I lost around a 1k words to this one because my computer and Google hate me, so just take what you can get at the moment. At least I'm updating again yeah? Enjoy!

Andromeda took in a deep breath, crossed her arms over her chest, and she returned the gaze of the boy she had long considered her son with a tired sigh. All while doing her best not to smirk at the way both young witches at his sides intertwined their fingers between his, absolutely adorable.

Well, time to pull off the plaster as it was, "Albus Dumbledore is many things, yet foolish is not one of those things. After his informants finally relayed the fact that Harry was no longer a resident of number 4 Privet Drive he stepped down from his ivory tower to figure out what in the world had happened."

With an indulgent smirk she glanced at Dancia who had the good grace to blush lightly as she averted her gaze from her aunt.

"Apparently, one Vernon Dursley was committed to an asylum because he could not eat meat without hearing it screaming for mercy as he cut it, chewed it, and swallowed it, the end result being that he felt it writhing in his stomach while begging to let the suffering end."

The three teens stared at her in shock while Nymphadora simply stated, "Metal," with a self satisfied grim smirk.

Continuing on Andromeda shrugged, "Honestly if I had any questions whether that little elf was one of Cissy's servants that alone would answer my query with an unequivocable 'yes, yes he is.' Petunia Dursley was less inspired, no matter what she did, no matter how bloody she worked her fingertips down, her house was never clean, so she just continued to scrub and scrub and scrub ranting about how the neighbors could never know about the mess."

Harry was silent for a time, then smiled ruefully while muttering, "Bugger, that I can actually believe."

Dany for her part looked up at Harry from her position curled up to his side while sheepishly throwing out, "Umm... Dobby is very protective of me, which means he's very protective of you, so..."

Harry silenced her with a kiss, good boy, Andromeda continued on from there.

"So as I said, the Headmaster found out about the Dursley family issues and went riffling through their paperwork. As it turns up oddly enough they had actually kept copies of the files Ted had given them to legally transfer Harry's guardianship to our family. Quite a few people, both high and low on the political spectrum assume that Dumbledore is a mastermind playing everyone around him like a puppeteer."

Hermione spoke up for the first time as she quietly asked, "That isn't the core of it all is it?"

Andromeda smiled while shaking her head slowly, "No my dear it is not. What most people seem to forget is that Albus Dumbledore is first and foremost, a teacher. Dancia, a quick question?"

Dany froze, released Harry's hand and sat up rigid, then nodded to Andromeda, "Of course Auntie."

Andromeda smiled lightly as she asked, "What was the one job Draco held that he enjoyed most?"

The young witch was quiet for a time, then let out a rueful scoff, "Being a teacher."

Her aunt then raised a hand and asked, "And what job was he dragged into more often than not against his own will and had to force himself to learn to play the game as it were even if he wanted nothing to do with it?"

Dany seethed out, "Politics," as if the word were acid on her tongue.

Andromeda nodded, "Dumbledore is much the same. Harry's guardianship was to put it bluntly, an explosive debate from the get go. To put it simply, my son was a political chip everyone wanted so Dumbledore did the only thing he could think of to keep my son out of Pureblood politics, he put him in the muggle world."

Harry nodded slightly, "He basically took me off the board, he isn't a politician by nature, and he...wrongfully likely assumed the Dursleys would treat me like family, so he washed his hands of the entire situation and went back to being a teacher."

Andromeda nodded her head back and forth a but while clicking her tongue, "Over simplification but more or less how it all ended up. Sorry we're diverging from the point here, when Dumbledore found out about Harry's adoption he confronted me and it basically boiled down to this; he fucked up."

All three teens and Nymphadora froze at that, it was the first time any of them had heard the prim and proper witch swear after all.

Taking a moment to sip her coffee the older witch eventually sighed, then continued on, "I made it clear to him, Harry was my son and it was within both legal and magical constraints and he had no ruling over it one way or the other."

Harry froze, cheeks warming, and dropped his head while muttering, "Thankyou for protecting me, auntie."

Andromeda simply sniffed in return while continuing on, "You don't need to thank me for what I was already willing to give you Harry. Regardless the deal I made with the Headmaster was fairly straightforward. He was to never approach you outside of school related issues, he was not to interfere with your social life, and the only times he could openly speak to my son was if you approached the Headmaster for questions, not the other way around."

Harry and the girls stared at the ground for a time, then eventually Dancia raised her head brow furrowed while she met Andromeda's gaze and spoke up, "I think we should be heading back to school now Auntie."

Nodding demurely while gesturing towards the fireplace she glanced to her daughter who simply shot her a look and a nod before replying, "Very well, I'll be speaking to you soon children."

With that the group approached the fireplace, grabbed handfuls of powder, and then vanished in a flash of green fire.