Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Thanks to Kei for her lovely Beta work... If not for her my work would be a true mess...
A/N... Yes I know I have other stories that need to be updated. I just wanted to get this up now, while I'm waiting for the three chapters I had sent off to my beta. Hopefully they'll be back soon.
Chapter One
Hogwarts, Spring of sixth year
An emergency meeting of select members of the Order of the Phoenix met together in the Headmaster's office the day before Spring Break was due to start. For the first time in memory, a Muggle couple sat in attendance, whose only link to the Order was their daughter.
Albus Dumbledore sat quietly in his chair and let the arguments flow around him as he contemplated the newest developments brought to him by his spies.
Hermione Granger's father Greg sat quietly next to his wife Jane, trying to make sense of what was going on around him. Finally losing hold of his patience, he stood from his chair and gave the room sweeping glance. "That is enough!" His voice, though not loud, swept through the room, cutting off all the arguments. When silence finally reigned, his eyes swept up and held the Headmaster's. "Can you please explain to me what is going on, and why my wife and I are here?"
The twinkle in the old man's eyes dimmed even more, if that was at all possible, as he sighed heavily. "Mr. Granger, I'm not sure how much your daughter has told you over the holidays other than maybe the fact that our world is at war," he said with a questioning tone in his voice, and waited for some kind confirmation of what they knew.
Jane Granger looked around the room quickly before nodding her head. "Hermione has told us the basics and maybe a little more. We know the story behind Harry Potter and what he means to your world and a few of the… misadventures… her and her friends have found themselves in over the years." She stated, giving the Headmaster a disapproving look when she said "misadventures". "She told us as much as she felt was safe, after being injured at the end of the last school year," she confirmed.
Albus nodded relived that he didn't need to explain everything to them, knowing that it would waste valuable time. "That's good to hear, very good to hear. This way I can start with the events that took place this past summer." Taking a sip of his ever-present tea, the Headmaster used it as an excuse to take a moment to gather his thoughts. "What I'm about to say will come as news to most of you, in fact all of you but Severus," he told the room's occupants. "I ask that you please not repeat anything that you learn here today," Dumbledore stated, and waited for the nods of acknowledgment before continuing.
"A few days after school let out for the year, I received an urgent owl from one of our student's guardian. It seems that the abuse that her nephew suffered at the hands of her husband and son, and to a lesser extent herself, began to get out of hand, in her opinion. That summer, she didn't notice it at first because her nephew did not come out of his room at all, and her husband told her that he was taking care of the boy." Pausing slightly at Severus's snort of disgust, he allowed the room to fall quiet once more before continuing. "She became suspicious after she hadn't seen him for four days, and when her husband and son were both out of the house for the day, took the offered chance to find out what was going on and entered his room. What she found finally made her see reason when it came to their treatment of the boy."
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Albus let his mind drift back to that Merlin-forsaken day. He must have remained quiet for a little longer than he thought, for he found Severus at his elbow with another cup of tea, gently urging him to drink, and tasted the distinct flavor of a calming draught laced in with the sweetness of the tea. With a second deep breath, he continued, his voice trembling slightly in rememberance of that day. "She found him bound, gagged and bloody. The wounds covering his body, along with the amount of blood around him, made her very much aware that he was very close to reaching the point of no return. Immediately knowing that she needed help, she took his owl and sent a letter to me. To prove that she was telling the truth she smeared some of the boy's blood at the end of the letter and sent it off. Now when the owl appeared here, she was exhausted, having worked herself extremely hard to get here, in time to save her master, by the looks of it, she made the trip in about half the time it normally would have taken. After reading the letter, I sent for both Poppy and Severus, who for the first time ever, to my recollection, didn't argue when I said that we needed to go immediately. There is no point in giving you all the details, for I know that the student in question would not want anyone else here to know exactly what happened, needless to say, though, the boy was brought here to be healed by Poppy with help from Severus, while I received a some what true accounting of his life from his Aunt."
Here the Headmaster stopped and braced himself. He was sure that he didn't know the full story, but what he did know was horrific. "Once again, I will not go into details with any of you as it's not my story to tell. I can tell you that by the end of the day, I had signed paper work leaving me Harry Potter's legal guardian. I can also say without any doubt that the Dursleys will not even think a bad thought about young Harry ever again." Here, he held up his hand to stop the cries of outrage by the Weasleys, even as his own eyes flashed in fury. Gathering himself once again, he continued, "Knowing that I could not give him the attention he needed or the training he required, Harry and I discussed what to do, and we finally agreed on a course of action. I sent him to a much smaller school in North America that, along with year round schooling, had the help Harry needed to deal with not only the years of abuse at the hands of those who should have loved him, but also what had happened to him here. Harry made the request to stay where he was for now, to get the training he needed from a few people who had befriended him, at least for the remainder of this school year." Dumbledore paused and took another sip of his tea as he waited for what he said to sink in. "And that brings us up to three weeks ago," he said, not allowing anyone to really dwell too long on what had happened to Harry or what the two of them had decided. Merlin knew the arguments with Severus he had had about the decision were enough, he still wasn't sure what caused Severus to back down, but had a good idea that Harry himself had something to do with it.
"Three weeks ago, two of our spies were discovered and barely escaped with their lives. It was only with the help of a third spy that they were able to escape and make it back here with some very important information; information that directly affects your children. We unfortunately had to wait for the three of them to wake up from their healing before we could get the information, and get a plan of action put together." Here, Dumbledore gave everyone a piercing look. "Voldemort has plans to take out everyone that Harry holds dear in order to bring him out of hiding. On top of that, the Malfoys and Professor Snape are now being hunted down as traitors to the Dark Lord."
The room remained silent for a few minutes before Arthur Weasley spoke up. "Who exactly is being targeted and what is being done to protect them?"
Albus locked eyes once again with everyone in the room for a moment before answering. "Voldemort is targeting all four of the younger Weasley children, Hermione, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, and Severus Snape. At the moment we are doing the only thing we really can do. With your permission, we are planning on sending everyone to Harry as he is not ready to come back home just yet. Now don't get me wrong, the only ones who have no say in this matter are the Malfoys and Severus. If you would like your children to remain close to home, I will do my best to keep them safe, no matter where they are. However, it is my belief that the only way for them not to be used against Harry is for them to be with him."
The two couples in the room shared a long look between themselves, silently communicating as they had done many times over the years. It was the Grangers who answered first, though.
"Hermione will go to Harry. We will do anything to keep our daughter safe," Greg said, pain for Hermione as well as the other children clear in his eyes.
"We agree," Molly said, Arthur nodding his head beside her.
Albus let out the breath he had been holding and saw both Severus and Lucius relax from their spots. Lucius, though, was not happy just sitting quietly. "When do we leave, Albus?" he asked softly.
The twinkle reappeared in the Headmaster's eyes as he looked around the room. "We will take a portkey tomorrow, after the other students leave for the holidays."
"We, Headmaster?" Severus questioned.
"Of course, my boy. I had planned to check on Harry over the break anyway. What better time then when you all go over?" Albus chuckled.
hp
The group of nine arrived at their destination in a small valley located somewhere in California near the end of the school day. The Headmaster turned to study the group, before he spoke about a few things they all needed to know. "There are a few things you need to know before I lead you up to the school. First, the laws for underage use of magic no longer apply to any of you, as the restriction is removed on your fourteenth birthday."
"And second Headmaster?" Snape sneered, already dreading the mischief the students around here could get into.
"Secondly, Harry Potter does not exist here. In his place is James Evans. The only difference in appearance is the glamour hiding his scar."
"Are there any other surprises we should be aware of, Headmaster?" Hermione asked, her tone of voice making all of the school-age boys wince.
"We'll just have to wait and see now won't we?" he replied before walking directly into the side of a hill and disappearing.
"How utterly typical," Hermione snorted before following.
Severus and Lucius exchanged looks of disbelief even as the Twins, Ron and Draco exchanged looks of amusement. They all knew what Hermione thought of the Headmaster not sharing relevant information. To many times information that could have saved everyone a lot of pain had been kept away from them. Seconds later, they all jumped when she reappeared, causing Ginny to fight back her laughter. "Well, are you coming? I for one can't wait to see my best friend again," she snapped at them.
A chorus of "Yes, 'Mione" echoed through the valley before the teens also disappeared.
Lucius and Severus both shared another long look, before Lucius voiced what they were both thinking. "Did I just see my son go off with the Weasels and a Muggle born? Happily?"
Severus just nodded his head in response, as he also could not believe what just happened. "Remind me to take that bunch and sit them down so we can figure out what's going on around here," he grumbled.
"Indeed."
The two of them entered the barrier, their longer strides making it easy for them to catch up with the rest of the group. In truth, this wouldn't have been hard to do anyway, as the rest of the group had stopped to view what looked like a bustling village and not the school they had been expecting.
No one bothered them as they made their way through the village to a building at the center that was the actual school until they passed the wards that protected others from dangers of misfired spells, amongst other things.
Severus, who had been walking slightly to one side of the group, found himself being pushed into the twins just as he felt the wash of magic over his skin and the sound of a barely perceivably gasp of pain come from whoever had shoved him.
"Lower your wand, Mr. Masterson," came a firm voice from behind him. With the help of the twins, Severus regained his footing and turned to see what was going on, a small shiver running down his spine at the sound of that voice.
"But Sir, do you know what that one and at least one more in that group are?" said a tall, well-built teen, his longish sandy hair rumpled and his dark blue eyes blazing with anger.
"What I know, Mr. Masterson, is that you attacked a man from behind with 'that curse', which I do believe has been banned from use for the foreseeable future." The young man who had pushed Severus returned. Even with his short stature, he oozed authority and power that those around him could actually feel. "Now, I shall say it one more time. Lower. Your. Wand," he ordered in a drawl that sounded like a certain Potions Master to any and all who had ever met him and causing the niggling sensation in the back of Severus' mind to confirm that this was one Harry Potter.
"You don't understand, Sir!" the teen tried again, frustration coloring his voice.
"What I understand is that you now have a month's worth of detention, for both attacking someone who has been invited here by the Headmistress, and for disobeying me. Tell me Mr. Masterson, would you like to make it two?"
Tyson Masterson paled dramatically for a moment before flushing in both shame and embarrassment. Bowing formally first to the young man and then to Severus, he made his apologies. "My apologies sir, I never thought before I acted, and that is an extremely poor excuse," he offered to Snape. "Professor Prince…" he started, only to trail off and lower his head in misery when he couldn't find the words.
"Tyson Masterson, I fully expect a three foot essay on the proper etiquette, treatment and respect due to visitors, that we demand from the students from this school, to be handed into me before class tomorrow. After that, I will inform you on just what you will be doing in all your spare time for the next month. Dismissed."
"Yes, Sir." Tyson turned to walk away, only to find himself face to face with his mirror image, along with a shorter female version of himself. Groaning in dismay, he half turned around to see if anyone else was watching, only to find that most of the school stood watching the show, even if they were to far away to hear what was actually being discussed. Turning back to his siblings, they made a decision in the split second allowed them before all three distracted the students with the beginnings of one of their legendary fights.
"Tyson, how could you? Attacking visitors, and from behind at that! Don't you dare try to argue that fact with me, either. I saw what you did," the female started loud enough to be heard by those watching.
"Oh come on Tylan, can you honestly say that he doesn't look like Uncle Daniel? You agree with me right Tyrill?" Tyson argued back, turning to his brother.
Nodding his head Tyrill turned to face his sister, shoulder to shoulder with Tyson. "He's right, 'Lan. Even you can't argue with the fact that Uncle Daniel was one mean SOB."
'Lan looked between the two of them and allowed tears to gather in her eyes, although inside she was laughing her head off. "You… you always do that," she stuttered, holding back a "sob" that was more like laughter than anything else. "The two of you always gang up on me, especially when you know I'm right," she continued and finally let the crocodile tears flow down her cheeks. Pushing between the two boys, she moved into a set of waiting arms. "Jamie…" she whimpered.
James Prince, better known as Harry Potter, wrapped his arms around the crying girl and hid his smirk of amusement in her hair until he could control his reactions enough to scowl at the other two. "I will be seeing the two of you out on the field bright and early tomorrow morning. Don't worry, I'll supply a wake up call," he promised them both and was rewarded when they winced at the applied threat.
"Yes, Sir," they said together, turning on their heels and marching off with matching strides.
"Come on 'Lan, dry your tears and walk with us up the Headmistress' office," he whispered to her and, with a motion of his head, indicated for the others to follow him and the still shaking girl.
The trip to the Headmistress's office was made in silence, only occasionally broken by a barely suppressed sob from Tylan, mostly heard whenever they passed another student. As soon as the office door shut behind the last visitor, Harry pushed the girl away and grinned, "Alright 'Lan let it out, it's safe now." He watched amusedly as she broke down in laughter before turning to his friends. "Um… hi!" he said with a sheepish smile.
Hermione was the first to break out in a smile and, with a shake of her head, walked over to give him a tight hug. "Oh Harry, what have you gotten into this time?" she questioned.
Returning her hug with one of his own, he sighed. "Long story 'Mione, very long."
This was all it took for the Weasleys to pile around them in one giant group hug that started to take Harry's breath away.
"If you don't let Scarhead go, the Boy Who Lived will become The Boy Who Was Smothered To Death By His Friends," Draco sneered, effectively making everyone back off.
"Yeah right, Ferret; you just want everyone to get away from Harry so you can get him to yourself!" Ginny tossed back at him.
Rather then prove her wrong, Draco Malfoy, The Ice Prince of Slytherin, walked over and pulled Harry into a long hug, which was returned whole-heartedly. "Merlin I've missed you Harry," he said as he buried his face in the smaller boy's neck, much to the shock of the adults in the room.
"Me too Dray, more then I can say," Harry whispered back. He gave Draco another squeeze before pulling back and turning to his Headmaster. "Albus?" he questioned softly and was answered by a set of arms opening to accept him. Without a second thought Harry was in the old man's embrace, soaking up the comfort and warmth that he remembered from so many months earlier.
Feeling his knees start to go weak, Harry tried to pull away, only to feel himself be lowered to the floor, still wrapped in those arms. Forgetting everyone else around him he finally, after many months of concealing what he was feeling, let go of his last walls and cried himself out.
Other than Harry's muffled crying, no other sound was heard in the room. The only one not affected (as he had had the least amount of contact with this teen) was Lucius Malfoy, who with a glare from the Potions Master, kept his mouth shut.
A knock at the door brought everyone's attention away from Harry and Albus, and with a flick of her wand, Headmistress Anastasia Colbine had both Harry and Albus covered with both a sight and sound shield. "Enter," she called out.
The door opened and two identical faces came into view and, at Anya's beckoning, they both came into the room, closing the door behind them once more.
"We're sorry to intrude Ma'am, but we were wondering if you wanted us to help settle the others into the dorms or if you had other arrangements made for them," Tyson asked.
"No, Mr. Masterson, what you truly wanted to know was where Harry wanted his friends placed and if what he said about them was true," she replied with a sly grin
Tyrill gave her a sheepish grin and nodded his head. Glancing around the room a worried look crossed his face. "Where is Harry?" he questioned.
Not looking at the spot the two men were, she said, "At the moment he's indisposed."
"Is he alright?" Tyson questioned.
"I'm fine," Harry's voice said from the corner as he dispelled the shield around him and Albus, wiping the last of the tears from his face.
Tylan came and stood between her brothers, who looked at him in disbelief. "No you're not, but you will be now," she said and snapped her head to the side when she heard a snicker. "Yes?" she drawled out.
Hermione slapped both Ron and Draco before they could say anything. "Ignore them, they're just being prats. I'm glad to see someone is looking after Harry's wellbeing. Hopefully, he'll listen to you, more than he does me," she said with a smile.
Harry glanced at Hermione before turning his head and leaning towards the others. "Great, that's all I need, more Molly Weasley act-a-likes," he mock-whispered, which caused all of them to break out laughing while he grinned. "Alright, now, before I get into trouble for being rude," he said with a glance at Snape, "Let me introduce everyone." Once again, Harry was full of confidence.
Everyone nodded in agreement and Harry looked towards the Headmistress with an arched brow. Fully aware of a set of black eyes that followed his every move and who saw the mask for what it was, he motioned everyone into a chair, when Anya waved her hand to allow Harry to continue what he was doing with a small grin of amusement.
"Alright then, first, only in private am I known as Harry Potter, and yes everyone in this room is aware of who and what I am. I use to be known as James Evans, but due to things I'd rather not get into at this particular moment, I'm now called James Prince, although I get called either Jamie or Professor Prince." Without looking at her, Harry held out his hand. "Yes, 'Mione, I'll explain as we go. Next we have Headmistress Anastasia Colbine or Anya; Headmaster Albus Dumbledore; Potions Master Severus Snape—yes Tyson, you heard me correctly— Lord Lucius Malfoy; Draco Malfoy; Hermione Granger; Ron, Ginny, Fred and George Weasley—don't bother trying to tell Gred and Forge apart: they answer to the other's name. And, of course Tyson, Tyrill and Tylan Masterson who are triplets, in case you were wondering," he finished.
"Mr. Potter, one question if you please," a silky voice asked after everyone was acknowledged.
Knowing what was coming, Harry suppressed a smirk and bowed his head slightly towards the other man. "Of course, Professor Snape, if it's within my abilities, I would be most pleased to answer your question."
Snape raised his eyebrow at the teen for his answer and sneered slightly. "Pray tell, 'Professor Prince' what do you teach?" he asked, stressing both the title and the name.
Checking the distance between him and Snape, he walked over until he stood behind Dumbledore for added protection. "Why, Defense and Potions, of course."
Snape contemplated going after the teen regardless of his position behind Albus. "That, young man, is not something you should be joking about," he started, only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"Actually he's telling the truth. He's been teaching those classes since the Fall. In fact, he took one look at the potions classroom and refused to step into it. He then compared both my Defense and Potions professors to someone named Lockhart, and when they challenged him on it, proceeded to knock them down in a duel, repeatedly, until they could no longer got back up. The worst part was he took them on at the same time," Anya told them all.
"Surely the weren't that bad," Draco murmured in the shocked silence.
"Neville would have been a better instructor then those two combined when he was in his first year," Harry replied dryly.
Harry watched as all those who knew Neville winced in horror at the thought, and nodded his head happy that they understood just what he thought of the morons who had taught the subjects he had taken over.
Ron shuddered deeply, before looking at Harry. "Why wouldn't you go into the classroom though mate?" he asked.
Making sure the coast was clear, Harry settled himself and curled up comfortably in the only available chair: the one next to Snape. "Have you ever wondered why we hold potion classes in the dungeon?" he asked instead.
Ron looked puzzled but Hermione answered for him. "It's because sunlight can damage many of the ingredients."
Harry nodded his head, before explaining the reason behind the question. "The potions classroom, before I moved it, was located in a bright and airy room on the third floor. And just to let you know, Anya was very much mistaken. I entered the room long enough to grab the vial of basilisk venom that Jones was waving around in front of a class of second years, canceled the class and dragged the twit up here."
Snape jumped to his feet and started pacing along the length of the room, swearing under his breath. "BASILISK VENOM!! He allowed that… that…"
"Extremely rare and the most lethal of poisons into sunlight in front of unprotected, unprepared students?" Harry suggested calmly.
"Precisely." Turning to look at Harry, his eyes seemed to glow in fury. "Tell me you disposed of it properly," he growled.
"Of course I did. I also tried to find out where the fool got it from, but Anya stopped me."
"I stopped you, young man, because you where ranting at Jones with the vial in your hand still. We all thought that you were going to use the venom on him. Merlin knows it took us a half an hour to calm you down so that we could understanding what you where saying. All we could hear was hissing."
"Of course I was hissing! I was holding a vial of venom, and all I could think of was thisss huge sssnake!" Harry exclaimed, the words drawing out slightly in Parseltongue, as fury once more colored his voice.
Both Malfoys shuddered slightly holding back the slight fear they felt at the sound of Parseltongue hissed in anger. Severus, for his part, took a good look at Harry and walked over to calmly place a hand on his shoulder.
Feeling the contact Harry took a few deep breaths and nodded his head in thanks as he felt both his anger as well as the Potions Masters anger drain away from them both, and then looked around the room. He was the only one who saw the calculating expression on Anya's face. "Sorry about that. It's not often I think about snakes and get angry at the same time."
Albus waved it away as he shot a questioning look between Harry and Anya. "Who is we?"
Harry winced and turned pleading eyes on the Headmistress, clearly asking her not to say anything at the moment. Unfortunately for him, she just smiled at Albus, totally ignoring Harry.
"Thankfully, this room is large enough to hold everyone," she mused softly, before brightening. "Who I'm talking about is a group of… people… who took an instant liking to Harry. Such a strong liking that they adopted him into each of their families," she explained, and then asked cheerfully, "Would you like to meet them?"
"We would be delighted to meet Harry's family. Myself more so then the others I believe as I am his legal guardian," Albus said. The twinkle in his eyes could not hide the slight sadness in his voice.
Harry slumped in defeat, before getting up from his spot. Touching the old man's shoulder gently, he gave a silent apology before he folded himself on the floor by Snape's feet, so he was between both him and the elder Malfoy. "Thank you so much Headmistress. I was hoping to put this off for at least another few hours," he said, sarcasm dripping off his tongue.
"You are very welcome Harry," was the sweet reply. "Now if you would be kind enough to call the others in for me please"
Rolling his eyes, Harry leaned back against Snape's chair. "May I introduce to you my Lord Father, K'lal Overlord and King of the Demon Realms; his eldest son and Heir, as well as my eldest brother, Lord Bane; my lady Mother Azera Queen of the Fae, and her eldest son and heir, as well as my brother Lord Haze; my lady Sister Iris Queen of the Elves and her Heirs and our sisters Lady Shay and Lady Jedzia," Harry said with a sigh, waiting for what he knew would be utter chaos.