12

Chapter 12: A Few Easy Wins

Thanks for the reviews and the support. They are very much appreciated.

I went back and changed a lot on the last part of the last chapter. I added that they lost their lawsuit on Snape, and I dumbed down the boys a bit. Someone pointed out they were speaking like adults. They were right, so I fixed it.

Hphphp

They approached Augusta the next day. Everyone came along, even Remus, who had only been there once or twice. They wanted to present a united front. It was important to make sure that Augusta Longbottom knew they all agreed that the boys remained doing what they were doing now.

Their party was shown into the sunroom where they would be taking the morning tea. Lily kept the boys there so they could give their arguments. It was a nice room that lived up to its name. There was ample amounts of sun and a few comfy loveseats with two chairs. One that was well worn, and they figured it was Augusta's normal chair.

Augusta came into the room and sat in the faded chair near the unlit fireplace. She looked much better now that she only had to contend with her son and daughter-in-law. They were actually progressing a bit.

Alice was surrounded by plant life, and she would babble to the plants, and they responded to her voice. Her scribblings were taking on shapes of flowers and leaves. No real words or pictures, but vague shapes.

Frank's eye movements were getting more progressive, like he too was responding to his environment. His eyes would react to his mother's and his son's voices, as well as Alice's babbling. They would move from side to side, but not focus on anything.

The mediwitch said they were healthier here than they had been at the hospital. Their vitals were normal, and their skin tone was better. She was very hopeful of their progress.

"What can I do for you today?" Augusta asked, slipping her hands on her lap in that gentlelady way. She was wearing her normal tweed woman's dress suit. Though she was sans a handbag and hat. Today's color was mint.

"We were discussing the boys' schooling come their eleventh birthday," Lily said, bracing herself for a fight. "They are not going to Hogwarts," she stated, folding her arms with a defiant flare.

"Neville will receive an invitation? You are sure?" the older woman asked, still having not seen any magic from the child. They had not told her of any accidental magic either. She had resigned herself ages ago that the child was a squib. Her in-laws had all but written the boy out of the family. She was fighting at keeping the Wizengamot seat for him. Now though…

"Very sure," Lily said a bit smugly. "He can grow anything with magic," she stated proudly. "Show your gran," she urged Neville. She was so proud of him. She remembered doing something similar when she was his age, but not to the extent that he could. She could only make buds bloom.

The shy boy got up and pulled a seed from his pocket. He placed it in the palm of his left hand and concentrated. The seed grew and bloomed there. It was a blue daisy. He then concentrated again, and it went back into a seed. He smiled at his achievement. He was so very proud of himself. Sure, he hadn't done any accidental magic, but he could do this.

"Oh my," Augusta said, putting her hands to her chest. She then grabbed her grandson and gave him a hug. There were tears in her eyes. She was so very happy. "You are a wizard," she said, with a great deal of pride. "You really are a wizard," she said again, this time with relief.

Neville hugged her back, but he couldn't help but feel bitter, thinking that he might not be getting this hug if he wasn't a wizard. "Yes," was all he said. He patted her on the back, but he looked at his foster brother and saw the blank look on his face.

Harry was thinking along the same lines as his friend. They had talked about it late at night when the nightmares woke them. It was one of Neville's greatest fears. He would cry himself to sleep some nights when he thought Harry couldn't hear him. It made Harry so mad at Neville's family. Why couldn't they be happy for him no matter what? He loved his foster brother no matter if he had magic or not. He was cool with it either way.

"Why don't you want to send them to Hogwarts? It is the premier school of magic in the world," Augusta stated, making all the adults scoff.

"Not even close, but that is not why. The boys want to continue their non-magical education and get tutored for magic. They don't want to change how they are learning now," Sirius said, taking the cup the house elf, Bibby, gave him.

The boys took some biscuits on a napkin, and Neville returned to his seat next to Harry in the chair. Soon they would be too big to share a chair. They had glasses of juice for their beverage, wedged between their knees. Lily didn't partake, and Remus was sipping on a cup of tea.

"Neville wants to be a botanist, and Harry wants to be a doctor. They want to learn Herbology and Healing. This way they can learn it all at the same time," Lily said, sitting on the arm of the boys' chair. She ran her hand down Harry's hair, it was always a mess. The poor boy got his daddy's hair.

"What is a botanist?" Madam Longbottom asked, not sure what the term meant and couldn't place it in the context. She was sure it had something to do with plants. But maybe it was different than a Herbologist.

"A muggle Herbologist," Remus said, placing his cup on his knee. "Only they do more scientific studies. There is a lot of science involved that he can only learn in college. He needs a muggle education for that," he added on, making sure that she knew it was an intensive study.

"Why?" she asked Neville. It would be his answer that decided if he went or not.

"There are muggle plants that might help Mum and Dad. They find new ones every day, or find new uses for old ones," Neville said, holding his head up high. "With Harry's help as a doctor, we might be able to cure them," he added, not mentioning the parselmagic they were studying to help with just that. They talked about it all the time. They had secret plans going on.

"What about meeting children your own age?" she asked, placing her cup on the table at her side. She didn't want him to sequester himself to just Harry. He would never grow that way.

"We have non-magical friends, and Aunt Lily was thinking of throwing a party for… what did you call it, Remus? Networking?" he asked the werewolf. He knew from the talk yesterday that they would need to meet with other kids that were magical, but that didn't mean they needed to go to school with them.

"Yes. Lily and Sirius would like to throw a party, here if they could, to introduce the entire first year to the kids," Remus said, looking from Neville to Augusta.

"A party?" she asked, not sure what type of party they were thinking about.

"A 'coming of age' party, or a 'coming out of hiding' party. Or even a 'getting to know you' party," Sirius said, throwing out ideas to the woman who was more versed in throwing parties than he was.

"I see," she said, making a mental note to discuss this with him in-depth.

"Another reason we don't want them to go to Hogwarts is Dumbledore," Remus added, nodding to Lily to explain.

"He's fixated on the both of them. You remember his trying to get Frank and Alice out of your custody. Well, we think that was so he could hold it over Neville's head. If there was a way to do it with Harry, he would," Lily stated, a glint in her eyes showing her anger.

"He's creepy, Gran," Neville said, drawing everyone's attention to him. "He watches us every time we're anywhere near him," he added with a shudder. "He makes my skin crawl, like spiders are crawling all over me," he said, still shuddering. He clutched his biscuit so hard it cracked.

"Me too," Harry said, only his voice was a bit firmer, like it made him angry that the man creeped him out. Like he wanted to kick him harder than he had when he was a kid.

"Severus told me there's a prophecy," Lily said, tapping her chin. "He didn't tell me what it was, but he was the one to give it to Voldemort," she stated, miffed that the man had done that. "I wonder if it pertains to both boys," she said out loud, though in a thoughtful voice as if speaking to herself.

"It would explain a lot," Remus said, picking up his cup and taking a sip. It was getting cool, so he cast a warming charm on it.

"I think we should take Harry down to the Department of Mysteries," Sirius said, looking around the room to see who agreed with him. Lily was still thoughtful, Remus agreed, and Augusta was thinking hard about it. Harry and Neville looked confused. "It's a department in the ministry that studies things," he told the boys.

"Oh," they both said, then went back to their cookies.

"You take him and I, of course, will be riding along," Lily said, her thoughts sorted for the moment. "That's another reason for the boys not to go to Hogwarts. Severus Snape will be there," she said, thinking of the man that she so despised.

"There is that," Remus said, agreeing with her.

"You might not want to show yourself in the DoM," Sirius said, seriously, bringing them back to the other subject, though he did agree that they shouldn't be near Snivellus. "They would want to study you," he added, worried all of a sudden. She was not a normal ghost, and if the Unspeakables got ahold of her, they would never let her, or Harry out of their grips.

"They would have to keep Harry there, and that won't happen. He's the vaulted Boy-Who-Lived. The public would flay them. However, I'll take your advice and not show myself unless I have to," she conceded. The DoM was not a department to mess with. She had thought to become an Unspeakable when she was still in school but was dissuaded by their practices. They tended to be too secretive for her.

"Okay, when we're done here, we'll go there. Remus can take Neville home and we'll stop at the DoM," Sirius said, clapping his hands together in a 'we've got a plan' manner.

"So, Augusta, what is your opinion on Hogwarts, now that you've heard our arguments?" Lily asked, looking at the old woman, ready to continue the fight if she had to.

"I want to say send him to Hogwarts no matter what. My Frank went there, but he would want Neville safe and happy. And I too have seen Albus' unnatural obsession with the boys. If you are right and there is a prophecy, then it might be best to train them to their fullest and tutors can do that better than mainstream education," Augusta said, knowing that one-on-one education was the best. If you had the right teachers. "I want a weekly progress report from now on," she demanded.

"Not a problem. I'll make sure to keep you up to date," Sirius said, making sure to make a mental note to get an owl. They didn't have a floo, and they weren't going to get one. It was just too risky, even with the Fidelius.

"Could the headmaster be a pedo?" Harry asked, making anyone who was drinking spit out their tea. Which was Remus and Sirius.

"Harry Potter, where did you learn that word, and do you even know what it means?" Lily said, angry that someone taught her child something so vulgar. He was far too young to have the TALK with. Wasn't he? Damn she was going to have to talk to Sirius and Remus about this.

"On the telly," Harry said, pointing out that the telly was a great place to learn all about things that adults didn't want them too. "I think it means old men that like little boys. Though I'm not sure why that is a bad thing," he said, looking at his mum to explain.

"I'll tell you later when we sit down and discuss other things. For right now just know that pedoes are bad people. And, no, we don't think the headmaster is one," she explained, really hoping the man in charge of the school wasn't a sexual deviant. "You need to be careful who you accuse of being things you hear on the telly. Those shows are for adults, and you shouldn't be watching them," she added, wondering if he was seeing them at a friend's house because he wasn't seeing them at home.

At first Augusta was confused by the conversation, but when Harry gave his explanation, she understood. She didn't know what a telly was, but Neville had tried to describe it to her a few times. She knew it was moving pictures that told a story. That was all she needed to know. However, if they told stories about those types of people, perhaps she might need to investigate further.

"So, we're all agreed, no Hogwarts," Sirius said, completely ready to leave now that Harry had made him choke on his tea. The kid was really good at that.

"Yes," came the chorused answer.

"Okay, Madam Longbottom, thank you for your time. We need to get going. I don't want to spend too much time in the ministry," the dogman said, standing and putting his cup on the tray. He then took the boys' empty glasses and put them there as well. The boys got out of the chair and stood by Sirius' side.

"Yes, thank you for the tea," Remus said, getting up, depositing his cup, and grabbing Neville's hand. "Say goodbye to your gran," he told the boy.

"Goodbye, Gran," Neville said, kissing the woman's cheek, like he would his Aunt Lily.

"Goodbye, Gran Augusta," Harry said, doing the same. He decided that she was going to be his gran from now on. If she was Neville's gran, and he was Harry's brother, then she was his gran too. He still didn't like that she was mean to Neville because he might not have had magic. but if Neville could forgive her, well…

"Goodbye, boys," the old woman said a small waver in her voice. Then she turned to Sirius. "Get with me later about the party," she ordered. She might be old, but she could put together a party with help. As long as she didn't have to foot the bill. And it sounded like that was what Sirius was doing.

"Will do. Have a good rest of your day," he said, bussing her knuckles. She wasn't that bad of a person. Though he still held a bit of resentment that she was going to disown her grandson if he wasn't a wizard, and he knew the boys did too.

"Goodbye, Augusta," Lily said, going into Harry's head.

"Madam Longbottom," Remus said with a nod of his head. And with that the party left.

Hphphp

'Harry, you stay by Sirius' side. Don't let anyone talk you into going anywhere else, for any reason,' Lily said in his head. She was very worried that someone might talk him into seeing or hearing something about him. They had made quite a few adversaries with their lawsuits. Many people in the ministry thought they should have just left Dumbledore and the Ministry alone. They wanted Harry out of Sirius' custody. 'Tell Sirius to keep your hand in his,' she instructed.

'I will, Mum,' Harry said, pulling the man down and whispering it into Sirius' ear.

"Okay, Harry. Even if you're getting too big for hand holding," Sirius said with a joking tone.

"I am," Harry said with a serious voice. He was a big kid now and he didn't know why his mum worried so much about him all the time.

They got to the ministry via the phonebooth, and Harry thought it was the coolest thing. They made their way to the DoM, and no one stopped them. They were still expecting the Boy-Who-Lived to be a scrawny kid with a large scar and glasses. Harry was thin, but not painfully so, his scar was barely there, and he didn't need glasses. So slipping by the masses was easy as long as they didn't recognize Sirius, which most people didn't.

They were found wandering the corridors by an Unspeakable. "What are you doing down here?" the person of unknown gender in a grey robe with an all-encompassing hood asked.

"We're here to hear the prophecy about Harry Potter," Sirius said, firming his grip on Harry.

"This is Harry Potter?" the person asked, there was shock in that voice.

"Yes," was all Sirius said, still gripping Harry's hand, while Harry moved closer to Sirius' leg.

"I thought he'd be smaller," the Unspeakable said, moving to the correct door. "The prophecies are in here. I'll show you were the one on the boy is," s/he offered, moving down the aisles of orbs.

"There must be millions of prophecies here," Harry said, looking around in awe. He had never seen so many orbs in his life. It was like all the stars fell from the sky and landed in the room and on the shelves.

"More than that," the Unspeakable said, going to row ninety-seven and halfway down the aisle there was one labeled:

S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D

Dark Lord

and (?) Harry Potter

"That one is yours," s/he said, pointing to it.

"There's a question mark by my name," Harry said in a questioning tone. "How sure are you that it's about me?" he asked, looking at the letters and trying to suss out their meaning.

"We're almost positive," s/he said, gesturing at the orb. "Pick it up and we can be 100% sure," she offered, and there was a dare in that remark.

Harry reached his free hand out to do just that when Sirius stopped him by grabbing his wrist with his free hand, along with Lily telling him to stop in his head. "Stop," they both said.

"What? Why?" Harry said, thinking it to his mother, more than answering Sirius, who was glaring at the Unspeakable.

"If it's not about you, you can be hurt by touching it," Sirius said, now wary of letting him do so. He let go of Harry's wrist and kept his other hand in his grip. "However, the Unspeakables can touch them with their wands, and we hear can them," he sneered at the man. He knew this from his family library.

"You were trying to trick me?" the affronted ten-year-old said, stomping his foot in agitation. "You meanie," he said, stomping his foot again.

"Some adults will do that to you, baby," Lily said, ready to come out of his head consequences be damned. Sometimes she wished she could go invisible. However, she couldn't. She tried many times.

'Sometimes adults suck,' Harry thought at her. "You suck," he said to the Unspeakable.

"Harry," Sirius and Lily said, though Sirius was laughing, while Lily was chastising.

"Just play it already," Harry said, folding his arms, done with the adults for right now.

The Unspeakable tapped the orb with his wand and said something under his breath and the orb started to 'play', for lack of a better word.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense," Harry said, scratching his head in confusion. There were too many words that he didn't know the meaning of. His mum was trying to recite the prophecy over and over again in his head so she wouldn't forget it. He'd have to wait until she got it before she explained it to him.

"You're right about that, Harry. We wasted our time here," Sirius said, nodding to the Unspeakable, and still holding Harry's hand they turned to walk away. He knew they would discuss it as a family later.

"Wait, don't you want to know who spoke it?" the Unspeakable asked, like it was important.

"Why does it matter?" Sirius said, still walking out of the room. They were halfway out when the genderless person caught up with them.

"Don't you want to know who heard it?" s/he asked, still trying to impart information.

"I can guess from the initials alone," Sirius said with a smirk. How many people had those initials. Well maybe his brother, he had no clue what Aberforth's middle name was.

"Come on, there has to be something you want to know?" s/he said, like it wasn't normal for people to listen to a prophecy and not ask questions.

"Nope, we're good," Sirius said, having exited the room he was now making his way to the lifts.

"You still suck," Harry said, sticking his tongue out at the man.

"Harry," Sirius and Lily reprimanded.

"What? He does. He was trying to hurt me," Harry said to both of them. "You told me to never let anyone hurt me," he pointed out.

"He's got a point," Sirius said to the air, knowing Lily would hear him.

'Still, it is not polite to say that word,' she said, thinking of something politer that the child could say. 'You could have said, "you're not nice," or something,' she finished.

'Yes, mum,' Harry thought, then looked at the Unspeakable, who had been watching the emotions play over the child's face thoughtfully. "I'm sorry," he told the wo/man.

"Apology accepted," s/he said, still thinking about the thought process of the ten-year-old in front of him.

With that Sirius took Harry home. They just missed seeing Albus Dumbledore, who had caught a glimpse of them. Too bad he had no idea what they were there for. Good luck was still on their side.