Chapter 17 - Orphans

Augusta had found it difficult to wait for her planned visit to where her grandson was holidaying, especially after reading the multiple articles in the Quibbler. The couple of letters that she had received from Neville actually made that waiting harder, not easier. To Augusta, it was as if these letters had been written by a different boy. She had a tight grip on her travelling bag as the timed portkey activated, taking her to Italy.

While impressed by her surroundings, Augusta was not pleased that her grandson wasn't there to greet her. She found herself being welcomed by her old friend, Minerva.

"Welcome to Italy, Augusta. Your Neville is down on the beach, training with his friends. They tend to forget the time as their sessions seem to get longer every day. They should be finishing soon though. Come over and watch with us, the elves will take your bag and traveling cloak, while we can sit back and enjoy a cup of tea."

She sat beside Pomona and Filius, while Minerva returned to greet their next guest. Looking down, she could easily pick out her grandson amongst the black and red haired boys. What she found hard to believe was the way that same grandson was throwing powerful magic about - knocking over training dummies.

"Is this part of the Institute's courses?"

Pomona was quick to steer Augusta right. This formidable witch was on the Hogwarts school board and they wanted to impress her with the Institute. Augusta Longbottom was certainly someone whose opinion counted back in magical Britain.

"While Remus will be our defence professor, this extra training was requested by Harry and Hermione. All their friends wanted to join in too, and they now do this every morning."

Augusta was simply in awe of what she was seeing. "Neville has never had command of his magic like he does down there, and so powerful too..."

This time it was Filius who provided the answer. "Students attending the Institute will have all their school supplies bought for them, so every child starts with the same equipment, books and robes as everyone else. This includes wands, and we wanted to try out the wand maker in Naples. Your Neville, three of the Weasleys and Hannah Abbot all got wands that suit them better than the ones they had been using. You can see the difference with all five of them, though Neville's improvement is the most pronounced."

At that, Minerva returned with Xeno Lovegood. She'd heard Filius' comments and agreed with them wholeheartedly. "I think Neville has grown and matured more in his two weeks here than the last three years at Hogwarts. He's much closer to Harry than before, and Luna hasn't left his side all holiday. Those three treating one another as family has benefited all of them."

Amelia was next to arrive, though didn't need Minerva to welcome her. Greeting everyone, her attention was immediately on the people on the beach. "Susan had written to say how much she was enjoying herself - and how much she was learning even while on holiday. Just looking down there I can already tell that Remus Lupin is a superb defence teacher. The way he's got them organised, and that all are clearly enjoying themselves, tells me all I need to know. If the rest of your institute lives up to this standard, I would be delighted to send Susan here."

Being no fool, Xeno quickly put the clues together. "This is not your first visit here, is it?"

"Every time I visit, I become more impressed with what Lord Potter is trying to do here. Their ambition in Italy is to build a school where the students can thrive. I'm watching what they're doing - while on holiday - and once more my already high expectations have just been raised again."

As Minerva arrived back with Hanna and Millie's parents, all sat down to refreshments and watched their children. Augusta was even more amazed as she witnessed Neville climb on a broom and shoot out over the sea with his friends.

"After their training, they've started doing a bit of flying over the water. Harry has already decided this is how the new first years will be taught to fly a broom. It's a lot easier to cast a drying charm on someone who falls off, rather than taking them to the infirmary to have bones mended." Minerva knew this would appeal to Augusta, as Neville broke his wrist during his first flying lesson at Hogwarts. The fliers then flew lazy spirals to bring them up to the level of the terrace, before the squeals of delight began.

Susan, Luna and Neville had all known they would be receiving visitors at some point today - it was a complete surprise for Hannah and Millie though. There were hugs all around while the elves gathered up their brooms, before everyone who'd been training excused themselves for a quick shower.

-oOoOo-

Harry emerged from his room only to find himself being tackled and restrained by a pair of powerful arms. He wasn't in any danger though, Hermione's laughter rang inside his head while Ron was laughing so hard that he had to hold onto a wall to keep himself upright.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you..." That each of Millie's thanks was accompanied by a kiss to his face was the cause of Harry's discomfort, and increased Ron and Hermione's laughter.

"Mate, you should see your expression..."

At that, Hermione appeared and asked Millie for her betrothed back. Her wink at the teenage witch, along with her wide smile, let Millie know she was joking with her.

"Oh I'm just so happy my parents are here, I can't thank you enough for asking them."

"You're giving it a good try though, and you're very welcome." Harry kissed Millie on the cheek as she released him, before taking Hermione's hand and leading the four of them down to breakfast. Food should get Ron's mind off what just happened, or at least stop him chuckling while he ate.

The Abbots and Bones were sitting together, joined by Minerva, Bathsheda and Septima. Pomona was sitting with the Longbottoms and Lovegoods, being joined by Poppy, Ginny, Fred and George. Remus also decided to sit with Pomona, hoping to help giving their Institute the hard sell to Augusta.

Noticing the Bulstrodes chatting at a table with Flilius, that's where Harry led the four of them. Harry thought he was in for a repeat performance as Glenda Bulstrode gushed her thanks to Harry for inviting them, and looking after Millie. With Dan, Emma and Sirius joining them too, the conversation flowed around the table.

"We thought today should be a day spent around here, giving people a chance to relax and catch up. We will have a barbecue on the beach this evening, and we're thinking of spending tomorrow looking around Naples."

Harry decided to let Hermione say the rest, as Millie looked so excited - and about ready to 'thank' him again.

"We want you to enjoy your stay here, but we're also still working. We're looking at the possibility of inviting prospective parents and students to the Institute for a visit, some of the things we do with you may end up being repeated during that visit. We're looking to see what works, what impresses you, and what doesn't. It goes without saying Millie already has a place reserved at the Institute, if her parents agree to her attending."

There was no hesitation from Graham Bulstrode. "Anything we can do to help, you only have to ask. One glance at Millie and we can both see this is something she really wants, so of course she has our permission to attend."

It was Graham's turn to be hugged and kissed by his daughter, as Glenda shed a few happy tears. "I don't think I've ever seen our Millie happier. How could we say no to that?"

When Filius then explained about the harder exams, and all the extras - compared to Hogwarts - that the Institute provided, the only thing stopping Graham and Glenda signing the acceptance form was said forms were still to be printed.

As the late breakfast continued, They received an unexpected but welcome visitor. Bill arrived with Barchoke.

Harry and Hermione immediately rose to greet the goblin, and offered him a seat at their table. Dobby appeared with a mug seemingly filled with a beefy gravy, this had Barchoke thanking the elf before getting down to business.

"While your endeavours against certain people have had the desired results, we always knew there would be a few innocent casualties. I met with one last week and, after assuring the head of establishment they were in no danger of closing, I took the time to prepare a full report for you."

After the shock of discovering they could have been responsible for closing an orphanage, Harry passed the file to Hermione while he asked some questions. "How fast do we need to act on this?"

"I personally guaranteed them funds to keep their operation running."

Smiling at the goblin, Harry wanted to go further. "I don't just want to keep the place running, I want to help these kids. Could we bring them here for a holiday?"

Having skimmed through the report, Hermione had a different question for their financial advisor. "Why do so few of these kids get adopted? Eight out of ten of them remain in the orphanage until they're of age. What are their prospects when they leave, do they get proper schooling?"

The concern these two were showing was everything Barchoke had come to expect of this couple. "Most of the orphans are abandoned on the orphanage doorstep as babes. With no knowledge of who their parents were, it's impossible to tell their blood status. In a society where this fact determines your worth, orphans in these particular circumstances are treated almost as badly as if they were squibs."

As Hermione glanced at Harry, he answered her question out loud. "While an orphan, the entire country knows who my parents were - and my blood status. Amelia, could we have a moment of your time, please?"

The fact that a goblin was sitting next to Harry at the table, drinking something his elf provided, had caught everyone's attention. Harry didn't have to raise his voice when calling for Amelia, all other conversation had already stopped. As Harry explained the situation, Dobby appeared with a chair for her to sit. This was the cue for everyone else to move their chairs over and discover just what was going on. As Harry claimed he wanted to do more for these children, rather than just throw money at them to maintain the status quo, Amelia's expression told him immediately that he wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"Harry, you've stumbled across the dark underbelly of our society. Any changes to the status of these children would see the person proposing those changes hauled up before the Wizengamot."

Hermione couldn't hold back. "What the hell for? I don't see that same Wizengamot rushing to help these children, whose only crime would seem to be being born."

"Miss Granger, as a member of that body, you have no idea how close that last statement you made is to the truth." Augusta then attempted to explain what was going on here.

"There will certainly be members sitting in the Wizengamot who will have offspring of their family in that orphanage - illegitimate offspring to be sure but of their family blood. They never want those blood ties acknowledged and try to sweep the entire situation under the carpet - which is why the Ministry will never officially take over the orphanage. Gringotts carrying out an inheritance ritual on some of these children could prove embarrassing for a few of our sitting members. Those rituals, and any claims that result from them, must be completed before the child reaches seventeen. That law has stood for almost a century, as has the one that states these rituals cannot be carried out on anyone underage without parental consent."

Realising at once what was going on here, Hermione couldn't contain her anger as she spoke. "It's a catch twenty-two situation. They can't discover their parentage without this ritual, but need parental consent to undergo the ritual in the first place. After seventeen, it doesn't matter what the ritual tells them, they have no legal right to pursue anything through the courts. These kids are deliberately kept barefoot and ignorant, on the very edge of society, to hide possible indiscretions from sons and daughters of powerful families. Harry, you know we have to help them?"

While proud of her daughter's sentiments, Emma had a question that she knew the people here would be able to answer. "While I'm in no way advocating this as an option, why do these mothers not opt for a termination when they realise the trouble they are in? I can't believe leaving the baby you just gave birth to on an orphanage doorstep would be any less traumatic than taking action to stop things reaching that stage."

With the silence that question produced, Emma understood she'd said something wrong. Her answer eventually came from Poppy. "While I understand where Emma's coming from with this, she doesn't know things are different for a witch. Should a witch try to terminate a magical baby, that baby will fight back and could seriously damage its mother's magic - if not outright killing her. We have morning after potions but that's really about the extent of it. When a witch is pregnant, it's far safer for mother and child to see things through to their natural conclusion."

While this was news to Harry, he felt they had veered off from the original topic. "Is the opinion here that we can't help these kids? If it is, then what's the point of all we're setting up here? These are the very kids we should be targeting, the very reason the Potter Institute was conceived and is now being built - to help magical kids who won't get a break in Britain."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but sometimes you just have to admit you can't save them all..." You could have heard a pin drop at Sirius' statement.

Harry was getting ready to verbally challenge his godfather's opinion when he spotted the glint in Sirius' eyes. He'd been reading through the report that Hermione had sat on the table and smiled at Harry in a way that didn't even attempt to hide he was up to something. Sirius didn't keep them waiting for long.

"Barchoke, while the building the orphanage is renting could in no way be considered expensive, it still eats more of their budget than their food bills do. My family has a house in London that I'm more than willing to donate to the Phineas Nigellus Black Orphanage Trust. The trust will have a board that will consist of myself, Miss Hermione Granger, Mr Daniel Granger, Mrs Emma Granger, Barchoke and Mr Neville Longbottom. All of-age children of the orphanage will attend the Potter Institute, paid for by the trust. Harry, this is something you can't put your name anywhere near - officially. That doesn't mean your family can't be heavily involved - and you of course may accompany them anytime you want."

Remus was chuckling along as Hermione then asked Sirius what he was up to.

"It's simple Hermione, my mother will be turning in her grave at the mere thought of her house being used as an orphanage - with a Goblin, a pair of muggles and their magical daughter on the board of trustees too. Phineas Nigellus Black hated children, and was considered the worst headmaster of Hogwarts ever - this will be a fitting memorial to him and the system that's failing these children. In simple terms, we're playing the pureblood bigots back at their own game. They can't object to Lord Black opening an orphanage, named in an ancestor's honour. I'll even use the compensation the Ministry are awarding me for wrongful imprisonment to get the trust started. 'After spending all those years wrongfully imprisoned in Azkaban, I just want to help people'. Can you see the Ministry or Wizengamot speaking out against me helping orphans?"

As more chuckling, and downright laughter, broke out amongst the group Sirius had a serious message to pass onto his godson. "You can't save everyone, Harry, fact of life. It doesn't mean your family can't help save those you have to pass on."

Harry had a smile on his face as he asked the question he was sure he was going to like the answer too. "I'm still gonna be involved though, aren't I?"

-oOoOo-

Dolores entered the Minister's office with the latest issue of the Quibbler clutched in her hand, only to discover Dumbledore had beaten her to the punch. A copy was already spread over Cornelius' desk.

She didn't mess about and got straight to the point. "The young fool will be bankrupt in no time. Supplying all the students' with robes and all other supplies, while claiming their tuition will be cheaper than Hogwarts too, is financially unsustainable. I don't care how rich Potter is, this will be the end of him." Dolores was rather surprised to see her opinion wasn't shared by the other two in the office.

It was Dumbledore who explained what the real problem was here. "It doesn't really mater if this folly eventually bankrupt's Potter, it's what these claims will do to us before he runs out of gold - that's where the real danger lies. According to that article, this Institute will only have around eighty students come September. That's eighty students who won't be doing their shopping in Diagon Alley, eighty students who won't be paying fees to Hogwarts. These same students won't ever be going to Hogsmeade on visits - and that number will increase to one hundred and forty in the next few years -that's almost a third of Hogwarts current role. I've had half the merchants from Diagon Alley on the floo to me already, and expect the other half to catch up with me later today. Since these are the very students who pay full price for everything, some businesses have already indicated to me they won't be able to afford the discount prices those of pure-blood currently enjoy."

This had Dolores incensed. She had of course read that all the Institute's supplies would be purchased in Italy, Dolores simply hadn't considered the consequences of that on magical Britain. "If they dare stop the pure-blood discounts, then they could quite conceivably put themselves out of business."

Albus quickly pointed out that all of Diagon Alley were already well aware of that fact, but the reduced volume of customers could force a few of them out of business anyway. "Madam Malkin has the exclusive contract to supply students with their Hogwarts robes, she pays Hogwarts a retainer for that privilege. With that volume of students going to be missing from her expected tally, I had to renegotiate that retainer to even keep her services. While we all understand she has to make a profit too, where else were Hogwarts students going to get school robes? I expect that scenario to be repeated the entire length of the alley, and there's not a thing we can do about it. With reduced income at Hogwarts too, I'm already having to lower my sights concerning replacement professors."

Cornelius could see only one solution to this problem. "We need to get a hold of Potter, explain to him the knock-on effects of what he's doing here..."

"I have an assurance from his House Steward that Harry will be on the Hogwarts express on the first of September."

Dumbledore's claim astonished the other two in the office, their silence forcing him to continue. "I have to assume he won't be attending Hogwarts but also have plans in place to ensure he will have to be there..."

Dolores caught on at once. "...And should anything happen to him, this entire problem would disappear. I think we should start thinking about taking steps to see that happens."

"We still need the boy, Madam Umbridge..."

Dolores was not for listening to any of Albus' arguments. "I find it easier to deal with the problem we're currently faced with, rather than worry about what could potentially happen years from now. Things change all the time, and right now Potter is the biggest problem we face. Your task will be to ensure Potter's part of the tournament, my task will be to make sure he doesn't leave it - not alive anyway."

Cornelius sat back and sipped his coffee. Letting Dolores and Albus decide these things amongst themselves meant that he could deny all responsibility if things went pear shaped - and have two ready-made scapegoats to dump any shit onto too. This was a win-win for the Minister of Magic, now that was a nice way to start his day.

-oOoOo-

Jillian couldn't remember ever being this nervous in her life before. She was waiting to meet these mysterious people who held her, and the entire orphanage's, future in their hands. Life had taught her to be wary of people helping the orphanage, they almost always wanted something in return. When Barchoke led the group into her office, Jillian found she was suddenly even more nervous.

She of coursed recognised Sirius Black at once, his face had been plastered all over magical Britain in the last few years - mostly on wanted posters. Hermione Granger was certainly a face and name that had recently become well known to those living here too. As the girl's parents were introduced, and then the final member of the group, Gillian had half-expected the other teenager to be Harry Potter - but the Longbottom name was also one known and long respected in their society.

She tried to be strong but Jillian's tears started falling as Barchoke laid out this group's plans for the orphanage. No press and no publicity for today's meeting, they even specifically asked her not to mention they were actually in the country. They then proceeded to make every one of Jillian's dreams for the orphanage come true - and that was before the group insisted she and the rest of her volunteers receive a salary too. She was quietly waiting on the hammer to fall when Anita burst into the room.

"So sorry to disturb your meeting, Jillian, but did you know Harry Potter is walking around the building?"

It was left to Hermione to provide an explanation. "Harry so wanted to be involved with this, being an orphan himself, but it was felt better to keep his name officially away from the orphanage. Officially, he's just accompanying his betrothed today - and that's the story we will all be sticking to. Involving Harry would undoubtably raise the orphanage's profile, but there's certainly good and bad sides to that. Harry doesn't want anything he does elsewhere to reflect negatively on the orphanage, that doesn't mean anything I say will not be from the both of us - or that he's not going to be actively helping behind the scenes."

Neville also felt obliged to say something here. He was well aware of the honour being bestowed on him by his inclusion on this board, his Gran had even said she was proud of him, but Neville didn't want to just sit here and make up the numbers. "Harry is along with Luna, who is also my girlfriend."

This had the three Grangers and Sirius grinning, as Neville had asked Luna to be his girlfriend yesterday. Neville was grinning too at the first time he was able to introduce Luna as such. "Her father owns and publishes the Quibbler, which means any publicity the orphanage requires can also be carefully controlled. None of us here are interested in getting our pictures or names in the press but, if the orphanage moving doesn't receive any publicity, people won't know how to contact you at your new address."

Anita was still standing at the door and they began to hear a ruckus building behind her.

After emitting a gasp of fond exasperation, Hermione interrupted - while trying to hide that she knew exactly what her betrothed had just done. "Sorry Neville, but Harry must have mentioned about the children coming to Italy for a holiday. Word will spread like wildfire and I think he's just about to start a riot out there.."

Jillian was embarrassed and started to apologise, letting slip she'd specifically told the children to be on their best behaviour today.

Hermione and Neville actually started chuckling at that. "Don't worry, Harry and Luna will be totally responsible for this. My Harry tends to lead with his heart, leaving the rest of us to play catch-up working out the details of how to make this happen. Did I forget to mention he want's to take the entire orphanage for a holiday? This will give everyone time to get your new building ready for occupying." Smiling, Hermione let a stunned Jillian and Anita into more of their plans.

"We intend to have wizarding tents on the beach for those children old enough to enjoy camping, with the younger ones staying in our house. There will be enough adults there to ensure you get a bit of a break too, and time to meet with the architect Sirius has got working on this project - making sure you get the best use out of the building he's donating."

Hearing the noise coming from outside getting louder, a smiling Sirius stood. "I think we better go and curtail my godson before entire the orphanage gets invited to Italy for lunch today. We'll need time to get everything ready for your visit, and it will be the weekend at the earliest before we can cope with that. We can discuss anything else we need to while walking around."

It wasn't hard to find the cause of the disturbance and, as expected, Harry and Luna were in the very centre of it. Both were siting on the floor, surrounded by excited children of all ages. When one of them brought forward a battered Harry Potter poster and asked if it could be signed, there was no way Harry was going to say no. This really opened the floodgates though with most of the children running to their rooms to find something for Harry to sign.

Hermione spotted one little girl with long black hair sitting by herself on a bench at the very edge of the excitement with a picture book in her hand. She clearly wanted to go over and ask Harry to sign her book but was too shy to do so. Hermione headed straight for the girl and sat down beside her.

"Hello there, my name's Hermione. Don't you want to get your book signed by Harry?"

The young girl physically appeared about three, though sounded nearer six, as she sat there nervously swinging her legs under the bench while answering Hermione's questions. "My name is Joan, and it's not my book. This is from our small library and it wouldn't be right to get Harry Potter to sign it. I will also have to put it back when I'm finished with it so there's no point in getting it signed. I was sitting thinking if I had anything in my locker he could sign but I don't. Are you Harry's girlfriend?"

Smiling, Hermione shuffled closer. "Yes, we're betrothed. That means we'll get married when we're older."

Staring into her book, Joan's next sentence came straight from her heart. "It must be great knowing what you're going to do when you're older."

Hermione's arm snaked around the little girl's shoulders and gently pulled her closer. "Well, I know a little of your future." With that, she had Joan's full attention.

"You'll be coming to Italy for a holiday at our house while a building is made ready for the entire orphanage to move into." After hearing that, Joan's blue eyes were now sparkling like the Mediterranean Sea her Harry now loved so much. You could also see this girl's intelligence radiating from those sparkling blue orbs too, so Hermione then tried for a smile.

"While you're staying there, we'll get our picture taken with Harry, and then get him to sign it for you. Would you like that?"

"Would you sign it too?"

Hermione kissed the little girl's forehead by way of an answer and then got the smile she was looking for. Hermione was getting the impression that Joan usually didn't have much to smile about, she silently swore to change that. It wasn't as silent as she thought though as Harry picked up on it through their bond. He totally agreed and promised to join her and Joan as soon as he could.

Neville had sat beside Luna while Dan and Emma walked amongst the children, both were now promising to thank Sirius for getting them involved in this venture. Sirius watched the kids having fun so of course wanted to join in. Padfoot made an appearance and was soon surrounded by laughing children.

Barchoke was the only member of the group left standing beside Jillian and couldn't miss the tears running down her cheeks. He totally misread the reason behind those tears however. "I'm sorry that our meeting seems to have fallen apart..."

Jillian interrupted before the goblin could say anymore. "Oh please don't apologise. Watching this tells me more about the type of people these are than I could learn from a dozen meetings. Usually the rich pure-blood would have us round up a couple of the children so they could be in a picture for the press. The children were then used as nothing more than props to show those pure-bloods in a good light - barely spoken to and never interacted with. We always do our best for the children but there usually isn't a lot to laugh about around here. This is music to my ears, and certainly eases my worries over our future."

With Padfoot now drawing all the attention, Harry was able to make his way over to Hermione. He sat down beside Joan. "Hey, I see you've met Hermione. Isn't she wonderful?"

This drew a short giggle from Joan, and immediately broke the ice between them. Hermione then handled the introductions. "This is Joan. I was telling her about coming to Italy and staying there for a holiday."

"Do you like to fly?" Joan just looked at Harry in bemusement.

"We just bought new brooms for the school we're building. We're trying them all out so would you like to fly with Hermione and me?"

With her arm still draped around Joan, Hermione couldn't miss the shudder of excitement that ran through the little girl at the mere thought of Harry's suggestion. Joan was nodding like mad as Hermione whispered to her.

"Now wouldn't that make a good picture to be signed?"

Sitting between both of them, Joan's smile now lit the entire room.

Dan could feel his wife's mood change through their bracelets and asked what the matter was. "I was just watching our not so little girl instinctively know what that other little girl needed, it just hit me how much I had missed of her growing up."

Kissing Emma's cheek, Dan had the perfect cure for his wife's melancholy. "Look around you, Emma. We've just been given the opportunity to help a lot of these kids. We can look on it as practice for when our grandchildren finally make an appearance."

Looking at the way Hermione and Harry were interacting with the little black haired girl, Emma's answer somewhat surprised Dan - as did the sense of determination her words held. "Those two are going to make fabulous parents. Just look at the way they are dealing with these kids. We're going to need all the practice we can get, I'm bloody determined not to fail as a grandparent too."

-oOoOo-

In his search for new professors, Albus found himself approaching the Burrow. With four of her children still at Hogwarts next year, he was hoping to convince Molly to teach Transfiguration. He still had all his teaching notes and lesson plans from when he taught the subject many decades ago, and a little extra gold would certainly be welcome by the Weasleys. Albus was intending that amount of gold would be as little as he could get away with.

As expected the door of the Burrow was opened before he reached it, Albus always received a warm welcome from Molly. He had no idea that today that welcome would be red hot.

"Ah Molly, how nice to see..."

His words were cut off by Molly drawing back and slapping Dumbledore across the face. His hat went flying while his half-moon glasses were now entangled in his long hair and beard. After opening with a physical assault, Molly then began a verbal one that would be every bit as painful for Albus - and not just because of the volume it was delivered at.

"How dare you show your face here again after what you did to my family. You repressed Ginny's memories - not to help my baby but to cover your own wrinkly old arse. The Italian Ministry won't let my Ginny come home, and are working with our Ministry to bring charges against you. All your secrets are now known, Dumbledore, and no one will ever trust you again. When I tell Arthur about this, he'll let Amelia know it's time to get the ball rolling..."

Albus had his wand out and obliviated Molly in mid-sentence. He then quickly pushed past her to see who else would require that spell cast upon them. Percy coming charging down the stairs like a typical Gryffindor was easy prey for the headmaster's wand. A quick glance at Molly's wonderful clock showed the hands for her four youngest all pointing at holiday, with Arthur, Bill and Charlie all at work.

Now with a moment to catch his breath, Albus began to plot his way out of this mess. A compulsion charm was added to Percy's obliviate. The most recent Hogwarts Head Boy would be making his way back to the castle looking for a job. Albus sweetened the deal by promising connected rooms for him and his girlfriend if he could coax Miss Clearwater to come with him to Hogwarts. Two professors that Albus intended to pay salaries that combined would hardly match one of the professors who abandoned Hogwarts this summer.

Neither Weasley would remember that Albus had visited the Burrow today, buying him some time to deal with Amelia's investigation before she went near Fudge or the Wizengamot with her findings.

Even with what he had been faced with here, Albus' next stop would still have to be St. Mungo's. Without a qualified nurse or healer in the castle, it didn't matter how many professors he had lined up for Hogwarts - the school wouldn't be able to open come September. With the tournament coming up, Fudge suggested Hogwarts have two healers this term - and had promised the Ministry would fund one of them.

If what Dolores was suggesting with the tasks came to pass, Albus was going to try for at least one highly trained and experienced healer to be based at Hogwarts from September. That wouldn't come cheap, but now he wasn't going to be paying for it. He would fund a trainee nurse to offer support for the healer.

-oOoOo-

Dolores also had a busy and somewhat productive morning, after she had discovered the circumstances surrounding astonishing changes at the magical orphanage. Muggles, mudbloods and a beast in charge of young witches and wizards - she simply wouldn't stand for that. Rather than cause a scene herself, Dolores had whispered those facts into a few ears that had more than a passing interest in what happened to the orphaned magical children. Suggesting this could be the first step to allowing inheritance rituals to be carried out on these orphans - why else would a goblin be on the committee? - was enough to ignite a bonfire under quite a few pure-blood arses.

The Wizengamot would soon be demanding these people be dragged before them - and Potter would be sure to come too. What happened then would be anyone's guess, but Dolores still had time to arrange a few surprises for the group - and of course Potter.

-oOoOo-

He was sitting in the corner of his study, reading by an old electric lamp, when he heard her approach. Not lifting his dark eyes, he let the lady bring up what was troubling her. As he suspected, Severus didn't have too long to wait.

"I'm worried about Draco, he's hardly spoken in weeks. Seeing the man he idolised as an all-powerful wizard first ruined and then slain so easily has really shattered all his beliefs. He won't say anything, but I'm sure this blood-feud with Potter that's hanging over us is the cause of his almost complete withdrawal from life."

"I'm as certain as I can be that Potter won't be back at Hogwarts..."

Narcissa wasn't buying that, and she wasn't shy in letting their host know her opinion either. "And I'm sure Dumbledore won't want to lose his golden boy. He'll be doing everything within his power to get Potter back to Hogwarts - Draco knows that too."

Severus careful placed a bookmark on the page he was currently reading before closing the book. It was looking like there would be no more quiet reading for him tonight. "Cissi, you clearly have a plan but I'm not in the mood to sit here all night playing guessing games. Just tell me what you've come up with and we can take things from there."

Taking a steadying breath, Cissi told her first person what had recently been going through her head - to the point of becoming an obsession."I have a sure-fire way to end this blood feud on us..."

Severus interrupted at once. "While I can't stand the sight of that little shit Potter, we all have to admit the boy is rather hard to kill. Trolls, basilisk, dementors, the Dark Lord - all have tried and failed."

Shaking her head at the interruption, Cissi stated clearly that was certainly not a road she wanted to travel down. "I'm not suggesting killing him - though I wouldn't lose any sleep over his death - I'm simply suggesting neither Draco nor I being Malfoys in the near future."

Severus' snort of disgust clearly indicated his opinion at the chances of that happening. "I hardly think the new Lord Black would welcome you and Draco into his family."

Stopping herself from becoming angry, that was the last thing that would work for her here, Cissi laid her cards on the table - face up so there could be no more misunderstandings. "I wasn't intending to marry Sirius. I was actually hoping you might like the idea, and the position of my husband?"

Severus was rarely surprised, but this had knocked him for six. Before letting his feelings on this matter show, there was a question he needed the answer to. "Cissi, take a good look around you - we're currently living in a tiny muggle house. What can I possibly offer the current Lady Malfoy, and the heir to the Malfoy family?"

"The Lady Malfoy thinks you bring rather a lot to the table, Severus, and you're already Draco's godfather. It was me who insisted you be given that position, I wanted my son to have at least one male figure in his life that he could depend on. Draco would give up being a Malfoy in an instant to get out from under this blood feud, and whatever's left of the Malfoy family fortune is in my bag upstairs. Draco and I are not exactly penniless, but I'm certainly going to take Dumbledore up on his offer of free tuition for my son."

Realising that her pitch sounded more like a business deal, Cissi softened her approach. "With both of us working at Hogwarts, we can save towards having a life together after Draco graduates. We might possibly have children of our own by that time too. I'm not expecting an answer right this minute, all I want is for you to think about this."

Severus was certainly thinking seriously about the best opportunity he'd had since leaving Hogwarts as a student, but Cissi wasn't quite finished yet. There were a couple of conditions tied to her proposal.

"I've already lost one husband, and a family fortune, to this madness - I will not lose another - or my son. If you can't let Dumbledore, Potter and the Dark Lord fight this out amongst themselves, then I need to search for someone else to possibly make this offer too. I don't intend to let any of the men in my life be involved in this senseless war that's certainly coming our way."

Once more Cissi softened her approach. There was only one wizard she wanted to make this offer to, and he was currently sitting right in front of her. "We could even leave Britain, starting a new life elsewhere. Please think carefully about this, Severus."

Cissi didn't know that condition just sweetened the deal for Severus. As well as admiring Narcissa from afar - one did not make a move on Lucius' wife - he was also sick of Albus' manipulations, and had no wish to see his former master returning. If the price of having Cissi permanently at his side meant ignoring Black and Potter too, Severus was sure he could handle that as well. He didn't give an answer right away, that was just who he was, but both parties were sure what Severus' answer would be when he judged the time right to make his decision known.