Chapter 12: Adjustment Period

Remus had just about convinced himself that nothing was going to happen when the kitchen fireplace crackled and snapped insistently the following week. Harry was off at the Granger house for the day – Beverley's way of saying 'thank you' for taking Hermione the week before. Remus had been sitting in the kitchen, feet kicked up on a chair with a book he'd been meaning to read for weeks and a good hot cup of tea, when from out of the fireplace came Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was accompanied by another young witch – one who had likely only just finished her Hogwarts studies in the spring – carrying a crying small boy.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lupin," she greeted briskly. "Sorry to drop in on you like this, but business so rarely follows a schedule in my line of work. You understand."

"Of course, Madam Bones," Remus said with a sigh, getting to his feet. "Can I get you anything – tea, coffee?"

"Oh, no, we won't be long," Madam Bones replied. "Now, I understand that Professor Dumbledore came to see you last week regarding the matter of the 1982 building collapse in London?"

"That he did," Remus said warily, trying not to focus too much attention on the child still sobbing behind her. "He had mentioned that Jennifer Black had survived the collapse with some damage to her memory, is that correct?" He paused, trying to decide what the next appropriate thing to say would be. "Madam Bones, may I speak freely?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Lupin," she answered. "I prefer to hear everything as directly as humanly possible in these cases. I can assure you that you cannot possibly say anything to me that I have not already heard in some form."

Remus sighed. "Madam, I believe that I know the reason you're here. I must admit that I do have serious objections to the policy in effect." He picked up his teacup and took a small sip. "I had my reasons when the building collapse happened and I took custody of Harry. They had nothing to do with current Ministry policy."

She smiled slightly. "I didn't take you for a pureblood fanatic, Lupin. Not with your background and circle of acquaintances. Rest assured that there are many of us within the Ministry who would agree with you. However, the decisions on these sorts of widespread, interdepartmental policies go on at levels far above what we can expect to influence. So, in the meantime, there is really not much else we can do but try to soften the blow as much as possible."

Remus bit the inside of his cheek. "What does Jenny think happened to him?" he asked softly.

"We thought it prudent," Madam Bones began, "given the mother's history with our world, and given the very real threat of Dark wizards… we thought it would be prudent and safest for her if –" she stopped again, and Remus suddenly understood what was it was she was trying to get out.

"She's had a Memory Charm done," he finished for her. "She and her family."

Madam Bones nodded slowly. "I want it understood, Lupin," she said with a slight quiver in her voice as Remus reached out to take the small boy from the young woman, "that this was not why I joined the Ministry of Magic."

"Of course it wasn't," Remus agreed. "Who could possibly join up, knowing that this is what they'd be doing?" He sighed. "Madam Bones, I'm sure that you are in the knowledge of the fact that I have a Notice of Awareness for the Granger family. Their daughter Hermione has been confirmed as a Muggleborn witch under my mentorship until Hogwarts, and I need to be able to tell them what this is all about. They'll ask too many questions otherwise – they know my history too well."

She nodded. "Yes, of course. Deal as you see fit, Lupin. I'm not here to tell you how to handle your personal affairs." She laughed wryly. "Well, at least, not in that manner." Pausing as she watched Remus try to calm down the boy, she continued after a moment, "His name is Simon Oliver. He's just past his first birthday – according to the Muggle hospital records, the date of birth is listed as July 25, 1983. Muggle Affairs is currently in the process of removing his belongings from the former home. They should arrive here shortly." She stopped again. "I –"

"It's all right, Madam," Remus said. "I think I can handle everything from here. Thank you… for your understanding. You're slowly restoring my faith in wizardkind."

When Madam Bones and the silent young witch had left the kitchen, Remus sank back down into his chair. "Crap," he muttered. "This is the last thing I needed." Sighing, he picked up the telephone and began dialing his workplace. Time to see if he could get himself some time away to sort out whatever needed to be sorted. "Double crap, shit, it's full moon this week," he groaned as he glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall. "Of course it is, not like anybody who knows that I'm a werewolf can take that into consideration…"

By the time Mark arrived at the door with Harry in tow at sunset, the Ministry had come and gone a couple more times (Remus had had to send them back a second time when he realized that none of the wizards recognized what a carseat was, and had left it behind at the other house) and Remus had just managed to calm Simon down enough to sleep – of course, Remus still wasn't entirely convinced that the boy hadn't just cried until he was exhausted.

He had retained the clarity of mind to call over to the Grangers ahead of time and warn them about the basics of the situation. Hopefully, Harry had at least been told that there was a new child in the house…

"Yeah, you look like you've just had an unhappy toddler dumped on your doorstep," Mark laughed as Remus opened the door. "Poor lad. I would hate to be you, that's all I have to say."

"Remus, why is he here?" Harry demanded unhappily. "You know, Sam at nursery has a new brother at home, and he says that he should be returned."

Remus sighed, reaching down with his free hand to smooth down a flyaway lock of dark hair on Harry's head. "Come on into the sitting room, Harry. I'll try and explain everything to you. Thanks, Mark – I'll see you tomorrow?"

Mark nodded. "Of course. Good night, Remus. Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Mr. Granger," Harry muttered, stomping off into the sitting room.

"Thanks again," Remus sighed as he closed the door behind him. "Harry, come here," he called. "Don't be giving me attitude like that."

"What is he doing here?" Harry demanded again. "Who is he, anyway?"

Remus let out a slow breath. "Well, Harry, this is the tricky part." He sat down on the sofa next to Harry, smiling slightly as Harry immediately curled up against him, shooting murderous glares in Simon's direction. "I have to try and explain this in a way you'll understand, Harry, so bear with me." He paused. "This is Simon. Simon is Sirius and Jenny's baby."

"Sirius and Jenny didn't have a baby, though," Harry protested.

Remus sighed. "Not when you last saw them, you're absolutely right, Harry. Simon was born after we moved to Lee-on-the-Solent. Long after we knew that we wouldn't ever be seeing Sirius and Jenny again." Maybe it was much better to skirt the issue of Sirius' death and the truth about what happened to Jenny. Maybe when he was older, more able to understand…

Harry frowned at him, deep thoughts clearly trying to process in his young mind. "So why is he here now?"

Remus took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well, Harry, the Ministry of Magic just found him. They decided that because Simon is a wizard, and that we knew Sirius and Jenny, that he would be better off living with us." He paused, thinking over how to phrase the next part of his explanation.

"How long is he going to be here?" Harry asked. "Just for a little while?"

Remus shook his head. "No, Harry. Simon's going to be here with us for a very long time – for the rest of our lives." He sighed. "It isn't going to be easy goings at first, Harry. I'm going to be honest with you. Simon isn't used to us yet, and he's going to be quite frightened for a while. He'll probably cry a lot. And loudly. But I need you to be patient with him. You were quite frightened when you went to live with Sirius at first, too – and you already knew him very well."

Harry frowned again, as if a sudden problematic thought had just struck his mind. "Where's Simon going to sleep?"

"Ah, yes, the million Galleon question," Remus said dryly. "Well, Harry, he's going to have to bunk in with you. He's got his own cot and everything, but I just don't have the space in my bedroom to put him in there."

Harry wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I don't want to share my bedroom, Remus. I like having it all to myself."

Remus bit back the laugh. Typical only child response. "You know, Harry, when I was your age, I was sharing a room with my brother. Actually, we didn't even have a proper room. We were sharing a pullout sofa in the sitting room. You've been quite lucky to have your own room. Besides, when you go to Hogwarts, you certainly won't be having your own room. Think about it as preparation for Hogwarts."

That seemed to give Harry some food for thought, as he fell silent. Then he said in a tone of childish resignation, "I still don't like it, Remus. Can he sleep in the sitting room?"

"Uh, no," Remus said firmly. "Come on, off to bed with you. You've got school in the morning and then the Grangers are coming over for dinner in the evening. You'd hate to be falling asleep on Hermione, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Harry finally sighed.

"Come on, then. I think we might even have time for a story tonight," Remus said, shooing Harry off the sofa.

Remus was slightly in awe of anybody with more than one child the next morning as they were all running around, trying to get things sorted out for school. Thankfully, he had managed to catch his boss in a charitable mood, so he'd been given the week off to put his affairs in order – he could've only imagined the horror that the morning would've been if he'd been trying to get to work on time as well.

Simon was fussing nonstop, forcing Remus to do everything with a crying toddler in one arm. Harry was obviously having toddler-envy, throwing fits over useless things and things that weren't even happening. It took Remus over an hour to somehow wrangle Harry into his school uniform, only to have his elder charge yank off his jumper and demand to wear his jeans and a tee. When told that it wasn't going to happen, Harry proceeded to throw a screaming fit so loud, Remus was sure that the penguins heard it in Antarctica.

Breakfast was a disaster before it even began. Harry refused every option given to him and demanded biscuits and a chocolate bar. When Remus snapped at him that he had the option of cereal or toast, Harry declared that he was never going to eat again.

"Good. I'll save a crapload of money that way," Remus finally snapped, offering an arrowroot to Simon in an attempt to calm him down. "Go get your jacket and your wellies."

Harry's eyes widened. "You swore at me," he said accusingly.

"Yes, yes I did," Remus replied, "and I shall do it again if you don't get your jacket and your wellies on before I get to the door."

"It's not my fault!" Harry wailed heartbrokenly. "It's not my fault you took a stupid baby and it's full moon! It's not my fault! Why am I being punished?"

"Harry, take your rucksack!" Remus called after him futilely. "Or you shall be very, very hungry by the time nursery ends today!" He sighed and set Simon back down in the high chair, putting some cereal and an arrowroot into the tray. "Harry James Potter!" he called again, picking up the rucksack and leaving the kitchen.

Harry was sitting in the front hallway, bawling uncontrollably. "I don't want to go today, Remus! Please don't make me go!" He threw one of his rubber boots at the opposite wall. "I want to stay home! Send Simon to nursery! I don't want him here anymore!"

"Oh, well, that came around quickly," Remus muttered as he dropped the rucksack next to Harry and slid down to the ground. "Come here, then, Harry. Come here and talk it out." He sighed and reached out his arm. "I know, buddy. You didn't have much choice in the matter, and it's a huge change for you."

"I don't like it, Remus," Harry sobbed as he curled up next to Remus. "I don't like it. I didn't sleep at all yesterday and I'm tired."

"Neither did I, Harry. I know," Remus said gently. "We've just got to power through it, yeah? Just like when we moved into this house. It was scary for you, being in here at first. But we powered through it, and you got used to sleeping here. Eventually Simon will get used to sleeping here and then we can all sleep at night again."

"Do you promise, Remus?" Harry asked tearfully.

"I promise, bud," Remus sighed. Simon started screaming just then and he looked back at Harry with a knowing look. "Come on, help me out here, yeah? Can you get your things on for me and then we'll go. We might just have enough time to go get a hot chocolate on the way to nursery, all right?"

Harry's eyes lit up at the promise of a hot chocolate and he bounced to his feet. "Okay, Remus!"

Remus got up and frowned ruefully to himself as he headed back into the kitchen. He could've sworn that, once upon a time, he had promised himself to never be the godfather who bribed good behaviour out of his godson.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

He could see Mark and Beverley both trying really hard not to laugh as Remus got the boys out of the backseat of the car. Obviously, he looked just about as frazzled as he felt.

"Oh, my dear boy, do you need some help there?" Beverley asked with a laugh as they approached.

"I think I've got it," Remus said as he unbuckled Simon, who finally seemed to be falling asleep after the long drive into town. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be on the verge of another major meltdown as he struggled out of his seat belt. "Come on, Harry, let's get a move on."

Apparently those were the wrong words to say, because Harry did go into full meltdown mode at that statement. Without another word said, Beverley swooped off to the other end of the car and hoisted Harry out and up into her arms. "Oh, my poor little man," she crooned gently. "Didn't get a wink of sleep, did you?"

"Welcome to my morning," Remus muttered darkly to Mark as he stood up again. "Except the baby was awake and screaming then."

Mark laughed. "Welcome to life with two kids, my friend. This is exactly why Bev and I stopped at one." He clapped Remus on the shoulder and said, "I wish you all the best, Mr. Lupin. Something tells me you're going to need it. Just keep telling yourself in ten years, the both of them will be off at school for most of the year."

"Why, oh, why, does Hogwarts not have an early admissions programme?" Remus groaned as Beverley rejoined them.

"Come on, then. Why don't we get this little one inside and sorted out?" Beverley said, smoothing down Harry's hair again as he continued to hiccough tearfully. "I'm sure he'll be just fine once he's found out that it's a swimming day today," she added a little more loudly.

Harry lifted his head momentarily. "We're going swimming today?" he asked happily.

"That you are, my boy," Beverley said with a laugh. "Come on, then. You think you're ready to go inside?" When Harry nodded cheerfully, she set him back down on the ground. "Go on ahead, then. Remus'll be in in a second." She looked over at Remus knowingly. "He's having a bit of baby-envy, is he?"

Remus laughed drily. "What was your first clue?"

Beverley smiled. "My niece was the same way when her sister was born. I think it's worse when they're the same gender. They're competing for all of the same things, they're sharing a lot more, and you poor boy, the only adult in the house."

"I'm hoping that this stage wears off really soon," Remus admitted as he resettled Simon cautiously against his shoulder. "I'm going to need my sleep eventually."

"Oh, speaking as one of three brothers," Mark spoke up, "I'm sorry to say that it never ends. My brothers and I still bicker every time we meet. Our parents just refuse to referee for us anymore."

"It gets better, Remus, really," Beverley cut in, glaring at Mark. "Mark is just making a joke. Brothers may rival a bit, but eventually everybody settles in and life slows down." She smiled encouragingly at him. "Can I see the little one? I'll hold onto him while you're in school with Harry. I'm sure Harry would appreciate the one-on-one time with you. It's going to happen so rarely for a while."

"Thanks, Beverley," Remus said gratefully, carefully transferring Simon to her arms. Once the transfer was complete, he took off towards the school doors, where Harry was waiting anxiously for Remus to join him. "All right, Harry, let's go get you settled in, yeah?"

Harry looked up at him worriedly. "Remus, did we pack my swimming suit?" he asked. "I don't remember packing it this morning." He slipped one small hand into Remus', dragging his feet in an unusual attempt to stall.

"I had it packed last night, Harry, I promise," Remus comforted him. "It's in the bottom of your bag. You have your swimming suit, your lunchbag and your notice book."

Harry froze again at the doorway to the nursery class. "Are you going to remember to pick me up today?" he whispered, grip tightening on Remus' hand.

Remus tried to stifle the laughter, because Harry sounded as serious as could be about that statement. "Harry, when have I ever forgotten to pick you up from school?" he asked gently, kneeling down to look at Harry in the eye. "What's bringing all of this on all of a sudden, buddy?"

"Sam's mummy forgot to pick him up once when they got their new baby," Harry said softly. "He said he was waiting at the school all night, Remus. His mummy forgot him and his daddy was gone, so he couldn't go home all night."

Remus sighed. "Oh, Harry. I could never forget you at school, I promise." He smiled gently at his charge, suddenly realizing just how frightened Harry must've been feeling about the overnight change in their family unit. "Things are going to be different from now on, Harry, but I promise you that you and I, we're never going to change. Nothing is going to change how much I care about you. Not even if you throw a million fits and wreck everything we own." He paused. "But don't do that, because then we'd have nothing to play with, would we?"

Harry giggled slightly. "Okay," he said reluctantly. "Can you come in with me?"

"Sure, Harry," Remus replied, ruffling Harry's hair affectionately. "I need to talk to Miss Anderson anyway. I think Hermione might be waiting for you at the blocks table, yeah?" With that said, he pushed open the door to the nursery class and shooed Harry in front of him. "Come on, get your jacket off," he coaxed, helping Harry out of the jacket. "Put on your school trainers. And go have fun. Be good."

Instead of running off as he normally did, however, Harry simply wrapped himself around Remus' leg quietly.

"Oh, come on now, Harry," Remus soothed.

"Running late today?" Harry's teacher asked as she approached them, a tone of curiosity in her voice. "He's not usually this clingy. Is everything all right?" She looked down at Harry with a gentle smile on her face. "You feeling ill a bit, Harry?"

Harry shook his head mutely, burying his face against Remus' trouser leg.

"He's tired," Remus explained quietly. "I got notice yesterday afternoon that my other godson's parents passed. Their baby arrived last night, none of us have slept a wink." He decided, in the end, that the simplest story was the easiest to maintain. Another godson who'd never been seen wouldn't be questioned, especially if they lived up in the north. His four-year-old not knowing the specifics of what had happened to Simon's parents wasn't unusual. "I didn't have time to prepare him before the baby came. He's feeling a bit…"

"Ah," Miss Anderson said with a dawning understanding on her face. "Well, I hope you're not too tired for swimming today, Master Potter," she said to Harry. "I believe it's even your turn to be helper today." She knelt down and said in a confidential whisper, "I have a rather large gold star sticker in my desk that I could be persuaded to give to a really super helper today."

Harry looked out interestedly, his eyes quickly scanning the room to see if anybody was nearby. "Like even bigger than the star that Evan got for his birthday?" he whispered back.

"A hundred times bigger than Evan's birthday star," she confirmed. "Come on, then. Help me pass out the marker boxes?" She grinned and stood up as Harry nodded eagerly and took off towards the supply cupboard. "Oh, he'll be all right," she told Remus with a smile. "He's not the first of them to be upset over a new baby, and he won't be the last. With swimming today, they'll all be fast asleep once lunch is done. Hopefully he'll be happier for you tonight." She paused, watching Harry eagerly put a set of markers on each of the tables. "Can I ask? Does he know why the baby's come?"

Remus sighed. "Somewhat. I haven't explained the death part to him. He knows that we won't be seeing them again." He sighed yet again, chewing at his lower lip. "He was so small when his parents and his godparents died. Hardly more than a baby. There really wasn't a need or a way to explain it to him. But now… now he's old enough that he's asking, and I really don't know what answers to give him."

Miss Anderson smiled gently. "I have books, if that might help out. I know it doesn't seem like much, but sometimes it's just easier to read a story than to try and explain." She watched Remus for a second. "I know, you must be just knackered. Tell you what, I'll put it together for him for his book bag. The children are due to take them home today, anyhow."

"That would be absolutely fabulous," Remus said gratefully. "I'll take anything I can get at this point, really."

"So what's the deal with the baby, Remus?" Mark asked after dinner, once they had distracted Harry and Hermione with toys in Harry's bedroom. "You said there was a whole, long, complicated story?" He settled back into the sofa with his cup of tea, crossed his legs and looked at Remus expectantly. "Well, now I'm waiting."

"Mark, you could've said it a little more nicely," Beverley scolded. "But you do have to admit, Remus, it's a bit peculiar how fast and unexpected the whole thing was."

Remus sighed, studying the tiny swirls of bubbles rising from his teacup. "This isn't going to be a very good story, Mark, Beverley, I won't lie to you. But I think you both need to hear the full truth of it." He paused for a moment, took a sip of the hot liquid, and then started. "Simon's parents were Sirius and Jenny."

Beverley frowned. "Harry's original godparents?" she asked. "But I thought they'd died in the building collapse two years ago. Simon can't be any more than a year."

"I thought they'd both died, too," Remus said quietly. "I was contacted about a year ago about the possibility of a survivor in the building. The Muggle newspapers were reporting it too, I'm sure you remember it. Well, the Department of Magical Catastrophes, which is the department in charge of dealing with the clean-up and concealment of wizard-related disasters, couldn't find out who it was that survived until a couple of weeks ago."

"Simon's mother," Mark said, sitting up straight as he watched Remus. "But why didn't she contact you?"

"She'd suffered memory loss as a result of the accident, or the trauma, or something related to it," Remus replied. "She couldn't remember her life with Sirius. My understanding is that Jenny never went back to her own family, either." He paused. "I went on the run with Harry when the building collapsed first broke news, too. Even if she could remember me and Harry, I seriously doubt that she would've ever been able to find me… She moved out of London and went up north for some reason. The Ministry never had reason to keep searching for her until she went into the town hall to make some surname changes. Apparently, Jenny remarried recently and her new husband was in the process of adopting Simon."

"I'm still not understanding how the baby ended up here," Mark said. "None of this sounds like a reason to hand a child over to care."

Remus sighed again. "That's the complicated part," he said quietly. "The first thing you need to understand is that the wizarding world isn't completely without its dark spots. There's still an awful lot of mistrust and prejudice, especially against the Muggle world. And unfortunately, when the people in power carry that sort of closed-minded thinking, they come up with some terrible government policies." He paused, taking another sip of his tea. "The current government policy states that when a half-blood child – that is to say, a child that has one magical and one Muggle parent – is in a position where they have little to no access to the wizarding world, it's the government's responsibility to–"

"Have no access to the wizarding world?" Mark interrupted.

"Children who, for example, have lost their magical family to death or divorce," Remus explained. "Especially since the Dark War, when so many of our numbers have died… The idea is that the policy maintains the maximum number of wizarding children in the community as possible. So a magical parent gets custody in a divorce, or in the case of the death of the magical parent, the government will often remove the child from their Muggle home and place them with the nearest living magical relative." He sighed. "Half the missing children you see on the national register are probably in the wizarding community. Sometimes they'll overlook it, especially if the magical parent was Muggleborn themselves or relatively unimportant in the community." He paused, chewing at his lip.

"That's terrible," Beverley said indignantly. "I can't believe people stand for this."

"This is a severely broken community, Beverley, in a lot of ways," Remus replied. "People are still recovering from a time not so long ago – only a few years past now – when speaking out against the government or showing sympathies to the Muggle world would cost you and your family your lives." He sighed. "Many of the people who supported the Dark Lord are still living their everyday lives. Families are still scared to speak out. Anyway, as I was saying… sometimes the government will overlook the child. There's so many these days – children whose magical parents hid their marriages and births or abandoned them to protect them from retribution while they fought against the Dark wizards and witches. It's simply not worth the effort for many of the workers when they know there's very few if any close magical relations. But Sirius… Sirius came from a very old, very prominent pureblood family. I'm talking a bloodline so pure it's been inbred for generations. It's the sort of family that everybody who's anybody in the wizarding world has a branch somewhere in the tree. Sirius was quite well-known in his own right, as well."

"So they went after Simon," Beverley said quietly. "But why you? I thought werewolves weren't really accepted in the wizarding world…"

"We aren't," Remus agreed. "Well, despite the fact that I'm sure that Sirius and I are related somewhere a few centuries back, I'm also currently guardian for his godson. Another child with a very prominent background. The Potters were another big pureblood line – I'm reasonably certain that Sirius and James were cousins of some kind as well – and, well, Harry's a bit of a celebrity after James' and Lily's deaths as you know. Apparently, they see that, when coupled with the fact that I've been giving Hermione 'advanced lessons' in wizarding culture, if you would… apparently that signaled to them that I would be exactly the sort of person who would agree with this government-abetted child abduction scheme."

"What about Jenny and her new husband?" Mark asked seriously. "Wouldn't they have reported him abducted by now?"

Remus sighed. "The government workers who took him have completely erased him from their memories. Apparently they thought it safest, given Harry and Sirius' history of pissing off Dark wizards." He rubbed his forehead. "There's really no other option. Sirius was estranged from his family, but given that he was the only male still left carrying the Black name, it wouldn't stop his cousin Narcissa from taking him in and completing wrecking any decency the child had. She lost her husband and her sister in that building collapse as well – in fact, I'm certain that they were the ones who caused it. I'm sure that she's been grooming her son to take over his father's way of life – another Black boy to carry on the family tradition would be just the sort of thing to redeem her, in her eyes."

"So that's it? That's all that can be done?" Beverley demanded. "He's only got the one cousin, and nobody is doing anything to stop this terrible government-assisted crime spree?"

Remus laughed hoarsely. "Unless you count the other disowned cousin, who married a Muggleborn. She's almost as hated in the Black line as Sirius. They only kept going after him because of the fact he's the last male. Andromeda's all but forgotten by now. I'm closer to pureblood than I am to Muggleborn, I suppose they just took the lesser of the two bloody evils."

"This is completely mad," Beverley said in astonishment. "It's the bloody Third Reich is what it is. Honestly, though, Remus? People just go swanning in, take whatever they please from the lesser beings and then swan off again in the name of blood purity?"

"Pretty much," Remus said dryly. "I have to stress, though, Beverley, that the majority of the wizarding community don't agree with this. The prejudice against werewolves is a far deeper thing, but the majority of wizards and witches that Hermione will run across have absolutely nothing against her background. In fact, half of them will probably be Muggleborn themselves, or at least half-blood. It's far more common than the pure-blood folk these days. Even some of the pure-blood families are just fine when it comes to being open-minded: the Potters… the Weasleys…"

"Well, that's only slightly comforting," Mark muttered. "And there's no way that you can just say that you'll take custody of him, and then turn right back around and give him back to Jenny?"

Remus sighed. "Memory Charms are designed to be permanent by their very nature. Reversing a charm is tricky at best, and doesn't come without risks and side effects. Even if I could manage to undo the charm without killing her, I could give her back her memories but destroy her personality. I could completely scramble her brainwaves. She could remember who he is but not who she is. She could remember the past but be unable to form any new memories." He sighed again. "Magic isn't as easy as the fairy tales you grew up with make it seem. I'd love to meet those authors and figure out where they learned all their magic facts."

"You come from a seriously deformed society, Remus," Mark finally announced after a moment of silence. "I see why you live largely outside of it."

"This is a wartime government populated by the wrong sort of pure-blood fanatics gone completely 'round the twist. And unfortunately, we don't have much in the way of power to control who's in government. We don't vote them in, they're elected by the existing department heads. An old boys' club, if you will. I could probably predict with 95% accuracy who's going to take over when Fudge retires."

"Your prime minister's name isn't Adolf Hitler, by chance?" Beverley asked dryly.

Remus frowned at her slightly. "No, Cornelius Fudge. Why?"

Mark spoke up quietly, "Adolf Hitler was a dictator in 1930s and 1940s Germany. Did a lot of the same things that you're describing to Jewish folk and scores of others. Millions dead by the end of the war."

"I suppose it probably does have its similarities," Remus admitted softly. "But there you have it. They'd already done everything when they dropped him here – Memory Charms, emptied out his belongings from the house, everything. There was no going back… I just have to keep thinking of it as if it was going to happen regardless of my answer, I'd rather he grow up here, where he'll learn a better way of being in our world than with the Malfoys."