17

Chapter 17: Bugging Out

Thanks for all the reviews. I know I say it at the beginning of every chapter, but I really do thank you for them.

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After the Wizengamot was released, it was a half an hour of others trying to convince Harry to change his mind, unsuccessfully, that the topic turned to Lily. Of course, she was upset that everyone was asking her where she had come from, and why she had not made herself known sooner. The most persistent was Dumbledore, who had come to accost them as soon as he could. They had tried to bow out, but they were waylaid by other Wizengamot members.

Lily ignored them all and refused to answer their questions, though she did have some fun with snide remarks. She was determined to keep them guessing. They didn't need to know what she was. It was her secret to keep, along with her family's. They had decided long ago to keep mum about it, so that others would underestimate her as just a ghost.

"Come now, my dear Lily, it is not the greatest secret in the world. It is obvious you are more than just a ghost. You can tell us," the old man tried again for the fifth time to get her to say how she manifested.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. How can I be more than just a ghost?" she countered, looking at Harry to see if he was faring okay. "I am just here to comfort my child," she said, looking lovingly at her son.

"A commendable reason, my dear. Have you been here from the start?" Dumbledore asked, then continued before she could answer, not that she would have. "If you have been around all this time, why did you not let me know? I thought we were friends," he added, his eyes twinkling. There was a cunning behind that twinkle that Lily didn't like one bit. Like she was a mystery that he had to solve.

"Friends," she scoffed, glaring at him dead in his eyes. She was not worried about him reading her mind. There wasn't a chance of that. Her being noncorporeal made that impossible. She had had Sirius test it, and he said it was like looking into fog. "After what you did to my son, you have the audacity to say that," she snapped, her hair started floating around her head. A sure sign that she was getting angry.

"I did what I thought was best," Albus said, trying to reason with her.

"Your best failed," Lily spat, as she poked him in the chest with a finger, making sure it sunk in his skin. "You are just a manipulative old man who uses people for whatever game you are playing. When you don't need us, you put us on a shelf and let us collect dust until we are needed again. I don't think you have a true friend. Look at what you did to Remus," she accused, then snapped her mouth shut.

"I have always been friends with you and Remus," Dumbledore said, ignoring the accusations that he was merely using those around him as pieces in a game.

"Liar," she scoffed.

"Come, let me know how you are here now," he cajoled in his best grandfather voice. "Perhaps we can find a way to help you move on," he said, like that was all ghosts' secret dreams.

"Bugger off," Lily yelled at him, floating away from the old man, and going to stand by Sirius, who had been watching her lay into Dumbledore with sadistic glee.

He was still bitter about his own abandonment. Harry's and Remus' too. He was in complete agreement with Lily. They had all been tossed aside until they were needed again.

"She's not going to tell you, so just leave her alone," Harry said in that indignation that a ten-year-old could pull off for those upsetting their parent. He wasn't above kicking the man in the shin again. Only this time it would hurt. He wasn't a little kid anymore.

"Now, young Harry, we are merely trying to solve a mystery," Albus said, patting him on the head and trying to look in his eyes.

Harry remembered never to look in the old goat's eyes and narrowed his gaze at the crooked nose. "What happened to your nose? It's long and crooked," he asked, hoping to get the attention off his mum. "Did someone hit you? Because my teacher told me that's what noses look like when they get hit a lot. Did you get hit a lot? You must really make a lot of people mad," he said in an innocent tone. "I wonder if my mum wants to hit you too," he added, looking at his mum to see if she did.

She did.

"Never you mind that," Albus said waving off the question, but looking away like the memories were bad ones. The boy hit too close to home. His nose had been broken a few times by people who were mad at him.

"If you can ask my mum personal questions, then I can ask you some," Harry persisted, looking the wizard up and down. Under the plum robes were orange and purple ones, that clashed with the plum ones horribly. Not that Harry knew that, he just knew it hurt his eyes to look at them.

"Do not speak to the headmaster that way," the witch dressed in some hideous pink robes said, trying to grab Harry's arm, but his amulet wouldn't let her. She would just get to his clothes, and they would slip right out of her hand. Since she was not the smartest witch there was, she kept trying, until Harry moved out of her way.

"Keep your hands off me, you old witch," Harry said, hiding behind Sirius. He would have hidden behind his mum, but she was see-through and that defeated the purpose. He stuck his head out from behind Sirius' leg and stuck his tongue out at her.

"You had better keep your hands to yourself, Dolores," Sirius said, going into full Lord mode. "I know your background and I have no qualms letting others know too," he threatened, making her cringe away from him.

What he knew about her would ruin her political career, and he might use it anyway. She was the leader behind all the bias werewolf laws. He had only found out about her little secret a few months ago, when he ran into her squib brother in the muggle world. He had asked Remus what he wanted to do, since Remus was the most effected of the group by her, and the werewolf said to hold on to it for now. They could use it when the time was right.

"Teach that boy some manners," she hissed as she hid behind Fudge, who was looking at her like she had a secret he really wanted to know before he saved her. It was not looking good for Dolores Umbridge. There would be questions that she would have to lie about and hope that the truth never came to light. She had no idea how Black knew, but she was sure that she could blackmail him into silence.

"Ah, Sirius," came a cultured voice from their right. A man with platinum blond hair and a pimp cane came walking up to them.

"That's Lord Black to you, Mr. Malfoy. What are you doing here?" Sirius said, since Malfoy didn't have a seat on the Wizengamot. "This is not the place for commoners," he added snootily, ignoring the fact that Lily was more of a commoner than Malfoy.

"I came to see the outcome of the meeting," Lucius said, going to his good friend, Fudge's side. "It affects all of us, after all." He leaned on his pimp cane and stared at the ghostly figure of Lily Potter, who was smirking at him. He sneered right back, only in a more dignified way.

"Oh, I didn't know you were thinking of homeschooling your spawn," Sirius said, standing in front of Lily and Harry to barricade them from the menace that was staring them down. He didn't trust Lucius not to try and exorcise Lily. Not that'd work, but they didn't need to know that. They really didn't want that to get out either. If it was known that she couldn't be exorcised, then they'd take her to the DoM and experiment on her.

"If more of the riffraff decide to homeschool, then the school might close," Lucius stated, making Fudge and Dumbledore pale a bit. They hadn't thought that was possible. They had only used it as an excuse to get Harry to go to Hogwarts. But if a father was bringing it up…

"I sincerely doubt that will happen. It takes a lot of money to homeschool a child," Sirius reminded them. "Most people work and can't afford a tutor," he said, noting that they were listening. "I, on the other hand, am rich and therefore do not have to work. Meaning, I can afford the tutors and to teach what I know."

It was then that Madam Longbottom came up to them and said, "Lord Black, take me home. I tire of these proceedings." She leaned heavily on the cane she had brought for when she did get tired.

"Gladly, Madam Longbottom," Sirius said, holding out his arm for her to take. "Gentlemen, Umbridge," he said, with a nod of his head. Augusta linked her arm with his and they left the room.

Harry and Neville made sure that Lily was in the middle. They had their amulets and so they were better protected. None of them wanted the Wizengamot to know that Lily could hide in Harry's head. She would go there when they left Sirius's office, which is where they were headed.

"Well, that was fun," Harry said sarcastically as they entered the office and closed the door this time. It was still late morning, and they had the rest of the day ahead of them.

"I say this calls for a day on the town. We're already in London, let's hit a few museums and see what other educational things we can do," Lily said, not sure how well that would go over. They were more than likely wanting to go to an amusement park, or the zoo. Though it was rather cold for those.

"I hear there's a dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum," Harry said, hoping to get to see something cool. He never really got to see the dinosaurs, and they said there was a new exhibit showing around now.

"We can go there," Lily said, more than happy to see the giant lizards.

So that is what they did, even Augusta, who had to have her dress modernized. They had a great time and were all very happy and exhausted when they got home that night. Madam Longbottom stayed for a dinner of pizza and was not impressed, but she was polite enough not to comment. She went home with a smile on her face for a day well spent.

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"Mum, there was a cat that followed me around all day at school," Harry said when he came home from school a week later. It was a Friday, and he was looking forward to the weekend. However, the whole cat thing reeked of magical interference. Which would spook his mum again.

They were still deciding whether or not to move. It had been debated on since Hagrid had showed up. They had been getting responses from good private schools and were weighing their options. They were leaning towards a few in the USA, and a couple of good ones here in the UK that were in the greater London area. There were some nice ones in other English-speaking countries, but they were thinking of sticking to America or the United Kingdom.

Harry didn't want to move out of the country, but he understood that it might have to happen. It all depended on what the fallout was with Dumbledore. They understood that the man was obsessed with him and Neville, but would he follow them into London? Could he? Did he understand how to navigate the muggle system enough to do so? They didn't know.

Then there was his phoenix to worry about. Would the bird do something morally repugnant like kidnapping? Phoenixes were supposed to be birds of light magic, which meant they were morally good. Would such a bird do Albus' dirty work? Was there a way to make it? They didn't know that either.

"What kind of cat? And what do you mean it followed you around? Like into your classes? Or just waited outside your school?" Lily asked, having a general idea who it was. She wasn't sure why McGonagall was following Harry around, but she was going to find out.

"A grey tabby, and it was waiting outside the school during all my recesses and breaks. It kept staring at me, and wouldn't be shooed off," Harry said, looking at his mum like she knew more than she was saying. "It didn't follow me home though," he added, hoping that was good news.

"Well, I'm sure it didn't have to," Lily said, going to the window and looking down the sidewalk. Sure enough, she saw a grey tabby sitting on the wall that was at the corner of the street. "See, there it is now. Get Sirius, and go and greet it," she said, jumping into his head.

"The things I have to do," Harry grumbled, not wanting to go in the cold to have another talk with another magical that couldn't mind their own business. "Sirius, we have to go and greet a cat," he yelled into the kitchen.

"What?" the dogman said, coming into the room and looking down the street and seeing his old transfiguration teacher perched on the wall. "Oh, okay. Let me grab my coat. You go and grab the cat and I'll meet you at the park," he said, going up the stairs to get his outerwear.

"Fine," Harry said, going, and doing as he was told. It was a good thing he was still wearing his coat. He went out the back and went to the end of the block and up to the cat. He then picked it up, much to its protest.

There was a lot of hissing and meowing.

"You're coming with me. My mum wants to talk to you," the boy said, going to the same park that they talked to Hagrid in.

The cat calmed down when it heard that. It didn't relax, but it quit fighting to get free.

They walked on, and soon Sirius came jogging up and walked along side Harry. They went to the same clump of trees and went deeper into them so that McGonagall could change back without being seen. She did and she was wearing nothing that looked like it should be seen in the muggle world in this century.

"So, Minnie, why are you here?" Sirius asked, as Lily appeared next to Harry.

"I heard that Lily was here and wanted to apologize for my part in leaving Harry here with those horrible muggles," the older woman said, worrying her hands. "I tried to talk Albus out of leaving him here, but there was no reasoning with him," she said, still fretting.

"And yet you still left him here," Lily said, not quite as mad at her as she was at Dumbledore. Minerva was always a pushover when it came to Albus. She worshiped the ground the man walked on. She was just as much Dumbledore's woman as Hagrid was his man. It was sad really. Lily didn't think it was love, per se, but it was devotion of a sort. "Besides, you should be apologizing to Harry, not me," she added, making the other woman look away in shame.

"I do apologize to you too, young Harry," she said in a whisper. She didn't like apologizing to children. It went against her grain; however, he did deserve it.

"Are you here on Albus' orders?" Sirius asked, fingering his wand. He knew he could take her in a fight. They had been practicing for years to fight dirty. Even Harry could probably take her. She had been sitting behind a desk for years. The last action she had seen was in the last war, and that was nonaggressive. Albus' nonkilling policy was what got many of them killed.

"No, he has no idea I am here," she said, looking shifty. Like she was telling the truth, but she was worried that Albus would be upset when he found out. And they all knew he would find out.

"You know he had no right to bring him here in the first place, right? We proved that in court," Lily said, putting her arm around Harry.

It wouldn't be as easy a sell as it had been with Hagrid. Minerva was a smarter woman, and she followed Albus for other reasons than what he had done for her. She truly believed that he would bring peace to the wizarding world. And that he knew what he was doing. His manipulations worked on her, and she saw him as a fair and kindly grandfather of a man. Even when she argued with him, she thought he was listening to her.

"I know, but he did have some valid reasons," McGonagall said, though there was still guilt in her voice. "I just didn't know it was going to be as bad as it got and for that I am sorry," she said, then looked at Harry. "I've said what I have to say, so I will leave you to your day," she said, and then turned to leave.

"Wait, are you going to tell Albus we are here?" Sirius asked, not trusting her to keep it a secret.

"If he asks," she admitted.

"I will ask you not to do that," Lily said, looking to Sirius to do something. It wouldn't do any good to obliviate her, because if she figured it out once, she'd figure it out again. "If you truly feel guilty about what you did, you will not do that," she insisted.

"You know I cannot keep secrets from him," McGonagall stated as if it were fact.

"Give us to the end of the school year," Sirius said, hoping to play on the guilt she felt. "That's all we're asking. Call it a favor for the suffering that Harry had to go through," he added, looking at her with soulful eyes.

She pursed her lips and then nodded. She twisted and then apparated away.

"Do you think she'll keep her word?" Harry asked, not too worried. What could the man do? He had his amulet.

"Probably, but we should put some protections on you anyway," Sirius said, thinking of portkeys and such. That way if the boy was kidnapped, he would be ported back right away. Though those were not foolproof. They could be summoned. "I think I should start going to school with you as well. As Padfoot. I'll clear it with your headmaster. We'll make up something about your being in danger of being kidnapped. I can stay out of the classroom and stay in the halls, or something."

"I don't think they'll go for that, Sirius," Lily said, knowing she could always stay in Harry's head during his schooling. She hadn't been, because he had asked her not to and the house was close enough that she could be that far away from him. So that weird double part didn't happen like it had with the hotel. "However, I will be joining him from now on. No arguments," she said to Harry, who had opened his mouth.

"Fine," the boy groused. He wouldn't be able to get away with half the stuff he was used to. He'd have to watch his mouth and not backtalk others. It was going to suck. He still didn't know what the big deal was. So what if the old man kidnapped him? It wasn't like he could make him do anything. Could he? Were there magic potions that would turn him into a slave? That was terrifying to think of. "Mum, what could happen if the old man did kidnap me?" he asked suddenly very worried.

"Nothing, as long as I am there," she said, running a hand through his hair. She was his protection after all. She was suddenly overcome with a bad feeling. Like a wind blowing down her nonexistent spine. She looked at Sirius with pure terror in her face.

"We should move," Sirius said, seeing the fear in her face, and hearing the worry in Harry's voice. He knew full and well what kind of magics could be used to make someone compliant. He didn't know if Dumbledore would go as far as to use the Imperius curse but there were other ways. And it wasn't just Dumbledore that they had to worry about. There were also the Death Eaters, like Malfoy.

"Yes, I have a safe house set up. We can finish this year's schooling via homeschooling, or we'll transfer them out," Lily said, having set it up with Alex just in case. It had cost an arm and leg, but they had feared it might come to it. "Augusta already knows we might have to do this, and Neville might not be going home to her for a few months," she informed them as she went into Harry's head, and they quickly went to the house.

"Remus, we're moving," Sirius said as they came through the door. "Twinky, pack everything up," he ordered. "Neville, write to your gran. Tell her we had to go, and that you'll be in touch as soon as you can," he said, pointing to the desk. "Lily, you write a note to the headmaster of the boys' school." He went to the phone and called Alex to let him know they were bugging out.

"Why are you freaking out all of a sudden?" Harry asked, his tone was more worried now than it had been in the park.

"Just a feeling," Lily said, worry on her face as she wrote the letter for homeschooling for the boys. She wrote it in Sirius' name and on the typewriter, but she was thorough so that he understood that a family emergency came up and they had to move very suddenly. She gave a P.O. box that the lessons could be sent to, and their email address if that was better to be used for correspondences.

"Okay, we're all set," Sirius said, noting that the furniture that wasn't being used was shrinking all around him, which was good. "Alex gave me the address and directions. Moony, you're driving," he said, handing the werewolf the paper with the information.

"Why are we leaving suddenly?" Remus asked, not too overly concerned, but wanting to know.

"McGonagall paid a visit," Sirius said, looking to Lily. He had no idea what spooked her and Harry, but he felt it was time too. Maybe Minerva ran into Albus when she got back to the castle, and they all got a sense of foreboding from it. Or a Death Eater found out the general area of where they were. Who knows. Magic was weird that way.

"Ah," was all the man had to say. He took the paper and put on his coat and went to warm up the car. He could run his business from anywhere in the UK. The Knight Bus could get him there in minutes. Or he could simply apparate from inside the house to the back room. He would rather the Knight Bus. It was simpler and he was less likely to lose toes if distracted.

"Everyone, grab your backpacks and coats. We're leaving within the next five minutes," Sirius said, making everyone rush to do as bid. "Twinky, we'll call for you when we're there," he told the house elf.

Lily finished her letter and handed it to Sirius, who put it in his jacket pocket. He'd post it tomorrow. The boys wouldn't be returning to that school. He hoped the man would let them homeschool, but if not, he could transfer them to a local school. It would suck, being this late in the year, but they could do it.

"Ready," Harry and Neville said, though the latter was confused as to what was going on.

"Don't worry, you're going to like where we're going," Lily said as she disappeared into Harry's head. It did make the decision on where the boys would be going to their secondary school this next year. If they'd be attending all their years there, remained to be seen. It all depended on if Albus could find them in muggle London. If he could not, then they would. If he could they were heading overseas.

And with that they were on the run for the first time, and hopefully the last time. If Lily had it her way, Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore could and would fight the Dark Lord on his own. She wasn't even sure the man was still alive, but her boys would have nothing to do with him if he somehow was. Prophecy be damned.