What's a Mom to do?

Disclaimer: The characters, etc do not belong to me. They are all JKR’s and everyone else that actually made money off from them.


The sombre adults watched as Poppy finished her medical check on the children, casting mild sleeping charms over them as she finished. When she finished, Severus and Harry were asleep in one bed, Ron and Draco moved to another bed, Hermione was on a bed by herself and the twins were in one together. The seven children looked so peaceful as they slept. The look on Poppy’s face however, did not.

She approached the Order members who were anxiously waiting for her report. “The children in general appear to be healthy, for being reduced in age like this. Most of them are healthy enough five year olds. The only two that concern me are Harry and Severus. Both of them show long term physical abuse. Harry is also showing signs of malnutrition and poor cleanliness. He had a Muggle parasite called scabies, and head lice. I have treated him for both of them. Both the two boys have bruises all over their bodies.”

Remus felt the fury building inside of him with each word. He looked over at Molly and saw the same anger reflected on her face. Slowly he looked around the group and saw anger barely restrained on almost everyone’s faces. Except Moody, who was simply nodding.

“I TOLD Albus not to leave him with those…those MUGGLES!” Minerva erupted. “I told him that they were the worst sort, but he insisted that Harry had to be left with family and they were his only family.”

With the Headmistress’ outburst, a dam broke. Everyone was speaking at once, questions flying; anger outpouring and people began arguing. Remus and Molly both had tears on their faces and even Arthur looked like he was fighting to hold them back.

Slowly Remus made his way over to the bed that Harry and Severus were sleeping on. The two boys looked so peaceful in sleep. He felt regret at the way he had allowed James and Sirius to treat Severus in school. They hadn’t known. He was just such a strange boy. And that Harry, his Harry, his child could have gone through all of that because of an old man’s idealism. Remus ran a hand through Harry’s hair, pulling it back from his face. In sleep the child whimpered slightly and pulled back. Remus felt pain slice through him at the thought of what could engender such a response.

The door to the hospital wing slammed open, the sight of a slightly out of breath Kingsley rushing into the room silenced everyone. Remus rejoined the group as they approached the Auror, the look on his face said all was not good.

“You need to get them out of here!” he said breathlessly. “The Minister is being stubborn. He has issued arrest warrants for Severus and Draco for being Death Eaters.”

The group wasn’t entirely surprised but they were outraged all the same. “How can he do that?” exclaimed Molly. “They are just kids!”

“He has been told that, but he thinks that this is just a scheme that they have done to avoid Azkaban.” Kingsley explained.

“What about the others? How does he explain that?” asked Arthur.

“He believes that they poisoned the others to cover their tracks. Snape is a Potions Master after all,” he held up a hand to stop the questions. “I don’t understand his logic, but Harry is the only one that can defend either of them, and currently he isn’t able to.

“That isn’t all however. The Minister has also decreed that Harry is to be taken into Ministry custody and placed with a proper wizard home where he can be raised properly and with more respect this time,” he pushed on in spite of the new objections being raised. “I don’t have much time. The MLE is going to be here soon.”

The group settled down. “There is one more thing. He has also issued warrants to bring in Remus and Bill.”

Molly screeched in anger. “Why on earth?”

“Greyback,” said Remus quietly.

Kingsley nodded at the werewolf. “The Ministry is rounding up all known werewolves.”

“But Bill isn’t a werewolf,” argued Molly.

“No, but the Minister doesn’t believe that. He was bitten by a known werewolf, so to him, he must be one as well. I doesn’t matter that the werewolf wasn’t in transformation.” Kingsley explained.

“Quickly,” interrupted Minerva, “They are here. Hogwarts’ wards have alerted me to them. Grab the children and go to my office. Kingsley, don’t be seen. We don’t need you in trouble as well.”

Moody took Kingsley and Tonks by led each of them away. Tonks was crying herself, and didn’t take her eyes off of Remus as she was led to The Great Hall.

Remus scooped up the sleeping Harry. Bill grabbed Ron in his arms, Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Minerva, and Poppy each took a child. The group ran as fast as possible to the Headmistress’ office. Minerva lit the fire and grabbed a handful of floo powder.

Throwing it in, she shouted out “The Burrow” and stepped through. Everyone followed her.

“This won’t do for long,” she said once they were all gathered. “When they figure out you aren’t at Hogwarts anymore, they will send the Aurors here to arrest you. We need Arthur at the Ministry now more than ever. Poppy and I have to return. I will send Filius to you. He can do the Fidelius Charm for you. I can’t know where you are,” she set down the still sleeping Draco on the couch and left. Poppy lay Hermione on the other end of the couch before making her way to the fireplace.

“I will need to know where you guys are. When you get your Secret Keeper, make sure I can come and check on them. I am concerned about Harry and Severus and will bring some healing and nutrient potions,” she looked at Molly as she spoke before finally turning to leave.

Remus clutched Harry close to him. His mind swirled. He was wanted by the Ministry and his child needed him. There was no way he was giving up the boy again. It was a mistake the first time and not one he was going to repeat.

“Godric’s Hollow,” he muttered softly.

“What?” asked Arthur. He appeared as stunned as Remus.

“Godric’s Hollow,” Remus repeated, more firmly. “Harry has been rebuilding it. Only Severus, Ron, Hermione and myself knew about this. It doesn’t have floo connection. Right now, there is no magic affiliated with it. It appears to be a Muggle building. I’ll need to take you there myself,” Remus was thinking furiously, now having a focus.

He moved towards a large armchair, reluctantly releasing his burden. “Bill, I will take you first, and then come back for Molly. One of us will have to stay there with the kids; the rest will transport the others. We need to go quickly before the Aurors come.”

He helped shift Ron onto the seat with Harry, the two boys cramped together. As soon as they were lay down, Remus took a firm grip on the red head and Apparated them to the sprawling home that Harry had built.

“I’ll stay and get things ready. You go get the others,” Bill offered. Remus nodded and disappeared with a POP.

When he returned to the Burrow, Molly had left her bundle on the couch squeezed in with Draco and Hermione. The two left quickly to reappear at Harry’s home.

“I’m going to start bringing the children back,” Remus said softly.

“Now that I know where to go, I’ll help you,” offered Molly.

“No mom, you need to stay here and take care of the kids. I’ll transport them,” Bill offered. His mother nodded slightly.

“Be careful,” she said softly.

The two nodded before leaving. By unspoken agreement, they brought Harry and Severus back first. The second trip had them transporting Draco and Hermione. On the third trip Remus brought Charlie with him, Bill brought Ron. Charlie then returned for the twin, leaving Remus and Bill behind. The fear of the approaching Aurors leaving them in safety.

Finally, after several trips, everyone was brought to Godric’s Hollow, including Professor Flitwick who had shown up at the Burrow during the transport.

They had all of the children, who at this point were starting to wake, safely ensconced in the house, the doors locked. They were quietly discussing who to entrust with the secret of their location. Everyone knew the consequences of a bad decision.

“It can’t be Charlie or myself,” said Arthur quietly. “We need to go back. Ginny and Fleur still need to be told what happened, and we are going to be too obvious.”

Remus nodded absently. Molly was wrapped in her husband’s arms, crying softly.

“Longbottom,” Remus suggested suddenly.

Everyone turned to him in shock. “Why would Aggie Longbottom agree to that?” Molly asked him.

“Not that Longbottom. Neville,” he clarified.

“Neville?” exclaimed Bill. “He isn’t exactly…” Bill hesitated trying to find a way to phrase his doubts diplomatically.

“He isn’t the strongest wizard that is certain. But he is loyal. His loyalty to Harry runs deep. It doesn’t take magical strength to be a Secret Keeper, just integrity. He has that in abundance. Additionally, I believe that most people wouldn’t begin to think about him being the one,” Remus explained his reasons.

Molly nodded. “I agree with Remus. He wouldn’t be one the Ministry would expect.”

The diminutive Charms Professor volunteered to go and get the young man. He had left the scene of the battle after being assured that his friends were alive and returned to his Gran.

While they waited for Flitwick to return, they talked softly about what was going to happen. Arthur and Charlie left to return to The Burrow and find the rest of their family to inform them of what had happened.

When Neville was brought to the house, he looked extremely nervous but resolved.

“The Professor explained what was happening. I…I’m honoured to do this. I promise I won’t let you down,” he vowed.

Quickly, the Charms Professor started chanting out the spell to hide the fugitives. Remus felt the waves of magic encompassing him. The strength of the spell caused even the children to slow down and look around. Remus walked over to where Neville was standing, a look of awe on his face. Molly had turned to yell at the children that had resumed their play.

“Thank you Neville. I know this is a big responsibility to place on you, but Harry trusted you and I do too.” Neville looked at his former teacher and smiled slightly. He glanced over to where Harry still sat on the couch beside Severus. The two were sitting motionless, but twitching slightly as if they wanted to get down and join in the chaos.

“He really is cute at this age isn’t he?” Neville asked.

Remus nodded, the slight smile on his face tempered by the concern that he felt. “He is. They both are. I just hope that this will help,” Remus spoke almost talking to himself. He focused on Neville once again.

“We need you to tell Poppy where we are as soon as you can,” he said. Neville nodded his agreement. “As for anyone else, use your judgement. Tonks and the rest of the Weasleys can’t know for a while yet.”

Neville again nodded silently. He took a deep and shaky breath, the weight of the momentous secret that he alone held was heavy in his chest. He didn’t know if it was the spell or just the awesome responsibility.

Neville gave one last look around before he left. He had some work to do, people to talk to. He had a duty to protect the children hidden inside this house. More than that, he had a story that needed to be published.

HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS


Minerva McGonagall returned to Hogwarts and made herself comfortable at the large desk in her office. Moments later, Poppy arrived. The Medi-witch gave her a brief smile before hurrying off to the hospital wing to tend to her other patients.

When she arrived at the infirmary, she was surprised to see, not Aurors as she expected, but the Grangers. She smiled a relieved smile and indicated that she would be with them in a moment. She gave a brief scan of all of her patients and noting that they all appeared to be in a healing sleep before she turned to the worried parents standing next to the Hufflepuff Head of House.

Poppy herded the small group out of the room and towards the Hall where others were waiting for word on the escape. Along the way, in hushed tones, Poppy filled in the Grangers about their daughter, assuring them that the child was perfectly healthy.

When they reached the Hall, Tonks rushed up to them her hair a dull brown colour, her features lined with worry.

“How are they?” she asked.

“Fine. I don’t know where they are, we left them at the Weasley home. I do know they didn’t plan on staying there.” Poppy answered.

“So you don’t know where our daughter is?” asked a slightly enraged Mrs. Granger.

“Mrs. Granger, I left them with Molly Weasley,” Poppy tried to placate the other woman. “There is no one else in the world I would trust more with a child.”

“Weasley, that is the family that Hermione has spent so much time with right?” asked Mr. Granger.

“You are correct,” the response came. Everyone in the group turned to see Minerva entering the room. “Three of her children were also reduced in age. As well as three others, one of them our Potions Professor.”

“How long will they be like this?” asked the distressed mother.

“We have no way of knowing. There is no known spell or potion that can produce this result,” replied Poppy. She breathed a silent sigh of relief at the appearance of the Headmistress.

“When can we see our daughter?” asked Hermione’s father.

“I don’t know,” started Minerva. She was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Aurors who had gone to the hospital wing only to find none of the people that they were expecting.

“Headmistress,” addressed the young man in the lead. “We are here to take in to custody Draco Lucius Malfoy, Severus Andrew Snape, Remus John Lupin, William Terrance Weasley, and to Ministry custody one Harry James Potter. Please tell us where they may be found.”

Minerva gave them a stern look. “They are up in the hospital wing recovering from their ordeal. The children are all sleeping. If you wish to deal with a set of hyper five year olds, please feel free to wake them.”

The Auror glared at her. “Do not lie to us Madam. We have just come from there. There are no children there, nor are the werewolves present. We were led to believe that they would be returning to the castle under the watchful eyes of these Aurors.” They turned to glare at Mad-Eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks.

“But…they were just up there. We came down here to talk to the Grangers about their daughter. We weren’t gone five minutes,” sputtered Tonks.

“Well, they are not there,” snapped the irritable Auror.

Moody strode forward, his eye spinning. “Well, don’t just stand there like a bunch of imbeciles. Search the castle! They can’t have gotten far, you just came in from the entrance so they couldn’t have gone that way and you can’t Apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Now get busy and quit acting like a bunch of rookies!” he snapped out.

As soon as the group left the room, Moody turned back to the parents.

“We don’t know where they have been hidden. If it was possible, we would tell you. In the meantime, Tonks, you and Kingsley better join the search. I have bought them some time I hope. Minerva, you finish explaining everything to the Grangers, Poppy, you should be getting back to the hospital.” Moody snapped out the orders and turned to help “search” the castle.

Minerva led the anxious parents over to one of the tables and gestured for them to take a seat. Slowly, she began the story from the beginning, filling in the many details of Voldemort’s rise that it appeared their daughter had neglected to inform them of. She finished by explaining what the arrests were about and how they had fled the castle, taking all of the children with them.

“We need to keep them all out of Ministry hands. I am afraid, for all that the Dark Lord is gone, the Ministry at times is not much better. If they were to get a hold of Hermione, or the Weasley children, they would use them as a means to turn over Harry and Draco and Severus. Not to mention, Remus and Bill would do anything, include turn themselves in if it meant protecting the kids,” she concluded.

By this time, Mrs. Granger was sobbing in her husband’s arms. He too looked visibly shaken. “We obviously can’t take her back with us. I mean, how can we explain it? But…we don’t know what to do. I want to see my daughter.”

“I agree. Trying to explain how your daughter is suddenly five again would be impossible. However, the spell they are going under is nearly impossible to get around. If at all possible, the Secret Keeper will contact you and let you see her. Unless you insist on having her with you, I truly believe that this is the safest for her,” Minerva said soothingly.

Mr. Granger nodded slightly. “Thank you for explaining everything. I hate to say this, but I agree. I do want to know when it is possible to visit her.”

“If you would like, I can provide you with a room to stay tonight. Hopefully, we will be able to know more later,” the Headmistress stood as she made the offer.

Moments later, they were again interrupted. Moody came in to inform her that the Aurors had decided to visit The Burrow to see if the family was there. Minerva gave a slight prayer that the group had successfully made their escape.

She led the two dentists to a portrait on the second floor. Giving the password to the fairy on the portrait, the door swung open. There was little else that could be done for the group. Now she had some injured witches and wizards that she needed to prepare for the family arrivals. She also knew that her statement would soon be demanded to account for the events that had occurred earlier.


HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS

Neville left the house and with one last look behind him, Apparated to Diagon Alley, not too far away. He didn’t trust himself to make the distance all the way to Hogwarts.

From Diagon Alley, he borrowed the Floo at The Leaky Cauldron and went to The Three Broomsticks and walked from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. After the battle that day, being fussed over by his Gran, participating in the spell, and now travelling across the UK, he was feeling exhausted, but he kept pushing himself. He had things that still needed to be done.

He made his way to the kitchens of Hogwarts. He knew where they were from Ron and Harry, and found the small house elf, Dobby that had always helped Harry. Giving the secret to the first living creature, he sent Dobby and a very drunk Winky, who Dobby insisted should go with him, to the house. He knew even though there were three adults, the seven children would be too much. And the elves could leave the house and shop without suspicion.

Next he made his way to the Headmistress’ office. He got to the office just as she did, escorted by Aurors. His eyes widened nervously.

“Mr. Longbottom,” she greeted him. “How may I help you?”

“Um…I just w…wo…wondered how H…Harry is,” he stuttered out.

“Mr. Potter was doing quite fine when I last saw him,” she answered. Her eyes met his with an intensity that almost made him step back.

Very subtly, he nodded, understanding the unasked question. The Aurors standing beside them noticed nothing, except the near-squib they had heard much about who could barely string two words together. Proving Remus right, they promptly dismissed the young man as unimportant and started to make demands on the Headmistress.

“Mr. Longbottom,” she interrupted the flow of questions. “If you go see Madam Pomfrey, she could tell you more about how they were when she saw them.”

Neville nodded and fled quickly. After talking to the Medi-witch, he gave her a small slip of paper and left Hogwarts. He had one more stop that he needed to make and debated if it would be too late.

Finally, he decided to go ahead before he ran out of courage. His next stop was the Lovegoods. Once again, he gave out the address to the one reporter that he knew would not bow to sensationalism and would give Harry and the rest a fair representation.

Finally, feeling as though he would drop from sheer fatigue, he made his way home to his worried Gran and toppled in to his bed, asleep nearly before his head hit the pillow.