Theodore Regulus Nott III was the sibling who was always sure of himself in terms of academics. His mother told him how he was very much like his father who could absorb information easily, though he doesn't have his father's talents in memorizing a map or any text or diagram in one look but he can memorize a whole book after reading it a dozen times. He never had a problem in academics – correction, all of them didn't have a problem in academics, it was one of the perks of having both of your parents as teachers at their respective schools (Head Astronomer and Head Dragnologist as well). But if there was one thing that that perk can't do was the ability to give him an idea on what he wanted to do in his life.

This coming school-term, he was going to be a fifth-year, meaning O.W.L.s were expected, and with O.W.L.s was the career advice sessions with teachers and he has absolutely no idea what he wants to do after Hogwarts. He tried asking his siblings – Romulus, Sofia, and Viktor – since they were on their last year and would be starting their apprenticeships or jobs after the term, but it didn't really help that much; Sofia already had her heart set on becoming a Magizoologist and help care for Magical Creatures, Sirius already sent his application to work at a restaurant in Diagon Alley since he loved cooking, and then Viktor already submitted his papers to continue his studies at their father's Dragon and Magical Creatures Reserve at Scotland, wanting to be a Dragonologist.

The idea of not knowing what he wanted as a career was getting to him. When he told his friends – Albus and Scorpius – about it, they just said, "Ha! One of the down sides of being a genius, you have too many options", and of course he would just come back with, "And base from your grades... I guess it's either I find you jobless, just hope your parents give you your inheritance once you graduate." Well, there was a possibility that Scorpius wouldn't need a job, considering his own father didn't have one and is rich... rich, rich like him. But unlike the Malfoys the Black-Nott family much preferred to hide their riches than flaunt it.

"You're stressing again."

Theo slightly jumped when he heard his mother's voice. He looked up and saw her place a plate of four grilled cheese sandwiches and then sat beside him at the table with her own reading material. The Daily Prophet.

"I'm not, I promise," Theo told her.

Carina gave him a teasing look that she didn't believe him, but then smiled and then took one of the sandwiches and ate it herself.

"Still looking for what you want as a career?" Carina asked.

Theo looked down at the table where his notebook was and a couple of career pamphlets were laid out before him.

"Oh... um... I'm just trying to narrow things down," Theo collected the old pamphlets his siblings gave him to the notebook and tried to hide the list he's been doing about the possible careers, and each one he listed down was crossed out.

"Sweetheart, it's okay if you're not sure," his mother took his hand. "You can always bunk here until you figure out what you want to do..."

"I really don't want to be that kid who is already of age and is still living under their parents' roof and not making money," Theo grinned.

"Well, your Grandpaddy isn't technically living under his parents' roof, but he doesn't really have a job," Carina joked.

Theo laughed. He pushed his notebook away and then went to take the grilled cheese sandwich from the plate and ate with his mother. He enjoyed these little moments with his mother. There was never a time when his mother ever neglected them, she was always there for him and his siblings, and she was always there for his father as his partner. Theo always admired his mother, Carina Black, she was beautiful witch, brave, loving, and strong, very strong, not only did she manage to raise four kids but also worked as well. She lives and breathes for her family, and she would do anything for them. Especially when it came to him and his siblings, and especially when it came to their father... and add Uncle Roman and Uncle Morgan as well.

She was fun to be around with – sure, she was strict sometimes and would scold him and his siblings – mostly his siblings – if they did anything wrong, but after, she would make them understand their faults and not take it against them. She was their mother and their friend as well. And she was his protector. He couldn't imagine going through those years enduring the sleepless nights without her and his father. They would stay up all night if needed, until he would finally fall asleep. And like any observant mother, she always knew when one of her children had something bothering them.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention. Even without turning to see who it was, Theo already memorized the sound of his father's boots walking.

"Morning," Theodore greeted them.

"Good morning, dear," Carina turned to her husband and greeted him with a kiss on the lips.

"Morning, Dad," Theo said.

Theodore reached to his son and messed with his hair, Theo laughed and swatted his father's hand away but the damage was already done. Now he had to fix his hair again. Theodore went to the sink to wash his hands, after drying them, he snagged a sandwich – which was Carina's – and then ate. That received a slap at the shoulder from his wife.

"Get your own!" Carina told him.

"Seriously?! It's just one!"

"I made that for Theo and me!"

Theodore laughed.

"So romantic, you two, really, it's always hits me here," Theo sarcastically said as he patted himself on the chest.

"And you hang out with your Uncle Roman too much," Carina pinched his nose.

"No, because Uncle Roman is currently somewhere at South East Asia... it just turns out, I'm your son, and I got it from you."

"No, you're clearly more of your father," Carina teased.

"By the way, I thought Rom was going to cook breakfast?" Theodore asked.

"Yeah, well, he and Viktor decided to sleep in, so I decided to make Theo and me breakfast," Carina wrapped her arm around him.

"Yeah, Dad, why steal our breakfast?" Theo joined in.

Theodore rolled his eyes; he then went upstairs to wake up his other children. The older ones. The ones who were graduating by the end of the school-term and are expected to act like adults who are serious enough and ready enough to actually start their apprenticeships and jobs. The sound of Theodore knocking on the doors and Sirius and Viktor groaning in their beds made Carina and Theo snicker. And just before they could hear his father bang on Sofia's door, they heard her come downstairs ready for the day.

His older sister, Sofia Astoria Nott, went to greet him good morning with a fist-bump and their mother with a kiss on the cheek. She went to snag the last grilled cheese but Theo grabbed it and had a huge bite.

"Seriously?" Sofia said.

"Mum made it for me!" He replied, mouth full of bread and cheese. "You should've woken up hours ago if you wanted!"

"Let's just wait for your brother's big breakfast," Carina said.

"But Sirius is still drooling in his bed!"

"Well, after hearing your father banging on their door, they'll be out about... right now!"

Just on cue, Romulus and Viktor climbed down the stairs, both still sleepy and in their pajamas, and behind them was their father who now had a couple of letters in his hand. Hogwarts letters, Theo thought.

"Good morning, sleeping beauties," Carina greeted with a grin.

"Morning, Mum," Viktor yawned, he then went to kiss his mother on the cheek.

"Hello, Mum," Romulus followed after Viktor, but then made sure to wrap his mother in a hug. "I'm so tired."

"Yeah, but you promised to make breakfast, and we're starving," Carina told him.

"I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, darling, but our stomachs love food more, so if you please..."

"Fine," Romulus sighed. He then took out his large clip and clipped his bangs, grabbed the apron and then got the ingredients he needed. Unlike other cooks, who used magic to assist them in cooking, Romulus much preferred to cook the Muggle way as it "adds more flavor and love to the food" as he said. And their parents couldn't be any prouder of him for that.

"Viktor, set the table!" Romulus called out.

"Rom, set the table," Viktor said back.

"Sofia, set the table!"

"Rom, set the –"

"Both of you, set the table," Carina ended cycle.

With that said, Sofia and Viktor got up from their seats without a word and set the table for the family.

"Letters," Theodore said as he sat down at his usual place beside his wife.

"Hogwarts?" Viktor asked.

"Of course, Hogwarts, what do you expect?" Theo said with furrowed brows. "Unless you're expecting a letter from someone."

"Yes, a special sixth-year Hufflepuff who won't stop batting her lashes at you, Vik?" Sofia teased her brother.

"Shut up," Viktor groaned.

"Actually, there is, Viktor," Theodore held out a letter.

Blushing, Viktor took the letter and hid it in his backside pocket.

"And, as always, Hogwarts letters," Theodore handed out the letters for his children, and when it came to Sofia, Viktor, and Romulus he said. "Your last letters, better make the best of it because the next time you see one is when you have kids on your own."

"Dad," Sofia said with a warning tone.

Theodore and Carina snickered.

Theo opened his letter and read through the list. Nothing much changed from the set of books, but he did have to get a new pair of gloves and cauldron for Potions, and as well as quills and ink... and maybe a new set of parchment as well.

"Merlin, please tell me I'm dreaming or hallucinating and that this is Rom's work," Sofia said.

Looking up, Theo saw that his sister held in her hand. It was the Head Girl's pin.

"It's not a dream or a hallucination, sis," Theo said.

"Seriously, Sofia, how would I manage to slip that in your Hogwarts letter?!" Romulus exclaimed.

"I don't know! Magic!"

Romulus scoffed. "But congratulations, Sis!"

"Congratulations, sweetheart!" Carina brought Sofia to an embrace. "You earned that badge!"

"And I think Sofia's not the only one with surprises in their letters as well," Theodore began. "I think you missed something in your envelope, Theo."

Confused, Theo picked up his envelope again, and this time, he noticed the extra letter and pin inside. Taking it out, he was surprised when he saw the silver and green badge with the Prefect symbol.

"I guess we got three Prefects in this family," Carina grinned, she then leaned to her husband. "Roman owes us seven Sickles."

"One Galleon since Sofie's Head Girl," Theodore chuckled.

"Congratulations, little brother!" Sofia ran to the other side of the table and wrapped him in an embrace.

"Good job, Theo!" Viktor messed with his hair.

"And for that, as a celebration, I'm making your favorite, little brother!" Romulus called out.

Theo smiled and thanked his family for the congratulations, but behind his smile, he was not entirely sure if he wanted to take the Prefect badge or be a Prefect at all. He didn't really want extra responsibility or have to do rounds...and just as he thought he managed to hide his uncertainty about becoming a Prefect from everyone, his parents saw right through his façade and decided to talk to him about it.

After breakfast, everyone went on to do their chores – cleaning Alcander and Snuffle's nests, cleaning the house, washing the dishes, or taking out the trash. And once that was over, they were free to do whatever they wanted, usually, their parents would be gone by now and head to work, but for some reason they were still at home, in the office. Theo's siblings had plans on their own, usually heading to the reserve to help out with things or stay at home to do their summer homework, or head to the Potters' or the Estate; Theo would tag along, but since it was a Friday, he had his lessons at the Dragonologist and Magizoologist school at the reserve with his Great-Uncle Remus.

Usually, his lessons would start after lunch, but Theo enjoyed sitting in at Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons and participating in class that Remus would teach, so he would head to the reserve two hours earlier. After writing to his friends, Theo grabbed his things and then went to his parents' office to go to the reserve, but just as he was to enter the room, he heard them whispering inside.

"The latest attack was at Inverness... they're getting closer to the reserve... closer to Sinora," Theodore said. "And the Ministry isn't doing anything about it."

"Theodore, you know that Harry and Hermione are doing the best they can," Carina chastised.

"Well, they aren't doing enough – they can strike at the reserve or at Sinora anytime now..." Theodore sighed. "I don't think you should go to work for the next few days."

"You know I can't do that."

"Yes, but..." he heard his father sigh. And he could imagine him holding his mother. "Carina, your life is far more important – your safety is far more important."

"I know, and I'll be fine – like the reserve, Sinora is located in the mountains, it's surrounded by wards, has barriers, nothing and no one can get through there –"

"But this isn't just anything, you saw the destruction this thing has left at the other Wizarding Communities."

Other Wizarding Communities? Theo thought.

"Yes, but I have full faith in the Ministry that they can stop this before it could do more destruction... have faith, in them."

There was a pause before his father spoke again.

"What if... what if it's them?"

"Theodore..."

"Just think about it, the last time this happened was –"

"Theodore, he's gone. Voldemort is gone, your Mark isn't even showing any signs that he's back – he's dead."

"But what about his followers... what if they go after traitors like me – after you and the kids – our family."

"No, they won't... you're stressing again, you're not thinking straight," Theo heard his mother kiss his father. "Calm down and think... do you really think Death Eaters would destroy important magical communities that house pureblood families?"

"They did in others..."

"They're gone, Theodore, and Harry and the others made sure of it... and whatever this is has nothing to do with that... stay strong."

There was silence. But he was sure his father whispered the reply, knowing that it was his parents' special phrase.

"We're safe – our children are safe – our family is safe, it's time to stop worrying and just..."

"Can't really do that, it's part of the job description," Theodore chuckled. "Especially involving our daughter and her boyfriend."

"You act as if they did something wrong."

"We had one rule – no sneaking into Sofia's bedroom, and Potter broke that."

"Like we didn't do that when we were their age – and since when did you start calling James, "Potter"?"

"Since he decided to break the rules during sleepovers," Theodore then sighed. "What about Theo..."

Theo slightly jumped at the mention of his name.

"He'll be fine, he'll come to us if he has something in mind," Carina said.

"And if he doesn't?"

"We'll think of something... but for now, let's leave him to decide, alright?"

Theo smiled at his mother's words. Deciding that he had enough eavesdropping, he finally came out of his hiding spot. He knocked on the open door to catch his parents' attention, and just as he imagined how they would look like while talking, he found his father sitting on the desk and his mother standing before him with a loving smile. But when they saw him, they quickly pulled away, and his father got up from the desk, and made sure to hide his copy of The Daily Prophet under the many papers.

"Heading to the school?" Theodore asked. "You do know that your lessons won't start in..." he checked his pocket watch – no matter how many times his Uncle Roman would laugh at his father's pocket watch, Theo liked it and saw its class. "Two hours."

"I know, I just enjoy Great-Uncle Remus' class... and I heard there's a test," Theo shrugged.

"Only you would willingly take part in extra tests and homework," Carina chuckled.

"I'll see you guys later," Theo chuckled.

"Theo, hold on."

Theo froze at his mother's call. Did they know that he was there listening to them earlier? He turned to his parents, putting up his usual face.

"Yeah?"

Carina approached him and then wrapped him in an embrace. "You forgot something."

He sighed in relief that his mother only wanted their usual hug and then wrapped his arms around her as well. Even though it caused him to be a small heart-attack, it did help ease his nerves. After their hug, his mother didn't let go of him just yet.

"Don't stress too much, alright? Just have fun," his mother said.

"I know."

"Stay strong."

Theo looked up to his mother with wide eyes, he was not expecting her to say that to him. Glancing at his father over his mother's shoulder, he saw him smiling and then nodding at his way. Pursing his lips, he then said it back to his mother.

"Stay strong."

Carina smiled and finally lets him go. "Say hello to Remus for us."

"Will do!"

Theo stepped into the fireplace with a handful of floo powder. He cried out "Nott Manor!" and then flooed to the fireplace of the school.

~*~

Sixty-two years old, and Remus was still teaching. He aged a lot – probably a lot more than Sirius and Charity because of lycanthropy, but not the same as before where he looked twice his age because of stress – but that doesn't mean he can't teach and keep up with the new curriculum of Defense Against the Dark Arts. His students were mostly from Hogwarts, but there were others who came from Beauxbaton to train at the Scotland Reserve to be much closer to home, and because they also offer Magizoologist training. Since he started working as a teacher at the reserve – by the request of the Head Dragonologist, Theodore Nott himself – since 2009, he's been the most favorite teacher for the subject.

Many enjoyed Remus' class, and he found the compliment quite flattering, especially when the one who would always remind him of that was Theo, his goddaughter's son.

Theo arrived at the classroom just before the class started and took his seat at the very back since he was not a formal student and was just there to listen to the lecture. He would take down notes, participate in tests, and even do the homework given by Remus. And in return, though it was not graded, Remus would also add Theo to the Friday class attendance and call out his name when giving back or submitting the papers, just for fun. And no one seems to be bothered about it since for a boy of fifteen, Theo was very mature. They would even let him join study groups before a test or just to have a chat.

After that day's class, Theo waited until everyone was gone before he approached Remus for his private lessons.

"So, how was the class so far?" Remus asked.

"Brilliant as always, Professor Remus," Theo grinned.

Remus chuckled, "I see you're still using that."

"Well, it wouldn't be right to call you Great-Uncle Remus during classes, and because my father still calls you "Professor Lupin", and my mother "Remus", let's meet halfway – I find it a win-win situation."

Remus offered Theo a piece of chocolate, which the boy accepted, and then led him to his office. Inside, Theo placed down his bag on the chair and then stood before Remus. His wand was tucked away in his pants to help him practice control of his impulses.

"Already? I thought we could have a little chat first – especially about your essay, I'm very impressed, you truly are your father's son," Remus said.

"Sorry, I just thought."

"It's alright... so, any interesting news I should know that happened today?"

"Sofia's Head Girl."

"Really? Then I should congratulate her when we see each other – maybe get a gift as well."

"Viktor let go of prefect duties and wants to focus more on his studies."

"That's very much like him... anything else?"

Theo saw Remus' suggestive look, and he chuckled.

"Dad caught James in Sofia's room last week... and he wasn't too happy about that," Theo leaned back at his own desk.

Remus laughed lightly.

"James tried to reason out that he sleep-walked to Sofia's room."

That had Remus laughing. "That brings back memories – your parents too would sneak into each other's rooms and sleep beside each other... got away most of the time, that was until your grandfather saw your mother's room empty... quite the chaos, I had to intervene and save your father from him – not that he needed saving or anything."

Theo laughed.

"Anything more?"

Theo slightly frowned. "I'm... Slughorn appointed me Prefect this term."

Remus smiled, "well, congratulations, Theo, you earned that title!" Then his smile fell when he saw the boy's uncertainty. "But you don't want it..."

"It's not that I don't want it – it's an honor – really – to be a Prefect, but it doesn't really mean something to me – and if I do go on with it, I have to do more work – rounds – tour students – I don't think I can add that to my studies, especially with my..."

"Theo, we have been practicing for eight years now, and you have managed to even block out the thoughts of others even when you sleep – and you are able to perform wandless magic – not as flawless as your father, but still – no one in your age could do that, give yourself some credit, son."

Theo sighed. "Don't tell Mum or Dad, but... since Rom, Sofie, and Viktor told me about O.W.L.s and career, I was a bit stressed out and I slipped – and I couldn't sleep the whole night – what if I do that again?"

"Well, then maybe it's time we practice to control your Legilimense than block it, you have managed to perfect Occlumency, now it's time for enhance your gifts."

"But, I don't want to hear other people's thoughts – it's – I feel like I'm violating them of their privacy."

"And you're right, but, if we continue to block your abilities, once you slip again, you might not be able to cope easily..."

Theo nodded.

"Good, now, as usual, wands away," there was a glint in Remus' glasses. A teasing glint. After Theo hid his wand in his bag, he got up and faced Remus. "Now, close your eyes, and this time, instead of creating that wall surrounding your mind, imagine it opening... slowly... and try to focus at one thought at a time – deep breath – and whenever you're ready..."

Theo breathed deep breaths and then when he found his courage, he finally opened the walls of his mind, letting in the thoughts of hundreds and hundreds of people within a fifteen-kilometer radius. And once again, Theo found himself in square one.