Disclaimer: All previous disclaimers apply.

Chapter 15

Minerva was busy with the Hogwarts Letters. She had separated them into two piles. The ones that would be delivered by Owl Mail and the ones for the Muggleborns that needed a professor to deliver them along with an informational packet. She could always count on Filius, Charity, and Pomona to help out with this. Filius, in fact, thoroughly enjoyed doing it. She thought she might floo Lily and ask her if she was interested in helping out.

Her floo sounded and she sighed as she spotted Charles Potter's head. She should have known he'd be flooing and complaining about Poppy refusing to allow James and Sirius to see Albus. She should have shut off her floo.

"What is it, Charles?" She asked not bothering to get up from behind her desk or hide her irritation at his call.

"Why is James not allow to visit his godfather in the hospital wing?" Charles demanded. "Madam Pomfrey has some kind of ward up that does not allow him access to Albus. She told him only blood relative's were allowed to visit him."

"You'll have to visit with Poppy about that, Charles," Minerva replied.

"You are Headmistress," he pointed out.

"And I do not control Poppy's medical decisions in the hospital wing. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to the letters."

"And why did you allow two Death Eaters to repair the wards. They probaly repaired them so their master could enter Hogwarts at any time!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Charles! Mr. Snape and Mr. Malfoy are not Death Eaters and Alastor was working with them. They were repairing the wards to keep out a Death Eater who was getting through and who we almost caught except for your son and Mr. Black interferring and causing him to get away, but I'll bet neither of them told you that."

Charles' face flushed and Minerva smirked. "It doesn't matter what James and Sirius allegedly did or didn't do. They're always on the right end of things no matter what."

"James is an adult and so is Mr. Black, Charles, isn't it about time you stopped fighting what he perceives to be his and Mr. Black's battles and stop making excuses for them?"

"James, Sirius, and I will always fight on the side of the Light no matter what," Charles replied staunchly.

"Good for you," Minerva said. "Now If you'll excuse me." She used her wand to shut off her floo then exclaimed, "Honestly!"

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

Lily got a Floo call from Minerva, early the next morning, asking her if she would like to deliver some of the Muggleborn's Hogwarts Letters and she'd said she'd be delighted to help. "I remember when you brought mine. You lit a fire in the fireplace and then cast the Reparo Charm on dad's old, favorite armchair and made it look as if it had just come from the shop to prove to mum and dad that you were really a witch."

"You do have the Ministry's permission to use magic in front of the Muggle parents because more often than not they want proof of what you're saying."

"Yes, because, just like my parents did, they want to make sure of their child's safety," Lily said.

"Are you available to make deliveries today?"

Lily nodded. "I'll change my clothes, let Sev know where I'm going, and then I'll floo over to your office in about an hour."

"Fine. I'll see you then," Minerva replied. Lily got up from the fireplace then realized that she'd forgotten to tell Minerva she could use a mirror to talk to her. Lily made a mental note to let Minerva know when she saw her.

She went upstairs and changed into slacks, a blouse, and a matching blazer and wore low-heeled pumps on her feet. She came back downstairs and went over to the door of Serverus' lab and looked up at the light above the door. It wasn't red so that meant she could go in. She opened the door. "Sev?"

He looked up from his potion he was working on. "Where are you off to so dressed up?"

"Minerva flooed me and asked if I'd like to deliver some of the Muggleborn Hogwarts Letters and I said I'd be delighted."

"Have fun," Severus said, giving her a kiss. "I'll see you later then and you can tell me how it went."

Lily waved and left his lab then he heard the floo sound as she left.

Once Lily was gone, he went back to work tweaking his antidote to the Blood Boil Curse. He was working in the dark because it couldn't be tested on humans unless they were victims of the curse, but he wanted it to not only freeze their blood until they could get medical help, but have it return the blood to the temperature it normally was once the healer had thawed their blood.

There was another knock on his lab door and Tita said, "Mr. Severus? I has your lunch ready. Mrs. Lily told Tita to make sure Mr. Severus eats."

Severus chuckled as he opened the door. "It's a good thing I have you and Lily to remind me or I'd probably starve to death!"

"Mr. Severus is too skinny," Tita complained as she walked back towards the kitchen. "He does not eat enough of Tita's good food."

Severus chuckled again then promised, "I'll try to improve on that, Tita,"

Lily flooed home about two. She was met by Tita as she stepped out of the floo. "Did Mrs. Lily have lunch? Tita can fix her something if she is hungry."

"Yes, Professor Flitwick and I stopped at Toby and Eileen's for lunch," Lily said. "But thank you for asking."

She went to find Severus who was in the Conservatory, watering the slips he'd cut from the plants at the Chelsea Psychic Garden. He smiled as he saw Lily and put down his wand. She kissed him. "You must have had a good time delivering the Hogwarts Letters," he remarked.

"You'll never believe it, Sev!" Lily exclaimed. "Filius and I teamed up. He delivered one letter then I did the next one. One of the houses we visited was Mum and Dad's old home. The people who bought it have a magical child!"

Severus smiled widely. "Well that's a strange coincidence, isn't it?"

"They were quite amazed not only that they have a magical child, but that I once lived in their house." She was silent for a moment then said, "Somehow it comforted me, knowing there's another magical child living in my former home."

"I'm glad to hear that," Severus replied, giving her a kiss and holding her close for a moment. "I think your mum and dad would be pleased about it too."

"They have a son whose name is Ian ...Ian McCloskey. All three of them were thrilled to find out the strange things he's done is because he's a wizard and it was perfectly normal in our world. I gave them the informational packet for Muggleborns which tells them everything they need to know for getting his school things, how to get to Diagon Alley, about all the shops there, and, most importantly, how to get to Platform 9. Things my parents or me never would have been able to figure out had you and your mum not been there to help us."

"Yeah, it was a brilliant idea of Minerva's and Filius' to come up with that informational packet for Muggleborns," Severus said. "Because not everybody has a witch or a wizard living by them that they can consult with."

"I wonder if their fireplace is still connected to the Floo Network."

"Probably not. They usually cancel it after the home owners ..." He shrugged.

"We stopped at your mum and dad's house after we were done at the McCloskey's and had lunch with them. When we told them about the McCloskey's, your mum and dad said they would go see them and introduce themselves."

"Well, that will be nice for them. Mum can help them with the things they don't understand about the magical world."

Lily laughed. "I think your dad is planning on teaching Filius how to play gin rummy and invite him to play with Tom and him."

Severus smiled. "Probably. It's his favorite card game. Tom and Dad play for Knuts. I think he's planning to invite Aberforth too. They really got along great at my bachelor party."

"I told Minerva about my Mirror Charm and I charmed a mirror in her office so now she doesn't have to kneel in front of the floo to talk to us anymore. She told me that Mr. Potter had flooed her, complaining about you, Lucius, and Mad-Eye redoing the wards and about James and Sirius not being able to visit Albus. Apparently Filius put up a ward, blocking the hospital wing entrance and that keeps them out unless they're truly ill."

"I expected they'd run to old man Potter first thing," Severus said dryly. "I don't know why they think he's still in a position of power. He may have been when Dumbledore was still in his prime, but that certainly isn't true anymore. He still has his faction in the Wizengamot, but it's a minority."

"James had better start growing up here since he is getting married," Lily said.

Severus chuckled. "As I said before it'll be the longest betrothal on record!"

"Now, if they could only find Sirius a bride too," Lily laughed.

"Now they would need a massive miracle from Merlin for that to happen!"

Lily winked. "Well, you just never know!" She left to go upstairs and change.

Severus shook his head and continued watering his plants.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

Charles Potter stood up in the Wizengamot. "I wish to be recognized."

Tiberius sighed then replied, "Lord Potter is so recognized."

Potter came down the steps to the floor of the Wizengamot. "I propose stricter rules for Hogwarts and what the Headmistress may do! Are you all aware that Headmistress McGonagall recently had two people with suspected ties to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named redo the wards around Hogwarts?"

There was a loud "Ohh!" from the members that supported Charles. He looked around him. "And that is not all! She has allowed Madam Pomfrey to place wards around the hospital wing to prevent anyone from seeing Professor Dumbledore and they are giving him potions brewed by somebody who also likely brews the dark lord's potions!"

Frank had had enough and stood up. "May I be recognized?"

"You may, Lord Longbottom," Tiberius said. Although his voice was calm, he was seething inside about Lord Potter's insults towards Severus.

Frank came down on the floor and stood opposite Charles. "Headmistress McGonagall allowed the two people to redo the wards because, according to Mad-Eye who worked with them, the wards were in very bad shape due to Dumbledore's neglecting them for years. One of the people she chose is a trained Wardsmith and the other is an expert in Runes. They not only replaced the wards with Mad-Eye's help, but placed Runes on them to make them even stronger. Does Lord Potter really believe that Mad-Eye would work with two suspected followers of You-Know-Who?"

Charles spluttered. "If they had Imperioused him, he would have."

Frank shook his head. "I see you haven't heard the entire story and that is that a Death Eater was getting in through the wards and some of the staff, including the two people you're complaining about, actually caught him, but due to the interference of your son and his buddy, former Auror Black, he got away."

Red-faced Charles said, "They rightly thought they were up to something sinister!"

"They believed then Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Professor Lupin were doing something sinister?" Frank asked. Some of the Wizengamot started chuckling. "As for the wards around the hospital wing; I'm sure Professor Flitwick put them up at Madam Pomfrey's request to prevent certain people from going in and getting Professor Dumbledore all wrought up with their lies! I don't expect that's going to help his condition any."

"James and Sirius do not lie!" Charles exploded.

"Did I mention their names?" Frank asked innocently, again to some chuckling from members of the Wizengamot.

"Please take your seat, Lord Potter! The Wizengamot does not need to be in charge of Hogwarts. That's why it already has a headmaster or headmistress to do so. I believe you have wasted enough of the Wizengamot's time this evening!" Tiberius said, banging his gavel.

Charles gave Tiberius a dirty look, but retook his seat.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

Lily and Severus were having breakfast the next morning. "I think I'll floo over to Hogwarts this morning and get the list of medicinals Poppy needs brewed and we can start brewing them," Lily said. "Get a head start on them."

"Good idea," Severus said. "I don't want the same scenario as last year! Everything was in such bad shape I had to wonder exactly what the hell Slughorn did all year."

Lily snorted. "Probably sat in his quarters eating crystalized pineapple when he wasn't in class."

"No doubt!" Severus replied chuckling.

Lily flooed over to the hospital wing and came back with the list. "I'm surprised Potter and Black haven't complained about my brewing since I'm not a potion mistress."

"Yes, but you're brewing them under the authority of a certified Potion Master, " Severus pointed out. "Did you see Dumbledore?"

Lily shook her head. "Madam Pomfrey made a separate room for him off the ward and next to her office and nobody is allowed in there except her or her elf. She said she had Filius take the wards he put up at the hospital entrance down and put them around Dumbledore's room instead."

"That's good. Potter and Black won't be able to bother him and get him all riled up like they did when we were replacing the wards. They really don't give a hoot about him! They just want to use him for their own selfish reasons."

"I can't say he isn't getting exactly what he deserves though!" Lily said as she searched Severus' ingredient cabinet for the ingredients she needed for the Muscle Soreness Cream. Madam Pomfrey used a lot of it during the Quidditch season especially for the second years who weren't used to how hard it was on them.

"As my grandfather pointed out, he was considered a great wizard in his day by the wizarding public. I can't say I agree with them because even before the dementia got him; I saw the other side of him," Severus said as he lit a fire under three cauldrons. "He was always critical of and unfair in his judgments of the Slytherins."

"And he always bent over backwards to excuse the Gryffindors of any wrong doing," Lily added as she began chopping the ingredients.

"No house meant more to him than Gryffindor," Severus added. He began chopping the ingredients for the Pepper-Up Potion and the Cough Relief Potion.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

The Potter's sat down to dinner as soon as Charles flooed home from the Ministry. The Potter elves brought dinner to the table then disappeared back into the kitchen until they were summoned by Mavis to remove the plates then bring dessert.

"Did you find out anything about Pomfrey putting up wards around the hospital wing so we can't visit Albus?" James asked as his father started to slice the roast beef.

Charles nodded. "Yes, but Minerva claimed she had no control over Madam Pomfrey's medical decisions in the hospital wing. I checked my copy of the Hogwarts School Code and unfortunately, she is right. Madam Pomfrey has the same authority as a head of house." He passed the plates, with slices of meat on them, around the table and everybody filled their plates from the other bowls on the table.

"It's not right," James pouted.

"You know Snivvy will still have access to him," Sirius said, using his fork to emphasize his point. "And Merlin only knows what he might be giving him as far as potions go."

"I tried to bring up the point that the Wizengamot should have closer supervision over what goes on at Hogwarts, but unfortunately Frank Longbottom interrupted me with a tirade then Lord Prince vetoed the entire subject, but since he is Snapes' grandfather, he will take his side no matter if Snape is in the wrong."

"The Longbottom and the Prince Houses have been allied since the 15th century," Sirius pointed out. "So his support for the Princes isn't unexpected."

"You would think that a light family such as the Longbottom's would show better sense than to align themselves with a dark family such as the House of Prince," Charles said with a shake of his head.

There was a pause in the talking and then Mavis said, "I think you should invite Romelia over for Sunday dinner, James. You must not forget you and she are betrothed now and you need to be more attentive to her."

"Yes, Mum, but Romelia understands my concern about Albus and shares it," James replied.

"Sirius, both the King's and the Mina's have marriageable age daughters, and I can invite them to dinner if you would like to meet them," Mavis offered.

James kicked Sirius under the table. Sirius gave him a dirty look and said politely, "That's okay, Mrs. Potter. I'm fine for now."

"Wel, if you change your mind Charles and I will be happy to act in your parents' stead."

"I'll make a note of it," Sirius replied.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

August 30th was upon Severus and Lily before they even realized it. It was time to go back to Hogwarts. The first staff meeting of the year would was scheduled for the next day, but at least with Minerva in charge now, things would be a lot different. Potter and Black would no longer be allowed to run roughshod over everybody. Remus had flooed Lily and asked if she wanted to be the assistant head of Gryffindor and, after talking it over with Severus, she accepted.

Tita flooed over after breakfast with her precious set of master chef pots and pans. She, Blinky, and Ninnia were going to organize Severus' quarters so everything would be perfect when Severus and Lily flooed over later that day.

Lily got her trunk packed and floated it down to the bottom of the stairs. "Sev?" She called.

"In here," Severus called from the conservatory.

Lily went inside. "What are you doing?"

"I was debating whether to shrink this and take it with me or leave it here, but there's no sunlight in the Dungeon so they wouldn't do well there. I guess I could floo here to water them when they need it."

"Or you could ask Blinky to do it for you," Lily suggested.

"Yeah, I know he'd be thrilled to do it for me," Severus replied.

"I'm all packed and ready to leave if you are," Lily said.

"I just have to throw a few more things in my trunk and then we can floo over."

Lily laughed. "I can't believe I'm ready before you!"

Severus chuckled. "I guess there's a first time for everything." He was back down with his trunk in a few minutes. The boxes containing his bookshelves were already packed in his trunk

As Lily and he stepped out of the floo into their Hogwarts quarters Tita, Ninnia, and Blinky were waiting to greet them.

"We has everything ready for Professor Severus and Professor Lily," Tita announced. She always referred to them as 'Professor' when they were at Hogwarts and 'Mr. Severus' and 'Mrs. Lily' when they were at home.

"Great!" Severus replied. "I'll unpack and then set up my bookcases."

"Yes, but before you do that, I need to enlarge the closet in our bedroom," Lily said.

"Good idea."

They went into their bedroom and Lily cast a spell to double the size of their closet. "There!" She said, stepping back. The closet was now big enough to get all their clothes, shoes, and trunks in with space to spare. They began to unpack and hang up their clothes. Lily transfigured two logs into shoe rack for each of them. When their trunks were empty they levitated them into the closet under their clothing racks.

"No more having to do a wrinkle removing spell when we take any of our clothes out of the closet now," Severus joked.

"Yes, and no more searching for scattered shoes either."

"Well, mine are all black so I just had to make sure I grabbed a left and right shoe."

"We need to get some color into your wardrobe, Sev," Lily joked.

"My Muggle scrubs are green," Severus pointed out.

"Probably only because they don't have black scrubs."

"True," Severus replied as he levitated the boxes containing his bookshelves out to the area behind his desk. Lily helped him resize them and then he removed the spell that kept the books from falling off the shelves while in transit. "Perfect!" He turned and called, "Blinky?"

Blinky popped in. "What does Professor Severus need?"

"Would you mind popping over to my house in London about twice a week and checking on the plants I have in my conservatory. It's the part of the house that all glass and it's off the dining room. It's to see if they need water and to water them if they do."

Blinky nodded enthusiastically, his ears flapping. "Blinky can do that."

"Good, because with all my classes and head of house duties I may forget."

Blinky popped out again and Severus decided to go and check his house and make sure it was ready for the students. He was certain it was as the elves who took care of Slytherin House were very loyal to it. "I'm going to check on Slytherin and make sure it's ready," Severus said to Lily.

"I'll come with you," Lily said. She was wearing jeans and one of the Slytherin sweatshirts he'd had Madame Malkin make for the first years. Severus had her make fifteen since he didn't know how many first years would be sorted into Slytherin, but it was rarely more than ten.

"Okay, I've got to change my house's password too," Severus said. He tried to think of something that would be easy for the first years to remember. As he stood by a blank wall, a gargoyle's head appeared. "I'm just changing the password," Severus said to it. He thought for a moment then slid his wand out of his sleeve and said, "Knotgrass." He tapped the gargoyle's head, stepped away then stepped up to the wall again and when the gargoyles's head reappeared he said, "Knotgrass." and the door appeared. Severus opened it and they went inside. He nodded at the picture of Salazar Slytherin who nodded at him in return then called, "Professor Snape?"

Severus came over to the portrait, "Yes, Lord Slytherin?"

"Shall we have another night for the students to ask us questions?"

"I'll find out at the staff meeting tomorrow and let you know."

"Wicked!" Salazar exclaimed and Severus grinned at his use of current slang. He figured he must listen to all the conversations going on in the common room. He nodded at Lord Slytherin and returned to his inspection.

"Knotgrass should be easy enough for the first years to remember," Severus said. "Although there will inevitably be one or two who can't remember it. Maybe I should tell the gargoyle to let them in anyway even if they can't remember the password because it gets really cold in the corridors down here at night in the winter."

"I know," Lily shivered. "I remember how cold Remus and I got just waiting outside your quarters last Christmas for the few minutes we did. I definitely don't want to think about some eleven year-old standing outside in the cold."

Severus nodded. He looked around the common room and saw everything was ready. Logs were already laid in the fireplace, ready to light, as it would undoubtedly be raining and chilly when the students arrived. He quickly checked the dorms and saw they were in order and ready for the students.

They returned to their quarters. Tita had dinner ready with help from Ninnia and Blinky. As they ate, Severus smiled and said, "I think we should spend our last Potter-free night doing something fun if you get my drift?"

Lily smiled and replied, "I get it and I'm all for it."

"Wicked!" Severus said.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

James stepped out of the floo into his quarters at Hogwarts the next morning. Sirius followed him out. Dazzy popped in, bowed, and asked, "Does Master Potter wish Dazzy to get him anything?"

"Yeah, bring me a couple of Butterbeers then go unpack my trunk," James ordered then muttered, "Gotta start drinking that again or McGonagall will have a fit otherwise!"

"Yeah, she's sitting in the big chair now," Sirius grumbled. "Which means no more fun staff meetings. Merlin's beard! This is one time I'm hoping Snivvy invents a potion to cure Dumbledore's problem!"

Dazzy came in with a tray with two Butterbeers on it, served them, and then popped out again to unpack James' trunk. She stayed in the Hogwarts elves' quarters when James didn't need her.

"I don't think Albus has a problem. I think Snivellus was sneaking potions into his food and drink to make it look like Albus was going nutters."

"Well if that were the case then Dumbledore should be back to his hale and hearty self, but he's not, Prongs," Sirius pointed out.

"But Madam Pomfrey is still using the potions Snivellus brewed. Probably gave her something and told her it'd be good for Albus and to give it to him every day. Let's face it, Padfoot, she thinks the sun shines out of Snivvy's arsehole so she wouldn't even think to question it."

Sirius made a face and put his Butterbeer down, "Thanks, Prongs! I may never drink this stuff again because everytime I try, I'll think about what you just said!"

"Let's go down to the hospital wing. Maybe they took the wards down now," James suggested.

"I'm game," Sirius said.

They went down to the first floor and to the hospital wing. James stuck out his hand and touched the doors. "Hey! They're gone!"

"Let's go in and visit then."

They went inside and looked around, but didn't see Albus anywhere. "You don't suppose they shipped him off to St. Mungo's or something do you?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't see him in the bed where they had him previously."

Madame Pomfrey who had been in the storage room, putting away the potions Severus and Lily had brewed, appeared with her hands on her hips. "What are you two doing here? Are you both sick?"

"We came to see Albus and see how he's doing," James said.

"He's calm, resting, and looking at a Muggle magazine of knitting patterns. He seems to enjoy that very much."

"Where is he anyway?" Sirius asked.

"You don't think I'm going to answer that, Professor Black?" Poppy asked. "I'll not have you two getting him all upset. That is definitely not good for his condition. Now leave before I summon Headmistress McGonagall. I don't believe you want to start the school year off on her bad side."

James and Sirius left without further argument since Madam Pomfrey never made idle threats. "Merlin! She's more bad tempered than a Hungarian Horntail!" James muttered.

"Yeah, but she's right about McGonagall and I don't want to spend the entire staff meeting with her giving us the stink-eye!" Sirius replied.

~*~* Page Break ~*~*

The staff meeting started at two. There was a table that included tea with various kinds of scones, cookies, pastries, and turnovers. Minerva particularly enjoyed the Muggle pastries and turnovers. After everyone had served themselves and sat down, Minerva said, "Welcome back to all our returning professors. I hope everybody had a relaxing holiday."

James grinned widely. "I had an excellent time. I spent most of it with my fiancee who is absolutely amazing!"

Severus who was sitting next to Lucius noticed him take a big bite out of his apple turnover in an attempt to stifle his urge to laugh at Potter's idiot statement.

"We only have one new professor this year. Professor Kettleburn told me he was retiring the end of last year and Hagrid will be taking over for him and he will be assisted by Merlinius. The elderly elf was dressed in a shirt, a long vest, brown breeches, boots, and wearing a peaked cap. He knew as much as Hagrid, or even more, about magical creatures. Minerva hoped he would help curb some of Hagrid's wilder impulses.

"Congratulations, Professor Hagrid!" Both James and Sirius said.

Hagrid smiled, his eyes crinkling. "Er ...thanks James and Sirius."

"Professor Flitwick has agreed to remain as my permanent Deputy Headmaster, but I will continue to deal with the letters. Professor Lupin will be taking over as Head of Gryffindor with Professor Evans-Snape as the assistant head." Minerva turned to Poppy. "What is the status of Albus for those who might be interested, Poppy?"

"He's calm and resting," Poppy replied. "Professor Snape has not yet heard anything from St. Mungo's about his potion he submitted to them."

"They seldom see patients in Albus' condition," Severus said. "So, it may be awhile before they can test my potion."

"Yeah, they don't have patients being dosed with dark potions that make them seem nutters by their elves or family mem ...Oww, Padfoot!" James broke off his comment as Sirius gave him a hard kick under the table.

Merlinius glared at him. None of the elves had forgotten the Marauders' crappy treatment of the Hogwarts elves. Remus, however, they had nothing against as he had always treated them kindly and fairly.

"Which brings me to my first subject," Minerva said with a severe expression. "I am fed up with the rudness and negative comments I am hearing from some of you! Albus may have tolerated it, but I will not! From this day forward every professor will be addressed by their title and surname and not by some derogatory nickname, especially in front of the students. I do not want to hear any professor or student called a Death Eater or any other negative comments about them. If I hear of it, you will first get a verbal warning, then a written warning if it continues, and the next time it occurs, you will be suspended and if that does not correct the situation then you will be terminated."

"That seems like a fair policy," Professor Fleinhardt said. He rarely spoke at the staff meetings and gave people the distinct feeling his head was always in some Arithmacy conjecture.

"Good! About time that dragon dung stopped!" Aurora exclaimed. Charity, sitting beside her, nodded.

"As for the students, they will only be required to sit at their house tables during the Welcoming Feast and the Leaving Feast otherwise they can sit at any table they wish to. I am also planning to have the houses visiting each other so they can see what the other houses are like and also I will allow students to study in other common rooms with their friends as long as they obey whatever the rules are for that particular house."

"Are we going to be having a question and answer session with the Founder's portraits again?" Pomana asked. "Helga asked me that almost as soon as I stepped into the commom room."

"Lord Slytherin asked me also. He's very enthusiastic about doing it again," Severus remarked.

"Rowena is also. She inquired about it yesterday," Filius said.

"Lord Gryffindor also," Remus said. "He literally bellowed the question at me this morning when I came to make sure Gryffindor was ready for the students."

Minerva nodded. "Yes, I have it on the schedule when OWL's and NEWT's are over with so you may inform them of the it. Now if anybody has any questions, the floor is open."

"I'm gonna need bigger quarters when I get married," James said. "How about Professor Merrythought's former office that includes those fantastic living quarters too?"

"If it's still available by the time you're married then you may use it," Minerva replied. "But this time is for any questions regarding the new policies I've outlined."

After a few more questions, Minerva dismissed them after reminding them, "The heads of house need to be out in front at five to meet the carriages. Professor Lupin, Professor Malfoy, please remain behind if you would."

"Hey, Lilyflower?" James called.

Lily muttered a curse her dad had always used under her breath and Severus grinned. "It's Professor Evans-Snape, Professor Potter."

"Aww …that's for people who haven't been friends for a long time," James said.

"That's why you should address me as Professor Evans-Snape since we were never friends," Lily said bluntly. "What do you want?"

"I heard Remus asked you to be assistant head of Gryffindor House."

"So?"

"I was just gonna say congratulations," James said.

"Thank you," Lily replied. She took Severus' arm and they started to leave when James yelled, "If you need any help when Remus is, you know, unavailable, you can call on me."

"Like I'd ask him to help me empty a dustbin!" Lily said.

Severus chuckled. "He'd probably figure out some fancy manuver on his broom to impress everyone with his flying and end up emptying its contents over their heads!"

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