Shortly after he began teaching his niece Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin decided that it would be best to have their own space set aside for schooling so that it would be easier for the young girl to separate his roles as teacher and uncle. So a small building was erected on the Tonks land between the two houses. Large windows graced three of the four walls allowing plenty of sunlight into the room for his pupils.

Remus enjoyed teaching and he was very good at it. He loved watching little faces light up as they grasped a new concept that he was trying to teach them. He was really enjoying having three students at the same level because they pushed and challenged each other, turning everything into a competition. Though Draco was the oldest of the four students by nearly two months, he had never had any form of schooling. But Draco was a bright child and Remus knew that it wouldn't take him long to catch up. It had only been a month, but he was already reading simple books on his own.

One of the projects that Remus assigned his students was a journal that his students had to spend at least five minutes a day writing in. They could write whatever they wanted and he was the only one that ever read them. While they worked by themselves on other assignments, Remus would read the journals and make little notes in them, responding to what his students had written. He had been sitting at his desk doing just that when Draco come to quietly stand at his side. "Yes, Draco?" he asked the boy.

"There's a man outside," Draco whispered.

Remus smiled at him. "Thank you, buddy. Go back to your book and I'll go see what he wants." Once sure that Draco had followed directions, Remus headed outside. He found Sirius Black standing in the yard, looking at the two houses and the little school building as if trying to decide where to go. "Can I help you Sirius?" he asked his old roommate.

"Remus…I…I went to Potter Manor and it's all closed up…" the Auror said.

"Where have you been?" Remus questioned.

"I was working on a case and just got back an hour ago. I figured that you would give me an honest answer."

Remus sighed. "James tried to kidnap Harry and the Aurors found them. He was taken in front of the Wizengamot."

Sirius gulped. "Azkaban then?" he asked, knowing well the penalty for kidnapping.

"No," Remus replied. "Tom spoke up for him. James has been deaged and placed into Tom's custody for the next year."

"Deaged!" Sirius hissed. "Has he lost his mind?!"

"James didn't have much choice. It was that or Azkaban and the Wizengamot almost didn't agree to Tom's offer. Had they not agreed he would have gone to Azkaban for ten years…"

Sirius walked several feet away, raking his fingers through his hair as he did so. "What made them change their minds?"

"Harry. He told James that he loved him and didn't want him to go to Azkaban. He begged James not to make him choose between his two fathers."

"So he's staying at Hogwarts with Tom?" Sirius asked after taking a few minutes to process the information that Remus had given him.

"Yes. Don't go trying to mess this up, Sirius."

"I won't, Remus. I…do you know how I can get into Potter Manor to get my things?"

"Talk to Tom. I think he's the one who set the wards."

Sirius nodded and turned to walk away.

The first few days of Jamie's stay were fairly uneventful aside from a few small tantrums, which Tom handled the same way he had the first one. For the next week Tom was going to leave Hogwarts in the capable hands of his Deputy Headmistress and take Jamie for a visit to Riddle Manor. Minvera McGonagall had been a schoolmate of Tom's and later a very good friend. Now, she and Tom ran the school together, their strengths balancing out the other's weaknesses.

"What aren't we wearing our robes, Daddy?" Jamie asked as they prepared to Floo to Riddle Manor.

Tom lifted the boy into his arms. "Because I'm the only Riddle with magic," he told the boy, straightening the little boy's dragon t-shirt. "They are all Muggles."

"Oh," Jamie replied. "Do they know about magic?"

"Some of them do, but none of the other children. That's why you have to leave your magical toys behind. But I promise that you'll have so much fun, that you won't even miss them."

"Are you sure Daddy?"

"Positive."

"Will they like me?" the little boy asked, resting his head on Tom's shoulder.

"Of course they will, Jamie. And not all of them will be there. You'll get to meet the rest of them at Christmas. None of the children who will be there are old enough to go to school yet," the headmaster explained, shrinking their bags and putting them in his coat pocket.

"Like me?"

"That's right, buddy. But when we get back you'll be going to school two days a week."

"A Muggle school?"

"No, Jamie," he answered with a smile. "This is a special school taught by a friend of mine. He only has four other students."

"Who's gonna be at your house?" Jamie asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"My house is called Riddle Manor and it's been in my family a long time. I have two brothers named Stephen and George and a sister named Felicia. You'll meet some of their grandchildren when we get there," Tom told the boy, stepping into the Floo. He tossed down some Floo powder and called out the address for his rooms at Riddle Manor. The fireplace in his private sitting room was the only one in Riddle Manor connected to the Floo network. Because he was the only wizard in his family, Riddle Manor was almost completely Muggle.

Tom had sent word to him family to have a door cut into the wall between his sitting room and the small guest room next to it so that Jamie would have easy access to him if he wished. He had also asked his sister to turn the room into something a little boy would like.

Because Tom was at Hogwarts much of the year, his brother George's family lived in Riddle Manor to help their father with the upkeep of the old mansion. When Felicia had been widowed, she and her children had moved in as well. His brother Stephen and his wife had moved into the old caretaker's house as newlyweds and still lived there quite happily. Now his nieces and nephews were grown and were having children of their own. There would be about five or six of them staying at Riddle Manor this next week. His own father was still alive, but was getting up in years. Tom's stepmother, his beloved Miss Noelle from the orphanage, had passed away a few years before.

Tom set his son down and took his hand. "My room is right through that door there and just like at Hogwarts, you can come to me any time you need me. The next door is my study…it's like my office at school and you are not to be in there without me." He led Jamie over to the last door. "This is your room, Jamie. If you want to change the color let me know and we'll have it changed before we come back for Christmas."

Jamie grinned at his father and let go of the man's hand to open the door to his room. The walls were painted white, but the carpet and bedspread were tan and his pillows were the color of chocolate. Under the window was a low bookshelves with several books already on them; on top of the bookshelf were some cushions, making it the perfect place to sit and read. There were a few other small shelves scattered around the room that had toys placed on them. Jamie turned and looked up at Tom. "Thank you, Daddy."

"You're welcome, Jamie," Tom replied. "Would you like to go downstairs and meet the others?"

The little boy nodded and took Tom's hand again, trying to hide how nervous he was. Together they walked down the stairs and into a large living room where several people were gathered. Several children about the same age as Jamie scampered over to the two wizards with cries of 'Uncle Tom'. Tom knelt down to greet the young children, hugging them each in turn.

"Who's that?" asked a red-headed little girl.

Tom kissed the top of her curly head. "Rebecca, this is Jamie. He's come to stay with me for a while." He winked at his foster son. "Can you rascals show him around the Manor and let him know all the rules?" The five children nodded eagerly.

A little boy jumped on his uncle's back. "Can we show him the playroom?" The children's playroom had once been the nursery where Tom and his younger siblings had spent many of their younger days.

"Sure, Rhys," the headmaster replied. "But let me introduce Jamie to Papa Tom first, alright?" The boy nodded and hopped down. Tom turned his son. "This little rascal is Rhys. He and Rebecca are twins."

"Hi," Jamie said shyly.

Tom took his son's hand again and led him across the room to where an old man sat. Jamie thought he looked almost as old as Albus Dumbledore. He had never met the evil wizard, but he had seen a picture in his daddy's study and his daddy had told him that he was a really bad man. "Papa," Tom whispered, bending down to hug his father before sitting down on the ottoman in front of the man. "You're looking well." His father had always been healthy, but had gotten a cold a few weeks ago that he just hadn't been able to get rid of. Andromeda Tonks had studied a bit of Muggle medicine at the same time that she was studying to become a Healer, so Tom had asked her to look at his father as a favor.

"I'm feeling a lot better. That young doctor you sent fixed me right up," the elder Tom told his son.

"Andromeda is a wonderful Healer."

"She'd make you a good wife."

"Papa! She was one of my students!"

"Well she's not now."

"Her daughter is. Besides, I don't have time to be courting anyone right now, Papa."

"That's enough, Papa," said a woman standing nearby. "Let Tommy introduce the boy to us so that he can go play with the others." Jamie smiled up at the woman. He didn't know who she was, but he liked her.

Tom put his arm around Jamie and pulled the boy close. "Jamie, this is my father. His name is Tom, too, so all the kids call him 'Papa Tom'."

"It's very nice to meet you," Jamie said, giving a stiff little bow like the pureblood that he was.

Papa Tom chuckled. "I see he's a scamp, Tommy. You're gonna have his hands full."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Tom replied.

"Can we go play now?" Rhys asked impatiently.

"Yes. Go on," Tom told them.

Jamie looked up at his father, hesitating for a moment before leaving the room with the other children.

Papa Tom pushed himself out of his chair. "Come on, Tommy. Let's go play a game of billiards and talk about this lady friend of yours. You can catch up with your brothers and sister later."

Tom shook his head, but followed his father from the room while his siblings laughed at him.

Jamie followed the other children back up the stairs and on to the third floor where the playroom was located. As they made their way to the playroom, Jamie learned the names of his new playmates. In addition to the twins Rhys and Rebecca, there was Melanie (called Melly) and Lucy and Julian. Jamie had never really had other children to play with, so he wasn't too sure about being around all these other children. But his daddy had said not to worry, so Jamie was trying not to worry.

They finally arrived in a large, well-lit room that was full of all kinds of toys that the little boy had never seen before and he suddenly started to miss his familiar dragons and miniature Quidditch players. Rhys grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a shelf where large building blocks were stacked. "Uncle Tom said he teaches school in a castle. Do you know what it looks like?"

Jamie nodded. "I live there with Daddy."

"Good. Help us build a castle to keep the girls out," Julian replied, looking across the room to where the three girls were playing in the small 'house' area that was set up in the corner.

"Alright, but we'll need lots of blocks," Jamie told them, starting to pull the blocks off the shelf. When the blocks were on the floor, Jamie took a good look at them, biting his lower lip. He soon started placing blocks and directing the other two boys to help him.

When they had built the walls as high as their little arms could reach, the three boys crawled into their castle. "Why do you live with Uncle Tom?" Rhys asked. "He's not your daddy."

Jamie hugged his knees. "My real mummy and daddy died and I don't have no more family, so Daddy said that I can live with him."

"What happened to them?" Julian asked.

"They was sick, I guess," Jamie told them. "No one told me…they was just gone."

"What's it like at Uncle Tom's school?" Melly asked as she and the other girls crawled into the castle to join the boys. There was just enough room for the six preschoolers.

Jamie bit his lip. Daddy had told him that he couldn't tell them about magic, but the school was all about magic so he didn't know what to tell his new friends. "It's really big and there's a lake and a forest. There's lots and lots of kids there, but I've only met some of them. Oh…Hagrid has a dog named Fang that's big enough to ride like a horse."

"No dog is that big," Lucy told him.

"Uh huh. Fang is. He's as big as Daddy."

"No he's not!"

"He is too!" Jamie cried. "And there's a giant squid that lives in the lake and likes to eat crackers." Before they could argue any more they were called downstairs for lunch.

The next afternoon the six small children were once again gathered in the playroom. Aunt Felicia had just been reading them a book about Halloween and had left them looking at picture books.

"What are you going to be for Halloween, Jamie?" Rebecca asked him.

"Be? What do you mean?" the little boy questioned.

"When we go trick-or-treating."

Jamie's face screwed up in confusion. "What's that?"

Rhys took pity on his new friend. "We dress up in costumes and go knock on doors to ask for candy."

"Oh. That sounds like fun. What are you gonna be, Rhys?"

"Becca and I are gonna be pirates," he answered.

"I want to be a witch," Melly told them. "I have a broom, too, but it doesn't fly."

"I wish brooms really could fly," Lucy said wistfully.

Jamie responded absently, not even realizing what he was saying. "They can."

The other five turned to look at him. "No, they can't," Melly told him.

"Uh huh," he replied. "Mine does."

"Magic's not real."

"It is too!" Jamie protested, sitting up. "I'll show you." He got up and ran out of the room, heading to the suite of rooms he shared with his father. Rhys and his sister exchanged a look before following him. Once in the sitting room, Jamie dragged an ottoman over to the hearth so that he could reach the box of Floo powder on the mantle, but he wasn't quite tall enough. He screwed up his face in concentration and held his hand out. Sometimes he could do magic if he thought about it hard enough. The box of Floo powder flew into his hand as Rhys and Rebecca ran into the room.

"Did that box just fly?" Rebecca asked.

Jamie turned to look at them. "Don't tell Daddy 'cause I'll get in trouble," he told them, jumping down. He sat the box down and opened it, using two hands to measure out what he thought was enough. Scrambling into the fireplace, he tossed down the powder and called out his destination, before either of the other children could respond.

"Where did he do?" Rebecca asked when he disappeared in a flash of green flame.

"Don't know, Becca," her twin replied.

"Should we go get Uncle Tom?"

"No. He said that he'd get into trouble."

"But he went…poof…"

"Maybe he'll come back…"

Just a few minutes later green flames appeared again, depositing Jamie into the fireplace, broom in hand. He scampered into the room. "Come on," he said, running back up to the playroom.

"Here," he told Melly, holding his broom out.

"It's a broom," she replied.

"And it flies. Watch," he said, mounting the broom and kicking off. It was a child training model, charmed to go no higher than five feet off the ground. Grinning, he flew the broom around the playroom.

Lucy's eyes grew wide and she slipped from the room, running downstairs to the billiard room where she knew Papa Tom and Uncle Tom would be playing billiards. They always played a lot when Uncle Tom came to visit. "Papa Tom! Uncle Tom! Jamie's flying on a broom just like the witches on the telly!"

Tom dropped his cue. "Jamie's what?"

"He's flying on a broom…"

He turned and hurried up the stairs to the playroom, stepping into the room and watching as his son flew around the playroom on his training broom. Tom reached out and snagged the boy from the broom as he flew past. "James Darius Potter! What do you think you are doing?!"

Jamie gulped and looked at his father, trying to look innocent. "Playing?"

"Playing?" Tom asked, giving his son a disapproving look. "Don't you mean, flying on your broom that was supposed to be left at Hogwarts?"

"Yeah…I guess," Jamie admitted sheepishly.

He put his son down. "Go to our rooms and stick that disobedient little nose in a corner."

"But Daddy…" the boy protested.

"Go!" Tom said firmly, pointing toward the door. When Jamie tried to reach for his broom, Tom took it from him. "Now, Jamie."

Sighing deeply, Jamie turned and headed toward the door.

Tom set the broom aside and turned to see five little faces looking up at him. He sighed as well and moved to sit on one of the sofas in the room as the children gathered close to him, Lucy climbing onto his lap. Once they were all settled he began to weave a complex spell, causing them all to think that what they had seen was a dream. The first part was not so hard, but having them each remember something different was what made it so complex. He also wove a sleeping spell into it, making them all fall asleep. They would sleep for about an hour which would give him plenty of time to calm down and deal with his errant son. As soon as the last child was sleeping, he stood and put Lucy back on the sofa, where she curled up with the other four children like sleeping kittens.

Shaking his head, he grabbed the broom and headed downstairs to his rooms. The first thing he saw was the box of Floo powder on the floor. "James Darius Potter."

"Yes, Daddy?" came the small reply from the corner.

"Did you use the Floo all by yourself to go to Hogwarts and get your broom?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"You are in big trouble, mister," he said, going to lock the broom away in his study. He took a few minutes to calm down before going back into the sitting room. Tom took a seat in his favorite chair. "Come here, son," he said quietly.

Sniffling, Jamie slowly made his way over to his father, unable to look the man in the eye.

"What did I tell you about your magic toys?" Tom asked the boy.

"That I can't bring them 'cause the other kids don't know about magic…"

"That's right. Not only did you show them magic and disobey me, you went through the Floo all by yourself. Do you realize that you could have gotten lost in the Floo Network? If that had happened it would have taken me a long time to find you, son."

"Sorry, Daddy," Jamie whispered, wiping at his nose.

Tom sighed. "I had hoped that I wouldn't ever have to spank you, Jamie…" he said, before turning the boy over his knee and giving him six firm swats. Jamie was crying loudly by the second swat and Tom lifted the boy into his arms, cuddling him closely. "Shh…it's alright, buddy…"

"I'll be good, Daddy," the boy sobbed into his shoulder. "I promise."

"I know, Jamie," he said, kissing the boy's head. "You've been punished and forgiven, son. It's all over now." He continued holding the boy and rocking him until he had fallen asleep.