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For The Greater Good

Summary:

Halloween 1981

James and Lily survive the night they were supposed to die. Much to the disappointment of a certain dark wizard. How did this happen? Well it's been said that people of the Black Family are terribly possessive over who or what they deem as theirs. Regulus Black isn't going to let anyone take James and Lily from him.

Notes:

A Halloween one shot!

Work Text:

All Hallows Eve,
Saturday, October 31st 1981

Flames had engulfed the entirety of the Potter Cottage in Godric’s Hollow.

A shimmering dome encompassed the property, ensuring that the flames didn’t spread to the surrounding homes.

Standing in the middle of the road was an old man, tall and dressed in obnoxious purple robes adorned with silver stars and moons. His long grey beard framing the small pleased smile on his lips.

Not that anyone was around to see it at the moment.

‘Everything is going just as planned’ Dumbledore thought to himself, pleased with his machinations. The only hiccup was that the Potter child -now obviously dead- was supposed to be his ‘Prophecy Child’ but there was always the Longbottom child that could take up that role, he would just need to make sure the child’s parents were taken care of. Because of course Tom wasn’t really dead.

Not all the way, not yet.

The Potters had always been strong magically, their family descended from one of the Peverell brothers and even the blood of Godric Gryffindor ran through their veins. But then James Potter went and married Lily Evans and well, he had signed his own death warrant with that. The Potters could have been reigned in with enough effort, Dumbledore didn’t want to wipe out another Pureblood family but a child between him and Lily would have been too powerful.

It was all for the greater good.

Anyone that knew the olde stories, listened to the old prophecies that had been passed down as fairy tales knew exactly who she was, what family she really hailed from.

Le Fay

Flaming red hair and glowing emerald green eyes. The trademark of the family, only when magic itself was in danger would the family magic awaken in one, bringing the family out of hiding and into the light.

To right the balance.

He was the balance that magic needed. He didn’t need, nor want someone from that family trying to take over what he was already doing.

So he had to bide his time to make it seem like they were on the same side. She couldn’t have an accident while at school, that would have been suspicious. Then Tom came around and did most of the work for him. He didn’t even need to get his hands dirty. One fake prophecy later and his issue of Lily Le Fey was taken care of.

Potter and Le Fay lines were wiped out for good.

Sad really..

But He is the greater good.

And no one was going to get in the way of that.

Pops of apparition alerted him to company, wiping the smile off his face he arranged his face into one of heartbreaking sadness.

It hadn’t failed him yet.

 

But It was about to.

 

Turning he saw a full squadron of Aurors headed right to him. The Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold and Head of the DMLE Barty Crouch Sr were bringing up the rear.

‘That’s a touch concerning.’

Before Dumbledore could put on a show of his devastation he was interrupted. Wards fell over the area preventing his escape, just before the last wards settled five more pops echoed across the street.

Dumbledore felt himself pale.

Lily Potter holding little Harry, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and to his greatest shock Regulus Black all appeared next to the two heads of the Ministry.

Dumbledore was so fucked.

Minister Bagnold put her wand to her throat, casting a sonorus charm. “Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you are under arrest. Place your wand on the ground and come quietly.”

He had no intention of doing that.

He shot everyone before him a nasty, but triumphant look and clapped his hands above his head, calling for Fawkes like he had so many times before.

 

 

Nothing happened.

Terror started to settle low in his gut.

‘I am Albus Dumbledore, how dare these weak wizards think they can take me on.’ He pulled out his wand to attack but he was disarmed before he could react.

“Wand to your master.”

The Elder wand, the most powerful wand in the world was ripped out of Dumbledore's hand with just a simple command, not even a spell.

Flying straight into the outstretched hand of James Potter. James’ face set in a look of grim determination. Hatred burning in his eyes.

He would have missed it if he hadn’t been looking at him, but as the wand landed in his hand the cloak that belonged to the Potter family for generations made itself known, shifting gently on James’ shoulders and the ring that sat next to the Potter Lordship ring, glinted almost gleefully.

The terror that had settled into Albus’ gut, seized his entire body.

 

The Hallows had been reunited.

 

And he had not been the one to do it, like he and Gellert had dreamed of.

James Potter was now the Master of Death.

And Dumbledore had tried to have him and his family killed off and by the look in his eyes, James knew this.

There was no way out. He was wandless and apparently Phoenixless. For once in his life. There was no escaping from his actions.

This was the end of the Great Albus Dumbledore.

 

—--

 

One week prior.
Sunday, October 25th 1981.

 

Shock and terror seared through Regulus’ veins.

 

The Dark Lord had been so happy, so excited. He told his gathered Death Eaters that the Potters’ would be dead within the week. He is to attack them on Samhain, using the day the veil between worlds is thinner to boost his power.

To make a statement.

Regulus needed to get to James and Lily as soon as possible. He almost lost James once, he would not lose either of them this time either.

As soon as he left the meeting he went back to Grimmauld place.

There was a list of things that needed to be done and the first thing to do was get rid of the trash cluttering up his family home.

Appearing in the landing near his room he straightened his robes. His mother wanted him to be a Death Eater, a cold blooded killer.

Well that is exactly what she is going to get.

He sent off a Patronus to his brother. A brilliant glowing stag jumped out of his wand, he had perfected the charm. There was no need to speak out loud what he wanted to say, the message would get to his brother just the same.

He would give Sirius five minutes to get here, then he would do this himself.

Not two minutes later did Sirius appear, looking frazzled and wild. He pulled Regulus to him in a quick hug whispering into his ear, “What the fuck is going on Reg, why did you call me here?”

It would only be in an extreme situation he would call his brother to the place they grew up.

And it didn’t get anymore dire than this.

Still in his brother's embrace he whispered back. “The fucking order spy is Pettigrew. The Dark Lord knows where James and Lily are. He knows where Harry is. I know that you guys switched secret keepers but their cover has been blown. Its the fucking rat. I am going to bring them here but first I-We need to deal with our loving mother.”

Regulus pulled back from his brother. Looking into wrathful grey eyes that mirrored his exactly.

“Are you up for a bit of murder, brother mine?”

A vicious grin took over Sirius’ face, something that looked like it belonged more on his animagus form than his human one.

“Let’s kill a bitch and bring our family home, My Lord Black. It’s about time your Heir should be in the home of the Blacks, to be better protected from our enemies.” A touch of the black madness could be seen in the brothers faces at the prospect.

Regulus matched his brother's grin, eyes glinting in malice and vengefulness. “Let’s cleanse our house so my son, my Heir has nothing that can taint him like we were tainted as children.”

Sirius bowed in an excited and slightly mocking manner. “By your leave, my Lord Black.”

Regulus smirked at his brother and led the way down to the parlor where he knew his mother would be having her afternoon tea. As they reached the door Regulus waved his hand. The Lord ring adorning his right hand briefly flashed in a white light as he felt the wards of Grimmauld place close to everyone. No one in or out except for him and his brother, or those brought in by the two of them.

He cast a silencing charm on the door, turning to his brother, he brought Sirius’ attention to him. “Do you want the honor of killing her?”

Sirius’ eyes widened in surprise. “I do, but I’m an Auror, that magic can’t be found on my wand or I will lose my job and be tossed into Azkaban before I can blink.” The disappointment was clear in his voice.

Regulus nodded his head in understanding. They both needed to see the monster that abused them their whole lives dead, they needed her dead so their family would be safe.

“Take mine.”

“What! Reggie, are you serious?”

Regulus looked at him in triumph, humored horror etching his brother's face.

“I’m not Sirius, you are.”

The groan that Sirius let out was worth him telling that stupid joke that everyone was tired of hearing.

His brother glared at him, his lips twitching in a suppressed grin. “Oh ha ha. Very funny, cracking a joke like we aren’t about to go commit matricide.”

Regulus just shrugged his shoulders, “Us Blacks have dark humor, what can I say.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Is this how everyone else feels when I'm punning it up? Merlin I must sound like a twat.”

“Here take my wand and let’s put an end to this monster so we can get everything ready to put an end to a different monster.” He pushed his wand into his brother's hands, smiling cruelly as he pushed open the door to the parlor.

Walburga Black, was sitting with her side facing the door, she looked up when the door opened. Expecting her youngest son, the new Lord Black. She was not expecting her perfect son to be standing shoulder to shoulder with her dreadful disgrace of an oldest son.

Before she could start her screaming Regulus waved his hand and shot a wandless, wordless silencing spell at her. At the same time Sirius threw a disarming jinx and plucked her wand out of the air.

Turning, Sirius looked at his younger brother. “Two unforgivables, is that alright with you Reg?”

“Do you want to hear her scream, like she used to do to us?”

“No, these walls have heard enough violence I think.”

“I actually quite agree brother, go nuts.”

Sirius took a deep breath, thinking back on all of the horrors that he and his brother had endured in this house, at the hands of his mother. He felt himself sink his toes into the madness that he kept locked up tight deep within himself.

You had to mean it.

Opening his eyes a crazed smile took over his face.

“Crucio.”

It wasn’t yelled like how the Dark Lord did it, nor how his mother had done it when she was using it on the two of them.

It was spoken quietly, calmly. Like Sirius was just talking to Regulus about the weather.

And isn’t that even more terrifying.

He held the spell for a solid minute before he let it go. Walburga was writhing on the floor, her mouth open in painful looking screams, though no sound could be heard. He turned to look at his brother in confirmation before he killed her but he was surprised to find Kreacher next to Regulus, looking pleased and vindictive.

Kreacher looked up at him, “Master Sirius should have gone longer. Masters deserve this vengeance. Mistress Walburga is a stain on the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. She deserves to suffer for hurting the children of the House of Black.”

Sirius’ eyes lit up in malicious glee. “I couldn’t agree more Kreacher. But we have other things to do unfortunately.”

He met his brother's eyes and at his nod Sirius turned back to their mother, the monster that had raised them. The monster that had abused them and tortured them in the name of being ‘proper pureblood heirs’.

“Avada Kedavra”

The spell was said in the same calm, almost melodic tone of voice he used to cast the cruciatus curse moments ago. Green light shot out of his brother's wand in his hand, Walburga’s body stopped moving instantly. It was anticlimactic and almost disappointing. But the relief that they could feel settling over them was enough.

This was enough.

“Kreacher, please dispose of the body, where she will never be found. Then clean this place up. Get rid of or move all of the dangerous things in this house to the family Vault. My spouses and son are coming home. I need this house ready for a toddler.”

Glee lit up Kreacher's face, the elf looking years younger in his enthusiasm. “Little Heir Black is coming home! Oh how Kreacher has longed for his day! Kreacher will clean and ready the house. The Master Suite will be readied for Master Regulus, Master James and Mistress Lily! The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black will be brought back to glory under Master Regulus’ rule! Yes it will!” With a sharp crack he was gone.

Sirius and Regulus shared a startled look before bursting into hysterical laughter.

After calming down, Regulus and Sirius left for Godric's Hollow. They needed to tell Lily and James what was going on. It was a good thing that they hadn’t let Dumbledore recast the Fidelius charm, all they had him do was transfer the secret keeper from Sirius to Peter. Dumbledore never knew that Regulus had been there when the spell had been cast originally, hiding under James’ invisibility cloak. That way he was included in the spell as someone living there. He did live there, not that anyone but his spouses, his brother and Remus knew that. Pettigrew and Dumbledore had no idea.

He and James had dated in school, falling in love. Even if Regulus being forced to take the dark mark almost ruined their relationship. He couldn’t run like Sirius did, he was the spare to the Heir. If he left his parents would have hunted Sirius down and killed him. He couldn’t let that happen.

The only two issues they ever really had was his forced Death Eater status and James’ infatuation with Lily. But the latter issue solved itself.

They had been keeping their relationship a secret from everyone, unfortunately Sirius caught them together on the map. One black eye, busted lip and long overdue conversation later the brothers had made up and Sirius was semi accepting of his best mate and little brother dating. Remus found out because, well, you can’t hide the scent of someone on someone else from a werewolf.

The Lily issue came to a head when they had been in class. The Gryffindors had been in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, going over the Patronus charm when Lily produced a beautiful doe, a perfect match to his and James’ stag pair. It had caused an almost apoplectic argument.

Patronus’ were reflections of the soul, it was a little known fact that soulmates could be found because of the shape their Patronus charm took.

Regulus felt like he was going to be replaced with Lily since they couldn’t be seen as a couple because it would put them both in danger. James didn’t deny that he still liked Lily but he was in love with Regulus. He didn’t want to risk losing Regulus but they all might be able to be together. Regulus was pissed to say the least. He respected Lily, even liked her as a person. But he didn’t want to lose James to her.

It took a week of Regulus ignoring James for Sirius and Remus to stage an intervention and get the two to talk. They had apparently sworn Lily to secrecy and told her about James and Regulus’ relationship. After talking it out the three decided to tentatively try dating together as a triad. But there were rules. Open communication was a must and Lily needed to understand the danger they would all be in if their relationship was discovered. James and Lily could be seen as a couple as a cover but they were all equals in this.

Taking the fact that they shared such a dangerous secret with her, Lily shared her own secret.

She had been adopted as a baby by the Evans’. When she turned eleven, the same day that she got her Hogwarts letter, her parents suddenly remembered that there was a box she was to open when she turned eleven, given to them by the people she was adopted from. They never remembered until they learned she was a witch, like it was a fail safe.

The box contained a family Grimoire, diaries and written history of her family.

She came from a long line of powerful witches and wizards, the Le Fay. They had gone into hiding 500 years ago because they were being hunted down for their magical prowess and their gifts. People had resorted to kidnapping members of the family to try to strengthen their own family magic.

It was horrific.

They cast off the family name and took refuge in the muggle world, suppressing their magic. But the problem with that is it made them sick, some turned into obsurals, bringing more attention to them. So they cast a ritual, begging mother magic to take back her gift, to protect them. The ritual worked but Mother magic had a price. A Witch or Wizard would be born into the family again if Mother magic needed balance to be restored, if that happened magic would run strong in their veins and would never again be able to be suppressed.

She had not told anyone this, when she had been taken to Gringotts to get some magical currency for her school supplies the Goblins had immediately recognised her magic. Giving her an inheritance test to confirm what her box of books had informed her of.

She was a Le Fey.

The Goblins urged her to keep it a secret, to tell no one but her future spouse. She showed them the Lordship ring that marked her as Lady Le Fey, the ring that she had kept hidden from view on her right hand.

They made a pact that day to keep each other's secrets regardless if the relationship lasted.

There were bumps in the road, arguments were had, but the three of them loved each other deeply. When Regulus finally graduated Hogwarts they had a bonding ritual. The three bonded in this life and the next as spouses, as soulmates.

Their triad was powerful, they could draw off of each other to strengthen their magic.

Publicly James and Lily were married but deep, deep in the Ministry there was a record of the first bonded triad to be had in well over three hundred years. And of course the Goblins knew. The Goblins were ecstatic to see what chaos the combined bloodlines of Black, Potter and Le Fey would bring to magical world.

When little Hadrian James Potter-Black was born the three were overjoyed. They used an old blood adoption ritual to ensure that Harry was also Regulus’ son, because it was obvious James was his sire. But then they were told of the “Prophecy” and fear gripped the triad. James had used one of his breaks while working at the Ministry as an Auror to sneak down and check the Hall of Prophecies. But surprise, surprise. There is no prophecy involving their son, no prophecy even close to what they had been told.

James came home pissed that day. He told his wife and husband what he had found. They had never been more thankful for Regulus’ position as a Death Eater spy. Something was obviously going on, it seemed like they were up against two dark wizards, Dumbledore and Voldemort.

They agreed to seemingly play into Dumbledore’s hands, agreeing to make someone else their secret keeper and going into hiding. But they were always careful, always listening to what was going on, what rumors were being said.

They never trusted Dumbledore after they discovered the false prophecy.

That probably saved their lives.

 

 

Aparating into Potter Cottage, Regulus was greeted with kisses and hugs. Lily checked him over like she always did after he was summoned to a meeting.

“My loves, we have a problem.” Regulus’ voice brought both his spouse's attention to him.

“I’ll take my favorite nephew to his room. Let me know what's happening later, this isn’t for little ears.” Sirius swept forward taking Harry out of James’ arms and started up the stairs.

Concern and panic was starting to etch its way into James and Lily’s faces.

“What happened mon étoile?” James’ smooth timbre voice cut across the living room.

“The Dark Lord revealed his spy, it’s Pettigrew. The Dark Lord has decided to attack us on Samhain. I have an idea to keep us all safe but I want your opinions.” Regulus kept his voice even, but the thought of one of James’ closest friends betraying him, betraying them all brought fury flooding through his veins again.

“Peter! He’s the spy! That RAT BASTARD!” James’ fury and hurt could be heard in the tremble of his voice, no longer a smooth timbre like it normally was.

“I’m going to rip him apart with my bare hands.” Lily’s voice was even, but ice cold. Her eyes glowing with power the angrier she got.

She made a beautiful sight, flaming red hair and glowing emerald eyes. The power rolling off of her was like a tempest. Her eyes cut to Regulus, grey meeting emerald. “What was your idea, Reg?”

“Sirius and I disposed of our mother, Grimmauld Place is shut down to only Sirius and I. No one in or out. Kreacher is currently baby proofing the entire house. We will all be safe there. It’s saturated with generations of magic and I am the Lord of the Black family, there is no one that can override my wards. No one will know where we are and If they do guess, there is absolutely no way they could ever get to us. It’s a fortress. We could leave golems here that act vaguely like you, James and Harry. When the Dark Lord comes here, we can set a trap. Set up wards to trap him in here and rune stones that when activated will unleash fiendfyre. Killing him and any of the Horcrux we may collect between now and then. That will give us time to kill the rest of them after his body is destroyed.”

It was a solid plan, now he just needed his soulmates to agree and he could move them to safety, Sirius and Remus could move in too. The entire family he had built for himself under one roof. The thought alone made his soul feel settled and safe.

He could see that James was still fuming about the betrayal of someone he saw as a brother but he looked like he was thinking over the plan that Regulus had pitched to them. Lily looked similarly thoughtful.

“It’s a good idea, the whole thing. We can work on the experimental runestones we’ve been messing with and see if we can get them working. Some for a trap of fiendfyre and then corner wardstones to keep everything contained in the property so none of the nearby houses are damaged in the explosion.” Lily’s thoughtful voice floated around the room, still sounding like she was running the plan and any new ideas through her head.

“If we play it right, make it look like Lily, Harry and I died in the fire, we might be able to get Dumbledore too. Tell the minister and Crouch what's going on to get them in on the plan. Neither of them are his biggest fan so I bet if we tell them what we know they may be more than happy to catch him red handed. We can get rid of two Dark Lords in one fell swoop.” James’ face was vindictive and vicious as he pitched his idea to his better halves.

The three of them shared a bloodthirsty smile.

They would protect their son at all costs.

 

 

Monday, October 26th, 1981

Regulus and Lily had been working on the Horcrux issue for a few months before the news of Pettigrew betraying them. They had gotten the Locket from the Inferi infested lake earlier in the year, the cup from Bellatrix’s vault -a few paid off goblins later-. The most recent they discovered was the ring.

He and Lily had been going over old books about lineage when they came across the Gaunts. It was by happenstance that they even found the connection. James had joined him on the scouting of the Gaunt shack when they found said shack saturated in strong spells and wards. They managed to get the Ring, ignoring the temptation to put the damned thing on, they left to a secluded area and hit the blasted thing with fiendfyre.

But the oddest thing happened, the ring base itself melted and was destroyed, along with the screeching cloud that was the horcrux but the stone remained safe. Whole.

When James picked it up, turning the stone in hand to inspect it. He was greeted by the image of his parents.

James’ dead parents.

James’ father Fleamont, told him what the stone was, what it was to their family and how it tied in with the family cloak he had passed to his son.

The Resurrection Stone.

The Cloak of Invisibility.

All that was left was the Elder Wand. A wand that happened to be in the possession of one Albus Dumbledore.

Oh how that thought just made their plan to get Dumbledore out of the way even better.

James in all his glorious Gryffindor brilliance decided to try to call Death themself.

And Death answered, in all their skeletal and billowing cloaked glory.

“Descendant of my favored, why have I been summoned?”

James and Regulus froze for a moment in shock. Somehow James pulled himself together enough to talk to Death, getting straight to the point seemed the best option.

“Tom Riddle has made a horcrux to escape your grasp. I, and my bonded intend to remedy this. It goes against nature, against you. If there is any information that you could give us we would be grateful for any assistance we could get.”

James somehow managed to keep his voice even the whole time he spoke, even with the oppressive feel of death weighing down on them.

Lily was going to kill them both if they made it home.

Death made a humming sound, like they were thinking. Then with a wave of Death’s hand images appeared. A Diary, housed in a familiar looking library. A Diadem, hidden by mountains of junk. A place that Regulus also recognised. Then an image of Voldemort himself sitting like a lord at a table.

“These are the remaining pieces of his soul that are on this living plane.” Death’s voice sounded like many and one at the same time. It was disconcerting to say the least.

“Thank you Lord Death, we will remedy this as soon as possible.”

Death moved their shrouded head like they were nodding.

“Your interference is appreciated, descendant of my chosen. As a gift for your help I give you a boon. When faced with the wand of my chosen, simply call it to return to it’s master.”

With that, Death was gone, as well as the oppressive feeling that surrounded them.

“Lily is going to fucking kill us.”

 

Lily had been so mad when they told her what had transpired. But also relieved that they were okay, and that their plan was made easier with the knowledge of where the horcrux were. While they were gone, she and Remus had been messing around with the distance activated runestones. They had gotten them to work now all they needed to do was charge them with Fiendfyre, set up the corner ward stones and wait for Sirius to come back with the books from Grimmauld place on how to make life like golems that didn’t end in dabbling in Necromancy. It had been a productive day by all accounts. Lily even managed to reset the Resurrection stone into a new band for James to wear.

The only reason they were all still at Potter Cottage was they were expecting Pettigrew to come by tomorrow to check in and make sure they were doing okay. They had appearances to keep for the time being. After that he wasn’t expected to come back till the following week, so they could all leave the house after he left.

Lily had taken to packing almost everything of value to them and had Regulus or Sirius take it to Grimmauld Place. Remus and James had been keyed into the wards earlier in the day, all that were left to be keyed in were her and Harry.

Tomorrow James was going to talk with the Minister and Head of the DMLE to tell them of the plot on their lives and vaguely what they were doing about it. Everything was falling into place nicely. Tomorrow evening her family would be in a safe and secure location, and after the fall of Dumbledore and Voldemort. They could announce their triad to the world and finish hunting down the last two horcrux. Giving old Voldyshorts no time to come back from the dead.

They would finally be safe and free.

 

 

Wednesday, October 28, 1981

After the very fake and stressful meeting with Pettigrew at their house, they had moved into Grimmauld Place the night before, the house had been spotless and arranged for a toddler to get into as little trouble as possible. Kreacher had done a great job.

Speaking of Kreacher, he was so excited to have so many people in the house, especially Harry. He kept calling him Little Master Hadrian and spent as much time with him as possible. It was truly adorable.

Just after lunch, Lily, Regulus and Sirius had managed to figure out how to make golems of James, Lily and Harry without dabbling in necromancy. The only issue being that without using a human body, or any body really, the golems would only last for about twenty four hours. So they needed to make the golems and set them up into the fake Potters in the early hours of All Hallows Eve.

No Pressure.

James had a private meeting with the Minister of Magic and Head of the DMLE. According to James it had gone well, both were outraged at what was going on and how Dumbledore had been handling it. Especially the bit about the Order of the Phoenix. That apparently was a vigilante group that Ole Dumbles didn’t have the permission of the Ministry to run or be a part of. It was actually illegal. And with James' accounts of everything that was just one more charge they could get him with. Apparently the head of the DMLE had been trying to get something on Dumbledore for some time but without any proof of any wrongdoing he was able to keep his positions as Chief Warlock of the Wizengmot and Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Albus wasn’t as popular as he liked to lead people and himself to believe apparently.

They had the full support of the Ministry to go through with their plan to get rid of Voldemort and set up Dumbledore’s arrest.

Everything was going according to plan.

 

 

All Hallows Eve,
Saturday, October 31th 1981

 

Regulus, James and Sirius had gotten up at 2 a.m. and popped into Potter Cottage. It took two hours but they got the Golems made and the fiendfyre runestones set up while Remus went out and adjusted the corner wardstones to contain everything inside the wards instead of repelling everything outside the wards. It sounds simple in principle but inverting the wards was harder than he thought it was going to be.

An hour after Regulus and James had finished the Golems, Remus finished with the wards. They still had about an hour or so before the sun would come up, leaving them still with the cover of darkness.

All that was left was to wait until the wards were tripped when someone crossed them. They would be alerted to the intruder then they would go to the Ministry alert Crouch Sr. and Minister Bagnold and they would get to be there when Dumbledore was arrested.

Voldemort would be dead and Dumbledore arrested.

They would finally be safe.

 

 

When the wards tripped they all looked at each other in anticipation. Lily picked up Harry and they all dis-apperated from Grimmauld Place and into the Ministry Atrium, making their way up to the Auror’s office to meet with Crouch.

Upon their arrival Crouch sent a missive to Minister Bagnold and gathered the team of Aurors that he had already assembled for this very event. As soon as the Minister arrived they all left to the Atrium, then making their way to Godric’s Hollow.

The triad, Sirius and Remus waited for the Aurors to go first, then the heads of the Ministry, a few moments later after exchanging looks of encouragement they followed the larger group. As ready as they can be to face the man who was more than happy to sacrifice them to Voldemort.

 

 

After they arrived it was like watching a memory in a pensive, like they were there, but not really.

That is until Dumbledore tried to call for Fawkes unsuccessfully. James saw the moment the panic set in and Albus became desperate. He saw Dumbledore begin to raise his wand and he remembered the boon that Death had granted him. Before he could really comprehend what he was saying his hand was outstretched and he heard himself say “Wand to your Master.”

No spell was spoken, but the Elder wand responded just the same.

As soon as the wand landed in his hand, power like he had never felt rushed through his body. He could feel his invisibility cloak settle around his shoulders. He hadn’t even brought it with him.

The look of horror and resignation on Albus Dumbledore's face was the most satisfying thing he had ever seen. And he was sure that everyone else would agree with him on that.

After James had taken his wand, -that by wizard law was now his- Albus was cuffed in Magic dampening cuffs and the Aurors set about trying to put out the fiendfyre still raging in the shimmering dome.

Minister Bagnold went up to the group addressing them all.

“Albus Dumbledore will not be able to cause you any more trouble than he already has. Myself and the DMLE will make sure that he is put away for a long time. Lord and Lady Potter, Lord Black, Mr. Black and Mr.Lupin thank you for everything you have done to rid our world of not one but two Dark Lords. The Ministry and the entirety of the Wizarding world is in your debt. You will be hearing from us soon. Again, Thank you.”

With that she turned and headed to where the Aurors were still working on putting out the cursed fire.

James and Lily turned to their husband pulling him into an embrace and squishing their son between the three of them.

“If it wasn’t for you mon étoile, we would be dead. I’m sure of it. I love you.” James’ voice was thick with emotion.

Lily’s eyes were watering, nodding along with what James was saying. “I love you mon étoile.” She whispered into his chest.

“I love you too, mon soleil, mon fleur. I don’t know what I would have ever done without the two of you. Without our son. I love you both so much.” Regulus’ voice was raw sounding, like he was trying not to cry.

“Hey! What about us! We love you guys too!”

“Padfoot, Shut up.”

“But Moony, my love, I want some hugs and declarations of love too!”

Regulus smiled at his family. They were finally free, all of them.

“Let’s go home.”

 

-Fin-