19

Chapter 19: Safety First

Merry Christmas, and again thanks for all the reviews.

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Remus came back with the invisibility cloak, and they tried it on Lily. It did work. She was able to move around the room with no one the wiser. Not even Remus with his extra sensitive senses. Sirius turned into Padfoot and couldn't find her either. The house elves could, but they sensed her magic, and so they had to watch for that. However, she would be in a magic free environment, so it should be okay.

"Good, now I don't have to be in your head," Lily said to Harry. She was happy that it worked out for them. She would rather be able to move around the school and see what was going on and who was there, and she couldn't do that suck in Harry's head.

"Thank Merlin," Harry said slumping in his chair. He really hadn't wanted her to ride shotgun while he was trying to make friends. It made him nervous when she was listening, like she was grading him on his performance. "Not that I don't love you, Mum, but I really like the fact that this worked."

"Yes, me too," she said, agreeing with him. She ran a hand down his cheek, showing her love for him. Then she turned to Sirius. "I know you think I'm being paranoid, but I think you should set up a cleansing stone somewhere. Like your Wizengamot office or Moony's shop, or both places in case one is compromised," she said, holding up her hands to make them listen.

"What are we talking about?" Remus asked, not having been there for that conversation. However, what she was suggesting sounded good. They really needed someplace to make sure they weren't cursed or spelled. He didn't think she was being paranoid at all.

"I'm worried about tracking spells. Since you and Sirius still go into the wizarding world, I am concerned that Albus will put tracking spells on you. Or that you'll come home with some sort of mind-whammy and try to take Harry," Lily said, looking at her friend with genuine concern. "He doesn't know where your shop is, so it would be a perfect place to set a cleansing stone at," she added, smiling at her brilliant idea. "Or Sirius' office. Which I think should be mandatory anyway. All Wizengamot members should have a stone to make sure they are not spelled," she said, tapping her finger on her upper lip in concentration.

"That is actually a really good idea," Remus said, rubbing his chin in thought. "I can put it in the back room. No one goes back there. Not even my employees," he said, still thinking on what kind of runes to put on this cleansing stone. He was the only one who was a wizard in his store. His employees were squibs, but they didn't go into the backroom, because that is where he did his magic, and they were unsettled by it. It had been their choice. He had no issue with them observing him, but they decided not to. So having a ward stone there would not be an issue.

"I still think you're being paranoid, but you're right. I'll set one up in my Wizengamot office," Sirius said, looking to his friend who was puzzling out how to make one. He knew Remus would have some made before the night was over. The werewolf was good with runes. He did wonder if it would work on anyone who came into his office. That might put the pigeon among the kneazles. He could just imagine the chaos that would happen if someone's long time curse finally fell off if they came to visit.

"Isn't there a way to carry one around that would make you nonstick?" Harry asked, thinking it would be much easier to just have one in a necklace then jumping around everywhere to get a charm off you.

"Yes, I think I can do that. I can think of two different ways to make that happen," Remus said, looking at Lily who was mulling that thought over. He was very good at inventing things on the fly. It was what got them the Marauder's Map and the communication mirrors. Well, the others helped, but they all worked better under pressure. He exchanged looks with Sirius, who nodded. They would brainstorm over many things tonight.

"If you put the stone in a ring or necklace, then it could work. I'd prefer to do both ways though. One to carry and one in the two safe zones," she said, looking at both Sirius and Remus for confirmation they were on the same wavelength. She got it.

"Should we carry one too?" Neville asked, pointing to him and Harry. "I mean, we go to Gran's and there are visitors sometimes," he said, reminding them of his family that did visit the Longbottom Manor often. Even though Harry only joined him rarely, he did still go. "Not to mention the times we still need to get stuff from the Alleys."

"Yes, we'll give you one to wear. This time it'll be a ring," Remus said, not wanting to overwhelm them with necklaces. "Or if you want, I can just tweak your amulets," he offered, thinking that the boys might not want to wear more jewelry than they already were.

"I would like you to tweak my amulet," Harry said, already removing his necklace, and he felt a bit bare without it. He'd been wearing it since he was six. It had saved him a lot of bullying and a few times from people trying to lay their hands on him in Diagon Alley.

"I don't want anymore jewelry," Neville said, taking off the necklace that he had been wearing all these years. He too felt a bit exposed.

"I'll take a look at it. If I can't change it, then I'll just add another amulet," Remus said, taking both necklaces. "I'll get them back to you before you leave the flat," he promised, getting up and going to the work area, which was one of the empty rooms. It had been set aside for potions and rune work.

"Good, now that that is settled, Neville how are your parents? Any further progress?" Lily asked, hoping for the best. There had been some good reports over the last few months, and she treasured all the good news every time he came home. Alice had been her friend, and she was tempted to see if her being there would help. However, her being a 'ghost' might hurt more. It might cause the poor dear to go into shock.

"Yes, Aunt Lily, they're doing much better," the preteen said, all but bouncing in his seat. "Mum actually looked me in the eyes and smiled," he said, his smile lighting the room. "Dad is answering questions with 'yes' 'no' blinks. They are simple questions, like if he is hungry or tired, but he is answering," he enthused. He was so proud. He had done more for his parents in months, than St. Mungo's had for years. Sure, it was slow going, but they were coming back to themselves.

"I am so happy to hear that, Neville," Lily said, getting up and happily hugging the boy. She couldn't wait for the day one of his parent recognized him and called him by name.

"Me too," Harry said, clapping his foster brother on the back.

"That's great, Neville," Sirius said, though he didn't join in the hug.

"I have a question," Harry said, after they sat back down. "How come Dumbledore didn't get into trouble for going to Privet Drive and taking down the wards?" He had wondered about it for a while. He just knew the man was still the headmaster of Hogwarts. Not to mention still having his jobs in the governments.

"We couldn't prove it was him," Sirius said, slumping down in his chair. "All we had was Twinky's word and she's a house elf. They erased their signatures, so there was nothing for the Aurors to pick up on," he said, miffed that they couldn't have thrown the book at the old man.

"That sucks," Harry said, pouting too. He really wanted the man to suffer for making them run from their home. He was tired of his mum being on a tightrope every day. She was getting more paranoid by the day. He had asked why they didn't just go to another country. She said that she would be just as paranoid there, if not more so, because they would have to worry about a new culture.

"It sure does," Neville agreed, he put a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He wasn't as putout about the headmaster. He didn't like the man, but he was more of an afterthought to him. He didn't really play a part in Neville's life. Not like he did Harry's. Sure, he made them leave Privet Drive, but he didn't care. He was more concerned about his parents than where he lived. This flat was nice, and their new school looked to be cool.

"What do you think is going to happen when we don't show up on September 1st?" Harry asked, wishing he could be a fly on the wall that night. He knew the old man was upset that he wasn't going to Hogwarts, but what of the other staff and the students.

"Chaos," Padfoot said, laughing a bit hysterically. Lily hit his shoulder to make him stop. He took too much pleasure in the discomfort of others.

"They already know you're not coming," she pointed out. She didn't understand why they were thinking that there would be discord.

"Yeah, but, do all the kids know that? They are expecting the Boy-Who-Lived to be at Hogwarts," Harry said, with some derision. He really hated that title. He was never going to live down the 'boy' part of it.

"Then they'll just have to live with disappointment," Lily said with a small smile. "You're not going anywhere near that school if I can help it," she added, a bit of bite to her tone. "Especially if Albus Dumbledore is there," she finished.

"I hear ya," Harry said, agreeing with her 100%. "They don't offer anything I can't learn from you guys," he said, smiling at the adults in his life. "That and I'm already ahead of the kids in their first year."

"Very true. Now that you have a wand, we can get some practical stuff done. We'll start after your birthday. By then we'll have the schedules all set up," she said, working on what she knew was going to be their school schedule.

They would go to school from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. They would have an hour and a half to do their homework. Then an hour to play. Dinner. Then magic. how much magic depended on how they were feeling, what they were studying, and how quickly they were picking it up. Bed by 9:30 pm. Hopefully they would be tuckered out and have a good night's sleep.

"I can't wait," both boys said, then looked at each other and giggled.

"Okay, enough talk. Why don't you two go and play," Lily said, shooing the boys away.

"Okay," they said together and moved towards the stairs to the roof. They had some stuff up there they could play with, and it was sunny. Twinky would watch them to make sure they were safe.

"Was that the only reason you couldn't get Albus in trouble for Privet Drive?" Lily asked, wanting the full story.

"He covered his tracks well. The Unspeakables swear they were not there, and they have alibis. Like they don't have time turners in their department," he grumbled, sulking again. He had tried pointing that out, but it wasn't provable. "So we don't know if the people he had with him were Unspeakables, or just dressed as them," he added, knowing there were some of the Order that would dress up on orders from Albus.

The Order of the Phoenix was full of fanatics that worshipped the ground that Dumbledore walked on. They would believe anything he said, and they'd do anything he asked. It was why so many of them died in the last war. It was one of the reasons that Sirius and Remus were disillusioned with the man.

"Bugger," she said, looking morose. It was something they had hoped to pin on the man, but he was a slippery old fart.

"I did tell him that if he was even hinted at trying that again, I would call a blood feud on his clan," Sirius said, his eyes going hard.

"Would you?" Lily wanted to know. She had heard of them. The Weasley/Malfoy one was one of the most famous.

"I would. I don't like being chased, even if it's not me as the target," Sirius said, sitting up straighter. "Harry is my heir, and if something happens to him, then my legacy will go to the Malfoys. I won't let that happen. I'd give it all to charity before I die, then see it in that family's hands."

"I didn't know you made Harry your heir," Lily said, trying to recall if they had ever had that conversation. She vaguely remembered James saying something when she was alive, but it was in passing, so she had dismissed it.

"It was a decision that me and James came to. That was before I was made the lord of my house," Sirius said, putting a hand on her arm. "I know I should have talked it over with you before now, but it's done. It has been done for years," he said, looking into her eyes.

"I have no issue with this," she said, thinking it would only cement Harry's future. If he still wanted to be a doctor when he started college, then the extra money would help. Medical school was not cheap, nor was living during the internship. He would have the money to fall back on. Also, it gave him two seats in the Wizengamot. That was something that rarely happened. He would have two votes, which could act as a tiebreaker. Her baby would have power.

"Good, because like I said, it's a done deal," Sirius said, getting up to go see what Remus was doing and see if he needed help with the amulets.

"I'll just sit here and pout," Lily said, playfully. "All my men don't need me anymore," she sighed as Sirius left the room. She wasn't really going to sit and be melancholy, she was going to plan on what to do next.

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Remus was able to fix their amulets to make the boys nonstick. Now tracking spells would slide off them. Their backpacks also had a crystal dangling off them for the same reason. They would have to be careful of bringing back anything, but they couldn't just not do that.

If they visited the Alleys, they would swing by Sirius' office and get de-spelled. If they even had any on them in the first place. They would then floo to Longbottom Manor straight from there. Then they'd spend time with Gran and the Longbottoms, who seemed more and more coherent, then they'd go home. It was rare that they did this.

The boys' birthday was spent at an amusement park, and they had a blast. They got to invite three friends each and Harry did invite Hermione. She was so happy to be going to Hogwarts. She had read Hogwarts: A History many times and was enchanted with the place. Lily was doing her best to be neutral.

She too remembered her starry-eyed fascination with the fairy castle where she would learn magic. When she was young, she dreamed nightly of princes and dragons. She would fantasize about doing magic to make herself a princess and marrying a handsome prince.

Lily did warn the girl that it wasn't all sunshine and daisies. Alas, Hermione was still too much enthralled with the book's definition of what Hogwarts was like to listen. So Lily told the girl's parents that if it didn't work out for Hermione, she could set her up with tutors. They were grateful. Lily also suggested that they get with other muggleborn parents to compare notes on what was going on in the castle. They thanked her for that idea too.

Sirius went to the castle to get James' cloak back. "Albus, give me that cloak," he demanded for the second time. He had already asked nicely and was turned down. Now he was not going to play nice guy.

"It is not yours," the old man tried to use as an excuse.

"No, but it is Harry's," Lily said, coming from under the regular invisibility cloak near Sirius. She was doing that two places at once thing with Harry. They found that as long as she was near someone, she could travel with them. She just had to stay focused on them. "Give it to Sirius," she demanded. "James only lent it to you until we asked for it back. I am here asking for it back," she said, folding her arms.

"You are dead and cannot make such demands," Albus said, waving her away. "The dead have no rights," he added, looking at her over his halfmoon glasses.

"I know what is right, and I can testify in a court of law," she said, looking to Sirius to take up the conversation.

"Yes, I can sue you as Harry's legal guardian," the dogman said, leaning forward and looking the old man directly in the eyes. He wasn't worried about Legilimency, his Occlumency was good. It was one thing his mum made sure he knew. "You know how well those courts like you," he added. Then had a thought. "And the Wizengamot would not look kindly on you holding a sacred item from its rightful owner. You know how those old farts are. They like keeping things in the family. It wouldn't look good for you," he said with an evil smirk.

"I see," Albus said, rubbing his forehead with his right hand. Sirius was correct, the civil courts didn't like him. He was already a lot poorer than he had been before this man sued the pants off of him. That and the Wizengamot would eat him alive if he tried to keep and heirloom. "Very well," he sighed, getting up and getting the cloak from a hidden place behind a portrait of one of the headmasters.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Sirius said, trying not to sneer. He really did. He didn't succeed, but he tried.

"Thank you, Albus," Lily said, though her tone was cool.

"Will we be seeing Harry this coming September?" the old man asked, knowing the answer, but having to ask anyway.

"No," was all the answer he got.

"We'll show ourselves out," Sirius said, holding both cloaks in his hands and going to the door. They made their way out of the castle. Snape got a glimpse of Lily before she faded back to her son. It was hard to split herself like this. Sirius laughed at the man's stricken face and then continued to Remus' store. They didn't want to use his office for this one.

"Did you get it?" Remus asked when he entered the backroom.

"Yes," Sirius said, holding the cloak out and letting the werewolf examine it.

"This thing is loaded with spells," Remus said, taking off some of the non-tracker spells. He had no idea what they did, but they weren't part of the makeup of the cloak. How did he know that? They were on separate strings sewn into the fabric. They had to search for those foreign strings and pull them out. Then they dispelled the charms on them.

"I think that's all of them," Sirius said, running his wand up and down the cloak to make sure it was clean. He couldn't detect any foreign magic on it, so he put his wand away.

"I think you're right," Remus said, he too double checking. It had taken them ten minutes to find them all.

"I'll just run this home and give it to Harry," Sirius said, happy that he and the cloak were now charm free. They did find a tracking charm on Sirius' shoe, which wasn't nonstick, that was dispelled when he entered the backroom.

"I'll see you at home," Remus said, waving him off.

Sirius went home and the cloak and story was well received. Lily was happy that they got James' cloak back and that Harry now had one more avenue of escape. She would keep the regular one for Neville. When it faded, they'd get a new one.

Soon enough, it was time for secondary school. The boys were stoked. They had been waiting to go to this private school for months now and they were all packed and ready. They had been doing some wand work during the summer, and so they were allowed to carry their wands in holsters. However, they were not to show them off.

"I already know that, Mum," Harry said with a bit of a whing. She had been over the rules so many times already.

"I'm just going over the rules. I know how people like to show off," Lily said, not the least bit put out by her child's whinging. "Remember, I'll be near by unless you are in the loo. And you'd better not take too long in there, or I will come in and get you," she threatened. She would not put it passed someone to use that room as a good place to kidnap someone. It was when their guard was down.

"Mum," Harry whinged again. He just knew he wasn't going to get any privacy.

"You can always send me in, Aunt Lily," Neville said, coming to his foster brother's rescue. "I don't mind."

"Thank you, Neville," both Harry and Lily said with different tones. Harry with relief and Lily with kindness.

"Do you guys have your necklaces?" Remus asked, making sure they were as protected as they could get them.

"Yup," both boys said, holding up the chains the amulets were on.

"Good. Remember they can't be taken off for any reason," the werewolf said, knowing they already knew this, but saying it for Lily's benefit. She seemed to need the reassurance.

"Yup," they said again.

"Go get your backpacks and meet me at the lift," Sirius said, going to the lift to wait for them. There were only two entrances to this flat. The lift and the emergency stairs. The lift was only for the top ten floors and so they never really had to wait for it. They rarely ran into their neighbors, who were pretty snooty, but otherwise nice people.

"Okay," the boys said, running to the dining room table and grabbing up their bookbags. They then moved to the lifts.

"Off we go," Sirius said, moving to push the button. He looked at Lily and lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm coming," she said, getting James' invisibility cloak. She stood close to Sirius since he was closer to her size. She made sure to stand to the side in case someone joined them on the ride down.

No one did.

They made it to the lobby and got into the car and drove to the school. It was the start of a new adventure for the boys. And a sense of freedom for Lily. More so because she knew they would not be under the influence of Albus Dumbledore. This was the right thing to do. She just knew it.