke, the echo of Riddle’s face appearing in each plume. A screeching sound filled the room and all the spectators winced at the volume.

In the few seconds it took for the smoke to clear and the screeching to die away, the reality of what they were facing hit Bucky in the chest. “That shit is worse than HYDRA.” He gasped.

“Yes. It has the potential to be way worse, if we can’t stop Riddle.” Sirius said. “He doesn’t want to rule the world, like Schmidt, he wants to destroy it, or at least, all the muggles in it.”

“Don’t forget the muggleborns and half-bloods.” Remus said.

“Leaving him with only the purebloods.” Sirius said.

“But not just the purebloods.” Tonks added. “He’s only interested in the purebloods that will follow him, everyone else he considers blood traitors and only worth killing.”

“Or using to teach his purebloods how to use the cruciatus.” Neville said, thinking of the curse that was used on his parents and very mindful that someone had to be the victim while Riddle taught the Lestranges and Crouch jnr, the torture curse.

Bucky smirked. “I wonder what his reaction would be to face a Void, like me?”

Sirius blinked and began to snicker. “Oh, the horror… the confusion… his face…” He laughed.

“Other than the fact that he’s so unpredictable, I’d almost suggest letting you face him.” Remus chuckled.

“Alright, we done, here?” Dum-dum asked.

“Nope, I want to try something.” Harry said. He turned to face a wall and squinted his eyes at it, thinking hard.

A tiny painting appeared and over the course of a minute or so, it enlarged to cover most of one wall. The image started a dirty grey that slowly bled into a swirl of colour before settling into a clear picture.

“Harry?” Hermione asked.

“I wanted to see where the snake was.” Harry answered. “I have an idea but if the snake is too close to Riddle it won’t work.”

“And what’s your idea?” Hermione narrowed her eyes at the teen.

“Have the Room bring it here, stunned or immobilised somehow.” Harry answered. “We stab it then have the Room put it back where it was.

Hermione tilted her head as she thought it through. “That might work, it depends on whether the Room will bring thatsnake or just one like it.”

“I’ll ask for Riddle’s snake with the horcrux still attached.” Harry assured her.

“Try it.” Bucky ordered. “If it doesn’t work, we’re no worse off.”

As the entire group, plus Alice and Frank, made themselves comfortable at the massive table in the ballroom, it was clear that breakthrough’s had happened in more places than just Hogwarts.

“Right… First?” Falsworth studied his notes. “Frank and Alice, welcome to the table.” He smiled at the recovering invalids. “We’re glad to have you with us.”

“Thank you for having us, for removing us from St. Mungo's and for healing us.” Frank looked around the table as he spoke.

“You’re very welcome.” Falsworth replied. “Oh, and Neville’s released from training for tomorrow. Have some family bonding time, catch up with everything that he’s been involved in, over the past thirteen-and-a-half years.”

“Thank you, Mr Falsworth.” Alice gave the Howlie a small smile.

“Call me, Jim, it’s easier.” Falsworth suggested. “Andi? You want to brief us on their condition or would you prefer that they do that?”

“They’re good.” Andi said. “Not quite back to 100% but not far off it. By the time we head into the next dilation, they’ll be able to participate in some of the lighter sessions, by the time we come out of that same dilation, they’ll be back to duty levels. They’ll tire quicker to start with but that should ease off over the next week to ten days or the equivalent. Their mental faculties are pretty much right where they should be, however Frank has a tendency to get distracted and want to try out some of the more esoteric spells instead of sticking with the recommended ones.”

“Nope.” Alice cut in. “That’s just Frank, he was like that before.” She turned to her husband.  “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You need to stop that, you were getting a reputation for it before, that’s why it was only the three Lestranges and Crouch jnr, that came after us. You know what happened there. Play with them in your downtime, not in our training sessions, not in public and most importantly… not in battle.” Her soft voice went hard. “Not again.”

“No, dear.” Frank ducked his head and looked suitably apologetic.

“Perhaps Frank and I can have a few sessions to see if his spells will actually work in a duel situation?” Flitwick offered. “If they do, maybe we can incorporate some into our regular sessions, but if they don’t…?”

“If they don’t, I’ll drop them, Professor.” Frank assured him. “I just… Some of the descriptions and arithmancy say they should. And the few that I tried…? They worked, I just didn’t… I wasn’t familiar enough with them to cast them quickly enough to matter.”

“Jim?” Flitwick looked to Falsworth. “Put some time each day, aside for us to work on it.”

“If Professor Flitwick says they’re no good, you’ll stop whinging.” Alice offered. “If he says they’re good, I’ll stop complaining.”

“Deal.” Frank leant down and kissed his wife’s cheek.

“Excellent.” Dumbledore smiled.

“Next is…?” Falsworth looked to Moody.

“Yeah, I’ll go next.” Moody answered. “We have an update from the DMLE on the Weasleys. We found Pettigrew’s magical signature all over the Burrow, once we had his apparition scan to check against. It’s also all over Molly, Arthur, Percy, the twins, Ron and Ginny. Bill, you need to go to St. Mungo's. Your brother, Charlie, has been called into St. Damien’s in Bucharest, he’ll be there for a few days, we guess. There’s also the probability that they’ll transfer him to St. Mungo's, as they’re the ones dealing with the majority of this. Pettigrew is a nasty piece of work and from what we can work out, he used the entire family as his sexual toys. Molly, Arthur and Percy’s scans all show that they were raped within the first week of November 1981. He started in on the twins in 1983 but gave up on them within weeks and stopped abusing Percy, when he started on Ron in 1985. Ginny is… worse. Ginny isn’t Arthur's child, she’s Pettigrew’s and he started on her early, sometime in 1985.” He took a swig of whatever was in his hipflask and continued. “In-depth scans show that Pettigrew has also been playing with the younger kids’ magic to… manipulate… their minds.” He looked to Hermione. “A form of brainwashing, the healers called it. Molly has been under a variant of the imperious curse since Pettigrew confundus-ed Percy into claiming him as a pet. The twins were to be pranksters, our profiler thinks it was to draw Harry towards the family. Ron was to be the best mate and Ginny was to be the sex interest. While we’ve only got the profiler’s guesses, so far they make sense.”

The look of horror on Bill’s face said it all and he excused himself to head out, immediately.

“Pettigrew…” Harry said. “He… he was in our dorm. Loose in the dorm. How do we know that he didn’t… r- r-… attack us?” He couldn’t even say the word.

“You four are fine.” Andi said. “It’s part of my standard tests when I’m taking on a new underage patient. But the others? I don’t know.”

“Oh, god…” McGonagall held her hands to her chest, as though trying to steady her shuddering heart.

“We’re putting out a call to the families of those with children in Gryffindor, during the years that Percy had Pettigrew and when Ron had him.” Moody said. “In addition to the sexual abuse, we found other issues with Ron and Ginny.” He pulled a sheet of parchment from a pocket. “Ron received a major brain trauma, the healers say that it happened just after he turned twelve, we’re guessing it was part of the confrontation with Riddle at the end of your first year. Unfortunately, this was exacerbated by an incident roughly a year later, what occurred we’re not certain but he suffering from a type of battle fatigue from it. Add to that, the incident with the Brains in the DoM and he’s got mental problems. In Ginny’s case, Pettigrew's manipulations have stunted a part of her brain and the multiple possessions by a horcrux have exacerbated the problem. It’s… it’s a combination of that and Molly always giving her whatever she wanted. The healers call it the ‘I want, I get’ syndrome. She’s literally not able to think about what other people want, only what she wants.”

“If there anything that can be done to help her?” Hermione asked.

“To help any of them?” Harry added.

“Yes, there is.” Moody said. “But given the severity of their cases? And Molly and Arthur's reactions to everything our investigation has turned up so far? We’re going to have to go to extremes.”

“How bad?” Andi asked.

“Bad.” Moody sighed. “We’re going to do both partial and complete obliviates and de-age them all, some permanent, some temporary.”

“Who gets what?” Andi was clearly in healer mode.

“Bill, Charlie and twins are likely to only be temporary.” Moody answered. “Arthur, Molly, Percy, Ron and Ginny are going to be permanent.” He consulted his parchment. “The temporaries will be temporarily de-aged with only partial obliviates where needed or requested. We may not need both, it depends on how they cope. The permanents? That’s different. Molly and Arthur will be de-aged to about thirty and their memories of the time since then obliviated. Percy and Ron will be de-aged to whatever they were in October 1981, with anything since then obliviated. Plus, all of them will have selected things removed. Mostly Bill, Charlie and the twins. Ginny will be de-aged to a few days old and be given blood treatments that will make her Arthur's child. And her memory will be completely removed.”

“And that’s to be irreversible?” Andi asked.

“Yes.” Moody answered. “Molly and Arthur insisted. Molly nearly went catatonic when she was told and Arthur wasn’t much better. Initially, we wanted to only de-age the kids and leave Molly and Arthur be, but neither of them were… they said that Bill, Charlie and the twins were quite capable of looking after themselves but that Percy, Ron and Ginny weren’t and neither Molly nor Arthur were physically capable of caring for young children at their current age. It was Molly that suggested that she and Arthur be de-aged, to match the children.”

“How are the older boys going to handle it?” Remus asked. “For that matter, what about Percy, Ron and Ginny?”

Moody grimaced. “Percy wanted to obliviate himself and only agreed to not try, when Molly told him what we were offering. Ron was sick and kept saying ‘kill me, just kill me’ over and over. Ginny just sat and rocked backwards and forwards in shock. She hasn’t said a word since she was told.”

“Oh, dear…” Hermione had tears running down her face.

“And the potions?” Sirius was staring blankly across the table.

“Pettigrew’s idea.” Moody said. “He confundus-ed Molly into indoctrinating Ginny to want Harry and imperius-ed Molly into brewing the potions and to ‘encourage’ the kids into dosing Potter and Granger. The doses were only to be minor until you pair left school, after that it was to increase until you’d both reached the saturation point and it was irreversible.”

“Was that why Madam Pomfrey gave us the treatment, she did?” Harry asked.

“Yes.” Moody nodded. “It purged any remnants of the potion from your system, negating everything Pettigrew was working towards.”

Chapter Text

“And the potions?” Sirius was staring blankly across the table.

“Pettigrew’s idea.” Moody said. “He confundus-ed Molly into indoctrinating Ginny to want Harry and imperius-ed her into brewing the potion and to ‘encourage’ the kids into dosing Potter and Granger. The doses were only to be minor until you pair left school, after that it was to increase until you’d both reached the saturation point and it was irreversible.”

“Was that why Madam Pomfrey gave us the treatment, she did?” Harry asked.

“Yes.” Moody nodded. “It purged any remnants of the potion from your system, negating everything Pettigrew was working towards.”

“Gods, how did we miss it?” Sirius groaned. “His animagi form is a rat, for crying out loud. A rat!”

“Let’s wait until Bill returns before we get too worked up.” McGonagall advised.

“I second that.” Falsworth said. “We still have a lot to do. Can we get an update on the diadem? Harry?”

“Sure.” Harry grinned for the first time in hours. “We went to Hogwarts to speak to Helena Ravenclaw and she gave us a hint of where it was.”

“Was that hint enough for you to locate the diadem?” Peggy asked.

“It was.” Harry nodded. “The Room of Requirement is where we held the D.A., this last year. It is also where every item that is lost, abandoned or discarded, at Hogwarts gets sent.”

“And you found the diadem?” Flitwick sat forward.

“We did.” Harry nodded. “After Neville reminded us that we could change the room to be anything we wanted. I asked for a room empty of anything but the item that held Riddle’s horcrux.”

“When he opened the door,” Hermione went on, “it was sitting on a pedestal in the middle of a small room.”

“It was.” Harry nodded. “It took only a few seconds to stab it with a fang. It shattered the main gemstone, though. Sirius was able to do a reparo on it but we don’t know if destroying the horcrux, also destroyed the charms that Rowena Ravenclaw put on it, or not.” He pulled out a small box and skidded it across the table to the part-goblin who was head of Ravenclaw house.

Flitwick and McGonagall looked at the box.

“That’s…? That’s…?” Flitwick stammered.

“The diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw?” Harry asked for him.

“Yes.” Hermione answered.

“Oh, my word…” McGonagall whispered.

“After that, Harry…” Hermione paused. How to say what they hadn’t even known had been an option? “Harry wondered if the room could bring the other horcruxes to itself or if they would just be copies of the items?”

“Oh, that would be handy.” Frank nodded.

“It was.” Hermione agreed. “He got the room to show a painting of the locations of both horcruxes and then asked for the Room to bring that specific item, clearly stating that it was a horcrux as part of the summoning criteria and included a number of security measures to go with it. The snake ended up restrained in a metal exoskeleton that was in turn attached to a large slab of stone.”

“Whoa…” Frank exclaimed quietly.

“Yeah, so it was simple to stab her, although we did end up removing her head, just to be safe.”

“Does Riddle know if his horcruxes are being destroyed?” Morita asked.

“No idea.” Harry shrugged. “Not that it matters, anymore. I asked the room to bring the cup and place it on the pedestal that the diadem had been on, and we let Sirius stab that.”

“He also asked the room to provide a painting of any remaining horcruxes belonging to Riddle, using either his birth name or his assumed name and title.” Luna added.

“There was only the painting of the golem that Riddle had Pettigrew make him, in the graveyard.” Harry smiled in satisfaction. “Nothing else.”

“We got them all?” Dumbledore asked, his eyes wide.

“We got them all.” Harry agreed. “No more horcruxes. Now, we only have to deal with Riddle and his DeathEaters.”

“Oh, is that all?” McGonagall shook her head in disbelief.

“Professor?” Hermione asked. “Think about this carefully. Outside of the Unforgivables, how many spells do the DeathEaters really use and how good at them, are they? From what we’ve pieced together, Snape and Crouch jnr, were the most skilled of all of them.” She pulled out a notebook and flipped passed a few pages. “Crouch jnr left Hogwarts with twelve NEWTs, according to his father.”

“Yes, he did.” Flitwick said. “He was the first student to try for all available NEWTs. But I understand what you’re saying. Barty may have had twelve NEWTs but his only O was History of Magic, everything else were either E’s or A’s.”

“Exactly.” Hermione nodded. “Now, Snape? He did better. Eleven NEWTs, five O’s and four E’s and two A’s.”

“Yes…” McGonagall nodded. “Lucius never got anything higher than an E, neither did either of the Lestrange boys, Bellatrix got one O… in astronomy of all things… But I fail to see how this helps us.”

“Ah, that was Neville’s brilliant idea.” Harry beamed at his godbrother. “We pick where the battle between us and Riddle… and his DeathEaters… is going to be and we set up a containment field around it, so no-one can cast an Unforgivable. We block just those three spells from being cast and what do you think is going to happen to their ability… and confidence?”

Moody burst into a cackling laugh.

It wasn’t until later that evening that Bill Weasley returned to the island and when he did, he immediately asked if the group would accept Oaths from Charlie and the twins. None of them wanted to stay at the Burrow, not with the information that had been given to them. Harry was the first to agree, he knew the twins well and trusted them with his secrets.

Upon arrival, Fred and George collapsed to their knees, sobbing. Their lives had been turned upside down in such a short time that it left them reeling.

“Come on, you pair.” Harry pulled at their jumpers and the twins slowly rose to their feet, their shoulders slumped and their faces almost grey with shock. Harry lead them and Bill brought Charlie behind them, up the garden path, into the house and into the rooms that had been put aside for any latecomers to their group.

Each twin (and Charlie) was plopped down on a bed and Andi was waving her wand at snitch speeds, chanting and issuing orders for potions, meals, baths and clothes. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna stayed with the twins and Tonks and Bill stayed with Charlie. Everyone else scrambled to do Andi’s bidding. After satisfying herself that the four Weasley men were in no immediate physical danger, she nodded to Harry and he in turn nodded to Neville, Sirius, Remus and the four Howling Commandos. Between them, they bundled the four Weasleys out of the room and down a short flight of stairs to a massive underground room, there they eased the men free of their clothes and into what could either have been a large bathtub or a small pool, depending on your point of view.

The steam wafting up from the water’s surface said that the tub/pool held hot water, this time. The four redheads were eased down into the heated water and quickly Sirius, Remus, Neville and Harry joined them, making sure that none of the Weasleys were left alone for more than a few seconds. The four soldiers hurried back to the kitchen and each of them collected a tray of food before headed back to the tub/pool. Each tray was placed beside a carer and the Weasley men were gently bullied into eating and drinking.

Slowly, shock gave way to anger and it was nearly an hour before that anger gave way to a need to understand.

“What did he gain from it?” Fred asked. He felt dirty and was scared that no amount of bathing would get him clean.

“I don’t know.” Harry said. “I don’t think he really cared. He just wanted to hurt someone and your family were there.”

“Possibly he gained a sense of security from controlling your parents.” Dum-dum said. “He was on the run, from the law, from his allies and from his former friends. Control and security must have played a big part in initial contact with your brother and parents. From there, he felt secure enough to indulge himself however he wanted. Your family were just unfortunate to be the ones that he found.”

“Bastard…” George whispered.

“When you gentlemen are ready, we have some decisions to make.” Andi said from a nearby chair, pointedly ignoring the fact that all eight men in the water were either naked or close to it.

“Decisions?” Bill asked lowering his focus from the ceiling.

“Yes.” Andi nodded. “I’ve read through the reports from St. Mungo's and through their recommendations and while their choices would work, there are other options. Or we can combine pieces from here and there.”

“I heard their options and while workable, I wasn’t comfortable with them.” Bill said. “Not with the options and not with the people that they wanted to do them.”

“No.” Charlie shook his head. “They expected us to just go along with everything they said and not argue or object to anything.”

“They weren’t going to involve us before they started ‘treatment’, either.” Bill sneered.

“Bollocks to that.” Fred spat.

“Assholes.” George added.

“Language.” Hermione chided.

“After what they were going to do to us? No, Hermione, Fred and George have it about right.” Bill objected. “Andi? What are all the options? Tell us them all, not just St. Mungo's versions.”

“Right.” Andi sighed and took a deep breath. “First there’s…”

Two hours later, Bill looked from Charlie to Fred to George. “Are you sure about this? There’s no going back. Uncle Gareth would have to be involved, as would Aunt Muriel.”

“We know.” Fred nodded.

“We need to have a conference with mum and dad, this could change things for them, too.” Charlie said.

“Or at least give them more options.” George said.

“I vote we bring Molly and Arthur here.” Harry said. “Not tell them what we’re doing, just that with Sirius ‘dead’ my guardianship falls to Andi and she’s brought in the new Lord Black, who has reinstated Andi into the family, giving me the protection of the Black Family. And he's prepared to help them because both Molly and Arthur are children of Black Daughters.”

“If the new Lord Black agrees with Albus regarding Riddle and the war, we could suggest that Albus is courting Lord Cyril Black on behalf of the Order.” Sirius added.

“And if we had Albus, Minerva, Andi and Harry here, Molly is going to feel more comfortable listening to what we have to say.” Remus added.

“I agree.” Dumbledore spoke up from behind them. Bill and his brothers all jerked in surprise. “I apologize, I hadn’t meant to startle you.” He gave them a sad smile. “But I agree with you, bringing Molly and Arthur here and presenting them with all the options available to you.”

“Thanks, Professor.” Harry smiled gratefully.

“I’ll go and see them, immediately and bring them right here.” Dumbledore said.

“Um…?” Harry grimaced. “Maybe take them to the office, instead of the ballroom.”

“The ballroom is better, Harry.” Sirius said. “We can put up a few screens and notice-me-nots. It’s one of the few places that will fit us all.”

“If you say so.” Harry said dubiously.

“I do say so.” Sirius ruffled Harry’s hair.

“Gerroff.” Harry batted at Sirius’ hands, ending in a slapping match between them, until they were interrupted by the twins' laughter. “Finally.” Harry huffed. “I thought you were going to be morbid for days.”

“No.” Fred answered.

“We just had to get…” George started.

“… our heads around it.” Fred finished.

“He might have tried to alter them, but I remember our Uncles, Gideon and Fabian, and they were just as bad as these two.” Bill said. “They were always going to be pranksters.”

“Molly, Arthur.” Albus Dumbledore greeted the Weasley parents. “This is our host, Lord Cyril Black.”

“Lord Black.” Arthur gave an untrained attempt at bowing. “Thank you for having us and I apologise in advance, for any slights we may unintentionally give.”

“Not at all,” Sirius said, bowing back, “my father was the white sheep of his generation just as Sirius was in his. I fall somewhere between Sirius and Harry. I think I’m actually about the same age as your eldest son, William.” If you took his Veil-altered age into account, that is.

“Our Bill was twenty-five last November.” Molly said hesitantly.

“Yes, we’ve even the same birth month.” Sirius nodded.

“Might I ask? Why we were brought here?” Arthur asked. “Albus only said that St. Mungo's options might not be our only options.”

“Indeed, they’re not.” Dumbledore agreed. “We spoke with healer Tonks, earlier and she had a few more ideas. After talking to Bill, Charlie and the twins, Lord Black decided that you should be offered the same options.”

“Oh.” Arthur struggled to keep his composure.

“Come inside and let us explain.” Sirius-as-Cyril said and lead the way into the ballroom.

“Now, from what we can gather St. Mungo's believe that permanent de-aging…” Andi started. It would take her nearly an hour and a half to go through all the possible options and give a little detail about how they would affect the family. “… so, you see what we mean when we say more options?” She finished.

“Oh, heavens…” Molly whispered.

“Now, we don’t expect you to choose instantly, but we’d recommend getting Percy, Ron and Ginny out of St. Mungo's, it’s too open to the public.” Andi said. “Anyone could walk into their rooms. Imagine Rita Skeeter nosing around?”

“Grrr…” Hermione made a vicious sounding noise.

“You don’t like her?” Andi grinned at the teen.

“No…” Hermione grimaced.

Molly and Arthur looked at each other and nodded. “We’ve a fair idea of what we want.” Arthur said.

“But getting the children out of St. Mungo's is good, I’ve never trusted them…” She gasped. “Oh, my… That’s him, isn’t it? He never trusted them, just in case they picked up on something…”

“Exactly.” Andi nodded. “It’s likely why you’re not happy letting the children out of your sight. So to speak.”

“Bollocks.” Molly swore causing Harry to snicker. “Oh, hush you. Like you and Ron didn’t swear on your adventures.”

“Rarely.” Harry countered. “We tended to have Hermione with us, that put a stop to our bad language.” He gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.

“And I’m sure she had her hands full with you pair…” Molly shook her head.

“Myself, Kingsley and Moody will go with you to retrieve the children,” Andi said. “St. Mungo's may object but they won’t try and stop us from removing them. Particularly, as the DMLE are involved. Dora, can you inform Madam Bones and give her a brief outline? We will need to bring her into it, sometime, to get new identity papers and documentation.”

“Yes, mum.” Tonks nodded.

“Good girl.” Andi smiled at her daughter before turning back to Molly and Arthur. “I’ll give you a full list of the options and I want you to read through them all. Carefully. Completely. Don’t hesitate to mix and match. Come up with a final hypothesis and we’ll do what we can to cherry pick the options and components to get you there. Okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” Arthur replied, knowing that Molly was still overwhelmed by the knowledge that Pettigrew was responsible for many of her attitudes.

Chapter Text

“Good girl.” Andi smiled at her daughter before turning back to Molly and Arthur. “I’ll give you a full list of the options and I want you to read through them all. Carefully. Completely. Don’t hesitate to mix and match. Come up with a final hypothesis and we’ll do what we can to cherry pick the options components to get you there. Okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” Arthur replied, knowing that Molly was still overwhelmed by the knowledge that Pettigrew was responsible for many of her attitudes.

Three days later the group gathered again.

“You’ve made a choice?” Andi asked Arthur and Molly. “Have the children been involved, at all?”

“Yes, we have.” Arthur replied. “And yes, to a point the children know. Percy is in agreement, Ron is too, if we agree to obliviate everything to do with Pettigrew. Ginny… still isn’t reacting to anything.” He handed Andi a sheet of parchment.

“Alright, let me run through on the final scenario you’ve chosen.” Andi said, reading what was written on the parchment. “New identities for the five of you. Arthur will become Arturo Weasley, commonly called Artie. Son of Lord Garth Weasley’s illegitimate half-brother, Tristan. Molly will be Millicent Prewett, commonly called Millie. Daughter of Lorcan Prewett, who died in 1974. Artie, being the son of an illegitimate Weasley, requested permission to take Millie’s name when they married, this was approved by both Gareth and Muriel. Documents to support you will be placed where necessary, Hogwarts will place  you in Ravenclaw, it’s the best house to fade into obscurity in.”

“Yes, it is.” Flitwick nodded. “You both completed OWLs and NEWTs, we’ll use your original scores as references for the new documents.”

“You married and had Percy within a year.” Andi kept reading the notes that they’d put together. “Percy was named after Perseus Moody, Alastor’s brother, who was Artie’s Charms Master during his apprenticeship. You second son is Donavan, commonly called Don or Donnie. They're going to be twins, playing on the history of twins in the Prewett family and to distract from the possibility of being recognised by their current idenities. Your third child is Imogen, commonly called Genny. Have I got all the names, correct?”

“Yes, yes, you do.” Molly nodded. “Percy and Donnie will be five years old. Genny will be just a few months. While Arth-” She cut herself off. “Artie will be somewhere between thirty and thirty-five and I’ll be in my late twenties.”

“Yes. With complete obliviates?” Andi noted.

“On the children? Yes. Not on Millie or myself.” Arthur, or Artie as he was now going to be, clarified.

“And what are we going to do about employment? Any suggestions?” Andi asked.

“Actually, I’ve seen to that.” Bill spoke up. “Gringotts are setting up a new department, it’s been in the planning for some time and they’re only just now ready to start transferring staff from other areas. I spoke to my supervisor and he spoke to the Director and they’re offered to create a backstory of employment and to employ da- Artie in the new department.”

“Oh?” Artie blinked. “Doing what?”

“Lots of charm-work.” Bill replied. “Identifying pre-existing charms. Removing charms. Placing new charms. Replacing or repairing fractured charms. Renewing charms. Creating portkeys. That sort of thing.”

“What if I don’t like the work?” Artie asked. “Can I leave? Or am I obligated to stay for a certain length of time?”

“If you work for them for five years, they’ll consider it a fair deal, even taking into consideration your wages. Which are quite a bit more than the Ministry pays. They’ll also back pay you for a couple of weeks, as a charms specialist with a completed apprenticeship, but no mastery, attached to the Curse-breaking department. Unfortunately they can’t help when it comes to accommodation.” Bill shrugged. “If you stay on, they’ll ask you to complete your mastery and will pay you accordingly.”

“Oh, wonderful.” Flitwick chirped. “That will mean that they’ll call me in, to monitor your exams or possibly to work with you for review.”

“Likely.” Bill nodded. “The couple of weeks that they’ll backpay you will be garnered from your ongoing wages. Probably a §ickle or two a week.”

“Accommodation is fine, Muriel will release a Prewett property to us.” Artie said. “It’s over in Wales, near Pen Y Fan. Nothing to connect it to Arthur and Molly except Muriel and as Molly and Muriel were never the closest of family…? It’s unlikely to be connected with us.”

“Especially as we will be making it public that Arthur and Molly will be leaving the country in the aftermath of confrontation in the DoM in June and the charges levied againt Pettigrew.” Kingsley added.

“And we will also be slightly altering your current appearance and that of the children.” Andi went on. “Blood adoptions aren’t going to make a massive difference, but when combined with the age alterations, it will disassociate Artie Prewett’s family from Arthur Weasley’s family.”

“Oh, thank heavens…” Millie whispered.

“Now, the obliviates.” Andi said. “Complete for the children, back to the ages nominated and minor alterations for Percy and Donnie, so that they think they're twins. But what of yourselves?”

“I’m not sure.” Artie said. “Removing too much will cause complications. I believe that we need to remember what he did to control us, the potions and charms. I’d not like to fall into the mistake of doing something that is only a habit because he conditioned us into it. Like Millie’s lack of trust of St. Mungo's.” He laid a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Besides if we keep our memories, we keep Bill, Charlie and the twins as family.”

“Extended family, true but still family.” Bill nodded.

“Excellent.” Dumbledore smiled gently.

“And if we ‘slip’ and have Arthur and Molly’s farewell to in public, we can have her tell Bill and the boys, that as she and Arthur will be out of the country for a bit, the boys should remember to visit Aunt Muriel’s or Cousin Millie’s  for Sunday lunch.” Sirius suggested.

“Add in here, too, Siri.” Harry said. “But make it a family connection thing. Like… I don’t know… like… ‘Remember to visit Uncle Gareth, Aunt Muriel, Cousin Millie or Lord Cyril and don’t forget Harry and Hermione’. Make it sound like a typical Molly Weasley fussing over her children.”

“Oh, goodness…” Molly blinked. “Was I really like that?”

“Yes, but now you know that at least some of it was Pettigrew's conditioning.” Andi reminded Molly. “If you don’t like it, remind yourself that he’s responsible and do something else. Speaking of reminding. One thing that St. Mungo's and I both agree on, is if you are not going to completely obliviated, you need to see a mind-healer.”

“The Unspeakables have someone they recommend and contact details will be provided.” Kingsley offered. “You will see them, if you don’t, expect the DMLE to get involved again. If that happens and we’re forced to intervene? St. Mungo's are likely to insist that WC&FS remove the children from you. They’ll probably cite your lack of ongoing treatment as indication of instability, caused by Pettigrew's actions against you.”

“And the DMLE would be forced to act.” Artie nodded. “I understand. We may not like it but we’ll do it.”

“Artie…” Millie objected.

“It will happen, Millie.” Artie said firmly. “Us not wanting it to, is most likely from Pettigrew, not our own choice.” The redheaded witch frowned. “Think about it objectively, if someone else had been through what happened to us? Wouldn’t you expect them to be seeing a mind-healer afterwards?”

There was silence for a few seconds before Mille exploded. “Oh, that ruddy little bugger…!” She snarled.

“Exactly.” Artie nodded. “And it’s going to be like that for a while.”

“Alright, we can polish out the finer details, when we meet up with the Unspeakables.” Andi cut them off before they got too stressed by the situation. “Bill? You and your brothers? What did you decide on?”

“We’re going to go first, publicly.” Bill said. “Mum and dad will be spending a fair bit of time caring for Percy, Ron and Ginny. But we’re going to leave House Weasley. Gareth and Muriel will be the ones to publicly come forward and make the offer. Muriel will offer the four of us blood adoptions, not from a specific person like mum will be having but a general House-wide adoption. We’ll all take the name Prewett and Gareth will release us all from House Weasley, there’s more than enough of them without us. I will accept the ring for Lord Prewett with Charlie as my heir, until I marry and have children.”

“That will work in well with what’s planned for Molly and Arthur… sorry Millie and Artie.” Sirius nodded.

“And will there be any obliviates needed?” Andi asked.

“No.” Bill replied. “We know the facts but none of us actually remember anything, Pettigrew already obliviated us of his abuse. The conditioning? Really, I think that Charlie and I didn’t get it to the same degree as the twins and they got far less than Ron and Ginny did. The twins take after Gideon and Fabian, anyway, and the blood adoptions are only going to emphasise that. Their idea of a shop is great but it’s going to take a lot of work and I think that’s what they need right now. Something to occupy themselves.”

“I’m to going object to that.” Harry said. “Yes, they need something to do but right now they’re angry… and rightly so… but angry twins means pranks that are just a little bit too far towards nasty, than the public needs.”

“What would you suggest?” Fred asked, entering the conversation for the first time that day.

“Stay here.” Harry answered. “Work with us. The Order is helping us to train to get rid of Snakeface.” He could see that they were hesitant. “Wouldn’t you like to work with Moony?”

Hearing that name spiked the twins’ curiosity.

“Moony?” Asked Fred.

“You know who the marauders are?” George asked.

“Yep.” Harry grinned.

The twins looked at each other and clearly held a silent conversation before they both nodded sharply.

“We’re in.” Said George.

“Where do we sign?’ Added Fred.

“Right this way, my good sirs.” Harry said before stopping. “Oops, forget Artie and Millie.” He gave the former Molly Weasley an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“Not a worry, dear.” Millie smiled at Harry. “With you and Hermione as friends, I know the twins are in good hands.” She gave a cheeky smile. “And with Minerva on their case, they’ll at least behave in public.”

Many people laughed and even the twins managed a chuckle, while McGonagall sighed and shook her head.

“Thank you.” Dumbledore said to the group. “Kingsley? If you’d take Artie and Millie back to their cottage and then speak to the Unspeakables, to get the quaffle in play, we’d much appreciate it.”

“Of course, Albus.” Kingsley said. “Artie, Millie?” He gestured to the pair and then to the door. The trio left the room and after a few moments, Sirius nodded.

“They’ve left the house.” He informed the table. “Where are we at?”

“We need to get the twins setup  with a training schedule. We’ll need to test them, magically and physically. Harry? We’ll need their D.A. files. For now? Minerva, if and Filius would begin testing them, please?” Falsworth started making notes.

“How did I get roped into this?” McGonagall sighed.

“Before we get too far.” Harry cut in. “I have a suggestion. Hermione, Luna, Neville and I have been tossing this around for about a dozen rotations, now.”

“Go on, Harry.” Dumbledore tilted his head curiously.

“I’d like to bring in a few more people.” Harry shook his head. “No, not people kids.” 

“Children?” McGonagall asked. “Why children?”

“Because we’re the ones are going to have to deal with the DeathEaters in the long run.” Harry said. “And quite bluntly, our DADA Professors haven’t been a lot of good.” He glanced at Remus. “Present company excluded, of course.”

“I understand, Harry.” Remus smiled.

“See, in all the time that we’ve been at Hogwarts,” Hermione took up where Harry left off, “we only had two decent DADA Professors and one of those was a DeathEater under polyjuice, the other being Remus. While we all passed our end of year exams, this year, that’s only because of Harry and the D.A.”

“And none of us trust the Ministry, not after Umbitch.” Neville added.

“Including members from the D.A. in our private little anti-Riddle army, is good for us.” Hermione said. “It’s also good in the long run, for the Ministry. They won’t have to waste time and money on all the training that we should have got at Hogwarts.”

“We can sell it to Madam Bones as a specific-use force.” Harry explained. “Anti-terrorism specialists. Trained magically in duelling, fighting, warding, some curse-breaking. And in muggle counter terrorism tactics and weaponry.”

“A private security force designed and trained for eliminating threats to our world and the Statute.” Hermione summarised.

“We’d have to put it under the banner of the DMLE, if we want Fudge to sign off on it.” Moody warned. “Private armies are never good for corrupt ministers. If he thinks that Bones or the DMLE control you, he’d probably authorise it.”

“There’s also the financial issue to take into consideration.” Dumbledore added.

“Nope.” Harry shook his head. “I thought about that. If Fudge and Bones okay it, I’ll set up a trust vault. It’ll under the control of the goblins, they’ll invest it and see that all personnel are paid from it.”

“How are you going to set this up?” Sirius asked. “The army? Force? What would you call it?”

“Anti-terrorism Unit.” Harry said. “We thought about some fancy acronym but couldn’t be bothered with working one out. We want the Unit to look sperate from the DMLE, detached from the political infighting of the Ministry. Not paid from Ministry coffers, not controlled by Ministry decrees, not subject to Ministry restrictions. Exactly the same principle as the Unspeakables. Completely independent.”

“The Unit will only be contactable by the Chief Warlock, the Minster and the Head of the DMLE.” Luna smiled. “Only they can present a case for the Unit to act. But not even they can limit us. We will answer to Magic, not the Ministry.”

“That could be an issue.” Moody said.

“We’ll word it carefully.” Hermione said. “Fudge will think he’s getting an army to save his hide whenever he gets in over his head. Madam Bones will likely understand and support us. And Headmaster? What do you think?”

“I think…” Dumbledore mused. “I think this could solve a lot of issues, if done correctly. It would give the public, the image that Harry is joining the Ministry, that he and others he trusts are always going to be there to protect them. It will give muggleborns and muggle-raised an employment possibility, encouraging them to stay in the wizarding world. Even if they aren’t employed by the Unit, the fact that it does employ muggleborns will reassure them that they can become valued members of our society. And the purebloods will see it much the same as Fudge, a private army for their use, made up of muggleborns and halfbloods, all disposable if need be.”

“So, what of staff?” Remus asked.

“Initially, I’d ask Madam Bones to transfer Kingsley, Tonks and Moody to the Unit. Kingsley as director. Moody as magical training director. Tonks as the liaison to the muggle authorities. Bucky, Morita, Falsworth and Dum-dum as muggle training specialists. Eventually Peggy will become the muggle training director.”

“You want a magical version of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Peggy said.

“Pretty much.” Harry grinned.

“Fury won’t like that.”

“I don’t care what Fury likes.” Harry grinned. “But I think he’ll come to like it. Particularly if we can hand him a muggle-friendly squad made up entirely of squibs or muggle-raised magicals. They’ll be trained to go unnoticed in the muggle world as much as the magical world. To be just as comfortable in a muggle environment as a magical one. To be just a comfortable with a gun as a wand.”

“I’d need to confer with him and Coulson on it.” Peggy warned.

“Wait until we get the Unit approved by Fudge and Bones.” Moody said.

“You want children from the D.A.? Who?” McGonagall asked.

“We’ll start with the twins.” Harry said. “Then Angelina, Alicia and Lee.”

“They’ve just graduated.” Hermione said. “They’ve not yet started looking for employment, not really.”

“But the twins’ shop?” Bill asked.

“What about it?” Harry replied. “Initially, they’ll need to do some training, but in the long run, most staff will only be on call. We’re not going to be needed every week and bluntly, I’d rather the twins get busy using their minds, creating things for the Unit to use. They can sell public-friendly versions in the shop along with their pranks.”

“Plus, it would give us an ear in the Alley.” Hermione added. “Keeping a finger on the pulse of the public’s feelings and reactions to what’s happening in general.”

“Fair enough.” Bill nodded. “And what about others? You said that the ones you’d mentioned had already left Hogwarts. Does that mean you want some that are still in Hogwarts?”

“Oh, yes.” Harry nodded quickly. “Working down from seventh year, just gone. The twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet. Sixth year is represented by just Katie Bell, at this point. Fifth year? Us three, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Michael Corner. Fourth year? Just Luna and Colin Creevey. Third years? Euan Abercrombie. Second Years? Dennis Creevey, Natalie McDonald and Nigel Wolpert.”

“There are a few older leavers that we’re interested in, too.” Hermione said. “Oliver Wood. Penny Clearwater. Tonks, we already said. Kingsley, we already said. Moody, we already said. Remus and Sirius, of course. Andi, we’d like as the Head healer.”

“While we’re at school, we’ll be cadets, if there’s a major emergency we can be called out. But at school all it really means, is that the Unit pays for our schooling and we have extra training classes a couple of times a week.” Harry said. “But… I want the entire thing off the books until Riddle is gone, then we can present it to Fudge and Madam Bones.”

“Let me approach Bones.” Moody said. “But I think I can sell her on it.”

Chapter Text

“While we’re at school, we’ll be cadets, if there’s a major emergency we can be called out. But at school all it really means, is that the Unit pays for our schooling and we have extra training classes a couple of times a week.” Harry said. “But… I want the entire thing off the books until Riddle is gone, then we can present it to Fudge and Madam Bones.”

“Let me approach Bones.” Moody said. “But I think I can sell her on it.”

“Do you think you can find Colin and Dennis, Hedwig?” Harry asked, only for his beautiful owl to nip at his fingers sharply, giving an indignant hoot. “Well, I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t have an address and Hagrid did tell me that I shouldn’t send you on a first delivery without one.” The owl hooted and snatched the letter from Harry’s hand and took off, smacking her wing feathers against his head in a clearly chiding move. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry…” He called to the quickly departing bird.

“It’s disconcerting to watch you with her.” Sirius said. “Owls aren’t supposed to respond like that.”

Harry smiled fondly. “Yeah, she’s one of a kind.”

“How long do you think it will take her to get there?” Bucky asked.

“I have no idea, but I’d doubt it’ll take much more than an hour before we hear back. I know that they live somewhere in London, just not the exact address.” Harry said. “The Creevey boys are… they’re like puppies, eager and excitable.” He said as they reached the park gate opposite the Black house on Grimmauld Place.

“Well, let’s go in, the Order meeting should be starting soon.” Sirius reminded them.

“What do we tell them about you and Bucky?” Harry asked as they entered the dreary townhouse.

“I’m the new Lord Black and Bucky’s my husband.” Sirius said. “They don’t need to know anything else. If they push, I suppose I can tell them that my father was Alphard and Walburga tried to disown him for supporting Sirius.”

Harry caught a glimpse of a dark figure entering number twelve Grimmauld Place behind them and knew that for all his nonchalant manner, Snape had seen them and was listening closely. A raised brow to Sirius and Bucky had both of them giving eye-nods, indicating that they’d seen the potions Master.

“Do you think the Headmaster will let me stay for the Order’s meeting?” Harry asked.

“I doubt it, you heard him say no-one underage.” Sirius-as-Cyril said.

“Do I have to go upstairs or can I stay in the lounge?” Harry sighed.

“Upstairs, Potter.” Snape said, finally deciding to enter the conversation.

“Yes, Professor.” Harry sighed. “Oh, you haven’t met, have you?” He gestured between the three adults.

“Not yet.” Bucky said easily.

“This is potions Master Snape, he teaches as Hogwarts.” Harry indicated to Snape, who raised a brow at the neutral phrasing. “Professor, this is Cyril Black and his husband, Buchannan Black. Cyril is the new Lord Black, he’s… S-Sirius was his cousin.” He made sure to stumble over Sirius' name. The four walked towards the stairs that went down to the kitchen and paused there.

“I wasn’t aware that Black had any male cousins.” A new voice said. “Dedalus Diggle.” The wizard introduced himself.

“Ah, that would be because of Walburga.” Sirius-as-Cyril said. “She may have blasted father off of her copy of the family tapestry but as Arcturus was still alive, she didn’t have the authority to do more than throw a tantrum. I’ll grant that Cousin Sirius was cast out of her branch of the family, but again she didn’t have the authority to cast him from main branch. He was still Arcturus’s only grandson.”

“So how did the Head of House come to you?” Diggle asked.

“Arcturus had two siblings, neither of them had sons.” Sirius-as-Cyril replied. “From there the Family Magic went looking through his cousins and while some of them had sons and grandsons, for one reason or another, the Family Magics declared them unsuitable. I do know that at least one is a convicted criminal and as for the others? Some are already heirs to other titles, the Black title will not accept someone who already holds outside rankings.”

“No, I dare say it wouldn’t.” Snape nodded. “Potter, I suggest you head upstairs, now.” He nodded towards the set of stairs further down the hall.

“Yes, Professor…” Harry sighed but went where he was ordered. “I’ll be in the library, when you finish.”

He climbed the stairs and entered the library, quickly crossing to the window and opening it. He didn’t want Hedwig to wait, when she returned. Sitting at the massive desk he pulled out parchment, quill and ink and began to make notes.

Less than twenty minutes after Harry opened the window, Hedwig landed on the owl stand beside the desk and held out a leg to Harry.

“Oh, thank you, Hedwig. Would like a mouse?” Harry laid his hands on two boxes, one of mice and the other of treats. “Or a biscuit?” Hedwig dipped her beak in the direction of the biscuits. “You got it, girl.” He pulled out a biscuit and held it up for her to take. “You rest there while I deal with this.”

He opened the letter and quickly read Colin’s reply.

“Great.” He grinned and made a few more notes. A few minutes passed as he wrote his ideas down.

“Hey.” Bucky entered the library with Sirius on his heels.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Harry asked.

“Albus is the Master at telling people one thing but meaning something different.” Sirius laughed. “He told them about Pettigrew and what the DMLE had found. About what Bill, Charlie and the twins were going to do, including the adoptions and Bill taking the Prewett Headship. Snape was the only one to ask after what the twins would be doing. He mentioned that, when they were angry, their pranks tended to cross the line from fun to nasty.”

“I warned you.” Harry held out a hand and Sirius sighed and dropped a ʛalleon into it.

“You did.” Sirius went on. “Bill said the twins were going to concentrate on keeping you occupied this summer and work with a healer to try and limit any lasting damage done by the rat.”

“Well that’s completely true.” Harry nodded.

“But only a fraction of the truth.” Bucky agreed.

“Snape also said he would send along some Sleep-Eze and some calming draughts, as well as a few books.” Sirius continued. “He seemed to think that some meditation techniques would help. He was most surprised when Albus said that the Horcrux had been removed from Harry.”

“He wanted to know how and listened closely to Bill’s explanation.” Bucky told Harry. “He nodded at times and said that if we were going to let the twins loose with you then having some additional doses of the Systemic Purification Draught on hand would be wise.”

“He also said that, as you being a horcrux is no longer an issue, you should find occlumency much easier to learn and will send along a selection of books.” Sirius sat down on the edge of the desk. “He has asked if Albus would be able to forward a letter to you, that there are things that he would like to tell you about your mother, now that your mind is no longer accessible by Riddle.”

“Other than that, the meeting was mostly about the Weasleys and what’s going to happen to them.” Bucky stepped up alongside Sirius and slung an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders, pulling him close against his side. The warm look exchanged between them, always brought a smile to Harry’s face.

“Have the Creevey boys replied?” Sirius asked and received an offended hoot from Hedwig. “My apologies, Madam, I wasn’t sure if he would reply now, or need to speak to parents first.” Hedwig huffed a hoot and turned her back to him. “I think I offended her. Sorry.” He grimaced.

“Yes, I think you did.” Harry reached out and ran a finger down Hedwig's wing, causing her to turn her head to him and nibble on his finger. “And yes, Colin replied. He even contacted the other muggle-raised kids in Dennis’ year. Natalie, Euan and Nigel. All of them are interested and their families want to know more. Natalie’s father is going to pick up the Creevey’s and bring them to number Eleven, at seven o’clock. Nigel lives here in Islington, just a few minutes’ walk away on Highbury Place. Euan lives about the same distance away in Clissold.”

“And they’re bring parents?” Sirius asked.

“Natalie’s mother and father, Melissa and John are coming. Plus, their other two children, who are twins and have already received their Hogwarts letters.” Harry looked to his notes. “Colin’s father, Malcolm is coming. Euan’s father is away for work so his Uncle Robert, who he lives with, is bringing him. The Uncle has authority to act on Euan’s behalf, noted by Gringotts and the Ministry. Nigel’s father is a soldier and is deployed overseas, his mother, Annette will be coming. They’ll be bringing Nigel’s younger brother, Eugene, he’s only ten, but he got hold of Nigel’s wand last week and turned their cat blue. The Ministry suggested that Mrs Wolpert get a wand box to lock Nigel’s wand in during the holidays and fined them ʛ5.”

“Hi, Harry!” Colin chirped brightly, when Morita brought the two families into the lounge of number Eleven, two hours later. The Howling Commando nodded to Harry and left, immediately.

“Hi Colin. Hi Dennis. Hi Natalie.” He gave each of the students a smile and turned to their families. “Hi. If you haven’t worked it out from Colin’s greeting, I’m Harry Potter. Thanks for coming.”

“Of course, Mr Potter.” Malcolm laughed. “Colin’s got hundreds of pictures of you and the other Gryffindors, hung up on his walls. All carefully labelled, so we’d know everyone’s names.”  

Morita returned with the other two families, before Harry could comment further. Introductions were made and after a few minutes, the under-Hogwarts-age children were happily ensconced watching a movie with Peggy and Tonks, while the parents and students filled the dining room.

“Alright, I think we’re due an explanation.” John McDonald looked from Harry to Bucky. “I know who you are, but that’s not possible.”

“Ah…” Bucky winced. “Me being here is… complicated.”

“Bucky comes into this story, much later.” Harry said. “This starts back in 1925. In a tiny little hamlet called Little Hangleton lived a pureblood wizarding family, called Gaunt…” Harry explained the life and history of Tom Riddle and how he came to be the Dark Lord that was causing so much trouble for British wizarding world.

“But what has that got to do with us and our kids?” Melissa asked.

“We’re planning on forming an Anti-Terrorism Unit.” Harry said. “And I’m cherry picking from the D.A.”

“But our boys are underage.” Malcolm objected.

“They are.” Harry nodded. “But they won’t always be. Mind you, Riddle doesn’t care how old they are, as far as he’s concerned, they’re muggleborns and should die. He’ll order his people to kill them on sight, along with you and the rest of the family. To them, muggleborns are a blight on magic. Something they have to remove.”

“Oh, Lord help us…” Melissa whispered.

“Like I said... We plan to form an Anti-Terrorism Unit.” Harry said. “Not all of those I pick, will be trained as field personnel. A lot will be behind the scenes. R&D, admin, planning, supplies, transport, etc. But we need to deal with Riddle before we can really get into the finer details. If we don’t? He’ll have destroyed the wizarding world, to the point that the Unit will be worthless.”

“That makes sense.” Robert nodded, approvingly.

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged. “So, I’m picking those that I think could be fighters or protectors. Colin and Natalie will be a part of the protection squad, while Dennis and Euan will start off in the same squad but will eventually move to a frontline team. Nigel could go either way, it will depend on how much effort he puts into his training.”

“And the other children?” Malcolm asked.

“The other D.A. members or your other children?” Harry asked.

“Ours. To start with.” Malcolm replied.

“The Unit will take over paying their school costs.” Harry explained. “While they’re at school, they’ll participate in extracurricular training and if an emergency occurs, they’ll work with the protection squads. Once they complete their schooling, they’ll work for the Unit for two years, still in the protection squads. At the end of that time, they’ll be given the chance to leave or to join the Unit permanently. If they join the Unit, they’ll be reassessed on their skills and between them and us, we’ll work out where they’ll be best suited and train them accordingly.”

“They’ll be paid while they’re with us.” Sirius added. “It might only be a small stipend while at school but that will increase each year. Once they leave Hogwarts, they’ll receive wages commensurate with their skills and tasks. Gringotts will be the ones to witness the contracts and oaths, so you’ll know that they’re as fair as they can be. ”

“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a pensioned-off communications officer?” Robert asked hesitantly.

Harry and Sirius exchanged questioning look and both nodded.

“We would, sir.” Harry said.

“Hold on.” John held up a hand. ‘That’s the long term, what about the short term and dealing with the current menace?”

“Ah, well…” Harry grimaced. “We’re hoping that your kids can join us for some time over the summer. We’ll see that they get extra training in both the muggle and magical fields, custom wands, protective clothing and any weapons that they need. We’re going to take down Riddle, hopefully before school starts in September.” 

“How?” Annette asked. “That’s only a few weeks away. How are the children going to learn enough to be able to protect themselves, let alone take down a psychopath and his army?”

“We have access to a property with a time dilation field.” Harry said. “One day outside the field equals ten days inside it.”

“And you’ve enough space for the five of them?” Melissa asked.

Sirius barked a laugh. “We’ve enough space for a hundred of them.”

“Are you interested, Euan?” Robert asked.

“Yes, I am.” Euan nodded, eagerly. “I learnt so much more from Harry than we did in class, not just DADA but other things. How to hold my wand properly. How to clean my wand. How to pulse my magic. How to not put everything into one cast.”

“Right.” Robert shook his head, magic was beyond him, but if Euan was happy, that was good enough for him. “I’ll sigh for Euan. But… instead of Euan being forced to work for the Unit for two years, before he gets extra training, I’ll work for you.”

“Oh, no.” Harry waved him off. “Extra training can start immediately if they want it, it’ll just be no transfer from the protection squad for two years. But we’d be happy to have you as well as Euan, sir.”

“Ah, that’s different.” Robert smiled. “We’re in. We’ll agree to negotiate a contract.”

“Boys?” Malcolm asked and smiled as Colin and Dennis rapidly nodded. “I’m only a milkman, now, but I’ve done my National Service, I know my way around basic military weapons and equipment. If you can find a use for me, I’ll join you, too.”

“I can’t speak for Rachel and Lucas, but Natalie has permission.” John said. “I’d like to give the twins a year or two before we make them choose.”

“What if we were to allow them to join us, until the start of third year, just the extra training?” Harry said. “That would give them an idea of what’s involved, they can help out with the prep-work behind the scenes, but not actually be required to act.”

“That, I’d okay.” John nodded. “But Natalie is fine to join if she wants.”

“Yes, please.” Natalie said quietly.

“Please, mum?” Nigel asked.

“I’ll agree to the same conditions as John and Melissa.” Annette hugged her son.

“Excellent.” Harry beamed. “In that case, would you like to join us for the rest of the summer? You’re all welcome, we’ve lots of room and plenty to keep everyone occupied.”

“Dennis and Colin can join you, tomorrow, but it will take me a fortnight to hand in and work out my notice.” Malcolm said.

“Euan and I can join you tomorrow.” Robert said. “We just have to pack and empty the fridge.”

“Same for us.” Annette said.

“I have a two-week trip starting on Monday.” Melissa said. “But after that, I’m free for the summer. John and the kids can meet you here whenever you’re ready.”

“Brilliant.” Harry grinned. “Make it Friday. I still have another dozen, or so, people to meet with. And if it’s okay, we’ll come to you for pick up. Save you having to cart things all over London.” He slid a notepad across the table. “Just write down your address and what time is best for you and we’ll see to the rest.”

Morita tapped on the door. “Moody’s here, grinning like a loon.”

“Send him in.” Harry waved at a chair off to the side.

“Potter. Black. Black.” Moody stomped his way in and nodded to Harry, Sirius and Bucky.

“Well?”

“Bones was in, instantly.” Moody replied. “Fudge had to read through the entire submission, but he agreed.” Moody laid a heavy scroll on the desk. “Ministerial approval, you have to present the Unit’s Charter and financial resource statement, to the Wizengamot on the 6^th of September, at the first meeting of the new financial year.”

“We got it?” Harry gasped.

“You got it.” Moody nodded. “Transfers, included.”

“Yes!” Harry leapt to his feet and bounced around the room, his arms waving in excitement. 

“Good new, then?” John asked.

“Ministerial Approval.” Moody nodded. “It’s official. We’re good to go.”

Chapter Text

“Bones was in, instantly.” Moody replied. “Fudge had to read through the entire submission, but he agreed.” Moody laid a heavy scroll on the desk. “Ministerial approval, you have to present the Unit’s Charter and financial resource statement, to the Wizengamot on the 6^th of September, at the first meeting of the new financial year.”

“We got it?” Harry gasped.

“You got it.” Moody nodded. “Transfers, included.”

“Yes!” Harry leapt to his feet and bounced around the room, his arms waving in excitement.
“Good new, then?” John asked.

“Ministerial Approval.” Moody nodded. “It’s official. We’re good to go.”

“Did everyone find their room?” Harry called and was answered by a chorus of positive replies. “Brilliant.” He grinned. “First things first. We’ll be scheduling a wandier’s visit, everyone will be getting tested to see how compatible their wands are, with their core. All of you will be getting new wands, not necessarily replacing what you have… unless they’re a poor match… but we want everyone to have three wands. One will be registered with the Ministry. The others won’t be. They’ll be your Unit wands, kept for training and callouts.”

There were a few cheers, some of those that were struggling financially were using heirloom wands that didn’t respond as well as they’d hoped.

“Next will be clothing.” Harry held up a hand. “Whoa, not everyday stuff. Training stuff, duelling robes and the like.” The objections faltered. “Peggy, Tonks, Hermione and Annette will be taking the girls, while Robert, Justin, Dean and Remus will be taking the boys. Tonks, Annette, Remus and Robert all have lists of recommendations, if there’s something you want that isn’t on the list, convince them. Just remember that if you do convince them everyone else will be getting the same items. Not necessarily the exact same, but the equivalent.” He saw relief on a couple of faces as they fingered their clothes. “Now, onto a more serious subject. The Unit is official but until you take an oath, your joining it, isn’t. The Oath is simple.”

Kingsley flicked his wand and letters formed in the air.

'I… (insert name) swear on my life and magic, that I shall not reveal information that I learn, or discover, during my duties with the Anti-Terrorism Unit known as The Unit, without the express permission of The Unit’s Director.'

“It’s not as bad as it sounds, most things will be precluded with the phrase, ‘This is not restricted information’, which means that your Oath won’t apply and if you wish you can talk about them. If that isn’t stated, your Oath comes into play. If in doubt, speak up and ask someone, don’t take a chance.” Harry warned them.

“Now, it’s time, for each of you give that Oath.” Kingsley said. “Myself, Auror Tonks and Healer Tonks will accept your Oaths with Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick as witnesses. For those of you underage, your Oath will only bind you until you turn seventeen, meaning that you will have to retake the Oath, then, but you will still be bound in regard to anything covered by today’s Oath. Understand?” Almost everyone nodded and those that didn’t, agreed verbally. “Good. First up is… Oliver Wood, Penny Clearwater and Angelina Johnson. Come on over here and we’ll get started.” Kingsley gestured off to the left.

A tiny bell rang and while many people frowned, a small girl slapped at her hip.

“It’s Andrew.” She said, pulling out a small square box with a button on the top. The button was flashing red. “Oh, dear. Will someone take me to see what’s upset him now?”

“I can do that.” A man with dark wavy hair, said.

“Want me to come?” A second man asked in an American accent.

“Nah, we got this.” The first man said and pressed a kiss to the other’s lips. “See you soon.” He took the girl’s arm and the pair apparated away.

They landed on a wide balcony at the rear of the little cottage that Peggy had lived in for the last few years.

“Miss Carter. Mister Black.” Phillip Coulson greeted them. “Thank you for coming. We seem to have a problem.”

“What type of problem.” Peggy asked.

“The Stark type.”

“Anthony?” Peggy asked.

“Yes.” Coulson nodded. “He didn’t take the news of your… disappearance well and is causing friction.”

“Friction that won’t bode well for us?” Sirius asked.

“Yes.” Coulson replied.

“Where is he?” Peggy asked.

“At the big house.” Coulson nodded towards the main manor house.

“Is anyone with him?” Peggy asked.

“Not at this point.” Coulson shook  his head.

“Call him down.” Peggy ordered.

“Are you sure?” Coulson countered.

“Do it, agent.” Peggy said sharply.

“Yes, ma'am.” Coulson nodded and stepped away from them to speak into a small device on his wrist. “He’s on his way, ma'am.”

“Good, sit down, Phillip.” Peggy pointed at a seat.

“Yes, ma'am.” Coulson calmy went and sat where she’s pointed but Sirius got the feeling that he wanted to be anywhere but there.

A few minutes passed and a young man, in his mid-twenties, bounced across the lawn.

“Agent Agent, did you speak to your… whoever?” He leapt up the few steps. “What did they say? Did they know where Aunt Peggy is? Did they have any information? Did you learn anything? Any ideas?”

“Anthony Edward Stark, close your mouth.” Peggy said sharply, causing the young man to snap his jaw closed audibly and spin to face her. “Sit down and leave Agent Coulson be. He was operating under my orders.”

“Aunt Peggy…?” Tony Stark frowned at the young girl sitting primly at the wrought iron table.

“You are well aware of the degree of manners I require you to exhibit when you are in my home, Anthony.” The girl said.

“Um…?”

“Tony…” The drawn brow gave Tony his first clear sign that his eyes and ears weren’t playing trick on him.

“Yes, Aunt Peggy.” He sighed. “Do you have any idea of how worried I was? And what the hell happened to you?”

“Come and sit down, Tony, and we’ll explain.” Peggy said.

Tony gave Coulson a sideways glare as he sidled passed the other man and sat where Peggy had pointed.

“This all started back in 1945, with the mission that saw the capture of Armim Zola.” Peggy started. “Sergeant Barnes was with Captain Rogers, in a forward carriage…” she began the long task of bringing both men up to date with the situation and introducing them to magic. “… I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, that this goes not further than us.”

“Sounds like it’s already gone a lot further.” Stark muttered.

“Not in the muggle world.” Sirius countered.

“So, Barnes is still alive…?” Stark huffed. “What about the Captain?”

“No.” Peggy still felt his loss deeply. “Nor were we able to retrieve his body. Neither he nor the craft he was in, reached the sea floor, without which, Lord Black’s magic wasn’t able to locate them.”

“Damn.” Stark sighed.

“Agreed.” Bucky walked out of the house to join them. “Remus brought me, the kids are finished and we’re waiting on you pair, for the intro’s.”

“Holy shit…” Stark whispered.

“Knowing is one thing.” Coulson nodded. “Seeing is completely different.”

“Ah-huh…” Stark grunted, his eyes firmly fixed on Bucky, who now had an arm around Sirius’s shoulders and had pressed a kiss to his brow. “Okay… time out, time out. You pair are…”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Sirius sighed. “Are we doing this again…?”

“Yes, we’re married.” Bucky said, cutting the whole explanation down to three words.

“Oh, okay…” Stark just blinked. “Is that legal?”

“Not in the muggle word, no.” Peggy said. “But they will be living predominantly in the wizarding world and there it’s commonly accepted.”

“Okay…” Stark repeated himself. “What do you want to tell the world?”

“Nothing.” Peggy said. “Let Margaret Elizabeth Carter fade away. I am, thanks to Phillip here, legally Margaret Victoria Carter, granddaughter of former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Carter.”

“However, I’d appreciate it, if you’d release my army pay.” Bucky said.

“Oh, yeah, the old man invested it for you, right?” Stark nodded. “Yeah, sure, I can do that.” He paused. “Obie’s gonna want to know ‘why now’? What do you want me to tell him?”

“Nothing.” Peggy said. “Your father may have trusted Stane but I don’t and never have.”

“Aunt Peggy…” Tony started.

“No.” Peggy said firmly. “Just tell him that in going over my effects, you found that Bucky Barnes had a daughter, she may have died but her son is alive and living in Scotland. I’m sure Phillip can ‘find’ you the appropriate documents to convince Stane.”

“I can.” Coulson was still eyeing Sirius’ wand warily.

“Then what?” Stark asked. “When will I get to see you? You’re the only family I have left, Aunt Peggy, I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’re her godson, right?” Sirius suddenly asked.

“Yes, dad insisted.” Tony replied cautiously.

“Well, if you want to keep the connection, you could be Peggy’s godfather.” Sirius said.

“On paper, if nothing else.” Bucky said.

Arriving back on the island late afternoon, Bucky and Sirius watched as Peggy joined the other children in the frolicking around in the pool.

“We did the right thing, today, didn’t we?” Sirius asked his husband.

“Telling Coulson and Stark?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah.” Sirius nodded.

“Yeah.” Bucky replied. “We need contacts in the muggle world and what better than the righthand man of the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“Fury did tell Coulson, he was to be our only contact.” Sirius nodded. “And once we’re done with Riddle and The Unit is up and running, having Coulson as a contact could be beneficial if anything happens in Britain.”

“Ah, you’re back.” Kingsley approached them. “We’ve been putting of the introductions until you got back.”

“We’re back.” Bucky said. “Go for it.”

“Wssss… Kingsley flicked his wand and it emitted a loud whistling sound. “Now that everyone is relaxed and all our people are back from their errands, we’re ready to some introductions. And a quick reminder that this bit is covered by your Oath.”

It only took a few minutes to name all the adults and there were a few dropped jaws when the muggle-raised realised who Bucky, Falsworth, Morita and Dum-dum were. Surprisingly, few knew who Peggy was.

Over the next two dilations, the Unit came together. Many adults were surprised that Harry was the one that most of the students turned to for interpretations of what the ‘adults’ were trying to get them to do. The younger siblings of many of the D.A. joined them for the second dilation and while, initially they struggled, Harry and Neville worked with each of them, one-on-one and after just a few sessions, they picked up and quickly gained ground on the older students.

Watching as all of the students took the animagi potion was as good as a rictusempra, making many of the so-called ‘adults’ laugh, some would leave holding their aching ribs, others would just shake their heads and smile. All of the students mastered the shift in a remarkably short period of time. McGonagall had expected that not all of them would succeed and that those that did, would take a much longer time to do so.

Animagi lessons left the island looking like a zoo without enclosures, however, the students loved it, all of them took to the shift easily. What surprised the adults more than anything was that Peggy asked to take the potion and in spite of being a squib was able to shift into an Abyssinian cat. It prompted the four Howlies to try but so far, only Bucky was able to make the shift, being a massive rottweiler, although it should be said that he was not terribly impressed with being a dog of German origins, the war was still too fresh in his mind.

On the 20^th of August, Dumbledore brought the students their school letters, which was followed by an eight-hour discussion of what had to be done before the 1^st of September. Riddle being the main item of discussion, they really needed to deal with the snakefaced idiot, before school resumed.

A plan was put together and people were tasked with ripping it to shreds from both sides. An hour in, Harry said that they needed more information on how the DeathEaters worked and that as far as he could see, Snape was the only DeathEater that might help them.

Sirius suggested Snape make an Unbreakable Vow or be obliviated after his input. Harry agreed to the Vow but was reluctant to obliviate Snape, who knew if they might need his input again and explaining the whole thing was a pain.

Eventually, Dumbledore suggested asking Snape, which he would prefer.

Chapter Text

A plan was put together and people were tasked with ripping it to shreds from both sides. An hour in, Harry said that they needed more information on how the DeathEaters worked and that as far as he could see, Snape was the only DeathEater that might help them.

Sirius suggested Snape make an Unbreakable Vow or be obliviated after his input. Harry agreed to the Vow but was reluctant to obliviate Snape, who knew if they might need his input again and explaining the whole thing was a pain.

Eventually, Dumbledore suggested asking Snape, which he would prefer.

Snape entered the ballroom to find it filled with animals. His brows rose as he realised that all of those animals were, in fact, animagi. Nearly two-dozen animagi in one place. It was unheard of.

His brows fell and a glare settled on his face as he spotted Harry Potter sitting between a lion and a lynx.

“Might I inquire as to why I am here?” His voice was low and silky.

McGonagall did not answer, just handed him a sheet of parchment.

“We need you to choose one of those options, Professor.” Potter said, his fingers stroking the lynx’s ears.

“Why?”

“We have the means to end the war before school resumes, but we need a little input from you and we refuse to risk Riddle killing you because he doesn’t like what’s inside your mind.” Potter answered. “Those will protect your mind, at least according to the Headmaster.” He frowned. “But if you have a better option, we’re prepared to listen.”

“You know why I’m in the position I’m-”

“No, sir, I don’t.” Potter cut in. “Only four people, beside you and Dumbledore, know that and I’m not one of them.”

“I was under the impression that the Headmaster told you.” Snape glared at the teen.

“I know, but I put forward an option that gives you a little more privacy. I don’t need to know the details, if someone I trust knows them. Lord Black, Healer Tonks, Auror Moody and Director Carter were told. The rest of us didn’t need to know the details, all we needed to know was if the Headmaster’s reasoning for trusting you, was valid. Those that were told were not impressed with the Headmaster’s actions and Lord Black, as my new guardian, declared that I’m never to be alone with him, nor go anywhere with him, without speaking to Lord Black and personally, and gaining his permission.”

Snape thought that through and nodded. “That sounds… fair…” He sat on the single chair that sat apart from everyone else, assuming it was for him. “I prefer the vow, with a clause that states that once the Dark Lord is no more, I am released from that vow.”

“Twenty-four hours after, not immediately.” Potter countered.

Snape narrowed his eyes and studied the teen. He had changed, it was hard to ascertain exactly how. Some of it, most certainly was confidence, but there was a physical alteration, too.

“Twenty-four hours later, however, if questioned by the Ministry, I may tell them that I’ve taken a vow and will be released twenty-four hours after the Dark Lord dies, permanently.” Snape countered.

“Agreed.” Potter nodded. “We’ll get Hermione to write up the agreement and it will be password locked with only you having the password. It will state that you have been employed by The Unit, prior to Riddle’s death and that your Vow was… will be… witnessed by Kingsley as The Unit’s Director.”

“I’d suggest that someone other than just I, also hold that password, Potter.” Snape countered. “If I am the only one and am injured or unable to speak…?” He raised an expectant brow.

“Then you’d be screwed.” Potter nodded. “Will you choose someone or will accept someone who won’t be onsite at the… let’s call it the end of Riddle… We’ll be keeping a number of our younger people offsite.”

“I would like to meet the person you’re proposing to use.” Snape said blandly.

“Peggy?” Potter seemed to speak to the room, in general.

A gangly legged, rust coloured kitten with large ears, emerged from between a pair of Labrador pups. It stalked over to Potter and flicked its tail before slowly morphing into a child not quite old enough to attend Hogwarts. The girl stood up and walked over to stand in front of Snape, her eyes studying him closely.

He felt distinctly exposed before those chocolate eyes.

She nodded sharply and returned to stand behind Potter. “I’ll do it.” She said.

“I have yet to agree to your proposal, Potter.” Snape didn’t speak to Peggy.

“You will.”

“What makes you so certain?” Snape’s curiosity rose.

“What are the DeathEaters without their Unforgivables?” Potter smirked.

Snape thought about that question for a few moments. “Very well.” He nodded. “I shall accept Miss… Peggy? Was it?... as password holder. What do you have planned?”

“Not until you make the Vow, Professor” Potter objected. “We won’t risk Riddle getting into your head.”

Snape stared at Potter. “That sounds suspiciously like concern, Potter.”

“Of course, it is, Professor.” Potter huffed. “If we weren’t concerned about you, we’d have had Dumbledore bring you here, drug you up with veritaserum, question you and then obliviate you. Bloody hell. There are easier ways to get what we want, than negotiating with you.”

Snape blinked. “I see. My apologies. My observations of you during our… animosity… gave me little indication that you would be able to put that animosity aside to work with me.”

“I know…” Potter sighed. “It isn’t easy but I’d rather do the right thing, than the easy thing.”

“How very… Gryffindor.” Snape sneered.

Harry snorted. “The only reason you didn’t have me in Slytherin is because I’d already met Malfoy.”

Snape blinked. “That boy is more Gryffindor than you are. How he was sorting into Slytherin, I shall never know.”

“No-one else would have him, probably.” Potter suggested.

“Quite possibly.” Snape nodded. “What do you have planned? Where is it to happen? And what do you require from me?”

“Vow, first.” Albus Dumbledore reminded them.

“Very well.” Snape held out his hand and watched as Potter clasped his wrist. They both nodded to Dumbledore. His wand twisted above their joined hands and fine strands of gold light wound around their hands.

“Do you, Severus Snape, agree to answer all questions put to you, here in this place, to the best of your knowledge?” Dumbledore asked.

“I do.” Snape said clearly.

“Do you, Severus Snape, agree to withhold any information you learn, while here in this place, stating only that information will be provided twenty-four hours after the death of Tom Marvolo Riddle, if asked by an authorised DMLE Auror?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Severus Snape, agree to provide any assistance that you are capable of, to Harry Potter and his allies, while here in this place?”

“I do.” One strand of light began to pulse and Dumbledore turned to Potter.

“Do you, Harry Potter, agree to place the information mentioned, with someone that will do all they can to ensure that the information is provided twenty-four hours after the death of Tom Marvolo Riddle?”

“I do.” Potter nodded.

“Do you, Harry Potter, agree to do all that you can to see that the person mentioned will be kept safe during the event that will cause the death of Tom Marvolo Riddle?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Harry Potter, agree to release Severus Snape from all vows and oaths taken in regard to your life and wellbeing, twenty-four hours after the death of Tom Marvolo Riddle?”

Snape’s eye widened and his heart begin to beat faster, did Dumbledore know what he was asking? Did Potter know?

“I do.” The net of light brightened and tightened, seeping into the skin of their arms. “That was sneaky, Professor.” Potter grinned at Dumbledore. “You know damn well that I’ve never considered that Professor Snape owes me anything.”

“I did.” Dumbledore twinkled. “But this will allow you to dismiss any and all oaths or vows without having to know the particulars of each one.”

“Cool.” Potter turned to Snape. “Your last three questions. One? What do we have planned? Two? Where will it happen? And three? What do we need from you? Right?”

“Correct.”

“One. We’re going to put up wards that will stop anyone from casting an Unforgivable. Two. It will happen at the Burrow. Three. We need to know a little more about how the DeathEaters are trained.”

Snape tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, he looked at nothing, as his thoughts turned inward. “Few of them are barely more than capable.” He finally answered. “Most have custom wands to get the maximum strength behind their spells. I would separate them into three levels. Only a few are dangerous without the Unfogivables. Bellatrix, Dolohov, Rookwood and Greyback. The second level would be those capable of basic OWL level duelling but not proficient enough to face a NEWT in the subject. Pettigrew, the Carrow twins, Yaxley, Lucius, Rosier, Mulciber, Narcissa and Draco. The rest are pathetic, all on a similar level to Crabbe and Goyle. Even Longbottom could take them.” The lion growled low in its chest.

“Steady on, Nev.” Potter laid a calming hand on the lion’s neck.

Snape blinked. “That is… Longbottom?”

The lion shook itself and, in its place, sat Neville Longbottom, but like Potter, he’d changed.

“Very well done, Potter, Longbottom.” Snape nodded. “Were I able to assign points, I would give each of you, at least fifty. The animagi transformation is complex and requires a significant amount of skill. And your negotiations, Potter, were well above what I expected. I never anticipated such duplicity from you.”

“Oh, no, Professor.” Potter laughed. “No duplicity here. First year was sink or swim. After that? Think back, look at your memories of what happened to me. Was I really hiding anything?”

Snape frowned, thinking carefully. Minutes passed before he sighed. “No. No, you weren’t.”

“No, I wasn’t.” Potter agreed. “But nobody was looking, they only saw what they expected to see, the Boy-Who-Lived. Even you only saw what you expected, James Potter’s son. A few saw more, a very few.” Potter grinned. “Hermione, of course.” The lynx blurred and Hermione Granger sat in its place. “The twins.” A pair of foxes became a pair of redheaded teens. “Luna, Lee, Angie, Katie, Alicia and Oliver.” As he spoke more animals became young adults. “There’s more, of course.” The collection of animals became a collection children of various ages, some weren’t familiar to Snape, being clearly under Hogwarts age and some were clearly older.

“Interesting collection, Potter.” Snape nodded.

“Aren’t they, just?” Potter smirked.

“Very.” Snape nodded again. “You said the Burrow. Why there?”

“You know what happened to the Weasleys?” Potter asked and Snape nodded in reply. “Well, they’re leaving the country. The property has reverted back to the control of Lord Weasley and he’s planning on selling it, mostly to recoup the cost of setting Mr and Mrs Weasley up in… wherever it is, somewhere in Africa was mentioned, I don’t remember the exact details. Anyway, the property is going to be stripped of magic and sold to muggles. So us, getting it destroyed by DeathEaters…?”

“Not a concern.” Snape nodded again. “I did hear that Lord Gareth Weasley and Lady Muriel Prewett offered resettlement options to some of the boys?” It was phrased as a leading question and Potter shook his head but still answered.

“House release from House Weasley and House-wide adoption from House Prewett, for Bill, Charlie and the twins. Plus, Bill will take the Prewett Lordship.”

“And the other Weasleys?”

“Leaving England.” Potter replied. “They won’t be involved in the takedown.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Potter said. “Bill’s been working on a ward to block the Unfogivables, it’s a variant of a curse-breaker’s ward used to block dark curses.”

“But because I’m altering it to be remote activated, when Riddle and his slaves arrive, it won’t be active, so they won’t detect it.” The soon-to-be Lord Prewett added. “I’ll be braiding the three wards, one for each curse, together and tying them to a ward-stone. Once they arrive, Harry, or whomever we designate, can activate it. They have to be in the precise centre of the ward-stones or the wards won’t take.”

“And you’ll only be having those here?” Snape asked.

“Only those in this room.” Potter agreed. “Although, not all of them will be onsite.”

“Oh…?”

“You’re muggle-raised, Professor. Do you know much muggle history?”

“Some…” Snape frowned at the seeming change of subject.

“We found some muggle allies.” Potter smirked. “Found and with their and the DMLE’s consent, we de-aged them. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Peggy Carter.” The young girl that had agreed to Snape’s information holder, nodded to him.

“Howling Commandos, James Falsworth, James Morita and Timothy Dugan.” The three men that had been sitting behind most of the animals, rose and stood at parade rest. Snape blinked, he knew those names.

“The missing Howling Commando, James Barnes.” Buchannan Black nodded but didn’t remove his arm from Cyril Black’s shoulders.

“Lord Cyril Black. Formerly, Lord Sirius Black.” Black gave Snape a sharp nod.

“How? I understood that the Veil killed those that entered it.” Snape was too surprised to have any other reaction.

“Not so much the Veil as where it spits you out.” Black answered. “From my research, I’ve determined that to be the same distance above ground, as the Veil is below ground. And as those tossed through it, had no wand and tended to be wearing magic suppression cuffs or had been Kissed? It’s not the Veil that kills but the drop on the other side.”

“And you?”

“I’d been working on repairing a broom when you called.” Black shrugged. “I just shrunk it and shoved it in pocket.”

“Why did you not return immediately?” Snape frowned.

“I was spat out, in early 1945.” Black replied. “It took me a year-and-a-half to work out how to get the Veil to send me back. Return to Sender type of back, to this year. But even then, there were varied options for our arrival.”

“Our?”

“I came with him.” Buchannan Black said. “I had nothing to stay for, Steve was dead and-”

“Steve?”

“My best friend, Steve Rogers.”

Snape frowned, he knew that name, why did he know that name?

“Steve Rogers, you know…? Captain America?” Black said.

“Ah.” Snape nodded. “Please continue.”

“Peggy was going to come with us, but Phillips talked her into staying with the SSR and creating a new organisation, S.H.I.E.L.D.” Barnes went on.

“I have no idea what that’s all supposed to stand for and I don’t really care all that much.” Black muttered.

Barnes gently kissed the side of Black’s head. “Hush, you.” He turned back to Snape. “We emerged…” He gave Snape a brief outline of everything that had happened since that point.

“I see.” Snape sighed. “Very well. I shall need to confer with my colleagues and those in charge of training to determine a training regime, time is the overriding factor, or rather the lack of it.”

“We have plenty of time, Professor.” Potter said. “This island has a Ten-in-One time dilation field available.”

“Ten-in-One…? Yes, that should work nicely.” Snape said. “If I were to go to him on the 24^th or 25^th and state that you were planning on staying with the Weasleys until they leave on the 26^th or 27^th and that the property wards have been removed in preparation for a muggle sale…?”

“He’s likely to jump at the chance to finish me off.” Potter agreed.

Snape settled into the room that was assigned to him and returned to the ballroom to meet with the trainers. He quickly realised that this group were not going to tolerate his usual approach to teaching and after watching a couple of different classes, he began to take small groups of two or three aside and run them through some of the simulations that were frequently used as training scenarios for the Dark Lord’s army.

Having a Ten-in-One time dilation field cover the island was extremely beneficial. It gave them thirty to forty ‘days’ or training rotation before Snape would have to report to the Dark Lord. Thirty to forty days to work with the Unit’s staff and turn them into a passable fighting force. Thirty to forty days to realise that he had severely underestimated Potter’s ability to teach.

The brat had taken twelve-year-olds with less than two years of magical training and had them easily performing NEWT level spells. Spell that he’d learnt at thirteen. What would the boy be capable of, if he’d had decent teachers for his entire educational career?

It made Snape rethink many interactions with the boy and decide that if the boy would learn from him, he’d teach him, properly.

Within a rotation of doing so, he discovered that he had a small following of those that actually wanted to learn potions. Potter, Granger, Longbottom, the now Prewett twins, Finnigan, Johnson and the younger Creevey boy. He ran them through the basics, as he would have his snakes and found that all of them absorbed the lessons like sponges.

When the outside time reached Saturday the 24^th of August, the dilation field was dropped in preparation for the impending collision of forces and people went in different directions.

Bill Weasley went to the now-empty Burrow to spend hours weaving the wards against the Unforgivables. Snape sent a crate-load of healing potions with Andi to the Lovegood’s home, it was only a few hundred yards away, but close enough that, if necessary, their injured could be carried there, by hand. Dumbledore, Kingsley and Tonks were heading off to the Ministry, to meet with Amelia Bones. McGonagall and Flitwick were headed back to the school, someone needed to put the coming year’s school curriculum into place.

Some of the students, however, were heading for the Ministry, Snape had declared that most of them had reached the point of being able to complete their NEWTs and comfortably pass them and had convinced them to sit the exams for DADA, potions, charms, transfig and duelling.

The older students had already sent in requests to re-sit the exams, citing Madam Umbridge as the disruption to their studies. Madam Marchbanks had sent back a reply, allowing them to retake whichever exams they wanted. Only the children who had yet to start at Hogwarts, would not be a part of that group.

“Stay safe, Professor.” Potter told Snape. “If there’s any doubt of you being able to walk away, or he tries to break into your mind, use the portkey. Please.”

“I have every intention of seeing him die, Potter.” Snape replied. “Either directly at your hand or at your order to the snipers.” He nodded to the two Blacks and Granger. “I shan’t head to his manor until you’ve left the Ministry, this afternoon. I’ll activate the eavesdropping charm before I enter his audience chamber, so you’ll know his response, even if I’m not able to get away before he orders the army out.”

The two shared a solemn moment, before each nodded and Snape apparated away from the island.

“Alright, everyone, time to move out.” Potter held out a large hoop and waited for those going to the Ministry to take hold of it. “Ready?” He asked.

“Ready!” They replied.

He said the activation phrase, “WEA exams” and the portkey whisked them away.

Chapter Text

“Alright, everyone, time to move out.” Potter held out a large hoop and waited for those going to the Ministry to take hold of it. “Ready?” He asked.

“Ready!” They replied.

He said the activation phrase, “WEA exams” and the portkey whisked them away.

Harry and Hermione studied the treeline around the burrow, they knew that Riddle and his DeathEaters were due to turn up sometime after midnight but neither were prepared to take the chance that Riddle wouldn’t get impatient and arrive early. 

The sound of feet on stairs reached their ears. “How’s Snape?” Harry asked, not even looking over his shoulder.

“Weak.” Remus answered. “Andi insisted that he go back to the island.”

“Didn’t he protest?” Hermione asked.

“Not really.” Remus replied. “Just shows how bad he felt.”

“The only other option was not acceptable.” Harry said. “Letting Riddle drain his core via the DarkMark wasn’t going to happen.”

“No, it wasn’t and he wasn’t complaining.” Remus reminded them. “Just thankful that Bill told us what it was doing to him. And that you agreed to remove it.” 

“I know.” Harry smiled at his honorary Uncle. “I’m just glad that he and Andi worked out how to ‘cure’ your lycanthropy.”

“I’m still amazed at how simple it was.” Remus said, looking up at the full moon.

Harry laughed. “Do you know how hyper you are as a four-year-old?”

“Bad…?” Remus grimaced.

“Siri said you were worse than I was.”

“Oh, dear…” Remus sighed. “Who do I need to apologise to?”

“Andi, Snape, Dumbledore and Bucky.” Harry smirked.

“Oh, crap…”

Movement caught their eyes.

“He’s early.” Remus muttered.

“I told you he would be.” Harry twitched his head. “Check the map, please, Remus.”

“Nothing between the inner and outer boundaries. All of his people are inside the curse wards.”

“Let’s do this.” Harry causally walked out of the house, knowing that Riddle would want to monologue on before they got down to the business of fighting.

“Harry Potter…” Riddle drawled as he walked up the path towards the multi-story house.

“Tom Riddle.” Harry replied.

“Do not call me that.” Riddle snarled. “I am Lord Voldemort.” 

“Illegitimates can’t take a Lordship in the wizarding world.” Harry said clearly. “And your parents weren’t married.”

A few DeathEaters blinked at that.

“It matters not, I shall-”

“Doesn’t work like that, titles are given by magic not by wizards.” Harry said. “No magical bonding, no title.” Nods came from the DeathEaters. “Not that it matters. After tonight, you’ll be what you should have been years ago.”

“And what, pray tell is that?” Riddle seemed a little less confident.

“Dead, of course.” Harry said. And ‘dead’ was the signal for Bill to activate the Unforgivable wards, along with the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. Riddle’s people were going nowhere.

“I shall not be the one that dies, Potter.” Riddle snarled again. “Avada Kedavra.” He thrust his wand towards Harry.

But nothing happened.

“Oops.” Harry shrugged.

“Avada Kedavra.” Riddle tried again.

“You really think we were going to let you use the killing curse on me?” Harry asked. “Again? How many times does that make? And how many times has it failed?”

“At least three.” Sirius was glamoured to look like Sirius, instead of Cyril.

“Black.” Riddle snarled. “Impossible. Bella killed you.”

“Well, you do know she was always a liar, don’t you?” Sirius replied. “Doesn’t surprise me that she lied about that. She does like to make claims she can’t back up.”

“I’ll kill you!” Bellatrix screamed. “I’ll kill you!”

“Oh, shut up, you stupid bitch.” Alice stepped out of the house, flicking her wand as she went. “Much better.” She turned to Riddle. “How do you put up with the hag’s screeching?”

Riddle seemed to snap out of whatever stunned state he was in and flung a cutting curse at Harry, who took a step to the side and let the curse impact on the Burrow’s stone-walled ground floor. He gripped his wand and took a deep breath.

Time to fight.

Spells went in all directions, but quickly a space appeared around Harry and Riddle, no-one stupid enough to get too close to either of them. Cutting curses and blood boiling hexes were followed by flaying curses and entrail exploding hexes. The light around them became a veritable rainbow of colours.

Dum-dum and Morita rolled out of second floor windows and into a mess of DeathEaters, not bothering with guns, just getting in down and dirty and having fun beating the snot out of a bunch of pureblood whingers. Goyle and Crabbe were knocked out by Dum-dum's fists, while Flint and Montague fell to Morita’s feet.

Sirius stepped to one side and let Alice, Frank and Neville take on Bella and the Lestrange brothers, while he went after Pettigrew. And Remus went after Fenrir Greyback.

The shock on Bellatrix’s face when Alice sliced her arms off was beautiful to all three Longbottoms. When Rabastan hit Frank with a cutting curse, he and his brother learned just how quickly an Animagus can change forms, both froze when Neville went from teen to roaring lion in less than a heartbeat, that was long enough for Frank to hit them with silencing jinxes and knock their heads together, no reviving spell was going to wake them up. Remus and Greyback circled each other until Remus smirked and tossed a handful of powder at Greyback. The werewolf snorted as the powder coated his hands and face, then his eyes bulged and he began to shrink, when he was little bigger than a mouse, Remus picked him up and dropped him into an equally shrunken birdcage. He continued to fight, holding the cage in one hand, swinging it around as he moved.

Hermione and Luna shared nods and started throwing spells at Dolohov and Draco Malfoy. Dolohov discovered that without the killing curse, the two girls were easily his equals and that Draco had opted to throw his wand away and run to the dubious safety of Hermione Granger’s shields. The blonde boy looked terrified of both sides, but he knew that at least with Granger, she wouldn’t curse him in the back.

The twins sent a dragon load of spells at Lucius and Narcissa. Most of them, it must be said, were prank spells. Lucius’ clothes turned to dementor robes, that tripped him up, as he fell, he saw Draco huddling beside one of Harry’s people and he fired a cutting curse at his son, only to have Fred block it and hit him with a bomb of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder charmed to turn any spells he cast, back at him. He fell to his own cutting curse, losing a lower leg and a number of fingers. George turned Narcissa’s hair into tiny snakes that were charmed bite at her face and shoulders. This was followed by her hands becoming fish flippers and her shoes, cement blocks. The snake’s poison wouldn’t kill her but it rapidly made her ill, she collapsed to the ground shuddering and shaking before rolling to her side and vomiting up bright green frothy liquid.

Each of The Unit’s fighters chose their targets and entered the fight. Most had no idea who they were fighting, as faces were covered with the ubiquitous white mask. As they opponents lay twitching and gasping for breath… reverse bubbleheads were quite easy to cast and required only rough targeting… they would pull their masks off and claw at their faces, some drawing their own blood. Others tried to run, only to meet a hail of spells shot from some distance away.

Bucky was busy picking off the lower ranks with his charmed sniper rifle, working his way from the outer edges, inward. Flitwick had charmed the rifle’s magazine to take spells instead of bullets and Bucky planned on using both of the magazines that he had with him.  

It didn’t take long before the watchers realised that Harry hadn’t cast a single spell, he was just dodging whatever Riddle threw at him. But it wasn’t until he started to retaliate that Riddle realised it.

And realised that he was in trouble. He didn’t hesitate, just spun on his heel and apparated away.

Only… he didn’t…

It surprised him enough that Harry’s latest spell reached its target and Riddle was frozen. The Duro Maxima hit him square in the face and in the two second between realising he’d been hit and with what, it was too late, his brain and his tongue were stone. The spell took only another three seconds to convert his entire body to stone and it took Harry less than another second to cast an overpowered bombarda.

Riddle’s body shattered into fragments, a couple of fist-sized chunks but most no bigger than a grain of rice.

Sirius took a breath and snorted. “That was anti-climactic.” He was sitting on Pettigrew, who was laying facedown in the dirt, on the rat's shoulders, his wands jammed into the traitor, his left in an ear and the right in the seam of his buttocks.

But that wasn’t the end of Riddle, the cloud of dust that rose from the shattered stone formed a face. “I will return, I am immortal.”

“Not anymore.” Harry said. “We destroyed you horcruxes. All seven of them.”

The face-cloud laughed. “I didn’t make seven.”

“The Diary. The Ring. The Cup. The Locket. The Diadem. Nagini. And me. You screwed up and made me into one, the night you killed my parents.”

The face-cloud screamed and began to dissipate, twisting and collapsing in on itself, fighting with every twist. The DeathEaters’ eyes widened and they began to wince. The winces turned to grimaces. The grimaces to moans. The moans to cries. And the cries to screams. All the while, they clutched at their left arms.

One by one, they began to fall. One by one, they were rendered unconscious.

The weaker ones lasting only seconds, while the likes of Dolohov and Rookwood managed to hold out for nearly three minutes before they, too, collapsed to the ground. The only ones standing were The Unit’s fighters and a couple of scared teens that quickly threw their wands away and held up their hands.

“We’re clear.” Bucky’s voice reached them via the eavesdropping charm. “I’ll bring the Minister and DMLE down with me.”

Sirius held up a hand, thumb up, in agreement.

From a vantage point, that had been very carefully disillusioned and warded, Bucky emerged into the evening light, followed by a group of Aurors and Ministry personnel that were surrounded by the few Unit members that hadn’t taken part in the fight.

“Mr Potter.” The tall dour-faced woman nodded to Harry. “How many of your people are injured?”

“Count out injuries.” Harry called over his shoulder.

“Colin and Angie got hit by debris from blasting curses.” Fred called. “Nothing bad, just a couple of bruises and a cut or two.”

“Any deaths?” Madam Bones asked.

“Only Riddle, ma'am.” Fred replied.

“Two lower ranked, as well.” Bucky said. “One fell wrong when I hit him, broke his neck and the other moved at the wrong time and my charm pushed him into the path of a cutting curse cast by one of his allies.”

“Excellent work, ladies and gentlemen.” Madam Bones gave them a curtsey. “This clearly demonstrates that The Unit is a viable force. Aurors, I want suppression cuffs on every one of these scumbags. And someone Accio up the remains of Riddle. We’ll dump it in the sea near Azkaban, to ensure that he can’t return again.” She gestured and the Aurors behind her spread out and cuffed all the fallen DeathEaters with suppression cuffs. “I won’t take any chances, that they might begin to recover, before we can sentence them.”

“And what about them?” Hermione nodded to the few teens standing in the middle of the fallen DeathEaters and at Draco Malfoy who was still staying close to her.

“They’ll be cuffed, too. Until we question them under veritaserum, we won’t know whether they were here of their own accord or whether it was coercion and force, that caused them to fight.” Bones replied.

“Fair enough.” Harry saw Draco nod his agreement. “But they’re to be questioned first, with Unit Director Shacklebolt as witness. School starts on the 1^st, if they’re not his, they should be allowed to finish their education.”

“I agree.” Madam Bones nodded. “We’ll have Mr Ollivander come in and identify all the wands from today, depending on their questioning, their wands may be returned and they’ll be assigned a mentor or a guardian, until they reach seventeen.” She frowned. “Those that came willingly, will be punished accordingly.”

“And so they should be.” Harry nodded. “But those that never wanted to fight, like Draco, Daphne and Tracy, should be released.”

“You know this for certain?” Bones asked.

“I’ve seen Draco with his father and it was clear that he feared the man.” Harry said. “It doesn’t take much to figure out why. Look at the way his hands shake, mine were like that for weeks after Riddle crucio-ed me, in fourth year.”

“You think Lucius may have crucio-ed his son?” Bones’ brows rose.

“If not himself, then he let someone else do it.” Harry answerd.

“Him, Bella, Rabastan, Dolohov and the Dark Lord.” Draco said. “I was told that if I refuse to take the DarkMark tomorrow night, I was to be given to Greyback.”

“I don’t think Fenrir has much use for you right now, Draco, unless it’s to clean out his cage.” Remus held up the shrunken birdcage with an angry werewolf inside.

“Obviously not.” Bones managed to hide her smile but a few of her Aurors didn’t.

“Yes, Mr Potter.” Cornelius Fudge stood as tall as he was capable of, with backing from the right people, he’d begun to be an effective Minister. “Taking down a Dark Lord is no small feat. The Ministry set rewards for their capture and I will take great pleasure in signing the payment invoices for Riddle, as well as those that are questioned under veritaserum and are convicted. As per the last meeting of the Wizengamot, all those convicted via veritaserum will be executed via Dementor’s Kiss.” He shook Harry’s hand. “And I now understand why The Unit must stay as an independent force. Fifty-seven DeathEaters…” He shook his head. “No even the Aurors and the hit wizard squad, between them, were able to arrest that many, during the first war.”

“Well, as we told you and Madam Bones, without the Unforgivables, they’re pretty poor wizards.” Harry said.

“Indeed they are.” Fudge nodded. “I understand that The Unit will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that no-one was missed, however, you will be not taking an active role in The Unit until you’ve completed all your NEWTs? Am I right?”

“That’s correct, sir.” Harry nodded. “There’ll still be active agents, just that those of us that are underage will only be called out in a nationwide emergency or one that threatens the Statute.”

“I was lead to understand that you and some of your… colleagues… have completed your NEWTs?” Madam Bones asked.

“Not exactly…” Harry corrected. “We’ve sat some of them. Charms, DADA, potions and transfig, only. We still have the other core subjects and our electives to do.”

“Ah… Yes, that’s true.” Madam Bones said. “Well, I wish you good luck and hope that the rest of your time at Hogwarts is calmer than it has been to date.”

“Thank you, ma'am.” Harry grinned. “I’m hoping the same, too.”

Chapter Text

“I was lead to understand that you and some of your… colleagues… have completed your NEWTs?” Madam Bones asked.

“Not exactly…” Harry corrected. “We’ve sat some of them. Charms, DADA, potions and transfig, only. We still have the other core subjects and our electives to do.”

“Ah… Yes, that’s true.” Madam Bones said. “Well, I wish you good luck and hope that the rest of your time at Hogwarts is calmer than it has been to date.”

“Thank you, ma'am.” Harry grinned. “I’m hoping the same, too.”

Harry knocked on Snape’s door and opened it when he heard the potions Master tell him to enter.

“How are you feeling, Professor?” Harry asked.

“Much improved.” Snape replied, laying his book aside.

“I brought you some information and something to keep you occupied.” Harry withheld his grin by the slimmest of margins.

“That is something I neither require, nor want, Potter.”

“Oh, yes, you’ll want this.” Harry let his grin show.

“What have you done?” Snape frowned at him.

“We took Riddle down, right?”

“I am aware.” Snape’s expression morphed to a bland look but to those that knew him, his pleasure was clear.

“Well, it turns out, that killing him made squibs of his Marked followers.” Harry went on. “They will all be questioned under veritaserum but there were a few at the Burrow, that weren’t there because they wanted to be there.” Snape raised a brow. “They were unMarked. That raised an issue for the DMLE. Most of them were underage and had a parent or grandparent that wasn’t Marked, so the DMLE sent them home, with an Auror to explain what is expected of them. Almost all of them got Good Behaviour Bonds. Three were released completely. Daphne Greengrass’ parents were being held prisoner in Malfoy manor, to ensure her obedience. Tracy Davis’ father was executed and her mother tortured, she’s in St. Mungo's while Tracy stays with the Greengrass family.”

“And the other?”

“We notified the Minister and the DMLE of your Vow and what it entailed.” Harry sidestepped the question. “We didn’t think that you would object, seeing as how Riddle died and we came out without injuries. Your pardon.” Harry held out a scroll, secured with the formal ribbons and seal of the Minister for Magic.

“My what…?” Snape blinked.

“Your pardon.” Harry repeated. “An official pardon for any and all crimes, committed prior to today.” He smiled brightly. “You’re free, Professor. No Azkaban hanging over you, anymore.” Snape didn’t know what to say. “And while the school year is only a few days away, the school-age members of The Unit are on stand-down. Most of us are going to spend this last week with our families.” Snape’s face went blank. “So, I figured you might like some company. With his parents now squibs and his Aunt and cousin fully occupied with the aftermath of last night… Draco needs his godfather.”

“Draco?” Snape stood up, quickly.

Harry stepped aside and Draco entered the room. “Uncle Sev…?” Those that didn’t know Draco well and those that hadn’t watched his as closely as Harry had, wouldn’t have seen the fear on the blonde’s face. Fear of rejection, fear of disgust, fear of the unknown.

“Draco.” Snape held out a hand and the young wizard crossed to his side quickly, letting the Professor’s hand rest on his shoulder. Snape turned back to Harry. “Conditions of his release?”

“None.” Harry smiled. “He, Tracy and Daphne were released completely. A few others weren’t so lucky. Kingsley will give you and Professor Flitwick the details for them, this afternoon, as you’re their heads of house.”

“I shall see that they don’t backslide.” Snape nodded.

“I know.” Harry turned to Draco. “And if you want, you can join us for extra-curricular training. The Unit is here to protect our world and the Statute. We hope to be working in conjunction with a muggle organisation that will do much the same thing, from the muggle side. The muggles aren’t ready for magic, not yet.”

“They may never be.” Snape warned.

“I know.” Harry nodded. “And even if it does happen, it won’t be anytime soon.”

“No, it won’t.” Snape agreed.

“But that won’t stop us from working towards a time when we will be accepted.” Harry smiled. “Think about it, Draco, no pressure but you’d be welcome.”

“Thank you, Potter.” Draco nodded but he was still wary of agreeing to anything his school adversary suggested.

“Talk to Snape, he’ll explain more.” Harry looked at Snape. “Recruiting level information only.”

“I understand.” Snape replied.

The 1^st of September came and The Unit sponsored students gather near Platform 9¾’s public floo fireplaces, their trunks shrunken and tucked away. Each of them had a satchel or backpack tossed over a shoulder, holding snacks and something to occupy themselves with, during long train ride. Reminders were given out about disclosure and what they could talk about and what was restricted information.

After that, greetings were given to friends and The Unit’s students split and went their separate ways, some finding empty compartments, others searching out friends.

Harry and Hermione found their usual compartment and settled in, joined soon after by Luna and Neville. They chatted away and sipped at the drinks they’d brought with them, while they waited for the Express to get under way.

A few minutes before eleven, Draco appeared at the door to their compartment. “May I join you?” He asked quietly.

“Sure.” Harry nodded.

“Thank you, Potter.” The blonde entered and set himself down beside Luna. “I owe you an apology.” He said the girl. “Uncle Sev took me to Gringotts to sort out the mess that my parents made of the Malfoy estate. Because there were so many family members blasted off the family tree without actually being disowned, we had no idea whether there were any living family members, so the goblins suggested that I have a blood heritage made up.”

“Excuse me, Draco?” Hermione asked. “What is a blood heritage and how does it differ from a family tree?”

“A family tree is like it sounds but people can be removed, either disowned or cast out.” Draco replied. “A blood heritage ignores things like disowning, being outcast or killed. It records everyone, depending on how much blood you give as to how far it goes back.” He shuddered. “I had two brothers and a sister but according to the blood heritage, they’re dead. Killed for being squibs or not being powerful enough.”

“I’m sorry…” Hermione didn’t know how to react.

“He killed them, just because they weren’t what he wanted.” A single tear ran down Draco’s cheek before he tightened his jaw and drew in a shaky breath. “But I have family. An uncle and a cousin. Apparently, my grandfather cast my Uncle from the family when he refused to take the DarkMark.” He turned to Luna. “Your father is my uncle, we’re cousins.”

“Cousins… Family…” Luna whispered.

“I can’t bring you back into the family until I’m seventeen and take the Malfoy Lordship. Father automatically lost it when he was… when he became a…” Draco couldn’t say it.

“A squib?” Hermione said, hesitantly.

“Actually, no.” Draco shook his head. “When he became chattel to someone who hadn’t even claimed a head of family let alone a Lordship.” When he said the word ‘chattel’, Draco screwed his face up into a sneer.

“Riddle?” Neville asked.

“Yes.” Draco replied. “He might have called himself a Lord but he’d never magically claimed a Lordship.” He sneered. “He hadn’t even claimed the position as head of his family. Not magically, at any rate.”

“And that makes a difference?” Hermione asked.

“Oh, yes.” Draco nodded fervently. “Lady Magic is the one to bestow Lordships on us and of course, if we do not act as She would approve of us doing, She can revoke them. Anyone can say that they are a Lord but only Lordships bestowed by Lady Magic are recognised. The Malfoys have been Lords, Magically, since the 1300’s, only for my… for Lucius to cast all that away on a madman.”

“But can’t you claim the Malfoy Lordship?” Hemione asked.

“I went to Gringotts to ask that.” Draco replied. “Lady Magic has put conditions on my ascension to the Lordship. I have to claim the head of family and disown the traitor before I can make my claim and give my Oaths. If I ever go back on those Oaths, I lose the Lordship, not just for me but for all my descendants.”

“Whoa…” Harry whispered.

“Not something to take lightly.” Draco said quietly.

“No.” Harry agreed. “Doesn’t sound like it. Will I have to go through that?”

“To a point.” Draco replied. “When you go to Gringotts, they’ll tell you the exact details, Lady Magic set them out differently for different people. It’s going to be more involved for me than it would be for you, mostly because I listened to… Lucius, instead of thinking for myself.”

“Oh… okay…” Harry trailed.

“Don’t worry about it. Gringotts will talk you through it.” Draco waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

“He’s right.” Neville cautiously added. “Gringotts will get you through it.”

“I’m still not sure that I’m looking forward to it.” Harry muttered. “Sirius told me that when dad found out what he had to do, he chickened out.”

“He didn’t take the Lordship?” Draco asked.

“Apparently, not.” Harry shook his head. “Something to look forward to, I guess.”

“You’re not your father, what you’ll have to do isn’t the same as what he would have had to do.” Neville said.

“What about you?” Luna asked.

“No idea.” Neville shrugged. “You have to be sixteen to find out and I was going to leave it until I could actually claim the title. I figure, if I found out too far in advance, I might not wanted to do it. But now that dad is back on his feet, I don't have to worry about that for years, yet.”

“I wasn’t aware of how old I had to be, so Uncle Sev took me in to find out.” Draco said.

Harry and the other sixth year boys settled back into their dorm, leaving their trunks at the base of their beds. This was the first year that Ron wouldn’t be joining them and it gave them a little more room, meaning that the dorm wasn’t quite so cramped. A shower and all four were falling into their beds.

“I wonder how Ron’s doing?” Seamus said.

“Mol-Millie said he was beginning to set down.” Harry had received a letter from the former Molly Weasley, now Millie Prewett, early that morning. “He didn’t like the new house for a while, neither did Percy.” He snorted a laugh. “Although Percy settled down, as soon as he saw the tree house.”

“What did they do about the Percy and Ron remembering the others?” Dean asked.

“The healer’s changed their memories, made it look like Bill, Charlie and the twins are their cousins, that with Molly and Arthur supposedly leaving the UK, they’d be seeing a bit more of them.” Harry replied.

“So…? They’re still family?” Dean asked.

“Yep, just not quite as close.” Harry said.

“That might not be such a bad thing.” Seamus said. “Ron won’t feel as overshadowed if he thinks he’s only got Percy and Ginny to compete against.”

“True.” Harry said. “And without Pettigrew to shape him, he’ll be more like what he should have been, without the traitor’s interference.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how they turn out.” Neville said. “Ron wasn’t the nicest of guys, at times.”

“He was a right prat.” Harry laughed. “I just hope he’s happier, this time around.”

“No Pettigrew to mess with his head.” Dean said.

“No Potter to drag him into harebrained adventures.” Neville added.

“No twins to use him as their test subject.” Seamus added.

“Yeah, he’ll be happier.” Harry laughed as the lights went out. “G’night.” He lay back and smiled. His friend would have a better life, he just knew it.

The year passed with no dramas, unlike the last five years. There were a few curious looks when The Unit sponsored students, as well as Draco, Tracy and Daphne were spotted running around the grounds of the castle and up-and-down the Clock Tower’s stairs. Even more curious looks came when some of the sponsored students, minus Draco, Tracy and Daphne weren’t in four of the core classes.

It reached the point where Professor Dumbledore was forced to announce that they were being sponsored by The Unit and what The Unit was. This was followed by what that meant for the students and how their summer training had them sitting OWLs and NEWTs in DADA and for a select few, NEWTS in potions, charms and transfiguration.

After watching Bucky and Sirius put them through a workout, down by the lake, the curiosity turned to sympathy, the few that had thought they could join them, found keeping up nearly impossible and they ached for days afterward.

Chapter Text

It reached the point where Professor Dumbledore was forced to announce that they were being sponsored by The Unit and what The Unit was. This was followed by what that meant for the students and how their summer training had them sitting OWLs and NEWTs in DADA and for a select few, NEWTS in potions, charms and transfiguration.

After watching Bucky and Sirius put them through a workout, down by the lake, the curiosity turned to sympathy, the few that had thought they could join them, found keeping up nearly impossible and they ached for days afterward.

The summer of 1997 was a busy time. They’d approached Tony for training in modern muggle technology and he’d been positively bouncing when he’d arrived on the island, to work with them. They’d used the Ten-in-One dilation and the mechanical genius had spent the first ‘hour’… according to his inner clock… pulling apart a watch, to see if he find a physical reason for it following outside time. When that failed, he pouted for a while but the prospect of showing off his toys to someone that was interested, was too great to waste. All Obie wanted to see was weapons and Tony as getting bored with making bombs.

Tablet computers and smart phones, now that was a challenge!

Remus, Peggy and Flitwick had spent a few days under a previous dilation working out how to ‘magic proof’ an area so that Tony’s tech would work properly. The idea of having to ‘magic proof’ his things infuriated the genius and he studied their work and made them talk him through each runic sequence and the reason for its use. He took the books for charms, transfig, runes and arithmancy, all the way from first year to mastery levels, into his room that ‘night’ and emerged the next ‘morning’ not having slept at all but having worked his way through all levels of all four subjects.

He proudly presented them with a small cell phone and watched as the wizards frowned.

“It’s warded.” He chirped brightly, his grin slightly manic.

“Warded?” Remus said.

“Well, yeah.” Tony said, reaching for a pot of coffee. “The ward is basic, all it does is translate magical energy into usable electrical energy.”

“But… how?” Remus said.

“Runes.” Tony replied. “I read all the books that Filius gave me, last night and… it’s simple. Using the runic alphabet as an alpha-numerical system, I wrote up a sequence that creates a ward that intercepts incoming magical energy and transfigures it into an electrical energy compatible with the item that the sequence is etched into and modulates it to the amp-age that the device uses to recharge itself.”

“But you're a muggle, how did you activate the sequence?” Was the first thing that Remus thought of.

“Made it part of the sequence that it activated itself when it detected magic.” Tony replied. “No magic and you have to charge the device electrically. Magic and the sequence handles all of that.”

“You mean to tell us that you read through all Filius’ books, last night, and now you’re a runes Master?” Bill asked.

“Yes.” Surprisingly, it wasn’t Tony that answered but Bucky, Sirius and Peggy that all spoke at the same time.

“It’s a Stark thing.” Peggy went on. “Combine photographic memory, eidetic memory and intuitive comprehension and you’ve got a glimpse of how a Stark’s mind reads something and instantly understands the language and theory behind the explanation.”

“Howard used to piss me off with it, every time he got a hold of my notes.” Sirius muttered.

“Nice to know the old man wasn’t perfect.” Tony muttered.

“Perfect?” Bucky spluttered. “Howard, perfect? Perfect asshole, maybe.”

“Lost count of how many times he couldn’t keep his hands to himself and would pick up something I was working on and would be stunned or blasted across the room.” Sirius snorted. “Nothing perfect about him. He was a right prat.”

“How many times did you stun him and tie him by his feet, to the rafters?” Bucky asked, tilting his head in thought.

“I gave up counting after a dozen.” Sirius answered.

“And the pink and yellow clothing?” McGonagall asked. “I’m sure that was mentioned.”

“Oh, it was.” Bucky smirked.

“Only had to do that twice.” Sirius said. “Tied the charm to him and any fabric he touched.”

“It’s  wonder he didn’t run around touching everyone else’s clothing.” Peggy said.

“Nah, I tied it to him.” Sirius said. “It was part of the jinx, if the item belonged to someone else and they were in physical contact with it, the charm ignored that item. Any item that Howard thought of as his…?”

“Pink or yellow.” Remus nodded.

“Waffling logic?” McGonagall asked.

“Of course.” Sirius said. “It was a Marauder specialty. Let us target our pranks at one person and that one person only.” He frowned. “However, there were times that somehow Snape bypassed it.”

“That was quite simple.” Snape said, sipping at his tea. “Most of the clothing that I wore at Hogwarts was second-hand. Waffling logic is easy to bypass by stating that the item wasn’t solely mine.”

Sirius blinked a few times. “Ooh… Yes… That would work…”

“So… Tony?” Kingsley had watched quietly. “Would you be interested in making some equipment for The Unit?”

Tony blinked, he’d been so focused on Sirius and Bucky’s comments about his father, that he’d let the rest of the room fade away.

“Oh, sure, why not?” He nodded .”What’re you after?”

“Communications, mostly.” Kingsley said. “Some tracking devices. Maybe something that negates any magic cast at it.”

“Hmm…” Tony’s mind spun. Could he create a runic sequence that would absorb, reject or redirect magic cast at it while ignoring ambient magic?

Peggy’s pocket started to chime with tiny bells.

“Oh, dear.” She sighed. “I wonder what Phillip’s problem is?”

“It that…?” Tony tilted his head, listening to the tune. “Is that America the Brave?”

Peggy smirked. “Of course. I did consider Phillip’s obsession with Steve and using the USO theme but I couldn’t face the memories it evoked, every time he has a question.”

“Why are you talking to him?” Tony was always curious.

“Phillip was an army Ranger, Tony.” Peggy replied. “And we would like him to set up a boot camp for The Unit, give the recruits some advanced training.”

“They going to him or is he coming here?” Tony was still wary of the man, he looked so ordinary but he could be so lethal if he felt like it.

“Here, of course.” Peggy said. “We’ll need the dilation field, if we want them to get anything out of the time that he can spare.”

“You know he’ll want to bring his pets with him.”

“I suggest that you refrain from calling Miss Romanov a pet, Anthony.” Peggy shook her head. “Neither she, Barton or Phillip will tolerate that.” She tilted her head. “Although it would be rather interesting to see what she or Barton would do to you, if you did.”

“Yeah, not happening.” Tony shook his head. “I thought the Hawk did all the talking and she was the action, boy, was I wrong? You know, just from looking at her, that’s she’s dangerous but he just slips under the radar, he’s so… country-bumpkin looking, that you just look straight passed him. Right up until he pulls that bow out and… whoa, nellie…”

“He can take Phillip down, in CQC.” Peggy offered.

Tony choked on his coffee. “The Hawk can drop Agent Agent?”

“Yes.” Peggy poured herself a cup of tea and added a dash of lemon to it.”

“Whoa…” Tony exclaimed almost silently.

“Want to stick around and watch?” Peggy enticed. “They should be here from the 21^st of July, for a week.”

“Can’t.” Tony muttered. “Got this thing at Culver, something to do with mom’s scholarship. I have be there for a dinner on the 20^th, workshops on the 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd, a presentation and another dinner on the 24^th and then Obie’s got me doing a  government presentation on the 26^th at Fort Lewis, followed by another at Benning on the 28^th.” He sighed. “Then August is just as bad, but it’s dad’s stuff at MIT and CalTech.”

“Poor Tony.” Peggy shook her head, amused at the sulky expression on Tony’s face. “Having to visit the premier colleges in the US, such a chore.”

“It’s not the colleges, Peg, it the students.” Tony corrected. “I have to sit through their presentations.” It came out as a whine.

“Oh, hush.” Peggy chided him. “You never know, you might find someone worth talking to.”

“But they’re students, Peg.” Tony kept whining.

“And so were you.” She replied.

“I know, that’s why I don’t want to go.”

“Oh, stop whining, Anthony.” Peggy sighed. “It’s not me you have to convince but Stane.”

“That’s why I’m whining, I won’t change Obie’s mind and I know it.”

“Then enjoy your time here and keep a standalone computer for The Unit’s work.”

“I’ll go one better and write a rune sequence that will keep out anyone that hasn’t taken The Unit’s Oath.” Tony said. “I trust Obie but it’s clear that others don’t and he hasn’t taken the Oath. No Oath, no involvement.”

“Thank you, dear.” Peggy nodded.

Phillip Coulson was a surprise to most of the Unit’s frontline personnel, as was Clinton Barton but Natasha Romanov wasn’t, they could clearly see the coiled tension and constantly moving eyes as the young woman watched them.

But Coulson and Barton were a surprise. Watching them go from loose-limbed and seemingly relaxed to no-holds-barred ‘I will kill you if my knife gets through your defence’, came as a bit of a shock to some. Harry seemed to accept it as expected but given what he’d seen and been involved in over the years, that was understandable. Neville, Draco and Colin hung on Coulson’s every word, absorbing everything he said and working hard to emulate the S.H.I.E.L.D. handler.

Euan and Dennis were fascinated by Natasha and not just for her looks. Her style of fighting was well suited to small lithe bodies and while one day, Dennis would be quite tall, if his father was anything to judge by, Euan’s family were all short. In addition to the two boys, Natasha took the girls and gave them gender-specific lessons on how to use their bodies to the greatest advantage when it came to taking down the opposite sex.

Bucky and Clint had an on-again/off-again friendship during the training sessions they co-tutored. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Harry and Draco were two of the best at hitting their target, with Luna and Natalie not far behind them.

Clint’s expression on being handed a broom modified by Tony Stark was sceptical at best, until Sirius loosed a snitch and Harry took to the air, challenging the archer to join him. It took just three rotations for Clint to ask if he could try the animagi potion. It was with dubious looks that Kingsley and Andi approved the trial and Clint and Natasha both took the potion.

It was a resounding success.

Both were able to shift into animals well suited to the pair. Clint became a hawk and Natasha became a long-legged black oriental cat with her crimson hourglass on its chest. The only difference between Harry’s Animagus form and Clint's were the feathers around their eyes and their size. In Clint's case, his larger Black Hawk-Eagle had the distinctive purple hue to its feathers while Harry’s shone iridescent green in bright light and a few feathers on his crest stuck up, much like his hair did.

The Unit had one callout that summer. A wanna-be Dark Lord from the Netherlands thought that England would be ripe for the taking. He got a short, sharp lesson in what The Unit had learned and Coulson, Natasha and Clint learned that these kids might be kids but that when it came time to take down a Dark Lord and his entourage, they were as battle-hardened as any elite strike force.

They never hesitated when it came time to fire… or cast, as the case may be… at the enemy, they never doubted their abilities, nor did they overestimate their skills. Clint hovered high in the air watching as The Unit took on the self-styled Lord Maximus and Natasha settled in a tree with clear views while Coulson was forced to watch from a hilltop almost a mile away, using binoculars.

It was frustrating and upon their return to the island, he approached Andi and requested permission to take the Animagus potion, he was hoping his form would be something similar to Clint's. Unfortunately, what he got was a large-ish black terrier type dog. Useful in a field operation but not for observation. He didn’t know whether to be pleased or not.

It did cause a little flurry of interest in the DoM, as the Unspeakables hadn’t been aware that muggles or squibs could do any type of magic and now The Unit presented them with three muggles, a squib and a Partial Void that were all animagi. By the definition of the Ministry’s Laws, being able to complete a higher-level transfiguration, such as the Animagus transformation was considered to be, allowed Coulson, Clint and Natasha to claim magical status of being muggleborn, with Peggy being classed as a squib-born and Bucky, due to his having married a pureblood, would be classed as a half-blood.

It had also Peggy contacting Tony and telling him, when he was able to get away, he had to come back to the island, she didn’t tell him why until he arrived in late August. He didn’t see the point until Kingsley told him that if he was classified as a muggleborn, he could do OWLs in potions, CoMC, charms, transfig, runes, arithmancy, history of magic and muggle studies, as well as NEWTs in transfig, arithmancy, runes, history of magic and muggle studies. That would allow him to sit a mastery in runes and arithmancy, which would legitimise his tech if the magical and muggle worlds ever came together and he decided to sell to his tech to wizards.

“I’m not waiting for the wizarding world to wake up and smell the twentieth century.” Hermione ranted. “And I don’t see why I should have to. I’m a muggleborn and my parents are muggles. Why should I give up my heritage?” She huffed.

“You shouldn’t.” Draco agreed. He’d come such a long way from being the pureblood snob that had tormented her in their early years at Hogwarts.

“No, you shouldn’t.” Tony said. “Nokia put out the 3110 six months ago, I can add my rune sequence to them, if you like.” Tony suddenly seemed nervous.

“Yes!” Hermione jumped forward and hugged the startled techno-mage, as she had dubbed him. “I was going to ask you to when we saw you at Christmas.”

“Now you don’t have to.” Tony patted her back warily and looked to Harry for rescue.

Harry just grinned. “You do realise that means you have to find something else as a Christmas present, don’t you?”

The alarm on Tony’s face had a few people laughing. “You mean I can’t just give her jewellery?” He demanded.

“No.” Hermione said firmly. “No jewellery.” She knew that anything Tony chose would be astronomically expensive and she would be terrified of loosing whatever it was.

“Bugger.” Tony huffed.

Chapter Text

Harry just grinned. “You do realise that means you have to find something else as a Christmas present, don’t you?”

The alarm on Tony’s face had a few people laughing.

“You mean I can’t just give her jewellery?” Tony demanded.

“No.” Hermione said firmly. “No jewellery.” She knew that anything Tony chose would be astronomically expensive and she would be terrified of loosing whatever it was.

“Bugger.” Tony huffed.

It took using a dedicated spell wand, similar to what the Howlies had been given by the DMLE, for Tony to pass his OWLs and NEWTs that November but pass them, he did. As did Bucky, surprising himself with how much he’d picked up, just from listening to Sirius as he studied the Veil and from watching The Unit's training sessions. The examiners were quite impressed, even using a dedicated wand, they still had to cast the spells correctly or the wand just let out a fizzing sound, courtesy of Fred and George.

About the same time, Morita, Falsworth and Dum-dum started to go into the early stages of de-aging breakdown. They’d had over a year from just one dose and a booster, which Andi noted in their medical files. Before they were completely free of the potion, Morita had muttered and grumbled and swore and fronted up to Andi, stating that he wanted to take permanent version, that his arthritis was no better than it had been before the potion. Andi told him that if he did take the permanent version, he could be inoculated against arthritis.

In March 1998 the ICW were informed about The Unit and requested a representative attend their next meeting. Kingsley, Tonks and Bucky attended and laid out the what’s, why’s and how’s of The Unit. The ICW thanked them and they returned to the UK thinking that was the end of the matter.

The summer saw Draco, Harry and Hermione complete their NEWTs at the Ministry, followed by more training with Tony and Coulson's team. With Harry and Draco leaving Hogwarts, Coulson called in a favour and Harry and Draco entered US Army Ranger training. They were cited as junior trainees for a specialist force, formed with international cooperation.

This came as a shock to Draco, as while he’d been training with Harry and the other Unit sponsored students, being thrown into The Ranger School came with little warning and was far more physically demanding than he’d expected. It took him a solid month before he stopped swearing anytime he saw Harry, who only struggled in the demolitions section, quietly stating to Draco that ‘of course, he hadn’t done any demolition work, they had Seamus, why would he?’, which made Draco pause and nod in agreement.

After the nearly nine weeks of Ranger training at Fort Benning, the pair were given a generic Ranger badge, a winged skull wearing the Ranger beret over crossed rifles, to sew onto their uniforms and allowed a week with their friends and girlfriends… Hermione and Daphne's younger sister, Astoria… before being shipped off to the US Navy’s Coranado base to undertake SEAL training. They started at the bottom and worked their way up. Other than the occasional three-day pass, it would be a full year before the pair would be return to the UK. If they’d been American and members of the US Navy, there would have been a further eighteen months to two years of training before they would have been deployed to units around the world. As it was, they were able to skip that and head back to the island and their families, with a second badge for their uniforms, an eagle holding a trident and rifle, over an anchor, a generic SEAL insignia.

Upon their return, Peggy gave them a month before she said, ‘my turn, boys’ and sent them to Devon and the Royal Marines. This was another thirty-plus weeks of what Draco called ‘hell in the south’. This earnt them a third badge, a laurel wreath surrounding a globe, not quite the standard Royal Marines' symbol but close to it. They returned from Devon just nicely in time to enter a dilation with a handful of new recruits… and some returning members. When the dilation ended, Peggy grinned at them and sent them to do the Special Forces Selections, if they passed… and they did… they would be given badges bearing the SAS’s winged parachute to add to their uniforms.

Clint laughed and showed off a similar collection of badges, telling them that it’s not all that uncommon for S.H.I.E.L.D. to send promising agents to complete one or another but that the Director would only send someone with the potential to be a Strike leader, to do more than one type of training. Like them, he had Ranger, SEAL, Royal Marines and SAS badges, even if he rarely displayed the last pair.

While Harry and Draco were away, those based on the island weren’t idle.

Neville, Dean and Seamus entered the Auror academy, they weren’t going to been joining the corps, but they needed the accreditation of Auror and Auror trainer, before they could legally start training The Unit’s members and have the Ministry recognise them. All three emerged with a badge that bore the crossed wands of Academy graduates, this was superimposed over a ball of exploding bluebell flames, designating that they were accredited as Auror and Hit Wizard trainers.

Harry and Draco, in between Ranger training and SEAL training spent the better part of a day being rigorously tested by the Academy’s senior trainers before being given a badge that bore two wands crossing, superimposed over a ball of sparks. It wasn’t until they returned after completing the Royal Marines training that they were told that this badge recognised them as having completed both Auror and Hit Wizard training.

Hermione, meanwhile, was working her fingers to the bones, compiling training manuals for all the various modules that The Unit’s members had access to, from animagi to warding and everything in between. In addition to this, she was working on a thesis for a charms mastery, which would be followed by a transfiguration mastery.

Luna had stayed at Hogwarts for another year, she wanted to take NEWTs in potions and astronomy, as well as CoMC and it was difficult for her to fast-track the latter, as the WEA based it on actual time with various creatures. Once she finished NEWTs, she took over the quibbler and while she continued to release the quarterly magazine, she also printed off monthly newsletters so that The Unit’s members could catch up on who was doing what. She seemed to be the only one that knew exactly what everyone else was doing, even Kingsley was reputed to call her and ask who was where and when they would return.

Colin had joined Luna at Hogwarts, along with his brother and the younger members. He ran the extracurricular training and kept an eye out for prospective recruits, be they muggleborn, halfblood or pureblood. It wasn’t quite the D.A. but it was close. When he finished at Hogwarts, he would sign on as a healer’s apprentice with Andi and Dennis would take the senior position at Hogwarts.

Peggy had sat down and completed the GCSE exams to get a General Education certificate and was studying business management at Oxford University. It was the closest they could find to what was needed. No university offered a management program for Counter Terrorism Organisations and no-one wanted to involve Fury.

Falsworth, Morita and Dum-dum all took Andi’s permanent de-aging potion, not all at the same time, though. Morita took it the first day that Andi permitted, one month after the temporary potion wore off and he never looked back. He had contacted his son in the US and the man was amenable to claiming… on paper… that Morita was his grandson via his long dead son. Falsworth lasted until the middle of the following winter before he sighed and asked Andi for the potion, although he didn’t go quite as young as Morita, who elected to be in his early twenties, settling for mid-thirties and having Coulson alter his identification papers to have him documented as the grandson of his older sister, Georgina.

Dum-dum held out until the chilly depths of January 2000 when he thumped on Peggy’s oxford apartment, two years after returning to the US as Dum-dum, the WWII veteran. Peggy just shook her head, let him in and handed him the potion and his 'alternate identity' papers. How she knew he was coming was anyone’s guess, but Harry thought a blonde archer may have dropped her a message.

“No.” Harry said when Coulson and Peggy entered the little office that he’d claimed as his.

“Excuse me?” Peggy said.

“No.” Harry repeated. “No, I won’t go on another training jaunt. No, I’m not going through selections for some exclusive military force. No, just… No.”

“Fair enough.” Coulson said. “That’s not why we’re here.”

“I don’t want to know.” Harry glared at them. “I still have bruises from your last ‘idea’. Take them somewhere else.”

Peggy laughed. “No, dear, nothing like that. We’d like you to have a little more administration skills but they can learnt over time.”

“Why we’re here is… outside The Unit’s usual duties.” Coulson said. “Barton and Romanov are in Budapest and they’re a little over their heads.”

“How little?” Harry was paying attention, now.

“The man we sent them to terminate turns out to be not a man but a wizard, a werewolf actually, and he’s been turning children and experimenting on them. We need someone to be a go between, between S.H.I.E.L.D, the ICW representatives, the World Health Organisation and the World Security Council. Some want to kill everyone, some want ‘samples’ to study, some want to free the children and some want to ‘cure’ them. We need someone that can talk to all of the representatives and keep them in the loop without surrendering what’s best for the children.”

“And you think that’s me?” Harry snorted. “I’m twenty, no-one’s going to listen to me.”

“You walk in, showing off all six badges, armed with guns and wands and they’re going to listen.” Peggy said.

“Five badges.” Harry corrected.

“Six.” Peggy dropped a badge on the desk. It was a pair of circular wings with a wand and a knife crossed in front of them. “These are the aerial troops’ badges, the ground troops have a paw print.”

“And the non-animagi?” Harry looked at the badge but didn’t reach for it.

“A boot print.” Coulson answered.

“Do we have a uniform yet?” Harry asked.

“We do, it’s based on muggle tactical wear, but we modified it.” Peggy said. “Traditional style tac pants and boots. The tops are double layered. The underlayer is embroidered with incoming magic-cancelling runes. The outer layer is modelled after duelling robes, is sleeveless and formfitting to the hip. They’re long bulletproof vests, basically.”

“Colour?”

“Steel grey for the pants and underlayer.” Peggy answered. “Black for the vest, boots, webbing and harnesses for weapons. The pants, underlayer and webbing are all acromantula silk, woven with Tony’s steel thread. Not quite bulletproof but certainly magic proof to all bar the unforgivables. We haven’t managed to make a portable version of Bill’s ward, yet. Boots are Hungarian Horntail, we can't find anything more impervious.”

“Weapons?”

“Your choice.” Coulson said. “But I’d recommend at least one pistol, preferably two, two wands and a handful of knives. Make them think twice before they dismiss you.”

“No.” Harry said to the representative from the World Security Council, the World Health Organisation, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ICW. “Magical infections don’t require physical contact to infect a muggle with an illness. Plastic gloves are useless.”

“This is why you burnt the bodies immediately?” The WHO rep asked.

“Yes.” Harry nodded. “Our Healer and arithmancy Master predicted a potential global pandemic if even one body was removed.” He looked to Alexander Pierce. “Which is why the body that your agent took was returned and your agent as dosed with a purifying potion before being restrained and handed over to security.”

“Secretary Pierce?” The Healer from the ICW looked at Pierce.

“I wasn’t aware of the severity of the condition.” Pierce replied. “We figured that it was relegated to magical beings only. Our scientists thought it might be useful to know how to counter such an illness, in the future.”

“Fire.” Harry said. “Kill and burn. That’s the only counter."

“There’s no cure?” The WHO rep asked.

“Our documented medical history goes back to Ancient Mesopotamia.” Harry said. “And it’s been the number one most dangerous condition known to us. Once infection is proven… and that can be done at a distance… Kill and burn are the only options. Everything else we’ve tried has failed. Immunisations, vaccinations, isolation, de-aging, kill and bury. If the bodies aren't burnt, it spreads like wildfire, worse even.” He slumped in his seat. “We just killed seventy-three children between the ages of three and fourteen. Do you really think we’d do that, if we had any other option? Not just kill but kill, decapitate and burn. I’m going to be adding that to my list of nightmares, for the rest of my life.”

“Was it really that bad?” Pierce started to look alarmed for the first time.

“You want to watch?” Harry huffed in disgust. “Fine, you can watch.” He flicked his wand out and tapped it against the wall at his back. The wall shimmered and images began to form. “But you watch to the end, no running away like cowards.” He cast a silencing ward around himself, he didn’t want to hear the screams, again.

Thirty-five minutes later, the images faded. The reps all looked ill, some of them had been ill.

“Now.” Harry let the silencing ward fall. “Anyone think we did that for fun?”

All the reps shook their heads.

“No.” Harry sighed. “There are just over six billion people on the planet. How many do you think would be left if that got out?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Zero. There might be a very unlucky few, who are immune or unsusceptible but that’s unlikely.”

“Why do you say unlucky few?” Pierce asked. “Wouldn’t you consider yourself lucky to survive that?”

“At first maybe but not in the long run.” Harry denied. “If that got out, the world population would be in the tens, maybe hundreds, not even a thousand. Certainly not enough to provide enough biodiversity for the human race to survive. Inbreeding would become rampant, resulting in birth defects and early deaths. And that’s assuming that those left were even able to find other people, given distances likely to be involved.”

“Ah…” Pierce nodded.

“Exactly.” Harry nodded back. “Your agent was an idiot and nearly wiped out the entire world. Good job, give him a promotion.” The last was said in an angry and sarcastic tone. “We’re done. I’m going home to surround myself in happy young people that I don’t have to kill.” He stomped from the room, glaring at anyone that got in his way.

He continued to stomp until he got to the facility’s medical area.

“Agents Barton and Romanov?” He asked a white-coat-wearing junior agent.

The young agent went pale and pointed at a door. Harry nodded and rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Enter.” Romanov’s voice was tired but Harry still opened the door.

“Romanov.” Harry said. “Good to see you awake.”

“Potter.” The redhead nodded. “How bad was it?”

“Bad.” Was his answer. “How’s he?” He nodded his head in the direction of a sedated Clint Barton.

“Whatever you two did, it’s going to take a while for him to put it behind him.” She answered.

“A long while.” Harry said. “A very long while.”

“That bad?”

“Yes.” He dropped a copy of his report on the foot of her bed. “I’m going home to the island for the summer and I hope that I never have to do something like that again. Ever.”

“May I?” Natasha touched the report’s cover.

“Sure, just give it to Fury when you’re done.” Harry said. “I never want to see that again.”

His portkey dropped him on the island and he walked slowly into the manor, ignoring the worried looks thrown his way. Down halls and steps until he reached the tub/pool that they used whenever anyone went into shock. He turned the taps on and began the grisly process of removing his uniform, dropping it and his weapons in the large basket put there for dirty clothes. Once naked he slid into the water and sighed.

A flicker of movement at his side told him that Hermione had joined him.

“Bad?” She asked.

“Beyond bad.” Harry answered. “Seventy-three children between three and fourteen had been deliberately infected with Wheldon’s Contagion.” She gasped in shock. “We had to kill and burn them before vanishing the ashes.”

“Oh, Harry…” Hermione settled herself on his lap and he clung to her, finally letting his emotions go and crying.

An hour later, there was a tapping on Harry’s bedroom door. Hermione flicked her wand to unlock it but didn’t move from her position of little spoon.

“Hey…” Sirius stuck his head in the door. “How’s he doing?”

“Rough.”

“One to ten?”

“Fifty.”

“Ouch.” Sirius grimaced. “We read the report. He was fighting for his life. For all our lives. Wheldon’s Contagion would have wiped out the world population within a week, if he and Clint hadn’t done what they did.”

“I know.” Hermione said. “He told me. 

“Coulson’s sending Clint home to Laura.” Sirius said. “She’s pregnant.”

“It’s going to take a while for them to get over this.” Hermione said.

“You reckon he’ll pull out of The Unit?”

“No, not Harry. He’s more likely to immerse himself even more.” Hermione shrugged. “He has a ‘saving people’ thing. He just can’t help himself.”

Thousands of miles away, Clint Barton wrapped his arms around his wife and laid his hands on her swollen belly.

“Can we call him Cooper?” He asked, remembering the children that Harry had levitated into the bubble of fiendfyre. Documents said that six of them came from one family and their surname had been Cooper, they were the only ones to be identified.

“Cooper?” Laura repeated, she had listened when Clint told her about what had happened and cried with him afterward. “Cooper… I like it.”

“Same here.” Natasha sat a few feet away, like them she was watching the sunset over the trees.

Chapter Text

Thousands of miles away, Clint Barton wrapped his arms around his wife and laid his hands on her swollen belly.

“Can we call him Cooper?” He asked, remembering the children that Harry had levitated into the bubble of fiendfyre. Documents said that six of them came from one family and their surname had been Cooper, the only ones to be identified.

“Cooper?” Laura repeated, she had listened when Clint told her about what had happened and cried with him afterward. “Cooper… I like it.”

“Same here.” Natasha sat a few feet away, like them she was watching the sunset over the trees.

The next few years were best described by photographs.

Clint proudly holding his newborn son towards a camera. It captioned with a single word. Cooper.

The baby had a mess of dark hair and Fred was heard to comment that it looked more like Harry’s hair, than Clint's.

Bill sitting on a picnic rug with a stunning blonde woman, looking down the beach. The woman leans in and kisses Bill’s cheek before leaping to her feet and running down the beach towards a group of people, Bill shakes his head and after climbing to his feet, following at a more reasonable pace.

In Tonks and Remus’ wedding photo, the bride’s hair cycled through a rainbow of colours before settling on a vibrant turquoise blue that picked up the tiny flecks of colour in her robes. Remus looked good, since his temporary de-aging the scars inflicted by Greyback had regressed, leaving his face unlined. Both of them wore traditional wedding robes, although the bride’s were white with flecks of multiple colours and the groom’s had a tinge of brown to what should have been slate grey.

Neville’s and Luna’s wedding was held on the beach, everyone around them barefoot, even an uncomfortable looking McGonagall. The bride wore a bright yellow dress under a silvery grey robe while Neville’s robes were the traditional grey, however he’d slipped a bright yellow handkerchief into his breast pocket and instead of white flowers pinned to his robes, they were in Gryffindor’s colours.

Bill’s wedding was at Muriel’s, under a huge white marquee in the corner of the massive garden. The bride wore a stunning white gown with black peacocks trailing from the bodice towards the rear of the skirt, almost like a train of feathers.

Charlie remembered that night fondly.

“It’s a pity your parents couldn’t be here for this.” Dedalus Diggle said to Charlie, who had been Best Man.

“It’s a long way to come.” Was all Charlie said, ignoring  the unsubtle dig at his parents for ‘abandoning’ them. His eyes were on Millie and Artie standing, talking quietly, on the far side of the tent. “Please excuse me, I’m going to ask Cousin Millie to dance.” He left the man and approached his mother. “Hi… mum…” He whispered the second word as he leant over to kiss her cheek.

“Charlie…” She hugged him tight. “I didn’t see you earlier, where were you hiding?”

“Keeping the twins from doing anything that Bill might regret.” Charlie answered as he drew Millie out onto the dancefloor.

“Oh, dear Lord. Those pair…” She shook her head.

“I think the girls will keep them in line.”

“I hope so, because no-one else has a chance.”

“Oh, Harry can.” Charlie said. “He’s been able to since first year, according to Katie.”

“Really?”

“Apparently, being able to tell them apart, is the secret.” Charlie smiled at his mother as they swayed in time to the music.

“No wonder I never succeeded.” Millie muttered, causing Charlie to laugh.

“Swap with me?” Bill asked as they slid passed.

“Sway with my beautiful sister-in-law? Sure.” Charlie let Bill handle the swap and just continued to sway.

“Not good wiz danzing, Charlie?” Fleur’s accent wasn’t nearly as strong after working at Gringotts for a couple years but it was still there.

“Nope, never have been.” Charlie shook his head. “Mum said I have two left feet, even Harry can dance better than me. So I just do this, just sway.”

“Ees steell moving to museek, ees steell danzing.” Fleur pressed a kiss to Charlie's cheek.

“No really, it’s just swaying.” Charlie argued.

 “Then, svay mee over to your papa, mon brozzer.” Fleur laughed.

Charlie looked around, surprised to find that they’d crossed the width of the dancefloor.

“Oh…” He whispered.

“Oui, Charlie. Museek means danzing.” Fleur gently applied enough pressure that they began to move and, inch by inch, foot by foot, they crossed the dancefloor.

Sirius chasing after a toddler on a kiddy-broom, captioned, ‘father and son’. It was taken a week after Sirius and Bucky adopted a muggleborn orphan. That the little boy had Bucky’s eyes and Sirius’ hair was down to the adoption potions that the Ministry had insisted on, when they were told that the boy was documented as parents unknown. While Sirius could have taken him to Gringotts and got a blood heritage test done, the Ministry opinion was that if his parents didn’t want him, to the point where they abandoned him in the countryside, miles from anywhere, in the middle of a heatwave, then they didn’t have a right to complain, later.

Harry wore simple black slacks and a white shirt, the day he and Hermione married. She also went simple, a pretty cream sundress that reached to her knees. With flowers in her hair and a corsage on her wrist, she danced with her new husband, the pair so intent on each other that Harry’s usual clubfooted-ness was missing, as they glided around the Great Hall. The building was decked out in the colours of all four houses, much as it would have been for a Welcoming Feast.

A pair of photos of Ron and Percy. Ron sitting on a cushion, under a tree, reading a substantial book. Percy on a broom zipping around an open field.

“Have they swapped personalities?” Seamus was heard to ask Bill, as the pictures made the rounds of the Unit.

Harry studied the face of the boy who was once his best friend.

“He looks happy.” Was all Harry said.

Draco and Astoria Greengrass’ wedding was not what Harry would have expected from the arrogant pureblood tosser that had been his nemesis, in their early years at Hogwarts. A gaudy, fun-filled and extremely muggle wedding in San Diego was definitely something that Lucius would not have approved of, if he’d lived beyond the first year after Riddle’s death. Both bride and groom were dressed in costume, Astoria as Cleopatra and Draco as a stormtrooper.

“That was fun.” Neville laughed. “Getting married by a giant green Yoda? Not what I expected.”

“Who else was there?” Bucky asked.

“Everyone.” Harry shook his head. “It was the middle of Comicon. The place was packed. Astoria as ‘given away’ by Julius Caesar and Frodo was the Ringbearer, with Superman pushing his wheelchair. Wonder Woman was her bridesmaid and I was Slytherin, although only a few people seemed to realise that, most thought I was just an evil wizard. A really pregnant Princess Leia went into labour, her husband was the Yoda, it almost interrupted the wedding but Bones McCoy and Hot-lips Houlihan stepped up and while Yoda was doing the ‘repeat after me’ bit, they were doing the ‘this baby’s not waiting, you’d better start pushing’ bit.”

“It was kinda hilarious.” Neville added. “Yoda’s trying to pay attention to the wedding and his wife. At one point he was asking Draco ‘do you take this woman’ and he paused and groaned, ’Jeebus woman, stop crushing my hand, I’ll need it to sign their marriage certificate’ and Leia’s like ‘what does it matter, nobody can read your writing, anyway’. He snaps back, ‘yours is no better’ and he’s straight back to ‘as your lawfully wedded wife?’ without missing a single word.”

Bucky blinks and shakes his head. “You are not going to Comicon without us, again. I don’t care if Siri’ got the flu, he can take a pepper-up and have a day under dilation to get over it, I’m not missing out on this shit, again.”

“We miss all the best stuff.” Sirius nodded.

“I got a card from them, for our anniversary.” Astoria chuckled, as she waddled by, her hands rubbing her baby bump.

Two photos. One showing Tony morphing into a red bird, with a gold mask and the occasional gold feather hiding among the rich red ones. The other showing his return to human form, three feet in the air, his arms windmilling as he fell to the ground, landing face-first in a burst of red feathers.

Fred and George’s wedding to Katie and Angelina was remarkably traditional and amazingly quiet. The two grooms stood with their brides, in front of Dumbledore, wearing simple grey robes, something that for them was very unusual. The brides both wore muggle dresses with silky veil-like robes over them, shimmering in the evening light.

Mille and Artie sat with Muriel, Bill and Charlie watching the twins take the first steps towards becoming domesticated.

The Unit formed a guard of honour to frame the two couples as they moved from the Hogwarts chapel to the Great Hall for their reception.

A muggle picture of a destroyed building, rubble clumped around the remains of a doorway. Underneath was the rough writing that identified the picture as having come from Tony.

Extreme case of Jekyll and Hyde – or – He’s a troll Animagus

Alongside it was a note.

Turns out the guy was playing with Erskine’s notes and radiation, not vita rays like they used on the Cap but gamma rays. Obviously, something went wrong. I managed to get involved in the clean-up, touted something about ‘he was one of mom’s scholars, I need to keep the reputation intact’. Not surprisingly, Obie bought it. I found a minute sample of his serum and the complete formula and he was way off base. He was using the wrong proteins and targeting the wrong gene sequences. I’m going to see if I can work out exactly where he went wrong and if I can stabilise his serum, otherwise Banning’s not going to have an easy change, he won’t remember a thing from when he turns green. It’ll be like being two people in one body. Ask Remus how comfortable that was.

T

Hermione, Angelina, Katie and Astoria standing side by side, showing the progression of baby bumps. From Astoria and her barely there bump to Hermione and her ‘swallowed a blimp’ belly. As the picture passed, babies feet, or fists, could be seen moving under their mothers’ skin as the soon to be hellions jockeyed for a comfortable position. A wild-eyed look from Hermione as her waters broke and her first contraction hit. The camera dropped sharply, as it hit the ground and tilted onto its side, a frantic Harry could be seen running towards to the women.

A newspaper clipping.

TONY STARK KIDNAPPED! The headline screamed.

Under the headline, the body of the article stated that Tony had been kidnapped during a tour of the troops in Afghanistan. Their convoy had been hit by extremists and the billionaire taken.

The Unit hadn’t been told until Peggy had got tired of Tony avoiding her calls and contacted Ms. Potts, only to be told that Tony was missing. Less than five minutes later, Ms. Potts rang back, Tony had rescued himself and was on his way to LA.

When questioned later, why hadn’t he hit his panic button, the emergency portkey that Sirius had given him? Tony replied that it had happened too fast. One second, he was posing with a soldier for a selfie and the  next everything was spinning and then it all went black. When he woke, he’d been stripped and had a car battery attached to a hole in his chest. Which is why he hadn’t used his Animagus form, either.

The next picture was a muggle photo of a partially crushed blue and white car and was closely followed by a pair of notes.

I am Iron Man.

Or I will be, when I get this under control. Testing is tricky. Getting the balance right was harder than I thought it would be, nothing like flying on a broom.

Not so much the flying but the landing. Look what I did to the Shelby! My poor baby. I don’t suppose anyone’s interested in coming out and doing a reparo for me?

Apologise to Luna for me but I’m far more Gryffindor than Ravenclaw, hence the colours will be red and gold.

T

---

Hey

Peggy was right, Obie was a bastard. He’s been selling stuff on the black-market and didn’t take my decision to move the company away from arms manufacturing, all that well. As in he tried to kill me, he planned to make it look like I didn’t test the suit properly and it killed me. He was going to release a ‘tested’ version for the military and maybe sell some under the table.

I took care of him, not pretty and it’s going to add to my nightmare listing but he's not going to sell SI bombs on the blackmarket, any longer.

The Arc reactor is great but I can’t be that vulnerable again. Can that de-aging stuff, remove only a few months? Just back to before Afghanistan?

Please?

T

Tony sat on Pepper’s shoulder in his Animagus form, before hovering in front of her and changing back into his human shape. Her eyes were bright and excited as she followed his transformation.

“Oh, wow…” She gasped. “That’s… wow…”

“Want to meet the rest of the zoo?” Tony asked.

“Zoo?” Pepper asked.

“Not quite a real zoo.” Tony answered leading her towards the rear of the manor and the large patio area. “But we do have a lot of animals. Little cats, big cats, dogs, wolves, birds. Even got a squirrel and a dormouse.” He opened the door and gestured to seats off to the left.

“Wow…” Pepper looked at the gathering of animals, a lion, a lynx and was that goat?

“We did some testing with the families of Unit members and….” Tony shrugged. “If a witch or wizard brews the potion and a muggle drinks it, they can become an animagi. The potion allows muggles to access the tiny bit of magic we contain and amplify it. I’ll never be able to do the more complex spells without a dedicated wand, but Andi and Hermione believe that if I take the animagi potion each month, in a year or so, I’ll be able to do magic from my own core, I’ll never be strong at magic but for the simple stuff, I’ll be able to use my own wand not a dedicated one.”

“If you want…” Harry walked over, holding a baby in one arm and a smoking goblet in the other. “… you can take the potion, too?”

“Animagi…?” Pepper asked. “Me, be an animagi…? Really…? Ooh, Caroline would be so jealous, if she ever knew.”

“Caroline?”

“My younger sister.” Pepper replied. “She’s went to Ilvermorny while I went to Harvard. She’s struggling to cope on a MACUSA wage and I’m PA… and girlfriend… to a multi-millionaire. The benefits of being a squib.” She gave Tony a clearly fake, innocent look, causing both Tony and Harry to laugh.

“Oh, yeah.” Harry laughed faded to a chuckle. “You’re going to fit in perfectly.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at Harry. “Is the muggle friendly animagi potion any different to a squib or witch friend version?”

“Not as far as we’ve tried it.” Harry said.

“Peggy’s a squib, as is Natalie’s younger brother.” Andi said as she joined them. “Neither has had any complications from the potion.”

“Oh, there’s a few people you need to meet before we get too far into this.” Harry said. “Drink the potion and do your first change, while I fetch them out, okay?”

“I can do that.” Pepper picked up the goblet and drank the still smoking fluorescent  purple liquid.

She’d barely placed the goblet on the table when the change began. When it finished a long-legged, elegant Arabian mare stood on the patio.

“Oh, now, that’s nice…” Tony said, sidling up to Pepper-in-horse-shape and running a hand down her neck. A few more seconds and Pepper stood there, Tony’s hand still on her neck. “Hi…” He whispered and pulled her towards him, gently enveloping her in his arms.

“Oh, my, that was…”

“Brilliant, I know…” Tony grinned, widely and after a couple of startled blinks, Pepper’s smile matched his.

“Excuse us…” Harry’s voice interrupted them.

Both turned towards Harry and Pepper froze. She studied the six people with Harry, seconds passed and ticked over into minutes before she did anything more than look from one face to another.

“This is how you dealt with the arc reactor, isn’t it?” She asked, turning to Tony.

“A couple of drops of de-aging potion and the physical damage from Afghanistan was gone.” Tony nodded. "I still use the reactor for the suits but it's now built into the suits, not me."

“And them?” She poke to Tony, even though she nodded in the direction of Harry’s companions.

“Yes and no.” Tony said. “Yes, for Peggy, Morita, Falsworth and Dum-dum. No, for Sirius and Bucky.”

“Explanations can wait.” Pepper huffed. “Teach me to change back into that horse.”

Chapter Text

“This is how you dealt with the arc reactor, isn’t it?” She asked.

“A couple of drops of de-aging potion and the physical damage from Afghanistan was gone.” Tony nodded.

“And them?” She poke to Tony, even though she nodded in the direction of Harry’s companions.

“Yes and no.” Tony said. “Yes, for Peggy, Morita, Falsworth and Dum-dum. No, for Sirius and Bucky.”

“Explanations can wait.” Pepper huffed. “Teach me to change back into that horse.”

November 2009

“I take it, your meeting with Stark didn’t go well.” Coulson stated.

“No.” Fury glared at the wall of his office.

“I have to say, ‘I told you so’, Boss.”

Fury just grunted.

“The idea of the Initiative is fine but the practicality of it… isn’t.”

“What makes you say that?” Fury turned to Coulson.

“You’re looking at these people and what they can do.” Coulson said. “But you’re not looking at how they do it. There’s not one person on your list that follows orders well. And in most cases, if they do stay on-mission, it’s a damned fluke.”

“You’re on that list.” Fury reminded the other man.

“Like I said.” Coulson simply raised an eyebrow. “I do what has to be done to get the result needed, if that means going off-mission, I’ll do it… without a hesitation. As someone once said to me, ‘I don’t care about your fucking orders, just get the job done’. I do recall that someone as being you.”

“Stark isn’t a team player.” Fury snapped.

“No,you know that’s not quite correct.” Coulson said. “Stark is like you, if you want him to play, you have to give him a reason. If he doesn’t trust you, he won’t listen when you need him to.”

“Can you get him to listen?” Fury tilted his head in curiosity.

“Maybe but not without a damned good reason.”

“And the Initiative isn’t a good reason?”

“As it stands, right now?” Coulson sighed. “No, it’s not.”

“Why?” Fury demanded.

“Because you’re asking for too much and not giving anything in return.” Coulson shook his head. “Stark is… He’s a good man but you’ve given him no reason to trust you… and by extension, S.H.I.E.L.D… and every reason to not to.” He sighed. “To start with, did you ask or did you try to bully him into it, like you did last time?”

Fury grunted.

“He’s not S.H.I.E.L.D, and he has no intention of being S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“What’s wrong with being S.H.I.E.L.D?”

“Nothing.” Coulson said. “If it’s your choice. You haven’t given him a choice, you just keep badgering him. You know as well as I, that Stark’s stubborn. And he’s smart. No, he’s brilliant and for God’s sake, it’s not like you’ve been subtle about it. Of course, he’s figured out that you want him in the Initiative, but you’ve not given him a reason to join. Not a single one. And Howard's attitude didn't help much, either.”

“Damn it.” Fury snarled.

“The Initiative is a fine idea but you’ve not done anything more than say what you want it to do.” Coulson said. “Who’s going to be the team leader? Who handles supply? Who handles the armoury? Transport? Housing? Communications? Who decides what missions the Initiative are sent on? Who do they answer to?”

“Alright, I get it.” Fury grunted.

“You know the questions.” Coulson said. “Now you need to work out the answers.”

March 2010

“You want my opinion?” Coulson asked.

“Personal or professional?” Fury replied.

“In this case, they’re the same.”

“Fire away.”

“It won’t be good for S.H.I.E.L.D, if the Initiative is under S.H.I.E.L.D’s control.” Coulson stated bluntly.

“Why?” Fury snapped.

“It’s only going to be a matter of time before one of the Initiative members do something that draws the… disapproval... of the public or the media. Be it a building destroyed, a life not saved or a political border crossed without permission.”

“If they stay on-mission there’s no reason-”

“They won’t.” Coulson cut in. “Staying on-mission is going to go out the window and you know it. I told you before, the people you’ve marked as potentials for the Initiative, they do what needs to be done. To them, the mission is all about the end result, not how they get there. If that means airing a politician’s dirty laundry to the world? Too bad, so sad. They’ll do it and you know it.”

Fury just ground his teeth together. “How am I supposed to sell that to the World Security Council?”

“Easy. Make the Initiative an international Not-For-Profit. Startup funds come from S.H.I.E.L.D, WSC, SecDef, the Joint Chiefs, the Oval Office and Stark, to name a few. They're there for the benefit of the entire world not just the US. And most importantly, remind them because of what these people are needed to do, average military personnel aren’t suitable, they don’t have the training or the… think-outside-the-box attitude that’s needed. But that that attitude is what is going to cause problems when they aren’t needed to ‘save the world’. Getting them out from under S.H.I.E.L.D, is better for S.H.I.E.L.D. We have someone to call on, in emergency but we don’t have to keep the occupied between emergencies.”

“Huh…”

“Use Stark as a prime example.” Coulson said. “His Iron Man suit is brilliant and we’ve seen that when it comes time to suit up, he gets in and does what needs to be done… but… the collateral damage in Monaco was considerable, do S.H.I.E.L.D and the WSC really want to be responsible for that?”

Fury grimaced. “No.”

“No.” Coulson agreed.

Feb 2011

“What do you plan to tell Barnes?” Coulson asked.

“Nothing.”

“Not a good idea, Boss. He’s working with Potter and you know what he’s like.”

“Shit.”

“And don’t forget her.”

“What?” Fury blinked.

“Do you want to face her, and explain why you didn’t call her, immediately, when we’d found the Captain?”

“Motherfucker.”

“Exactly.” Coulson nodded. “Let’s bring him home and lay him to rest properly. I’ll get to working on funeral pla-”

A phone rang, the ringtone that was heard was that of Maria Hill, Fury’s second in command. He fished the device from his pocket and lifted it to his ear. “Fury.” He snapped.

Coulson could just hear Hill’s voice but he was unable to make out any words, just the rapid-fire of a sit-rep.

“Tell them to hold on the ground.” Fury said. “I’ll call them directly, with a mission update.” He didn’t wait for Hill to respond, just ended the call and dropped the phone back into his pocket.

“There’ll be no funeral.”

“Sir, the Captain deserves-” Coulson started.

“He’s alive.” Fury cut in.

“What...?!” Coulson’s jaw fell and his eyes widened in shock.

“He’s alive.” Fury repeated. “One the crew was chipping away the ice surrounding him and when his face was exposed, they saw eye movement.”

“Shit…” Coulson whispered.

“They hooked him up to an EEG and he’s showing much the same brain activity as someone under a general anaesthetic. The flight surgeon wants to keep him under, until we can get him into a decent medical facility.”

“He’s alive…” Coulson said.

“He'll be on his way to S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters in New York in a matter of minutes.” Fury said.

“No.” Coulson shook his head, sharply, getting himself back into focus.

“I want him to lead the Initiative.” Fury started.

“Bad idea, Boss.”

Fury blinked in surprise. “Why?”

“He’s a loose cannon.” Coulson said. “Worse than Stark or Potter.”

“He’s Captain America.” Fury objected.

“Boss…” Coulson took a deep breath. “You know my… interest in the legend surrounding Captain America.” Fury nodded. “You know how much research into his history, I’ve done.” Fury nodded again, a little slower this time. “Then believe me, S.H.I.E.L.D does not want him leading the Initiative. You might but not S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Why…?” Fury didn’t think he was going to like the answer.

“The man planned all the Howling Commandos mission and he still couldn’t stay on-mission. Look what he did the first week in Europe… convinced Howard Stark and Peggy Carter to drop him behind enemy lines, after express orders to stand down from Col. Phillips. Just to find Barnes.” Fury grimaced. “Out of the seventeen missions that he lead, not one stayed on-mission beyond first contact with the enemy.”

“Missions rarely-”

“I am aware.” Coulson nodded. “But that’s usually because of the enemy, not because the team leader threw the damn mission briefing out the window, the moment he spotted the enemy. He’s good but he’s had no structured training and let’s not forget that he’s seventy years out of date as far as politics, the Geneva Convention and modern warfare and weapons are concerned.”

“Shit.” Fury dropped his head into his hands.

“Put him and Stark together and you know that sooner or later one of them is going to do or say something that is going to show S.H.I.E.L.D in a bad light. Keep them separate from S.H.I.E.L.D, give them a couple of our people, as liaisons and teammates, to keep them grounded and if necessary, run interference between them and the media.”

“You think I should hand over the Initiative to him and Stark and let them privatise the Avengers?”

“Rogers and Stark, no. Stark and Potter, yes. Combine the Avengers and Potter's Unit under the one banner of the Initiatve and let them deal with it. Other than start-up donations, they pay, not us. In dollars and in responsibility. Keeps S.H.I.E.L.D out of the limelight and lets us get on with the job of protecting the world, behind the scenes. Think of it like… cancer treatment. They’re the surgery and we’re the ongoing therapy and treatments."

“Huh, might work.”

“Put the right people with them and it should.” Coulson agreed.

“Who are you thinking of? Rumlow? Sitwell?”

“No, they wouldn’t take time to teach him, to catch him up on the last seventy years. I was thinking more like Barton and Romanov. They already know the Unit, have been training with them for years now. Keeping them on-mission is nigh on impossible. Just look at Budapest. I told him no bow and what does he take?”

“The bow.” Fury grunted in understanding.

“The bow.” Coulson nodded. “And let’s not mention the mission that got us Romanov.”

“Ugh.”

“Plus Potter’s science people have stabilised Banner’s serum, no more uncontrolled green rage monster, Banner knows exactly what he’s doing when he goes green.”

“Add him to the Avengers?” Fury wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

“And S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t the one carrying their flag, Stark is.” Coulson reminded the other man. “Where is the Captain, right now? What’s his status?”

“Still unconscious and partially frozen, on the tarmac waiting to take off for New York.” Fury replied.

“If you can get the WSC to approve the Initiative being outsourced to Stark and Potter, to be combined with The Unit, before that plane lands, I’ll talk to Stark and have him meet the plane or redirect it wherever it needs to go.” Coulson gave Fury a bland look. “But now, there’s a deadline, the Council have to sign-off on this before that plane lands the Captain under S.H.I.E.L.D control.”

“Agreed.” Fury nodded sharply. “We’d still have access to the Initiative, via Barton and Romanov, but no responsibility for any damage done.”

“We’d still have contact, access might be a little forward.” Coulson suggested. “We won’t be able to order them around, but we will be able to reach them in a national, international or interplanetary emergencies.”

“But we also won’t have repair their fuckups.” Fury nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Barton and Romanov?” Coulson asked.

“And you.” Fury said. “See if you can talk Stark into you or Carter being the Avengers international liaison.” He slid three resignation forms across the desk.

“How long would it take the plane to reache London? That's the point we have to have this finalised.”

“Four hours.” Fury replied.

“Time for me to find Barton and Romanov and for us to fil out those resignations and get them back on your desk, while you talk to the council.” Coulson stood. “As soon as I’ve dropped my forms off, I’ll call Stark and bring him up to date.” Coulson scooped up the forms and stood.

“Good. Move.” Fury ordered.

Coulson entered the firing range.

“Barton. Romanov. My office.” He ordered, letting them hear the elation and excitement in his voice.

Both froze and slowly turned to face him.

“Sir?” Barton asked.

“Now, agents.” He turned on his heel and strode away, he knew that it would take only seconds before they were stowing their weapons and following him.

By the time he entered his office, two minutes later, both were only feet behind him.

“Close the door, Barton.” He ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Clint jumped into action, it was rare that Coulson's door ever closed.

“We have a chance to do something bigger than S.H.I.E.L.D, agents.” He started. “But this is voluntary, no orders.” He dropped a trio of resignation forms on the desk and saw the surprise and alarm fill both agents faces. “The Avengers Initiative is being... outsourced.”

“They’d bring too much scrutiny to S.H.I.E.L.D.” Natasha said as Coulson started to fill out a form.

“Exactly.” Coulson nodded.

“Why now?”

“Now, we have a deadline.” Coulson said. “Three hours and fifty-five minutes.” He signed the form.

“Three hours and fifty-five minutes?” Clint asked. “What happens then?” He accepted the pen from Coulson and began writing.

“I can’t tell you, yet. Not while you’re S.H.I.E.L.D agents. But it’s big.”

“Bigger than S.H.I.E.L.D?” Natasha pulled a form towards her but hesitated to take the second pen Coulson held out.

“Yes. It will be the making of the Initiative.” Coulson said. “I’m going and I want the pair of you with me.”

“What does Fury say?” Natasha asked.

“He gave me the forms.” Was all Coulson said.

“Right.” Natasha looked at Clint and the pair nodded and as one, signed the forms.

“Excellent.” Coulson accepted the completed forms. “Pack your gear, you get to take three weapons from the armoury, any three. Meet me out front, we’ll take Lola.”

Clint inhaled sharply. “You’re going to let us in Lola?”

“Yes.” Coulson nodded. “You have ten minutes.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” The pair snapped into action, nearly sprinting out of his office.

Coulson sighed. He didn’t know whether to be sad that his time at S.H.I.E.L.D was over, or excited at what was to come.

He picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.

“Good morning, Agent Coulson.” The polished voice of Stark’s computer greeted him.

“Good morning, JARVIS, I need to speak to Tony.” Coulson deliberately said ‘Tony’, as opposed to ‘Stark’.

“He’s in his lab, agent, is it important?”

“Very much so.”

“The Avengers Initiative?”

“In a way, yes.” Coulson replied. “Fury’s fronting the Council right now, to get them to outsource the Initiative to Stark. Not SI, but Tony, personally.”

“One moment, Agent Coulson.” The line went silent for a few seconds.

“JARVIS said Fury’s giving me the Avengers.” Tony didn’t bother with a greeting. “What did you do?”

“Where are you?”

“The Mansion.” It wasn't often that Tony was in New York and Coulson was relieved that the genius was so close, it cut down the travelling time, considerably.

“I’m bringing Barton and Romanov. We’ll be there inside half and hour.” He paused. “The three of us have signed our S.H.I.E.L.D resignations.”

Tony drew in a sharp breath. “And the Initiative is being outsourced to me.”

“Yes.”

“You’d sign on with me?”

“Yes. There’s also one more thing but I can’t tell you until I’m out of S.H.I.E.L.D’s buildings.”

“Big?”

“Very.”

“See you in twenty-five, Agent Agent.” Tony disconnected the call.

The three newly unemployed, former S.H.I.E.L.D agents, followed a funny little robot into Stark’s office.

“Mister Stark.” Coulson said.

“Agent Agent, Birdy, Kitty.” Stark was scribbling away furiously on a virtual whiteboard. “What’s this all about?”

“No idea.” Clint huffed and flopped into a chair.

“You don’t know?” Tony looked way from the glowing screen.

“Neither of them know anything, beyond being told the Initiative was being outsourced to you and that Fury personally gave me resignation forms for the three of us.” Coulson said and suddenly had Tony’s full attention.

“You said this was big.” Tony said. “How big?”

“Six foot two, two-hundred-forty pounds.” Coulson said.

“Excuse me?” Tony frowned.

“As we speak Captain Steve Rogers is on route to London or New York, both have the same initial flightplan.” Coulson paused and took a deep breath. “He’s alive.” Tony dropped his stylus while Natasha froze and Clint sat up sharply. “It appears that thanks to Erskin's serum, the ice has acted like a type of cryofreeze and kept him in suspended animation. He looks exactly as he did when he boarded the plane.” He let his awe show. “He hasn’t aged a day, he still looks to be in his mid-twenties.”

“Holy shit…” Clint said.

“What he said.” Tony nodded.

“Peggy and Bucky need to be told.” Coulson said.

“Holy shit…” Clint said, again.

“Agreed.” Natasha nodded.

“That’s my job.” Coulson said. “But I need to know… Would it be better to send him to the island or to bring here?”

“The island.” Tony said, instantly.

Coulson’s phone rang and the tone told him it was Fury. He quickly answered it. “Coulson.”

“Cheese, it’s done.” Fury said. “The Initiative is Stark and Potter’s. There’s a courier on the way with SecDef’s approval and some checks, one from the President, one from the Joint Chiefs, one from S.H.I.E.L.D and one from the WSC. And release papers for you three, Rogers and Barnes. The plane is seconded to take its load wherever the Avengers’ director says, it's due to land in London in three hours, five minutes unless it's sent elsewhere. Keep in contact.” The line went dead.

Coulson sighed in relief. “It’s done. The Initiative is yours, papers and checks on the way via courier. Rogers’ plane lands in London in just over three hours, diverting it to Glasgow will take five miuntes. What do you want us to do?”

“We’re packed and ready to go.” Clint said. “But I’d appreciate the chance to tell my wife that I quit S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony threw three folders on the desk. “Agent Agent… No, not Agent Agent, anymore, you’re Coulson now.” He mused. “Coulson, you’re Director, Peggy will be International Liaison, I can’t put her as Director. You know damn well she’s going to take one look at Rogers and decide that she’s waited long enough for him.”

“Ten bucks says she doesn’t give him more than an hour before informing him they’re getting married.” Clint said.

Chapter Text

Coulson sighed in relief. “It’s done. The Initiative is yours, papers and checks on the way via courier. Rogers’ plane lands in London in just over three hours, diverting it to Glasgow will take five miuntes. What do you want us to do?”

“We’re packed and ready to go.” Clint said. “But I’d appreciate the chance to tell my wife that I quit S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony threw three folders on the desk. “Agent Agent… No, not Agent Agent, anymore, you’re Coulson now.” He mused. “Coulson, you’re Director, Peggy will be International Liaison, I can’t put her as Director. You know damn well she’s going to take one look at Rogers and decide that she’s waited long enough for him.”

“Ten bucks says she doesn’t give him more than an hour before informing him they’re getting married.” Clint said.

The cell phone that Tony had left with Bucky and Sirius buzzed loudly, causing both men to jump and spin to face the table the small black and silver phone was on, vibrating itself across the flat surface.

Bucky touched the green dot on the screen and held it to his ear. “Hello? Right, hold on.” He pressed another dot on the screen and laid the phone on the table. “Can you still hear me?” He asked.

“Of course, I can, Buckaroo.” Tony said.

“What’s so important, that I had to put you on speaker?” Bucky asked.

“I need you to sit down, Bucky.” The light-heartedness left Tony’s voice. “Are you alone?”

“Siri's with me.” Bucky replied. “The kids are all out playing quidditch with Harry, the Prewett twins and their ladies.”

“Peggy with them?”

“Yes…?” Bucky frowned. “What’s going on, Tony?”

“S.H.I.E.L.D found Steve Rogers.” Coulson said, joining the conversation for the first time.

Bucky slumped back in his seat. “Oh, god…”

“When’s the funeral?” Sirius asked, slinging an arm around hid husband.

“Well seeing as he’s still got brainwave activity and a heartbeat... I’m going with, ‘there won’t be one’, not at this point.” Tony replied.

“Alive?!” Bucky gasped.

“Yeah, so far. He’s hooked up to an EEG machine which reads brain activity and he’s showing up like someone that’s under general anaesthesia. I just spoke to the flight surgeon and she wants to keep him knocked out until he’s been handed over to our medical staff.” Tony said. “I think given his relationship with Bucky and Peggy, that he should be sent to the island.”

“Agreed.” Sirius said. “How-”

“Where is he?” Bucky cut in.

“On route from Murmansk.” Coulson said. “The plane’s been diverted from New York to Glasgow. It’ll touch down in two hours.”

“I’ll have JARVIS send the details to your phone.” Tony added.

“We’ll be there.”

“Excellent.” Coulson said. “Sirius? Would you ask Peggy to come inside? She needs to know.”

“And grab Harry, too please.” Tony added. “I need to have a word with him. It’s kinda important.”

“You know how he feels about quidditch, Tony.” Sirius said. “Is it important enough to interrupt his game?”

“Yes.” Tony replied. “It’s not world ending but it is world protecting. For the future, not right now.”

“Right, give me a minute or two.” Sirius kissed Bucky gently and after an encouraging smile, left the office.

“How… How is he?” Bucky asked.

“The flight surgeon says that he’s in remarkable condition, given the environment he’s been in for the last seventy years.” Tony said. “Mostly, we’re putting that down to the serum. When combined with the frigid temperatures, it appears to have acted as a type of anti-freeze and put him into a state of suspended animation. EEGs show brain activity comparable to general anaesthesia but with REM added. Physically, his body temp is below hypothermic levels and he has a few bumps and bruises, a few cuts that look to be almost fresh but we know have to have been caused either before or during the crash.” Tony recited what he knew. “Bluntly? He appears to be in a frozen sleep but otherwise, uninjured and unaged.”

“We have reason to believe that once the sedation is removed and his body is warmed to normal levels, that he will wake up.” Coulson added.

“Who’ll wake up?” Peggy entered the room. She was now twenty-four years old and looked almost exactly like she had during her SSR time.

“You need to sit down, first.” Tony said.

“Who?” Peggy demanded.

“Listen to them.” Bucky advised, still trembling with the shock of it. “Sit down… Please.”

Peggy said nothing, she just stared at Bucky, who simply nodded and gave her a weak smile. She drew in a harsh breath and after narrowing her eyes, walked across the room to sit opposite Bucky, while Sirius had gone straight to his husband and was sitting on the arm of the larger man’s chair.

“I’m seated.” Peggy said.

“We found…” Coulson trailed off.

“They found Steve.” Bucky said.

Peggy’s eyes widened and shock filled her face.

“He’s alive.” Tony said.

Peggy’s eyes attempted to roll back into her head and she waivered from her firm upright position, rocking in shock, only the sharp gasp of air she drew in, stopped her from fainting.

“I haven’t seen him yet, but I did speak to the flight surgeon tending him.” Tony said and repeated what he’d just told Bucky.

“Glasgow?” She asked.

“Two hours.” Coulson confirmed.

“Also…” The listeners could hear the hesitation in Tony’s voice. “Coulson convinced Fury that having the Avengers Initiative under the S.H.I.E.L.D banner wouldn’t be good for S.H.I.E.L.D, so Fury talked the WSC into handing it off.”

“To who?”

“Me and Harry.”

“Me?” Harry blinked.

“Yeah.” Tony agreed. “Fury called it outsourcing but the paperwork is more like a departmental sale, only without the dollars. Coulson explained his reasoning and… it’s sound. The Unit is still The Unit, the Avengers are still the Avengers but in addition to their own staff, the two organisations are united under the Initiative's banner and in emergencies, they can call on people best suited to whatever the emergency is.”

“I think this needs to be spoken about face to face, Tony.” Harry said. “Kingsley is Director, Moody and Peggy are Assistant Directors. I’m only a team leader. I’m not sure I should be involved in this.”

“Same here.” Tony said. “But Fury and the WSC have named you and I as co-owners, so I named Coulson as CEO/Director, that means that if you approve, he will run the Initiative, not us. He can name us as team members but he can also drop us from a team, if he chooses. If it’s Initiative related, he’s the top of the pile, not us. You and I? Well… no company can be run by two people on opposite sides of the world, too many opportunities to pass the parcel, someone has to be it. And he’s the one with the practical experience in managing… difficult… personalities.”

“I agree.” Harry said. “What about funding?”

“We got a handful of checks with the papers.” Coulson said. “And there’s a few more coming.”

“There is?” Tony asked.

“Apparently.” Coulson replied. “Hill’s sent a few texts. The UN, the WHO, the Red Cross, Oxfam, NATO and Scotland Yard. Even Buckingham Palace is sending a check. It’s beginning to look more like who’s not giving us money. And we've already had expressions of interest from service-men and -women about joining us, as admin and active service.”

“Right…” Harry sighed. “I’m going to have front the Wizengamot for this, aren’t I?”

“I’d say so.” Sirius chuckled. “That’s what you get for calling them a bunch of… ‘antiquated imitation portraits’… I think was the term you used.”

“At least Nev’s grandmother is Chief Warlock, she’ll back you.” Bucky said.

“I know.” Harry grinned. “I never thought the day would come, that Dumbledore would retire.”

“Only from the Wizengamot and the ICW.” Sirius said. “He’s still Headmaster.”

“Gods, I’m not looking forward to the day he steps down from there.” Harry shook his head. “That’s going to be crapshoot, sorting out who takes his place.”

“I thought…” Sirius frowned. “I thought McGonagall…?”

“Oh, no.” Harry laughed. “She made it very clear, she’s not interested in any more responsibility. Deputy is as high as she’s prepared to go.” He climbed to his feet and heaved huffing sigh. “Bucky? You ready to get your brother back?”

“Yeah, the punk’s always late to a party,” Bucky snorted. “Don’t know why he’d be any different after he went and got Science!-ed on.” The Howling Commando used the term that Tony had come across, when he’d been talking to some astrophysicists.

Someone spoke softly.

That was the first thing that Steve Rogers became aware of. That and the fact that he wasn’t cold anymore.

Slowly other things filtered into his mind.

The texture of the surface he was laying on and the softness of the blankets surrounding him. The warmth of the sun on his feet and lower legs. A cat’s purr vibrating against his hip. The scent of the ocean. The sound of children’s laughter. The intermittent scent of lemons or oranges wafted on a breeze, at this distance it was hard to determine the difference between the two.

And behind all of that, someone was talking. Time passed before his fuzzy head cleared enough for him to realise it wasn’t just talking, they were reading out loud. It was a familiar sound and he left himself drift through the oft-heard story of Bilbo’s adventures with a Company of dwarves.

The voice faded. No, it changed. They stopped reading. They were talking to another person. The second person took up the tale of barrels and a wild river. The voices changed at different times, but they were always there, reading out loud. Until they stopped, shutting a book with a gently snap.

The voices paused and a short discussion was had before a new person entered. Steve could feel the difference, the air moved around them differently. The new person began to read a new story.

Something nagged at him, something that he should remember but he was warm and comfortable and didn’t want to move or think. But the something nagged and slowly he began to wake, a frown drawing his brows together.

“Awake yet, punk?” The voice asked.

“Hmph…” He grunted in reply.

“Not quite, huh?” The voice chuckled and the memories of a thousand mornings filtered behind his eyes.

His eyes widened and he sat up sharply, looking around wildly.

“Mrowl…!” The cat at his hip yowled as he jostled it.

“Careful, punk, she’s got some wicked claws, these days.” Bucky warned from the side of what appeared to be a bed.

Steve looked at the apparition and shock and fear filled his heart.

“Steve?” The apparition asked.

“Buck…?” His voice was raspy and harsh.

“Hold on, here, take a sip.” A mug held in front of his face by familiar hands. “Just a sip. Wet your mouth. Easy.”

The words and admonishments were so familiar that it brought tears to Steve’s eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay, Stevie, it’s okay.” The mug vanished, to be replaced by a familiar bulk and familiar arms surrounded him. “I got ya, pal, I got ya.” His head fell forward onto a familiar shoulder and fingers ran through his hair as he leant on the other person. “You got heavy when you got big, Steve.” Bucky grunted.

That caused Steve to lift his head and look at his friend’s face, just inches from his.

“Buck, what happened?” He asked. “You fell…”

“I did, but I was caught before I hit the ground.” Bucky said. “Well, I hit the river, not the ground. Got me a doozy of a concussion and had a four-day hike back to base.” He growled. “We got there just in time to be told that you did something stupid.” Steve winced. “You nosedived a plane, Steve, into the Arctic bloody Ocean. I am not happy with you and Peggy’s even less happy.” Steve cringed. “But there’s something else you need to know. Well… a couple of things.”

“Oh, no…” Steve whispered.

“Oh, yeah, pal.” Bucky grinned. “First? Today’s date is… huh… it’s your birthday but it’s 2011 not 1945.”

“What the…?”

“Plus…” Bucky smirked and Steve grimaced at the sight. “I got married.”

“What?!” Steve jerked within Bucky’s arms. “But aren’t you…? Don’t you like…?”

“Fellas?” Bucky asked and Steve nodded warily. “Yeah, I did, until I met him and now, I ain’t looking anywhere else.”

“Whoa.” Steve huffed out the word.

“We even got kids.” Bucky managed to not laugh at the expression on Steve’s face but only just.

“K-kids?” Steve stammered. “Who’d let you near kids?”

“Oh, it’s worse than that.” Bucky grinned and eased back from Steve. “You ready for a really crappy briefing, Cap?”

“No…?” Steve screwed up his face. “No, I don’t think I am.”

“Well, tough.” Bucky nodded his head sharply. “You shouldn’t have done something quite so stupid, now should you? So… The train?”

“Ugh…” Steve groaned.

“Oh, suck it up.” Bucky laughed. “I fell. I was sure I was done for. Didn’t stop me from trying to grab hold of something, though. That something turned out to be the best thing in my life. His name is Sirius. Not s-e-r-i-o-u-s, serious but s-i-r-i-u-s, Sirius. Named after a star, he was. He had a broom, an honest to God, flying broom.” Steve’s eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s pretty much my reaction, too, but it didn’t stop me from taking the hand he held out. We…” For the next hour, Bucky told Steve all the things that had happened between February 1945 and the present. July 2011.

“… So… We’ve just been waiting for you wake up, for the last four days.” Bucky said. “Do you know how boring it is, sitting here and reading to you?” He snorted. “Well, you’re awake now, so time to get back on your feet, Cap. You need a shower and I ain’t helping you. It’s bad enough having wash kids, I ain’t washing you.” He pointed to a door beyond the foot of the bed. “That’s ya bathroom, there’s clothes in there and towels. We’ll wait here for ya, won’t we Peg?” Bucky ran his hand down the back of the cat that had been at Steve’s hip.

“Peg?” Steve asked and was stunned when the cat huffed and changed into a very familiar young woman. “Peggy…?” He whispered.

“Shower, Rogers.” Her voice was exactly as he remembered and he reacted exactly as he’d always done.

“Yes, ma'am.”

Chapter Text

“… So… We’ve just been waiting for you wake up, for the last four days.” Bucky said. “Do you know how boring it is, sitting here and reading to you?” He snorted. “Well, you’re awake now, so time to get back on your feet, Cap. You need a shower and I ain’t helping you. It’s bad enough having wash kids, I ain’t washing you.” He pointed to a door beyond the foot of the bed. “That’s ya bathroom, there’s clothes in there and towels. We’ll wait here for ya, won’t we, Peg?” Bucky ran his hand down the back of the cat that had been at Steve’s hip.

“Peg?” Steve asked and was stunned when the cat huffed and changed into a very familiar young woman. “Peggy…?” He whispered.

“Shower, Rogers.” Her voice was exactly as he remembered and he reacted exactly as he’d always done.

“Yes, ma'am.”

Bucky leant against the wall and watched as Peggy verbally laid into Steve over his actions and the decision that lead to Steve crashing Schmidt's aircraft into a frozen ocean.

A few moments later, Harry wandered by.

“How long has that been going on?” Harry asked.

“About three minutes.” Bucky replied and after slowly nodding, Harry conjured himself a chair and sat down.

“How’s the knee?” Bucky asked.

“Better, still tender but much better. I just wish skele-gro didn’t taste so bad.” The two chatted quietly as they watched the show.

Time passed and Coulson paused in the doorway.

“How long?” He asked.

“Seven minutes.” Bucky replied.

“Hmm…” Coulson hummed, nodded to both men and kept going,

More time passed.

“Ah….?” Kingsley made a questioning noise.

“She didn’t like his plan to nosedive a plane.” Bucky answered the unasked question.

“Ah.” Kingsley grunted. “She doesn’t seem to be running out of things to say.”

“Not yet.” Buck replied cheerfully. “But it’s only been eleven minutes.”

“I see.” Kingsley shook his head and headed back down the corridor.

Draco was the next to appear.

“How long?” He nodded into the room.

“Fourteen minutes.” Bucky said, his focus clearly on the two people on the other side of the room.

“Right.” Draco huffed. “Time to get a coffee before the finale, then.”

“Yep.” Bucky agreed.

“Not finished yet?” Coulson reappeared a little later.

“Seventeen minutes.” Bucky said instead of answering the question.

Tony and Luna appeared, Luna conjured seats for them while Tony carried a tray with drinks and popcorn.

“Nineteen minutes.” Bucky said in reply to Luna’s tilted head and held out a hand for Tony to pass him a small bowl of munchies.

“Come to watch the show?” Harry asked.

“Yep.” Tony smirked.

“How long, now?”

“Twenty-two minutes.” Bucky barely glanced at Coulson as the Director appeared at his shoulder.

“Hmm...” He nodded and left. Again.

“Oh, my…” McGonagall’s brows rose. “How long has this been going on?”

“Twenty-four minutes.” Bucky said.

“Twenty-four?” McGonagall replied.

“So far…” Bucky grinned.

“I’m back.” Draco said hugging a coffee pot to his chest with one arm and fending off Clint with the other. “What’ve I missed?”

“Jumping out at low altitude.” Bucky said.

“Would that have worked?” Draco said.

“For him or me, I’d say so.” Bucky answered. “We’re a bit more durable than the average soldier, thanks to the serum… even if I did get the knock-off version, I’m still hardier than a base-line human.”

“Still going?” Coulson joined them.

“Yeah. Twenty-eight minutes.” Bucky nodded. never having looked at a clock or watch the entire time. “Think we’re getting closer to the end, though. She’s on about digging and snow. So…?”

“Hmm…” Coulson didn’t leave this time, instead he gave Harry a small smile and accepted the seat that appeared behind him and sat down. “Thank you, Harry.” He turned to Bucky. “Should I interrupt and call an end to this or let her get it all of her system?”

“Catch her just before she’s finished, remind her that you’re the Director, now, and Steve has yet to hand in his mission report.” Bucky answered.

“Hmm…” Coulson rocked his head slightly as he thought about that. He stood and glanced between Harry and the conjured seat, watching it vanish in the shadows. He straightened his shoulders and spoke. “Miss Carter, if you don’t mind? Captain Rogers has a report to finalise.”

“Sir?” Steve spun in place to face Coulson and those crowded around the door watching Peggy tear him to strips.

“Agent?” Peggy drew herself taller.

“Director, please, Miss Carter.” Coulson’s voice was a touch firmer, reminding Peggy of his new position. “Captain Rogers is conscious, comprehensible and mobile. In which case, he is capable of completing his after-mission report. His is the only report not filed on the Schimdt mission, without it we cannot declare the mission closed.” He cocked an eyebrow at the pair. “So? If you please, Captain, your report and then I would suggest you join us for lunch followed by a more in-depth briefing than what Sergeant Barnes gave you, earlier.” He smiled gently. “There’s a lot that's happened and a lot to go over.”

Steve studied the group around the table. “Animals? Really?” He looked at Bucky. “You can do that, too?” Bucky stood and stepped back from the table before leaning down and shifting into his rottweiler form, earning a laugh from Steve. “A dog.” Bucky shifted back into Bucky and sat back down. “You always were the most loyal person I knew.”

“You needed a bloody guard-dog more than anyone I’ve ever met… before or since.” Bucky muttered.

“You got that right.” Peggy gave Steve a dark look.

“Indeed.” Coulson dragged them back onto the subject at hand. “So? We’d like Andi to monitor you and when she’s happy that you’re completely stable and fully recovered, we’d like you to take the potion, too. So far, of the four-hundred-eighty-nine people working for the Avengers Initiative and The Unit, all bar eighteen have taken the potion or have not had the potion work on them. Six of them are magical, one is a squib and the others are older muggles that felt it uneccesary that that point in life.”

“What’s the staff breakdown, as far as magical-to-squib-to-muggle numbers are concerned?” Steve asked.

“Roughly fifty percent are magical, with the rest being fairly evenly divided.” Coulson replied. “We don’t judge between our staff, excluding where medical treatment is concerned. Some potions don't work quite the same on squibs or muggles, that's the only descrimination factor.”

“Although we do insist that every team has at least two full-magic users attached.” Harry added. “Most teams are made up of four to six people. Frontline teams must all be animagi and capable of using a wand, whether they use it or not, they must be able to. But two must be fully trained magicals.”

“And weapons?” Steve asked.

“We have five types of weapons.” Bucky was the one to answer this time. “Wands, whether they are dedicated to free-use doesn’t matter, everyone carries a wand. Guns and projectile weapons, this covers a huge range from bow and arrow, like Clint uses to handheld rocket launchers and everything in between. Potions, they can be explosive, sedative, hallucinogenic, acidic or just camouflaging. Blades, every staff member has at least one on them at all times, ranging from a boot knife to a… in Harry’s case… four-foot sword. And lastly, our bodies. Everyone can fight, hand-to-hand, whether it’s wrestling, martial arts, boxing or a combination of them.”

“How would they stand against the Howlies?” Steve asked.

“They’re all as good as us.” Morita entered the ballroom and took a seat near Bucky and Sirius. “Some are better. Harry, Draco, Neville, Dennis, Eugene are better than anyone, other than you and Bucky.”

“Jimmy…?” Steve blinked a few times.

“Yeah, Cap.” Morita nodded. “Me, Dum-dum and Falsworth are here.”

“Howard?”

“No.” Tony shook his head. “Dad died in 1992, cancer from smoking.” He paused. “Both from cigarettes and from when his experiments exploded.”

“Dad?!” Steve asked.

“Tony Stark, Cap. Good to have you back.” Tony nodded seriously. “Dad searched for you for years after these two entered the Veil. Never succeeded but he never gave up.”

“I’m sorry…” Steve said.

“Sometimes, I am too, Cap, but sometimes…” Tony trailed off. “He was a good man but he was a piss-poor father. He never hit me but he also never spent any time with me, you understand. All his time outside of work was spent looking for you.”

“I…”

“No, Cap, no.” Tony held up a hand. “I’m not resentful, not of you, you weren’t… you didn’t even come into it, not for me, it was all him. I resented him and I used to get so hurt that he could never see anything other than work or you. It wasn’t until just recently that I got a wake-up call, in the form of a kidnapping and torture.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It… it was… bad. It made me rethink a lot of things. No more bombs. SI has gone in a new direction, now. Technology to help. That’s what I want my company to be known for… Helping. Helping the man on street, not giving some army weapons that will kill thousands of people. Especially as my godfather was selling them on the Black-Market to terrorists. The only weapons I make now, are handcrafted and I know exactly who’s going to use which one and why.”

“Custom weapons?”

“Yep.” Tony nodded. “The armoury is entirely custom, each person has a small collection that is designed, built and maintained, just for them.” Another pause. “So that they can protect those that can’t protect themselves.”

“Good.” Steve nodded sharply. “So, where do you see me fitting into this… Initiative? Did you call it?”

“Well, now…” Coulson sighed. “As much as I would love to announce to the world that we found Captain America… I can’t see any way that we can explain it, not without exposing Project Rebirth and the fact that the Us Government and the SSR employed, condoned and encouraged, defected Russian and German scientists to experiment on our troops. Not after so many Nazi personnel were convicted of war crimes, for doing exactly the same thing, on their own troops and on POWs.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Steve frowned.

“In light of the Avengers Initiative being privatised… can we use the same method of camouflage on him that you used on Barnes?” Tony asked.

“Which is… what?” Steve wanted to know.

“We put documentation in place to say that he’s actually the great-grandson of James Buchannan Barnes, named after him. Until his marriage, his ‘documented’ name was Buchannan Steven James.” Coulson replied.

“And that worked?”

“It did.” The Director nodded.

“And you think you can do the same for me?” Steve tilted his head. “What about my face? The army took pictures and films.”

“Minor transfiguration to change your colouring.” Sirius said. “We can make you blonder or darker, change your eyes from hazel-blue to bright sky-blue. Change the shape of your nose, fractionally, just enough difference to make people blink and say ‘the resemblance is uncanny’, but not enough for anyone to speculate on even the remotest possibility of you being the same person.”

“Just like they did to Peggy and the rest of us.” Bucky said.

“You’ve been in public? Like this?”

“Sure.” Bucky nodded. “We’ve all done the memorial stuff, attended the ceremonies, each year.”

“As who our documents say we are, the great-grandchildren and nephews of the original Howlies, who we were named after.” Dum-dum said. “It stands to reason that we’d all come together, if that means working for Stark? Well, now that he’s no longer being touted as the ‘Merchant of Death’ and is actively working to protect the innocent, none of us really have any objections, anymore.”

“And having the great-grandson of the original Captain America signing on, is a great excuse to dust of the patents and copyrights to the name.” Tony said. “We’ve got an obviously British contingent, so we clearly need a American one, too. Who better than a Captain America? Emphasise the international aspect. How we’re here to protect, not just the US or the UK but wherever we’re needed.”

“We’ve staff from the US, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, France, Spain, Ireland, China, Germany, Russia and Norway, seeing as we're encompassing The Unit's personnel under the Avengers' flag.” Peggy said. “We’re supported by nearly every country on the planet and even those that are too poor to support us, approve of what we are and what our charter says we will do. Some are hesitant, we are a very new organisation, barely a week old and we’ve only been called in on one incident, officially, but they are all willing to give us the benefit of the doubt, as we have laid out the ground rules for complete transparency, the only thing we withhold is the identity of our staff. All our actions are visible for the public to see.”

“Except the fact that you have five of the original Howlies, that are young enough to pass as their great-grandchildren.” Steve said.

“That falls under the staff identity clause.” Coulson smirked.

Six weeks later, Coulson stood before the group. “S.H.I.E.L.D Director Fury is asking for us to attend an incident in New Mexico. There’s something going down that he believes will be Avengers related but he doesn’t have enough information to request a full team. My niece, Darcy is right in the middle of it, so I’d like to be involved.”

“What’s the deal?”

“Someone falling from the sky.” Coulson said. “Without a parachute and he just got up and started ranting.” His smirk grew. “At least until Darcy tased him.” A smattering of chuckles went around the room, most of them had heard of Darcy’s fondness for her taser and her intolerance for stupidity. “Yes, well, a partial team?”

“I wanna go.” Clint said. “I owe Darcy for the cookies.”

“The two of us should be enough, we’re really only on a fact-finding mission.” Coulson went on. “It may come to nothing but Darcy’s not one to exaggerate, not when it comes to important details.”

“In that case? May I suggest having a full team on stand-by?” Peggy tapped her fingers on a blank sheet of paper. “You might not need them but if you do…?”

“They’ll be ready.” Steve nodded.

“And an emergency beacon.” Sirius said.

“I’ll go, too.” Harry said. “As Ares.” He named his Animagus form. “Black Hawk-Eagles aren’t common in New Mexico but there are sightings.”

“Actually…?” Clint got a sneaky look on his face. “How would you like to be a… pet?”

“Uh…?” Harry grunted.

“I’m Hawkeye.” Clint explained. “I commonly use a bow and arrow. No-one is going to think twice if I go for something as exotic as having a hawk for a pet, not given my code-name."

“And it would give you the excuse to be out and about, flying Ares.” Harry said.

“It would also degrade the importance of your presence.” Steve added.

"It would also cover me in the long term, if I need to use my animagus form or Harry needs to use his, again.” Clint said.

“I can also take that one step further.” Coulson said. “There’s two S.H.I.E.L.D agents that Fury is aware of that we have investigated and are considering recruiting. It would be unusual for the Director of an organisation to do a recruitment assessment, personally, but when you add in the fact that I have been in this position for less than two months, throw Clint and ‘his’ hawk, and it could be construed as ‘the Director taking a shakedown assignment, to take a get a handle on operations and so his bodyguard can take his pet to work’, type of assignment.”

“Particularly if you can get someone to ‘overhear’ Fury and you talking about it.” Harry nodded. “Something along the lines of ‘It's a simple milk-run and Barton needed the break’. You know how to get the right reaction out of Fury.”

“It might be easier to just speak to him.” Coulson said. “He’s quite good at setting up a scenario to play out and give just the right impression.”

“We’ll leave that to you, sir.” Harry said. “Clint and I will be ready to fly out… Are we flying out? Or are we portkeying?”

“We’ll portkey to New York, then take a S.H.I.E.L.D jet to Albuquerque and drive from there to the site.” Coulson said after looking at his notes.

“Want me to shift before we leave or wait until we get to New York?” Harry asked.

“I’d prefer before we leave.” Coulson said. “Let S.H.I.E.L.D think you’re just a bird, right from the start. Less chance of them letting something slip.”

“Right you are, boss.” Harry nodded. “When do we leave?”

Chapter Text

“We’ll portkey to New York, then take a S.H.I.E.L.D jet to Albuquerque and drive from there to the site.” Coulson said after looking at his notes.

“Want me to shift before we leave or wait until we get to New York?” Harry asked.

“I’d prefer before we leave.” Coulson said. “Let S.H.I.E.L.D think you’re just a bird, right from the start. Less chance of them letting something slip.”

“Right you are, boss.” Harry nodded. “When do we leave?”

Clint flicked his wrist out and Ares took flight, swooping in a wide arc around the tiny village of Puente Antiguo as the last of the storm faded and the remains of the Destroyer landed, semi-crushed, in the middle of the main street. From his vantage point, Clint watched Coulson approach Thor.

Thor. The God of Thunder. The actual God of Thunder. From Asgard. With the Hammer. The real Hammer. Mjolnir.

Coulson talked to the blonde God for a few moments and Clint wasn’t at all surprised to see a small item be passed from one to the other. Nor was he surprised when Thor wrapped an arm around Dr Foster and raised the hammer. A snort burst from him at the disgruntled look on Coulson’s face when the two rose into the air.

“At least he took a mirror.” He muttered and began to make his way back to the pavement. He knew that Ares would find him, soon enough.

“That went well.” Clint told Coulson as he joined the other man and Ares settled on his shoulder with a soft scree of greeting.

“That’s your idea of well?” Darcy asked.

“Yes.” Coulson nodded. “Barton’s point of view is a little skewed.”

“No, most of our missions tend to become skewed, I’ve just learnt to expect it.” Clint corrected. “So, do we follow them to the Bifrost site?”

“No, I think not.” Coulson said. “I’m going to call Fury in, get his people to help with the clean-up.”

“So, we’re heading back to the island, then?”

“Not immediately.” Coulson corrected. “We still need to debrief Dr Foster, Dr Selvig and Darcy.” Coulson deliberately used Darcy’s first name and not a title.

“Oh, but…” Darcy looked towards the Bifrost site.

“You should be back from the Bifrost site, by the time we have clean-up crews on route, Darcy.” Coulson said patiently.

“Yes, Uncle Phil.” She sighed. “And if you ever put me in this position again, I’m not gonna make you cookies again.”

“Noted, dear.” Coulson said. “But the only reason I allowed Fury to put you in this position, in the first place, was that I was able to provide backup in person, with two of my most experienced agents.”

“I saw Barton but not the other.” Darcy said, ignoring Selvig’s surprised expression. “Which one is it and where are they?”

“Guess.” Coulson smirked. “If you can’t guess by the time we leave, you owe me a batch of cookies each week, for a year.”

“And if I guess right?”

“A favour. For later.” Coulson offered.

“Deal.” Darcy held out a hand and Coulson took it before pulling the intern into his arms and hugging her.

“You did well, Darcy-May. Good job.” He whispered into her hair.

“Thanks…” Darcy’s voice wobbled slightly.

“Now, none of that. Hop to it.” Coulson pushed her back. “You have passengers to get to the Bifrost. We’ll still be here when you get back.”

“Yeah…” Darcy took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and turned to face Selvig, Sif and The Warriors Three. “Who’s up for an off-road bash? The Bifrost is ten miles from here, it’s a long walk.”

“It’s a long drive, if you’re driving.” Selvig sighed.

“But still better than walking, Doc.” Darcy grinned as she pulled the door of the Pinzgauer. “Everyone in, that’s going.”

With a hesitant look between Darcy and Selvig, the Asgardians climbed into the truck. The ungainly machine rumbled to life and Darcy expertly manhandled the truck around the rubble and onto a dirt track.

“Barton? You’re in charge of the S.H.I.E.L.D crews until I can get someone with authority, out here.” Coulson said. “I’m going to call Fury, then I want to speak to Thomas Linkson and Michael Carr.”

“When I find them, I’ll send them your way, boss.” Clint nodded and headed for the nearest clump of locals.

Coulson sighed and reached into his pocket for his phone. This call was going to suck.

Days passed and Thor failed to return.

Darcy told Coulson that Dr Foster had ran the gamut of emotions, anger, frustration, sadness and back to anger.

Which is where she was at right now.

Coulson laid his starkphone down and glanced at the twin of the mirror he’d given Thor. He wondered if he should make the first call and possibly lose the position of strength it put him in.

Frigga looked at Thor as he paced the confines of the balcony and sighed. “My son…” she smiled, “come, sit with me.”

“Mother?” Thor lifted his head. “My apologies, I did not hear you.”

“Of course, you didn’t, my love. I didn’t want you to.”

“Mother?”

“Come, sit.” She ignored Odin’s hidden presence at the far end of the balcony. “Much better.” She said when the blonde prince had settled at her side. “Tell me of Midgard. Who did you meet and were they worthy of knowing?”

“Aye, mother.” Thor was familiar with this situation, it meant that Odin was only an observer, that Frigga was controlling the interview and that she would decide any punishments or rewards to be handed out. “Upon my arrival, I was… vexed…” He sighed. “In truth, I was filled with wroth and indignation. I am a Prince of Asgard, who would dare to treat me so? It took bare moments for me to realise that the only one powerful enough to banish me between realms, was father. When indigenous inhabitants arrived, I am ashamed to say that I allowed my hurt at father’s actions to colour my behaviour. I raised my voice to what were clearly ladies of gentle birth. However, one was also a warrior and she felled me with mine own element.”

Frigga’s brows rose.

“Aye.” Thor nodded. “It was not until… the men of S.H.I.E.L.D tried to take Lady Jane’s possessions, that Lady Darcy once again showed the power that felled me. I was most impressed, mother. A mortal, such as lives on Midgard, had the power to harness lightening into such a small device. It fit in her hand mother, with less showing than a table dagger.”

Frigga made a sharp noise.

“But they were helpful.” Thor went on. “The men of S.H.I.E.L.D took me from them and locked me away, Loki’s shade visited upon me and spoke of father’s death and of my permanent banishment. I was… heartbroken. That I would never see you again, mother, it wounded my heart. The men of S.H.I.E.L.D held me captive within a small space, it is true, but they treated me well, I was fed and spoken to with respect. Simply barred my freedom. Until the arrival of Erik, he who is mentor and surrogate Uncle to Lady Jane. Lady Darcy had used my element to fell me and now she used Loki’s talent at subterfuge to free me, although it was Erik that she sent to retrieve me from where the men of S.H.I.E.L.D were encamped.”

“Interesting…” Frigga mused. “Pray continue, my son.”

“As you wish, mother.” Thor smiled at his beautiful mother. “Erik returned me to Lady Jane and Lady Darcy’s side and there I stayed. I would hope that I treated them with the respect and consideration that ladies of their standing would see, were they here on Asgard. Lady Jane’s mind is a wonderous thing, mother. Midgard has not the knowledge that Asgard has but still she has a theoretical understanding of the Bifrost. The science behind her theories is… remarkably similar to that which Eir and Heimdall tried to teach me, when I was younger. But it was not until the destroyer arrived, that I saw Lady Darcy as anything more than Lady Jane’s lady-in-waiting. While she had the power to fell me, I had mistakenly assumed that it had no bearing on her courage. I was wrong.”

“Indeed?” Frigga prompted him to continue.

“Aye. When the destroyer arrived, it was Lady Darcy and Erik that rallied the local villagers and got them to safety. She risked her life for them, mother. And not just once, but again and again.”

Frigga’s brows rose again. “Truly?”

“Aye.” Thor nodded. “One young male argued with her, he wanted to fight with us  but he had neither skill nor weapons. As Lady Darcy said, he was but an apprentice scholar, he had no place upon the battlefield. Lady Darcy listened to his words before shaking her head and striking him down, she pulled a small device from her pocket and cast lightening at him. She then turned to his friends and told them to carry the boy and join the other evacuees.”

Frigga smiled.

“We fought the destroyer, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif were thrown asunder and I determined that it was down to me to speak with Loki. If I could turn his ire from Midgard by giving him my life, it would be a small price to pay.”

Frigga made a pained sound.

“Oh, mother, be not alarmed. Mjolnir returned to my side and restored me to my full strength. I was able to force the destroyer’s fire to turn against itself. Upon my return to Lady Jane, Lady Darcy and Erik, we were joined by the men of S.H.I.E.L.D, only to be told that the man leading them was not of S.H.I.E.L.D but another organisation that was created with the sole purpose of protecting Midgard. He gave me a mirror and said that if I desired to speak with him, I would only need hold the mirror and say his name.”

“His name?”

“I have tried, mother, but for some reason, I cannot made it work. There must be something that I have failed to understand.” Thor dropped his head. “I destroyed the Bifrost and cannot return to Lady Jane’s side and now I cannot even tell her why.”

“Tell me, my son. Tell me exactly what this man said.” Frigga ordered.

Thor spent the next hour, wracking his brain for every word that he’d heard the Son of Coul say to him and repeating them back to his mother.

“Ah…” She said, when he finished. “You are young, my son, and as such, some customs are unknown to you. The lives of those of Midgard are short and so, they shorten their terms of address. You would be Thor Odinson, not Thor, Son of Odin. Midgard would know this man not as the Son of Coul but as Coulson. Fetch this mirror and try again, my son, use what he would be known as, to his own people.”

“I shall, mother.” Thor paused. “Should I return here, to do so?”

“Please.” Frigga nodded, every inch the queen of Asgard.

“Of course, mother. Please excuse me, I shall return, immediately.” Thor rose to his feet and after a bow to his mother, he left the balcony.

“Our son is growing.” A rough voice rumbled for the shadows.

“He is.” Frigga nodded. “But he still has a long way to go before I would see him take your throne, husband.”

“What do you plan, wife?”

“I have watched alongside Heimdall, for many days.” Frigga said. “This Lady Jane is a most remarkable being. I do believe that she may be well suited to our son.”

“Truly?” Odin stayed in the shadows.

“Truly.” Frigga nodded. “I would have Thor take the time to know her. To learn if they would truly be well matched, if her fire will stand against his or if she is but a candle to his flame. The lives of those on Midgard are short, it is true, but still…”

“You would send him back to learn if she is his fire?”

“Not just that, husband.” Frigga said. “There is so much he must learn, if he is to be king and while much can be taught, there is much that must felt. And here on Asgard, where our people see him as a prince, so few treat him as anything other than a prince, it will not happen.”

“And a prince is not a king.”

“Nor is he a man.”

“But a man can be a king.” Odin nodded.

“Precisely, husband.” Frigga nodded. “He must learn to be a man, before he can become a king.”

“Your theory is just, my queen. Order him as you will.” Odin reached out a hand from the shadows at her side and lifted Frigga’s hand to his lips. “You are wiser than I and every day I am thankful that you are my queen.” He laid her hand back upon her lap and retreated back into the shadows, leaving the balcony completely.

As he re-entered the palace, he saw Thor exit his rooms and move towards him.

“Father?” Thor asked, not certain of how he should react.

“You mother awaits you, my son, go to her.” Odin gestured behind himself, towards the balcony where Frigga sat.

“Yes, father.” Thor gave him a shallow bow and hurried away.

Out on the balcony, Thor came to a halt in front of Frigga, the mirror held as gently as his hands were capable of.

“Mother?”

“Call for the man, this Coulson. I would speak with him.” Frigga replied.

“As you command, mother.” Thor lifted the mirror and took a deep breath. “Coulson.”

Nothing happened and Thor’s shoulders slumped.

“No, my son. What did he introduce himself as?”

“Director Coulson, of the Avengers.” Thor repeated and nearly dropped the mirror when it warmed in his hands. “Mother?” This was magic outside his understanding.

“Be at ease. Come, sit beside me, that we might both speak with this man.”

The mirror cleared and a face appeared.

“Prince Thor of Asgard.” The Son of Coul dipped his head in recognition. “And company?”

“Greetings upon you, Director Coulson.” Thor repeated a general greeting. “Might I present to you, my lady mother, Frigga, Queen of Asgard?”

“Your majesty.” Coulson barely blinked as he rose from a seat and bowed to her, raising his position in Frigga’s mind considerably.

Chapter Text

“Director Coulson, of the Avengers.” Thor repeated and nearly dropped the mirror when it warmed in his hands. “Mother?” This was magic outside his understanding.

“Be at ease. Come, sit beside me, that we might both speak with this man.”

The mirror cleared and a face appeared.

“Prince Thor of Asgard.” The Son of Coul dipped his head in recognition. “And company?”

“Greetings upon you, Director Coulson.” Thor repeated a general greeting. “Might I present to you, my lady mother, Frigga, Queen of Asgard?”

“Your majesty.” Coulson barely blinked as he rose from a seat and bowed to her, raising his position in Frigga’s mind considerably.

“Director.” She gave him a head bow in response and Coulson retook his seat. “My son has spoken of you, of your respect and honour.”

“I am pleased, your majesty, his time here was… fraught with difficulty.”

“I can imagine.” Frigga smiled. “It has, however, been good for him. A learning experience, his tutors would say.”

“We all learned a great deal.” Coulson nodded.

“There is much we do not know of Midgard.” Frigga said. “What would be the reaction of your people, if Thor were to return to Midgard?”

“The Bifrost is broken, mother, there is no going anywhere.” Thor corrected.

“Hush, dear, I was speaking with the Director.” Frigga laid a gentle hand on Thor’s arm.

“We would welcome him.” Coulson said. “Not everyone, of course. There are always those that do not welcome outsiders, but they are the exception. I know that the Avengers Initiative would welcome him.”

“Tell me more of this Avengers Initiative, Director.” Frigga ordered.

“It’s the brainchild of the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury.” Coulson started. “He saw that Earth wasn’t alone in the universe and that sooner or later someone would come at us, in aggression. And that we didn’t have any real form of protection from them. So, he came up with the Initiative to combat that…” For the next hour Coulson explained how the Initiative had sat in the back of Fury’s mind, developing and growing, until he began taking steps towards making it a reality and how it had grown and changed since then. He then had to explain that the magical world still existed but that they’d been separate from the muggle world for centuries and that few believed that the muggles were ready to know about the magical world. How The Unit came into being and how, over the last few weeks, he had worked with Tony, Harry, Kingsley and Peggy to merge the two organisations while still retaining some of their independence, especially when it came to working the different environments.

He finished with a brief outline of the staff, their positions, skills and how they came to work for the merged Avengers/Unit, which was commonly called the Initiative, ending with the recovery of Steve Rogers.

“…and now that healer Tonks has given him a clean bill of health, our training co-ordinator is looking to start him on some light physical work to counter seventy years of forced inactivity.” Coulson finished.

“I see…” Frigga mused, rocking her head backwards and forwards, slightly. “And you believe that these people would welcome my son?”

“I know they would.” Coulson countered. “We’ve discussed this, among ourselves. We hoped that when he returned to Earth, that Prince Thor would at least consider joining us. If not in a permanent position, then on an on-call one.”

“I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to train and spar with your warriors, Son of Coul. Unfortunately, that is not likely to happen for some years.” Thor sighed.

“Might I ask why?” Coulson requested.

“Loki.” Thor said sadly. “He ambushed me and intended to wage war on numerous realms, using the Bifrost as his vessel of transport. I stopped his campaign but to do so, I had to choose between stopping his plans or capturing him. I was forced to… break the Bifrost bridge. He escaped me and fell into the abyss between realms.”

“So, he’s still at large?” Coulson’s shoulders tensed.

“He is.” Thor nodded. “Father is working to repair the bridge but it will take time.”

“Time that Loki could be using to plan further attacks.” Coulson said tightly.

“Aye.” Thor nodded. “Midgard is vulnerable and he knows it.”

“And if we had a way to… side-step… the Bifrost?” Coulson asked. “Would you be interested in returning to work with us?”

“I would that it were possible.” Thor smiled sadly. “I have missed those I met on Midgard.”

Frigga stared hard at the image of Coulson. “Director Coulson, why do I have the impression that you are hiding something?”

“Because I am, your majesty, but without Prince Thor’s consent to return to Earth, I do not have permission to divulge any further details.” Coulson replied.

“Yes, my son would return to Midgard and train with people.” Frigga said. “His punishment for breaking the Bifrost is to return to Midgard and protect it, until I deem that he has learnt to not withhold military information from the King. I would request that the Avengers Initiative welcome him and educate him in all matters that they believe that one who will one day be a King, should know. It will be the responsibility of the Avengers to provide his transport to Midgard, should they require his presence before the Bifrost is repaired.”

“In that case, your majesty,” Coulson smiled, brightly, “I suggest that Prince Thor pack his bags. Just sparring and battle clothing, along with his weapons and any personal items he wishes to bring. If he forgets something, we do have a way for him to return to Asgard, but I’m told it’s quite disorientating for non-magical beings and we are uncertain if that applies to those of Asgard or not.”

“My son will be ready within the hour.” Frigga said and turned to Thor. “You’d best hurry, time is passing.”

“Yes, mother.” Thor pressed a kiss to Frigga’s cheek and stood, his hands still holding the mirror.

“Leave that with me.” Frigga requested. “There’s a few more things I would like to discuss with Director Coulson.”

“Of course, mother. I shall return as soon as I can.” Thor was up and moving.

“Such an excitable child.” Frigga said fondly.

“Exuberant.” Coulson agreed. “What do you wish to know, your majesty?”

“Tell me of Lady Jane Foster and Lady Darcy Lewis.” Frigga ordered.

“Dr Jane Foster is…” Coulson began speaking, giving a detailed briefing on the two women. And ending with, “… Darcy’s cookies are often used as a form of currency for favours. I am uncertain but I think that she knows the name and face of everyone that has ever eaten one of her cookies and which ones they prefer. She says that Prince Thor’s favourite are lemon and lavender.”

“They would be.” Frigga nodded, when Coulson finished a few minutes later. “How will you… what was the phrase you used? Side-step? How will you side-step the Bifrost?”

“We have access to a… device that allows the user to connect a portal to a different location, a location that can be either a set of coordinates or a place that the user can picture clearly in their mind as they activate the portal.”

“What do you require, here in Asgard?”

“From you and your people, your majesty? Nothing. From Prince Thor? Willingness to work with us.”

“No, Director, I meant for your portal to work.”

“Oh, only a bit of clear space. The arch is large, thirty-odd feet tall by about twenty feet wide, when you add in the arch’s support buttresses. I am uncertain whether the arch will remain and become a permanent structure or whether it will only be present for the transfer.”

“We will work on the assumption that it will remain, if it doesn’t, we’ve lost nothing. Would a garden would be suitable?”

“Definitely, we can try and place in front of an existing wall but I can’t guarantee that will work.” Coulson nodded. “If you would excuse me, I will need to contact the agent that is the most familiar with the device. Tell Prince Thor to contact me via the mirror once he’s ready, but that it will take us at least an hour, to prepare for his return journey.”

“Very well, Director, I look forward to speaking with you at a later time.”

“Certainly, your majesty, I am always available to you.” Coulson smiled at her, subtle but genuine.

Thor stood with Sif and the Warriors Three, as well as a selection of warriors from Asgard, they had no idea what was going to happen. His return to Midgard was a certainty, the timing and the manner were the variants.

As his mirror went dark, a waft of shadow moved across the garden and tendrils of darkness morphed together until the hazy shape of an arch filled the space. The shadows’ darkness grew before it developed structure and definition, becoming the image of stone. By the time the shadows stopped creeping across the flagstones of the courtyard, the arch looked as solid as the wall and the palace behind it.

The flimsy, liquid-looking cloth that filled the arch, rippled and twisted in the light before two men stepped through it. Both men wore formal clothes as would be expected of ambassadors to the Asgardian royal court. They both took precisely four steps from the arch and gave formal bows.

“We give greetings this day and extend our gratitude for allowing our presence in the Royal Palace.” The pair had obviously decided that only one of them was going to speak. “I am Draconis Malfoy, Lord of the House of Malfoy and my companion is Harrington Potter, Lord of the House of Potter and Heir to the House of Dumbledore. We are Strike Team Commanders for Avengers/Unit Initiative.”

“Welcome to Asgard, Commanders.” Thor nodded to them. “I am Thor, Prince of Asgard.” Thor turned slightly. “Might I prevail upon you to spare a few minutes? My father and lady mother would like the opportunity to speak with you, in regard to my coming time on Midgard.”

“Most certainly, Prince Thor.” Draco said. “However, Harry’s a little light on sleep, so if you want polite answers, it’s probably best not to ask him.”

Harry just grunted and elbowed Draco in the ribs.

“Ah, I understand, father’s much the same.” Thor nodded. “As are Fandral and Bors.” He gestured to a doorway behind him. “If you would follow me?”

Draco gave an acknowledging bow and agreed. “Certainly, your highness.”

“We are to be compatriots, Lord Malfoy.” Thor said as they went through the door and entered the palace, proper. “Please, I would have you call me Thor.”

“Highness, until we have a signature on the documents we carry, we are unfortunately unable to grant your request.” Draco clearly showed that he didn’t wish to offend but was determined to stand by his words.

“Documents?” Thor asked.

“Yes, highness.” Draco replied. “Documents covering what you can expect during your time with the Avengers and what is expected of you. We only have a rough outline with us, as we understand that your position, here on Asgard, may require alterations or negotiations to our current contracts.”

“Ah, best you speak to father about that.”

“As you recommend.” Draco gave a small smile.

Thor lead them into the throne room and all present were surprised when one of Odin’s ravens flew from the throne, down the down the steps of the dais and across the room to land on Harry’s left shoulder.

“Hello there, who are you?” Harry asked, only tilting his head to study the bird.

The raven chuckled and squawked as though conversing with Harry.

“Really?” Harry asked. “Huginn? So, your friend is Muninn, then?”

The raven chattered a little more before trying to preen Harry’s hair.

“I’m sorry, that’s a waste of time. My hair’s never going to be neat and tidy, even my wife has given up on trying to tame it.” Harry chuckled, a slightly echo-ing sound, very similar to his Animagus form’s cries.

The raven continued to talk to Harry as they crossed the room and came to a halt at the base of the dais. The raven gave a last pull of Harry’s hair and leapt into the air, to return to his perch on the wing of the throne.

“My Huginn likes you.” Odin rumbled, he waved Thor off, when he tried to instigate introductions. “If Huginn or Muninn like them, there is not need for formality, my son. They are welcome friends.”

“Only you, Harry.” Draco huffed, taking Odin at his word.

“Hey, not my fault birds like me better than they do you.”

“You’re an eagle, Harry, I’m a cat, birds seem to know that and not like it.” Draco argued back.

“Later, Draco. We’re supposed to seeing to Prince Thor’s contract.” Harry reminded the blonde.

“Hmph…” Draco snorted but faced Odin’s throne. “Greetings, Odin, King of Asgard.”

“Greetings, friends. Pray, tell me your names and allow us to retire to a more… informal… setting.” Odin replied.

Draco nodded and repeated his introduction from earlier and explained about the contract that they were there to negotiate. He watched as Odin nodded and stood.

“Let us retire to my office, we can review this contract and amend any details, as needed.”

Chapter Text

“Later, Draco. We’re supposed to seeing to Prince Thor’s contract.” Harry reminded the blonde.

“Hmph…” Draco snorted but faced Odin’s throne. “Greetings, Odin, King of Asgard.”

“Greetings, friends. Pray, tell me your names and allow us to retire to a more… informal… setting.” Odin replied.

Draco nodded and repeated his introduction from earlier and explained about the contract that they were there to negotiate. He watched as Odin nodded and stood.

“Let us retire to my office, we can review this contract and amend any details, as needed.”

The three men… well, two men and a God, who was going to be treated as a man… emerged from blackness of the Veil and into the bright light of the island’s gardens. This caused Harry and Draco to blink in surprise, the Veil had been housed in the Department of Mysteries when they’d left, who had moved it and why?

“Heya, Harry. Malfoy.” Colin still had trouble being friendly with Draco, there were so many memories of the blonde casting hexes and jinxes at him and his brother, at Hogwarts.

“Colin? What happened?” Harry said, sighing as he did.

“Well, Sirius is the only one that can use the Veil and the Unspeakables didn’t want him traipsing through the DoM, anytime he felt like it.” Colin replied.

“So…? They did what?”

“So, they went over my research and after shaking their heads at it and saying that it shouldn’t work, even though it does, they decided that the easiest thing to do was to give the Veil to the Initiative.” Sirius said, from where he sat, off to the left. “I have to train a couple of their people, in how I use it. I think they want to try and recreate the thing.”

“Huh…” Harry grunted. “Where is everyone?”

“You took longer than expected, pup.” Sirius said. “We kind of expected a few hours, not six days. People had things to do. Hermione went with Astoria and Andi to check on Daphne, she’s not handling pregnancy well. Fury called Coulson and borrowed Clint for a few days, his scientists are not playing well together and he wants to know why. Darcy and Jane had a thing in Tromsø, something to do with… particle excitement and the frequency and fluidity of neutrons intercepting them…? I think…?” Sirius said.

“And we hadn’t told Jane why we wanted her here.” Draco nodded.

“Yup.” Sirius sighed. “Science! wins over a pretty garden.”

“Every time.” Harry nodded.

They’d barely taken a step towards the house, when Bucky came out.

“We have a situation.” He called. “Loki’s back and he’s got some sort of staff thing that can imperius people.”

“What? Where?” Harry asked.

“Fury’s Pegasus site.” Bucky answered as reached he them. “But not just the staff, it seems like someone needs to have words with Fury, he had the tesseract. Had. Loki has it now. Along with Eric and Clint.”

“I am going to hit someone.” Harry growled.

“Oh, it gets worse.” Bucky said.

“Why am I just now, finding out about this?” Sirius asked.

“Because you were busy moving the Veil and we can’t actually do anything other make plans and your plans tend to go haywire, pretty damn quick.” Bucky gave Sirius a quick kiss to soften the blow of his words. “But now… it’s all hands on-deck. Steve, Bruce and Tony have gone to Fury’s helicarrier, the one off of Nantucket, for a briefing. Initially, we thought this was just an Avengers-type incident but add Loki in and listening to Fury’s description of what he did to Clint and Eric and it’s turning out to be an Initiative-wide, World-wide emergency. Even the ICW have been in contact. If we need to, the Statute comes down over this.”

“Excuse me?!” Draco squawked.

“The ICW are ready for the Statute to drop if we need it.” Bucky repeated. “We have permission to act publicly.”

“Oh, crap…” Harry muttered. “How long have we got?”

“Steve, Tony, Bruce, Phil and Nat are getting a briefing from Fury, right about now.” Bucky replied.

“Right.” Harry nodded. “With Phil not here, Draco and I are the most senior Strike Team Leaders. Draco? You want this?”

“Oh, hell no.” Draco objected. “I can run a Strike Team but I’ve got no experience running large groups. You ran the D.A. at Hogwarts and you run most of the training camps, now. This is your call.”

Harry narrowed his eyes and studied Draco but it appeared that the blonde wasn’t being snarky or sarcastic.

“Right.” Harry took a deep breath. “If the ICW think that the Statute might need to fall over this, it’s bad.” He turned to Bucky and Sirius. “Call in the frontline teams and all the healers we can get, plus all the trainees, including those at Hogwarts. Alert St. Mungo's and have them alert all the other magical hospitals. Alert Snape, we’re going to need all the potions available and probably as many as we can get worldwide. Get everyone suited and armed. Thor, you’re with me, I had hoped that we would get a chance for you to get settled in but it seems your brother has other ideas.” He started towards the cottage that he shared with his wife and kids, before pausing. “I also want every Team leader to have a pair of suppression cuffs, we might need them for Loki.”

“I am armed and at your command.” Thor hefted Mjolnir but followed Harry into the cottage.

“Mione? Any more details?”

“Not for the last twelve hours.” Hermione replied, cutting the last of a large pile of sandwiches. “Grab a couple and go get changed. I stocked up your potions and checked the guns.” She paused. “I think this might be why Albus insisted that you claim the Elder Wand. Going up against a God…? You’re going to need it.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, love.” Harry replied in an amused voice.

“I don’t doubt your skills for a second, Harry, I know what you can do.” Hermione said. “But I don’t know what Loki can do.”

“True.” Harry nodded, grabbing a sandwich and taking a large bite. “Grab sandwich, Thor, while I get changed.”

Harry crossed the room to a door that seemed to lead outside but when he opened the door, it clearly lead to a small room. A room that Thor couldn’t see, could exist. The door was against the cottage’s external wall and there was a window on each side of it that gave a view of a pretty garden. The door should have lead outside but it didn’t. Harry stood in the middle of the door and flicked a wand into his hand. Another flick and his clothes swapped with a steel grey outfit that had hung on the back of the door, a second flick had weapons floating from shelves and into holsters spread about his body. The last thing he did was reach out and take down a false panel above the door and retrieve a pale wand with knobby lumps down its length and insert it into a holster on his forearm.

“Ready to go.” Harry took another deep breath before turning to his wife and just looking at her.

“I know…” She smiled, she knew that look.

Harry nodded and after glancing at Thor, grabbed another sandwich and left the cottage, the blonde God on his heels.

“Where do we go, now?” Thor asked.

“Mission control.” Harry said as he reached out and clasped Thor’s arm.

A tight squeezing sensation and the view around the m changed. They were inside a massive room and Harry headed for a raised stage.

“Alright, updates?” He asked Colin, who was shuffling sheets of parchment.

Before Colin could do more than look up, a strident beeping noise silenced the room.

“That’s the Director's alarm.” Colin pushed himself to his feet.

“And!” Harry yelled. “Phil’s alarm’s gone off. Can you and Colin deal with that?”

“On it, boss.” Colin leapt from the stage and ran to Andi’s side, two exchanged looks, nodded and vanished.

A second or two later, Natasha’s ‘help!’ alarm went off and Harry looked to Dennis.

“Loki was captured in… somewhere in Germany, Strassußrg, I think.”

“That’s in France, Dennis.” Harry corrected.

“Then, I’ve no idea. Somewhere in Germany, that much I know for certain, more than that? I'm blind. But that was a few hours ago, they’ve brought him back to the helicarrier, since then. I know nothing more than that.” The younger Creevey brother said.

“Right.” Harry turned to the room. “Listen up!” He called. “I’m going to apparate to Natasha and try and get an update. Be ready to go. Draco and Dennis will tell you everything we know, to this point. I’ll send a Patronus when I know more.” A lot of ‘yes, sir’s’ and ‘got it’s’ echoed around the room and Harry once more reached out and clasped Thor’s arm. “Until I know exactly what’s going on, you’re staying with me.”

“As you say.” Thor closed his fingers around Harry’s arm and waited for the squeezing sensation to fade before drawing his next breath.

“Nat?” Harry called quietly.

“Here.” She was right behind him. “I got Clint but Loki did something to him.”

“Let me see.” Harry cast a diagnostic charm and huffed. “Imperius or one of its brothers.”

“Can you break it?” Natasha asked.

“There’s only one to break it from the outside, other than killing the caster.” Harry grimaced.

“And that is?”

“Someone else has to cast it on him. Someone stronger.”

“Who is stronger than Loki?” Thor asked.

“There’s a chance…” Harry pulled out the knobbly wand.

“The Elder Wand?” Natasha asked.

“It’s worth a shot. Isn’t it?” Harry asked.

“Yes.” Natasha nodded. “As his Initiative emergency proxy, I give Harry Potter permission to cast the imperius on Clint Barton.” She stepped aside.

“Thanks, Nat.” Harry drew in a deep breath and focused on Clint and wanting to overpower the existing curse. “Imperius.” He spoke calmly and quietly, confident in his skill. A shimmer of silver settled over Clint's head and the electric blue of his eyes brightened into white before fading back to his natural light green. Harry smiled and spoke again. “Finite incantatem.” The shimmer faded and Clint shook his head.

“That sucked.” Clint groaned.

“You alright, there?”

“I will be.” Clint nodded. “I fought him, managed to mute the worst of it but I couldn’t kick him out, not completely. He was too strong.”

“You fought him, Clint.” Harry said.

“If you hadn’t fought, hundreds would have died. As it was, less than ninety died and only one of those is on you.” Natasha said.

“Henry Redmond.” Clint said. “Yeah, I got no problems with him dying, he’s was on S.H.I.E.L.D’s shit list long before I joined them.” He went into the adjoining bathroom to wash his face.

“I figured that.”

The door to the treatment room opened and Steve stood in the space, he looked around the room before focusing on Natasha. “Time to go.”

“Go where?” Natasha asked.

“Tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?”

Clint walked out of the bathroom, drying his hands. “I can.”

Steve looked at Harry and Harry nodded firmly.

“Got ya suit?”

“Yeah.”

“Then suit up.” Steve ordered and walked away.

~~~~~

Odin’s fury had the ground under the Royal Palace shaking, causing many Asgardians to run for cover, while Harry sighed and cast a protective shield around Frigga and himself and let Odin get it out of his system.

“All done, now?” Harry asked the still glaring king.

“Who would dare…?!” Odin growled.

“Loki called him Thanos.” Harry said. “It seems that he’s under the impression that he’s courting Death. Like literally… courting, wooing, flirting, with intent to impress.”

“Hela would not-”

“Not Hela, Death.” Harry corrected. “Hela is the Queen of the dead, she is not Death.”

“You’re… you’re talking of… Death... The manifestation of… Death itself?” Frigga asked.

“That’s what he thinks.” Harry nodded.

Odin realised that Harry wasn’t as concerned as it was expected he would be. “And what do you think?”

“I think he’s screwed.” Harry’s smile was cheeky.

“How? Why?” Frigga asked.

“Have you ever heard the tale of the Deathly Hallows?” Harry asked.

“The Gifts of Death?” Frigga asked.

“That’s the one.”

“It is but a children’s tale.” Odin added.

Harry reached into his extended pocket and pulled out a handful of what seemed like nothing, only to fling his hands out in a swirling motion and vanish. Or at least vanish from the neck down.

“The Invisibility Cloak.” He said, quietly.

He lift the Elder Wand and cast a small spell.

“The Elder Wand.”

He held out his right hand, showing a dull brown stone surrounded by goblin silver, on his ring finger.

“The Resurrection Stone.”

“Oh, norns protect us…” Frigga whispered.

“Or… that’s what the legend says.”

“The legend says?” Odin frowned.

“The goblins of Gringotts have tested each of these items and have declared them man-made.” Harry said.

“But… the legends have been… I heard them when I was but a child…” Odin said.

 “True.” Harry nodded. “I don’t think these are the original Hallows, but made to represent them.”

“Then why would you raise them, now?” Frigga asked.

“Because of the legends.” Harry said. “Legends always have some basis in fact. So, we can assume, that at some point in time, there were actually three items created by Death to find the one They would call Master. Right?”

“Correct.” Odin nodded, not knowing where Harry was taking this conversation.

“How do does myth become fact? How does one become a God without being born one?” Both Odin and Frigga frowned at Harry’s questions. “The answer is simple. Belief.” Odin and Frigga’s frowns grew deeper. “The Master of Death is the one who gains His Hallows. The Wand by conquest, the Ring by death and Cloak by love.” The pair nodded. “If I were to shield my face and walk out into the city with the Cloak draped over one shoulder, holding the Wand in my right hand, a hand that clearly bears the Ring? Your people would instantly recognise me as the Master of Death.”

Both Odin and Frigga caught their breaths.

“So would Thanos.” Frigga said.

“So would anyone following him.” Odin nodded.

“And…?” Harry drew the question out.

“And you need the permission of someone’s Master, before you can court them.” Frigga’s eyes widened.

“Precisely.” Harry grinned. “And kidnapping a  prince of an allied nation and forcing them to attack a planet under my direct protection, is not the way to gain my approval.”

“Oh, sweet stars in the heavens…” Frigga sighed. “There’s two of them…”

“Excuse me?” Harry frowned.

“You and Loki.” Frigga huffed another sigh. “You are cut from the same cloth. Mischief makers, the pair of you.”

“Oh, it’s worse than that.” Harry laughed. “My godfathers and two of my mates are just as bad.” Harry paused. “Actually, I think most of us at the Initiative are pretty good at the underhanded pranking, thing.”

“Oh, no…” Frigga leant into Odin’s shoulder and shook her head. “I don’t want to know, don’t tell me anything more.” 

“Okay…” Harry drew the word out over a few seconds. “But Thanos?”

“He’ll be after the Stones.” Odin said.

“Stones?”

“The Infinity Stones.” Odin replied. “There are six of them. Mind, Space, Reality, Power, Time and Soul. With them, Thanos would control the entirety of life in the universe.”

“Hmm…” Harry hummed. “Well, we’d better stop him from getting them. Where are they?”

“What you call the Tesseract, holds the Space Stone, while the sceptre that Loki used on Midgard, held the Mind Stone. The rest are… spread out across the known universe, in unknown locations.”

“But he needs all six together? Right?” Harry asked.

“Yes.”

“And I’m guessing that destroying a Stone is a bad thing. End of the universe bad.” It was not a question.

“Yes.” Odin nodded.

“Then our only option is to hide them.”

“We could send them to the Collector, I suppose.” Odin said.

“No.” Harry objected. “If your first thought is the Collector, then it’s likely that Thanos will think of them, too. No, we need something a little more secure…”

“What are you thinking?” Frigga tilted her head in question.

“I’m thinking… a hidden space, something that requires a certain number of people to access.”

“And what if one of those people were to die?” Odin asked.

“Not a specific group of people but a… no… yes… Hmm….” Harry started but cut himself off. “A set number of people from a larger selection of specifically named people. And me.”

“And if you were to die?” Frigga asked.

“I hold the Hallows.” Harry said. “I am Death’s Master. I won’t die until I choose to.”

“Ah…” Odin grimaced.

“That’s what the legend says and that’s what I’m basing my understanding on.” Harry explained.

“But the items you hold aren’t the original Hallows.” Frigga argued.

“Do they have to be? If you identify them as the Hallows and anyone who sees them, identifies them as the Hallows…?” Harry grinned.

“Oh, norns…” Frigga muttered.

“And where would this hidden space be?” Odin asked. “The Tesseract and its Space Stone should not return to Earth.”

“I agree.” Harry said. “It can stay here, on Asgard.”

“In this… hidden space?” Frigga asked.

“Yep.” Harry nodded. “I can set up a dimensional pocket hidden behind an item, an everyday item, that only a Hogwarts wizard can access.” He paused. “No, not a Hogwarts wizard, an Initiative wizard. Maybe… a Strike Team member? Or a Healer?”

“Why not name both positions?” Odin suggested.

“Hmm…” Harry began to pace back and forth in front of Odin’s throne. “I might be able to tie access to their positions… but I’d have to make it… an Oath?... it can’t just be… so maybe… but then…” His broken muttering went on for a number of minutes, before he conjured a desk, parchment, quill and ink. Then he leant over the desk scribbling line after line of rough letters and symbols.

It took minutes before Harry straightened, arching his back with his arms over his head, to release the tension from his muscles.

“You have something?” Odin questioned, looking up from the game of… chess(?)… that he was playing with Frigga.

“Yeah.” Harry stretched his jaw so wide that it cracked. “A sealed container, inside a small wizard space, inside a sealed trunk, shrunk to fit inside a hole in an item. I’m thinking behind a piece of jewellery. Something worn every day.”

Frigga’s eyes lit up. “I know just the thing…” She smiled.

Chapter Text

“You have something?” Odin questioned, looking up from the game of… chess(?)… that he was playing with Frigga.

“Yeah.” Harry stretched his jaw so wide that it cracked. “A sealed container, inside a small wizard space, inside a sealed trunk, shrunk to fit inside a hole in an item. I’m thinking behind a piece of jewellery. Something worn every day.”

Frigga’s eyes lit up. “I know just the thing…” She smiled.

“We’re back.” Harry called as he entered the ballroom with Loki at his side.

“And you brought Loki?” Steve asked as Harry approached him and Natasha.

“Yeah.” Harry replied. “Frigga though it might be better for him, here. Get him away from the idiots that caused him to go off the rails in the first place.”

“I thought it was Odin telling him that he was adopted, that was responsible?” Natasha asked.

“It was. But only partly.” Harry nodded. “And personally? I think that’s who Frigga was talking about.”

“Ah.” The two Avengers nodded and Steve continued. “Where are you putting him? It is smart to put him too near Thor?”

“Nope.” Harry grinned. “I had planned on giving Thor a guest room in our cottage, but I think Loki needs it more.”

“Yes, I’d agree.” Steve nodded.

“So, Thor gets to stay with you guys and Loki with Mione and I.” Harry patted Steve’s shoulder. “Try not to eat Sirius and Bucky out of house and home, please.”

“Uh... about that…?”

“Yes…?” Harry narrowed his eyes.

“Um, Peggy…” Steve hesitated.

“Spit it out.” Harry sighed. “What's she planning this time?”

“Now that the world-ending danger is over… Apparently, we’re getting married this weekend.”

“This weekend?” Harry asked. “But…?”

“But…?” Steve asked, a little scared of the answer.

“But I thought you’d already done that?” Harry tilted his head.

“No.”

Harry’s expression went blank as he thought. “When did this get decided?”

“Um…”

“When?”

“She told me she’d waited long enough.” Steve whispered.

“And…? When did she say that?”

“That first day.” Steve answered. “After we left the sitting room but before we got to the ballroom.”

“Damn it, Clint wins.” Harry muttered.

“What…?” Steve blinked.

“Never mind.” Harry waved him off. “This weekend? Bucky’s standing with you, obviously. Who’s standing with Peggy? Who’s giving her away? And who’s performing this thing?” The questions came out, rapid fire.

“Sharon’s standing with her. Tony’s giving her away and Fury’s officiating. And it’ll be here, in the garden.” Steve answered just as rapidly.

“Got it. Initiative staff welcome?”

“Of course.” Steve nodded with a smile. “Mione’s been working with Peggy and Natasha, on it.”

“Right, us blokes just go where we’re told.” Harry nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Steve grinned.

“I’ll get Mione to catch me up, later. Right now, we have a mission review to go over.” Harry made his way onto the dais and across to his seat. “Heya, Siri.” He bumped shoulders with his godfather and ran a gentle finger down the face of the infant in the Marauder’s arms. “How’s she settling in?”

“She’s good, finally sleeping through the night.” Sirius answered and the two chatted quietly for a few minutes.

“Take your seat, please.” Peggy stood in her usual place, just right of the Director’s chair. “Thank you.” She glanced down at a pile of notes in front of her. “First off? Thank you and well done. It’s solely due to the efforts of all of you, that we held off the invasion. We saved our world, our planet, from an invading army of aliens. Now we just have to deal with the aftermath.” She sighed. “It’s not going to be pretty. The Statute is down and while there’s been a lot of flak over the wizarding world hiding, the general feeling that most countries seem to be expressing, is that they’re glad that we were prepared to expose ourselves to save them.”

That got smiles and a few pleased whispers.

“That said, there are a few displeased people.” Peggy said. “Not all that many and thankfully, they hold little influence with the authorities and those in power.”

More pleased whispers were heard.

“Next on the list is clean up.” She tapped her finger on the table as chatter broke out. “Thank you. Like I said. Clean up. New York was hit badly. Stark tower was-”

“Avengers Tower.” Tony cut in. “We can use it as a staging post and apparition and portkey base.”

Peggy just looked at him, until he ducked his head in apology for the interruption.

“As I was saying… the tower was ground zero for the attack, at least on US soil. Stuttgart has some minor damage but it was mostly New York, that bore the brunt of the attack. Which reminds me. NATO and ICW have released the information that Loki was under mind control and Kingsley, Bill Weasley and Tonks have provided evidence, memories and examples of what an imperius can do and for the most part, the world is accepting that Loki was the victim of a targeted attack that forced him to attack us. The fact that he did it where he did is a point in his favour.”

There were a few questioning noises from people.

“Think about it.” Peggy shook her head. “Attacking one of the largest cities in the world? In one of the most well protected countries in the world? That’s not smart and Loki is nothing, if not smart. Plus, he’s the God of Mischief and Lies, not death, destruction or war. Odin is the God of War, Hela of Death and Baldr of Destruction. Not Loki. The attack on New York showed little evidence of his reputation and a lot of someone else’s.”

There were many heads nodding.

“So, Loki’s no longer considered the perpetrator responsible. Which is a good thing, seeing as Asgard have requested that he join the Initiative for a few years, give Odin and Frigga the opportunity to deal with the hotheads there, before Thor and Loki return. To that end… Loki has been assigned to work with Harry for the first six months of his Initiative training, while Thor will be with Draco for his,  after that they’ll be reassessed and new plans made. If we have any more world-ending level events, they’ll probably both be called in, just as Harry and Draco will be.”

More nods and a few understanding noises came from the audience.

“So, aftermath…” Peggy sighed. “Clean-up is ongoing and probably will be for some time. If anyone is prepared to volunteer their time to help with clean-up, they will be welcomed and we’ll happily excuse you from other duties. The Ministry is sending its trainee Aurors over and Hogwarts and many other schools as well as the ICW’s WEA are offering extra credit to any 5^th, 6^th or 7^th year students that want to help and have parental permission to do so, over the Easter break.”

There was a wave of interest and nodding.

“Clean-up is not the only place that New York needs help with, a lot of people were injured, although surprisingly few were actually killed. That can be put down mostly to the Initiative and our protection teams. Thank you.” Peggy smiled at a number of people that were still wearing bruises and cuts. “Without you, the death toll would have been much higher. Our profilers estimate that the toll could have been as high as the thousands. You stopped that. Less than a dozen people died, two of them from direct contact with the invaders and three from injuries from debris, the others were medical episodes that we weren’t and would not have been able to treat in the field. Without specialist attention, they would still have died. Not your fault. Understand?” Peggy was looking straight at a young man barely, out of Hogwarts, who sat with his father’s arm around his shoulders. “Regulus Black, you did as much as you could, as much as anyone put in the same position could have been expected to do. His family know he wasn’t alone and they’re grateful for that.”

The boy under Bucky’s arm nodded but still leant against his father.

“Alright, as long as you understand, we won’t push.” Peggy nodded. “The most seriously injured of all the victims was our Director, Phil Coulson. Andi and Dennis are still working on him but are confident that he’ll pull through. It’ll take a few weeks before he’s back to full strength.” She paused when Neville raised a hand. “No.” She answered the unasked question. “De-aging potions weren’t going to work in this case, something to do with curse magics?” It wasn’t really a question but that’s how it came out.

Regardless, most people seemed to understand what was meant.

“So, in the meantime, Kingsley and I will be sharing Phil’s duties between us, with Harry and Tony as back up, if we need it.”

“…oh joy…” Harry was heard to mutter quietly, which earned him a chiding look from Peggy and Andi but laughs from Draco and Sirius.

A few days later, Harry brought Fury to meet with a carefully selected group of people. Phil, Peggy, Steve, Andi, Dumbledore, Hermione, Sirius, Bucky, Snape, McGonagall and Kingsley were all seated in the slightly enlarged sitting room of number Eleven Grimmauld Place, Islington. All they were waiting on was Harry and Fury.

“What’s this all about? Rogers? Black?” Fury demanded as he entered the room.

“We have no idea, Nick.” It was a still pale Phil Coulson that answered. “Harry only said that we needed to meet with you and it was more important than aliens invading New York.”

“Well…?” Fury looked to Harry.

“Right.” Harry nodded. “I’m going on what Odin and Frigga told me, here, so things could be a little more serious than it sounds. Asgard does tend to underplay the severity of a situation.”

“Just tell us.” Peggy suggested.

“Odin said that the tesseract held one of six of the so-called Infinity Stones.” Harry replied. “The real perpetrator behind New York is hunting for them. He didn’t seem to know that the sceptre held one, the Mind Stone. And the Space Stone was in the tesseract, that’s how it dragged Red Skull through a portal. These Stones are semi-aware. They know when someone means them harm.” He then went on to explain all that Odin and Frigga had told him and what he’d done with the Space Stone.

“So, what’s the plan, pup?” Sirius asked.

“You’re going to hide the Mind Stone the same way?” Steve asked.

“I am.” Harry nodded.

“Where?” Fury wanted to know.

“Well…” Harry gave him a careless grin. “Initially, I wanted to use your eyepatch, but Mione talked me out of it. You still go out in the field, so if something happened to you, the patch is the most obvious way of disabling you.” Fury grunted. “So, we went through each of those sitting here and ruled them out, one-by-one…” Harry shook his head. “Which brought us back to you.”

“Me?” Fury stabbed a finger into his chest.

“Yeah, you.” Harry said. “Everyone else was ruled out. Even me. We’re too public. Even our animagi forms are known, at least within the Initiative. But you…?”

“I don’t have an Animagus form.” Fury said. “Neither does Rogers.”

“No, he doesn’t.” Harry agreed. “But he’s too visible, being the great-grandson of the original Captain America. He’s agreed to take the potion and make his form known within the Initiative but you…? We want you to take the potion, as well, only we won’t be telling anyone outside this room what you are.”

“How does that equate to hiding a Stone?” Fury asked.

“Most of our other forms can wear a collar, those that do, have emergency supplies in a shrunken trunk attached to said collar.” Hermione answered. “We’ve charmed the collars to only be… active(?)… visible(?)… accessible(?)… while we’re in our animagi forms.”

“Where do they go while you’re human?” Bucky asked.

“Wherever our fur or feathers go.” Hermione replied. “And only Lady magic can answer that.”

“Hnh….” Bucky grunted but nodded.

“And do you know what my Animagus form would be?” Fury asked. “What if it’s a snake or a dragon?”

“Harry can talk to snakes.” Sirius reminded. “And no-one has ever had a magical animal as an Animagus form.”

“No-one?” Fury asked.

“No-one.” McGonagall answered. “Something to do with a magical animal’s core not being compatible with a human’s magical core. There’s a whole series of texts on the subject, but they all agree. Humans can only become natural animals.”

“Huh…” Fury nodded slowly.

“And no.” Harry said. “We don’t know what animal you’ll become but the chances are that it’s something we can work with.” 

“If it’s a feline or canine, we can use a collar.” Hermione said. “If it’s a bird, we’ll have to use a ring or bracelet on a leg. Same for ungulates, either that or we use an ear-tag.”

“Then you’d better hope I’m a cat or a dog.” Fury growled. “Cause you’re not tagging me.”

Sirius snickered but managed to cover it with a cough, while Bucky just grinned.

“So you want us to take the potion?” Steve asked, giving Sirius and Bucky flat looks before turning to Hermione and Harry.

“We do.” Harry nodded.

“Then what?”

“Then it depends on your form.” Hermione said. “We have a selection of collars, you can choose one and we’ll attach the Stone’s shrunken container to it. It will look like a tiny charm/ornament in the shape of a padlock. We decided that having something that looked like a shrunken trunk is a dead giveaway, so Harry spent the last few days carving a box to look like a lock. The face of the lock lifts away from the rear but only when the ‘lock’ is open and it’s pass-phrase protected.” She held up a tiny ornament for them to see. “We can enlarge it to different sizes depending on what you are. We don’t want it looking too out of place.”

“Huh…” Fury shook his head in disgust. “The things I do for this planet…” He muttered.

“In addition to this,” Harry said, “Odin and Asgard are letting out the rumour that we actually destroyed the sceptre and it’s stone. And that he destroyed the tesseract on its return to Asgard. We’re all hoping that this gets to the right ears, namely those of Thanos.”

“If he thinks that one or even two of the Stones are destroyed, he’s less likely to come looking for them.” Fury agreed. “We don’t need him coming here.”

“No, we don’t.” Steve nodded.

“Alright, I’m in.” Fury sighed. “Gimme the potion.”

“Same here.” Steve agreed.

Andi stood and crossed the room to a small table and returned with two goblets.

“Best drink it all down in one go, gents.” Andi said. “It tastes foul, otherwise.” She handed one goblet to Fury, who ignored the smoke emerging from the bright purple liquid.

He sighed again and lifted the goblet to his lips. A second’s hesitation and he swallowed down the goblet’s contents and forced himself not to gag at the taste. A few seconds passed and his skin began to itch, a twitch of his shoulder and he changed…

It took a bare second to have Sirius and Bucky laughing, clutching theirs sides and tears falling from their eyes.

“Oh, Lord…” Phil’s eyes widened in shock.

A croaked squawk came from Fury’s throat and Harry, who was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, conjured a mirror in front of Fury. The expression on his face at seeing his Animagus form was too much for Harry and like Sirius and Bucky, he collapsed in laughter.

“Only you, Nick.” Coulson sighed. “Only you could be a hairless cat.”

Fury gave them a flat look before beginning to mutter and curse, the sounds emerging as guttural meows and growls.

Steve was trying to contain his own amusement and gabbed the goblet from Andi to try and distract himself. He chugged the liquid down and felt his hair move, driving a shudder down his spine as he changed.

“Oh, gods…” Hermione gave up any pretence at decorum and fell back in her seat laughing.

It was McGonagall, who had until this point managed to keep a straight face, that conjured a mirror in front of Steve. The blonde soldier’s eyes widened and he looked to his new wife and made the tiniest mewling sound in question.

Fury by now was back on two legs and swearing under his breath about shooting wizards and stringing them up by heels. Not even the sight of Captain America becoming a tiny fluffy blonde kitten, was enough to alleviate the denting of his pride.

“Well at least we know that the lock is the right size…” Dumbledore said, somehow managing to withhold a smile, even if his eyes twinkled brightly.

Fury drew in a harsh breath and glared at the old wizard, before stalking over to the table that held a selection of collars and ring-like bracelets. He glared at them, his glaze angry. His hand swung down and a fine strip of black leather dangled from his fingers.

“If I have to wear a bloody collar to keep this planet safe, it’s going to have a little dignity.” He bared his teeth at Harry and Sirius, while holding the leather strip out to Kingsley. “I don’t trust them, right now. You do it.” Fury told the other black man.

Chapter Text

“If I have to wear a bloody collar to keep this planet safe, it’s going to have a little dignity.” He bared his teeth at Harry and Sirius. The leather was held out to Kingsley. “I don’t trust them, right now. You do it.” Fury told the other black man.

Harry looked up as Hedwig deposited a letter on his desk.

“Hello, Hedwig.” He said, lifting a hand to run a finger down her wing. “Where did you go? Who needed you for a delivery, huh?” He picked up the envelope and stared at it. The writing was familiar but he couldn’t place who it belonged to. After opening the letter, knowing that it held no malicious magics, he spread the single page out and read it.

Hey Harry.

This is strange. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing or not but I wouldn’t be a Gryffindor if I didn’t forge ahead, blindly, now, would I?

I know this was supposed to be permanent but something seems to have gone wrong. I remember. Everything. Even the stuff that I really don’t want to. And while I thought about just getting mum or Da to obliviate me again, I don’t want to lose you and Mione, again.

I don’t know if asking you to meet with me, is good or bad but I’m just selfish to want it, anyway.

Can we meet somewhere? You choose, you need to take security in account, more than I do, anyway.

Ron.

“Oh, Lord…” Harry’s eyes widened as he read.

“Something important, love?” Hermione asked, entering the room.

Harry didn’t answer, just handed the letter to his wife.

“Oh, my…” She whispered, before looking up. “What do you want to do?”

“Expecto patronum…” Harry whispered and waited until a familiar stag filled the room.

“Long time since I’ve seen Prongs.” Hermione commented.

“Message to Ron.” The stag shuddered and opened its mouth. “Hey. Go to the twins’ shop. Tell them I sent you.” He nodded and the stag leapt through the nearest wall. “Ron wouldn’t know Ares, so I felt Prongs was best to send.” He answered Hermione’s question. “Expecto patronum…” Ares emerged from his wand in a burst of sparks. “Message to Gred and Forge.” The eagle opened its beak. “Ron’s on his way to the shop, bring him to the cottage, please.” He nodded and Ares swooped away.

“You know the twins are going to freak out at that?” Hermione laughed.

“Serves them right.” Harry grinned. “Giving Peony and Sage that darkness powder to take to school? Not on.”

“I think McGonagall’s chewing out made that clear.” Hermione laughed before sobering. “He’s going to be younger. So much younger than us…”

Harry did some rough math in his head. “Twenty-two. He’s just twenty-two.”

Two hours later, Harry held his wife as they watched Ron vanish in the green flames of floo powder.

“That went well.” She said.

“Yeah…” Harry nodded. “It was good to see him.” He paused. “Not just see him… but see him… If you get what I mean?”

“I do, love.” Hermione answered. “Ron not Donnie.”

“Yeah.”

“Dad…?” A young voice called. “Uncle Bucky’s here, says it’s important.”

“Oh, what now…? Harry sighed but went looking for the owner of the voice and Bucky. “Hey, what trouble are you up to, now?” He asked his honorary godfather.

“No trouble. Not me.” Bucky said. “We've had a message from Asgard, they want a meeting, I thought I’d pass it along and bring Castor over, he and Sage can compare notes on which broom they’re allowed to have, in second year, and which quidditch position its best for.”

“Madam Hooch banning professional brooms still causing a fuss?” Harry asked.

“Yep.” Bucky grinned.

“What time is the Asgard meeting?” Hermione asked.

“Four o’clock.” Bucky answered.

“Four? You leaving Castor here for the night, too?”

“If you don’t mind?” Bucky grinned. “Halley and Celeste are staying over with Josie and Mandy, Remus said they’d have the girls this weekend and we get them next weekend.”

“And Regulus?” Harry asked.

“He and Daniel moved into their flat, yesterday.” Bucky answered. “So far, so good.”

“So, you want to have a child-free night?” Hermione nodded, answering her own question.

“Please…?” Bucky tried the puppy eyes, knowing that they wouldn’t have any effect on Hermione.

Harry sat with Phil, Kingsley, Peggy, Steve, Sirius and Bucky, all of them watching the massively enlarged mirror, waiting for either Odin or Frigga to activate a mirror at their end. A few seconds past two o’clock, the mirror went dark before lighting up with colour that bled into an image of Odin and Frigga sitting on a lush sofa, in front of a large window.

“Greetings, my friends.” Odin nodded to them regally.

“Greetings, Odin, King of Asgard.” Phil smiled. “And Lady Frigga, Queen of the Golden Realm.”

“Director.” Frigga smiled at Phil. “You look well recovered.”

“My thanks to you, for allowing Lady Eir to render assistance in my healing.” Phil replied.

“I shall pass your appreciation along.” Frigga said. “I know that it will be well received.”

“How are our sons?” Odin asked.

“Haven’t they contacted you lately?” Harry frowned. “I gave them both mirrors, so they could.”

“They have.” Odin answered. “But they tell tales of their friends and the goings on around them, not of how they fare.”

“And we would welcome an outsider’s opinion.” Frigga asked.

“Oh, okay.” Harry nodded in understanding. “Both are doing well, settling in. We’ve been working mostly on natural disaster recovery. The storm season in the southern hemisphere was bad this year, so we’re lending a hand to repair infrastructure and for emergency recovery.”

“They’re getting along well with their teammates, so far no real personality conflicts.” Sirius added. “Loki did have a bit of an issue, as far as magic is concerned. He’s very much used to being the strongest magic user and that’s not the case, here. It came as a bit of a shock.”

“And Thor had to be reminded that a visiting dignitary, which he essentially is, should abide by the traditions and customs of the place he finds himself in.” Phil added.

“Not to mention, he’s a good deal stronger, physically, than our people.” Peggy said. “If he wanted a wrestling or sparring partner, it would be best for him to stick to Steve and Bucky. No-one else is sturdy enough to not get injured. But he’s listening, which is more than I can say for many trainees.”

“He always listened.” Frigga nodded. “Didn’t always hear, but he listened.”

“We noticed.” Harry laughed. “Hermione and Jane have pulled him up a few times and forced him to listen and actually hear them.”

“That is good hear.” Odin nodded, his smile small but genuine. “We also have news.”

The Earth-bound watchers sat forward and focused on the king of Asgard.

“We let it be known that the Mind Stone and the Space Stone are beyond the grasp of mortal beings.” Odin said. “We implied that Earth and the Initiative destroyed the sceptre, not knowing what it was you destroyed. Not knowing about the Mind Stone. And that the Space Stone had been damaged while on Earth and that it had not survived the return journey to Asgard. We waited for a week before letting a lesser guard ‘slip’ and say that we had destroyed the Reality Stone, which has been stored here, in a semi-liquid form, for many centuries. We consulted with the norns and created an illusion of the Aether, as the liquid Stone was called. Then it was simply a case of altering the illusion to have the liquid boiled into nothing, by casting it into a star.”

“It was a little more involved than that.” Frigga chided. “But that’s what the guard told people.”

“And the Warriors Three have been sprouting tales of the Master of Death having been spotted in on the branches of Yggdrasil.” Odin said. “Heimdall has told of the Master’s displeasure at his servant being forced into giving up their free time to attend to all the untimely and unscheduled deaths.”

“We have had a visit from the Collector’s assistant who, after many drinks, admitted that these rumours had reached the Nowhere Installation.” Frigga added. “It spread like wildfire from there. Reported sightings of the Master of Death have exploded across the galaxy. Those that have near-death experiences, tell of meeting the Master. They describe you quite badly, Harry. Most tell of a tall pale man, with eyes the colour of fire or ice, some have the Master being pale haired, others say the colour of blood. All agree that the Master is not happy that Death is being over-whelmed with additional unscheduled work. Some even say that Death itself has complained to the Master, that they have no free time to spare the newly arrived souls. Which is why so many are being returned to life.”

“Whoa…” Harry whispered.

“We have heard, via means and people that I prefer not to acknowledge in polite company,” Odin nodded politely to Peggy, “that these tales have reached even Thanos on Titan. He is reputed to have slaughtered hundreds of beings before having heard that even Death had complained. At which point he stopped and locked himself away for days on end, studying the tales and rumours. Our… informant was able to verify to Thanos that the rumours of the Stones' destruction had come directly from the palace, here on Asgard. Thanos went to the norns and demanded to know if it was true, if the Stones had been destroyed. The norns, for some reason, known only to themselves, told him that the Stones were beyond their sight.”

“In a way that is true.” Harry said. “They can’t really see them, locked away as they are.”

“Exactly.” Odin nodded. “Thanos took that as confirmation of the Stones' destruction. He then went on a rant about the universe population outstripping the available resources. The norns chided him and said that the universe is a part of a plan and what will happen is the will of the Great Designer. It would be many millions of eons before the Designer’s plan would come to fruition. Thanos is reputed to have questioned them for hours on the Designer’s plan, eventually, he got the information he wanted and left.”

“Is he going to be a problem?” Phil asked.

“No.” Odin answered. “He returned to Titan and ordered his army disbanded. The chitauri were sent back to their home world and forbidden to leave the planet without Thanos’ permission. His daughters were released to travel the universe wherever they would, to learn of the peoples and worlds they encountered. And to send back all tales of the Master of Death and his servant. Thanos plans to be the greatest expert on the Master. He plans to ensure that the Master is content with his servant’s duties. Something the norns implied, could affect the length and success of the Designer’s plan.”

“Oh, dear Lord…” Harry whispered.

“Our informant attended many meetings with Thanos.” Odin went on. “The impression she came away with was that Thanos would work diligently to see that nothing disrupted the Designer’s plan for the universe. The norns and whatever information they gave, changed Thanos’ plans completely.”

“Well, that’s good for us.” Peggy said.

“Indeed, it is.” Odin nodded. “No more will he hang over us. No longer do we need fear him acquiring the Infinity Stones. No longer do we need fear the Stones being used.”

“We are free to enjoy the Designer’s plan for the universe unfolding as the Designer planned.” Frigga added.

“So… All we have to worry about are our home-bred dark lords…” Harry sighed in pleasure.

“Oh, there is still the possibility of off-world attacks.” Frigga said. “But nothing at the level of Thanos.”

“Many will take Thanos’ lead and turn their attentions to other amusements.” Odin said. “But yes, there will always be those that strive to conquer. But few of them are as… resolute… as Thanos.”

“No-one’s quite the big bad that he is, huh?” Sirius asked.

“No.” Odin shook his head.

“With no Thanos hunting for the Stones, we can get on with the job of protecting the people of Earth.” Kingsley said. “Our people can concentrate on helping here. That’s not to say that we won’t still pay attention to what’s happening off-world, we will and we’ll keep our training as up-to-date as we can, just in case.”

“Yes.” Odin nodded. “Midgard is a much safer place, now that Thanos believes the Stones destroyed.”

“Well, in that case…?” Harry grinned. “I have a house full of kids, not all of them are mine, and I think that I’d like to spend some time with them.”

“Ah, I do miss having children around.” Frigga said.

“You’re always welcome to come down for a visit.” Harry said. “We’re a bit basic, by Asgardian standards, but you wouldn’t be sleeping on the ground.”

“Something to think about, my dear.” Odin nodded to Frigga.

“Not now, dear.” Frigga said. “Let our sons settle a little longer. Perhaps for Yule?”

“Dad?” Harry’s son flopped down onto the seat beside him.

“What’s up, Sage?” Harry glanced up from his report and seeing the serious expression on his son’s face, laid down his pen.

“Um…? We… um…” Sage looked down at his lap.

“Sage?” Harry turned from his desk.

“We had visits from Gringotts as well as Barclays, just before term ended.” The first-year student said. “As we were leaving, the goblin asked me to speak to you about the Potter Lordship, something about vaults being dormant.”

“Ah.” Harry grunted. “I keep forgetting to go in and ask about it.” He glanced up at the clock. “Two o’clock. Plenty of time before dinner. What’s say we go and speak to the goblins now and find out what I need to do claim the Lordship, properly?”

“I though you had.” Sage asked. “Everyone at the Ministry call ‘Lord Potter’?”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “I never got around to it. And the Ministry people are idiots, for the most part. They know that only Lady Magic can bestow a Lordship on someone, but they still open their mouths and make idiots of themselves.”

“Oh…”

“So, let’s go, now.” Harry stood up. “My report can wait until tomorrow, it’s not that important.”

“And a Lordship is?” Sage knew that Harry and Hermione didn’t put a lot of importance on rankings.

“Not really.” Harry shrugged. “But it’s never good to ignore the goblins. If they spoke to you and raised the subject, it’s time to do something about it.”

“Oh, okay.” Sage stood up and leant against Harry.

“And we should see about a split investment vault for you, too.” Harry said. “I’m not keen on you using your trust vault for investments, if you're going to play the stockmarket with Tony.”

“Ooh, yes please, dad.” Sage’s face brightened.

The goblin looked at Harry and nodded.

“Please allow me a few minutes to locate the Potter Charter.” It was not a question but an order phrased as a request.

The goblin vanished through a door, leaving Harry and Sage blinking at each other.

“Is that… normal, dad?”

“He was a little more… adamant… than I expected, but otherwise? Yeah, pretty much.” Harry answered. “Goblins don’t mess around, son, they like to get down to business pretty quick. Time wasted is worse than gold, badly managed.”

“Right.” Sage made a mental note to never waste a goblin’s time.

The goblin returned carrying a simple wooden box, bearing the rearing lion that the Potter line shared with the Gryffindor family.

“Mr Harrington James Potter.” The goblin laid the box on the table in front of Harry. “Place your hand on the lion and state your name and intent to claim the Potter Lordship.”

“Err… I had intended to just ask what was involved in claiming the Lordship, not actually doing the claiming, today.” Harry said in confusion.

“As I said.” The goblin huffed. “Place your hand on the lion and state your intent to claim the Potter Lordship.”

“That’s it? I thought there was a lot more to it than that?”

“Lady Magic decides what each Lord must do.” The goblin said. “Beside your name is written the directive I have passed to you.”

“Well…” Harry glanced at his son. “It seems as though Lady Magic is pleased with us Potters.” Sage grinned at his dad. “Let’s hope it stays that way. Huh, son?”

“Yes, dad.”