Astrid Marvolo James

Emma found herself having to concentrate on the task at hand. If she let her mind wander at all, there would be no work done today. Concentrating was a very difficult task though, her current situation was enough to make her normally cool, logical and unflappable head spin. Emma Granger was pregnant, sitting on a magic carpet while flying over the estate that belonged to her daughter's mate - the Baron of Kingussie. That there was also a goblin and a veela on the carpet too barely rated a mention when compared to the rest.

It was time to get down to business though, there was a job to be done here. "You goblins are all about function. When it comes to something like this, it has to be about entertainment value too. Entertainment is more than a few plants and trees, it needs to start at the design and construction phase. For instance, in the winter zone make the refreshment area look like a Swiss chalet. Something that's different, looks great and enhances the environment you're creating."

Recalling her experience of visiting Florida with the family last summer, Moa agreed totally with Emma. "What most impressed me about these parks was how they kept providing surprises. Supposing you want to make your roller coaster a dragon theme? You could have the carriages designed to reflect that, models of dragons holding the track up and any tunnels appear as if you were entering a dragon's mouth."

"I see what you mean, perhaps a mermaid theme for the water zone?"

Moa was unsure about that. "The fayre is helping to promote better relations between British magicals and those they have looked down upon for generations. Perhaps mermaids would give the wrong impression, dolphins might be a better theme there?"

This had Barchoke groaning. "I see what you mean but I'm so out of my depth here it is scaring me. Sometimes I really long to be an account manager again."

This started Emma laughing. "I certainly know about feeling out of your depth, Dan and I have felt like that for the last few years. If you can give us your plans for each zone, Moa and I can work a little on some presentation ideas. What I would say is that the artwork in your Grand Hall is nothing short of magnificent, you certainly want to incorporate some samples of that type of work in your Gringotts zone. You want to show your nation at its best, that will certainly be as impressive to most visitors as your dragons."

As they flew around the glen, taking notes as they went, Barchoke suddenly realised how much he needed their help. Emma was right, a goblin built park would work perfectly but functionality alone simply wasn't going to be enough in this case.

Dan and Lukas were currently in Crawley, fetching every photograph Emma had taken in Florida over the last two summers. They were then going to find some travel agents who would give them all these theme park colour brochures for free. The five of them would sit down tonight and thrash all the ideas out for each zone, being able to give the builders colour pictures showing approximately what they were looking for would be a great help.

The goblin wasn't worried over Dan and Lukas' safety while they left Kingussie's wards, both had emergency portkeys and Dobby would be tailing them with Dan's loaded shotgun. Three purebloods attacking those two would be in for one hell of a shock.

-oOoOo-

Sirius got one hell of a shock as Draco burst into his classroom. "Lord Black, you need to come at once, the Lady Black needs you."

He raced into Henrica's classroom to find Hermione and Padma with their arms supportingly around his wife, Harry was pacing up and down as if waiting on someone telling him what to do. Sirius hardly got time to say a word when Neville rushed in with Poppy, she pushed the expectant father out of her way to examine Henrica. Not that Poppy needed to do much examining, Henrica's waters had broke.

"We better get you to St Mungo's, this baby wants to be born."

The worry on Sirius' face was there for all to see. "How can that be, there's nearly three weeks still to go?"

His wife tried to reassure him. "Our baby heard her daddy talking to her and decided she wanted to meet him. It doesn't matter about estimates, love, our baby is coming today."

"We'll need to get you outside the wards to portkey..."

Here was something Harry could do, there was no trace of indecisiveness now. "Hermione, you take Sirius, I'll get Henrica." At that, he easily scooped the pregnant veela into his arms. "Tonks is in for a surprise. Emergency, go, go, go!"

With a loud crack, all four of them disappeared from the history classroom.

Poppy set off to alert Minerva and Augusta what was happening while the Lady Ravenclaw passed through the wall to supervise the rest of the history period.

-oOoOo-

Their goblin portkeys passed through the Hogwarts wards and landed them in their training room in Kingussie, a surprised Tonks appearing beside them with her wand already drawn.

"It's okay, Tonks, Henrica needs to get to St Mungo's and this was the quickest way." Hermione then opened the doors to the main house and they swiftly moved out.

"Wouldn't it been easier to just give us those portkeys?"

"Sorry Sirius, these portkeys are blood bound to us. You can't have just anyone being able to portkey from the castle, Father had to get permission from The Director to have these made. We were concerned Kingussie might be a target with Dan and Emma staying here, that is the only reason we were allowed to have them."

Harry was carrying Henrica up the stairs as if she was a baby herself, with even the breath left to chat with his godfather as he did so.

"Harry, I can still walk you know."

"My job is to get my goddaughter and her mother to St Mungo's as quickly as possible - this is the quickest way."

She tried to say thanks but a contraction hit. Sirius was at her side, holding her hand as they headed further into the house. Hermione was shouting to gain the attention of anyone who was currently home.

Moa took one look at her daughter and didn't need to be told what was happening, she and Lukas were soon by her side too as Barchoke provided a portkey to take them all to St Mungo's. Since Harry wasn't for putting Henrica down, Tonks went along as his protection detail. Hermione decided to stay in Kingussie and catch up with her three parents.

Tonks was soon wishing she'd done the same, watching a trio of nervous males pace up and down the waiting room got old very fast. "Are you three going to sit? walking up and down won't make this happen any sooner…"

She was interrupted by the nurse arriving and asking Sirius if he wanted to be at the delivery, the marauder took on a distinctly sickly pallor but still said yes. Sirius left the waiting room as if he was about to walk the green mile, certainly there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm in his stride.

This gave Tonks a case of the giggles, considering he was marching across the waiting room mere moments before. "Now will you two sit down? We could be here for many hours yet."

The expectant grandfather knocked that idea on the head. "Henrica is a veela, giving birth for her will be much quicker. After Moa's waters broke, our daughter was born less than two hours later. You did exactly the right thing, Harry, getting Henrica here as quickly as possible."

"Okay, so not only is she incredibly beautiful, she has a much shorter labour too! Sometimes life just isn't fair."

"That's why she married Sirius though, to balance everything out." Harry's jibe at his godfather had all of them laughing and was just what they needed for the nervous tension in the waiting room to relax.

Lukas teased the auror some more. "So you don't want to know that, in a couple of days, Henrica will look exactly like she did before their daughter was conceived?"

"See, I was right. Life just isn't fair." This too was said jokingly though, Tonks was every bit as excited as these two about her goddaughter's imminent arrival. It wasn't every day a light sided member of the Black family was born.

-oOoOo-

Augustus was working diligently on his project, he needed it to be completed before their son was born. As Bella waddled in to greet him, he knew that special event wouldn't be too far away. That also meant he was quickly running out of time to have this particular conversation with his mate. Bella's usual mercurial nature though now seemed like a stroll in the park compared to this hormonal version, which was why he'd put this talk off for so long. His mate though gave him an opening he just had to take.

"Why is my big strong wizard so busy? Is it because his little Bella isn't so little at the moment? Don't you love me now I'm fat and huge?"

Whatever his answer here, Augustus knew he was in trouble. As he helped his mate into a seat he decided to tell her the truth. "I'm working on a way to ensure our son will survive, no matter what happens to us…"

"You will not send him away."

Recognising that wasn't a question but a direct order, Augustus put his mate's mind to rest. "He will be staying with us. What I'm working on is a way to safeguard his future, should his mother and father fall while in the service of their lord. He will not be in any battles with us until he's old enough to hold a wand and use it to fight back."

He was well aware that would never happen but Bella needed to be appeased in order to go along with this. "Should both of us fall at our master's side, I will die happy with the knowledge our son will live. We both know neither the aurors nor the goblins will show us any mercy, they will look after a child though. If we don't do something, our son would be left here alone - crying for parents that will never return. He'll cry until his strength goes and he dies of dehydration or starvation."

That dreadful image reached the mother in Bella, big fat tears ran down her cheeks while her hands were protectively placed over her abdomen. "What can we do? There must be something we can do without betraying our master, neither of us could ever do that."

"I think we both know we will die serving our lord. We both accepted this long ago and would never try to shirk our duties. Our son though deserves a chance to live his life, to make his own choices. If he has his mother's power and his father's intelligence, our son could one day end up lording it over the entire country. I will face death with a smile on my face in the knowledge that possibility could become a reality."

"Who would look after him?"

"There are still families out there with the right breeding, the right values, any son of ours would be made most welcome."

As Bella concentrated on the large bump that was their growing son, she only had one question left. "What do we have to do?"

Augustus tried not to let the relief show on his face, he too was in tears at the thought of their future - or lack of one. "I'm working on a blood ritual that, should the both of us die, will see a tattoo appearing on our bodies - giving the location of our son…"

"…and this only activates after we're dead?"

"Yes, my love. We both swore to give our lives defending our master, we will honour that vow and go down fighting to our very last breathe. I hope with all my heart that our master is successful and our son can grow to stand by his side. With the odds so stacked against us though, I feel it is only prudent to take some steps to protect our baby."

Here was something she could accept, knowing that any battle that saw her and her mate fall would probably see an end to their master too. "Your little witch needs to feel her big strong mate's arms around her."

As Augustus comforted Bella, Voldemort silently withdrew from the open doorway where he'd listened to the entire conversation. Part of him wanted to gut Rookwood and watch him die slowly for daring to doubt his lord, another part though couldn't fault the loyalty of these two followers who were ready to fight and prepared to die at his side.

Their concern for their unborn son touched something deep inside the dark lord. He was left wishing his parents had been as loving and capable in their attempts to see he was properly looked after.

He would have to make some arrangements so his beloved Nagini survived. There was enough wildlife on the island to sustain her, all she would need was a dry sheltered place to escape the worst of the weather. Of course, a human child would make a nice meal that would keep his familiar alive for months.

The dark lord hadn't changed that much.

-oOoOo-

Sirius couldn't believe the changes in him since the last time he held a baby in his arms. Then it was Harry but today it was his own daughter, and Sirius Black finally felt as if his life was complete. His deep thoughts were interrupted by his wife.

"Sirius, say something…"

"She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen… Considering I'm currently in a room with her mother and grandmother, that's really saying something. I present to the world our daughter, Astrid Aurora Black."

Moa left to tell the rest of their company the news, and give the couple a few minutes alone.

Sirius handed Astrid back to her mother and sat on the bed beside his two girls, an arm around Henrica as their daughter got her first feed. "How are you feeling, love?"

"I'm fine, Sirius. Providing Astrid is the same we should be allowed home tomorrow. I think we should stay at Kingussie, at least until the holidays. Mum and dad are both enjoying working on this fayre and it will be busier than Grimmauld…"

"…and it provides company for Dan and Emma, I have no problem with that. I'm sure Barchoke will provide me with a port key from Hogwarts to Kingussie, just not one that goes through the castle wards."

It was about fifteen minutes later that their guests came to visit. Astrid looked even smaller when resting in the crook of her grandfather's arms. Harry was clearly desperate to hold his goddaughter but terrified in case he didn't do it properly.

"Harry, you carried me and Astrid safely into St Mungo's, I'm sure you won't drop her now."

All were left wishing they had time to grab a camera before they'd rushed to St Mungo's, the look of utter bliss on Harry's face was priceless.

-oOoOo-

That look was still there when he and Tonks returned to Kingussie with the news.

"I held my goddaughter in my arms, and it was just amazing…"

"She's barely hours old and already got my mate wrapped around her little finger, should I be worried, Harry?"

This seemed to set Harry's thoughts off in another direction. "She'll grow up with our brother, they'll be best friends - just like us."

"Oh great, another one of my children bonded to their mate before they hit their teens. At least I'll get to watch Sirius crumble as he loses his daughter so young."

"Daaad, you never lost me - I'm still here. We're just living in our house now."

It was a puzzled Emma though who had picked up on something else. "I get the Astrid, with Henrica being Swedish, but why Aurora?"

"Sirius' middle name is Orion, he wanted something along the same lines for his children. He also said Astrid Aurora Black is already the light of his life, sometimes that man could charm the birds off the trees."

While he was listening to Tonks explaining the name choice, Harry's thoughts had wandered in another direction. "You'll all get to meet her tomorrow, they'll be staying here until the summer holidays." His attention moved to his mate. "We've already missed today's defence lesson, we could skip tomorrow too and see Astrid before we head back for Moony's class."

The look of longing in his eyes meant Hermione was always going to say yes, Harry even considering missing his defence lesson told her exactly how much this meant to him. "I don't think you would be able to concentrate on lessons anyway, of course we'll stay. You better let Padma and Neville know though, they'll be anxious for news too."

"Moa spoke to Augusta on the floo, she was desperate to tell everyone about her new granddaughter. I'll let them know we'll be in late tomorrow."

Emma was still fixated on the baby's name, baby names were something she and Dan had been giving a lot of thought to recently. It was time to see if those thoughts were correct. "Harry, Dan and I have been thinking long and hard about what to call our son. We wanted his name to reflect on the person who made all of this possible, we were hoping to call him James - after your middle name and I suppose your dad."

A flabbergasted Harry glanced toward his father for any ideas on how he should reply. "I think it's a wonderful idea, we couldn't really saddle the poor baby with a name like Barchoke Granger."

Watching the close relationship between this father and son never failed to draw a smile from Emma, they had of course run this idea past Barchoke first. "Without you, Harry, none of this would have happened. I already know you're going to be the best big brother you can be to him, this is just a way for us to say how much Dan and I love both our sons…"

At that, Harry was in Emma's arms - being very careful with her condition.

"James Granger, I really like that. Have you picked his godparents yet?" Hermione asked her dad, her mum didn't look like letting Harry go anytime soon.

"We were going to ask Padma and Neville, what do you think?"

"I think they will love the idea."

Hermione now had an arm around each of her fathers, "I didn't think Harry could get any more excited about this, just proves I was wrong. Our family keeps on growing, and the bigger it gets the happier he is…"

"Are you trying to warn me that there will be lots of grandchildren?"

Her dad's comment had Hermione blushing. "I don't know about lots, but there will be at least a couple someday. Harry and I have a lot we want to do before that though, certainly not until after university."

That news pleased both fathers immensely. They wanted their children to have lives of their own before having children themselves.

All this talk of babies had Tonks feeling rather broody. The rate her relationship with Remus was progressing though, these two would probably end up having children before her. She was going to have to talk with him, hoping she didn't have to explain the birds and bees to a professor.

-oOoOo-

The two birds were flying over the glen. Both were having fun while looking down as their home was being transformed all around them. They also noticed some other residents who were keeping a keen eye on what was happening to their glen, Hermione flew down to greet them.

The children were watching the construction of a stone dragon as the kestrel swooped down in front of them, when the bird changed to Hermione there were as many shrieks as there were cheers from the youngsters.

She stood and held her arms out, though Harry had perfected his own landing method. The swift flew into Hermione's chest and transformed while Harry's arms snaked around her. This time the children had some idea of what to expect so it was purely cheering that greeted Harry's arrival.

The couple then found themselves being dragged around by the excited children as they were shown the best bits of construction from a much younger perspective. Harry was delighted with their reception from their young friends. If the children who already lived in Kingussie were this excited about what was happening in the glen, he couldn't wait to see the reactions of those from Gringotts - or for that matter, Hogwarts.

While their close friends would have their time spent in Florida to compare their Kingussie efforts too, for the vast majority of visitors this would be a totally new experience. Noticing the track for the roller coaster passed straight through the hill that the Gringotts zone was being constructed inside, Harry pitched the Idea he just had to Hermione.

"What if we put a station in here? It's about half-way around the attractions from where visitors originally get on. It could then be used to travel from one end of the glen to the other, or passengers could just sit on and enjoy the entire ride. It would then be like two coasters for the price of one."

His mate was still troubled by the goblin workers in their glen bowing to her, what Hermione didn't know was that, by walking around the glen with a goblin child taking each hand, she was just enhancing her already considerable reputation inside The Nation. "I think that's a great idea, Harry. Wizards and witches are used to getting on and off carts inside Gringotts. While that part might still be the same, what they would be getting off to would be something completely different. I can't believe the size of this place, or the amount of work that's being done in the Gringotts Zone for just a weekend."

"Well..."

This saw Hermione pinning her mate with a look, telling Harry it was time to 'fess up. "They're putting so much work into this zone because The Director is hoping that some businesses might want to transfer here after the fayre. If we want to build a community here then we need more than just the dwellings that are in Kingussie at the moment. It's not as if we don't have the room..."

Hermione's brilliant smile told him he wasn't in any trouble. "Our brother is going to grow up with lots of friends, and no prejudices - I love it."

Spending a few hours in the company of the children was exactly what the couple needed, the last few months in Hogwarts had been very busy and pretty intense.

Their monthly sessions with Mad-Eye were both eagerly anticipated and dreaded. Some of the things he was showing them they might need to know, they still felt dirty afterwards though. Knowing exactly what they might be facing allowed for Mad-Eye to concentrate on their three possible adversaries. He had dossiers on Voldemort, Lestrange and Rookwood, as well as some memories to show their attacking techniques.

Both Harry and Neville almost attacked the old auror themselves when they saw some of the memories were from Frank and Alice, neither wanted these two to have to think about that part of their lives again. It took Tonks and both their mates to stop a war kicking off, allowing Mad-Eye time to explain that the former aurors had volunteered to help - they knew donating these memories would help their family. Frank and Alice also knew that people who had encountered Voldemort in the last war and lived to tell the tale could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Moody had to show those memories repeatedly, both boys were in tears the first time they watched a much younger Frank and Alice. Neville was beyond delighted with the condition his parents were in at the present, but here was proof of just how much they had lost. Those tears soon gave way to awe as they watched two of the best aurors the ministry had fighting for their very lives.

It was only after overcoming all these emotions that they could then focus on the job in hand, watching Voldemort. He was fast, deadly and certainly very, very powerful. All watching though had the excellent example of Frank and Alice fighting back to give them hope, that and the knowledge that Harry had already hurt him with a spell.

Deborah Dugan had known exactly what Mad-Eye intended to do with the memory he asked for, she gladly provided her account of the attack on Diagon Ally. Seeing a pregnant Lestrange fire the killing curse at little Danielle hardened all their hearts against this witch. Watching as all three attackers then slaughtered innocent shoppers let them see exactly what they were dealing with.

The goblin charge from Gringotts allowed the last few people still exposed in the alley to reach safety as all three attackers switched their attention to the warriors. The memory also showed that Deborah was the first person in the alley to open fire on the attackers, clearly saving goblin lives by her actions. That was news that quickly made its way to Gringotts, the Dugan home might already be protected but bravery like that in defence of warriors couldn't go unrewarded.

After saying goodbye to their young goblin friends, and the couple of adults who had been along with them, Harry ran a few steps before launching himself into the air. He transformed into Swift as he jumped and was soon flying around the laughing children's heads. Hermione completed her transformation before taking off and living up to her nickname of Hover by hanging about fifteen feet up, Swift then circled her a few times before the couple continued their tour of the glen.

It was a couple of excited and happy teens who arrived back at 'Crow's Nest', only for those emotions to be kicked to a new level. Sirius, Henrica and Astrid Aurora Black had arrived. Harry thought holding his new goddaughter was the best feeling ever, only to have that feeling intensified. Sitting with his arm around Hermione as she held Astrid was simply the best feeling in the world.

Emma had her Polaroid land camera out. Dan had bought it as a present for his wife so they didn't have to worry about just what was on the thirty-five millimetre film they sent off to be developed. Children with wands, swords and then Barchoke or Dobby would all raise eyebrows at their local branch of Boots. Their children would now have a few pictures of Astrid to take back to Hogwarts with them and show their friends.

After what she'd seen today, the scholarly Miss Granger was already counting every one of those sixteen days until they boarded the express to bring them back home.

-oOoOo-

By Augustus' calculations, Bella was sixteen days late. It was no surprise then when she went into labour, that didn't mean though that a part of him wasn't totally panicking. His mate and unborn son were now counting on him yet all he had was a couple old books, books he'd now read from cover to cover, and a few basic potions he was able to pick the ingredients for. Bella deserved and probably required the best care St Mungo's had to offer. Instead, he was all she had.

Their master had made his position on this matter crystal clear, Bella's health was his only consideration in this entire process. He needed her fighting fit and no baby would be allowed to endanger his plans. His only offer of aid was made to Augustus when they were alone. Should the birth of this baby at any time threaten Bella's life, their master himself would cast the curse to kill the baby and get it safely out of its mother.

That this was their master's form of macabre compassion, saving Augustus from having to cast the spell on his own son, sickened the hardened death eater.

Bella though seemed to be relishing labour. Not only would she soon be able to serve her lord again, she appeared to derive a thrill from the fact their son could cause her pain before he was even born.

It had certainly crossed Augustus' mind to grab his son and run at the first opportunity, but he also knew he just couldn't do that. He may carry his master's mark on his arm but it was something else that stopped him running. That night in her cell, his beautiful Bella had captured his heart and soul. One day with Bella in his life was worth more than a year of life without her. Augustus simply couldn't go back to that life, it just wasn't a life worth living anymore.

While Bella drank her potions and pushed when Augustus instructed, their master hovered menacingly in the background. His mate was basking in the perceived concern the dark lord was showing for her health, Augustus though knew his real motives. It was therefore a great relief when their son's head started crowning ahead of schedule, a sure sign it wouldn't be long before their baby was born.

The relief when he was able to place their son onto his mother's chest was unbelievable, Augustus actually felt weak at the knees. Their boy's cries had certainly proven that his lungs were in good working order, having him wrapped in a blanket and feeding at his mother's breast soon quietened their baby down.

It was to this scene that their master made his presence known.

"Congratulationss on the birth of a fine son. Augustuss, you keep surprising me, I didn't think you would have pulled that off today. I suppose being motivated helped."

Bella beamed with pride at her master's comments, only Augusta knew what he really meant by that. It was not something he ever intended to share with his mate.

As the dark lord was leaving, Bella's misreading of the situation could have seen their entire family wiped out here and now. "Master, I was wondering if you would allow us to name our son after your grandfather? Marvolo Gaunt was a proper pureblood and blood heir to Salazar Slytherin, he would surely be as proud of his grandson as we are. Being named Marvolo Rookwood would give this little one a strong start in life."

Tom stopped as if he'd just been stabbed in the back. He was of course aware that his origins were now well documented, but that his followers would mention it to him was a shock.

It was almost as big a shock as meeting his 'uncle' for the first time. Tracking down Morfin Gaunt had been difficult, and still ranked as one of the biggest disappointments of his entire life. Like every child raised in an orphanage, there is always the dream that one day a relative will turn up to take you away with them. 'You being here is all a mistake' and 'we've spent years tracking you down' were phrases every child in the orphanage longed to hear.

Morfin was dressed in filthy rags while living in conditions you wouldn't have kept pigs in. He had mad, staring eyes, eyes that stared in different directions at the same time. Those eyes were hard to see through his filthy long hair, hair that seemed to grow into an even filthier beard. Those squinty eyes were sharp enough to recognised kin though, and Morfin wasn't exactly laying out a family welcome mat.

"Get outi me hoose yous 'alf blewd bastard. 'ow dare yous show yer mining mug e'yer, a mining mug dat lewks juss like dat muggle oo fathered yous."

Discovering he was related to the Gaunts, a pureblood family descended from Salazar Slytherin, had seen Tom make his way to Little Hangleton the first chance he got. One look at this shack, combined with his uncle's guttural tirade, destroyed any trace of Tom Riddle once and for all. Discovering he had a muggle for a father also made his blood boil.

This imbecile had actually noticed his sister, Merope, mooning over the muggle. He then managed to get himself and their father flung into Azkaban after he used magic to attack Tom Riddle. This of course left Merope free to pursue her dream, resulting in Tom Marvolo Riddle being born. That Morfin appeared more upset because he had plans of his own for Merope saw the witless moron on the receiving end of a stunning curse.

It was Lord Voldemort who left that shack and made his way up to the Riddle Family Manor with Morfin's wand in his hand, using it to kill his father and grandparents. It was certainly Lord Voldemort who returned to the shack and altered Morfin's memory to show he had committed the murders. With Morfin having already spent three years in Azkaban for attacking the same family, Lord Voldemort was sure the case wouldn't be examined too closely. He left that shack with the Gaunt ring on his finger, his 'uncle' wouldn't be needing it where he was going.

He also needed to make a decision here, seeing Bella cradling the baby to her breast while looking to him in avid anticipation of a positive answer made his mind up. Bella was correct in saying Marvolo Gaunt was a proper pureblood and blood heir to Salazar Slytherin, Marvolo would also undoubtably have killed any muggle who dared to touch his daughter.

The dark lord had intended to wait until Bella's labour was threatening her health and then dispose of the as yet unborn baby, testing her mate's loyalties to their limit. Rookwood obviously realised his master's intentions and had somehow managed to speed up the process. In doing so though, he still answered his master's question - Rookwood was loyal to his family first.

Having his son named Marvolo would be a constant reminder of where his mate's loyalties lay, Lord Voldemort consented to the child bearing his middle name.

Bella was ecstatic at that news, already calling their son by his new name. Augustus meanwhile was almost dropping from relief. He knew their son was in danger until he was born, to then face even more danger immediately after delivery was totally unexpected. He didn't have time to lie down and congratulate himself though, he had a potion to make and then runes needed inscribing. The placenta that had supported Marvolo Rookwood for the last nine months would now be the main ingredient in a ritual that should hopefully see it continue to provide lifesaving support.

Lord Voldemort was almost chuckling to himself as he left the new family, the boy would soon learn everyone who didn't live on this island would hate his name. That life isn't fair would be a good lesson for any child to learn, one that he himself had to face in that orphanage. He certainly intended to add more layers to the terror his name induced, his campaign would begin soon. The ministry were going out of their way to rebrand him as a terrorist and a monster. His next act would be truly monstrous, he would wait and see what they made of it.

-oOoOo-

As if the task they'd set themselves wasn't monstrous enough, there was now a whole new layer of complexity about to be added to it. Namely, this year's Potter Scholarships, the Muggle Born Protection Act and sponsoring students from families who now couldn't afford to send their children to Hogwarts because of death eater involvement.

Barchoke sat beside his two children in Augusta's office, Minerva and Amelia were also present for this meeting. They were looking to Harry though for some decisions. After all, it was his gold being spent here.

"If Colin was a good case for a Potter Scholarship, then his younger brother must be too. I don't want to set a precedent here though, Pauline has a younger sister and there's another Creevey after Denis who'll soon be Hogwarts bound too. We could easily reach the stage where the Potter Scholarships would effectively already be decided before the committee sat down to discuss the matter."

His mate then made a suggestion. "What if, instead of scholarships, they were sponsored. You're spending a fortune funding the children of death eaters to attend Hogwarts, I think Denis Creevey deserves at least that."

"We're spending a fortune, dear, and that's a great idea. Not only does it allow two more students to become Potter Scholarship holders, it adds credibility to the sponsorship program if the siblings of the scholarships receive them too."

Hermione let out a theatrical groan. "Padma was right, we need to build an extension onto Crow's Nest."

"Okay, that's solved. So how many muggle born families will be new this year?"

Minerva didn't even need to look. "Four families will be sending their first witch or wizard to Hogwarts come September. There are of course more muggle borns than that in the yeargroup, the rest will have siblings already at Hogwarts."

"The four families could stay with us for the weekend of the fayre..."

"...along with all the students from Hogwarts, the Creeveys, the MacDonalds, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all."

"See, Hermione, I knew you wouldn't mind a few more. I don't remember inviting this uncle though..."

"Muggle humour, Harry. Right time, certainly wrong place and definitely the wrong company."

This cracked their father and Harry up, earning more groans from Hermione. "Crow's Nest will need to become Crow's Castle for this to have any chance of working."

"Never fear, my daughter, it is all in hand." Seeing Hermione looking at him as if he was nuts almost had Barchoke laughing again, that would have been cruel though. His daughter was clearly worried about this problem and it was time to put her mind at rest.

"The area behind Crow's Nest will become a campsite, a campsite filled with magical tents that will host all the Hogwarts students. Your dad said Professor McGonagall should take one of these with her when telling muggle families about the existence of magic. He says it's the most impressive piece of magic he's seen. There will be tents set up in your training area for the Creeveys, MacDonalds and any other families you want to invite."

Minerva thought that wasn't a bad suggestion, explaining to the teens that Magical tents had expansion charms so the inside space was far greater than the outside suggested - often containing three or four furnished rooms.

With aurors and warriors patrolling the campsite, there would be no need to worry about any inappropriate behaviour from the Hogwarts students. Such behaviour would also see them kicked out the glen so no one would want to chance that. The Hogwarts elves had also asked their champion if they could assist their Potter counterparts at the fayre, an offer Harry immediately accepted.

Harry also had to accept that Centurion Crow couldn't be on duty that weekend. It was the Baron's Fayre after all, and the Baron of Kingussie had to be present and available to meet his guests. Tonks was in charge of security for the event. Since she knew the glen and everyone who would be there, as well as speaking goblin and having worked in the joint operations to protect Hogsmeade, she was the obvious choice.

It was another auror Harry had on his mind though as he spoke with Amelia. "I would like to ask a favour. Would it be possible for Auror Dugan to have that weekend off? We want to invite the Dugan family to spent the weekend with us. Deborah saved goblin lives with her actions on the day of the attack, we would like to say thank you."

She couldn't remember Harry asking for anything before and, since this was something well within her powers to grant, Amelia agreed. A now smiling Harry let her in on the rest of his plans.

"We would also like to invite the families of your aurors to attend the fayre. Can I ask you to organise who would be coming when? I didn't want to say anything before asking you about Auror Dugan in case you thought I was trying to buy you off. Your department gives up their time to protect us at Hogwarts and then again during our Hogsmeade visits, this is just as a thank-you from us."

Again this was something Amelia rapidly agreed to. Invitations to the Baron's Fayre were harder to come by than tickets for the Quidditch World Cup Final and this gesture would really be appreciated by her department.

Minerva and Amelia would meet with Sirius as quickly as they could to decide next year's Potter Scholarships, with Augusta helping Minerva inform the new families they had a magical child eligible for Hogwarts - and inviting them to Kingussie for that weekend.

The only holidays the extended family had planned for this summer was some time on the island after the fayre. With the amount of work still needing done for the fayre, it would be a holiday the family would certainly be looking forward to.