21

Chapter 21: Time Marches On

Thanks for all the reviews. There are some major time skips in this chapter. It's time to move the story along.

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Sally and Mandy were soon brought into the group. They took the vows, though Mandy did fight it at first. She had to be nudged in to taking it. It had to be explained to her how important it was to keep the boys safe. She knew that, but she was upset that she wasn't trusted enough to be let in without it. Sirius told her no one, not even Mad-eye Moody or Amelia Bones, the two most trustworthy people in the wizarding world, would be allowed to know where they lived without an unbreakable vow. That changed her mind, and she took the vow.

Lily loved both women immediately and they were both shocked and impressed with her. Sally liked that she stayed here for Harry and that she was taking care of him even after death. Mandy was more impressed with the spell work that brought her there.

The two women hung around the penthouse quite a bit, though mostly on the weekends, when the family would be all there. Both had their own work and interest that kept them from staying during the weekdays, though they did tend to drop by.

It was Sunday again and Sally was there at the penthouse. Mandy was with her family as they too had Sunday brunch together. Since it was getting close to Christmas time, or Yule for the wizard-raised, Mandy was spending most of her time with her family. Sally was an orphan, so she didn't mind spending time with Remus and his surrogate family.

Sally elected to help the adults with the mail, which was heavy with holiday wishes, while Harry and Neville did their homework. They had put it off this weekend since Harry had joined Neville in visiting his parents. It left Sirius and Remus time to spend with their girlfriends. Lily had to be with Harry, but she stayed in his head most of the time. Only leaving it when he needed privacy, or to have tea with Augusta.

They were still unsure how Alice would react to seeing the ghostly form of her best friend. Augusta was a firm supporter of not letting that happen. Lily and the old woman talked a lot about what to do with the two Longbottoms that were infirmed. They decided to put some music and more plants in the room. Augusta was going to read to them more and more from the Daily Prophet to keep them up on the daily news. She would try to shelter them from the most harmful and keep it to the gossip, but they hoped it would help.

Alice was getting up more and more to tend to the plants. Frank was sitting now, and his eyes seemed to focus on Alice as she moved around the room. He was answering more questions by blinking.

The three of them had come home in time for the Sunday brunch, which was the usual full English, and were now sorting mail.

"Harry, you have another letter from Hermione," Lily said, handing him a rather stuffed envelope. It looked like the girl had written a small book. She wondered if the child had put her diary in there. It was just that full.

"Wow, I've not heard from her in months," Harry said, taking the large letter. He pulled out the many pages of parchment. "I wonder what's been going on at Hogwarts," he mumbled as he started reading. It took about ten minutes to read the whole thing. The only sound during that time was the rustling of parchment as the adults read the mail and turning of pages from Harry. There were many glances his way as he read.

"Well?" Sirius asked when Harry finished. He wanted to know if there was anything they should worry about. Though what a twelve-year-old girl could tell them was probably not important. Still, she was their only eyes in the school, even if she didn't know it.

"She wants to go home, but the headmaster won't let her. She finally sees the school as a danger zone. Besides the open bullying and bias, there was a troll let into the castle on Halloween. She didn't see it, but it was pretty scary for her. There was a dragon also found on the grounds. She said that rumor has it that it was just a baby, but it was big enough to burn down the groundskeeper's house," Harry said, going over some of the main points. He scratched his head trying to remember some of the other things she had written. "She finally understands that Binns and Snape are not good teachers," he added, this time sharing a look with his mum.

"Why won't Dumbledore let her go home?" Neville asked, not sure how that worked. Did the headmaster have that kind of power?

"He gets subsidized for each student," Sally said blandly, reading over a 'good luck' letter. She knew that the man would do anything to keep any student from leaving the school. Even wiping their memory if need be. She had no proof, but she had a feeling that it had happened to one of her friends.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, wondering what the new word meant. He could almost tell from the context, but not quite.

"It means the government pays the school per student not a flat rate," Lily answered. "Unlike your school, Hogwarts gets government funding," she explained, folding up the letter she was reading and putting it in the 'we hate you' pile.

"Oh," Harry and Neville said, looking at each other and shrugging. They hadn't known that.

"Does that mean they get to tell Hogwarts what to teach?" Neville wanted to know. That made sense, if they were paying the tuition, then they did have a say in how it was run, right?

"They have a Board of Governors that do that," Sirius answered, drinking from his coffee cup. He had turned to coffee these last few months. Mandy had introduced him to it, and he was hooked after the first taste. Black and bitter, just like his name.

"So, what does the headmaster do?" Harry asked, flipping through his book for the right page for his math homework. He had set the letter aside to read more thoroughly later. It was quite in-depth, and he didn't want to miss any details.

"He is in charge of the day to day running of the school. He is also in charge of discipline," Remus said, putting his 'we hate you' letter down and looking at Harry to answer him. "He is the reason for Binns and Snape still being there," he added, nodding to the letter that laid on the table in front of Harry. "And he does have a say in classes that are taught. He can take it to the Board, and they will debate it. The final call will be the Boards."

"Should we call Hermione's parents?" Harry asked. He wanted to make sure they knew that their daughter was getting her wishes known to them. He would not put it passed the old man to keep her letters home from reaching there, or them being altered. She had said that her mail was being tampered with.

"Yeah, I'll do that," Remus said, getting up and going to the phone. He had a better relationship with the Grangers. They had come to his shop a few times to get some questions answered, and they met a few of the parents of other muggleborn there. It was like his shop was a halfway point for the muggleborn network. He was okay with that.

"Hermione said that this was not the first time she wrote me. She thinks that someone is taking her mail," Harry said, thinking on what the letter said. "She had to go to the gates to get the owl out for this one," he added. That wasn't good to hear.

"I wouldn't put it passed the old man to do that," Sally said, sniffing like she smelled something foul. "I know my letters never got to my mum when I complained," she added. Not only hers, but many of her friends' letters never reached home either.

"Why didn't your mum pull you?" Neville asked, wondering why the muggleborn stayed if they were treated so poorly.

"The teachers had my parents convinced that if I were not trained then I'd blow up or kill someone around me," she said with a heavy sigh. "That and tutors are expensive," she added.

"Is that right?" Harry asked his mum.

"Yes, they told my parents the same. I begged my mum to let me stay for the sake of Severus. I didn't want him to be alone. Then when we had our falling out, I had been there over five years, so it only made sense to stick it out," Lily said, looking at her son's face to see if he understood what she was telling him.

"Do you regret staying?" he asked with a scrunching of his brow.

"Sometimes. But if I hadn't, I would not have married your father. Then I would not have had you," she said with a smile. "I don't regret that at all," she added, leaning over, and running a hand down his face.

"Me neither," he answered. He never got tired of her cool touch.

"Let's get back to sorting," Sirius said, done with the lovey dovey stuff. He was jealous that he never had that kind of love with his mum. Yet he was happy that those two had it.

"Alright," Lily said, going back to the mail.

Remus came back to the table. "You were right, they didn't know anything until yesterday, when they got a letter as big as yours," he said, nodding to Harry.

"What are they going to do?" Harry asked, giving up on doing his homework for the moment.

"Well, I gave them Alex's number, so they are going to get their daughter out of Hogwarts," Remus said with a shit-eating grin.

"That was smart," Lily said with a nod of approval. Alex would take the case and Hermione would go home. She would have Remus point them in the right direction for tutors. She didn't want her to come here with the boys. She was too young for an unbreakable vow. There was no way she could protect her mind. If her letters were being taken, then the headmaster knew that she was in contact with Harry. That was too much of a risk.

"Yeah, Mr. Preston will get it all straightened out," Harry agreed. He really liked how cutthroat the man was about winning his cases. That and Albus Dumbledore didn't like the lawyer. This would also be one more black mark on the headmaster's record.

"Hurry up and finish your homework," Lily said, pointing to the neglected book.

"Yes, Mum," Harry said, flipping the book open to the correct page.

Silence reigned from there. Only the sound of mail being read, and homework being done, with the occasional drink being drank were heard.

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It was Christmas vacation that the lawsuit was heard, and Hermione won her case and got to stay home and not return to Hogwarts, along with a small monetary award for compensation. She declared that she was mentally scarred. Well, her lawyer did, and he proved it. She lost it on the stand, and they showed that she was traumatized from her experience at the school. The bullying and the bigotry were just too much for her. Not to mention the dangerous creatures that were roaming the castle.

They even had another girl added to the suit, Sally Anne Perks, who was more traumatized than Hermione. This poor girl had been so scared that she didn't leave her room and they had to film her testimony. She was seeking mental help and was going to be homeschooled with the money she won in the lawsuit.

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The months passed by, and Harry still talked to Hermione every Saturday, and they were still good friends, even if it was by phone. Every now and then, they would meet up via the Knight Bus at a designated place and see the sights of one town or another. She still didn't know where he lived, or his phone number. She did complain about that until it was explained that they were in hiding from someone who could read her mind.

They didn't have an insider in Hogwarts, so they only news they got was from the newspaper. It was taken with a grain of salt. They knew that the DADA professor died, but not how. That was all the news that came out of the school that year.

There was a foot note that the famed Nicholas Flamel and his wife were dying, and that his stone had been destroyed. There was nothing saying how that happened, only that after 600 years the man finally was putting his affairs in order.

Summer was fun and they did a lot of sightseeing of London. They hadn't done so in the past, and they wanted to look at the museums and gardens that everyone raved about. There were also the theme parks, zoos, and regular parks that needed to be explored. This was their city, and it was only right that they got to know it. Sometimes they invited Hermione.

Sirius and Remus, and their girlfriends got to explore the nightlife, and they had a blast doing it. Sirius was slowly getting over his bias of muggles the more he saw how they fared without magic. He was still not going to date one, but he wasn't going to look down on them either.

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Their second year of secondary school went by with nothing to note, except a strange house elf coming to Harry and telling him not to go to Hogwarts. When he told him that he wasn't, the little guy was never seen again.

They were still bogged down with homework and magical studies, but they handled it well. Now they had Mandy and Sally helping them with household spells, which Lily was thankful for teaching them. She didn't want them to rely on house elves for everything. It was better to do for yourself if you could. One never knew when one needed to know things.

Third year went better than second year. To which, there was nothing of note, not even mysterious house elves.

It was the fourth year that got them back to notice in the wizarding world. That was the year of the Quidditch World Cup. They decided to attend since the fan mail had petered down to almost nothing over the years. It was still being monitored by the PR firm, but it was only a few letters a day instead of bags.

The only thing to note during those years was Neville's parents. They got to the point where they recognized Neville and could talk with him in short sentences. They would never become fully functional members of society, but they were mother and father to their son, and that was enough for them. Neville still lived with Harry and his family because Frank and Alice still required daily care, and his gran thought it was best to keep the status quo.

Harry, Neville, Sirius, Remus, and their girlfriends were all going to the Cup. Lily was hitching along in Harry's head. They had made the reservations ages ago and were looking forward to camping out with the rest of the people there. They had their own box in the upper tiers of the stadium. Sirius' name still got a lot of doors open to him. Not to mention his money.

Harry was going incognito. He would be dyeing his hair red and going as Sally's little brother. Neville was dyeing his black and going as Mandy's little brother. Sirius made sure to spread the rumor that he was bringing his girlfriend and her brother to the game. Remus did the same.

They arrived at the campground a day before the game, and were horrified to see how the magicals were dressed and treating the muggle that was checking them in. It was dreadful the way they acted. Harry was glad he and his knew how to treat the man. At least they didn't have to mind-whammy him after their interaction.

They found their lot and started to set up their campsite.

"Why don't you guys go find some water," Sirius said to the boys. "Remus and I will set up the tent," he added, throwing the tent in the middle of the lot, and sending a spell at it. The tent sprung up and unfolded by itself. They were supposed to go muggle, but Sirius didn't see the point with magic being used all around them.

"Yeah, I can see how taxing that will be for you," Harry snarked, getting reprimanded by his mum in his head, making him roll his eyes.

He was fourteen now and it was getting harder and harder to have her in his head when they were out of the penthouse. They were going to have to find a way to anchor her outside his head. Especially since he was noticing girls more and more now. He couldn't go and pick one up with his mum in his head, or when she was hanging around under the invisibility cloak at school. That was downright embarrassing. He had no privacy.

"We still need to make sure that everything is stable inside," Remus said with some amusement. "Things get shook up during transit," he said, going inside to make sure of just that. Sally followed him in.

"Aren't there taps inside?" Neville asked, knowing that it was a fully functioning wizard's tent, which meant it had water in reserve.

"Yes," Sirius said, looking at him like that was a stupid question. Mandy was setting up the cooking area outside the tent. She put some chairs around a fire pit to make it look homey.

"Then why are we going to find water?" Neville asked, pointing to him and Harry.

"Because they want to get rid of us," Harry said with a chuckle. "Now that the tent is up, let me go inside for a minute," he said, hoping he could convince his mum to hang out there. He ducked inside and asked, "Mum, can you stay here?" He saw Remus and Sally putting things away in the kitchen.

"Yes," she said with some relief. She didn't like living in his head any more than he did. She felt like a Peeping Tom most of the time. She had already had the Talk with her son, she didn't need to see the results. "Try not to get into any trouble. And don't go too far," she cautioned. There was still a limit to how far he could go, before she was pulled to him in that two places at once thing. So far, they knew he could get a few miles away, but not much further. So the campgrounds should be fine.

"I won't," he said, kissing her on the cheek and running to Neville. They took off to cause mischief. They didn't know anyone there, but they were more than willing to meet people. They were going to use their alias names, Gary and Stewart. That way no one would tie them with Harry Potter.

They had some money, so they decided to get some things from the vendors. There were all sorts of paraphernalia for sale. Harry bought the whole family some Omnioculars, which they could use to show Neville's parents the game when they went to visit after. He hoped they liked that. Neville bought a few action figures that would move about. He thought is dad would get a kick out of them. His mum might like them too. They also bought some banners that yelled out the name of the team they were rooting for, which was Ireland.

They were just meandering around when they ran into a group of redheads. They seemed subdued, not at all happy to be there. They were just wandering around listlessly looking at things.

"Hello," Harry said to the group. "I'm Gary, and this is my best friend, Stewart. I couldn't help but notice that you guys don't look happy to be here," he said, hoping that they didn't mind him butting in.

"We're alright," the youngest said, mumbling. He seemed the sullenest. Like he lost his best friend.

"We're just missing our sister," one of the twins said, sniffling a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Neville said, wondering what happened to the girl. There hadn't been anything in the news about any girl dying recently.

"She died a few years ago. She would've loved to be here," the other twin said, looking around the place like it was missing something. Probably the sister they were talking about. "She was a huge quidditch fan."

"That's horrible. I mean, that she died so young," Harry said, assuming that she was young. He remembered them and that they had a younger sister. However, he didn't know if they had an older one.

"Yeah, she was the youngest of us," the oldest of the group said, looking guiltier than the rest. Like he could have prevented what had happened to the girl.

"Again, I am sorry for your loss," Harry said, wondering if there was anything he could do to make them feel better. Probably not. The only thing he could do was offer his condolences.

"It's not your fault," the youngest said, rubbing his nose with his sleeve, like he was trying not to cry. "It's Dumbledore's," he said vehemently. His eyes got hard as rocks at the mention of the headmaster.

"Wow, how do you mean?" Harry asked, then added, "We're homeschooled, so we have no idea what happens at Hogwarts." Which was completely true.

"There was a monster roaming the school a few years ago. Our sister was taken by it. The headmaster waited until the last minute to fight it. If he hadn't waited then she would still be alive," the youngest stated, his voice getting louder and louder as he spoke.

Some of the people around them stopped to stare, until the twins glared at them. They must have a reputation because the onlookers moved on quickly.

"Did he kill it?" Neville asked, putting a calming hand out, not touching the boy he didn't know, but making soothing motions.

"He says he did," one of the twins said, putting an arm over his brother's shoulder.

"There haven't been any more attacks, so we believe he must have," said the other with a shrug. He didn't sound like he believed it, but he couldn't prove it either way.

"He is the headmaster," the oldest stated, like the man's word was law. "Of course, he was telling the truth." This came off as pompous.

"Shut it, Percy," the youngest snarled, turning and facing the older brother. "He's to blame for Ginny dying and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise," he said then stomped away.

"Good going, Percy," one twin said, going after the younger brother.

"You just had to set him off again, didn't you?" the other twin said, doing the same.

"Well, again, we're sorry for your loss," Harry said, looking to where the other brothers had disappeared.

Percy just nodded and took off after his brothers. He did have a guilty look on his face.

"I wonder how they kept that out of the papers," Neville said as they walked around some more.

"They're the Weasleys," Harry stated, remembering them from before. "Remember? From the Alley a few years back? Their mum tried to box my ears. Anyway, Dumbledore probably convinced them to keep it quiet," he said with a shrug. "They were his staunchest supporters," he added, though he wasn't so sure about that now.

"They might not be now," Neville said, echoing his thoughts.

"We should tell Sirius and the others," Harry said, turning to go back to the tent.

"Yeah," Neville agreed, following along.

They made their way back to the tent and told the adults what the Weasley brothers had told them.

"That is news," Sirius said, he too wondering how they kept it out of the news.

It was major news after all. A pureblood daughter had been killed at the school. He remembered that there had been news that there was a monster in Hogwarts a few years back. Dumbledore had lost his position for a few days. Then it was over, and they got notice that the monster was slain. That was the end of it. There was no news of a death. How had they covered that up? Neither Dumbledore nor the Weasleys had the money to bribe the papers, so how did they do it? There was a lot more to that story than they knew.

"What can you do with it?" Harry asked, hoping it could be used to bring the old man down a peg or two.

"Nothing that won't affect the Weasleys," Remus said, not liking the idea of making problems for the family that was mostly nice to everyone. "Arthur is a good man. I don't want to see his name marred."

"Isn't there a way to keep their name out of it?" Neville asked, thinking hard on that question. He didn't see a way, but the adults might.

"No," Sirius said, he too mulling it over.

"They would have to be made public and they would be raked over the coals," Mandy said, sitting on the arm of the chair that Sirius occupied. She had been coming from the kitchen. She had heard everything from there, it was an open space.

"I don't want that, but…" Harry said, looking around the room as if an answer would come to him.

"It's not our place to uncover this," Lily said, knowing that she wouldn't want her secrets exposed to the public. It was bad enough that her son was worshiped by them. The pain it would cause the Weasleys if this was exposed… that was enough to stay her hand.

"I guess you're right," Harry sighed in defeat. He had really been hoping to nail Dumbledore with something else. It had been years since the old man had made a move against them, and now he knew why. The man had his own issues with the school. Still, they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop.