Mal woke up slowly. She was warm, comfortable, and her whole being just wanted to sleep for longer. But her mind became aware of things beyond her sight and pried her consciousness forward regardless of her desire to sleep some more. She could feel the satin comforter and the cotton bedclothes. She could feel the wind from a little fan blowing softly as it oscillated. She could smell the beginnings of breakfast cooking somewhere. Bacon and eggs as well as muffins if she was correct. Though it was overshadowed by the lingering smell of very strong coffee. She could tell that the sun had risen, giving the bright light beyond her eyelids.

She wasn't much of a morning person and was grateful for the coffee that was brewed. As she took in all of the other things, she rather liked all of these details already. The knowledge that this was all paid for by her father brought a smile to her face before she even opened her eyes.

Mortal life had begun again. This time was already ten times better than what she was used to waking up to when mortal. She was a little lonely without Ares there, but she would adapt, and soon they would see each other again.

With a quick stretch, she opened her eyes but didn't take in her surroundings. Instead, she got up and went to take a shower in the bathroom, whose access door was across from her bed.

She wasn't surprised to find her natural hair color, or that it was long too. Longer than it had been in her last life, going down to the middle of her back. She decided to have some fun with it, just to see what she could do in that moment, already knowing what she wanted. Instead of the midnight purple she had in her previous life, she turned her hair into what was called smoky lilac, or was it lavender? She couldn't remember the exact name.

What it meant was her hair was a mixture of light gray and lilac or a pastel purple as some people called it. No fading into another color as it went down the length of her hair, just the mixture of light gray and purple. She grinned at herself, she loved it. It brought out her ice blue eyes spectacularly.

She was showered quickly, loving the feel of hot water on her skin and the smell of the soaps. Once she was out, she dried her hair with magic using the spare wand her guardians kept around. Thanking Lily and Mia who taught her the spell using a dummy wand in the afterlife, because she hadn't gone through her memories yet to see what she knew so far as magic was concerned in this life.

She styled her hair so some of it was pulled into a bun on top of her head, held in place by a fancy circular hair ornament and the rest fell gracefully from the back bun. Hanging on the other side of the door to the bathroom, in her room, was her outfit for the day. Since she had court later, she wanted to look professional, or at the very least mature for her age. She wanted to be seen as doing as well as she actually was.

The slacks were a darker gray than parts of her hair were, with a matching vest that went over her button-down long-sleeved white shirt. She didn't intend for her outfit to match her new hair so well, but it was fantastic. She grinned wondering if she should wear this in front of Ares to get his reaction. She was pretty sure she could tease him some in this, then again as she stripped it off for him.

She laughed wholeheartedly. Never before had she felt so free, so natural, so right when alive. She couldn't wait to get to the Britain Isles, but there was stuff to take care of here first.

She turned about her room and found a thickly padded mushroom chair, with a shrug, she sat down to find it was rather comfortable. It was a very nice chair, no wonder she chose this. She carefully crossed her legs, knowing how clumsy she was when alive, she didn't want to fall out of it while meditating.

And she still ended up falling.

Seriously I could give Nym a run for her money! She thought bitterly.

The resulting thud had Mal feeling pain again. Her little yelp of pain altered her foster parents that she was not only up, but hurt herself, again. Apparently, not a new experience for them.

A woman poked her head in through the door. She was fairly tall with dark red curls, dark tan freckles on ivory skin, with a soft-looking face. "Trying to mediate again?"

Mal glared her, and the woman left laughing. Mal managed to sit gracefully in the chair the second time around.

Navigating being mortal again was going to take some getting used to again. Her hip and elbow were rather sore.

She closed her eyes, evened her breathing, and retreated into her mind. She calmed herself at first. The excitement was building, anticipation, and she could feel her magic getting away from her. Today of all days, the last thing she needed to do was cause magical problems.

Today was the start of her new future.

Knowing it would seem longer in her mind than it would, in reality, she took as much time as she needed to review her memories of this life so they were properly organized in her mindscape and she wouldn't have to go back through them a second time.

She brought the memories of this life out into the Secret Garden so even if Dumbledore did manage to penetrate her mind, he would only be able to see what was public knowledge by this point. She decided she would hold all of her memories with Ares in the grotto, nothing dealing with the afterlife's mechanics or anything, from her "first meeting" on would be held there. The memories would be made in this life.

Though she imagined it would confuse and terrify Dumbledore if he were to break further into her mind and see the small stone pond for the little lake it actually was before descending through a hole into Ariel's Grotto.

That left Ursula's lair to hold her previous life's memories as well as her memories and knowledge from the afterlife. Which, like the Kingdom Hearts game was only easy if one knew how to get there and discovered the hidden path. Out of the grotto was an exact copy of the game and the many twists and turns. Dumbledore would have to fight his way through that to get to Ursula's lair. Once he knew where it was, he could find the secret path, right off to the side of Ariel's Grotto. Not that he would. Mal made sure of that, and she was sure the angels did too.

With a shake of her head, she stopped examining her defenses and went back to the memories of this life.

She wasn't surprised to see that she had been abused in this life as well, but she was grateful it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been in her past lives. Though she was certain others would view that as debatable.

Lauren, after the divorce, was filed by Mal's father, whose name was Darren; down spiraled. Because Darren was rich and could have brought a lot to the cult, Lauren was deemed a failure for letting him get away. He had been an outsider, yes, but he came with a price tag that even the cult wasn't stupid enough to let him get away. They had all kinds of plans on how to induct him into their society and make him want to stay. Mal wasn't sure what they were, but knowing how they thought, none of them would have worked, she was sure of that.

The Cults officials were the working force behind the stalling of the divorce. Marriage counseling, something, anything but divorce. The marriage had only lasted at most a month, and it was too soon to rush to this option. But then Lauren turned up pregnant, and all attempts to stop the divorce were ceased.

Whatever they had been thinking, be it using Mal as blackmail in the future, or using her to get to Darren's wealth when she was older and subservient to them, she didn't know. And at this point, it didn't matter anymore.

What did matter, was the cult firmly believed that Lauren's pregnancy was her punishment for letting a money bag get away. But that wasn't the end of it, as her pregnancy was merely divine punishment, the cult wanted their own as well. So as further punishment for "ruining" the cults plans, Lauren was almost completely rejected in the cult. Her family and the rest of the practitioners kept putting her down, and no man within its community would dare even look at her as potential wife material.

Not only had Lauren been rejected by the man she thought she would grow old and die with, but the very system that had birthed and raised her cast her out without a second thought or a hint of regret.

As such, Mal didn't really grow up inside the cult or as a standing member of its community and a bitter disappointment at that. Rather, Lauren and Mal lived in an apartment on the outskirts of the cult's territory and town. Mal hardly ever attended church either, she only went when Lauren was yelled at and shamed enough to go, dragging Mal along with her. So while Mal was still considered a bitter disappointment, it wasn't because of the reason in her previous lives. Rather, this time, it was because it was a reminder of what they had lost, and they would soon prefer to forget about it. Thus, they pretended she didn't exist.

Lauren, while in better health physically, did have a job, but she only worked as a means to meet men. Darren paid Lauren a pretty penny in alimony, he sent a direct payment to her account every month, so most of their living expenses were paid with that.

Despite this limited form of communication, and the bank admitted in court they would have willingly sent the message for her. Especially the case of a child. But Lauren never told Darren that she had a baby, she never even brought Mal to the bank lest they inform Darren she had a daughter born roughly nine months after the divorce. Which is how Darren never found about Mal sooner.

Mal also never knew about Darren; Lauren never spoke about him. Lauren had gone the extra mile and pretended that Darren never happened. Mal would ask about her father as a small child, but all Lauren would say that Mal was her punishment from God.

Mal's conception and birth were explained away as the result of Lauren's weakness when it came to the sins of the flesh.

The "proof" for many years to both Mal and Lauren was the men Lauren brought home. Mal learned at a very young age to leave mama alone when she was with men. A lesson she took to heart and never disobeyed.

Lauren worked hard to make sure that the cult never found out about her "true" behavior. Which is how Lauren was able to get away with living the life she did and escaping the cult's punishments for her sins and crimes against the cult.

Lauren, off and on for several years, would bring home married men and was their lover for as long as she could manage. Hoping one of them would leave their wives for her.

From what little Mal could gather from the memories, the men enjoyed the sex addict her mother was, but they didn't like how crazy and demanding she was. Either they went back to their calm and faithful wives, or they found other mistresses. In the end, her mother was always dumped. No matter what kind of effort she put into those relationships, they always left, and from what Mal could see, it was her mother's fault that they ended the way they did.

Lauren began to take home the "bad boy" type men when the married men in the area spread the word to avoid her. Eventually, even the "bad boy" type of men didn't want to be around Lauren; having heard from what few she had ensnared, and the married men who barely managed to get away, just the type of woman she was. Oh, she was loyal alright, for as long as she was yours, but she was the kind of psycho crazy that would sleep with a knife under her pillow and stab you if you so much thought another woman's name.

They all seemed to tolerate Mal or like her well enough, but upon seeing the kind of crazy that would scare even the Mad Hatter in Wonderland her mother wielded, they all bolted and ran without looking back.

So Lauren went looking for a different type of men and didn't occur to Mal until she was viewing the memories just what her mother was doing.

Lauren would take Mal out with her practically every day. Most times, when a man commented on how pretty Mal was, he turned out to be more interested in Mal than he was with Lauren. Lauren used this to her advantage. In more ways than one.

This is where others would find her past abuse compared to this life debatable.

Lauren had deliberately sought out these pedophiles, and she would keep these men around by promising them a naked Mal.

Mal's eyes popped open in as she was jerked out of her mindscape due to the shock. She tried to swallow the bile building in her stomach.

While Mal was never touched, or her naked body ever seen in person by these men, Lauren would take naked pictures of Mal and sell them to the men. Later when the relationships ended because she was crazy, and not even a pedophile wanted to deal with her, she would threaten to expose them to the police if they didn't sleep with her, or pay for her silence.

So far, the whole thing hadn't been mentioned in court yet, and Mal had been reluctant to talk about it for a long time. Preferring to believe instead, that her mother taking those pictures in the middle of the night were all just a horrifying nightmare. But when she started her court dated therapy this last time around, Mal opened up about the truth of it, and eventually confessed the truth to her foster parents and her father.

Darren quickly hired a private investigator afterward, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it would find its way into the courtroom today. If not, he would be using this to blackmail Lauren into giving him Mal and vanishing with her. Lauren would walk away with the evidence against her after she legally signed all custody and rights to Mal over to Darren permanently.

Mal was sure this tactic would work. Lauren was almost obsessive about the cult not finding out the truth about her past. To the cult, Lauren was a woman with many faults but was living a difficult life as penance. She was celibate in raising her daughter, and teaching said daughter the ways and the rules of the cult. Mal shuddered with the thought of what they would have done to the mother and child if they had found out the truth. She wasn't sure any amount of magic could have saved them in time.

Mal had tried, she really did, but between the excitement and her growing nerves about facing people that she hadn't seen or spoken to in years in her last mortal life, this revelation was too much for Mal and she bolted to the bathroom. There was nothing in her stomach, so everything that came up was just stomach acid, which made the whole experience much worse.

"Oh! I was worried this would happen." The woman crooned from the doorway, having rushed in immediately upon hearing Mal get sick. "John!" She called, looking back out the doorway, "Get the anti-nausea potions!"

"Coming, Angie!" A man's voice called back.

"Come on sweetie." Angie said helping Mal up, cleaning the sweat, tears, and snot that was running down Mal's face. After casting a breath-freshening charm, she pulled Mal into a hug. "You haven't thrown up since you're first month here, what happened?"

"I was practicing my Occlumency." She muttered from her place against Angie's bosom.

"And you just lived through the photo thing again while sorting your memories." John concluded with an understanding smile as he came in. He handed Mal the potion. "I wish we could take the pain from you dollface, but we can't."

Mal shook her head. "I needed to deal with it. If it's going to pop up in court today, then I need to be ready to face it. Dealing with it here is easier than doing it in the courtroom."

"Would have driven a point home about how bad it was with that bitch." Angie snarled.

John glared at Angie, "And humiliating our charge would accomplish what exactly? If the courts can't rule in Mal's favor with all of their current evidence, then having her throw up wouldn't make a difference. Without that photo business, there is still plenty of illegal things that Lauren has done, and gone on record confessing. Adding it wouldn't change a thing with the courts except painting a larger target on Mal. The cult already wants her dead, while they may not know she actually is a witch with magic, they still view her as something similar. Add this into the mix and they'll say she's the instigator for those "photoshoots". They won't bother being subtle after that, they'll choose a martyr and take Mal out in court or outside the courthouse!"

Angie sighed. "Not to mention the embarrassment of her photos being brought to the public eye and the damage it would cause the House of Bones."

Mal wondered if they had any real concept of how right on the money they were. She knew her and Ares agreed to show each other the memories of this life before they were reunited, and she was seriously considering talking him out of it now. She shuddered at the thought of what Ares would do to these muggles, especially Lauren when he learned what happened.

Angie nodded after a few more moments of holding Mal and stepped back to look over her. "Feeling better?"

Mal nodded. "I'm going to finish up then I'll be down for breakfast."

The two adults nodded and left Mal alone again, knowing that's what she needed right now. They were really good people and amazing foster parents. It was shocking to know that they weren't a married couple. If they were actually a couple or just two really close individuals, Mal had no idea. She could only equate this relationship to another that she knew of, and it was from Law and Order SVU. Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson.

Mal shook her head in amazement. She'd never been one for crime shows, but for some reason, in this life, that's what she watched a lot of. Law and Order SVU, NCIS, CSI, CSI NY, Criminal Minds, the list went on and on. She also watched paranormal criminal shows. Which also led to her becoming a huge anime fan after finding Psycho-Pass, then others from there from varying genres. It also led to her love of Supernatural.

She grinned. Oh, it was going to be so much fun to show that show to Hagrid. She could see him either hating it and wanting to save the creatures, or becoming a HUGE (in every sense of the word) Winchester fan. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit might be another thing he'd like. She stifled back the giggle at that. She'd have to run that one by Ares.

Luna loving anime was a no brainer.

Getting back into the moment and the task at hand, she sat back down and went back to viewing the memories, carefully avoiding watching the previous series of memories over again as she sorted and stored them. She started viewing from where the previous memories left off instead.

It was rare, but sometimes, Lauren did find a good man. He would come into their lives and brighten up a once dreary existence. He would be kind to Mal or tolerate her enough to allow her to do her own thing and trust that she wouldn't bother her mother and this male visitor unless it was an emergency. Good though the times were with these good men, they always ended. Sometimes sooner rather than later.

For one of two reasons: Either these men would realize how crazy she was and leave before Lauren got the chance to pull that crazy on them like so many had in the past. Or, they would get too close with Mal and Lauren would pitch a fit. She would throw them out because they would accept Mal and love her like their own daughter and not ignore Mal and devote all of their attention to Lauren like she was used to. Like they were supposed to in Lauren's twisted mind.

That was everything Mal needed to know about her mother in this life. Now she steeled herself and viewed what she needed to know about the cult in this life.

The cult, despite their ignoring her most of the time, when they did acknowledge her, thought Mal was of the Devil. The proof for the cult came when Mal started having her accidental magic episodes. Her hair would change to random colors before changing back to it's original. A toy that they took away, or a book, would find its way back to her possession unless they burned it immediately upon taking it. Which became the practice when things were taken away from Mal.

However, they didn't take any real actions against her. The cult had brushes with the law before, a lot in recent years; they were on thin ice with the local authorities outside the community, and they knew it. As much as they wanted to "deal" with Mal, all they had were brief glances. It could easily be a trick of the light, as the outsiders would say. They needed solid evidence before they acted.

So they waited, and knew when they acted they would have the evidence that they needed to "deal" with her, and face the outsiders with their heads held high. No matter what the outsiders did to the cult, they would have dealt the Devil a blow he could never recover from. The death of his child or future bride, though the way some of the cult members talked, they thought it was both.

Mal thought all of them were sick.

Everything came to together when she was almost eleven and she got her letter from Ilvermorning; confirming that Mal was a witch and was accepted to attend their school in the coming fall. A representative arrived to explain everything with the letter. The visit had been pleasant and civil enough. Mal had been excited by the prospects. So the representative left believing all was right in the world.

Later, Lauren had dragged Mal to the cult's church. She threw Mal to the floor and slapped the Bishop across the face with the letter before screaming here was the "proof" that they needed, she didn't care what they did, she wanted no part of though.

There were three reigning emotions in the room that afternoon; determination, resolve, and vindication. Mal was brought to the basement of the church, and her mother left. Neither Mal or Lauren mentioned the representative. Lauren, whatever her reasons were remained her own. Mal, because she was in too much shock to even remember. Mal waited fearfully for her mother to return, but she never did. Instead, Mal's grandparents came, and made her read the bible for many hours.

That night, it was explained to Mal that her mother was out on a "date" with one of the cult members, and Mal's grandparents were bringing her to a "remote location prayer group".

They didn't drive for a long time, it was just out of town, down a dirt road that was surrounded by forest, but parted into a clearing. When Mal asked where they were and why they were there, her grandparents said that the church gathered to burn her at the stake for being a witch. That's why she read the chapters she did. So she'd know her sin and repent. The flames would either cleanse her soul and she'd be sent back to God, or she'd be punished and sent to a place where she'd burn for eternity. Either way, she'd no longer be able to help the Devil.

Fear consumed Mal and she fought as best she could. They had needed almost fifteen people to pull her out of the car. She fought as she was beaten down and tied up with rope that had been soaked with holy oil before drying in the sun for seven days just for occasions like this one; telling Mal then and now she wasn't the only one they had quietly disposed of.

She fought as best she could as they lifted her and tied her to the wooden post on a platform over scorched earth. She cried, begged, and pleaded, but none of it went noticed by the cult members who came to watch the witch burn. It fell on deaf ears.

As for the Bishop, priests, and nuns who were present, it was proof for them, the way she begged for her life, that she was of the Devil, and what they were doing was the right and just thing.

As the officials said the prayers and the members echoed their words, candles were walked forward with every verse. A well-practiced ritual if Mal ever saw one. As the candles were laid against the kindling that surrounded the platform and her, Mal screamed with all of her might.

Her anguish, physical pain, the pain of betrayal, anger, hate, fear, and desperation all came out in that screamed that echoed through the forest and into the community dwellings back in town.

To this day, Mal wasn't sure if it was natural, or if her magic came out in the scream making it as loud and as well-traveled as it was. But all in the clearing heard it, their shock dominated their features, their ears bleeding from the sound. As soon as her scream ended, her magic flared to life, and Mal had the largest bought of accidental magic ever experienced that pushed out from her body like a shockwave. Extinguishing the flames beneath her and rendering everyone present, including herself, unconscious.

The MACUSA got the readings on their radars, which apparently had nearly broken them, and immediately reacted to the largest amount of magic being released in centuries, let alone in a muggle area. Still, they knew from experience that a muggleborns life was in danger, they had seen this many a time, but never with the level of power.

What the MACUSA Aurors found when they arrived horrified even them. They'd seen beatings, they'd seen attempted murders, but they had never seen a cult gathered to burn an innocent child at the stake. Such things were said to have been banned from practice since the era of the Salem Witch Trials.

It didn't take them long to figure out what happened; considering Mal was still tied to the stake, and the church officials, as well as the witnesses, were all on the ground unconscious.

Seeing there were other children there, and the evidence that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, the MACUSA knew they couldn't simply obliviate everyone and move on. For one; the cult was way too big, and they wouldn't be able to get to all of the ones in the clearing and in the town obliviated. While the church officials were all there, several practitioners and much of Lauren's family, acting as witnesses to the burning of the witch, they knew this wasn't even a fourth of the cult. For another reason; if they left the cult to its own devices, even if they did manage to obliviate everyone and take the girl, other people, most likely children, would be condemned to this fate in the future. And they might not be as lucky as Mal was.

They dosed the Bishop with Veritaserum, where it was confirmed Mal was not the only one, merely the latest in a long line of witches, devils, undesirables, or greatest sinners that had been brought out to this location to burn. There were also several more people who were under suspicion for falling under one of those titles, one of them now being Lauren. Some of them were present to show them what could happen and offer this last chance at redemption, a few of them children. To teach them to deny the Devil and sin in all forms.

Given this confession, MACUSA had no choice but to act. How many like Mal, how many other children suffered this fate without their knowing? Had their radars even sensed it? Did that mean they were willing to do this to their fellow no-mages as well?

They performed a few Legimens on the children, just to see if there was anything else they needed to be aware of, and it was clear they were all suffering in some fashion.

The Prime Minister was brought in, she declared this was unacceptable. No-mages, magical, or other, they would not leave the others to suffer at the hands of the cult.

This all happened within fifteen minutes of Mal's shockwave of magic.

The Aurors did a quick obliviation of the letter from Ilvermorning, one Auror having been sent to abduct Laurena and erase the meeting with the representative of Ilvermorning. Instead, they were given a different reason to riot. Considering they'd burned others for less, it was believable for the no-mages when they woke up.

The reason given was a book. One that Mal had in her backpack, Blue is for Nightmares. A book about witchcraft in some fashion. To the Aurors and other MACUSA officials, it was sheer fantasy. For the cult, it was further “proof” of Mal’s witchness, she was training herself in her craft in secret. That, on top of everything else they’d been thinking for years, caused them to break and felt like they had to take action. Resulting in the situation where the Aurors found them.

Acting as a couple off hiking, two Auror's called in the police and Child Protective Services. Claiming they threw a stun grenade into the center of it all before they could burn Mal at the stake. They doused the flames with water from their water bottles to put out the fire before it got out of control.

While the Police didn't like it, they had to give credit where it was due, they saved Mal, so the Aurors were simply fined for the use of the grenade.

The police took a different route to get to the clearing. Mal hadn't even been aware there was a second way to the clearing. But it worked in the police and the Auror's favor, as others from the community came to check what was taking so long. Usually, after the fire was started, and the lost soul was starting to chock on the flames, the practitioners would all go home, leaving the church officials and a few muscle men to keep the fire going and for the cleanup after everything was ash. After the scream and no one coming home, everyone else got worried and came looking for answers.

All of the adults present at the clearing were already being arrested. As the others arrived at the clearing, they too were arrested. Their crime was they knew what was happening and they did nothing to stop it. The second wave of onlookers were given a pass, and merely told to go home immediately, or they would be arrested for disobeying an officer the law.

While the Aurors had obliviated her, the no-mage police forces were the ones to deal with Lauren. Given that Lauren was on her date, she was barely able to claim that she did not know about the burning that was taking place. It was her word against all of the others, who were screaming that Lauren knew, she brought the girl to them. It also wasn't like the Aurors could come forward and say that Lauren knew and was in on it because they’d seen into her mind.

Thankfully, however, by noon the next day, Mal was barely conscious but was able to croak out that her mother did bring her to the church, and repeated what Lauren said to them.

Lauren was ultimately arrested as well.

Later, in front of an FBI therapist, who Lauren thought was cute and wanted to seduce, played right into his hands and told him things she never would have if she knew his true objective. For Lauren, it was all for the possibility of getting laid by this man. He knew what she was doing, and it was easy for him to play the role. Lauren admitted she might have suspected, but she didn't know for sure. She wouldn't have stopped the cult either way. She agreed with them that Mal was an abomination that needed to be cleansed from their holy world. Which is why she had absolutely no problem using Mal to get men and sex.

When asked if she loved her daughter, Lauren admitted no. Mal was her punishment for being a woman and being susceptible to sin. She kept Mal because it was her duty to raise the gender cursed by God and tainted by the Devil. Until Mal proved she was more than just tainted by the Devil.

Lauren was immediately deemed unfit to have custody of Mal, and Mal was not returned to her. In fact, all of the children of the cult were taken away and put into safe homes for seventy-two hours. Most went back to their families who were not behind bars after the mandatory holding time. What children didn't have relatives or parents to go back to, and the cult was not allowed to take in children that were not flesh and blood, went into foster care.

Several of those who were arrested were able to get off with heavy fines, jail time, or both. A few, like Lauren, were able to get off with barely a slap on the wrist by way of mental disease or defect. The argument was that they were brainwashed. Surprisingly, especially in the case of Lauren when her past abuse, bitter divorce after one month, and the treatment she received afterward, were sympathetically received and a jury bought the stories hook line and sinker. Mal could only shake her head.

Brainwashed, perhaps, but all of them still willingly allowed or assisted in murder.

The Bishop and the other church officials, along with their cleanup crew, were not given a chance at parole. When viewing the evidence given to them, and the funds that the cult had at their disposal, the Judge deemed that they were too much of a danger to society to allow them free. So they were kept behind bars and in chains till their court dates. Two weeks in, one of the little nuns broke and began to sing like a canary to get a lesser sentence. One of the cleanup crew members flipped three days after that. Giving the location of the bodies, and other secrets that the church officials had that the nun didn't know about.

Six months after the failed attempt to burn Mal as a witch, all of the church officials, minus the nun and cleanup member, were all sentenced for twenty-five years per life they took. It amounted to three hundred and seventy-five years.

There was a rage in the courtroom, a rage in the cult's community, as the church officials and its once trusted crew were sent back behind bars. The Bishop and other priests had to be put into solitary confinement for their own safety and the safety of others. The Bishop attacked a man who claimed to be Satan. The priests were attacked by others who were disgusted by what they had done and took pride in. Three priests were killed. The Bishop went mad after his failure to "kill the Devil", he shouted for days until his voice gave out.

After that, Mal stopped following the news on what was happening with them. They were well and truly punished, and locked away from society forever. This dealt the cult a major blow to its hierarchy. The people that were left, were not the type of bodies to be in charge. They lacked subtly, they lacked finesse, but most of all, they lacked the knowledge required to lead the cult. The once quiet, meager community was now loud and obnoxious. Rather than take their losses with grace and plot revenge in silence and secret, those left in charge now threw the equivalent of a tantrum and refused to acknowledge their defeats. They then attacked whatever threatened, insulted, or “attacked” them first.

As for the children who were taken from the cult that night; almost two years later, the cult was still fighting for custody of their children and to prove themselves law-abiding citizens. Combine that with the way the cult was now behaving, they failed each and every task/test given to them. They had to keep refiling for custody. Seemingly unaware that each time they fought more, there was yet more damning evidence against them. However, the cases were allowed to be reopened by the courts so they could keep gathering evidence that these parents just laid bare without realizing they were incriminating themselves. The judicial system's goal was to have the cult shut down permanently within another three years.

Even with the hunt for more evidence, some parents were refused custody outright, and the kids began to express their desire to stay with their current families.

One boy, Mason, who was seventeen, met Mal on the street and gave her a big hug before kissing her cheek. It was a very shocked, borderline panic attack, Mal who could do nothing but stand there and listen to this boy as he thanked her profusely.

There was so much he wanted out of life, but the cult was dead set against it. It wasn't their way of life. It was from Mason that she learned a lot about the cult's state and the fate of the other children. He was among those who were dumped into a community home, but he honestly didn't have any problems there. When the other boys learned how ignorant he was to even the simplest of things, rather than attack him, they took the time to teach him. This resulted in a lot of them quitting crime and drugs and forming a tight brotherhood with Mason.

One little girl was already adopted by the parents who fostered her. Several infants were also immediately adopted as the parents were among those who were arrested on-site and immediately thrown in jail and weren't allowed parole. With no family to take the infants, and with the parents losing all custody rights, it was quickly ruled after a short trial preceding that these infants be put up for adoption. Given the crimes of the cult, and what the authorities knew, growing up outside of the cult would see these kids immediately suffer abuse should they ever be put back into their birth parents care.

All of the adopted children were doing well, great even. As for the kids in foster care, some were in good homes, others, not so much. The young ones were adapting to life outside of the cult rather quickly and well. They didn't want to go back. Some of the older ones were having a harder time. As far as Mason knew, he was the only one above ten years old who was adapting and embracing this new life of theirs. Which was to be expected given how the kids were raised.

Mal, among the children taken and not returned, was taken in by the Auror's who posed themselves as Hikers. The MACUSA had the two Auror's all set up to be a convenient pair foster parents willing to take Mal in after her stay in the hospital for the shock and other medical attention she needed. With a squib social worker vouching for this couple, armed with all of the necessary paperwork, and a little magic where it was needed, custody was quickly granted temporarily until Lauren's status could be determined. After her confession to the shrink, who ultimately admitted he was happily married to another man, the custody was granted fulltime.

All the police and CPS had to do both times was sign their approval; which they happily did in a heartbeat.

Mal was also among the many children still facing court with the cult. Many of the cult members had stepped forward to lay claim to her, be them blood-related or not. All were turned down because they were either at the clearing or knew the attempted burning was going to take place to kill Mal. So Mal's "Foster Parents" retained custody of her.

Even after almost two years, the cult had not given up on their desire to gain control over Mal's fate. No one was in any way convinced by the pretty words the cult members weaved, or the mother disposition Lauren had adopted.

Even now, the cult only wanted her back to kill her. It was her fault that the leadership of the cult was arrested. It was her fault that families were separated from their children. It was her fault several of those children would never see their parents again. It was her fault things ended up this way. The damage done to the cult was "proof" that she was a demon most vile. Perhaps even the Devil given form to ruin them all because Satan was afraid of what the cult could do to him.

All of this had been shouted by members of the cult to her face at one time or another.

Still, this was America, where freedom is essential, and until it is declared permanent by the judge, the parents could keep filing for custody of their children. Though as Mal learned before, several judges were only allowing the refiles so they could dig up more dirt to permanently end the cult.

Whatever the case may be, it this allowance of refiles Lauren got involved in a custody battle for Mal. When all other avenues for custody of Mal were denied to the cult, and with Lauren merely fined, she was allowed to fight for custody of Mal.

In their eyes, the cult may have failed, but Lauren would succeed as she was Mal's birth mother and the only person who could claim full custody.

Unknown to the cult and Lauren up to that point, from the very first day after the attempted burning, the MACUSA had already gone on the hunt for someone who could legally claim Mal. Someone who wasn't a member of the cult, despite the cult bringing forth candidates that might have worked because they were related in some fashion. The Aurors knew they couldn't keep her forever; however much Angie and John were willing to do so after spending time with her.

Mal admitted a week after the attack that she had no idea who her father was, it was always her mother and the men who came and went. So they weren't given any clues, and the MACUSA had to do all of the work on their own. She had a biological father out there; there was no contesting that fact, and they went searching for him. At the very least, the MACUSA wanted to make sure there wasn't a father out there who actually wanted custody of her, no-mage or not, before they let Mal be adopted or gave permanent custody over to John and Angie. They didn't want to have to deal with the legality of a magical parent showing up and her already being adopted.

They backtracked through Lauren's many lovers, which is how the truth of her past came to light in the court, searching for Mal's other parent among them. They ran Mal's DNA against all of Lauren's lovers around that time period, and all came back as "not the father".

For which, all of the men breathed a sigh of relief. Not that Mal blamed them for that reaction. As all of them were married men, and most of their wives didn't know about the affair, they took the test in secret and were discretely informed that they were ultimately not the father.

With all of them eliminated, the MACUSA was forced to dig even deeper and discovered Lauren had been married for a short time. So they tracked this man down to see if he was the father they were looking for. Given that the dates of the brief marriage matched with Mal's conception date, they had high hopes for this Darren Bones.

Both magic and no-mage DNA testing proved that Darren was, in fact, Mal's father. The MACUSA knew long before the no-mages knew about it. Before the DNA was confirmed, they went to London to find him and were given another piece to the puzzle that was Mal's life when they learned Darren was a squib from Wizarding Britain. A squib, from the Ancient and Noble House of Bones. With Amelia Bones, Director of the British Ministries DMLE department.

It was yet another shock to the MACUSA, forcing the Prime Minister to personally get involved again when normally, she would have stayed out of it after her initial decree. The Ancient and Noble Houses were a big deal no matter what country they were in, and they were to be respected.

The Prime Minister made contact with Amelia Bones, Head of the DMLE, and notified her first. Amelia immediately brought Darren into the conference and he fled to America to see if it was true. One look at Mal, and it was clear to him that she was his daughter. Amelia couldn't come to America because of her work and trusted that Darren would bring Mal home in time. Once all of the testings were finished and Darren was proven by magical and nonmagical standards that he was her father, all that was left was the muggle courts.

Right as Lauren began what was supposed to be her uncontested declaration for Mal's custody, the foster parents withstanding, Darren Bones stepped into the room with his lawyer, another squib, and declared his standing. It was there that he contested Lauren's claim for full custody. He wasn’t interested in half custody, he didn’t want visitation rights, he wanted the same thing as Lauren. Full custody, with no contact to be allowed between the mother and child in question.

Thus, began the battle for Mal's custody. Both sides refusing to give up. Darren, despite his dislike of America, and love for his home country, had forsaken Britain a lot of the time in favor for living in America to be near Mal. That is until he won the case and was able to take her out of the country.

This fact was well known, as it was declared in court publicly, and had sent Lauren into a panic.

Amelia stood before the Wizengamot in Britain and begged them to help the Bones family and allow her the resources to get her niece away from the muggle family who were trying to kill her. Once assured that Mal was a powerful witch, playing a memory provided by Aurors who took a copy of the memory displaying Mal's accidental magic before the muggle was obliviated, and another from Darren showing the results of her homeschooling, add to that the photographs in the Daily Prophet managed to catch of her, the Wizengamot wholeheartedly agreed.

Fudge was told by Lucius to allow this. He, like so many other families, Dark, Gray, and Light alike, saw her in the memory and read the news in the Prophet. They saw her potential, and they wanted her to contract to their own heirs, be it concubine, like Lucius was planning, with a line continuation clause, or a full betrothal to one day marry, depended on the family and the situation and beliefs. What all of them had in common was they saw the name Bones, Ancient and Noble Family, and saw status, wealth, and a chance to claim it, or in the case of the light families be a part of it, for themselves.

TLCW

Even Molly Weasley was keeping an eye on the news regarding this witch. Susan was a fine pretty thing, but everyone knew she was hung up over the Longbottom boy, and at the very least she would be his concubine someday. With Susan pretty much claimed in Molly’s mind, all that was left was ensure that this Mallory Bones would be paired a purely light family. Her Ron was the best age for the girl, though if she was as mature as they say, Percy would be a good candidate. It would also allow him to get his career and political standing he so desired.

It would also allow the Weasley's to get their greedy hands on at least a portion of the Bones wealth when Amelia inevitably kicked the bucket in a few years. Honestly, a woman the head of the DMLE, what utter nonsense! Amelia was just asking to be put in her place or killed. It was common knowledge that Amelia wouldn't live to see Susan graduate Hogwarts. A pity, she had been a pretty fine thing when they were younger.

When it came to the wealth of the family, Molly didn't give a second thought to the other Bones sibling. Darren was after all a squib, none of the Bones wealth would fall to him. The Wizengamot simply wouldn't allow it, they barely allowed women to inherit these days. Given the circumstances though, the Wizengamot stood to gain a lot by allowing these girls to inherit. Half would logically go to Susan, and the other would logically go to Mallory.

Molly would have a son who was a Lord, and a dutiful daughter in law. Despite being a half-blood, she would logically behave as a proper pureblood witch should. Mallory would sit at home in her opulent manor, raising another brood of Weasley children just as Molly did, allowing Molly’s son to take over the Regency for the Bones family till Susan or Mal birthed a son to give the Lord’s title to.

Given the number of sons Molly had, she held no doubt in her mind who the parents of that son would be.

And if Ron was the one who caught Mallory’s attention, really the girl wouldn’t have much time for even a single hobby as she would be taking care of her children with Ron as well as the children he had with his concubine. Really that mudblood bitch Granger wasn’t even really worthy of that much, but her brilliance and prowess were not to be overlooked.

Given how low the Weasley's had fallen, they would need all the prestige they could get their hands on. And there was no denying that Granger would bring prestige to any family she married.

Though now that Molly thought about it, Ron was rather dense, and he had a one-track mind when it came to the mudblood bitch. Molly had to close her eyes, grit her teeth and sigh.

There truly was no other way, was there? Her little Ronnikins wouldn't be happy with any other girl. Sure, he would probably drop the mudblood if she told him to go after Mallory, but he lacked the grace and ability Percy had. The kind of grace and ability the Bones family would require.

Yes, yes, Percy would court and contract to Mallory, becoming Lord Weasley, and the family would be elevated to a new position with their marriage. Really, there was no other suitable candidate among her sons for such an important role.

Surely even that bint Bones wouldn't argue with that logic. That would leave Ron able to court, contract, and eventually marry the mudblood. It might make her blood steam a bit, but it would be worth it with Mallory as a daughter in law and Harry as a son in law. It was for the best, after all, Granger was probably the only one who could make Ron sit down and do anything that didn’t involve food, chess, or quidditch. She truly was the only one keeping him in school with his barely passing grades.

Perhaps if Molly took both girls under her wing, and trained them how to behave like proper witches and housewives. Mallory would be able to fend for herself as young as fifteen. Really with all of that wealth, what did the Bones daughter need with schooling anyway? There was also the added benefit that after the training, Hermione would be more tolerable and Molly might actually be able to be around her and not gag at the stink the little twat omitted.

However pleasing the thought, it was just her looking out for her children's best possible futures, it wasn't her grandmaster plan. Her true goal was the Weasley name sitting among the highest caliber in Wizarding society, as well as the Potter wealth. And that plan was nearing its end stages.

The fact that Harry and her precious Ginny were betrothed, and pretty much a couple already, that made Molly smile every day. That pairing is what would truly bring the Weasley name out of the gutter into prominent society. There was no doubt in her mind that Harry would no longer just be a son in heart, but legally as well. Yes, Harry had everything she wanted in a husband for Ginny, there was wealth, power, brains, and handsome looks all rolled into one package already.

Then Molly sighed. No, she was, yet again, seeing a fully-grown James, in the young Harry.

The potential was there. But the little thing was so starved, for food and affection. He didn't have much in the way of brains, but he was smarter than her Ronnikins a lot of time, and that was all that mattered. Harry would grow out of the cute boy he was and into a handsome man. There was no denying he had power, even with his cores blocked, and there was denying the wealth waiting beneath the surface of Gringotts and the boy’s trust fund. Just waiting for him to become an adult.

Mix it with the Weasley's pureblood, and the next generation was a promising lot indeed. With Granger's brains and the Bones beauty and wealth added into her family, yes, yes, Molly’s grandchildren from her sons alone were going to be something wonderful indeed. But it was the grandchildren that would come from Ginny’s and Harry’s union that she looked forward to the most.

TLCW

Mal reeled back as if struck across the face. She was left panting and a little shaky. That had been a vision of some kind. Whether it was, past, present, or future, she didn't know. She didn't care to know.

"Oh, Ares is not going to like this." She whispered.

There was no doubt now that Molly Weasley was as much of an enemy now as she ever was in the past, which they pretty much expected as Gabriel did not object to her name when Ares gave his hit list.

But that was for later. That was for when she was back with Ares. She glanced at the clock, she still had half an hour before breakfast was finished, so she just might have enough time to finish up before they had to leave for court. She didn't want to go over everything at the last minute on the way to the courthouse.

So she retreated back into her mind. She looked over all of her memories again and saw that from Amelia standing before the Wizengamot and the various family's reactions, was her gift at work. Not quite full seeress powers, but something similar. Which is why she could see the scene in perfect clarity despite not having been there. Which surprised Mal.

She already she knew she would get visions from time to time, she could also look at a scene or situation, and know the truth of what it was. Her Legimens was also powerful enough she understood what people were thinking, even when watching another's memories, or a vision.

Which was completely unheard of, so she kept that a secret from everyone, for now, even her father. It was another thing she needed to talk to Ares about before telling others.

She didn't know if that was really her gift, or if Satan or Michael added an Angel's blessing to it. Michael would have added it so she could better protect herself and be able to get away or ahead of the abuse she would suffer at the hands of the cult. Satan would have added it to better help Ares, whom he thought of as a younger brother.

Going back to viewing the memories and information, Mal learned she remained in the custody of John and Angie since the day they took custody. Darren and Lauren were of course allowed visitation rights, but on separate days, as Lauren had both thrown herself at Darren begging for him, then attacked him when he "had the nerve" to push her away and condemn her for what she did to his daughter.

John and Angie assured Mal, that the MACUSA only recognized one parent for Mal, and that was Darren. All magical communities agreed that Mal was a witch, thus custody fell to Darren by natural order. It was just a matter of making the no-mages realize that, preferably without magic.

Because of the many trials, court-mandated therapy, and the regular visitation from Lauren, the muggle/no-mage parent, Mal wasn't able to attend Ilvermorning. She had to be available for whatever reason and not mysteriously disappear for days on end. When the spies for the cult and Lauren came around, she had to be in the house.

Further, due to their cover, John and Angie were seen as formal military, living on their families limited trust funds and retirement plans as well as the foster parent payments. They didn't have the funds to send Mal to a private boarding school state's away. If they tried to claim she got a scholarship, the court and the lawyers involved with Mal's custody case would have to inspect the school to make sure it was suitable for Mal and her state of mind during all of this.

For those reasons, as well as others, Mal was homeschooled until the courts could reach their decision, and then Mal would be free to attend whatever magical school Darren and Amelia decided to send her to. Though Mal knew exactly where she was going, it was just a matter of time until Darren realized that too.

Among the other reasons as to why Mal was homeschooled, she was being stalked; hence the use of the word spies earlier to describe the situation. Every day it seemed they saw at least one suspicious car or a member of the cult passing by the house.

When she was first under the Auror's care, the cult kept trying to kidnap her. Engineering all kinds of situations when she was out with Angie, John, or both so they could abduct her while the two Auror's attention was otherwise occupied. Unfortunately for the cult, their attention was always on Mal. They needed her to be safe, it was their job.

Time and again, the cult would try to grab her, and each time, they would fail. It was for this reason that attending public school was also ruled out. Which Darren and his lawyers added to the list of reasons why Lauren and her precious family/cult should not get custody of Mal.

The benefit with her being homeschooled, John and Angie were able to teach her about magic. Going through the courses of first and second year respectfully and with the corresponding years. Thanks to not going to public school, she was able to focus all of her time and energy on her magical studies and practicing with her magic. Which, in her memories, saw her being able to control the metamorphing of her hair, and John teaching her occlumency, which he deemed as a necessity during these times, and just in case she did end up going to Hogwarts.

Because she wasn't attending a magical school, and she wasn't fourteen years old, she had to use a temporary wand meant to be used for training purposes for children younger than ten, or as a backup wand for Aurors. She didn't mind, as it worked alright for her. But it wasn't a perfect fit, and there was no telling what exactly would be a perfect fit for her.

Any magic performed with the wand was a little above average in her grading, but everyone in the MACUSA took that with a grain of salt because they knew she wasn't using a wand meant for her. If she was average with a dummy wand, they had high expectations for what she could do with a properly fitted wand. John, Angie, and Darren were all exceedingly proud of her.

Mal knew Darren was looking forward to taking her shopping for a proper wand with his sister and his niece. Mal learned very quickly that her aunt was Amelia Bones, aunt of Susan Bones. Placing her in the Bones family couldn't have worked out better for her and Ares. With Amelia being her aunt, head of House Bones, as well as Head of the DMLE, she was in a position to make things change, and change them quickly. That was smart thinking on Gabriel's part.

Amelia and Susan were also eager to be in Mal's life, and they quickly sent letters back and forth. A letter from her aunt Amelia said she was also proud, and it spoke good things about Mal's power. Amelia also praised Mal's character and good spirits during all of this and looked forward to giving her a big hug when she came home. Amelia and Susan did come for a visit over Christmas during their first year. It was then that Amelia gave Mal her hair clip she was currently using. Susan and Mal hit it off great and kept writing over time.

However, Lauren wasn't pleased when she saw Amelia and Susan. As much as they wanted to, they never came back. Mal understood it was because they didn't want to make the situation worse. Mal admitted to her father she wished they did come back. Maybe then her mother would blow a gasket and finally be deemed unfit permanently, but at the same time, she didn't want anyone to get hurt.

When it came to her schooling, it didn't come as a surprise that when it came to the subjects that didn't require a want, Mal tended to excel. Such as her occlumency training with John. She studied potions with Angie, and she was very quick in that class and loved it. She went out with both Angie and John twice a week to a witch who lived nearby, who was a herbology expert. Mal didn't like it, but she respected it. Because a lot of what she was learning would be later used in potions.

With all of that knowledge gathered, viewed, and properly sorted, Mal then went through her recent memories to study the various members of her maternal side of the family. Just as Lauren and Darren had visitation rights, the rest of her mother's family were granted the same privilege to a lesser degree.

Lucky for her, her cousins were never brought along; the family's way of protecting them from "an evil influence" no doubt. But her grandparents, aunts, and uncles, both by marriage and blood came to visit twice a month.

All of the visits were supervised by John and Angie, as ordered by the Judge, as well as the Prime Minister. Mal was not allowed to be alone with these people under any circumstances.

When her grandparents visited, they were always accompanied by at least two of their children and their spouses. John and Angie occupied chairs in the room, and Mal tended to stay on the opposite side of the room and talked very little with her family members. She'd answer as to how she was doing, and she was doing well in school, but that was it. Her family was more interested in talking about them and how they were doing anyway.

They always talked about which family members were able to get out of police custody, which ones weren't sent to prison but had to pay fines, and which ones had already paid their fines. It was their way of saying that her "evil plan" and her "evil influence" was not working.

By their family members getting out and getting free of the situation, they were rising above her devilish ways, and they would come back and reap not only their vengeances but God's righteous judgment upon her and cleanse her from this world once and for all. Mal made sure to tell them back with a sweet sincere smile that she was happy for them.

Though internally she gloated a little as she knew a lot of those fines leftover sixty percent of the cult bankrupt.

The end of each and every visit with her grandparents and various aunts and uncles they brought in tow, came this demand. "Stop this foolishness and come here! You need to come home!"

This foolishness, being her distance and unwillingness to touch them or be in the same room with them for more than hour before leaving to go do homework or some other excuse. Going further along that vein, they wanted her to stop all of this fighting against them, trying to leave the country with Darren. By coming home now with them, she would be leaving of her own free will, and thus, there was nothing the police or courts could do about it. She chose them, so she belonged to them, and nothing the courts said or did, be it in person or on paper, could change that.

Mal didn't bother trying to tell them that's not how the world works, especially not the American Justice System. She wasn't in charge, the government, magical and nonmagical alike, were in charge of all of that. If she so much as tried to defend the situation, her family would see it as excuses to stay away from them. More, they would see it as her "evil powers" at work, and yet more proof that she needed "dealt with", and soon.

So, whenever she left the room, it fell on Angie and John to remind the delusional idiots just who was in charge here and why. Reminding them that they tried to kill her, their cult was still trying to kidnap her. If Mal didn't want to associate with them, that was her choice and couldn't be blamed for doing so. Especially since she knew they were lying so they could get her back then do it all over again, but with better success.

Angie, in particular, was even more upset that John was about the situation. She would start yelling that Mal couldn't even go grocery shopping with them anymore because of the cult members cornering her in the grocery store.

When Mal started her menses six months ago, she went out with Angie for a girl's day to get the things she would need and get her acclimated with the whole situation. They had lunch and ice cream as well, it was a relatively good day. Mal barely even noticed her cramps thanks to the potions Angie provided.

However, Mal was cornered no less than six times during her meal with Angie. When they got to the store, and the cult member that was waiting for them saw what they were getting, forgot his objective went into a rage and began screaming profanities at Mal. Angie, for the second time, punched one of the cult members in the face while Mal was a sobbing shaking mess.

Other than for court and her therapy sessions, Mal didn't leave the house anymore. She didn't even go in the backyard.

Angie would never repeat the words the man said that day, as Angie admitted she almost AK'ed the man right there in the store.

The following visit from her grandparents that week was the last Mal saw of her extended family. Her grandmother began to say that women were cursed with their cycles by God to give men their children so the men could be cleansed and go to heaven. The fact Mal got her menses at all meant she was chosen to be the Devil's bride! She needed to repent now and all of it would cease.

That declaration saw Angie and John calling the police. A short court hearing the following month about the incident, which was recorded on a video camera, saw Mal's extended maternal family being barred from contact with her.

That was roughly five months ago. Mal couldn't help but think, one down, one to go. With her grandparents and extended family forbidden from seeing or contacting her again, that only left her mother.

Mal took the time to sit and study the differences between her parents and their behavior. While it might not be needed for the court day so to speak, it would dictate how she treated them when she left this room.

Her father had been everything a little girl could dream of. Loving, caring, supportive, and very protective when it came to the monsters outside. Anything she wanted, even if she never admitted it, he got for her. Anything she needed, he made sure it was provided.

Darren Bones, upon meeting her for the first time, broke down crying and hugged her tightly. Apologizing and begging for forgiveness.

Something Lauren never did. Apologize, or hug Mal.

Her mother's lawyer had a pretty interesting story to tell in court. Saying Lauren had suffered traumatically after the divorce with Darren, and then her family kicking her out and minimizing contact with her. Following up with them later trying to kill Lauren's daughter, her mind – already broken – completely snapped. Lauren was receiving psychiatric help, and they requested the same be done with the daughter to try to mend the bond that the mother and daughter weren't able to form before because of Lauren's mental condition.

By court order, Mal went to therapy, both with and without her mother. When they were in therapy, the therapist tried to get Mal to be in physical contact with her mother, each time, Mal refused. She would talk, but she wouldn't touch her mother. It was the same when they had their visits without the therapist.

Before Mal started staying very close to the house because of the stalkers, she would go out with Angie and meet up with Lauren for lunch. Angie would be nearby, given the appearance that she left.

Lauren would rattle out the same questions as the others; how was she, how was school, had she been saying her prayers, going to church? To which Mal always answered, good; she was learning new things and while they were challenging, she enjoyed them; she never said her prayers before why would she start now; and other than when Lauren dragged her along, Mal had never been to church.

Lauren would take over the conversation then, similar to how her extended family did. While the extended family bragged about their successes, Lauren complained. A lot, and loud.

"It's hard to take care of myself and do things without you around!" Most mothers would be in tears, but Lauren was whining like a small child who had candy taken away. "When you coming home!? I need you!"

A guilt trip if Mal ever saw one. By playing the helpless victim, Lauren was trying to guilt-trip Mal into coming home. What daughter wouldn't want their mother's love and approval? What daughter wouldn't take care of their mothers if that's what it took?

The situation here though was Lauren couldn't take care of herself at all. If Mal didn't do it, it didn't get done.

As a result, Mal grew up a lot faster than should be considered normal. Added with her experiences from her other lives, even without her memories, it wasn't hard for Mal to adopt the role of the caregiver. At this point, it was like muscle memory, soul muscle memory to be exact, but muscle memory just the same.

Mal took over the budget when she was five. She took over cooking at the age of six. By seven, she was the one paying the bills, cooking, and taking care of the house. She even did the grocery shopping at the little outlet near their apartment.

Lauren was given an allowance, anything over that, Lauren had to provide for herself. Which is probably what led to the pictures and selling them, Mal thought. Mal shook her head, regardless of that, if she wasn't there to do it, it never got done. So the bills weren't being paid, the food wasn't being cooked, the laundry was never being done, the dishes were never clean.

Mal sighed and opened her eyes leaning her head back. If Lauren was serious about getting her back, it was so she could have her live-in slave back. If Lauren was just playing the part for the cult, it was because they promised to take her back in; if she helped them kill Mal.

Mal got up and walked downstairs, she had all of the information she needed now. Any more she would probably run away, going to straight to Ares's arms. Which would not be a good thing right now. It would show too much too soon.

Mal sat down at the table and started helping herself to breakfast. She knew when the potion wore off she would need the food in her system.

"Nervous?" John asked as he sipped his coffee.

Mal shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, not really. I mean," She had to stop eating and really think about how to put this into words. "I know that no matter what's decided today, the Prime Minister, with the backing the ICW, has the go-ahead to manipulate the courts if necessary. I know that there will be a Legimens, as well as Aurors stationed in the courtroom as well as all around the courthouse. One way or another, I'll be disappearing soon. I guess, what makes this is so hard, is the sheer insanity of those people, my mother included."

Angie took Mal's hand and gave it a squeeze of support. John nodded in understanding. "At least we have a competent judge this time around."

Mal groaned just thinking about the four different judges she'd seen. Despite Lauren's "mistakes" no parent had been granted custody yet. One of those "mistakes" was attempting to kidnap her while they were out getting burgers and ice cream. Lauren kept looking around and out the window. When she saw something, she was obviously waiting for, she tried to steer Mal away from the place and to get into a strange looking car. Saying they were going somewhere nicer. Mal, of course, refused, and fought back, resulting in Angie's first punching of a no-mage, who happened to be Lauren, right in the face.

Mal still laughed at that.

"What's so funny?" John asked a little concerned.

"Just remembering Angie punching Lauren." Mal giggled again.

"I still cannot fucking believe that no-mage judge believed that bullshit Lauren's lawyer spewed at him." Angie seethed. "Psychotic break due to the desperation to get her child back; Hippogriff shit!"

"Language." John warned gently.

"Better than that asshat of a therapist I was forced to see for a while there." Mal grumbled.

John shook his head. Angie was the foul-mouthed one, and while Mal was foul-mouthed before, Angie just made Mal's vocalization of it bolder. Though neither adult really blamed her with her insult or who it was named at.

While they had suspected, it wasn't until a Legimens confirmed that the therapist Mal had been seeing, Dr. Robert Thompson, was a secret member of the cult. Though that fact was only known to him, Lauren, and the Bishop of the cult, who had contacted Dr. Thompson from prison to make sure that Mal didn't leave the US. Dr. Thompson then kept lying to the judges and forced Mal to repeat her therapy with three different times

The MACUSA had interfered enough and didn't want to risk doing anymore without ICW approval, so it went unnoticed for the longest time that Dr. Thompson, was never going to work in Mal's benefit. It was still the hope of the MACUSA to end this all in the no-mage way so it wouldn't be investigated in the future and allow Mal the chance to still interact with the muggle world in the future if she wanted.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what the goal with Dr. Thompson was, but they still investigated his motives in his mind when he, as expected, ultimately failed Mal a third time at the last court session. They were proven that their assumptions were correct, and while it shocked the others, Mal wasn't surprised that Lauren was lovers with Dr. Thompson.

The current judge, Judge Rollins, who had been dealing with the other cult custody cases and was finally finished with a different case; didn't need the approved magical manipulation to make his ruling. He immediately ordered Mal to see different therapist, to get a second opinion.

Dr. Thompson's previous rulings were always Mal wasn't adjusting, she was withholding, and she wasn't fit to leave America for another country. One look at Mal and the judge could see something was amiss with that call.

The word of this one man wasn't enough for Judge Rollins. It was apparently clear to this judge, that Dr. Thompson's judgment was compromised.

So another therapist, Dr. Marshall, had been evaluating both parents, as well as Mal. He evaluated Mal with each of them. How she interacted with them, what was said, and how she reacted physically and emotionally. A lot of the time, for those sessions, Dr. Marshall was watching from somewhere else. Just observing. A lot of the talking with him was done one on one.

Mal knew what the situation with her mother looked like.

The situation with her father made her smile. Darren was a model father, as well as a model citizen, in either country. All who came to speak on behalf of Darren had nothing but praises for him. What ones weren't in the country, spoke via Skype. Her aunt Amelia was one of them, who spoke of the happy home life she had with her brother, and how if they had known, they would have taken Mal away from there a lot sooner.

It was during that interrogation that Mal saw the sparks of inspiration in Amelia's eyes. She didn't need her gift to tell her that this case was going to spark things moving forward technology-wise for Wizarding Britain since all of the other magical governments were already adopting this.

Darren was also the only person, who, while allowed unsupervised visits, didn't let himself be alone with her. So he couldn't be accused of anything. He proved to be a good father from the moment he found about her. He was there when something bad happened and she needed a parent. When he couldn't see her due to work obligations, he called, or they skyped. He called her every day, even if he'd been with her all day, to tell her goodnight.

Lauren's lawyer tried to argue that Darren was trying to bribe Mal by spoiling her, Mal argued on the stand that he didn't. He bought her the clothes she needed, the feminine products she needed, and any time she saw a book, or a movie, or art supplies he would get them for her, and they were all used. She wouldn't let him spoil her, despite his being able to. Because it made her feel uncomfortable after years of taking care of herself.

As Mal described that in more detail for Judge Rollin's, she wasn't aware that grown men could cry like that. He wasn't showing any emotion on the outside, but inside she could tell that he was bawling. When he called for a brief recess, she alone knew why he needed it.

Over the past week, the facts of the custody case had been stated. Darren's side, Lauren's side, testimonies were given, character witnesses, and now, the final day was the reveal of what Dr. Marshall's therapy found. Depending on what he said, the judge would make his ruling.

He said at the last court date, both parents had compelling arguments, and despite the few character witnesses for each parent demeaning them, (the cult for Darren, and the people around the apartment building and grocery store for Lauren), a decision couldn't be made on that alone. So it was on Dr. Marshall to say which parent he thought was best, and the judge would go from there.

On the way there, since they had to go the muggle way, Mal was doing her best to not bounce in her seat, or regurgitate her breakfast. She practiced her occlumency to keep herself calm. By walking around the garden, or falling into the little pond and into Ariel's grotto as a mermaid. From there, she'd swim around the area outside.

It might be the defense of Ursula's lair, but it was one of her favorite parts of the Kingdom Hearts games, and for the first time, she was swimming as an actual mermaid. Even if it was just her imagination, it felt so real.

When they arrived at the courthouse, Mal came back to reality, and got out of the car with her head held high, and was the picture of calm. While it wasn't national news, a few local media outlets were there with questions. When a reported got in her face and asked what did she hope the outcome would be, Mal wasn't fooled by his fake accent.

Her gift kicked in and told her this man was a reporter from the Daily Prophet, and he just barely beat Rita Skeeter here. She was unavailable when the order came in, and this reporter jumped at the chance before the Editor could call Rita. What was more, she saw this man was honest and hated Rita for the work she did.

So Mal gave him a small smile. "I hope I get to go home with my father."

This was obviously the answer the Prophet wanted, as the reporter quickly got a photo snapped by his cameraman, and they were off, while the others tried to follow Mal in, but the guards stopped them from going any further.

She was brought down a hallway she could now remember in her sleep and walk blind, to a familiar doorway. Waiting outside, was Lauren, her lawyer, and Dr. Thompson with his arm around Lauren's waist waiting off to the far side. Her father and his lawyer were nearest Mal and her foster parent Auror's.

"May I speak with you alone for a moment?" He asked before looking at Angie and John when both nodded after Mal gave the okay, they a little way up the hallway before Darren turned back to Mal. "I need to say something before we go in there."

Mal looked at him confused, there was something in his eyes, a knowledge that hadn't been there before. Gabriel hadn't mentioned her father being one of the ones with memories.

"I never hated you for doing what you had to do to survive, Mal." Darren said gently, looking her in the eye as he said it. "I was never much of a father before, and that, as we both know, is due to circumstances beyond our control. But if I had been, I would have been doing the same as I am now. I would have fought for you. No matter what happens in there today, please know that I am very, very, proud of the woman you've become, and I hope that I can be the father you need."

Mal's eyes filled with tears and her lower lip began to quiver as she realized what was happening. This wasn't just Darren Bones, squib son of the Ancient and Noble House of Bones, this was Terry, her father. She hugged him tightly, fat, hot tears falling as she squeezed him tighter. He held her tightly before coughing and stepping back again. There was more to be said, but now wasn't the time, and they both knew it.

Everyone who was seeing the scene believed Mal and Darren were emotional and scared because they thought they were going to lose and never see each other again. Lauren swore up and down that if she won full custody, Darren's alimony payments would double, with an equal amount being paid separately for child support. He was also to never have any contact with Mal again.

Angie and John knew that wasn't was happening, but they decided to let the no-mages think what they want.

"May I have a moment alone now?" Lauren asked sweetly.

"Only if you follow the same conditions that Darren met." Angie glared at her.

Lauren turned her nose up at Angie, walking back up the hallway with Mal. Mal shaking off her mother's hand every time Lauren tried to touch her.

"What were you two talking about?" Lauren asked in a fake sweet tone.

"He was just telling me that he was proud of me." Mal said honestly. "And he's proud of the woman I'll become."

Lauren's face turned dark. "Was that all?"

"No." Mal said honestly.

For a long moment, there was silence.

"Well," Lauren hissed, "What else was there?"

"None of your damn business." Mal snapped walking away from Lauren.

Right as Mal sat on the bench to wait, the guard came out and called them all in. Once seated; names were stated, dates, times, the case, and who was testifying today. After all of the preliminary parts were finished for paperwork reasons, Dr. Thompson and Lauren's lawyer a Gavin Shaw stood up.

"Gavin Shaw, attorney to Ms. Lauren Talen, your honor." Attorney Shaw said in politely.

"Yes, Mr. Shaw." Judge Rollins said, looking rather unamused at the man.

"Your honor, my client, and the good Dr. Thompson request that Dr. Thompson, who is also a therapist, be allowed to testify today."

Judge Rollins openly glared at Attorney Shaw. "Your client can ask that may ask all they want, but the only person who will be speaking here today will be Dr. Marshall. Perhaps Mallory Bones when Dr. Marshall has finished with his testimony, but that is."

"Your honor!" Dr. Thompson exclaimed positively scandalized. "I've spent more than a year working with Mallory Bones as well as her parents. I have more experience with them, and to have my council ignored on this matter is negligence, at least!"

"And one more outburst like that Dr. Thompson will see you held in contempt of court, and all of your previous testimonies be stricken from the record and I will be forced to award custody to Darren Bones. Permanently. No judge or jury in the United States will be allowed to reopen this case on yours or Lauren Talen's behalf." The Judge's dark eyes bore into Dr. Thompson's. "Is that in any way unclear?"

Dr. Thompson didn't respond, merely sat down and began whispering with Lauren, who Mal could see, was looking uncomfortable.

"Dr. Marshall," The Judge called. Mal looked and smiled at the elderly looking man, but still rather fit for his age, stand. "You make take the stand."

Dr. Marshall returned Mal's smile as he walked past and took his seat beside the judge. He was sworn in and looked to the Judge.

"You've had sessions with both parents and the child in question?" Judge Rollins asked.

"Yes, I have your honor." Dr. Marshal nodded.

"Then, please, tell us what you've discovered and what your opinion is of the custody situation." Judge Rollins said and sat back.

Dr. Marshall cleared his throat and turned so he was mostly facing the judge.

"I'll start with the child in question if you've no objections?" There wasn't any, so Dr. Marshall continued.

"Mallory Bones is a surprisingly well-rounded girl with a level head on her shoulders. She behaves more like a thirty-year-old than she does a teenager. Which surprises me, as well as saddens me. To clarify this, I will explain in more detail," Dr. Marshall took a sip of water before continuing. "Mallory, or Mal, as she prefers to be called, shows all the signs of PTSD resulting from an abusive childhood, the attempt on her life, as well as the constant kidnapping attempts, harassment, as well as the stalking she's endured since the attempt on her life.

"She also has anxiety, again, stemming from the reasons stated before; high levels of stress and migraines, which again, stemming from the reasons stated before. Now the migraines are also connected to other issues, most of them being medical, for which Angela Benson and Johnathan Munch are making sure she’s treated for.”

Mal had to bite her tongue and close her eyes. The first names weren't familiar, but the last two were. No wonder the two looked so familiar! Though Angie had more freckles than the character she was named after.

The judge nodded his understanding, as Dr. Marshall paused.

"Normally, in situations like this, one would see a child with emotional distress. Lashing out at their environment and the people surrounding them. Again, this is normal, and given many years of therapy, those children can become decent law-abiding citizens, but as I stated before, Mal is not like this. Which shocked me more than anything else about her situation."

Dr. Marshall took another drink, Mal noticed he was avoiding looking at any of them while he was talking to the judge. "Mal is very mature for her age, and this stems from the fact that she was taking care of herself, as well as her mother since she was five years old. She took over the bills, the cleaning, the cooking, even the grocery shopping as we've heard here in this very court with witnesses and video surveillance to back this up. In Mal's own words, it was because Ms. Talen wouldn't or couldn't, so it was on Mal do it all. In essence, Mal was never truly a child. She's been an adult in a child's body for many years."

Mal wondered what the good doctor would say, or do if he knew just how true his words were just then.

"With this level of maturity, when Mal came into my care, she was very well aware that she had mental issues, and she was more than willing to talk them out, and work on getting herself into a position mentally where she could deal with it all. She admitted to me she knew there would be days where it would be too much to handle, and she was already experiencing days when her emotions shut down.

"Along with days where she didn't even talk to her foster parents because she physically and emotionally couldn't do it with her mind the state it was in. She's handled them all in her own way, as best she can." Dr. Marshall took another drink before looking back at the judge.

"Mal came to me knowing she had problems and was working on getting herself in a state to handle it. She also has skills that no one else her age has. She is an accomplished cook, she can budget properly, she can do laundry and mend clothing.

"Let me remind you that she came to me like this. I've dealt with patient's decades older and they can't do half of the things she can. I've seen patients that when they're forty, don't have the maturity that she has."

Dr. Marshall beckoned one of the guards and they came forward with a bag and handed it to Dr. Marshall. "One of the things she does to help herself is she turns to coping mechanisms. She found out years ago that reading, writing, and crafting all helped her."

He then began to pull things out of the bag. He held up a sketch that she drew, as well as the painted version. With the judge's permission, he read a story that she wrote and gave to him. He held up a toy that she crocheted for the baby one of his daughters was expecting. Lastly, he pulled out a quilt and a dress she made for him and his wife.

"As you can see, this girl has remarkable skill, and intelligence that on more than one occasion has stunned me." Dr. Marshall said as he put everything back in the back, giving to the guard before sitting again. He took a long drink of water this time, draining the cup before continuing.

"In my opinion, Mallory Bones is the exact opposite of what Dr. Thompson would have this court believe. She is dealing with her problems, she has coping mechanisms, skills, and talents that make my wife, a lifelong crafter herself, cry with envy, and swell with pride when she receives gifts.

"Mallory Bones is certainly competent and more aware of herself than an eighteen-year-old just starting college. College students wish they had her brains and knowledge. I'll even bet half of the adults in this country wish they had her knowledge. Yes, what Dr. Thompson has said in the past about her school grades were among the lowest is true. But let's examine that for a moment, shall we?"

The judge nodded, and Mal noticed Attorney Shaw writing furiously.

"Children from amused homes often score the lowest because of self-esteem issues. They are told day in and day out they are stupid, and they believe it, thus their scores match that. Added to that, in Mal's case, she was caring for herself and her mother. Mal simply didn't have the time to devote to her school learning. When compared, the school's lessons versus what she needed to learn to survive and cope at home were pointless. She didn't put in the effort into something she thought of as wasteful. As any child in that situation would do."

Dr. Marshall sighed before smiling. "It's come to my attention, and to the attention of this court, that Mal's school grades have swelled from well below average, to average. In such a short time as well. It's clear that her current environment allows her to feel safe enough to relax and learn what the rest of the children her age are learning.

"Again, as I said before, the exact opposite of what Dr. Thompson would have you believe. In my opinion, given that we've recently learned he is, in fact, a member of the community that tried to burn Mal at the stake, his previous testimonies are merely the community’s latest attempts at getting their hands on Mal.”

"Objection your honor!" Attorney Shaw said firmly as he stood. "Dr. Marshall is here to testify to the state of mind of the child in question and the two parents fighting for custody. It's unprofessional and out of his jurisdiction to lay suspicion on Dr. Thompson. Who, despite being a member of the community that committed the child in question a horrible wrong, had no part in, and certainly would never partake in."

"Sustained." Judge Rollins said looking back to Dr. Marshall. "Please stick to the topics you've been subscribed to Dr. Marshall."

"Yes, your honor." Dr. Marshall nodded.

Mal looked between the two, her eyes lingering on the judge. She saw anger in his mind. Not at Dr. Marshall, not at her, but at Lauren, Dr. Thompson, and the cult. She saw in his mind what he'd already decided to. Whatever weight, be it fear, or something else, that was inside of her, left, and she was calm again. Knowing the way this was going to go, Mal had to call on all of her occlumency skills to not smile.

"That covers the child in question." Dr. Marshall said, still mostly facing the judge. "That leaves us with the parents of the child in question. Following the court mandate as well as my therapy, I've spent time with both of them alone, and observed them interacting with Mal. The situation with the parents couldn't be more opposite.

"Darren Bones is an all-around good man. He's well-liked, has a steady job which he flourishes at. We've heard that he's an invaluable resource, and my conclusion has led me to believe the same. Such is his job that he can work anywhere, and only fly back to the local offices for the mandatory meetings. Because of his work, as well as his family inheritance, he on better finical standing than myself, or anyone else in this room to be honest. Mr. Bones has a stable mind that I rarely get to see in my line of work. The man doesn’t act without careful consideration over all of his options. He also doesn’t take too long to make the important decisions either.

"Proof of that is his reaction to learning that he had a daughter. Backtracking a moment, but on the same line. He's a beloved member of what little family he has left after a tragic accident that took his parents, brother, and sister in law from him. He has a sister and niece who are a part of his life, and he's gone out of his way in the past to help them, and they to him. This same sister and niece have written to Mal, and they are eager to be a part of her life. Her cousin writes to her constantly, and they've become good pen pals."

Mal didn't need to look at her mother to know Lauren was thinking she would put a stop to that once she got custody of Mal.

"As I said before, his reaction to learning about his daughter says it all. Darren dropped everything and came to America on the possibility that Mal was his child. From that moment, on a maybe, to this day in court after it was genetically proven, that man has not spent any time away from her any more than he has to.

"He's spent nearly every day with her, except for when he was called back to England for work. Even when we didn't know if she was his, he made sure she was being fed properly, that she had access to all of her medical needs, and she had supplies for her crafts that have become an intricate part of keeping her sane. He's boasted about her to anyone who will listen.

"Watching them interact together, was one of the most heartwarming things I've ever seen. From the moment he met her, genetically or not, she was his daughter, and he genuinely loved her as a father should. He was very attentive. When she didn't want to talk, he didn't force her, but rather let her take the lead. When she was excited about something, he listened. When she asked him questions, he answered honestly.

"He's very aware of her maturity level, and even though he wants to protect an innocent little girl, he knows she probably never was one. So he treats her questions as her intelligence deems fit while setting boundaries based on her age. Mal is the only twelve, almost thirteen-year-old that I know of, who accepted this without a fight."

Dr. Marshall took a deep breath and nodded. "From the moment he learned about her to this moment, Darren Bones has only had Mal's best interests at heart and cared deeply for her wellbeing. Upon the DNA results, he began his fight for custody of his daughter, but the results had no bearing on his feelings toward her, she was very much his daughter already."

The room fell quiet as Dr. Marshall was given a refill of his water, and the judge sat with his eyes closed, appearing as if he was absorbing what all was said. When Dr. Marshall had his wet throat again, the Judge opened his eyes.

"We've heard about the child in question, the father Darren Bones, now what of the mother, Lauren Talen?"

Dr. Marshalls scratched his beard before answering. "Well, for starters, you can already see where she stands on this position by her name alone. The fact that she changed her name back to her maiden name right after the divorce, but put down Mallory Bones on the birth certificate, says from day one she was disassociated with the child. Whether she was planning to use the child to get more money out of Mr. Bones, or if it was solely in an attempt to put some distance between herself and this child, is unknown to me. Regardless, from the first day, Lauren's actions said that this child wasn't her priority.

"Further proof comes from her repeated years of neglect. The fact that Mal was in the role of the caretaker before she was even ten, tells me that Lauren had as little to do with Mal, and their apartment, as possible, except perhaps to sleep there. This has been confirmed by may people.

"Both the witnesses against her character, as well as the witnesses for her character. The witnesses against put her wandering around town picking any man who smiled at her. The witnesses from her family and community all say she spent a lot of time with them and with their church. Not once was Mal included that or was Lauren mention to be a figure in Mal's life. Mal was most often alone, while Lauren was away.

"Yet even more proof comes from the findings of the police work and the PI that Darren Bones hired, all of the evidence has already been stated, I'm merely repeating it. When Lauren was around, she either ignored Mal, barked orders, or, as I was only recently made aware, forced Mal to take naked pictures and sell them to pedophiles. All of which have been submitted as evidence, I'm simply referring to it as regards to her character."

Mal's eyes widened as she gasped, she thought that wasn't going to be mentioned.

"I was forced!" Lauren immediately screeched in tears. "I was forced to take those! They were threatening my life! My daughter's life!"

"Order!" Judge Rollins called out. "Mr. Shaw, control your client!"

Attorney Shaw nodded as he and Dr. Thompson tried to control a now nearly hysterical Lauren. With her well in Dr. Thompson's arms, he stood tall and firm.

"Your honor, this piece of evidence has neither been mentioned to me nor was it ever stated before the court before! I either ask for a continuance to go over this evidence with my client to present a defense, or it be stricken from the record!"

Judge Rollins looked at Darren and his lawyer, Sandra Bellrock. "Ms. Bellrock, do you have the evidence in question?"

Attorney Bellrock, or Sandra, as Mal had been given permission to call her. "We have your honor, but we do not wish to submit it at this time. We feel the courts have been given ample enough evidence, and with Dr. Marshall's testimony, that you would see it's in the best interests for the child in question that my client be awarded full custody."

"So be it." Judge Rollins said with a smack of his hammer on the mallet. Whatever the technical terms Mal didn't know, and she didn't care. "There will be no continuations at this point, we proceed as agreed upon before."

No one missed the fact that Lauren sagged with relief and her eyes were dry seconds later. Mal also noticed that Attorney Shaw was relieved as well. Possession of child pornography was bad enough, producing it was even worse.

"Dr. Marshall, do you believe in Ms. Talen's defense that her state of mind was compromised?" Judge Rollins asked pointedly.

"It's not that easy." Dr. Marshall sighed. "Lauren Talen does show signs of an occult brainwashing. Likely the result of being raised in the community that she was. I would need more time to officially diagnose that, but from my preliminary findings, that appears to be the only mental affliction she has.

"Her various past lovers, her deliberate neglecting of her own child, as well as abandoning her daughter to be killed by the community that essentially kicked her out were all conscious and aware decisions. Now, the last one could be contributed to her being brainwashed, but I would need extra time to diagnose that, something which we do not have."

"Given that I just declared no continuations that would be a studious deduction." Judge Rollins glared and shook his head. "I intend to see this end today. Carry on."

Dr. Marshall nodded. "In comparison to Darren Bones, Lauren Talen is merely tolerated by all. She has no job anymore, whatever money she had was from Darren Bones alimony payments which ceased when it was discovered she hid his child from him. While he didn't ask for the money back, the courts did grant that he didn't need to pay alimony anymore. Lauren then spent all of the remaining money on new clothes for herself and expensive trinkets for herself, as well as the church from her home community. Not one penny went to the bills, rent on her apartment, or for Mal's needs. She didn't even offer any of it to Mal. And that was over a year and a half ago.

"She was since then kicked out of her apartment due to six months back rent. When they saw the state of disarray and filth she left behind, no other place would rent to her. Her financial situation dictated she couldn't buy a house either. Despite the court's help, Ms. Talen never even bothered to get a job to support herself. She moved in with various boyfriends until Dr. Thompson took her in."

Dr. Marshall took another long drink before looking back at the judge. "Like with Mr. Bones, I observed Mal and Ms. Talen's interactions with each other. Mal was at first, willing to try, but when Lauren started to issue threats and making impossible demands, Mal was civil, but all road to physical contact, and eventually making amends were shattered.

"Mal got progressively more and more silent and withdrawn when Lauren began to complain about the lack of men in her life. She blamed Mal for getting kicked out of the apartment because Mal wasn't there to care for it. She blamed Mal for her lack of money because it was Mal’s “stunt”, as she coined the cults attempted murder of her daughter, that got the courts involved with things that weren’t their business.” Dr. Marshall nodded.

"In conclusion, it is my professional opinion, that Lauren Talen is not fit, or even willing to care for herself, much less her daughter. If she isn't as brainwashed as I suspect, she will merely go back to the way things were before, only this time things will be much worse for Mal. If she is brainwashed as I suspect, then Mal's very life is in danger should she be placed with Lauren Talen.

"My opinion is that Darren Bones should be awarded full custody if the foster parents aren't willing to adopt."

Mal expected fury to reign, but silence greeted the room for several minutes after Dr. Marshall's statement.

"Thank you, Dr. Marshall, you may step down." Judge Rollins said turning to face the room himself. "I call for a five-minute recess, when I return, I will deliberate what is best for the child and give my answer."

While the judge left the room, everyone else remained. Dr. Marshall collected his bag of items from the guard, hugged Mal, but had to leave to go visit his daughter who'd been in labor since that morning. Mal understood and wished him luck. She knew there were many faces here she'd never see again after this day. Dr. Marshall was one of them.

She looked over at Lauren and the two men with her. Attorney Shaw as stunned by items Dr. Marshall showed. He didn't believe that Mal could have done all of that, but he'd witnessed some of the therapy sessions and new she had the potential. He was suddenly hoping, Mal looked away with that. She didn't want to know what he was hoping.

Lauren and Dr. Thompson weren't able to think straight. No one in the cult knew that she had that talent. Dr. Thompson was now making arguments in his head about keeping her alive and forcing her to make more so the cult could sell it recover the funds that were severely depleted because of all of the fines and lawyer fees.

Mal saw in his mind he was the therapist that was called in to testify to the cult's members state of minds if they were arrested. He was well paid, and while he didn't believe in witches or Mal being burned at the stake, he did believe as the cult did. He didn't want to be with Lauren, he wanted, Mal looked away then too. She didn't need to know more.

Lauren and Dr. Thompson were desperately talking to Attorney Shaw, while Darren and his Attorney, were speaking calmly.

Lauren and Dr. Thompson wanted Attorney Shaw to do something, say something. They were beginning rethink all of the work that Dr. Thompson and the community did to paint Lauren as the victim and a good person. There was nothing Attorney Shaw could do. There was no jury to bribe, there was no way to rig this system. The Judge's final ruling was just that, final. It could never be overturned.

Which is what Lauren and the community asked for when they changed the stipulation of the custody battle and asked for this layout. One judge, one final decision. While Darren may have the funds to keep trying this case over and over, the community and Lauren did not. From what Mal understood, the once multimillion funds available to the community were now down to a meager few thousand.

From what Mal gleamed from Darren and Attorney Bellrock, they were sure Dr. Marshall's testimony just turned the judge in their favor.

Mal fought the smile that threatened to break free. She knew a secret and knew this Judge had been in their corner before he even set foot in the room. It was just a matter of laying all of the facts bare and making a ruling as the law dictated.

Judge Rollins came back in without a word and took his seat, he closed all of the files, folding his hands on top of them once they were in neat piled and looked over the room.

"I have reached a decision, but before I say it, I have one final thing I feel I must do." He looked right at Mal. "Mallory Bones, will you come here please."

Mal stood and walked up until she was facing the judge. He looked her over and smiled a bit.

"Not exactly an outfit for a twelve-year-old."

"Almost thirteen." Mal said with a smile.

The Judge nodded. "Forgive my lapse in memory." He took a breath and met her eyes again. "Tell me, in the past two years, despite all of the stalking, and kidnapping attempts, and what have you, how have you been fairing since away from your mother?"

Mal decided to answer this honestly, without looking into his mind to get the words to answer he wanted.

"To be honest, relieved." She took a breath and smiled sincerely. "For the first time, I've been able to get up in the morning when my body naturally wakes me up. Not because of some alarm saying that I needed to get up, get the coffee brewing, or a hangover cure, and have a large breakfast waiting in the oven on warm for when mom got home or got up, and still make it to school on time.

"For the first time, I was allowed to read books without them being ripped away from me and burned right in front of me. Same with any toys I wanted." Mal grinned remembering the plushie Heartless that Angie and John got her for their first Christmas. “For the first time, I didn’t have to cook if I didn’t want to. I didn’t have to do all of the chores.”

Real tears started to flow to Mal's eyes and her voice cracked as she spoke. The emotions of this life came crashing down upon her, and she thought this was the time that it was alright to show them. She sniffed before she started again. "When I was sick, I didn't have to crawl out of bed to go get some medicine and ask strangers for help so I could find the right ones, before going back home alone to take care of myself. I didn't have to take care of Angie or John; they took care of me."

She heard sniffling and open sobbing behind her to her right. She knew that Attorney Bellrock and Angie were openly sobbing while Darren was trying to fight his tears. John, the occlumency master, show no emotion, but he would cry later.

"I've been happier these two years, despite all of the bad, than I ever have been before." Mal said honestly to the judge. She looked up at him a fresh tear fell and her lower lip trembled in an attempt to keep the flood of tears threatening to escape at bay.

Judge Rollins closed his eyes again for a long moment before looking to Mal's right. "I take the foster parents still wish to refuse adoption?"

John was the one who stood and spoke. "Yes, your honor, while Angie and I have managed so far, we don't have the structure in place to care for Mal long term. Were it not for the outside help that we received, we never could have cared for Mal for as long as we did. While we've enjoyed taking care of her, and would do it all over again, we agree wholeheartedly that Mal belongs with her father. We were good for her and good to her, but Darren Bones is what she needs to be able to flourish into a bright and bold young woman we all know she can be."

With that, John sat down again, and all eyes returned to the judge. He was grinned and nodded. "I completely agree with that last statement of yours." He looked toward Mal, speaking to her as he said he final peace. "Since the foster parents deny the chance to take the child in question on a more permanent basis, I'm left with due course of awarding custody to one of the parents." There was no long pause, as the judge immediately continued from there. "It is with great happiness that I revoke Lauren Talen's custody rights forevermore on the soil of the United States, and approve full custody to Darren Bones." He nodded at Mal. "Have fun in England young lady."

Shouts for joy were had from the entire right side of the room as Mal burst into tears and ran for her father. He hugged her tightly and kissed her head, promising she would never have to come back here again if she didn't want to.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Bones, when's the big move?" Judge Rollins asked.

"Earliest flight out the beginning of next week." Darren grinned as he answered.

Mal looked toward the judge, and realized, this wasn't his question, it was an Auror who placed a compulsion charm on the curiosity the judge had. Professionalism would have prevented Judge Rollins from asking normally.

This was part of the show, it was a piece of misdirection for the cult. All of the magical people, or in the know, knew it.

As he rode back with Mal to the house where she had been staying, she grinned at him. "So, how are we actually getting back to England?"

He chuckled. "Legimens or vision?"

"Bit of both." She laughed.

"Don't you already know then?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I can't see everything, dad."

He grinned. "That's probably for the best." His grin grew wider then, "We're going back via a cruise ship. A friend of mine at work,"

"You mean your boss," Mal corrected.

Darren just chuckled as he continued, "booked us pass on a cruise ship. We've got an entire suite to ourselves. It was booked for a family of six, so I could bring the family along for the journey. Unfortunately, complications have arisen in magical Britain, and Aunt Amelia can't come with us. She'll meet us at the MACUSA, as she's eager to see you in person again, and she'll be dropping off Susan. From there she has to go back to work."

"I understand." Mal said as she looked out the window at the house she would be leaving today. "Chasing after an escaped convict takes priority for the safety of the people. It's her job, and I'd be disappointed if she approached the situation any other way.

Darren looked at her shocked for a moment before smiling remorsefully and shaking his head. "Guess that answers my question."

"About how much my previous lives I remember?" She asked him.

He nodded.

"All of them." She said softly. Then she smiled. "I know you're worried, but don't be. There will be things happening soon, and I can't explain all of them, but I will explain what I can."

"Because of the Legimens in Britain?" He asked.

She nodded.

"If it helps," He raised his arm and pulled back the sleeve, on his arm was a series of runes. "I had the Department of Mysteries do this for me. A friend of my parents owed the family a favor. No Legimens can get into certain places in my mind. I can do occlumency. I never told Amelia this, but I can.”

Mal grinned. "That will make my future a lot easier, and a lot less stressful."

Inside, using magic, Angie and John shrunk everything down and put it into two compartment trunks before shrinking it and handing it to Mal. Hugs were exchanged, and kisses all around.

"Will I ever see you again?" Mal asked softly. Looking and feeling every bit the child, she was at the moment.

John and Angie shared a look before looking back at Mal.

"We've been called on another mission." John answered honestly.

"How dangerous?" Mal asked fearfully.

"Extremely." John sighed.

"It's deep undercover." Angie sniffed back tears. "As much as we want to, we can't have any contact with you."

"For how long?" Mal asked as tears of her own were formed.

John shook his head. "The last two agents that went in were never found."

"Why you!?" Mal demanded. "You're both amazing! Why you!?"

"That's why." Angie said softly. "Because we did so well this undercover operation, the Prime Minister offered us this job, and we decided to take it."

Mal cried and hugged them both very hard. They had been her teachers, her friends. Although she, the soul, hadn't spent a day with them, she had the memories and emotions of having lived there for two years. So, she pushed aside the different soul aspect. She'd spent two years with them. They were family.

As she hugged them tightly, she knew she was never going to see them again. These were no mere Aurors, these were angels. On assignment to care for the body until Mal's soul was placed in it and she left the American shores forever. She looked up at them with renewed understanding. They were among those who were claimed by this mission in the MACUSA's Auror force, but their deaths would pave the way for another team to succeed at last.

Mal shook her head. Life could be so cruel.

With waves and tears goodbye, Mal and Darren loaded up into the car and drove to the local MACUSA headquarters. In the parking garage, they abandoned the car and went inside. Waiting inside, was the Prime Minister. Upon seeing Mal, she grinned and rushed forward, enveloping Mal in a hug.

"Welcome to the Magical World Mallory Bones." She beamed happily when she pulled back. "And may I be the first to congratulate you on your new family, daughter the Ancient and Noble House of Bones."

"Thank you, ma'am." Mal said as she bowed her head in respect for a few moments.

The Prime Minister grinned more before looking at Darren, "The communications mirror is waiting for you over there," she pointed in its direction. "Once you've finished, you and your daughter will be portkeying to my Penthouse suite at The Mark Hotel in New York City for the next week. The day your cruise sets sail, you'll portkey back here, and then another portkey will take you a secured location near the docks. You will have a round the clock Auror guard until you leave on that day, you both will be safe while on American soil, I swear it."

"Thank you, Prime Minister." Darren nodded before heading to the mirror.

Once activated, Mal saw a very beautiful woman with short red hair look back at Darren anxiously. "Darren! Thank Merlin! How did it go?"

"We won!" Darren said with a grin.

Amelia squealed with delight as she clapped her hands. "Is she there!? Can I see her!?"

Mal stepped forward and smiled. "Hello, Aunt Ami!"

TLCW

Amelia Bones, stoic, stern, professional woman, burst into tears as the sight of her niece smiling brightly back at her.

"Oh, Mal! Oh, you're so beautiful!" She gushed as she touched the mirror, "Oh I can't wait to see you so I hug you again!"

Her heart broke to see the tears forming in Mal's eyes. "Me too Aunt Ami! Me too!" Mal wiped her eyes before looking back at Darren then back to Amelia. "We're going into protective custody right now. Please let Susan know what happened and I'm excited to see her again!"

"Will do!" Amelia promised wholeheartedly. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Are you still planning to come back the day before Darren?"

"Yes." Darren said firmly. "I would like to have decent travel luggage for the cruise and make sure the house is all set up before I leave. I'll need your magic to help with that."

"I'm more than willing and able. If we haven't got Black by then, the troops can handle things for a few hours without me." Amelia promised. She looked at Mal. "Will you be alright by yourself for one night sweetie?"

Mal nodded. "I've been left alone for longer Aunt Ami, one night won't kill me."

Amelia nodded. She wanted to throttle the muggle bitch who hurt her precious niece. "Then I'll see you both in a week. If you'll excuse me, I need to go inform our Ministry about today's results. Love you both!"

"Love you too!" Darren and Mal shouted back.

Amelia sat back and sighed. They did. Mal was rescued, and she was coming home. Amelia went to the flu, threw a pinch of powder in, and knelt down, "Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge!"

"Amelia!" Fudge gasped as her head appeared in his fireplace, he jumped up from his desk and came around to her. "Well come through lass! Come through!"

Amelia withdrew her head, sighed in preparation then stepped through the green flames into the even greener office of the Minister of Magic.

"Well!?" Fudge demanded when she out of the flames. "How did it go!? It better be good news because the press is waiting!"

Amelia bit her tongue for a moment then smiled at Fudge. "We won; she's coming home."

"Yes!" Fudge exclaimed as he did a little dance, spinning around one foot while waving his hands. Even Amelia couldn't help but laugh. "Come!" He said clapping his hands once he was finished. "We must spread the good word!"

Outside, it was clear how much interest this new development had generated. The hall was packed from front to pack. Not all of them reporters either. Immediately questions were launched, and as Amelia and Fudge stood side by side, he raised his hand and a hush came over the crowd.

"Today!" Fudge began with a bright smile. "Today we woke with the fear of an escaped convict on the front of our minds, but tonight, I would like to send you to bed with happier news! I've just been told that our campaign to rescue the Bones daughter form the muggle clutches of America, was a resounding success!"

Bedlam broke as the cheers radiated from all over. Questions were launched immediately, too many at once to make out. Fudge raised his hand again, and silence was given after a few moments.

"I am not in a position to answer all of your questions, I'm afraid." He admitted with a soft smile, "But our head of the DMLE and Head of House for the Ancient and Noble House of Bones is. I will give the stand to Madame Amelia Bones!"

Clapping and more cheers were heard as Amelia took the podium. She took a breath and waited for the silence to return. "If you all will raise your hands, and ask once at a time, I will answer what questions I can. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time, what with the homecoming preparations and the escaped convict still on our hands. But I will do what I can to ease to curiosity."

Hands were raised, and Amelia pointed to one at random. "Your niece was in the custody of muggles, how is it that this happened to a member of the Ancient and Noble House of Bones? Do we need to fear that muggles will come into our homes and steal our children?"

"Certainly not!" Amelia scolded. "Need I remind you we have wards that prevent that." When the report was thoroughly rebuked for her last question and looked embarrassed, Amelia continued. "It so happens that my brother is a squib, though this is already known. What isn't known, is that he works in Muggle London to make his living as the Magical Community holds no source of income for him.

"While working with his muggle company, he traveled to America. There he met a beautiful muggle woman and fell in love. They married quickly, but things turned sour when it was revealed she was what the muggles call a religious fanatic. They worship a phantasm God, and they kill witches and wizards in the name of this God. He left before she found out about myself and my ward Susan Bones, currently at Hogwarts completing her second year.

"While she accepted his leaving, provided he paid her a monetary sum each month, she kept the fact that she was pregnant with his child hidden from him. When Mallory began to show signs of accidental magic, this cult, I'm told, reacted violently. When she received her letter to attend Ilvermorning, her mother and this cult tried to burn her at the stake for being a witch."

This part hadn't been told before, and it shocked the magicals to their very core. Such horrors hadn't been seen in centuries, and the fact that a child lived through it terrified them.

"Due to the muggle involvement and the sheer number of them, the MACUSA couldn't simply go in and obliviate them all to claim one child. When notified of her existence, I and my brother worked tirelessly to claim her back through the muggle method so as to not break the Statute of Secrecy." Amelia sighed. "It was a long process, but we've reached the successful conclusion this afternoon. Mallory and my brother are now in the MACUSA's protective custody, and they will be making their way here within the week, and will be on British soil within a month."

Hands rose again, and Amelia pointed to another random one, deliberately avoiding gossip-mongering scandal queen Skeeter.

"You said they'd leave the MACUSA within the week and be on British soil within a month, why so long? Surely it would be a lot fast, and safer to deliver the Bones daughter and your brother back home today?"

"An excellent question." Amelia smiled. "We originally planned for myself, my niece Susan, my brother, and my niece Mallory to sail back to Britain on what the muggles call a cruise ship. My brother has lived a lot of his life as a muggle and wishes to show his daughter that not all of the muggle world is a terrible place. The journey also provided with close quarters, would allow us to spend time together to bond and get to know one another. This would enable us to get Mallory comfortable with us before settling back down in Britain. Remember, she's just a twelve-year-old girl coming into what is essentially a different world with total strangers. It's a lot to take in, and we'd hope to ease her into it."

"Why the change of plans then?" The same reporter asked before she could move on.

"Because with the escape of Sirius Black, I am duty-bound to remain at my post until he is found." Amelia said, careful on how she phrased her words there. There was magic in words. "I may leave my post for a few hours in a week's time to see my family safely off on their journey, but I will be back to do my job before dinner."

The relief that gripped the crowd was palpable. Amelia took pride in the fact that the wizarding public at least had faith that she would keep them safe. To keep a riot of questions from raining out again, Amelia pointed to another reporter.

"Earlier today, I had the pleasure of seeing your niece in person. Tomorrow's Prophet will have the pictures. When I asked what she hoped the outcome would be, she said she wanted to go home with her father." The reporter said with a warm grin. "Rumors around the MACUSA is that your niece is a very gifted and powerful witch. Can you shed some truth on the rumor that she might be a seer?"

Amelia balked at the question. "I'm, well, I've not been told if she is a seer or not. I've been told she's shown promise with Divination, but that's it."

The reported stepped forward with a smile still on his face. "The test scores show your niece's magical studies as being average, and this was paired with a wand that wasn't fit for her. Speculation is that once she's fitted with a proper wand, she'll be the brightest witch of her age. Further, her little quote to me, spoke a little of foreknowledge, can you really not confirm or deny that she is at least a partial seer?”

Amelia frowned. "I haven't had the privilege of getting to know my niece or the full extent of her magical abilities. While I was aware of her magical education and the thoughts behind her scores, I can't confirm or deny this seer rumor. I guess that's something we'll all learn once she's home."

The reported nodded satisfied and stepped back at last.

"Madame Director!" Skeeter's voice rang out.

There was no way to deny the woman forever, so Amelia turned to her, glaring a little.

"Another of the rumors coming from the MACUSA is that the Bones daughter has slight metamorphmagus abilities." Skeeter grinned. "Are we really to believe that a squib child of the Bones family gave way to create a child carrying a trait that is known only to exist in the Black family? In fact, one of its current daughters is a full metamorphmagus and used to work in your department until earlier today. Is this Mallory Bones actually your love child with your previous fiancé, current escaped convict Sirius Black? And you sent her abroad to protect her from her father's insanity? Would bringing her back here actually be the right thing to do?"

Amelia stared at Skeeter with a blank expression. Mostly it was from the shock rather than any skill at occlumency that she may possess. Inside, however, she was horrified and furious at the accusations this bitch was spewing out of shithole that she called a mouth. Who would ever wear lime green lipstick!?

"I can assure you; I have never had the pleasure of carrying my own child, Ms. Skeeter." Amelia glared at her. "If you don't believe me, I'll confess to it under Veritaserum, or you can get a Healer here to scan me and they'll tell you.

"As for Mallory's metamorphing abilities, it's not uncommon for Pureblood Families to have common ancestors. While our cross with the Black family was centuries back, the blood still flows in our veins. It's also, not uncommon for magical traits to show up in later generations after not being seen for years. Such as the case with families who've squibbed out, only to have what we thought was a muggleborn proven to be the heir to the family."

Skeeter glared herself now. Amelia had no doubt she'd still write that outlandish article or something similar therein, but at least Amelia's quick response and all of the other current reporters knew the truth, and not what Skeeter was trying to sell. Had Amelia been reluctant to answer, who knows the damage Skeeter's article would have done to the public.

Amelia ended the interview after answering several more questions. Another tactic to allow the public to forget Skeeter's outlandish questions. Amelia bid the crowd farewell and returned to her office to work.

TLCW

That day, both Ministries celebrated, and the ICW breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't have to get involved after all.

The Daily Prophet had a field day with the news. For the first time since it happened, and for the first time ever for those who lived this event more than once, the news was turned away from Sirius Black, and for the better. For the first time, the escaped convict was completely forgotten. There were no articles about possible sightings, wild theories, or interviews with people who used to know Sirius from his school and Auror days.

The Daily Prophet was completely plaster with the story about Mallory Bones. The daughter born the Ancient and Noble family through the squib son. The stories featured what she endured during her life so far, all of it coming from the MACUSA's already gathered evidence.

Skeeter did write that article based on the questions she asked Amelia, but when she learned about Lauren's photography, she went with the inspiration from that. She wanted to paint this little girl as a scandal from day one. There was far too much good press for her, it was time for some bad. So Rita wrote an article damning Mallory for posing nude for money.

Thankfully, the editor for the Prophet scrapped the story quickly and wouldn't let Skeeter go without an unbreakable vow that she would never try to go after that story again. Or go after Amelia Bones in retaliation for this rejection. It was a furious Skeeter that stormed out of the editor's office after several minutes of shouting and screeching before and after the vow was made.

That was made public in the Daily Prophet as well. Skeeter, who was with the other reporters, found that piece of information among the stack they'd been given by the Ministry. She didn't look further and just ran with the idea that the child posed willingly for the pictures. Rather than print the article that Skeeter wanted to, they printed an article about what Skeeter attempted to do and what punishment she suffered as a result.

However, an article was still printed featuring that information as it was a part of the abuse she suffered in the past. The reporter made sure to point out that Mal was forced to by her mother or Mal wouldn't be allowed out of her room until she did. Which meant she was denied access to the bathroom, food, and drink. The Reporter assured the Wizarding public that the MACUSA scrounged up all of the demeaning photos and the Prime Minister herself, destroyed the offending images.

In the end, Skeeter had fallen from favor faster than anything Mal or Ares could come up with. What made it all the better, it was all by her own doing.

Mal read the articles in the penthouse suite as she got used to drinking tea. She'd never been one for tea before, but while her body and tastes were still changing, she decided to get used to it. She was pleased that Sirius was now able to lay low. But she had a feeling he was well looked after, wherever he was. Coming to the conclusion he was most likely with Remus and Nym.

During her week in New York City, she stayed in the suite with her father. She couldn't talk about her other lives with him, but she was able to write some things before they burned the paper. They mostly talked about her excitement with learning magic and her eagerness for her own wand. Her anticipation about being with Susan again, and looking forward to going to school with her.

Mal never mentioned Hogwarts, because she knew that her father didn't want her going there. But she knew in the end, he wouldn't have a choice. As much that would hurt him, she hoped he'd understand when the time came.

When she wasn't talking with her father, getting to know the current him, she was being escorted around magical community in New York City, as well as being taken shopping in muggle New York City. Having never been in any of her lives, it was a sight to behold.

She was initially worried in both communities that she wouldn't find clothes that would fit her, knowing all the growing she still had to do. However, the Prime Minister escorted Mal herself, along with the protective detail of Aurors, each and every time.

Mal got items for her sailing days. Art supplies, books for reading, journals for writing, and a hefty supply of pens that would hopefully last the summer.

The fact that Mal was worried a hundred pens wouldn't last the summer really confused the Aurors. Surely that much would be enough to last a year. Then those same Aurors found she'd filled three journals in under a week and used up seven pens while doing it. They understood then but still thought her fears were invalid as a hundred would more than last.

Mal also shopped for clothes with the Prime Minister is both magical and muggle New York. Both times she was taken to an exclusive tailor. On the magical side, a tailor who was of British origin and was drooling at the chance to dress Mal. Magic resized the clothes as needed, and she found herself in the shop with the best fabrics and the latest designs.

By the time D day came, Mal was outfitted, prepped, and ready. She was also exhausted. The Prime Minister was positively bursting at the seams with energy. Mal couldn't tell if she was genuinely like this, for if there was a motive underneath it all. But one thing was clear to Mal, she was never going to meet her again. So Mal made sure to express her thanks over and over whenever she was with the Prime Minister.

Not for the first time, Mal wondered how Ares's days were going. Were they as illuminating as hers had been? Were they at least good days? She missed him. She missed having him around. When she wasn't busy being dragged around or bonding with her father, her thoughts always went back to him.

It had such a profound effect on her mood that even her father noticed that something was bothering her. Mal could hardly tell him that she was thinking about a boy she'd never met but she was essentially already married to at twelve! This version of her father was protective, and despite knowing she had the mind of an adult, he was determined to give her a proper childhood. Mal had no complaints, she hoped most of her coming days would be a proper childhood. One thing her and Ares promised was they would enjoy the childhood they'd been given.

When D day came, she was very excited. Because this was a step towards getting to England, where Ares was. She looked forward to seeing him and his reaction to her new hair that she left the smoky lavender. She was resolved, no matter what her father said or did, she was going to give him a great big kiss, or snog him senseless as the case may be.

The image of her blissful reunion sparking a vein protruding in her father's forehead was so hilarious she had to laugh. It amused her Auror guard greatly. They simply chucked it up to her being ready to go home, and let her enjoy her thoughts and dreams.

"Soon." She whispered, deep in her mindscape as she laid back in Ursula's lair, watching a memory with Ares. "Soon."