Chapter 66: Plans for the future

Two years ago Bella had used the m-word for Lily when she had been visiting Potter Manor to talk to Rick about some things. Unfortunately for Bella, he wasn’t there nor was Dorea. Lily and Bella had a fight and the former won thanks to the help of Tipsy. She then made the Black witch cum and cum again until she was a shaking mess and sent her on her way before anyone returned. The next time she visited, Lily edged her the whole time. And finally the time after that, Lily had Bella begged for it.

“You want to cum? Then eat that pussy first.”

And Bella did. Lily completely dominated her. Spanked her here and there and treated her like a pet. By the time it was over Bellatrix Black had a new pet name. ‘Bell’ because she loved when her mistress ‘rang’ her.

Rick had been dumbfounded at the whole tale. Lily could be authoritative sometimes sure, but ‘taming’ someone else? That was something he didn’t think she had in her. Not when most of the time she was the submissive during bedroom activities.For her part Lily couldn’t believe that Rick had fucked Bella for eight hours straight and broke the floor. She loved her husband, more than anything, but there was no way she would want or could handle eight hours of love making. She did have a good laugh when Dorea showed her the memory however.

Out of this sexual escapade, Bella got pregnant to her delight but also Dorea’s and Druella’s. Rick was bashing his head against the wall while both Remus and Sirius were doing their very best to cheer him up. They were spectacularly failing because they were too busy trying not to laugh their ass off. Rick promised himself to find a contraceptive spell for male. Apparently taking the potion outside Hogwarts never crossed anyone’s mind and Rick wasn’t about to use condoms when he’s been doing it raw for half a decade with his wife. That Bella was taking fertility potion to make sure he knocked her up didn’t make things any better.

His streak of ‘bad luck’ ended when it was time for Marlene to give birth. No matter how much she cursed Sirius, figuratively and literally, he stayed right there with her in the room for the whole process. It was with a big smile on his face that he announced to his best mates and family that he was the proud father of Duncan Bryce Rick McKinnon. He didn’t have much in the way of choice for his son’s name, Marlene giving him none. She had chosen to name her baby boy after her father, grandfather and best friend and Sirius was alright with that.

Of course his godmother was Lily but his godfather wasn’t Rick. He had declined the offer saying that Sirius may not have done right by her but he was doing right by Duncan and deserved at least to name the godfather who turned out to be James (as expected) after Lily coaxed Marlene into agreeing (in Sirius choosing, not his choice).

At Easter, Rick and Lily went to Hogwarts to finally have a long awaited talk with Dumbledore. Not only regarding the prophecy but also Severus Snape. Sitting in a chair in the Headmaster’s office. The Potters looked impassively at the old wizard.

“Which topic do you want to start with?”

“Voldemort.”/ “Severus.”

Lily and Rick looked at each other for a moment then Dumbledore who somehow found amusement in their answer.

“Voldemort.” Rick insisted while Lily kept quiet.

“Very well. Once again I deplore how everything went that Halloween. I checked the wards and I believe they would have held him down. However not for very long, despite how brilliant they are. A gravity ward? Simply brilliant.”

“He’s still alive despite Lily blowing his head up, is that it?” Rick interjected cutting to the chase.

“I believe so. The Dark Mark-”

“Is still on the arm of the ones he branded. We know, Albus. Bella is quite mad about it every morning when she hides it. Were it not latched on her magic she would simply cut her arm off. Since the mark was made with his magic, he’s still alive. That’s not what we’re interested in.” Lily cut in.

“The prophecy.” Albus nodded and cut to the chase. “Lily… You vanquished him when it was said that Rose had the power to do it. We can reasonably say that either the prophecy is Hogwash or…”

“Lily is or is linked to the power he knows not. Which-”

“You said was love.” the aforementioned redhead said.

After a moment of silence, Rick spoke again. “We’re of the opinion to let it go. The prophecy, I mean. If it’s true, no matter what we do, it will happen, if it’s fake then…there is no point to bother with it to begin with.”

“Rose will be trained, of course it will not look like training, more like games but she will not be defenseless by the time she starts at Hogwarts. None of our children will. Not when Death Eaters are still free. We don’t want to sacrifice her childhood but we don’t want her to be unprepared either.”

“I understand perfectly and I agree.” Dumbledore nodded sagely. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what the prophecy says and while I do believe it’s a true one, I have come to realize ever since you defeated him that… Well… There were an untold amount of ways it could be interpreted. Too many to make a proper plan.”

“Careful, Albus. Trying to manipulate a prophecy usually results in the prophecy coming true in the worst ways for those that had tried. Greek literature is full of stories like this.” Rick warned.

“Yes. I’m well aware. That is why I gave up on most of those.”

““Most?””

“I was thinking of, with your permission, telling Rose when she was old enough.”

“Absolutely n-”

“How old?”

“Rick!”

“I’m sorry Lily but anything could happen to us and this is important information. I don’t want Rose to have anything to do with Voldemort but we may not have a choice. I’d rather she knew and had the proper mindset to deal with him than not. It’s better to be a soldier in a garden than a gardener in a war.”

“She’s not-”

“It’s an example, Lily! Don’t take it so literally.” Rick turned to Dumbledore and waited for an answer.

“After her OWLs at the very least. She’d be almost sixteen. Almost an adult.”

“...Alright.” relented Lily. “Just so you know, Dorea, Moody and Amelia know about it. We had them give us an oath of silence.”

Albus frowned at the news. “I would have preferred if it stayed a secret.”

“That is your greatest fault, Albus. You keep your information close to your chest and tell no one about it. I understand the information is dangerous but by doing that you’re creating mistrust with others. That’s partly why we made a second group during the war. We were losing faith with you.” Rick's answer was quite blunt and before Dumbledore could give an answer Lily spoke up.

“Alastor is… paranoid as hell, but he’s loyal, an excellent fighter with lots of experience with Dark Wizards and a veteran Auror with plenty of connections and resources if needed… Amelia is a powerful witch with a very good moral compass and on her way to be in a position of influence in the Ministry. Can you name better people to prepare Rose if something happens to us?”

“Not many and none that you know. Except me, perhaps.” the Headmaster conceded with a sigh.

The subject came to an end and they switched to the one which interested Lily the most.

“Give me one reason, just one! As to why I shouldn’t curse you, then him, for selling our daughter to Voldemort.”

“I didn’t-

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”

At this point, Lily was out of her chair, wand in hand and pointing it at Dumbledore. Rick delicately grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. He knew it wasn’t really Lily talking but the hormones. She was almost seven months pregnant after all.

“Lily, Albus is not responsible, you know that.”

The fierce expression she had turned into a crying fit. “I know! I’m sorry, I just… I just...”

“It’s alright, dear. I know. You’re not the first pregnant woman who had a few chosen words to say to me in a fit.” Dumbledore’s chuckle somehow calmed Lily down.

“Bloody hormones! It’s all your fault!” Once again she blamed Rick who just rolled his eyes. “I want to know Albus why would he… I knew he was lost when he called me… I didn’t realize how much.”

Albus had a victorious smile splattered on his face. “Quite the contrary, Lily! Severus had found his way back to the light. His crimes are nowhere near as bad as Bellatrix from what I heard.”

“He sold-”

“He didn’t know. He didn’t even know the prophecy was about a baby because he didn’t even hear it properly.”

““What do you mean?””

“ ‘The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month died…’”

“‘Died’? Not ‘dies’?” remarked Rick, catching the difference with the prophecy Dumbledore had told him almost a year ago.

“Yes. Severus misheard and as such believed the chosen one was someone already born. Voldemort discarded it because nobody fitted the ‘thrice defied him’ part until he learned of the Longbottom and you, Lily, on your way to have a child at the end of July. When he knew you and Rose were the target, Severus came to me and asked of me to protect you.”

“More like protect me.” Lily cut in with a frown bordering a sneer.

“No. All of you.” That surprised her. “I was quite surprised too.”

Doubt ran across the redhead’s face. It was clear she wasn’t believing much in Albus’ words. “... I want to talk to him.”

“Not while pregnant, you might curse him in a fit. How about you send him an owl?” Rick suggested.

“Yes…” Lily realized her husband had a point. “Better idea.”

“By the way, Albus…”

Rick pulled out from his coat inside pocket a black box as dark as the night. So black that Albus could barely see the multitude of runes and rune arrays carved on it with masterful precision and dexterity. When he took it from Rick’s hands he tried to open it but Rick put his wand on the lid.

“I’d rather you did not. Not in my presence at least. When Bella brought it out of her expanded bag, I passed out.”

Albus immediately frowned at the knowledge. “Passed out? That’s worrying. It must be quite foul. What dark artefact is it? And why did she give it to you?”

“Hufflepuff cup.” Lily replied.

“That’s impossible!” Albus almost lost it on the spot. “The cup is said to heal all wounds and ailments! It can’t be…”

“Voldemort did something to it and gave it to Bella for her to safekeep. She doesn’t know what it is. She didn’t even remembered about it until she went to her vault last week. I don’t know what dark magic he put on it, Albus. But the door to Slytherin’s scriptorium is nothing compared to what I felt with the cup. I could still feel it from the other side of the manor. I don’t want this in my home near my children.”

“I can understand that.” The box slowly turned in the headmaster's hands.

“We were also hoping you could… well… undo what Voldemort did? It’s a precious artifact of one of the founders’ after all.” asked Lily.

“I can try but my knowledge in dark magic, while extensive, is nowhere near Voldemort’s. Hogwarts may have a very large collection of books even in the restricted section, I’m not sure I may find the answers there. Most of the dark magic he learned was after graduating.”

“... Maybe the Black library has something about it? I would need an unbreakable vow from you to peruse it however. No sharing the information in any way and not using it.”

“Hm… Let me check the library here first, I’ll come to you if I find nothing.”

“And Albus.”

“Yes?”

“No secrets. We want to know what this is. It concerns Voldemort so it concerns Rose.”Dumbledore nodded and asked who knew about it.

“Besides us three, Dorea, Marlene, Bella. We want it to stay that way. For now. Perhaps tell Moody if needed.” Lily answered.

“Wise decision.”

The conversation being over, the Potters exited Albus’ office and made their way down. They encountered Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick on their way out of the castle and got roped in for a cup of tea in the former’s office.

“I can’t believe you’re displaying them all.” Rick said with awe at the huge shelf with perhaps a hundred golden snitches on it. That made Fillius snort.

“E-ve-ry Wednesday morning she’s all excited because she knows she’d get a new one.” the charm professor revealed, making his former students laugh.

“Fillius!”

“It’s true, Minerva. No need to feel embarrassed about it.”

“So, how is normal life?” McGonagall asked the married couple to change the subject but they all noticed the slight flush of her cheeks.

“Good but stressful. Especially when my husband is getting me pregnant all the time!”

“Ugh, not this again. How long- You know what? Nevermind.” Rick rolled with it and answered the question. “Life is good. And stressful, yes. It’s difficult to have a moment of rest with all the babies at the Manor.”

“All the babies? There is more than just Rose?” inquired McGonagall in surprise and curiosity.

“Yes. Marlene is living with us for now, until McKinnon Manor is rebuilt. Same for Amelia and her niece, Susan. This one is the calmest of the children while Duncan… Well he’s less than a month old but he has some powerful lungs.”

“True.” Lily bobbed her head. Thank God, Dorea is here and so is Tipsy. We would have died of exhaustion by now without them.”

“Are masteries on hold for the both of you then?” wondered Filius.

“Once this one is born…” Lily rubbed her pregnant belly gently. “Well… I was wondering if you’d be interested in taking me as an apprentice, Filius.”

That was music to the charms Professor’s ears. “It would be my pleasure, Lily.”

Minerva gave an intense look to Rick who didn’t crack one bit.

“Do you really want me to go for an apprenticeship with you when the world cup is next year and the qualifications soon?”

“Nevermind then.” She dismissed her idea with a wave of her hand and everyone had a good laugh, herself included.

“In two years time. I’ll take a summer to work on a few masteries and you’d be the first I ask.”

“That’s better.” Minerva did her very best to not let a pleased smile creep on her face. “What about work, Lily? Do you intend to?”

“I’m still working with Dorea on our medical business. Since we get many pills for one potion we don’t need to work quite a lot. At least that’s what we thought but the demands are ludicrous. It takes all the time I allow myself. I thought at first I’ll have some free hours but no.” she let out a sigh of resignation. “If I could, I’d like to teach here one day.”

“Charms?”

“Yes, but I won’t take your job, Fillius.” Lily answered with a chuckle. “Arithmancy or potions. I heard Horace retired?”

“Yes, last year. It was quite sudden. Albus was able to get a replacement a few days before the start of the year. It’s temporary though, the post will be open in July, so who knows?”The tea time didn’t last much longer and after saying goodbye, Rick and Lily left for good for Potter Manor. Dorea was playing with both Rose and Susan by making some toys float in the air. The girls’ giggles were like soothing music to everyone’s ears.

“We’re home, mom.”

“Did she behave?”

“Of course, Rose has been nothing but an angel.”

“I’m pretty sure Lily was talking about Bella.” Rick joked, making his mother and wife snort.

“I wasn’t but yes, what about Bella?”

“She’s duelling Marlene.”

“WHAT?! MOM She’s five-”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Corvus! And I know perfectly well but go and stop that mad girl! She only listens to you or Lily!”

Rick shook his head and quickly went to the basement to stop his second wife. She would be the death of him, he was sure.