8-9

Chapter 8 Mum, Dad, meet Sally

January 21, 1986

The next day went well and all talks of parselmouths were put aside for later, and now it was getting close to supper time. The boys were going over what they should say to Sally to get her to listen to them. They really wanted their parents to know about her, but they had made a promise. They were a bit unsure as to how the adults would react, but after yesterday they were hopeful that it would be in a good way.

"I just think she'll understand if we explain that she was wrong about how they would react then she'll listen. Besides, we could just tell her that we're worried about being caught talking to the air. How would we explain that without lying? I don't want to lie anymore," Harry said as he followed his brother into the game room.

The sitting area of the game room was set up for comfort. There were two couches opposite of each other with four armchairs, two on either side. It was all set up in a square like fashion, so everyone could see everyone else. The furniture was in dark colors so that stains would not be noticed. There was a scarred coffee table in the middle that the boys play on often. There was a carpet that kept the chill off, but was in no way new. It matched the seats in dark colors. The walls in contrast were painted white and there were bright and colorful inspirational posters on the walls. It was mostly for the children, and everyone knew that children, no matter how well versed in manners, were messy.

"I know, Harry, I'm not arguing with you about that. I just don't think we have to trick her. I'm sure we only have to come up with a stronger argument than that. If we just tell her that she was wrong before. I mean, she might get offended, then where would we be? And the talking to air thing, kinda lame," Gary stated as he sat on one of the sofas. It had been something they had been arguing about for about an hour now and they were just repeating their selves.

Harry sat next to him and huffed, "Well, what do you think we should say?"

"Look, I have a plan," Gary said, picking up a book off the table and thumbing through it. "We should explain to Sally that we think it's time to let them know how much we trust them. It'll help us in the future if they know how many players there are and everyone can plan together, it only makes sense. Both Sally and our parents have done so much for us to make the future easier." This was something he had thought long and hard on, for many months. He knew that they would have to tell eventually, and he wanted to be prepared. He was the thinker of the two, while Harry was the doer. Now if only he could get his brother to listen and not have him make up lame excuses.

"Okay, but…" Harry said, conceding the point.

Gary put the book down and turned to his twin. "Look, I agree we should get Sally on our side. What I'm trying to say is we should get her to agree that they should know everything, and I do mean everything. Like I said, if they can plan together then it would be that much easier for all of them. What would happen if Mum planned something and it goes against Sally's plan? Who would we go with?" he questioned.

Harry nodded, that made sense. He could now see where this was going.

"We also need to present a united front when we get to Hogwarts, because, I don't trust Dumbledore —not after he tried to separate us as babies. He thinks I am the Boy-Who-Lived and I wouldn't put it past him to try and separate us when we get there," the younger twin said with some disgust and worry. He really didn't want to be the Boy-Who-Lived and he didn't like that everyone ignored Harry. He hated the fact that people doted on him when he went into public, and that the Headmaster looked to him to save the world.

"I know, Gary," Harry said, giving his brother a one armed hug. "I think we can trust them too. If they didn't get angry at the whole parselmouth thing then I think they can handle this. Do we bring Padfoot and Moony in this too? If we are going to tell Mum and Dad, then we might as well tell the whole family. What about Neville and his parents? Dumbledore might try something with them too, you know? Probably not, but do we take that chance?" he asked all the questions that had been crowding his brain, which were frustrating and worrying him.

The older twin knew that their parents didn't want them to grow up special. They just wanted them to be normal little boys, but he didn't think the public was ever going to let them do that. He felt really bad for Gary. It was supposed to be him that got all the attention, not that he'd like it any better than his brother did, but he wanted the attention off his twin so Gary could go out into public and not have to worry about all those retarded people.

They had made great progress with the magical kids that went to school with them. All his friends just saw Gary as just another boy. But, there will be hundreds of kids they didn't know when they got to Hogwarts. All those stupid books that they couldn't get off the shelves, because they were listed as fiction, and they didn't use his real name just called him Boy-Who-Lived or BWL, so legally they weren't liable. Those stupid fairytales made Gary out to be some kind of wizard prodigy, and the stupid public was eating it up. If it weren't for the non-magical world the Potters would never be able to leave the house. Oh, it was getting better in Diagon Alley, but his poor twin still couldn't walk down the street without people pointing and whispering.

While the boys were mulling over all of Harry's questions, Sally appeared behind them. They seem to forget that she was almost always around them. She had delegated all her responsibilities to her minions and she was to only be contacted on really tough cases where the person refused to move on. The rest of the time she was with all of her charges, there were about twenty now and it was a good thing she was a deity and could be in more places at once, or she would never get anything done. This little girl persona was one of her favorites and she loved hanging around the boys. They were one of the few charges she had that were not abused; they were just marked by Fate.

"You forget I can hear you boys," she said in her cute little girl voice, causing the boys to jump. "I've heard your arguments and I agree on some things. You know I can't read the future, I only get vague feelings. I have been around for a long time and I understand how humans think better than you do, but you were right about the whole parselmouth thing and that we should have told you mum right away. She would have done exactly what she did, research and talked to the men." She got a thoughtful look on her face as she sat in front of the boys. She tapped her little finger on her chin in a very adult manner, which looked completely out of place on her tiny cherub face.

"So we can tell them?" the boys said, leaning forward eagerly to hear her reply.

"Well, I think we should tell your mum, dad and uncles," she stated and then she held up her hands and continued, "but right now that is all. I need them to promise not to tell anyone, I'll ask them to take a vow to stress how important what we are about to tell them is. And if they don't know Occlumency then they need to learn it before you go to Hogwarts. How much magic you've learned and how smart you are, are secrets that cannot get out to anyone outside your family. Not yet anyway, maybe later when your friends are more mature or you know more about them."

"So when can we them? I really want to get this done as soon as possible. I don't like keeping secrets from my parents," Harry said as he sat back down on the sofa. Gary sat beside him and waited for what his little friend would say.

Sally leaned forward in her seat, looked both boys and stated decisively, "You should ask that they all come here after supper. Ask your dad to make sure your godfathers are here as well. Tell them that it is very important."

"Okay, Sally," both boys intoned, getting off the sofa to go and wash up for supper.

Hphphp

Later that night, after a meal of steamed chicken, vegetables and mashed potatoes with gravy, before everyone left the table, Gary spoke up, "Mum, Dad, we have something we need to tell you. Can you call Padfoot and Moony? We need to tell them too. It's not something bad, promise," he stated at their expression and he held his hands up to calm his mum down. "It's just something weird that we feel you should know about."

"Is this something I'm going have to yell at you or ground you for?" Lily asked worried. After the stress from yesterday, she wasn't sure if they could handle anything bad right now.

"No, yes, maybe… I can tell you that we've been keeping a secret for a very long time, but we had a really good reason. We want to tell you now, but we want to tell everyone at the same time. Can we meet in the game room?" Gary asked as he and Harry, as one, jumped from their chairs and ran out of the room before she answered.

Lily and James looked at each other in shock. She was getting up to go and yell at the boys, but, the look on his face made her stop. She sat back in her chair and arched an eyebrow at him.

He just shook his head and said, "Lily, I don't think the boys would keep a secret if it wasn't important. Besides they are only five, how big of a secret could it be? Could really be bigger than Harry being a parselmouth?" he asked, tempting fate in Lily's opinion, but she listened to him quietly. He was making sense, after all. "Why don't you finish your tea, and I'll go call Padfoot and Moony. I'll get Taffy to tell the boys we'll be there in a minute. But you need to calm down before you go," he said. He knew his wife had quite a temper, but it was not needed right now. After the whole snake thing they needed to let the boys know that they would not be mad at them for much of anything.

Lily took a deep breath and sat back down. She grabbed her cup and finished her now warm tea. James had called the house elf and sent her to the boys and left to Floo his friends. When the men came into the room ten minutes later, they sat at the now clean table.

"What's up?" Sirius asked, looking at his friend's and then Lily's faces. She was tense, but James was relaxed, so it couldn't be that bad.

"The boys want to tell us something. They said they have been keeping a secret. Lily is a bit miffed that there is more than the whole snake talking thing. I am of the opinion that it can't be that bad. Anyway, we need to head to the game room; the boys are waiting for us. Taffy," James called.

"Master James is calling Taffy?" the little elf asked as she popped into the room.

"Yes, we are going to need some dessert for six, can you bring it to me here, since we're going into the null room?" he asked politely.

"Taffy can do that," she squeaked and snapped her fingers and a tray of biscuits and pumpkin juice appeared on the table.

"Thank you, Taffy, you can go now," the older Potter stated as he picked up the tray. The men left, and though she was still upset Lily got up to follow. They all made it to the game room. James deposited the tray on the coffee table between the seats. They all sat around on couches and chairs, facing the boys. Lily looked to James and let him start.

"Okay boys, we're here. What is it you wanted to tell us?" James said calmly, grabbing a glass of juice and one of the biscuits.

Harry looked at the worried faces of the adults, took a deep breath and said, "You know the night Voldemort came and tried to kill everyone?" nods and flinches all around. "Well, something else happened that night. Mum, you really died, but Death, we call her Sally, said she had a feeling that you would be needed and brought you back. She is the one that made the cutting curse so you couldn't have any more kids. She said in order to bring you back; a price had to be paid. She said she asked your soul first and you agreed. She has been with us ever since." He looked at his mum and fretted a bit. He knew she always wanted a big family, and he had to wonder if the price was too high.

Lily looked gobsmacked. She had given up on having more kids to come back to life? Well now that she thought about it, it was something she would do. She nodded her head and waved her hand for them to continue, not sure if she could talk without yelling.

"Anyway, we wanted to tell you that Sally… well, she never left. She has been our friend since as long as we can remember," Gary said as he picked up a glass and took a sip.

Sally appeared on the sofa next to the boys and gave a little wave. The adults jumped and grabbed their wands, forgetting this was a magic null room.

"Sally has been teaching us things. We know loads of wandless magic— passive stuff. And as you can hear from the way we're talking, we're a lot smarter than you think. We've been reading since we were three— little stuff, like children's books. We didn't start reading the heavy stuff until we went to school," Gary said, putting his glass down and folding his hands on his lap, making it look like it wasn't a big thing that Death was in the room. It was very out of place for these little kids to be taking control of the conversation, but the adults were all in a state of shock.

Lily was frantically trying to reconcile her thoughts. Here were her children talking like adults and going on about how they were friends with Death. She didn't want that for her kids, she wanted them to have a childhood. It was what she had been fighting Dumbledore about for years. Now, here was this deity that was raising her children to be prodigies. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy that they were finally coming clean.

"Don't worry so, Lily, I make sure they have fun," Sally said with a giggle and a wink. "It is one of the reasons I chose this persona, so the boys would be more comfortable. They play house with me all the time," she said, making the boys glare at her and the men laugh. It cut the tension in the room a lot, though Lily still looked angry.

"Anyway," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "We wanted to tell you now, so that all of you can make your plans together. All of you are trying to keep me and Gary safe, and it would be easier if you worked with each other," he stated as he picked up a cushion and started playing with it. He glanced that the adult faces trying to judge how they were taking this. So far it was mostly disbelief even though Sally was sitting right here. His mum looked ready to explode, and he was a bit concerned that she might make his little friend mad.

"We're sorry for keeping this a secret, but you have to understand we've been friends with Sally almost as long as we have been alive. We have listened to her concerns about how people react to her. However, she did make us promise that if she ever told us to do bad things we were to tell you right away," Gary said, taking the cushion from his brother's nervous hands. "Sally is not any more evil than me and Harry."

"Let me get this straight," said Sirius, pointing at Sally, "You're Death, but you don't want to hurt anyone. We're not going to die by seeing you?"

"No,"' Sally said with a giggle and a shake of her head, "it doesn't work like that. You'll only see me after you die, not before." Then she sobered up and put a very firm look on her kid-like face. "I've taken a special interest in the boys because Voldemort was supposed to die that night. He didn't though; he found a way to run from me. He created soul containers, you call them horcruxes. Lily was on the correct trail with all her research. The problem is that there isn't much written about them. If she and I work together, we can hopefully find them and I can destroy them. I can't find them because they are in the land of the living," she said as she looked at the adults and saw they were horrified that they were correct that Voldemort was going to come back. "There is something I need to tell you that I haven't told Harry yet. Harry has one of these in his scar. I saw it implant there that Halloween night."

Everyone, including the boys, gasped at that bit of news, and then they all started shouting in disbelief. Lily and James ran to their children and pulled Harry and Gary into a four way hug.

Sally let this go on for a few minutes knowing they needed to get it out of their system. Then she shouted above everyone, "SIT DOWN! If you listen, I will explain."

Everyone sat down, shocked that such a young looking girl could yell that loudly, and tried to calm themselves. James and Lily had the boys on their laps, not letting go for any reason.

"Does that make me evil after all? There's a piece of an evil man in my head. Am I going to hurt my family? I don't want to be evil," Harry said as he started get hysterical again, hugging his mum close. He really didn't want to cry, he was a big boy, but with all the stress of the last month, waiting for his mum to tell his dad about the snakes… well, he was ready to have a good cry and go to bed.

"Harry, look at me," Sally said gently, getting up to kneel in front of the distraught boy. "I would have never left that in you if it was going to turn you evil. You and your brother are very gentle souls with an abundance love for everyone you meet. There is no way you will ever, ever be evil. Do you understand? Take my word for it. I have seen evil souls and yours is not one. Do you trust me?" the persona of Death asked, looking into Harry's eyes and hoping to calm the poor boy.

Harry looked into the bright blue eyes of the little girl he had known most of his life. She had never lied to them, she had always made sure they had fun while they learned and never said anything bad to them. "Yes, Sally, I trust you," he said, snuggling back against his mum, feeling much better now.

"Well I sure the hell don't," Lily snarled, leaning around Harry so she could get in Sally's face. "I have no idea if you are who you say you are. I have no way of knowing if you are out to hurt my children." Her eyes flashed with repressed anger. How dare this… child… deity… whatever the hell she was keep her child as a horcrux? She wanted that vile piece of soul out of her boy and the sooner the better. She wasn't even sure that this… being was Death. "How do I know you have my boys' best interest at heart?"

"You would doubt my word? I have been here since that night, when I gave you back your life. If I wanted to hurt the boys, I would have done so years ago," the tiny girl child said, her eyes flashed just as strongly as the mother's. "I love these boys as much as I'm able. Not as much as you do, but since I am a neutral deity my emotions are not as strong as a humans. However, I do care for all my charges."

That statement caused some confused looks among the men, who were being silent and letting Lily handle this. That and they had grown up to fear Death, is seems Lily had no such fear. James put his hand on his wife's arm, and tried to pull her back. He was very worried for her life right now.

"How do we even know you are who you say you are? So what if you appeared in our null room? You could have used an invisibility cloak," Lily stated as she shrugged off her husband, not really sure if one could work in the null room.

Sally sighed. "Fine, you want proof? Here you go," she said as she touched Lily's forehead and made her remember the night she died.

Lily reeled back in shock and after viewing the memory she started crying. "Oh my god, you're telling the truth. You gave me back my children," the mum said as tears of sadness and happiness streamed down her face.

"Lily, are you okay?" her worried husband asked as he put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her close.

"Oh, James, I remember now. She's telling the truth, I died. I was so worried about the kids that night. I was afraid that they would die too. I thought you were already dead. I remember talking to… Sally, and I remember making the deal with her. It's like the boys said," she said, looking at her husband and then looking down at the boys. "I'm still upset with you boys for keeping secrets. If you want all of us to trust each other you can't keep secrets. Understand?" she said sternly to the twins. They nodded their head in unison. Though she was calmer, she still wanted to know why her child had to have that… horcrux in his head. She opened her mouth to asked, but Sally held up her hands.

"Sit back and I'll explain," the little girl said as she got up off her knees. Lily nodded and she and James settled further on the sofa with the boys still in their laps. Sally took the armchair at the side of them. Sirius and Remus were still sitting in armchairs on the other side.

"Okay," the deity said, "now that everyone is calm let me tell you why I feel that Harry needs this horcrux in his scar. Like I told the boys, I can't see the future, but I get vague feelings, like mother's intuition. When this horcrux imbedded into Harry I got the feeling that one day it could save his life. I've been monitoring it ever since. It seems to be contained in the scar and it's not affecting him in any way. To make sure of this, I have been teaching both boys Occlumency to go along with the meditations you Potters do each night. Every one of you that doesn't know this technique will start learning it tonight when we are done talking. You must know it before the boys reach Hogwarts."

The adults all nodded their head. All the pure-bloods had a pretty good start on Occlumency;it was taught to all of them when they were young. Remus didn't have to worry, the wolf in his mind kept everyone out. James made a promise to himself that he would help Lily learn.

"Now that you all understand how important all this is, I need vows from all of you that you will not reveal anything that has been said or will be said this night or any time we discuss important things," Sally demanded, looking into everyone's eyes.

The adults looked at each other in silent discussion, after a few minutes of this there was a nodding of the heads. Lily and James put the boys on the sofa and the adults left the magic null room and went into the hallway. They deliberated how they were going to phrase the vow, because vows can be tricky things. They finally decided to keep it simple, yet all encompassing. The vow they all took was thus:

I, insert name here, do vow on my life and magic that I will never tell anyone not in this house right now about Death, also known as Sally, or anything this deity says. I will keep everything that Death tells me to myself, be it tonight or any other time that I am asked. Unless given leave by Death. On this I vow.

After the vow was spoken, everyone returned to the game room and positioned themselves the same way they were before. The boys, not wanting to be babies, climbed back on the couch opposite of their parents. Sally sat between them. They all looked at each other wondering where to start.

Remus spoke for the first time, "Okay, tell us everything and then we can start planning on how to keep the boys safe."

Chapter 9: Sally's Lesson

Sally looked at the anxious adults and sighed and began her speech. She hoped that there weren't too many interruptions, but knowing this group… "Okay, like the boys told you, I've been around them since they were fifteen months old. At first it was just at night when you were asleep. I would teach them little things, like changing the color of their sheets or having them float toys to their crib. As they got older I started on bigger stuff, like shields and stinging hexes, nothing really demanding," she said with a cute little proud smile at the thoughts of her boys doing magic for the first time. "I'm the one to who told the boys not to tell you, when they got old enough to ask."

"Why, why would to take that from us?" Lily demanded as a few tears fell from her eyes, making the twins feel worse than they had before. "I don't blame you, boys," she said, after seeing the looks on their faces. "I blame Sally," she spat, glaring that the little girl, who was failing to look contrite. "We missed so many first that I can't even begin to tell you how angry I am with you. And were you not the embodiment of Death then you would know just how pissed off I am." Her green eyes flashed with anger and frustration that she couldn't curse the being with the cute face.

"Honestly, I was doing what I thought was right," Sally said with a sad shake of her head. She had never been a mother and being a neutral deity… well, she was a bit apathetic on how strongly Lily felt. "I heard you talking one night; you were hoping that the boys had a normal childhood. It was after Dumbledore said that Gary would be powerful when he grew older," she explained in a sincere voice. "You were talking with James about that and wishing you had never heard of the prophecy. So when they were old enough to understand, I told them that they should act like normal little boys. I even walked them through how to talk for someone their age. And it worked, you were happy," she shrugged, looking around at the adults.

The men looked confused, not that they didn't understand, but they knew better than to piss off what was generally taken as the God of Death. Why would Lily be fighting an entity that could kill her with a look? Oh, James was just as upset that he missed the boys doing magic, but his upbringing would not allow him to argue with a divine being.

The twins were exchanging guilty and worried looks. They had no idea how this would play out and felt bad that they were at least a bit responsible for letting it happen.

"We would have been happy, either way. Actually I would have preferred to know how well my boys were doing, and then I could have helped. I love my children be they prodigies or not," Lily snarled, not the least bit appeased. "You had no right to take those first from us," she said, glaring at the little girl who held such sway over her children.

"Look, I only did it for you, but now that you know, we can move on," the tiny deity said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Lily thumped back onto the couch seeing that there was no way to make this person understand just how wrong she had been. How did one make an ageless deity change their perspective? "Fine, I'll drop this for now, but know that I don't like you, and it may be a while before I do."

"I can live with that," Sally said cheekily, knowing that she would win the woman over, if only for the boys' sake. "Now," she continued, "at first they reacted like any other child and it was great fun keeping a secret from adults and playing pretend. Then as they learned to read and started think logically they wanted to tell you about me, but I told them no. I told them you wouldn't understand and that adults were scared of Death."

That caused the men to nod in agreement, and Lily to open her mouth in protest, but Sally lifted her hand in an I-know-better-now way. The redheaded mother snapped her mouth shut and glared at everyone, barring her boys.

"After we discovered that Harry was a parselmouth, we started to become worried that you would reject him," the cute little being said as she held up her tiny hands to ward off the protestations. "I know now that I was wrong and I'm sorry, but can you really blame us? Think of your initial reaction and tell me the first thing that popped into your head wasn't horror and then denial and you probably thought 'My son is not evil'. After the boys saw that you would love them not matter what, they decided to come to me and convince me to tell our secret."

The men looked sheepish; it had been their initial reaction. Thank Merlin, Lily was more levelheaded than them. Had it not been for her research then it might have been harder to overcome years of teaching.

"What else have you three been keeping secret from us?" Lily wanted to know. She was appalled that there was so much already and right under their noses. "What else have you been doing with my boys?"

"There isn't much more to tell, just that the boys are very smart and can do limited wandless and wordless magic," Sally answered sweetly, trying to appease the woman who seemed to hate her right now. "Harry's better than Gary, but they are both pretty good."

That caused all the adults to beam with pride.

"Way to go, boys," James said, happily.

"Thanks, Dad," they said proudly.

"Right," Sally started, bringing the attention back to her. "Now that you know, you can help by seeing if you can't get their friends caught up with at least Gary. Not in intellect, just in magic. The boys were born intelligent and I'm sure my sister Fate had something to do with that, because they are smarter than even Lily was when she was younger. However, if you get their friends to start thinking logically it would help. I've notice most wizard lose their common sense when they really start doing wand magic." She pointed around the room. "Including you men, so lessons in logic might benefit you as well. If you quit making everything about pranks there might be help for you yet."

That caused the men to protest, until Lily glared at them and snapped, "Severus Snape," shutting them right up.

Sally nodded her head in agreement and went on, "There is much to learn on the Internet, many self-help sites will help get the brain ticking. Hogwarts goes a long way in reducing logic by telling the young children not to question why magic happens just accept that it does. People like Lily and Severus are among the few that graduate Hogwarts and still have logical thinking. Most Muggle-born or -raised are so caught up with doing magic they forget everything they were taught in primary school."

Lily agreed. "You're right. Hold on for just a minute, I want to write some stuff down," she said as she went to one of the desk along the wall and took out some paper pads and pencils. She was already making list of television programs and websites that would further the children's knowledge along in her head and she wanted to get it on paper. She took the writing utensils back to the living area and put them on the table with the forgotten juice and biscuits. Remus, being the scholar he is, snatched on up and started taking notes. Lily wrote down what she had thought of so far and then looked a Sally and said, "Go on."

"This is one of the reasons that I brought Lily back," Sally said with a sunny smile of approval. "She is the smartest, most logical among you four. She will keep you grounded, so that what needs to be done can be."

Everyone had to agree with that, Lily was the brightest witch of her age group. Only Snape came close to her intellect.

"What you are doing with the boys' friends is great, and you should continue doing it," the little girl continued and looked at Lily. "You guys did the right thing bringing them all the families together and putting the kids in that school. Maybe you can add some non-magical moral stories to their play time? There are those kid shows on the telly that can help a lot, too. This will keep them wondering and thinking rationally, I can't stress how important this is," she said sternly.

"See, Lily, we did the right thing," James said with a big smile, trying to break the overwhelming urge to take notes in this lecture type talk.

"Too right," Sirius said, picking up the thread.

"You two, stop horsing around. This could be important," Remus mildly chastised as he made a few more notes.

"Oh, it is okay," Sally giggled. "They're just proving my point."

"Well, it is getting late and I want this talk to be over, so you two behave and pay attention. Go ahead, Sally," Lily said once more poised to take summaries.

Harry and Gary just chuckled through their yawns. Their dad and Uncle always had a way to lighten the air.

"Alright, back on topic," Sally said, putting her professor face back on. "Now, we need to make plans on how to keep all the kids together when they get to Hogwarts. Dumbledore will try and separate them, after all House rivalry is tradition. I have a feeling that it might work on a few of the boys' friends, but if we can get the rest to continue to think sensibly, then the boys will have a large support group. And maybe they can start reuniting all the Houses like the souls of the Founders tell me they want," the embodiment of Death said, looking off into the distance and seeing the souls of the Founders nod in agreement.

"Wait, you can talk to the souls of the Founders? Didn't they like pass on to a… I don't know… higher realm or something?" Sirius said as he looked to where she was and tried to see what she was looking at. There was nothing there.

"Of course I can talk to them," Sally snapped as she brought her focus back on the group. "I am Death. I know all souls that have passed on. They come to the crossroad realm to look at the living world to see how much it has changed. The Founders have been moaning to me for centuries about how divided the Houses of Hogwarts are."

"But… wait… I mean, that can't be right. Didn't Salazar want the Houses to be divided?" Remus asked in confusion.

"Don't be stupid," the little girl spirit bit out. "Use your brain. You were always the smarter one of you three. That castle and all its wards didn't show up overnight you know. Those four worked together for decades to make a school where all magical children could learn. They were very good friends. Of course they fought, don't you guys?" she questioned, knowing the answer, but needed them to come to the conclusion on their own.

The three Marauders looked at one another and remembered all the times they disagreed and the one time they didn't trust Remus and took the word of Peter instead. They all gave weak smiles to one another and then turned back to Sally.

"See, even the best of friends have problems. Anyway, after one of the major fights, Salazar left to cool off and never came back. History doesn't know what happened to him, but I do. Salazar was killed by religious mongers that were out to kill all wizards and witches. Even though they weren't a great issue until much later they still roamed in a band to wipe out all magic users. There have always been groups of zealots in history, and now. Anyway, they spotted him one day, and they knew who he was. The group waited to catch him. They didn't want to kill him right away, they wanted him to tell them where Hogwarts was and who was there. He died keeping those secrets, therefore keeping everyone safe— including the Muggle-born."

"That is not what we were taught," Lily said as she scratched notes on her pad.

"No, it isn't," Sally agreed, leaning forward and taking one of the biscuit. She didn't need to eat, of course, but it made humans more comfortable when she did. "But that's how he died, protecting the castle. It was one of the reasons he didn't want Muggle-borns in the school. He feared that they too would be tortured to give away the secrets of the castle. And he was correct," she said, tapping her finger on the table in front of her for emphasis, while holding her treat in her other hand. "Many children died that way. It was a good thing the wards kept non-magicals away or the castle would have fallen shortly after it was established."

"What of the other Founders, how did they react? I mean, did they ever find out how he died?" Sirius asked as he too snatched up a biscuit and nibbled on it.

"No, they never did. They all found out when they passed, and were mournful of the way they thought of their friend," Death answered with a shake of her head. "I remember how sad they all were when history told their story, and made them out to be godlike. They were only human, powerful yes, but only because they worked together." She turned her little head and looked around the room to see how they were taking the story. She could see some doubt, after all the men had grown up being told that Salazar was an evil man. It was going to take some time and maybe more history from her to convince them otherwise. The boys and Lily though seem to believe her. "The point is, they want the school united as it once was and maybe it will be the boys and their friends that do that."

"Maybe, but won't most the of the school turn against the kids if they try? They'll be going against tradition and all. Kids can be cruel, you know. And if Hogwarts' students all think that Gary is the Boy-Who-Lived, they might be harder on him if he doesn't live up to their expectations," Lily said, still taking in everything they learned that night.

Who would have thought that Death was a little girl and that she had been friends with the boys since that night? Lily was grateful that Sally brought her back from the dead, and seemed to want to work with them. However, she was still upset that this person made her boys keep secrets from her. Oh, she could understand why she did it, but the fact that she felt it necessary… well that hurt. Yes, it will take a while to trust Death.

"Yes, kids can be cruel," Sally agreed with a nod of her little head, causing her pigtails to bob. "We'll have to prepare all the children that that might happen. They all need to know about peer pressure and how to fight it. Which, is way I am stressing the point that they all need to be taught to think for themselves. I know Gary doesn't want to use his fame for anything, because he knows it is false; however, he can use it to be heard among his peers."

"I'm not sure if I like him doing that," Lily argued. They had been teaching Gary not to use his fame for anything. This would go against those lessons.

"Don't worry, it'll all be a front," Sally said, not worried that Gary would get a big head. She and Harry would make sure he keeps his feet firmly planted on the ground. "Anyway, if he and Harry and all their friends stand together, they have a chance to make the Founders dream come true. I know there will be people who will be cruel and petty, especially among the older children, it can't be helped. I'll be there with them to help them through those times. If you can find a way for the boys to communicate with you instantly that would help them a lot. You can support them as well," Sally said, trying to push that if they work together they will not fail.

"Oh, oh we have those mirrors we can give them. We can make more and maybe even try to market them. We can give them to all the kids, that way if they are in separate houses they can still talk to each other at night," James said, snapping his fingers as he came up with the idea.

"That's a great idea, James," Remus said, taking note.

"Yeah, I'll see if I can't find the notes on how to make them," Sirius added. "I know a guy that can help us market them. His name is Hayden Robson. Remember, he was in Ravenclaw, a year above us. I dated his sister, Madison, who was in our year. He told me before he graduated that he was going into the family business. They make most of the gadgets that are sold in Zonko's, so maybe he will help us market these," the dogman said, rubbing the back of his head in thought.

"That's also a good idea," the werewolf agreed.

"Though," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure if we can sell them in Zonko's. They only sell joke stuff. We'll have to figure out which store to sell them in, maybe Wiseacre's, they sell all sorts of weird stuff. Oh well," he shrugged, "we can give it a thought later, but for right now we can make them for the kids."

"Ohhhh, we should recreate the Map so all the kids can get around the school. We should improve it," James stated with another snap of his fingers. 'Yeah, I'm on roll,' he thought.

"We should think up a name for the kids group, it will give them a sense of unity like us when we called ourselves the Marauders," Sirius said, bouncing in his seat already coming up with a few names.

"Ummm…" Harry, who had been quiet up till now, spoke. "We think we, the kids, will think up a name. After all we're the ones who'll have it. So I think it is only fair that we think it up. Besides I'm not sure if I trust you not to think up something stupid," he said with a smile, showing that he was mostly joking.

"Oi, we don't think up stupid names," his uncle said with a mock growl.

"Wormtail," Remus said in all seriousness.

"Oh, yeah, that one was pretty stupid. Who thought of that again?" Sirius said a little shamefaced.

The adults just looked at him shaking their heads. But, at least the atmosphere wasn't as heavy anymore, which is what Harry wanted.

"I think that the mirrors and map are great ideas," the younger twin added his two Knuts worth. "We'll get together with the kids after school tomorrow and see what they say about the name thing. We'll still have to dumb ourselves down, but, I think we should try and start coming off a little smarter." Harry nodded in time with his brother, agreeing to everything he was saying. "We don't want them to bump us up a grade so we get separated from the group. However, when we're here at the manor, we should start coming off smarter then we have been. I know some of them will start getting jealous, but, as long as we don't lord it over them we should be okay," Gary said in a voice that was far older that a five year old should have.

Lily looked at her watch and noted it was now going on ten p.m. "It's getting late, and the boys have school tomorrow. We should get together over the weekend. We need to continue this when we are all awake and alert. We need to talk about who we're going to tell or not. But right now the kids need to go to bed," the redheaded mother said, putting her notepad down and pointing to the uncles. "Give you dad and uncles hugs and kisses, and Mummy will tuck you in after you brush your teeth and wash your face," she said.

"Okay, Mummy," the boys said as they did what they were told. They were just happy that the evening went as well as they hoped. They only had a bit up guilt left over from the fact that their mum didn't like Sally, but that was between the two females. "See you later, Sally," they said as they ran out of the room to get ready for bed.

"Quit running," Lily yelled in a futile effort to make her children walk.

"Sorry, Mum," the boys yelled back not really slowing down, just like children everywhere.

"It's so weird when they do that," Sirius said, giving a false shiver.

"Molly said that it'll get stranger the more they mature. She said they'll start to finish each other's sentences like they're reading each other's minds. She doesn't know if they are actually doing that. When she asked her brothers and sons about it, they wouldn't tell her," Lily informed them. "I can't wait for when that happens, because it means that no matter what they won't ever be separated." She was hoping beyond hope that it happened before they get to Hogwarts.

Sally knew what caused it, but she wasn't telling. Because it was a twin thing— a secret kept for many generations, only twins knew it and could share it. The Prewitt twins passed it on to their nephews, via a diary. Now, according to the whispering she had overheard, those two were going to pass it on to her boys. And hopefully, they would pass it on to any set of twins they knew. And on and on it would go. "James?" the little girl said, drawing the man's attention to her.

"Yeah?" James answered, wondering what else she could want.

"Do you know the Patils?" she asked with a tiny tilt of her head.

"Ummm, no… well, I know of them," he answered as he scratched his chin. "I remember thinking about them when the boys were born. They had a set of twins born a few months before ours, girls I think. I remember reading about them and thinking that it was good thing the boys wouldn't be the only twins in their year," James said as his forehead wrinkled with remembrance on what he had read.

"I think you should find them and try to befriend them. Maybe see if they will let their girls go to school with your boys. I have a feeling those girls will need the boys' help with something. It would be easier if we get them together now so a trust can form," she said with a mischievous smile, making James think this was for some future prank.

"Okay, I'll look them up tomorrow when I go to the Ministry. More children are always welcome," the older Potter said as he tried to figure out just how to do that. The Patils didn't have political clout, because they were foreigners, maybe if he sponsored them, they could get a better foothold here in Britain. It was something to look into.

"Okay, well I'm off. I have things to do. You won't see me until the weekend, but I'll be around," Sally giggled as she gave a cute little wave of her hand and faded out of sight.

"That's creepier than when the twins talk," Sirius said with a real shiver this time. This whole night had been weird and it was going to take a few days to get it all sorted out in his brain. But now that he was going to start Occlumency again it would be easier. He shook his head to clear it, slapped his hands on his knees and got up from the couch. "Well I'm off, too. I want to go to sleep and see if the world rights itself in the morning. Have a good night, everyone."

"Good night, Padfoot. See you this weekend, if not sooner," James said, waving off his best friend off from where he sat next to his wife, who had picked up her notes and was going over them.

"Hold up, Padfoot, I'll walk with you. Night, James, Lily," Remus said as he joined Sirius at the door.

"Night, boys," Lily said as she looked up from her notes and waved them out. She let out a sigh and put the pad down again. "Let's go to bed, James. I need to tuck the boys in so I'll join you in a minute," she said, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, sweetheart, I am a bit knackered," he said, getting up and holding out his hand to help her.

She smiled and took his hand. She made sure to thank him well, with a kiss on the lips that promised more, causing him to firm his hold on her waist.

"Well, maybe not that knackered," he said with a grin and another kiss.

"Hmmm," was her reply as she kissed him back.

They parted and went up the stairs hand in hand and separated at the top. James all but hopped down the hall as he went to turn down the bed and get ready for what he hoped was a night of fun.

Lily just fondly shook her head at her husband's back and made her way to the boy's room. She was glad that they still roomed together to strengthen the bond. It made it easier to tuck them in, that and she wanted that bond to grow as strong as it could. She smiled lovingly at them and gave each sleeping boy a kiss on their scars. Her smile turned into a frown as she hoped that tomorrow wouldn't hold any more surprises.

Shaking her head of that thought, she went to bed, and made good her promise. The adult Potters finally got some sleep, much, much later, but it was well worth it after the tense month they had. Now they cuddled and dreamed of a brighter future.

Sally had given them hope for their boys, even though there were still a few worrying things, the plans they were making would help those tasks flow much easier. Lily smiled in her sleep as she dreamed of how close her family would now become.