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The yellow Brickroad	By : Lalani Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 8131 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters. I do not make any money off of this

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Chapter Five

RPOV

He led the other adults to the sofas, levitating the pillows back on them with a swish of his wand. He waited until the women were seated, before sitting down himself.

“Well, as Deputy Headmistress I am actually here to talk about the school year and how to proceed. You need to know what your duties will be as a teacher. Another thing is what we will do with your kids, if they will be joining Hogwarts or we need to open a long-distance Floo-Connection.” Professor McGonagall said, her lips still twitching lightly.

“I see. I apologize for asking, but is there a reason why you came with an entourage to this meeting?” he asked, annoyed that the Potters would intrude on this too. He was really starting to dislike them more than he had already.

“Mrs Potter has decided to join the teaching staff at Hogwarts, too. As the new teacher for Muggle-Studies.” The older witch replied. He could detect a small strain of dislike in the woman’s voice.

Apparently she had stopped being a Potter-Fan, unlike during his days at Hogwarts, where she would gush over Lily constantly. Only a few moments later did it truly register what she said.

Lily Potter? A teacher?? A colleague? I knew I should have refused! He thought angrily.

He grew even more dismayed at the woman, when he took a quick peek at her thoughts. She was frantically trying to figure out how it could be he was married with four children and there being no pictures in his home of them.

So she was watching out for that? Good thing I spelled them to disappear when guests come through the wards.

He was worried that she would make his time at Hogwarts difficult. Maybe the presence of his wife would keep the woman away, but judging by her thoughts he rather thought she was too interested in him. He would have to be careful.

“Yes, I thought since Albus was so frantically looking for teachers it would be a good idea for Lily to help out.” James said, looking at his wife with over-the-top adoration.

He just stared at the other man for a moment, before returning his attention back to Professor McGonagall.

“Our children will be attending Hogwarts. There is no need to have them at a school halfway across the globe.”

“Then we need to talk about their Potions classes. Obviously, you can’t be teaching them, so we will have to put them into Professor Slughorn’s…”

“NO!” he answered, rather forcefully. “I will not have that man teach my children anything! He must be one of the most incompetent teachers I have ever met.”

“Well, who else will teach your children then? They have to take their NEWTS after all. Unless of course they do not want to become Potioneers, like you?” Lily asked him, with a rather malicious undertone he didn’t appreciate.

“They will have their NEWT in potions, don’t you worry, Mrs. Potter. They have already finished the American equivalent, the only thing left is to have it approved at the ministry.” He answered her, already dismissing the woman from his mind. There was no use in telling her he had already taken care of everything, including a special license to have his kids get the Mastership through a performance test. It was an old law, where young Potions Apprentices could get their Mastership by brewing a slew of the most difficult Potions and creating an original Potion at the Ministry under the watchful eye of the Wizengamot and a slew of Potions Masters. It was created to stop the practice of Potions Masters using their apprentices as slave labour and not signing on unto their Masterships, practically keeping them hanging for years.

“If that is so, then it should not be a problem. So, no Potions classes for your children. How old are they, anyway?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“The eldest set are 16 and the youngest 14.” He answered. Lily, who had been sitting rather stiffly sat up even straighter and stared at him.

“You had children right after finishing Hogwarts?” she asked him in full disbelief.

“Yes. I had.”

“With your, now, wife?” she asked.

“Yes, with my wife. Do you think I would impregnate a woman and leave her?” he asked back scathingly.

“No…of course not. But when…How long had you been together?”

“That is none of your business.” He snarled back at her, at the end of his patience.

She frowned back at him and he ignored her. Turning back to Professor McGonagall, he motioned for her to start this impromptu staff meeting.

“I will tell my wife everything when she arrives.” He said as an afterthought.

And with that, the meeting commenced.

It took the Professor a good two hours to explain everything, by the end they had started calling each other by their first names. If it hadn’t been for the Potters, he was sure they could have had a rather nice conversation, even including his daughters. When they wanted to be, they could be quite delightful young ladies. It would have made Hogwarts easier for them with Minerva in their corner. With this thought in his head, though, he had invited the older witch to joining them at dinner tonight in the hotel’s restaurant and she had agreed. With a Potter in residence, he needed to solidate his base at Hogwarts. He didn’t want his children to go through what he went through at Hogwarts.

After the others had left, he went to get his daughters, so they could go shopping in Diagon Alley. He had gotten the usual letter from McGonagall, which is why he decided he could get the kids what they needed for the school year.

At his knock, Deborah opened the door and both girls came rushing out, with Hannah asking questions a mile an hour.

“So, are they gone? What did they want? Who was that really weird woman? Were you guys really friends and how can you be friends with a person like that?”

“They are gone, they were here to talk about Belle’s and my new job at Hogwarts. That was Lily Potter and yes we used to be friends for a while and then we stopped being friends because of the way she is.” he said, all in one breath and one sentence, so he could get this over with.

“Oh, ok.” Hannah answered him, staring at him intently.

Knowing his eldest daughter, she would be going off on one of her tirades, so he stopped her before she could start.

“How about we go shopping? You will need a lot of things for school and Professor McGonagall has brought your Hogwarts admission letters with her that includes the lists with everything you need to buy for your school year.”

“What exactly will we need?” Deborah asked, sidling closer to him. He put his left arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his chest, doing the same with Hannah on his right side. They were both a bit overwhelmed at moving to England and then the Potters rushing into their rooms and needed this.

Again, he felt fresh resentment rise in him. He had actually put all of his negative feelings for all of the people who had made his life hell behind him, building a new and happy life with Belle. The moment they were back in his life, chaos reigned. He was a controlling and orderly person and he liked it when everything went as planned. Of course, living with his crazy wife and four teenagers tried his patience daily, but he loved all of them dearly. It made it more tolerable. The Potters, though, were not loved ones and he had no patience for their crazy.

“Well, everything, to be honest. Unlike GC High, the material is not bought by the school.” He answered.

“Really? How odd.” Hannah answered, while Deborah was frowning at him.

“Wait, doesn’t that mean that some will have more expensive things than others? How unfair.” Deborah said.

“Yes. It was why I have had a rather difficult time at school. We were poor, so I mostly had to use second hand stuff. Don’t worry, though, you will not have to go through that.”

“I think I would feel bad, though, if I had to work with someone who has second hand stuff.” Hannah said, already feeling sorry.

“Don’t.” he said. “You just don’t have to be mean about it and judge them by their character instead.”

The girls were silent and just stared up at him, still snuggled up to his chest.

“So, go and get properly dressed and we can go out.” He added, before pushing both of them towards their room.

“Ok!” they called and disappeared, already talking about what to wear. He shook his head, after all these years still surprised at himself for being able to handle his family. The kid he used to be and the man he would have grown into if he had stayed in England and not had had Belle would not have been able to handle this. He would have hexed any children he had had.

He quickly went into his own rooms, getting his leather jacket and his wallet, before remembering they would be in wizarding England. He groaned and turned to his luggage, pulling out a pair of dress pants, a black shirt and a black waistcoat. He got dressed and finished all of it off with a black tie and his long, billowing robes. He knew they made him look like an overgrown bat, but they were intimidating. Jeans and a leather jacket didn’t get it done in Diagon Alley.

He pulled on his Dragon Hide boots and pulled out a little bag with a drawstring, where he put some money in. It would be enough for the bare essentials for the kids, but for nothing more. He had already stopped by Gringotts on his arrival, and connected the bag with their account. His wife was put in as a co-owner, while his children had their own account each. It had left the goblin speechless when he had put the money in his childrens accounts. But it was their own money they had earned while making potions and selling them.

Of course, he watched over them brewing those potions and checked the quality of their brews, since they didn’t have their Masterships yet, but the money was their own. His family’s finances were not only rock solid, but had probably surpassed even the Malfoy’s. It was one hell of a good feeling to return to England like this, able to get his family whatever they wanted. When his wife and sons joined them, they would go either house or apartment hunting, so they would have somewhere to stay during holidays. Their house in Garden City would be sold.

When he was done and had grabbed his wand, he walked out into the sitting room, to find his daughters already dressed and sitting on the settee, reading their Hogwarts letters.

Well, that was fast, he thought amused.

“So, no hour long wait for you girls to be done?” he asked, looking them over. They were both dressed in pretty dresses, with voluminous skirts. Hannah’s dress was white and had little lemons on them and she was wearing matching flats with a yellow cardigan over her dress. Deborah was wearing the same, just with purple grapes and purple flats with a purple cardigan. The dresses looked demure, since they had round but high collars and went all the way down to their knees. He nearly laughed out loud at the picture they created.

“And why do you girls look like you escaped out of a fifties sitcom?” he asked, now grinning. Their heads turned to look at him, their identical ponytails swishing around and then bouncing into place.

“We thought we would try and make a good impression on people here. We figured if that crazy woman started talking about us, people would remember us in pretty dresses and discard what she said. And we thought we would go out quickly, so people wouldn’t speculate if she decided to talk about what she thinks she saw today. People assume the worst.” Deborah answered.

Russel felt his chest swell with pride at their fast and very Slytherin way of thinking. Their compassion and sense of fairness notwithstanding, most of their decision were made in their self-interest. And that is what he wanted for his kids: the ability to look out for themselves and themselves first. He didn’t need them to put themselves in danger just to be heroic.

“Good thinking, girls. Well, let’s go then. We will stop by the book store first.” He said and started towards the door.

“Why do you look like an overgrown bat?” Hannah asked from directly behind him.

“So I can intimidate people. I do not need them to think me approachable. Most of them know me from school and I was a miserable person back then. They would expect the same today.” He answered, cosying up behind them and taking the girls to the elevator.

“Dad, I hate to tell you, but you are still a miserable person today. You just have us to counter that, at least sometimes.” Hannah said with a laugh, before grabbing his arm and hooking herself under. He looked down at her head, before looking at Deborah, who just grinned at him and shrugged her shoulders.

The elevator arrived and they piled in, Hannah still clinging to him.

“Dad. Should we complain to the owner that those people were able to burst into our rom so easily? I think they need to ward this place a bit better.” Deborah said.

“You are right, doll. I will have to talk to the manager about this.” He said on a sigh, stepping out of the elevator and into the lobby of the hotel. It was rather small, taking into consideration how small the bar used to be. He stepped up to the reception, letting the girls walk towards the exit.

The woman behind the counter had pretty blond hair and bright blue eyes. She looked to be about his age and was wearing a gold and red vest over a white shirt.

“How can I help you, Sir?” she asked him in a bright tone. He looked at the name tag on her breast.

“Well Mrs. Brown, there has been a problem recently. I had…visitors and they basically stormed through the wards and the door into my rooms.” He answered.

“Oh dear! I will have to call the manager and the Aurors…” He interrupted her before she could go on.

“The manager will be welcome, but they will be no need for the Aurors. There was no real malice behind their actions, but still I would like to talk to the manager about his wards. The situation has been resolved quickly.”

“Oh. Is there a reason why they barged in on you, Sir? If you do not mind me asking.” She was looking at him curiously, obviously wanting a juicy bit of gossip. He thought for a moment about going for discretion, but then figured he could get out his version of what happened.

“My daughters and I…” at this her eyes went to Hannah and Deborah, widening slightly at recognition.

“So, they are your daughters?” she breathed at him.

“Obviously. I just said so.” He snarled at her, deepening his voice. She flushed slightly in embarrassment.

“Why else would I be travelling with two teenagers if they are not my daughters?” he went on between clenched teeth. His anger was partly true, but mostly a ruse.

“Of course! I never thought anything else. Please, go on.”

“Anyway, we were having a pillow fight and my daughters were squealing like pigs…” at this, he let a warm smile spread over his face and chuckled lightly for effect. The woman giggled at this and leaned closer to him and got stopped by her desk almost comically. His smile grew a bit and became real at her little display of stupidity. “Then the Potters rushed in, apparently to save my daughters from me, because they thought I was doing something terrible to them. It got resolved quickly, but not until they had stunned me straight across the room in front of my children. They were terrified of the strangers barging in on them, obviously, and clearly worried for me. Unfortunately, it took quite a while for me to recover from my stunner. I guess we were lucky there was no real malice behind their actions, but I would hate to think what would have happened had they been bad guys. I was rather remiss in pulling up my own wards, since you assured me yours would be enough.” He said, letting his voice fill with emotions at the appropriate times. She was staring at him in sympathy and glancing at his daughters all the while, who did their best to look like little angels.

“I decided to take them shopping, so they would not be cooped up in that hotel room. As a distraction. I have made the experience that it always works to buy them whatever their hearts desire to get them happy and carefree.” He said with a wistful sigh.

The receptionists beamed at him. “You are right of course. This must have been terrible for your little girls! This is impossible! But between you and me…” at this she made a pause,looked quickly around and leaned over more and lowered her voice:” It is typicall for the Potters. Especially for Lily Potter, she is quite the know-it-all and always jumping to conclusions. Most of the malicious rumors flying around in our community have started with her since everyone always believe whatever she says. And since she is here quite often, along with that pompous husband of hers, rarely anything stays private in here. The Boss has started restricting their access recently, since customers have been complaining regularly and even staying away completely. “She leaned back a bit and raised her voice again, glancing behind him. He assumed there was either a customer or a colleague of hers behind him, but he wouldn’t turn around. She would make a good asset, with her dislike of the Potters.

“I will immediately notify the manager. Do you wish to wait and talk to him now, or should I note a time where it would be convenient for you to talk to him?”

“Now I just want to go out and have a good time with my children. I have warded the room, if you don’t mind, and later I will be having dinner with a colleague. Hmm, I have made reservations for seven…how about half past six? We will be in the rooms.” He answered her, staring into her eyes. He didn’t need to smile like an idiot to flirt with a woman, after all. She blushed again and made a note on one of her pads.

“And thank you for that little bit of information about the…quests… I had today. I will keep it in mind when I deal with them next time.”

“I will tell him immediately, Sir, and it was no trouble at all!” she chirped.

That’s one happy lady, he thought in amusement.

He turned away from the desk slightly when he felt someone walk up to them and saw that it was Hannah.

“Dad. Really, we want to go shopping.” She said with a slight strain in her voice. He shook his head at her, knowing she was pissed at him for flirting with someone other than Belle.

“Of course. I wish you a nice day, Mrs. Brown.” He called halfway over his shoulder, before walking out of the hotel, Hannah trailing behind him. Deborah was already waiting outside. He had dimly heard the receptionist call out, but decided not to test Hannah’s patience today. He knew he wouldn’t get in trouble with his wife for flirting, so it was only his daughter he was worried about.

“Seriously, Dad. Stop flirting with women all the time!” Hannah said frowning at him.

“Hannah, relax. I needed to tell her our side of what happened today. Receptionists are always spring-wells of information. And the best gossipers in any staff.” he answered while tapping his wand at the stone needed to open the gate to Diagon Alley.

“I know, but still. Moms not here…” she mumbled behind him. Deborah was rather quiet, as always, probably thinking about what she saw before making a decision. She was usually more deliberate in her thought-process.

They stepped through into Diagon Alley and their little dispute was quickly forgotten as his daughters got completely into the spirit of shopping. He would let them go into every store and have the shops put aside everything they needed for Hogwarts. Afterwards, they would go back the same way and take it back with them to the hotel.

They had just walked into Flourish and Blotts, where Hannah squealed in delight and grabbed her calm sister by the hand directly into the Potions section. He opened his mouth to remind them that they still needed their school books, but then decided against it. He would let them have fun and collect the needed books on his own.

He looked around, trying to locate where the school books were put, being on the lookout for a mass of giggling witches and annoyed children. The manager of Flourish and Blotts had He found the giggling witches on his left and stalked over, pulling out the girls’ list. When he got closer, the people took one weary look at him and scuttled out of his way. He was frowning fiercely and had cast a rather mild repelling charm on himself. It always worked wonders if he wanted to have people move out of his way.

The books were stacked orderly on a rather big table, making it easy and quick to collect everything needed. It was an out-of-the-way corner, rather refreshing for patrons who just came in to look for a book privately. He collected all the books he needed and levitated them to the counter, where the manager was standing. The little man looked rather scared.

“Good day, Sir!” the manager squeaked at Russel, sounding like a dog’s toy someone had stepped on.

“Good Day.” He drawled back, scowl firmly in place.

“Would you like to purchase those books?”

“No. I was just carrying them around for scenic purposes.” He snarled back with an even deeper scowl on his face. He really hated stupid people.

“Oh. Well, ok…” the manager squeaked back in an even higher note.

Russel just rolled his eyes and dropped the books on the counter, before reaching for his money. The little man flinched and grabbed at something on his sleeve, probably his wand.

“How much?” he asked, annoyed beyond believe but satisfied with the fear he caused in the other man. This would come in handy as a teacher.

“W-what? Oh, you really mean to purchase these books?” he squeaked.

“Indeed.” Russel simply replied.

The manager quickly told him how much it cost and Russel counted out the money. He gave it to the man, making sure to stare at him in a menacing manner. The manager started sweating heavily and gulped loudly.

“Is it possible to leave the books here for the moment and take them with us later?” he asked.

“Y-yes, of course. We can even, that is if you want to, have them delivered to your residence.”

“Hm. To the Leaky Cauldron, too?” he asked.

“Yes, of course. You just have to put down your name and I will give you a receipt!”

He thought about that for a moment and then nodded, putting in his name and the place of delivery on a paper that was titled with ‘Deliveries’.

“I will just put them away now and you can expect them to be delivered either this evening or tomorrow morning.” The man squeaked.

“Tomorrow morning. Let it be delivered to the reception, I will get it from there.” He drawled.

The manager gave him a receipt for his purchase and Russel turned away with a billow of his robes.

Maybe he would keep the billowing robes for a while yet. They were quiete nice.

He started looking for his daughters and went straight into the Potions section. He found them pouring over a book, whispering to each other, with their Ponytails bouncing around. He nearly laughed out loud at that. They reminded him of excited squirrels with their tails moving around.

“Have you found something?” he drawled at them, making them jump in surprise.

“Yes! We want this one!” Hannah said, giving him the book. He looked at the pink and yellow cover and snorted at the title. It was called ‘Women’s Potions and Plants’. He knew what they were planning, and silently approved. Selling contraception Potions at Hogwarts was incredibly lucrative.

“If you want it, you shall have it. Have you had the chance to look somewhere else yet?” he asked them, holding on to the book.

“Well, Debbie saw a book on Spell Making she really wanted!” Hannah exclaimed, already waltzing off into the section. Deborah just looked at him and shrugged her shoulders.

“I did. And Hannah saw something on Magical Illusions. And we really want a book on Magical Sewing and patterns.” She said to him in her drawl, that was eerily similar to his own.

“Go on and get them. We will pay for them and have them delivered to the hotel right along with your school books.”

“Did yyou already get them, Dad?” Hannah asked from right behind him, pushing a rather heavy tome into his chest. It was held in burgundy leather and had Runes moving all over it. It didn’t have a title, but he knew which one this was. He himself had a copy of it, that he usually kept away from his troublemaker children.

“I am not as certain about this one, Deborah. It is not for entry level Spell Makers.” He said, frowning at the book. Without the right knowledge it could be quite dangerous.

“Really? I thought it was quite good. Everything is explained properly.” Deborah answered, a little frown of disappointment marring her face.

“I thought so too. It makes sense, so we thought it would be ok.” Hannah piped in.

“Yes, it is usually given to Apprentices. But as an Apprentice you have a Master there who teaches you a deeper sense of spell making.” He paused and thought about it for a moment. She really needed at least a basic understanding in Ancient Runes. She was a very good in Arithmancy, so that would work in her favour.

“We will get you a book on basic Spell Making. I am sure they have some here, if not we can go look at some of the other book stores. We will be taking this one, too, though, since they are rather rare, most Masters giving their Apprentices only access to their own copy. I will hold on to it for the moment and when you know enough and you can demonstrate your skill, I will give it to you, deal?”

Deborah stared at him for a moment and then nodded. He had made sure to teach his children the importance of proper training before starting anything new. He didn’t want them to get their hands on an old book and just start trying spells and potions left and right, like he had when he made that blasted potions years ago. He was lucky that his children came to him with anything new they wanted to learn, so he could have an eye on it. For that to work, he sometimes had to swallow his objections and his protectiveness.

They went to the Spell Making section together and he perused the books, pulling out three he thought sounded about right. They were books he had read at one point or another, so he knew what was inside. He gave them to Deborah to look into, deciding to let her make her choice.

She snorted at the titles, but kept silent and started looking through it. Hannah had wandered off slightly to the Illusions section and he saw her pull out a book and frown at the cover, before looking again and pulling out two more, thumbing through the later ones.

“This one, Daddy.” He heard Deborah say and turned back around to look at the book she was holding out to him. It was the ‘Spell Making for absolute Idiot’ he had taken out of the shelf just for fun. It was a good book, but the title usually put people off. He nodded at her choice and took it from her, piling all of the books up in his arms.

“Dad, can I have these ones?” Hannah said, holding up two books she had chosen. He put the pile he was carrying on an empty place on the shelf in front of him and perused both books she held out to him. They were fine books on the art of illlusions, so he put them on the pile, picked up the books and turned back to his daughters.

“You said something about sewing?” he asked, waiting for them to lead the way. They went scurrying off, with him trailing behind them. He knew he looked like their servant, but really, they were enjoying themselves and that was everything he wanted.

“This one, daddy.” Deborah said, pointing to the books they wanted. There were a number of copies, piled on of the table all around the store, this one obviously dedicated to household charms and sewing in particular.

“Well, then take one. Or two, hash it put between yourselves. You might want to take one each.”

“Nah, one will be enough, we can share. I would rather add the one on old protection stitching, the kind that has maternity wards and stuff.” Hannah said, already having chosen one. He frowned at that, staring intently at his daughter.

“What for?” he asked in a dangerous tone of voice. Hannah just rolled her eyes.

“Not for what you are thinking, but I rather thought we could titch little protection wards into our clothing and stuff. If this works with babies why wouldn’t it work with adults? You could maybe even do them on sheets and stuff and curtains at your windows. It is better than putting them into objects or spelling objects with wards.”

She answered quietly, so only the three of them could hear her. He looked at his kid, rather impressed by her line of thinking.

“That is quite a good idea. How about you take a couple of them? I am intrigued.” He answered and his daughters took that as an opportunity to collect as many books on sewing and stitching they could manage.

He snorted quietly. They really were Slytherinish, using his curiosity by getting their hands on as many books as they could manage. When they finally reached the counter, the manager’s eyes bulged at the amount of books he was carrying.

After paying, he again assured the man they would have to be delivered and quickly ushered out his daughters before they could buy more books.

During the whole time of their stay at Flourish and Blotts, he had felt curious eyes on himself and his daughters, witches staring at him and then at them. They usually looked suspicious until hiss daughters addressed him, then they got a delighted look on their faces. Probably because they thought he was a single dad.

They stepped out of the store and went on through Diagon Alley. He took his daughters to Madame Malkin’s, but his daughters turned up their noses at everything in there and on they went to Twilfitt and Tatting’s, where he had the devil of a time trying to get the seamstress ( who had a suspiciously fake French accent) to make the robes for his daughters. She finally agreed and he stood waiting at the counter until they were finished in the back of the shop. He was looking at a set of dress robes for his wife, when he heard the telltale tinkling of the doorbell that announced a customer.
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The yellow Brickroad