Beams of Sunlight
27th of August
DUMBLEDORE'S ORDER FLEE
You read it correctly, dear reader. Yesterday, during another of You-Know-Who's raids against Muggles, a duel between the former Chief Warlock's group of vigilantes and the Death Eaters took place in a town close to Manchester. Due to a delay from the Aurors, Dumbledore's soldiers took the upper hand in the fight with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's terrorists.
But you may be thinking, reader, Don't they fight Death Eaters all the time? And you would be correct! However, as reported a few weeks ago, the Headmaster's pseudo-warriors have got out of the fight in strange ways. In the fight of yesterday, for example, a man, whom witnesses declared had a resemblance to Gideon Prewett, escaped the battle with a portkey. Apparently, Mr Prewett was severely injured and decided to run from the figh-
He throws the Daily Prophet away, sending it flowing across the breakfast table.
Putting a hand to his face he groans, irritated. “I can't believe this excuse for toilet paper called us those ridiculous names!”
Rolling his eyes, his father answers “James, you are not part of Dumbledore's Order anymore.”
“Your father is right, dear,“ Euphemia says while pouring a cup of tea for herself. “There's no need for you to be so annoyed, Jamie.”
On the other side of the table, Sirius snickers at the nickname, making James glare at him.
Sighing, he puts more bacon on his plate. Still a bit annoyed at the Prophet's jabs, he eats with a frown on his face.
After finishing his breakfast, Sirius put his arms behind his head and relaxed on the chair. Regulus sees his brother's lack of manners and cringes at it. ’Mother would die if she saw this‘ he thought. Then he smirks at the entertainment such scene would bring him.
“At least Gideon is fine,” Sirius says with a smile on his face. “Thank Merlin he had that portkey.”
“Oh, yeah,” James says with a playful smile on his face, making Sirius narrow his eyes at him. “You wouldn't like something bad happening to your... what did you call him again? ’My Giddy‘, right?”
“Potter!” Sirius yells at his best friend.
James laughed at his friend. Then the blush on Sirius' face makes Charlus — who was sitting by Fleamont's left — choke on his food while laughing, forcing Dorea to pat him on his back.
Euphemia smiles openly at her boys, and Fleamont hides his smile behind his teacup.
“Those portkeys were a great idea from you two. Even though you can't participate in the war, it is still good to know your friends you'll be safe” Fleamont says.
“I agree. All this young people putting themselves in danger is horrific. This way, at least, their parents will know they are safer” Dorea say while rubbing her pregnant belly. The new addition to the Potter family — Castor Charlus — was arriving next month.
Hedwyn and Regulus nodded at her. Both men decided to not say anything about Dumbledore's group since their opinions on the Order of the Phoenix caused some problems with James and Sirius. Avoiding the headache, Regulus told Harry a few days ago.
“Very much so, Aunt Dorea,” Regulus says as he taps the napkin on his lips. “Dumbledore's order doesn't accomplish much, as we all know. His people were dying left and right before the portkeys.”
Hedwyn nods at his boyfriend in agreement. James and Sirius roll their eyes at the slight jab.
“Enough of orders and newspapers. Now tell us, dears —” Euphemia says while looking at Regulus and Hedwyn “— about the project you too were working on.”
Hedwyn beams at his grandmother, making Regulus smile sweetly at the sight of his happy boyfriend.
“Reggie and I are designing a new magical village. We were going through some papers from the Peverell Vault, and we found a piece of land that was completely empty. And the place is quite big! So we are working we some muggle-born architects to come up with a new place for magical people.”
Fleamont's eyes go wide. “Oh, you don't say. That's an incredible idea, you two. It's quite honourable to give so much of your time to improve the Wizarding World.”
“What a beautiful idea, boys. Tells us everything!” Dorea said with pride in her voice. Seeing her great-nephew pursuing such goals made her incredibly happy for him.
Regulus smiled at her and started speaking “The first thing to do is to put wards all around the land. We, of course, went to the goblin and they are already putting up the wards. After they are finished the construction will start. From what the people told us, by the end of January next year, everything will be complete.”
Charlus raised an eyebrow "Really? Isn't that too little time?”
“Not really, actually. We decided to use the money from the investments we made in companies from the Muggle towards the construction of the village” Hedwyn answered.
“Do you have a name for the place?” James asked while stretching his arms above his head.
“It'll be called Caershire” Regulus answered with a smile.
“A good name,” Charlus said and Fleamont nodded.
“And what of the plans for the people who'll live there?” Lily asked after finishing her breakfast.
“Well, we want a place bigger than Hogsmeade. The builders told us the land is big enough for about 132 families” Hedwyn answered, and the Potters and Sirius all looked shocked at the number.
"Blimey! That's way more people than in Hogsmeade” Sirius said.
“How big is this place, mate?” James asked Hedwyn.
Harry felt as if his heart stopped for a second after hearing his father call him ’mate‘.
“Erm,” Hedwyn rubbed the back of his neck “A long time ago, apparently, some wizards sold all their lands to the Peverell and moved to another country. But it happened so far into the past that nobody remembered anymore. They lived so close together that it was all incorporated into one piece of land after being sold.”
“That's fantastic. What more do you plan for village?” Lily asked with a smile.
“The main reason for us creating this village is so that more people from magical Britain have a place to live in the magical world. The only fully magical village we have is Hogsmead and the prices there are criminal, to be honest. So we want to make Caershire a place where those seeking a home in the Wizarding World” Hedwyn replied.
“We understood that, although many wizards and witches wished to live around other magical folk, it was practically impossible if they didn't have enough money. It will be a place affordable and safe. A place where people can do magic without the fear of Muggles seeing them” Regulus' put his shoulders back and straightened his back more, a sign of pride for their project.
Sirius furrowed his brows at his brother's answer. “And what kinda people are going to live there?”
Regulus looked sideways at Sirius and answered “Everyone”.
“We want all people with magical blood to have a home,” Regulus continued “and yes, that applies squibs, magical creatures, light, grey and dark wixen. In Caershire they all will have a home.”
Sirius and James looked too shocked by Regulus' response to even speak.
“Even werewolves will be allowed?” Lily asked with a shine in her green eyes. Remus has to hear about this!, she thought.
“Yes, they will,” Harry said. “We actually have a plan for werewolves and vampires.”
“Oh, do tell us Hedwyn” Fleamont said
“We're working with a great Potions Master, and he assured us that — with the resources we're giving him — he will be able to make a version on wolfsbane that will be way more affordable to make. So, when the new version of the potion is available, we will distribute it to all werewolves living in the village. ”
“And we will talk about the potion to every werewolf when they move to their new home. We'll also work with an Enchanter to make an additional room in werewolves' houses so that they have a place to change during the full moon” Regulus added.
Lily gave Regulus and Hedwyn a big smile. “That sounds great, boys. You two are spectacular!”
Harry blushed and smiled at his mother's praise while Regulus gave a small smile and nodded at her.
“We should tell Moony, Padfoot. He'll love this! Hey, Hedwyn, do you think we can help somehow? We can, like, raise funds for the werewolves that don't have much money.”
Sirius straightened up and nodded to James. “You're right, Prongs. I have a lot of money Uncle Alphard left me, so we can use it to pay for the housing.”
“Well, the werewolves that can afford a house will have a few options: they can work in one of our stores — that we'll have in the village — and rent a house; or, for those that don't have any work experience or are unable to work for whatever reason, can apply for the ‘Donation Housing’ program we'll start; and if there is someone that needs more of our attention to get a home, we will be more than happy to speak to them, so we can come to an agreement.”
“That's really thoughtful of you. It's quite nice to know that people will finally have options other than just being homeless” Dorea told Regulus and Hedwyn with a sweet smile.
Both boys smiled and blushed at the older woman's praise.
The chatting around the breakfast table continued. The Potters questioned Hedwyn and Regulus about their plan, and the boys answered each question eagerly.
Harry talked about the Blodhus — Blood House — they would be providing for vampires, and Regulus told the Potters and his brother about the school for children to go before Hogwarts.
Eventually, the conversation continued in the Drawing Room, where James and Sirius gave ideas for shops and Charlus and Euphemia talked about setting up a library in the village.
Dorea and Fleamont decided to contact Madeline Ollivander, Garrick Ollivander's niece, to open a branch of Ollivanders at Caershire. Everybody loved the idea, and Dorea also spoke about contacts that could open clothing stores at the new village and Fleamont said he would talk to a Potion Master about opening an Apothecary.
Ideas were flowing left and right, which Hedwyn and Regulus appreciated greatly. A journal on Harry's lap was already full of new ideas for their village.
Lily and Sirius said they would contact some of their friends who wanted to buy a house but couldn't afford Hogsmeade prices.
When dawn came, Hedwyn and Regulus said their goodbyes to the Potters. The boys thanked them for their contributions and promised to use all of them.
On the way out, Sirius put a hand on Regulus' shoulder, making the Black Heir turn to his brother. “I'm proud of you, Reg. And, em, I'm sorry for being and twat.”
Regulus' face showed no emotion when he said “You'll need to do more than that for me to forgive you, Sirius.”
Sirius' face fell, but he nodded to his little brother. When he was turning around to go back to the room, Regulus grabbed his forearm, making Sirius meet his eyes. “But I appreciate the apologies anyway,” Regulus said and gave Sirius a small smile.
In turn, Sirius gave him a beaming smile and went back to the Drawing Room visibly more relaxed.
Regulus rolled his eyes and his brother and laughed softly. He met Harry by the fireplace and they floo'd home.
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“Who's that letter from, that is making you smile like a madman?” Fabian asked his brother.
Gideon gave the letter to his brother and said “I think our business will not go to Diagon Alley, brother.”
Fabian Prewett's eyebrows shot up when he read the letter. A proposal by Lord Peverell, who was advised by Sirius Black, asking the Prewett brothers if they were interested in opening an Alchemy-related store in a village that was being built.
Fabian smirked and said, “People will die of jealousy when they see what we can create with alchemy.”
“Oh, brother. I can hear their cries.”
The brothers wasted no time before writing a letter to Hedwyn Peverell, saying they'd ‘be delighted in participating in such endeavour’.
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“Alice? What are you doing, darling?”
“Frank! You're not going to believe this.”
“What is it, love?” Frank Longbottom asked his wife, who had a big smile on her face.
“I just got a letter from Lord Peverell. He wrote that Lily spoke to him abou my wish to open a Herbology shop! Lord Peverell said that he and Regulus Black are building a new wizarding village and are wishing to open a plant based ingredients store.”
“Merlin, Alice. Really? That's great!”
The couple than hugged and sat next to each other to come up with and answer to Lord Peverell and Heir Black's proposal.
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All around Wizarding Britain letters were delivered to witches, wizards and creatures with propositions of new and affordable places for people to have a home or open a new business.
While everywhere in the country people were celebrating the letters, an heir and a lord are lying on their bed, sharing kisses and words of encouragement to each other and contemplating about the future they are building together.