Ash Tree

A/N: I don't know if anyone noticed, but I had at one time named this story "Down in the Underground." I really didn't care for it, but at the time it was the best I could think of. I have, as you can see, renamed this "Ash Tree." So, if I forget to delete the former title, sorry for the mix up. As for the movie "The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns," you can find a copy on YouTube. It is a bit chopped up, but watchable or go to your local DVD Rental.

Disclaimer: see chapter 1.

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Chapter 2

Harry walked down an oak tree-shaded cart path just off the local road. The cool afternoon breeze felt wonderful against his dust covered skin. To the teenage wizard, there wasn't much of a different between the road and what he was now walking now, except this was a private lane with no one else living off of it.

The nap had been refreshing, but meeting the local magical creatures had been surreal. This had been the first time since his summer adventure that he had a run in with anything magical.

What made the afternoon walk more enjoyable was he had a pair of leprechauns on either shoulder. He hadn't realized how void of company his adventure was and how much he missed magic. Just having someone to talk to that was knowledgeable about magic made the day brighter. His curiosity piqued as they called out bits of local points of interest as Harry passed by them.

Off in the distance, Harry saw fairies in the nearby fields dusting the different plants like bees would do, as they flew by.

However, he didn't notice Mickey motioned to the others to keep him busy. So, Harry didn't see him flagging to one of the fairies and whispering something to him, nor did he see the fairy flying off.

Looking over at Mickey, Harry gave a confused look. "What?"

"Never you mind, Harry, m' lad," Mickey smirked as the others snickered. "Just one of those troopin' fairies. Worried that you might do some damage to their work. They never seem to have any fun."

"All they care about is taking care of nature," Sean piped in. "Always flitterin' around."

"Lightweights, the lot of them," Jericho added, as his younger brother nodded in agreement.

Harry gave the little folk a look of disbelieve as he continued down the path.

"Are you sure these friends of yours will let me stay?" Harry asked, after a moment of silence, changing the subject. If he learned anything in his Creature classes, it was that you didn't meddle in fairy business, nor do you lie to them. "I mean, it isn't that far to the village up ahead. I can get a room there. You sure I will be welcomed? I hate to be a burden."

Originally, Harry had hoped to make it to the small village just a few miles down the local road and ask for a room at their pub, but his new friends would not hear of it.

"Nyah," Mickey scoffed. "Jack's a great guy. . ."

". . . for a human," Sean piped in, as they all nodded in agreement.

"That's right. Jack's a decent human," Jericho added, with a nod. "He 'n Kathleen know all about us solitary fairies 'n the like."

"It's her brothers you need to watch out for," commented Barney, the youngest of the quartet. "They like to think they 're so tough, but we fool them all the time."

The quartet laughed, as they started to regale Harry with some of their pranks on the Fitzpatrick brothers. The teen recalled more of solitary folk lore from his studies – for one thing, they loved pranks. Many were dangerous to humans. One thing for certain, he made a silent promise never to introduce the twins to them. The world might not survive.

They kept Harry entertained until he came around a small curve in the lane and saw a split rail fence. Beyond that was a one story, thatched bungalow as typically highlighted in magazines and romance books as a 'wee humble cottage.'

Mickey jumped off of Harry's shoulder, calling out as he landed on the fence, "DA! MA! Jack! We have company!"

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Jack Woods, once a successful business executive from New York City, now a man of leisure, ran out of the cottage. He was tall man, in his late 30s when he immigrated to Ireland after losing his job. Well, to be fair, he had been sent to Ireland to do a business deal that never got past the idea stage. And when he refused to return when his bosses demanded him to, he was fired.

However, Jack had fallen in love with the Irish countryside and to a beautiful belle of the county – Kathleen Fitzpatrick. Then in a strange twist of fate, his life took a turn of the bizarre when he had saved the life of the leader of the solitary fairies known as the leprechauns, Seamus Muldoon, from drowning.

Then later, he and Kathleen helped stop a war between the Trooping fairies and the Leprechauns. In saving Mother Nature, both he and Kathleen were allowed to keep their knowledge of magic, of nature, and the valley's magical creatures – good and bad.

Later, because of their help in saving the lives of Mickey and his new bride Jessica, princess of the Trooping fairies, Jack and the Fitzpatrick brothers were gifted with crude oil found on the Fitzpatrick family farm.

Since he had a business degree and had worked in the corporate sector, plus married to Kathleen, Jack had been hired to run the business end of the oil production on the farm.

That was what he was doing as he enjoyed a cup of coffee, as he read through yet another business offer and reports. Thankfully, Kathleen's brothers were smart enough to run everything past Jack before they signed anything, or they could've lost everything, including they family's farm.

"DA! MA! Jack!" came a small voice, shouting outside.

Standing, Jack could see a strange teen standing just outside of the picket fence with three tiny figures on his shoulder and one on the fence. Now what?

'You never knew with Mickey and his crew,' he mused, shaking his head.

"Well, who do we have here?" Jack asked causally as he walked over to the fence. He was well used to magic and the strange goings on in their small valley community that a strange teenager showing up at his door seemed very tame.

"Hello, sir," Harry spoke, giving a slight bow. "I'm just doing a bit of summer hiking to get my head on straight after the year I had at my boarding school, when I ran into this lot."

"I see. I take it you are magical, given that you have a few passengers?" Jack asked, amused, pointing out the leprechauns.

Harry blushed. He could tell that Jack was a muggle, but since he knew about magic. . .

On the fence beside him, two figures popped in before Harry could answer. "Ya called? Mickey, m' lad?" one of them called.

"Seamus. Mary," Jack acknowledged. "Seems your boys brought home another stray."

Making a rude sound as Seamus studied the human teen, and in a strong Irish brogue, he said. "He did more than that, Jack. This boy's an English wizard, iff'n I miss my guess. Which is strange, they don't normally venture out of their areas in England. What's he doin' here?" He looked back up at Jack.

The others, except for Sean, landed on the fence beside Mickey as Harry cleared his throat. Sean leaned against Harry's ear with his arms folded in front of him.

The teen knew that he had to tread carefully. Magical creatures like the Fae hated being lied to; however, he didn't really want to give his full name. He didn't want to be found too soon and wasn't sure if the Ministry could track him here in Ireland. No, he didn't want to take any chances.

"Hi. I'm Harry James." He went with his first and middle name, knowing that James was a common last name as well. "As I said, I needed to clear my head after the year I had at Hogwarts."

Well, there was no need to hide the fact he was magical, since everyone was in the know. "I'd lost the last connection to my parents last month, and no one seems inclined to help me deal with it. So, I left, and here I am." He gave a half-hearted shrug, meaning he really didn't want to talk just yet, but he had to tell them something.

"And your parents?" asked Jack, studying him with a frown.

"They died, killed when I was only 15 months old. Look. I just wanted to get away for a while. I don't want any trouble," Harry told them, running a nervous hand through his already messy hair. "I'd hoped to get to the pub in town before night fall, but Mickey said I could stay here for the night. I won't be a bother. I have a tent, in case of emergency. If you don't have room. I don't mind."

Jack rubbed his chin in thought, then looked down at Mickey and Seamus sitting on the rail in front of Harry. Then he noted that there were several fairies heading this way. They didn't leave their castle unless there was trouble.

"Well, I don't have a guest room any longer. We've turned it into a nursery for the baby," Jack mused. Seeing Mickey looking over his shoulder at the approaching fairies and the concerned look on the other leprechaun's faces, he knew something was going on. They seemed not to want to talk about it in front of the boy.

Making a decision, he ordered. "Sean, why don't you and the others take Harry here down by the river and find a spot for him to set up camp. Mickey, you stay put. Jessica's looking for you, and I was told to hang on to you if I see you."

Mickey cringed. His young wife had a temper and a stubborn streak that was human-sized wide.

"What did you do this time?" accused his mother, Mary, speaking for the first time, glaring at her only son.

Mickey muttered something that no one caught.

"Will do, Jack," the others agreed as they hopped back up onto Harry's shoulder, wanting to be out of the line of fire.

"Will do. I know the prefect spot. It's that way." Sean glanced over at the others. They quickly hurried Harry to the back of the cottage and down to the river that ran not far behind the cottage.

"Well, Harry, m' lad, it's not far," Sean commented, once they were out of sight of Jack. "The Oakshees won't mind iff'n you don't damage their trees or start a fire. They like 'shootin' the leaves' as it were with anyone willin' to sit a spell. They'll protect you from the more unsavory sort within the valley."

"Sounds like fun," was all Harry said. He was certain they were hustling him away for a reason; but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

As he walked towards the river and that perfect spot, he couldn't help wonder, now what? The pull and urgency that had led him here was being replaced with a sense of home.

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A/N: A quick note here: I am playing in copyrighted worlds. The movie was an American-made for TV mini-series. It played foot-loose and a quick nod to the Celtic myths. So of course, I had to deal with what was portrayed no matter how badly their research into the Irish myths was.

Come on! Whoopi Goldberg played the Grand Banshee. She's nothing like a true Banshee. Banshees were harbingers of death in true Irish myths and not was played in this movie.

So, I won't apologize if you wanted a more realistic story.

Until next time. – GF