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Chapter Text

Tim Drake was a liar.

Well in his line of work he had to be. He was also a pretty damn good liar at that as well, not many can lie to Batman and get away with it. Consistently.

But this lie was more than just your typical," No, I didn't eat the last of your waffles Stephanie. Please don't chuck my coffee away." Though Tim would argue that was just as bad and a voice, distinctly like Hermione's would agree with him, and Cedric, the elder Hufflepuff and in many ways his brother, would stare at him horrified at the amount of caffeine he put into his body. It wasn't even that much!

Well, to tell the truth, the school Tim disappeared to for most of the year, wasn't actually a School for Talented Youngsters, well it was in a sense, but not the way Tim had said it was. It was a school for magic in England.

And Tim had been going there for years. 6 to be precise.

His mother had told him at an early age that Jack was not in fact his father. Tim put it together when he noticed the significant differences between him and Jack. He had clearly inherited his shaggy mop of hair from his father.

No, what had kind of told Tim he was in some way able to use magic, was the fact he could change his hair color based on his emotions, and baby Tim had looked at his mother in confusion and she smiled brightly at him and cuddled him close that night, which was more often when she was home, as Jack had kept taking her on trips around the world leaving Tim alone and sad.

His mother, on cold nights, would wrap them together somewhere in Drake Manor and would tell him stories about his Father, Sirius, and the wizarding world that she had come from. He was supposedly a drunken mistake between two adults who wanted some comfort on a lonely night. That being said three weeks later staring down at a pregnancy test with Sirius they both didn't know what to do but too raise the baby. Then Sirius had been sent to Azkaban a year after Timothy had been born.

She had married Jack out of necessity, not love. As she had been near homeless and needed to help Timothy and herself. So when she proposed to Jack that they get married, he agreed, but Timothy's name had to be changed. To Timothy Jackson Drake. Janet had agreed through gritted teeth telling herself it was for Timothy.

At the age of 11 Tim had received an acceptance letter to Hogwarts and his mother had urged him to go, as it would change his life in the best of ways, and to get away from Jack's abuse.

Tim had been sorted into Hufflepuff, just like his mother had been.

His real family had become more involved in his life as he grew up, but due to the situation had been kinder to Timothy seeing as he was the only true heir to House Black, and taught him all he needed to survive in the Wizarding World. Which included access to the best library Tim had ever laid eyes on in his humble opinion.

So when Tim attended Hogwarts he had attended under his birth name, which had surprised all the students and Tim had blushed at the attention and whispers directed in his direction, and these had intensified as his hair had gone a light pink, indicating that he was shy.

As Tim quickly shuffled off the clapping and cheering students clad in black and yellow robes he sat down nervously glancing around, and he looked to his right to see a kind and happy face look down at him. The older was Cedric Diggory and he had become an older brother to Tim, an older brother he deserved, a million times better than Dick or Jason had or could ever be.

Many of the kids Tim had talked to on the train had been sorted into Gryffindor, but he had gotten a few of his friends sorted into Hufflepuff as well, like Hannah and Susan, much to his relief.

Over the years Tim had come more an more out of his shy and nervous shell, and had become known for sticking up for and defending younger years who were being bullied or did the same when some people, mainly a select few Slytherins, had called his friend a Mudblood.

But now seeing his so called family look at his actual father and his friends with great distaste, Tim sighed so heavily already done with this situation and pinched his nose in preparation for the clusterfuck of a conversation this was going to be.

Hoo boy.

Chapter Text

Tim opened the door to the rooftop, knowing that there were two of his families standing opposed against one another.

This probably wouldn't end well.

Bruce would probably lock him up in Wayne Manor for the foreseeable future, Dick would give him a disappointed look, Babs short words and sentences relaying her distrust, Damian would sneer and insult him, Jason would mock him, Cass would silently reject him, Stephanie would break-up with him, and he didn't know which of these were worse, he did, he couldn't stand it if Stephanie essentially ripped out his heart and then stood on it and shunned him.

He wasn't worried about Alfred, as he had been the one to sign off on his Hogsmeade letter in his Third Year, and he wrote back to him weekly to inform him of his adventures and his friends antics throughout the year. Alfred really was the best of them, and had accepted him without a second glance.

Now the obvious thing to do would be to side with them, but they didn't know everything about him truly.

On the other side was his biological father, Sirius Black, the one who up until a few years ago been locked up, wrongfully, for the murder of Peter Pettigrew. A man who in such a short time had been more of a father in 3 short years than Bruce had been in the 5 he had known the man, and the 3 he was legally adopted in his care, a man who had taught him how to shift into a Scottish Deerhound such as himself.

Then there were the two Weasley twins with identical innocent looks on their faces which meant anything but innocence. There was a third Weasley in attendance and one of Tim's best friends, Ron, who despite popular belief was a fierce friend and brave when he had to be.

Taking another glance Tim saw his, kinda, older brother, Cedric Diggory, and while Tim was furious at Harry having to face Voldermort on his own, he was happy that Cedric was alive and hadn't gotten to the cup just before Harry had. After that day Tim swore to protect Cedric and ignored the slightly elevated looks of the people around him as they were probably looking at his hair changing color vigorously.

Finally, his eyes landed on the last two of his friends who had apparently gotten together the last time he had seen them, judging by the hand holding that was more similar to the way he held Stephanie's hand. Huh, weird.

Harry and Hermione. Arguably his two closest friends.

Kon, Cassie and Bart would loudly disagree. Rightfully so too.

The boy who lived was showing much more of his naturally gained height and muscle, Tim was not jealous that he was now the shortest, and Hermione was poised with such determination and bravery that could only be possessed by a Gryffindor. Tim admired her for it, especially against someone like Batman.

As Tim finally took a decisive step onto the rooftop, clearly in his civilian gear for everyone to see, aaand yep Bruce's eye slits narrowing. Ah, the usual treatment he got in recent years.

"-Who the fuck are you?" Tim heard Jason or Red Hood finish before everyone acknowledged him.

"I thought I told you guys not to come to Gotham?" Tim drily questioned his friends and family.

At some of the Batfamily's victorious smiles or grunts, Tim realized this was going to be a rather rude awakening for them, but oh well, it was going to happen sooner or later.

Suddenly Tim was being pulled into a massive group hug and instead of what the Bats expected him to do, break out of it because Tim didn't like to be smothered, he melted into it and breathed out an airy laugh, and to anyone who weren't affected by Tim's charmed watch they could see his hair color had gone yellow clearly showing that he was in fact happy.

At the rather unsubtle, "Ahem" that Stephanie or Batgirl in this case, and Tim's hair changed to a bright red showing despite his growth in confidence Tim was still a shy baby.

"So, um, you know these people Mr. Drake-Wayne?" Nightwing questioned Tim as if he didn't know who he was.

"First of all, it's..." Tim trailed off looking between his two families, the concealed but still visible shock and confusion on the Bats' faces, or the encouraging grins and winks his Hogwarts family were giving him,"... It's Black. Timothy Leonis Phoenix Black." Tim confirmed confidently much to Sirius' approval as his war worn face broke into a warm and welcoming smile," And secondly, they know who I am Dick." The Bats stiffened at Tim's use of Dick's name, but Fred and George laughed.

"That's your name!" Fred squealed excitedly.

"We thought Timmy was just calling you a dick, but that's even better!" George similarly squealed at the now blushing and embarrassed Nightwing or Dick Grayson.

A couple of snorts and coughs followed from both sides, some not masking their amusement, Ron, Steph and Jason, and others trying but failing to mask it, Tim, Hermione, Cedric and Sirius. The only four not to laugh or be embarrassed were Cass, Damian, Bruce and Harry, who were still staring off against one another.

"So..." Cedric awkwardly trailed off.

"How do you know my son?" Batman growled. Tim almost rolled his eyes at the man's claim to be his father.

"Your son? He is my son." Sirius shot back at the well known vigilante.

"His father was murdered 3 years ago and I am his legal guardian." Bruce mocked the wizard.

"And yet you know nothing about him." Sirius mocked Batman.

"Before you two go into a pissing contest can we please clear what the fuck is going on here?" Red Hood drawled out.

"Yeah, because some of us, have no clue what's going on." Stephanie added.

At that everyone's attention focused on Tim again hoping for some sort of answer.

Tim rolled his eyes at them, and took off his charmed watch which disguised his appearance to muggles. As he did so there was no immediate change to his appearance but as he noticed their pointed stares his hair color took on a pale red to indicate that he was in fact embarrassed.

"What the fu-" Jason got cut off.

"I'm a wizard." Tim raised his hand to stop the onslaught of questions thrust in his direction," Alfred knows and is the only one of you I told. These are my friends and family. Sirius Black here is my real Father but was in a Wizarding Prison for being framed for a crime he didn't commit. I am a metamorphmagus which means I can change my appearance for how I want to appear, the most common of these ways is my hair color, it changes based on my emotions." Tim explained thoroughly.

"So Timbo, whose the person who gets the bright pink and baby yellow?" Fred and George waggled their eyebrows to which Tim's hair changed a pale red again.

"Um." Tim blushed and looked at Stephanie and his hair immediately turned to a bright pink indicating love, to which Fred and George mockingly cooed and aww'ed, while others genuinely cooed at him, while Stephanie looked confused, but generally got what it meant and blushed herself when Cass elbowed her playfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet the woman who turned my boy into a man." Sirius walked over to the blushing blonde and kissed her hand, to which Tim's eye twitched at his father's charm that never failed him, but as his words took affect Tim blushed a bright red albeit with a small smile adorned on his face.

"You lied to me." Tim jumped, and he cursed himself for it, at Bruce's deep rumble that came from behind him.

"in a way yes I did." Tim uttered out.

"You lied about who you were. Your a meta, and I don't let meta's in my city, so you can leave." He growled at Tim who went still with shock, seen by Tim's hair changing to white.

Damian's smug smile, Dick's disappointed look, Jason's silent disapproval of Bruce's choices but didn't voice them made Tim want to bust down in tears as they left him on the rooftop.

As he did he was put in an embrace, not from his wizarding family, but the two people he was arguably closest too in the Bats, Stephanie and Cass.

"Don't cry little brother." Cass repeated in a mantra while stroking his hair to soothe him, while Stephanie took to wiping the tears falling from his eyes while whispering sweet nothings to him and every now and then would kiss his cheeks and got a taste of salt from the tears.

Soon he was wrapped in more arms and whispered words of comfort.

Seemingly after a significant amount of time Tim rose to his feet feeling more composed before turning to his dad, "Can we go home please?" Tim shakily asked.

"Of course my little pup." Sirius replied immediately.

"Tim, wait!" Stephanie exclaimed rushing back over to him.

"Yeah?" Tim's voice broke.

"Can I- Can I come with you?"

"Ahem?"

"Can we come with you?" Stephanie amended at Cass' reprimand.

"I don't know. Can they come with us to House of Black?" Tim asked his father.

"I don't see why not." Sirius shrugged in response.

"Um, cool. Thanks dad." Tim smiled at his father.

"We're going to apparate back the Manor." Tim said awkwardly as the two girls looked at each other confusedly.

"What does that mean?" Stephanie asked.

"Teleportation." Fred and George replied brightly.

"Oh." Steph blinked, then brightened," Awesome, let's go." She cheered with a bright smile as her blonde locks bounced up and down as she walked over to the others.

"I see why you like her Tim." Hermione looked at him in amusement.

"Yeah she's perfect isn't she." Tim sighed dreamily.

Cass giggled silently at the color of her brothers hair, and the dreamy look on his face before pushing him to where everyone else was gathering.

"Right hold onto me, Cedric or the twins as we are the only one's who can apparate." Sirius commanded.

"On three and we go everyone. 3, 2, 1." Cedric counted down and before anyone knew they were no longer on a rooftop in Gotham but in Grimmauld Place, and Stephanie immediately threw up having it been her first time apparating, and Cass looked a little queasy.

"Quickly everyone, everyone inside." Fred and George ushered non-seriously shuffling the other into the building that revealed itself, much to Cass and Stephanie's surprise.

Once everyone was inside the vast manor Tim was greeted by the familiar sound of Mrs. Weasley berating the twins, who had run ahead, for being so loud on arrival, but softened at the sight of Tim.

"Tim, it's good to see you again." The short but lovely woman cooed at him.

"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley." Tim humbly replied.

"Tim, I've told you a million times to call me Molly." She said in mock seriousness.

"Sorry, just a habit." Tim replied rubbing his neck in slight embarrassment.

"That's okay dear, now go get yourselves cleaned up and changed before dinner's served." She said tsking at the dirt on his clothes.

"Okay, by the way, this is Stephanie my girlfriend and Cass my sister." Tim rushed out before running to his room to avoid awkward questions.

"Um hi." Stephanie awkwardly said, while Cass waved charmingly. Both still clad in their vigilante uniforms.

"Ah, so your the two he keeps babbling on about. The charming and courageous Cassandra, and the lovely and bubbly Stephanie. My dear I must say he adores the ground you walk on." She hushed to her not so secretly as she blushed in reply.

"My son sure knows how to pick them." Sirius cheekily replied walking to the dining room to see the rest of the gathered witches and wizards.

"Now go change dear, there is lots you are going to learn." Molly said guiding her to the room she was going to be staying in.

And to Stephanie's surprise their were clothes in her size, almost as if they were the clothes in her drawers and closet.

It was time to meet Tim's family, and that meant, a good first impression.

Now the most important question.

What to wear?

Chapter Text

"What to wear?" Stephanie mused to herself looking at her clothes that she had plucked out of her somehow full closet.

Something smart? Looking at the selected clothes for the category, of said selected clothes, they were a smart button down white long sleeved shirt, paired with a pair of skinny jeans that were both comfortable and flexible, mainly so she could break someone's nose with a roundhouse kick. And she would pair them with a nice pair of black boots that always gave her a few extra inches in height. So much so, even with his growth spurt over the past year Stephanie would be taller than Tim, although while he would never admit it to anyone, but her of course, he loved it when she was taller than him.

Relaxed? A pair of her favorite Batgirl sweatpants, and what she was sure was Tim's worn out sweatshirt. It was slightly too big for her, covering up her frame and hung past her hips and wrists a tad, but other than that it fit, as her and Tim's frames weren't all that different, aside from the natural differences between Tim and herself.

Something sexy? As she stared contemplating one of the beautiful gowns and dresses Tim had bought her over the years for the gala's she had been his date for, or when they went on romantic dates when they got a night free to themselves and wanted to distract Tim.

Or something else like her one size too small shirts and trousers? They hugged her curves, obviously, they weren't too comfortable as they were one size too small, but she could make do for one night.

Wait! No, this was Tim's family. His real family that knew everything about him. Through and through. She supposed she should feel jealous about it, she probably should be, but she didn't. Sure, she was a bit hurt that Tim didn't in fact tell her about this very big part of his life, but she understood it. She hadn't told him about what her father had done to her when he was in... well in just a mood really, or what Black Mask had done to her, or what more he would have done if Tim hadn't come crashing through saving her from a power drill to the gut. Now that she realized she remembered Tim had to go for about a week on a secret mission, well that's what he told her anyway after she had started to show positive leaps and bounds in her recovery, and she supposed it was due to the fact that he, while she didn't 100% know, used his magic to find her. She was kind of touched actually.

Though this was a different situation entirely, he wasn't even Tim Drake, well he was but he wasn't. Stephanie blinked. Then she blinked again. "What the hell is my life?" She asked to no-one in particular.

Taking a breath, she composed herself and took out a simple eggplant colored t-shirt and threw on a simple black jacket over it to cover her arms. Half-dressed Stephanie chucked on a pair of her black skinny jeans that hugged her curves that she knew Tim loved. She threw on a couple of bunny inspired socks that made her involuntarily smile at the memory of Tim gifting them to her with a confident smile, but nervous look in his eye that betrayed him, but she squealed and hugged him tight and kissed his cheek. Now she just needed shoes and went with a simple pair of her converses before checking herself out in the mirror.

'Not too matrimonial, and not too sexy, but just right.' She assured herself in the mirror.

She hastily ran a comb through her messy blonde locks and went to open the door. But as she started descending down the stairs she heard hushed whispers.

"That's Stephanie? Tim's girlfriend? She's so pretty!" "Ginny, keep it down, you don't want them to hear." "Sorry." "Who would have thought, she wasn't made up." "He really does know how to pick them." "I've never seen Tim smile so contently and open with someone." "That is because he is taken with her." "Fred, I bet you 5 Galleons Tim's hair changes to a light pink." "That's a fools bet George. Your on."

She blushed at the excited whispers that Tim's friends had expressed. She heard a muffled giggle, originating from Cass, her best friend and sister in everything but blood. "Easy. Money." Cass grinned at her before walking down to join the commotion.

"Oh you must be Cassandra. Tim says your the most badass person he's ever met, care to prove it." The twins said in a statement more than a question with matching looks of glee.

"Later." Cass stated back with a wink. A wink! Who taught her that.

'Oh yeah, probably me. Teach by example and all that.'

As Stephanie descended into the dining room filled with people who stopped to look at her. There were a variety of emotions, welcoming smiles, cheery waves and silent nods, well that was Cass, who had deposited herself next to the twins who were drawing up plans for something. The one person she saw approach her had a blank face, who was clad in a black suit and a shaggy mop of hair that could only have been passed onto Tim, meaning this man, Sirius, was Tim's father. She was slightly worried by his evaluating stare, and the silence in the room with her.

Sirius then broke out of character and laughed in joy and hugged her to him. In surprise Stephanie didn't know how to react to the open affection. The only other parents of Tim's she had met were Jack, who didn't like her although Tim said his opinion didn't count for nothing, Bruce who was more of a mentor for both and was usually indecisive about her, but this man who was apparently Tim's real father welcomed her with such open affection and joy and hugged him back.

"Um, hi?" Stephanie squeaked.

Sirius laughed," Thank you."

"For what?" She replied having broke the embrace.

"For keeping my pup safe. For taking care of him. For loving him when he wasn't."

"Oh, um, your welcome." She replied awkwardly.

"Now before Timmy comes down stairs tell us all the embarrassing stories you have of him." Fred and George interrogated.

"And how you got together." The girl called Ginny tacked on.

"Funny." Cass helpfully added with a bright smile.

"Now, let her breathe everyone." A man with scars along his face," Let's not overwhelm her."

She nodded back with a grateful nod and smile, as she took a seat between a handsome older looking boy with soft brown hair and a charming smile.

"Uhhh..." A voice behind her said, that could only be Tim's.

"Have a seat Timbo, we're about to hear how you and Stephanie met." To which Tim's face went pale and his hair went an olive green showing his nerves.

Oh yes, this would be embarrassing.

Chapter Text

After an exquisite dinner and dessert, in which Stephanie and Cass learnt lots about Tim and his family and friends, and many embarrassing stories about Tim which resulted in many laughs and giggles and a very blushy Tim, and a blushy Stephanie when Cass revealed how Tim and Stephanie did in fact meet, then there most embarrassing, for them anyway, or cute moments in their relationships.

Tim had offered them to come up to his room so they could talk in private, not because he didn't trust the others, but more because he kind of had to talk to them, as they hadn't really had a chance to talk since Tim revealed his identity, which would probably was a good idea and mentally cursed himself for not doing so earlier, he totally could have skipped dinner, though the impending lecture wouldn't be worth it. So, he really needed to talk to Steph and Cass soon.

"Um, can I talk to you two in my room?" Tim asked his sister and girlfriend.

"Sure Tim." Stephanie replied, while Cass nodded and smiled at him.

"Cool, see you in 10."

Of course, 10 minutes was more like half an hour as Tim had forgotten to tell the girls where his room actually was, and being a big house with lots of nooks and crannies they got lost. Easily. And badly. Like, really badly.

To be fair though, the house wasn't as big as Wayne Manor, but then again no-one gave them a proper tour of the place, which whoops.

Anyway, as the girls finally made it up to his room, Tim greeted them with a sheepish smile, and thankfully they were too mystified with the house and its contents they wordlessly, well Cass did anyway, Stephanie more babbled on and on about how cool the house was.

Tim thought it was cute, so he didn't mind too much.

"So, um, I guess you have questions, so go ahead." Tim gestured to the two girls who had taken a seat on his bed with him.

"Okay, uh, so you know magic right? How?" Stephanie questioned.

"Well, I guess the easiest way to explain it is, well, I was born with it. My mum, Janet, and my dad, Sirius, are both Pureblood wizards, well witch in mum's case, which means they were born from two magical based families, the Lynn's and the Black's. I, therefore, was pretty much guaranteed to be able to do magic. Obviously, I didn't know I was able to do magic until one night my hair changed color, oh I'm a metamorphmagus by the way, and from then on my mum was basically counting down the days until I was eligible to attend Hogwarts." Tim explained.

"So, Hogwarts is the school you go to?" Stephanie continued questioning, which wasn't a surprise as Cass, while her speaking ability had vastly improved, didn't always feel comfortable talking too much.

"Yeah, it is a boarding school. Basically, it's a mix between middle school and high school, as you attend from the age of eleven to seventeen, I'm about to start my sixth year, and then graduate and then do something in the wizarding world for a career, I personally would like to be a dark wizard hunter, well, one in particular anyway." Tim explained and then muttered, "Peter Fucking Pettigrew."

"I uh, can understand that. So, why didn't you live with Sirius instead of Bruce?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

"Well, my mum and Jack were both killed three years ago, and Bruce adopted me legally because I didn't have any known relatives, and it kind of defeats the object of trying to stay safe for thirteen years if I blurt out where I live. Anyway, my dad was actually framed for a bunch of murders and was locked up in Azkaban, basically Arkham but better, if you can say that, and was able to escape and up until recently he was a fugitive in the Wizarding World except for the few who knew he wasn't guilty, until like, the end of June, where, um, a pasty white asshole returned and he was cleared of his crimes." Tim explained.

"Why didn't you tell me, I mean us, who you were?" Stephanie asked trying to keep the hurt out of her voice, as Cass raised her knee's looking miserable, and Tim felt guilty.

"It's not because I don't trust you, nothing like that, it's just, technically I'm not allowed to tell you about the Wizarding World, like at all, it's the law, which I think I may be breaking. Again. Or everyone in this house, then again I don't know. The Ministry probably would've been around by now, so I think we're good." He said trying to convince himself.

"Oh, so like you really couldn't, well, that's a little better I guess." Stephanie reasoned.

"Yeah, I probably would've been expelled and sent to prison by now, for y'know breaking the law, but fortunately and strangely I haven't yet, which weird.

"Troublemaker." Cass sighed dramatically.

"Hey! Trouble follows me. Most of the time." Tim tried to reason, even he didn't really believe himself.

"So, what do we do now?" Stephanie inquired.

"I don't know. I'm going to go Hogwarts for my sixth year in just over a week from now, I uh don't really know what you're going to do, well, probably go back to Gotham, but I'll write letters to you guys and Alfred every week, if you want." Tim reasoned.

"Of course Tim! How do we write you back though?" Stephanie questioned, and Cass looked confused as well.

"Well, the letter will arrive by owl and all you have to do is give the letter to the owl and it will work it out from there really." Tim explained.

"Oh sure." Stephanie said unsurely. 'An owl?' She thought.

Cass looked at the clock and silently hugged Tim and walked out the room, most likely to get her well needed rest, while Stephanie looked at Tim for a few moments silently.

Tim looked a bit unsure as to why Stephanie was just staring at him, so he started to shuffle subconsciously before asking, "Steph? What are you doing?" Tim's voice may have cracked a little bit.

When she didn't respond Tim was starting to freak out a little bit, so he was a bit caught off when she gently kissed him.

"Wha-" Tim breathed out after their kiss.

"I'll miss you Tim. When you go back." She reasoned.

"Oh, I can still visit you on Christmas and Easter though, or you could visit me."

"I know, but we won't be able to see each other for a long time." She said sadly.

"At least we can write to each other now though." He said brightly.

"Yeah. Goodnight Tim. I love you." Stephanie said after kissing him one more time before heading to bed.

"Night Stephie. I love you too." Tim replied.

As the door closed Tim laid back down on his bed he sighed happily knowing that he had told two people he held dear to him, and loved, knew him even more than they did already, he had a good feeling about this year.

How wrong he was.

Chapter Text

The summer holidays always came and went too quickly for Tim.

When he was younger it meant, his mother would have to go as his 'father' wanted her back at work and she would reluctantly leave her son alone.

After Janet and Jack had passed away Tim Drake was adopted by Bruce Wayne, and while it was a bit of an inconvenience it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he did like the perks of being a Wayne in public, though it did have its drawbacks as well, it meant that he had to be someone else whenever he was in Gotham from who he normally was, which really didn't help Tim and his struggling relationship with his sleep schedule.

This year though? Completely different. His friends and family from the Wizarding World had finally had enough and decided to go to Gotham, which was a stupid idea, and demand to see their friend and son, flattering really, but also really dumb.

He was able to spend his summer with his friends who actually knew everything about him, it was actually really nice, having a nice big meal every day, chatting about mindless topics, and just enjoying each other’s company. Of course, though, there was also Stephanie and Cass who were there as well, which sounded weird in his own thoughts but mainly because he didn't think his two worlds would collide, but they did, and they did so amazingly.

It was a big relief to see his friends accept the two girls with open arms, although he could have gone without all the teasing. And the pranks. And the embarrassing stories. Okay, he could have gone without a lot of it, but he was glad that they all got along, even at his expense.

A few days before he had to go back to Hogwarts, he and his friends went into Diagon Alley to get their required books and for Tim, new robes as he had hit his growth spurt, finally, new dress trousers that he preferred to be skinny around his lower legs, so what if it was uncommon, he stuck out anyway due to his surname, his friendship with Harry Potter, and his metamorphmagus abilities. He also went to a muggle high street and purchased multiple pairs of yellow converse trainers instead of the traditional black dress shoes as they reminded him too much of the needless and tedious charity gala's Bruce made him attend.

He was also reminded by Harry to get a new broom, a comet two-ninety, it was fast and reliable, as he would be the new Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and would now be the most experienced chaser and the most experienced player on the team, which was something, not that he had terribly high hopes for the team this year as many of the first team Hufflepuff's had either graduated or decided not to play this year as they studied for their N.E.W.T's, but weirder things have happened to Tim, so he wasn't exactly confident but he wasn't writing himself or Hufflepuff off either.

On the night before Tim, Harry, Hermione, and Ron along with Ginny would be returning to Hogwarts there was a sort of going away meal that everyone attended, it was nice if a bit weird.

As agreed, Cass and Stephanie would be apparated back to Gotham by Cedric the night before so that there wouldn't be any teary goodbyes when they were in a rush to get to the train to take them to Hogwarts. As for why Cedric was chosen for this task? Well, Sirius would probably go on the hunt to hex a Bat, a full moon was approaching soon so that left Remus out, Tonks stuck by him so that was her out, and Cedric was most likely to keep his head if he were to interact with any nocturnal creatures if he ran into any.

"Bye little brother." Cass whispered as she hugged, well more like crushed, him tightly as if to infuse his cells with her love.

"I'll miss you Cass. I'll... well, I'll see you when I see you" He replied sadly, knowing going back to Gotham would be practically a death wish.

"I'll come see you." She replied strongly.

"I only come back for Christmas and Easter." Tim offered.

"We can write each other. Every week." Cass replied pulling back from the hug but giving him an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, we can do that. I'll write to you, Alfred, and Steph back in Gotham, and I'll keep writing to his family in England.

"You better." Cass threatened teasingly moving away so she could get her stuff before leaving with Cedric.

Tim wasn't hug free for long as Stephanie practically barrelled into him with a tight embrace that Tim readily returned.

"I'm going to miss you so much Timbo." Steph's voice came out mumbled from where her face was aggressively smooshed into Tim's neck.

"I'm going to miss you too Stephie." Tim whispered into her ear.

As Steph pulled back, she had a playful pout on her face, "And you’re going to write to me? Every week?"

"Of course." Tim speedily replied along with a quick kiss on the lips, to which he heard a few wolf whistles and laughs.

"Not to break this up, but if you two want to get back on the agreed time, we've got to go now." Cedric interrupted awkwardly, not really wanting to break the couple apart, but time really was of the essence.

"Oh, okay then. Love you, Tim." Steph said walking towards Cedric and a smirking Cass.

"Love you too, Steph." Tim dreamily replied, and if he looked behind Fred and George had enchanted some love hearts to appear behind Tim's head who was completely oblivious to said boy.

As the two lovebirds said there goodbye's Cedric quickly asked if the girls were ready and they nodded there assent and he grasped their hands and apparated to Gotham safely before he would return to Grimmauld Place soon after.

"Well, pup off to bed, got to be up early tomorrow morning after all you've got a train to catch." Sirius enthusiastically exclaimed from behind Tim.

"But daaaaaad!" Tim whined.

"Nope. Off to bed." Sirius instructed.

"Fine." Tim grumbled under his breath reluctantly trudging off to bed along with his friends.

Remus watched his old friend sigh and question him, "Am I a good father?"

"Honestly? Yes. From what we heard and were told by Harry and the others, in the past two years where you have been able to parent Tim, you have shown to be better than his two previous examples. You do make mistakes, but what parent doesn't? Also, you missed 12 years of his life and 12 years of parenthood, you are allowed to take your time getting used to being a parent again, so don't be too hard on yourself Padfoot. Okay?" Remus explained thoroughly.

"Yeah Moony, it's just... hard y'know? I look at him and I see my baby boy, and then I blink and he's this incredible young man, one I think I don't know sometimes."

"Sirius, that boy adores you, do you know why?" Remus questioned his old friend.

"Why?"

"Because you openly adore him. You give him attention and affection that he lacked from a father figure, he knows why you weren't able to see him grow up, hell he petitioned for your acquittal he reminded me of Janet when she debated a topic, she was passionate about, but you are showing him what a father is meant to be, and that is the greatest thing you can do for him." Remus explained to his old friend.

"See, this is why I chose you to be Godfather over James." Sirius chuckled trying to hide the emotion on his face.

Remus snorted, "Plus, I was the natural choice."

Sirius laughed, "How humble of you."

"Coming from you Sirius? I didn't know you knew the word humble." Remus replied dryly.

"Very funny. Well, I'm off to bed, got to see my boy off tomorrow, so early morning." Sirius clapped his hands and went off to bed with a spring in his step. "And thank you Remus."

"You are welcome, my old friend." Remus lifted his drink, before going to join Nymphadora in their shared bedroom.

As daft as Sirius was, he needed to be reminded that he was a good parent.

James and Lily would've been proud to see their friend grow from an immature man child to an affectionate father, and Janet would be happy that her son finally had a father to look up to.

Yes, they would be proud.