"Temperatio Temporalis"
Chapter One
- Temporal Adjustment -

A/N: I don't own squat, save for the plot.

Harry, Hermione and Luna go into the past to win a war they lost. First though, they have to ensure the first war ends like it's supposed to.

The Rookery – Devon

Celeste Lovegood nee Selwyn was busy patting her baby daughter's back over her shoulder for a good burping. Her husband Xeno was still hard at work on the Quibbler's presses this evening, and would be home later. As it was, a soft smile was on her face as she rocked the wee one.

Instead of the expected gaseous noise, little Luna shivered. This wouldn't be a problem if she hadn't glowed a light gold at the same time. Needless to say, Celeste was somewhat startled. "Goodness dear! What a lovely bit of accidental magic!" she praised.

Pulling Luna from her shoulder to look at her with a large smile, Celeste saw her baby blinking rapidly. She giggled at her daughter's complete look of confusion over what happened. "Oh, that's all right dear. It happens to the best of us."

Luna's blinking stopped with her eyes closed into a grimace, before her eyes shot open. The wide eyed, silvery stare her little girl gave her seemed quite intelligent. Then those same eyes became wet, before a large tear went down her chubby cheek. "Ooh, what's the matter, little one?"

The young mother was startled when Luna's tiny hands reached forward to touch either side of her face. In a completely shocking development, the normally giggling and squirmy package of babyhood sounded out her first word in a happy, yet mournful sounding yell. "MAMA!"

Of course, right after her high pitched shout of glee, a rather disturbingly deep belch echoed out of her. The tiny and now completely red face amused Celeste to no end. "Good one, love!"

"Potter Haven" - Godric's Hollow

In a similar situation, Lily Potter nee Evans was in the middle of feeding her baby boy. This was her third attempt in as many weeks in getting him to transfer from the bottle to the spoon. The puréed spinach was a non-starter, as were the squash and beets. Pumpkin provoked the tyke to change James' hair to purple, so that was out as well. Carrots though, that was her first success.

Grinning over the orange coloured lips of her son, Lily was startled when he shivered and briefly glowed a golden colour. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry. You were doing so well, too! Don't you like the carrots?"

Lily had to stifle a grin at her son's confused blinking. He was always so funny whenever his magic flexed. Then his eyes became real big as his head turned about, looking at everything. She was confused when he stared at his hands as if he just recognized them, then looked up at her in pure childlike awe.

His inquisitive 'Mum?' brought a huge smile to her face. "Yes, sweetheart?" He wasn't much of a talker yet, but she was hopeful.

"It worked," her son squeaked with a big quivering smile on his face. Floored over this, she simply watched as he balled his right fist, which started to glow white.

"Baby, what are you doing?" Lily asked, becoming alarmed.

With a large and tearful smile on her boy's carrot stained lips, Lily was stunned when he held his hand out wide with a high pitched shout. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The Granger Residence - Crawley

Daniel and Emma Granger were sitting on the sofa watching the evening news while their daughter was on her stomach in front of the sofa, reading a child version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, volume "U". While they knew their two year old could read, they didn't want to overburden her with larger words just yet. With her reading on her stomach – legs bent up, crossed at the ankles and lightly flexing in a bit of a bounce – and them lightly cuddled on the sofa and watching the BBC, it was a normal evening for the family.

Both parents noticed the rather abrupt golden glow that emanated from their daughter, and snapped their heads down to gape at her. Just the previous week, Hermione had a book come to her – by itself – from the highest shelf on the bookcase. They both wanted to write that off as something 'that couldn't possibly have happened' and ignored it. However, this new bit of strangeness had something occur that made them realize that there was the possibility that they weren't dreaming.

This something was Hermione's reaction. She blinked confusedly for a moment, scrunched her face, then popped her eyes wide, looking at everything. Once that was done, she glanced down at the book she had been reading and flipped it to read the cover. She gave a small giggle, then closed it and stood up. The smile on her face was rather bright, though there was a touch of sadness in her eyes when she looked at them.

Looking at Emma, Hermione nodded. "Okay, first thing's first. Without bringing up charts and colour coding, we three need to have a discussion. It is very important, and impacts our lives mortally."

With that bit of dramatics, she turned and walked a few unstable steps to the television and turned it off. Looking at them again, she asked, "Would you like to have explanations here, or in the study? I think Dad would most likely want to be near his bottle of Clontarf.*" She paused with a single blink. "You too, for that matter, mum."

Watching their daughter leave the room towards said study, the Grangers looked at each other with wide eyes, before standing and following her. They came in just in time to see the bottle she mentioned floating towards Dan's desk, which was soon followed by two crystal tumblers. After the glassware set itself gently on the desk, they turned to look at their daughter – who was sitting in her favourite chair with her legs lightly swinging.

After a beat, Hermione sighed and pointed at the small loveseat on the other side of the room with her palm up. "Well?" Startled out of their state, her parents slowly made their way over and sat down.

There was a moment of silence. Emma was going to prompt her daughter to start and had inhaled to speak, but was held back by Hermione's lifted hand for her to wait. Confused, she was only slightly comforted by Hermione's wink. Her daughter then looked to the window and grinned.

They turned to see what she was staring at, and saw a white ghost of a stag prance through the wall. It stopped right in front of them, and they heard a man's voice. "We did it! Bloody hell, though, Mum's hot. I can see why everyone loved her. If it weren't for you and Luna, I might give Oedipus a run for his galleons. And isn't that a sick thought? If I ever think that again, you have full permission to whack me on the back of the head."

The stag ghost dispersed and vanished, while Hermione began laughing like they never heard before. This wasn't the small giggles or tickle induced laughing. This was a full on belly laugh that nearly spilled their little girl out of the chair.

"What… no, Who was that?" Dan half yelled.

Hermione held up a finger and spoke through some giggles. "Hold on, there's one more coming." She tittered a bit more, and looked out the window again, unable to stop grinning.

This time they saw a ghost of a hare fly through the window to land on Hermione's lap. Then they heard a woman's babbling voice: "We did it! I mean, I knew we would. But we even got the date right and everything! And Mummy's Alive! My mummy's alive! And she's so pretty! Please help me stop her from dying this time! I mean, you told me you would and everything, and I love you for that my Hermione, but... Oh, now she's looking at me funny. All right, I'll send this thing off now. OH! Hi Dan and Emma! You're not crazy, I promise!"

The rapid words stopped, and the hare dissipated into a mist before vanishing completely. Hermione's giggles caused her parents to look up at her face. "This is so much better than changing a table into a pig," she chuckled.

Squaring herself with a large breath, Hermione looked over to the desk. A hand wave caused the bottle to open, then pour a half glass of whiskey into each. Another stoppered the bottle, then two hands had the glasses float over to her parents. They just stared at them, then her. "Well? Take 'em before I drop 'em!"

They snatched the glasses out of the air, and Dan drained the glass. Emma just stared at it for a second, then looked at Hermione with large eyes. "Please explain what's happening."

Nodding, Hermione scooted backwards in the chair to recline, with her hands together over her belly. "To start with, I need to give you both a bit of a history lesson. However, I need to do this first."

Holding her fist up, they saw it glow white. Hermione smiled sadly, then opened her hand. "Expecto Patronum!" Her parents were astounded to see a ghost of an otter fly out of her hand. The ghost circled the room and sat on Hermione's lap. She cupped her right hand under it's chin for a moment, then sat back. The otter ghost then flew out the window.

"Hermione! What?" Dan started, but stopped when she held up a finger.

"One more, then the explanation." Hermione repeated the action, and this otter ghost went through the wall to the left of the window. Blinking a bit, Hermione exhaled. "Wow. Been a while since that tired me out," she mumbled. "Okay, while those two are off returning and confirming to Lily and Celeste that they really did just see their son and daughter create a patronus, explanations begin with a history lesson."

Rolling her shoulders, she relaxed into the chair and began talking. "There are two societies in the world. One is what you know, and the other is one you don't. However, with a bit of digging into my family tree, Grammie Celia," she said pointing to her mother, then pointed to her father, "and Grampy Oliver would most likely know about the other society."

"Why would they know?" Dan asked.

She grinned, "Because their parents were a part of it." Dan looked confused, but Emma's eyes went wide. "Mum? Did Grammie Celia tell you stories that are starting to make sense?"

"She did," Emma whispered, causing Dan to stare at her. "I thought they were family fairy tales Gran told me to help me get to sleep."

"Your grandmother knew about this?" Dan asked, then turned to Hermione. "And you're saying my grandfather knew about this?"

Grinning with a nod, Hermione sighed with a bit of relief. This was going to be so much easier now. "Yes, he did. Let me go into the history for a while before you both start bombarding me with questions. Is that all right?"

Getting two nods, she flexed her neck and began. "All right. The society that this one isn't currently aware of went into hiding in the beginning of the Dark Ages, during the height of the Witch Hunts and before the Inquisition. The hiding was reinforced when forty to sixty thousand people were tortured and put to death in a variety of brutal ways that make me nauseous to even think about. Only a third were who they were really after though, which is appalling as well."

Both of her parents made to interrupt, but she held her hand up again. "Please, let me get through this in order, without interruption. It will make this a lot easier on all three of us." Seeing her father nod unhappily, and her mother sigh, she commented, "It gets worse before it gets better."

"All right," Hermione centred herself again. "The current Statute of Secrecy was initially written and drawn up in 1689. It was hashed, rehashed, revised, argued about, and generally gone over with a committee of magnifying glasses before it was approved and officially established in 1692, three years later.

"While the official reason for it was to safeguard a specific part of the overall population, the real reason was to replace the original that was introduced into the Magna Carta in 1370. Now, while you may be familiar with the Six Statutes," she finger quoted, "which were added during King Edward III's reign, the 'hidden one'," she again finger quoted, "was the original Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Officially, it was the seventh statute."

Pausing, Hermione rubbed her throat. Holding her hand up, they heard the refrigerator door open and close, then a small bottle of juice flew into the room and into Hermione's hand. "Sorry. Thirsty." A quick glance at her parents while sipping had her realize that they were still a bit gobsmacked. She floated the bottle over to the desk before she continued.

"The main reason for the current Statute, was that the Vatican became aware of the magical society and instigated The Inquisition. This is, in part, due to the fact that the grandson of King Philip II Augustus – one Alain, the fabled "Forgotten Son of Brittany" and twin brother of Eleanor the "Fair Maid of Brittany" – had a childish tantrum in public and caused three fourths of the crowd listening to a speech to have their hair turn into smelly green spinach.

"Normally, this could've been countered by several memory altering spells to make people forget it happened. However, the local Bishop of the Catholic Church had already sent a missive to Rome before his memory was tended to. Basically, the French Ministry of the time wasn't fast enough to catch everyone, and that was mostly due to the fact that they had to memory charm over three hundred people. Interestingly enough, and for that reason, research was done to create a memory spell that would affect a group of people instead of one at a time."

Pausing for breath, Hermione continued. "The main reason that Alain was born a wizard was due to several factors, and you can think of this in a similar way to how inheritance occurs through DNA. Both of his parents were squibs. What a squib is…"

"Squibs are people who have parents that have magic, but are born without it," Emma interrupted to the surprise of both her husband and daughter.

"Grammie Celia?" Hermione asked with a brow up.

Noddding, Emma elaborated. "It was one of the things she talked about, yes. I'm sorry. Continue."

"All right," Hermione nodded. "Basically, there's a one in four chance for a child to be born magical if both parents are squibs, but that's an oversimplification. There have been actual muggles, those without magic, to have a child born with access to magic, but they are in the minority. Me, for example, I'm born from two squib lines: Granger and Neuville, which are from the so called "extinct" magical lines of Bailiff and Nadal, respectively. In case you were wondering, yes I can claim both of those names, since I am the only one that is magical at the moment." She paused and looked to her upper left, in thought. "I should probably do that when we go to Gringotts, actually."

Shaking herself out of the tangent, she started again. "So, the Statute of Secrecy in basic terms means to separate the magical society from the non-magical, but more specifically to prevent a magical from becoming a reigning monarch. There's a hidden clause that still marries the official magical governments to answer to their respective monarch. But, those countries that either have forsaken and overpowered their reigning monarch, or didn't have one to start with, still officially answer to their non-magical counterpart… such as the President of the United States, the Russian Premier – when that happens in eighty nine – the Prime Minister of France, and other such positions.

"The Minister for Magic of Brittania – Brittania as in what we would call Wales, England and Scotland – is supposed to answer to the Prime Minister of Great Britain... in theory."

"In theory?" Dan half said, half asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, the Ministry tends to selectively forget that bit, and only informs the P.M. of basic things. Honestly, they would love to be able to forget that bit of legislation. We'll get to the bad side of the magical world in a bit. We need to focus more on the history before we get to modern politics."

Emma wiped a tear that was drifting down her cheek. "Are you still my baby?" she whispered.

"What?" Hermione squeaked with a start. "Of course! I was born Hermione Jane Granger on the 19th of September, 1979! I'm yours! Why?"

Emma closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "You were always intelligent, but this is the first time I've heard you speak with the maturity and eloquence of a post graduate." Opening her eyes, she stared at her daughter. "How old are you? How old are you really?"

Slumping a bit, Hermione let out a gust of breath she was holding while staring at her knees. "And people wonder how I'm so smart," she muttered. Looking up nervously, she gripped her hands together to the point where her knuckles turned white. "Physically, I'm two years old and will be three this September. Mentally, I'm forty five and will be forty six this September. I'm still your little girl, though, and always will be. I promise."

There was a beat of silence, before Dan broke it. "How?"

"Remember the hare that sounded like a woman?" she paused for them to nod. "That was sent by Luna. Her, Harry and I used one of her family spells to send our memories back to this point."

Another beat of silence, this time broken by Emma. "Why?"

Blinking rapidly, Hermione wiped her own escaped tear. "There was a war," she whispered, "and we lost." She angrily wiped another tear from her face. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry," she grumbled.

Dan got up and went to pick Hermione up from the chair. She put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shirt. Sitting back down next to his wife, he ran his fingers over her hair. Her voice was soft when she said, "Oh, I missed this."

"What happened?" he asked.

Hermione looked up and wiped her eyes. Emma scooted closer to them and rubbed her back when she saw her face. "How bad?"

"The worst," Hermione whispered, shuddering. "The Statute was broken by the magical equivalent of Adolf Hitler, when he assassinated the entire Royal Family and most of the British Ministry."

At her parents' sharp inhales, she nodded. "The line of succession went to the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food. After being read into the Statute, she authorized the Royal Army to invade. It went horribly downhill from there."

Shuddering again, they heard her whisper, "I know, Harry. I know. I'm trying."

Emma looked up and around for another ghost. Not finding it, she looked at Dan, then Hermione. "Sweetheart, are you talking to Harry now?"

"What?" Hermione said with her head snapping up. "Darn. I said that aloud, didn't I?"

"I'm more concerned with exactly how you're talking to him," Dan said. "What is Harry to you? Or Luna?"

Sighing again, Hermione grumbled. "Yes, you win the bet, Luna. Shut it." Looking up, she leaned back to see both of her parents. "You're most likely going to go spare, but Harry is my husband and Luna is our wife." There was a beat, then she whispered. "Please don't hate me."

Emma sat back and stared at nothing. "That might explain Aunt Clara," she pondered.

"How so?" Dan asked, not quite sure how to take the fact that his two year old daughter was supposedly married. There was the thought of beating said husband. However, if he was as young as Hermione, then his parents might not think that was such a good idea. He'd look into coercing the father of this Luna into some sort of boycott or something. Fathers of Daughters had to stick together, right?

Emma looked at him. "You wouldn't know since they're gone now, but she lived with Gran and Gramps." She paused in thought, then looked at Hermione. "Polygamy is normal in the magical world?"

"It isn't common, but yes," Hermione whispered, still pensive. "Technically speaking, it would be considered legal bigamy, were it not for the fact that the three of us are soul-bound."

"What does that mean?" Dan asked, a touch hotly. He kicked himself when Hermione shrank back from him. "I'm sorry, love, but this is a lot to take in, and I'm supposed to scare off the suitors until you're at least twenty."

Frowning, Hermione glared at her father. "Not that it would be any of your business, but Harry and I gave our virginities to each other when we were seventeen, thank you very much. Technically, we could've done that at sixteen and not even had to give you a by your leave. As it stands now, though, I have to wait bloody years to properly sleep with my husband and wife again! Not to mention putting up with puberty all over again!

"This is no picnic for me either! And stop laughing at me mother! Neither of my spouses can bloody walk, for Merlin's sake!" There was a pause, as she looked to the left for a bit, then sighed. "Fine. Luna can't walk. Shut up, Harry. And you can stop laughing too, Luna!"

While Emma was a touch hysterical with her giggles, Dan was even more confused. "How are you three even talking to each other?"

Harrumphing, Hermione scowled, then sighed. "To be soul-bound means being joined by mind, magic and soul. Harry, Luna and I share our souls, our magic, and our minds. What it ends up as, the three of us can talk to each other mentally no matter the distance involved."

"Telepathy?" Dan asked, somewhat appalled at the entire definition.

When Hermione nodded, Emma came out of her giggle fit. "Then what was with those animal ghosts?"

"Proof," Hermione stated. "We needed to prove to our parents that what was happening wasn't just a childish whim of fancy with imaginary friends. Would you have believed anything I said without seeing that?"

"I'm still having trouble," Dan said. "I mean, time travel? This isn't Doctor Who."

"Of course not," Hermione said in a bit of a huff. "This was just with memories, and maybe a touch more. There is a form of magical time travel, but at most it's two months backwards. Anything more would break something with the power requirements."

"And how is this not breaking anything?" Emma challenged. "Isn't there some form of grandfather clause or something?"

Hermione shook her head. "You're thinking of the Grandfather Paradox. One thing that spell doesn't do, is create a paradox. From what I've been able to understand, what we've done is go back to a point in our history and cause a divergence. The history and world we came from is still there, but we're not. Our older bodies might be, but that wouldn't matter in the long run anyway. Our intention was to come back and change things for the better."

"Wouldn't someone else just undo it?" Dan asked, still trying to grasp at reality. "I mean, assuming someone can change the past, then couldn't someone else follow you and change it back?"

Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face while Luna was explaining things to her. "No," she eventually said. "While someone else could find our old bodies and discover the spell we did… they could use the spell themselves, but still not get to us. If they went back to a point before we arrived, they would create a divergence to their own different reality and we would still end up here. If they went to a point after we arrived, it would still be to their own history because we already made the divergence into this reality. The only way they would be able to enter this particular reality would be if they participated in the ritual with us. As it is, no one but us three participated."

Emma blinked as something clicked in her head. "The many worlds theory?" At Hermione's nodding, she sighed. "All right. So to bring this down to a somewhat understandable level, you three came back to save the Royal Family?"

Hermione shook her head. "Originally, that would've been what we were after. However, I wanted to go back to before you two died. Then Luna wanted to save her mother, who died when she was nine in a spell crafting accident. After she voiced that, the pair of us turned to Harry, who's parents were murdered on Halloween of '81. Thus, we're here now, where we can hopefully save… everyone."

"But that's in two months!" Emma said in a bit of a shout.

Nodding, Hermione was a touch quiet. "The hard part will be convincing Harry's father. We found Albus Dumbledore's personal everlasting diary four years ago from our point of view. In it, he wrote how he conspired to end the war that's going on right now by sacrificing Harry's entire family."

Neither parent said anything, so Hermione continued. "Dumbledore wrote out a false prophesy, and had compelled a known seer to "announce" it while a spy was listening, then gave Frank Longbottom and James Potter loyalty potions to convince them to hide in places that he chose.

"The prophesy he wrote was just ambiguous enough to be believable, since it pointed to two boys that could be the one person that could kill the Hitler wannabe. James and Lily died protecting Harry, while the Longbottoms were tortured into insanity. It took Harry and Neville years to come out of their shells. Neither were expected to survive, but they did. Neville was staying with his grandmother when four of the terrorists found the Longbottoms. They tortured them to get information as to where their leader was. What they didn't know, was that their leader died when he went after the Potters.

"What no one expected, was the fact that Lily, Harry's mum, was an Unspeakable. That's a part of the Ministry that delves into theoretical magic and is sworn to secrecy, hence the title 'Unspeakable'. What's funny, is that she got the idea from Celeste, Luna's mum. They were partners. Lily set up a runic array on the underside of Harry's crib that was activated with Lily's death. When Riddle, that's the leader of the terrorists, turned his wand on Harry, the runic array caught the death curse, inverted, amplified, then reflected it back on him in a split second. The result of that atomised Riddle's body and blew out the roof of the Potter's house.

"Of course, the way the whiskered wanker went about things afterwards caused Harry suffering the likes of which no child should ever have to endure. Instead of following the Potter will, Dumbledore sealed it and claimed guardianship over Harry, then sent him to live with Lily's magic hating sister. That was something which both Lily and James said in the will that should only happen if none of the surviving terrorists were able to first. Petunia and Vernon are that bad, and shouldn't be allowed to raise children of their own, let alone anyone else's…

"No, I will not hush Harry! They need to know this! He's embarrassed, but the Dursleys should never be allowed near any child. They whipped, starved, and worked him worse than any slave. Harry didn't even know his own name until he went to Primary.

"Then he got his letter to Hogwarts. That's the magic school in Scotland where I met him. He was worse prepared for it than I was, and had no clue as to his heritage or inheritance. School was a mixed bag where they either loved him one week or hated him the next. Sometimes both.

"See, everyone thought he defeated Riddle instead of his mum. Dumbledore planned that by telling the one person who can never keep a secret to save his sweet life. While Hagrid was drowning his sorrows over the deaths of Harry's parents in a pub, he started the rumour that Harry was the one to defeat Riddle, and it grew from there."

"Why would this Dumble person not credit Harry's mother?" Emma asked. Honestly, that confused Dan as well, but Emma beat him to the question.

Sighing, Hermione reached and leaned over. Dan handed her to Emma automatically before she replied. "You know how I said there's a bit of a bad side to the magical world? Well, people perceived to have been born from muggles… non-magical people… are treated like third class citizens. Think of it as snobbery against anyone of 'new money' taken to the Nth degree."

"Oh… Gladys," Emma said sourly, referring to someone all three of them knew and loathed.

Nodding, Hermione continued. "Yes, but now add in some bigotry. In a similar way to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, there's a political faction that is completely against anyone of non-pure magical blood. That includes people born with only one magical parent, those born who's parents weren't born from magical parents, those of mixed magical race, and any other magical or non-magical race. Basically, if they're not human or don't have a magical pedigree that goes back at least seven generations on both sides, they look down on them.

"While I come from two squib lines, I was considered to be a muggleborn the first time. To the purebloods, that's worse than being a squib – who are usually cast from pureblood families when they're discovered to not have any magic of their own. I don't know if that's what happened to Grammie Celia or Grampy Oliver, but it wouldn't surprise me. Actually, it most likely would've happened to Grampy Oliver, since the Bailiff's were English. The rest of his birth family were killed during World War II. Grammie Celia probably left only after she got married in Paris." She paused to look at her mother. "Do you know?"

"She never said anything bad about her parents," Emma said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Then again, she hardly mentioned them at all, so I really wouldn't know, baby."

Dan's protective streak couldn't be held back any more. "I don't want you going to that school."

Looking over, Hermione saw the grim determination on her father's face. "We most likely wont this time. It's not like we actually need to. Well, Harry might."

"You keep saying we," Dan complained.

Sighing, Hermione put her small hand on Dan's cheek. "I know you don't like this Dad, but eventually you will come to understand that I am married, both magically and legally."

"You haven't had a ceremony yet," Dan snapped. "Nothing's been signed either!"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Soul Bonds are legally binding as marriage. And, whether you like it or not, I am a witch and am subject to a different legal system. Granted, this is beyond unusual. But, none of it or this will ever change the fact that you're my daddy."

"You said daddy," he whispered with a relieved sigh. "That's the first time you've said it since you glowed."

Leaning over, she kissed his cheek. "Sorry. For me, it's been decades since I called you that. I know you don't like it, but mentally I'm the same age as your mother."

"That's what I hate about this!" Dan groused. "I'm supposed to be teaching you things, not the other way around!"

Smirking, Hermione tilted her head. "Well, you could try to convince me that Golf is a real sport. I'll even use those mini-clubs on a putting course if you want."

Sputtering, Dan was beside himself. "Golf is a real sport!"

"You keep telling yourself that, dear," Emma quipped with a grin. "Still though, I have to agree. We're supposed to be the ones to teach you things."

Sighing, Hermione hugged Emma's neck. "At least neither of you have to worry about 'The Talk' this time. Daddy chickened out while mummy had charts and diagrams. It was ghastly," she said with a full body shudder.

That thought brought both of her parents up short. Looking at his wife, Dan had to ask. "Charts and Diagrams?"

"Colour coded," Hermione stated with thin lips.

"I am not that bad!" Emma complained.

Hermione held up her thumb and forefinger. "Just a bit, but I love you for it. Helped me keep track of homework and revision schedules." She paused, then glared at nothing. "Harry James Potter!"

"What? What'd he say?" Dan asked.

Flushing beet red, Hermione slowly turned her head to stare her mother in the eye. "He said that I got that honestly. Shut it, Luna. You're just as bad as me." There was a beat, then she scowled. "Dammit, stop laughing at me!"

"Hermione! Language!" Emma said, appalled.

"Sorry," Hermione said in a grump. "Oh great. Now they're both laughing at me. Thanks a lot. Yes, Harry. That's who I got it from. Be quiet."

Dan unsuccessfully stifled his snickers, to which Emma gave him 'the look.' "Oh, stop," he chastised half-heartedly. "You do that every time someone swears around you. Hypocrite."

Wide eyed, Emma complained. "I only do that when I'm in pain!"

"Once a month," Hermione said flatly.

Dan nodded, "Without fail."

"Men are wankers," Hermione imitated.

Dan rolled his eyes. "Which is what you'll be doing for a while if I have anything to say about it," he said in a falsetto.

"Because you aren't getting anywhere near me with that willy," Hermione grinned.

"you bastard," Dan finished with his fake high voice.

While her husband and daughter were chuckling over taking the mickey out of her, Emma scowled. "I'm not cooking for either of you again for a month."

"Fine, I'll cook," Dan said, earning two sets of wide eyes. "What? Midget here can help. Forty Five? Bound to have learned something."

"Shut Up Harry!" Hermione shouted. "You too, Luna! So what if I burn water? I'm not chef inclined like you two. Honestly!"

Mother stared at Daughter. "You can't cook?"

Hunching her shoulders, Hermione grimaced. "Both of you labelled me a menace in the kitchen," she said sheepishly.

Sitting back a bit, Emma sighed in a bit of relief. "Good. Then there's something I can teach you."

Shaking her head rapidly, Hermione was appalled. "No, you don't understand. I'm horrid! You tried, Dad tried, Harry and Luna both tried… Even Winky tried, and she's a House Elf! I've been universally declared incompetent in the kitchen and forbidden to even boil water without telling anyone!"

"I have a new project!" Emma announced happily.

Face in her hands, Hermione bent to lean on her mother's shoulder. "This will only end in tears," she mumbled while her parents chuckled at her. After a bit, her head popped up. "What was that? Oh. I'll ask. Mum, Dad, would you two mind going to Luna's tonight? Her parents want to meet us."

"Where do they live?" Dan asked.

"Devon."

"That's a bit far to drive tonight, love," Emma said.

Hermione shook her head. "Luna said her father's going to pop over here and temporarily set up the fireplace."

"The fireplace?" Dan asked, completely confused at the apparent non sequitur.

"Oh," Hermione mentally face palmed. "It's called floo travel. I think that's where the idea that Santa Claus enters houses through the fireplace comes from. Basically, it's like a magical doorway or network. Like telephones, you can either talk to a friend through the floo, or actually go there through it."

"Through the fire…" Dan said, unbelievingly.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't get it either, but the floo network actually pre-dates the telephone by a couple of centuries. It's safe enough, though. Although…" She trailed off, and looked off in the distance.

"Okay, yeah. It's safe. This isn't going to be on the main network. It'll be a direct connection with Luna's house. Since her father is the head of the Lovegood family, he has the authorization to do temporary connections to his home like this. So, do you want to?"

"What about Harry's parents?" Emma asked.

Hermione looked away again. "His dad's working overtime, so it'll just be him and his mum and they're already there."

Emma and Dan looked at each other. A raised brow from him got a nod from her. Sighing, Dan nodded. "Yeah. If this is real, then let's jump down the rabbit hole together."

Chuckling, Hermione grinned at him. "Oh, you have no idea." She blinked, then raised her eyebrow. "Really? Wow. Okay. Apparently, Mr. Lovegood isn't that bad now." She paused again. "Oh. I understand. Sorry, Luna. Uhm. It would seem that her dad didn't become eccentric until after it was just him and Luna."

"I actually understand that," Dan said. "If I lost either of you, I don't think I'd be all here."

"Love you too, dear," Emma said.

They heard a crack coming from outside, then the doorbell rang. Hermione jumped from her mother's lap and ran to the window, looking out on her tiptoes. "Yep, it's him." As Dan went to answer the door, Emma led Hermione by the hand after him.

Opening the door, the three saw a long blonde haired man in a light brown suede jacket and trousers. "Hello there! Daniel and Emmaline Granger, I presume? Xenophilius Lovegood at your service," he said with a wide smile. "You can call me Xeno." Looking down, he grinned. "Hello Hermione. Nice to meet you again."

"Again?" Emma asked.

The man shrugged. "Well it is for her, isn't it?"

"You believe all this?" Dan said, confused.

Xeno nodded. "Of course! My father went through the end of the sixties three times!" he said with a large, bright smile. "Something about a stock of wood? He never did fully explain it."

Hermione giggled. "Woodstock. Muggle and Squib festival held at a dairy farm in Bethel, New York in the United States. Three days of music, recreational drugs, and the origin of a slew of babies born in 1970."

"That is so wrong," Dan quietly said, staring down at her. "You really shouldn't know that."

"Forty five," Hermione singsonged.

Emma shook her head. "That doesn't make it easier, dear. You're still only two to us."

"So, uhm," Xeno said.

"Oh yes, of course!" Dan said, backing out of the way and letting the man inside. "So, what's all this floo business, then? Fireplace is over there."

Following, Xeno lightly frowned when he saw it. "A touch small, but workable. Would you like me to make it bigger? I can, of course. Being this small will make for an exciting exit, otherwise."

"Meaning?" Dan asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Meaning that coming out this end will most likely have us sliding along the carpet feet first."

Xeno nodded at the description. "Entering from this side isn't a big deal, though. Offer still stands. All it takes is a few wand flicks, and it'll last… oh… a couple of days at least before it returns to normal size."

"In for a penny, in for a pound," Dan said with a shrug. "If it isn't a bother."

"No bother at all," Xeno said. Turning to their modest sitting room fireplace, he did a simple enlargement; tilted his head; then adjusted it so that it didn't stick out quite so much from the wall. "There. Easy peasy. Now for the fun bit." His wand then did an intricate dance that only one of the Grangers could make sense of.

Emma and Dan were simply gaping at what happened. The brick-face and bricks themselves seemed to simply inflate with the sound of stone over stone at Xeno's first change. Then another flick had it recede back into the wall. Instead of knee high, it was just over Dan's waist. "Wow," Dan said dryly.

"Don't worry, Dad. You'll get used to it," Hermione said. "Eventually."

Xeno finished up with a jab towards the bottom of the fireplace. Logs appeared and immediately caught fire. "There we are!" Turning, he held a small bag out towards Hermione. "I assume you know the address?" he asked with a grin.

Smiling wide, Hermione nabbed a bit of floo powder from the bag. "Don't worry, this is easy! Just toss the powder, say 'The Rookery' loudly and clearly, then walk forward when the fire turns green. Keep your feet moving so you don't fall over on the way out. It's like an escalator or moving walkway at the airport. Wait, they didn't build that yet. Just keep your feet moving and don't mind the whirl. 'Kay?"

At their pensive and confused looks, Hermione sighed. "Honestly." Turning, she tossed the powder and raised her voice. "The Rookery!" The floo roared green and she stepped into it, disappearing.

"See? Easy," Xeno said. "Who's next?"

The Rookery – Devon

Lily and Celeste looked over at the roar of the floo to see a tiny person spin out of it expertly. Her hair was a bit wild, but she had a wide grin on her face. Turning, she froze when she spotted the dark ginger and blond sitting on the sofa.

"Wow," Hermione said. "Uhm. Don't take this the wrong way, but meeting your in-laws is new to me. Uh… Where are they?"

Lily smirked with an odd look on her face, and waved her over with a finger, before pointing down in between her and Celeste. Stepping closer, Hermione saw them when she came around the chair. Harry was smaller than her, of course, but he was holding Luna, who looked to be only a few months old and positively tiny.

Eyes wide and wet, Hermione stumbled over with a babbling run-on sentence. "Harry-Luna-omigod-we-did-it!" Impacting the couch, she crawled up and hugged both of them, then proceeded to cry her eyes out. Harry patted and rubbed her shoulder, murmuring, while Luna reached up to rub her cheek.

The floo roared again, and Emma Granger spun and stumbled out to catch herself on the back of a rather well placed chair. "Oh my, what a ride! Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Hermione cried as she rocked Harry and Luna awkwardly. "Absolutely nothing at all!"

The floo roared again and Dan spun out, landing on Emma and casting them both to the floor. Celeste and Lily instantly erupted in laughter. "Nice landing!" Lily praised in complete amusement.

Turning, Hermione saw her parents on the carpet and giggled through her tears. "You know, you two can work on my non-existant sibling later. When you do though, I expect silencing charms. Wait, you can't do that. Darn. Joke ruined. Guess I'll have to rune the doors and windows myself again. That reminds me. Need to get some ward stones for the house. Harry, do you think we could…"

"Breathe, Mione," Harry said with a chuckle. "Yes, we can."

"I'd move out of the way before my husband steps on you," Celeste said, voice full of mirth.

It wasn't a second after Dan helped Emma to her feet and moved to the side, before Xeno spun out of the fireplace. "All here then?" Looking to the dishevelled muggles, he grinned. "No worries. You'll get used to it." Turning his head, he spied a tearful Hermione holding onto little Harry and his baby girl like her life depended on it. "Oh, no tears now! This is a joyful occasion!"

"She's overwhelmed," the boy said, who was still rubbing her back. "I think spinning backwards forty three years would be enough to unsettle anyone, honestly."

"Well, I for one sympathize with my daughter completely," Dan said as he sat down heavily in a chair. "I mean, I wasn't expecting boys to start sniffing around my only daughter for another twelve years at most!"

A green eyed stare from the apparent one year old was completely unnerving to the father. "Daniel Alexander Granger, I would literally die to ensure your daughter's safety. Same goes for Luna. These two are the only ones that have kept me sane for all these years. I owe them everything, so please do not construe that I am here for a quick shag or anything of the sort."

"Son, that really wasn't nice," Lily lightly chastised. "Also, mind the language."

Turning his stare to his mother, Harry's voice didn't change. "You may be my mother, but your sister and her bastard of a husband were the ones to 'raise' me. Technically speaking, I'm twenty years older than that man. Hell, so's Hermione for that matter. I wont be condescended to."

"Harry, behave," Hermione quietly scolded when she saw Lily's face paling.

Sighing, Harry deflated. "Yes, dear."

"Good Lord, they really are married, aren't they?" Dan said with a look of pain on his face.

Nodding, Xeno tried to lighten the mood. "For what it's worth, Harry, always remember those two words. It'll save nights on the sofa."

Harry's head went back with a snort, while the adults snickered. "Oh trust me, once was bad enough. I hated that week. These two are the only reason I don't have screaming nightmares."

"Did'n like it eifer," Luna said. "Get crabby wifout my fafrite wahm snorkack."

Hermione looked upset. "I wasn't enough? Honestly."

"Huss," Luna slurred. "You hated it too."

"So? He deserved it," Hermione countered.

It was very odd to see a baby roll her eyes. "You on'y go' you're knick'rs inna twis', b'cuz you could'n coun'er the jins."

Hermione harrumphed. "My hair's enough trouble on its own without someone messing with it!"

"What did you do, Harry?" Lily butted into the conversation.

Her son's smirk was telling. "Uhm…"

"Green – and – Purple!" Hermione enunciated.

"Stripes?" Lily asked.

"Spots!" Hermione complained.

"Ah," Lily said with a sage nod. "It's Remus' fault."

"YES!" Hermione shouted. "Stupid – Twisted – Canine – Tosser…"

"Hermione! Language!" Emma scolded. At this, Harry started laughing loudly while Luna giggled.

"Shut up, Harry," Hermione complained. "You too, Luna."

"Revenge is sweet," Harry snickered.

Hermione glared at him. "Do you want the sofa again?"

Harry gave her a droll look. "That threat doesn't really hold a lot of weight when a third of us is still in nappies. It's gonna be some time before we can bring back…" he shut his mouth with big eyes. HE would have slapped a hand over his mouth if they weren't already occupied.

"We weren't going to say anything!" Hermione hissed.

"How many?" Celeste asked with a light smile on her face.

"Uhm," Harry said intelligently. "Two. One each."

Seeing the somewhat sad smiles on the women's faces, Dan was confused. "Two what?"

Celeste smiled while Lily was trying not to hyperventilate. "Grandbabies, Dan."

"Oh good lord," Dan complained.

Emma looked fit to be tied. "Not before I'm forty! Please?"

Hermione stared at her parents, then smirked. "No promises."

"Hermione Jane Granger!" Dan shouted.

She wasn't having that, and countered her father just as loudly. "Hermione Jane Potter, thank you very much! If you want to push it, I can have Moody here in a flash!"

"Oh please, not him." Lily said with pain on her face. "He's too damned paranoid."

Hermione paused, thinking, then Harry spoke up. "Tonks isn't even in Hogwarts yet. Shack might be a trainee at this point. Jugson, Yaxley, Runcorn and Dawlish are right out for being Deeters. Oh, wait! Dad's an Auror! So's Sirius! And they'll be on our side too! Well, once we get them flushed first."

Grinning, Hermione nodded. "Didn't even think about the obvious, there, Harry."

"Wait," Lily interrupted with steel in her voice. "Jugson, Yaxley, Runcorn and Dawlish are Death Eaters?"

Harry and Hermione both looked up at Lily with wide eyes. "Yeah," Harry said. "So's Dolohov, Rookwood, Macnair, Travers, Wilkes, Selwyn Senior and Junior, (Sorry Mrs. Lovegood) Rosier, all of the Lestranges, Nott Senior, Mulciber, Malfoy (duh), Karkaroff, Goyle, Crabbe… I know I missed some. Mione?"

"The Carrow siblings," Hermione joined in. "Avery, Gibbon, Regulus but he recanted and died over it, Rowle, Snape, Greyback but he isn't marked, neither is Umbridge, Scabior or Lady Malfoy… You know, I'm not certain Narcissa has any choice in the matter since Lucius is the Dork Lord's right hand. She might after '94, but I don't know about now. Greengrass wasn't, but he was extorted gold to keep his family out of the line of fire. There's also Parkinson for certain, but Pansy's betrothal to Draco had a slave clause in it, so… I wonder if that's why Sirius said Bella was such a nice girl before she married Lestrange?"

"It's a possibility," Harry offered with a shrug. "Still though, she tortured Neville's parents into insanity and killed Sirius, so I'm still going to curse first and ask questions never."

"Bellatrix killed Sirius?" Lily shrieked.

Harry nodded. "In '96, so there's a ways yet. Besides, we still have to stop him from going after the traitor and getting thrown in camp hell for thirteen years without a bloody trial."

"Harry," Lily said slowly and quietly. "This is very important. If you know who the traitor or spy is in the Order, please tell me."

"Wormtail," Harry and Hermione snarled at the same time.

"Peter?" Lily said with wide eyes. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Mum, Snivellous convinced the bloody rat to join up in '78!" Harry shouted. "Every Order member who died since then was HIS FAULT! Thanks to Snively's Loyalty Potions, the manipulative old bastard Fumblemore convinced Dad and Sirius to swap secret keepers with Pettegrew. You and Dad died on Halloween! THIS YEAR! The Rat led the Dark Tosser right to the bloody house!"

Lily could only gape, while Hermione held Harry tight as he broke down. Celeste leaned over to help Luna up as she struggled to get closer to Harry. The little blond then kissed him repeatedly on his cheek.

"Oh my God," Lily breathed. "We can't go back to the cottage. Dumbledore recast the Fidelus yesterday!" Wiping her face, she stared at her little boy. "Are you certain Dumbledore is behind this?"

Breathing heavily, Harry couldn't answer, so Hermione did it for him. "Lily Marie Potter nee Evans," she said quietly, "Luna and I found Dumbledore's private diary four years ago from our point of view." She pulled back from Harry just enough to look up at the dark ginger haired lady. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is darker than even Gellert Grindewald ever thought to be, which shouldn't be any surprise since the two were lovers at the turn of the century. Remember your history. Grindewald's mantra for getting Hitler to exterminate the Jews and Muggleborns was 'It's for the Greater Good.' Now tell me, my Lady, what does Dumbledore preach when he gives orders that do not make any sense whatsoever?"

"Oh dear Merlin," Celeste said under her breath.

Panting herself now, Lily whispered through her hands, "It's for the Greater Good. Oh, God."

Hermione leaned over and kissed Harry on the forehead, then looked back to his mother. "When does Sirius and James get off duty tonight? Did you leave a note?"

Nodding, Lily wiped her face. "Yes, and it said where we'd be for most of the evening. Since it's Celeste, it isn't that unusual. We are partners after all."

Turning to the blond, Hermione relayed the question that Luna was asking her in her head. "Mrs. Lovegood…"

"Celeste, sweetie," she interrupted.

Smiling pensively, Hermione nodded. "Celeste. Do you have any flushing potions stocked up?"

"Yes we do," Xeno said from his chair. "Why?"

"Dad and Sirius need to be flushed," Harry explained. "They've been given a highly potent loyalty potion that's keyed to Dumbledore. So has Frank Longbottom for that matter, but I've no idea where he is."

"He's Amelia Bones' partner," Celeste said. "They usually squad with James and Sirius under Mad-Eye."

Nodding, Hermione turned her head to look at her parents, who were still a bit overwhelmed, then Xeno, then back to Celeste and Lily. "This really needs to be done quickly and quietly. It wouldn't surprise me if there were tracking charms to ensure that the Potters were still staying in Godric's Hollow. I'd recommend moving them to something else and leaving them at the cottage. After James and Sirius are cleared of potions, they will most likely want to eviscerate Snape, Dumbledore and Pettegrew. I'd advise against that."

"Why?" Lily questioned the girl's sanity.

"The three of us came up with a plan, mum," Harry said. "We need to get Dad and Padfoot cleared, and most of all calm. Knowing what's coming, we need to recreate the events that lead the Dork Lord to the cottage. In the original history, the runic scheme you and Celeste thought up worked brilliantly. Still though, I don't want to sacrifice you or dad if I can bloody well help it. Dumbles sealed the Potter Will, proclaimed himself my guardian, and left me on the Dursleys' stoop like a crate of milk."

Hermione picked up where he left off. "Harry spent ten years being routinely beaten, starved, and worked harder than a Malfoy House Elf. He arrived at Hogwarts weighing barely five stone, if that much, and was the shortest person in our year-group. He was mistaken for a firstie when we were in third year for pities sake. The malnutrition he suffered completely stunted his growth. He made it to five foot five and stopped."

The vibrating of the sofa caused Harry and Hermione to look to Lily with wide eyes. Her hair was slightly puffed out, and there was a light glow surrounding the iris of her green eyes. "I'll bloody kill her," she hissed. "I'll turn her inside out and dip her in a vat of salt." Breathing heavily, she stood up and started pacing. "That fat bastard and the stick bitch are going to die!" Lily ended up shouting.

"Mum!" Harry shouted. "Calm Down! It hasn't happened yet!"

The fierce look of protectiveness Lily turned on her son stunned him speechless. "And it never will," she growled. "I'll protect you till my last breath."

Blinking rapidly, Harry's voice was shaky. "Don't let it be two months from now, mum. For the love of God, please!"

Coming to herself, Lily inhaled sharply and rushed back to the couch. Not wanting to split the kids up, but really wanting to hold her son, Lily compromised by hugging all three of them close. "I'll do everything in my power, Hadrian."

"Hadrian?" Harry blinked in confusion.

Eyes wide, Lily was appalled. "Harry, that's your name."

Blinking, Harry looked away, lost, confused and increasingly angry. Hermione filled in what he couldn't. "Harry didn't even know his name was Harry until they called roll the first time he was in Primary, my Lady. It doesn't surprise me that his full name was kept from him as well. Hard to swear vows or sign legal documents if you don't know your own name."

Fighting her fury, Lily took a deep breath and stuffed it behind her occlumency. "Harry, look at me. Your father and I named you Hadrian Iacomus Potter. You are the fourth Potter with this name. Your name is Hadrian Iacomus Potter the Fourth."

Staring into the same eyes he usually saw in a mirror, Harry was speechless and reverted to swearing. "Bloody hell," he said under his breath.

"Harry, language," Hermione said slowly and quietly through her own tears, which caused him to snort and giggle.

Turning his head, Harry kissed Hermione soundly on the lips. "I love you, Mrs. Potter." Turning the other way, he snorted when he saw Luna already puckered and waiting her turn. Pecking her lips, he said, "I love you as well, Mrs. Black."

Celeste and Lily both started from the sweet scene in front of them. "Black?" they both asked.

Nodding, Hermione explained. "Sirius named Harry his successor. While it wasn't necessary for our three way marriage, it was rather convenient, when addressing either of us by title while we were in the same room."

"Well, Arcturus isn't dead yet, I don't think," Lily said.

"That's right," Harry said. "He died in '91. Or will die, rather."

Celeste tilted her head to see him better. "Do you know how?"

"Old age, supposedly," Hermione said. "Considering the fact that we can live well into our second century, I don't think that's likely."

"I beg your pardon?" Emma spoke up.

"Mum, I may have been forty five before we came back, but I didn't hardly look old enough to drink liquor. Thanks for that, by the way," she said with a smile. She turned and ruffled Harry's hair. "Hubby was salt and pepper though. Not too sure why, but it was rather delicious," she said with a grin.

"Oh, I don't need to hear this," Dan complained.

Frowning, Lily scanned her son's raven head of hair. Turning it about with her fingers, she couldn't imagine the dark reddish hues being slighted that way. "Your grandfather didn't start to go grey until his late sixties, and he sat the Potter Wizengamot Seat for thirty years."

Seeing Harry's hair a bit more clearly, Hermione was stunned. "Uh, Harry? Why do you have red highlights in your hair?"

"He always had them," Lily said in confusion.

"No I didn't," Harry said, confused. "It's always been black as midnight. Everyone said I was the spitting image of dad with your eyes, glasses and everything."

"Sweetheart, your father only wears glasses for the special features," Lily said warily. "Night Vision; Mage Sight, Distance, etcetera. Are you telling me you wore glasses so you could actually see?"

"His eyesight was pretty horrendous," Hermione said with a nod. "Using polyjuice, I had to have a duplicate set of his glasses to see four feet in front of me."

Lily was shaking her head. "No, that's not right. Andi checked him over thoroughly on his birthday and his vision came up perfect."

Frowning, Harry started to think. This brought a gasp out of Hermione and a squawk of protest out of Luna. Looking at Lily with righteous indignation, Hermione was fit to be tied. "My Lady, I'm sorry but your sister's life is forfeit and I'm going to kill her."

"Slow'y," Luna tacked on. Her little face scrunched in outrage almost made Lily snicker. Celeste too, for that matter. She was leaning over the triad from the side and saw her daughter clearly.

"Why…" Lily asked in a growl.

Shaking his head, Harry tried to protest. "Mione, Luna, don't. It's over and done with, and will not even happen in the first place this t–" He was interrupted with Hermione's hand over his mouth.

"Your dear sister's favourite pastime was to whack your son on the back of the head with a cast iron frying pot," Hermione hissed. "And just what part of the brain is that?"

"Vision." Lily looked murderous. "How often?"

"Maybe once a month," Hermione explained over Harry's loud protests in his wives' heads. "Hush Harry. This isn't going to go away until we deal with it. Ignoring it will not make it go away. Now, why the bloody devil did you not talk to us about this before now?"

Luna softly answered when Harry couldn't. "Id would have made id real."

"Oh, baby," Lily leaned over again. "Girls, can I hold my son?" Celeste retrieved her daughter while Hermione backed up a bit. Harry didn't say anything as he was picked up and held close. Swaying side to side, Lily cried silent tears. After a few moments, Harry's arms went around her neck and everyone could see his silent sobbing.

Sitting cross legged on the sofa, Hermione had her fists in her lap with angry tears going down her face. The only reason she wasn't demanding to hug her husband was because of the sense of relief she was getting from him over being held by Lily.

Dan didn't know what to feel at this point. His little girl was two and forty five at the same time, married… twice. And, he couldn't even hate the little bastard for it. There was no way he could hate the infant, but just hearing how Harry's life had been? Lost, he looked to his wife to find her quietly crying herself. She noticed his look and reached over to hold his hand. How in the hell does anyone deal with something like this?

Xeno wasn't any better than Dan was, but for different reasons. One, his wife and daughter had tear trails going down their cheeks. He never liked it when Celeste cried because it was completely against the laws of nature to see such a thing. That his daughter was crying as well, even if it was for someone else was truly difficult to see.

Everyone was torn out of the moment when the fire turned green and a bell sounded. "Hello the house!" James called out. "Xeno? 'Leste? Lils?"

Lily glanced at the wand over Celeste's ear, and felt the holster on her own forearm. Hermione got Celeste's attention and held her hand out while looking at her wand. Celeste grinned and pulled another wand from a holster around her left calf and handed it to the little girl. Smiling with a nod, Hermione held it under her left arm and squared herself.

Xeno caught the transfer and nodded at his wife. Standing, he moved over to the floo. "Hello James! What's the news? Any stories?"

"Nothing printable I'm afraid," James chuckled. "Mind if Sirius and I pop over? I haven't seen Lils in two days and am in desperate need of a snog."

"Sorry, but you're not my type," Xeno deadpanned. Sirius could be heard laughing. Grinning, Xeno nodded. "Yes, you two scoundrels can come through."

"Hey! I resemble that," they heard Sirius.

Backing out of the way, Xeno stood to the side whilst palming his wand behind his back.

The floo died out, before roaring green again with James Potter spinning out of it. "Hello all!"

Before he could move, the floo roared again with a spinning Sirius colliding with his best friend. Like Dan and Emma before, the pair spun flat onto the carpet with a loud thud.

"Padfoot, I keep telling you this, but I'm hopelessly devoted to Lily. This man crush has just got to stop."

"Oh, shut up Prongs and get off."

"I don't think of you that way!" James shouted, much to the laughter of everyone else. "Besides, who's pinning who to the floor, Mutt?"

"Gah!" Standing up rapidly, Sirius had a sheepish look on his face. "It isn't what it looks like, honest."

"I dunno," Dan said with a grin. "Heard you two were partners."

"As in life partners?" Hermione asked innocently. "It's all right. You don't have to hide in the cupboard. It's dark there, after all."

Brought up short, Sirius just stared blankly at the wide eyed, two year old girl on the sofa. He had no come back that was allowable for young ears and found himself completely out of his depth. Instead, he deflected. "Hello there. Do I know you?"

She still smiled innocently, much to Lily's amusement. The redhead turned to Sirius. "If I have to neuter you, Black, I will. I protect my own."

A/N *Clontarf is an Irish Whiskey brewed by the Clontarf Whiskey Company Ltd., and is distributed by Castle Brands Inc. in Dublin, Ireland. I have not sampled it before, but would like to.

Closing this off now, since I'm crashing Libreoffice with too many words. (oi)