*** This is actually take 2 on this. My son has learned that slapping the keyboard when Mommy is at the computer makes her make funny noises and even funnier faces. He erases things and then laughs as I try to fix it. My four month old is a sadist.
Anyway.
This is my disclaimer. I own nothing. I get nothing but amusement. Thank-you for reading and thank-you everyone for being so very nice! And I promise that everything will be explained. Soon, too!***
December 2nd, 2007 Romania
"How are they holding up?" Charlie asked through the floo. Valentine sighed.
"I thought we were done with the nightmares." she said, shaking her head. "But ever since Germany... Arianna doesn't sleep at all anymore. Sheridan is walking around like a bloody zombie and the rest of them all signed up for self-defense classes." She shook her head. "I just wish this would end. It's been almost ten bloody years. It should be over, yeah?"
"Yeah." Charlie said sadly. "I don't think it ever will be."
"They've got that band that their therapist suggested." Valentine winced. "Well, the ones that aren't tone deaf do. The ones that are have found reasons to be involved. Bastien is their official Roadie, he said."
"How's that all working out?" Charlie asked, curious.
"Amazingly well." Valentine smiled proudly. "They've been doing some clubs here and there. They work out feelings through the music which is, I suppose, what they were going for. And you haven't seen anything until you see tiny wee Madeline going crazy on the drums." She chuckled. "They've even recruited Ethan to sing for them. Ally doesn't like being in front of people for that long so they trade out or sing duets." She snorted. "They call themselves 'Fate's Refugees'."
"I'll have to catch a show." Charlie smiled.
"Aye, you will. How have you been, Charlie?" Valentine's voice took on a gentle tone like she was talking to one of her children.
He opened his mouth to say that he was fine but what came out was something different.
"I dream about her." he said. "Still."
"Ah, Charlie." she said, sympathy in her voice. "I know this isn't what you want to hear but have you dated since... since Mia?"
He shook his head. "I tried a couple of times but- but I kept comparing them and the girl I was with..." His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "She lost the comparison."
Valentine nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Charlie."
"Aren't you going to tell me to stop living in the past and it's time to move on?" Charlie asked curiously.
"Of course not." Valentine said. "If I had lost my Jack, I don't think I would be doing as well as you are. It's not my place to tell you what to do or how to live. I was worried at first but now, you go out and do things. You just don't do them with women. It's not my business."
Charlie smiled at her. "Thanks, Val. I appreciate it."
"You'd better, boy." Valentine grinned at him. "Friends like me are rare."
"That they are." Charlie ignored the fact that she was joking and smiled at her.
"I miss them, too, Charlie." Valentine confessed.
"I know you do, Val." Charlie said.
"We suck. You know that, right?" Valentine smiled sadly. "She'd be kicking us in our arses over this."
"That she would be, Val. That she would be." Charlie agreed.
* * *
February 29th, 2008 New Orleans, Louisiana
The rumors had grown into something louder and nastier. Purebloods were being blamed for everything from hurricanes to Global Warming to the recession.
And some of those rumors were downright nasty and the mumbling that came after them was threatening.
It was for that reason that Randal pulled his daughter into his bedroom after dinner.
"What's up, Daddy?" she asked, her eyes were their natural dual color instead of the darkened glamour she usually wore.
"The world is not a safe place, Danielle." he began.
"Is this going to be like the speech Aunt Audi gave us about watching our backs and being careful when we go visit Tante Marie?" she interrupted.
"Not exactly and who is Tante Marie?" Randal frowned and for once didn't scold her for interrupting.
"She has a voodoo shop in the Quarter near where we got our wands." Danielle waved her hand. "She's the real deal, Daddy. I mean, she does the whole song and dance thing for the tourists but she's for real."
"Ah." Randal filed that away for future discussion. "And Audrina knows about this?"
"Aunt Nadine knows who Tante Marie is. She introduced us." Randal nodded. Nadine was a careful woman and protected the children from dangers that even Randal didn't expect. Like water moccasins in the backyard and rusty nails sticking out of the cracks in the sidewalk. She was a wonder. Randal hadn't even known what a water moccasin was until Nadine. And he was still trying to figure out how a poisonous snake would end up being named that.
"This is a discussion on recent events, yes, but I am going to take it someplace that we won't be sharing with anyone else." Danielle tilted her head, curious. "I am going to teach you some ways to defend yourself. Ways that you won't learn in any class. And ways that will be our secret."
"Can I tell the others?" she asked. All of them had been learning simple spells and such and all of the children shared their knowledge with each other.
Randal shook his head. "No. No one. These will be our secret. Just for the Montague portion of the family. Can I trust you?" She nodded slowly and then with a sense of strength.
"Yes, Daddy. I won't tell them. I promise." she swore.
"Then show me the spells you already know." He sat down and watched his daughter perform several simple charms that he knew were taught at her age and then a few that were taught to older children and then two that some adults he knew had problems with.
He smiled and took her hand. "You will practice these with my wand." Danielle's eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "The first one I am going to teach you is a slicing charm." He placed a pillow on a chair and turned her so that she faced it. He pressed his wand into her hand and positioned himself behind her. "You move your wand like this." He guided her arm and hand. "And you say this, 'Sectumsempra'."
Danni took a deep breath, lifted her chin and slashed her father's wand. "Sectumsempra!" she cried. A small gash appeared in the pillow. Danielle beamed and looked back at her father. Randal smiled at her and petted her hair.
"Good girl. Try again."
By the end of the evening, Danielle had almost mastered the spell and Randal would be replacing some pillows. He had wisely kept his favorites hidden in his closet.
"These are sorta dangerous, aren't they?" she asked, her eyes too smart for her age.
"I hope that you never have need of these spells but you must know them in case you do." he told her grimly. "It is in your blood. It is your heritage."
"I want to learn more." she said and promptly yawned. Randal chuckled.
"Soon, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. "Next time, I'll teach you a charm that will make things blow up."
* * *
November 27th, 2008 New Orleans, Louisiana
From what Randal could tell, the American Holiday of Thanksgiving seemed to revolve around eating.
A lot of eating.
The first year he had been here, he had not celebrated the holiday. Nor had he celebrated the second year. Finally, Audrina had insisted that they attempt it since it seemed to be so important. She had researched it thoroughly and attempted to cook a turkey like the Americans did each year.
This was also the year that they learned that the fire alarms in their house worked.
They had ordered a nice meal from a restaurant and had eaten it in the formal dining room with the good China and silverware while Audrina had attempted to explain the holiday.
"It's to celebrate the pilgrims that came to America from England and almost starved but were saved by the natives of the area." She had shrugged.
"The natives saved them and then were basically driven out and killed off and tortured for another civilization's greed and gluttony and avarice and all around nastiness? And they celebrate this by eating. A lot." Randal nodded wisely. "Interesting."
Audrina rolled her eyes. "That is not what I said."
"But it's the truth." Audrina pursed her lips at his statement. He lifted his eyebrows.
"You are missing the point and if you don't understand, I am not going to explain it again." Audrina sniffed.
Randal had grinned and realized that he had been a little too close to what she had been thinking. This was a holiday where gluttony was encouraged.
Years later, Charlene had put it better and with more understanding.
"It's a chance for families to be together." she explained calmly. "You appreciate one another and what you have. For one day, you don't think about what you don't have but are thankful for what you do have."
"And the gluttony part is just fun." David added cheerfully as he swiped a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes.
After that, it made more sense and seemed more enjoyable.
The tradition that their little family had developed over the years was that each Thanksgiving Evening, after dinner, all of them gathered in the living room at the Montague/Delainy house and watched a Christmas Movie.
The other part of the tradition was the argument over what movie that they watched.
It didn't matter that they would watch all of them before season was over and always more than one in the course of the evening, part of the fun was the argument which actually started well before that evening.
This year, Randal had started campaigning early for his movie choice.
He called in favors, he bribed and he shamelessly manipulated until he was seated in his favorite spot on the couch with Danielle curled against him, a bowl of popcorn in his lap and a hapless man surrounded by insanity but still determined to have his happy family on the screen.
There were moments that Randal truly understood Clark W. Griswold. He only wanted his happy family! It was something that Randal, himself, strived for.
He thought he was the only one that had ever noticed it until that night when Marcel started chortling as Clark had a nervous break-down because his family wouldn't cooperate.
"What?" Randal gave him a dirty look for interrupting the movie.
"I know why you like this movie so much!" he laughed. "It's you, man! You!"
Randal scowled at him.
David propped his feet up on the coffee table, on top of a wide variety of magazines and newspapers. He had them up there for all of thirty seconds before Audrina, pausing in her discussion of how insane the Quarter would be since the Muggles were having some sort of sporting event this weekend, sent a stinging hex at his feet and he quickly removed them. She smiled sweetly.
"Feet don't go on the furniture, David." she reminded him. Danni narrowed her eyes and mouthed the incantation Audrina had just used. Randal had a feeling that Danni would be practicing a stinging hex as soon as she could. David stuck his tongue out and all the children giggled.
"Don't care if he puts his feet on those." Danni announced. Randal squeezed her shoulders and understood her displeasure with the magazines. The children fascinated the paparazzi in a different way than the adults did. Adults thought that they were adorable. Other children thought that they were fascinating.
The children hated the fact that they couldn't get ice cream without someone taking their picture. Randal felt bad for them. He was the least interesting of them all and had intimidated even the most stalwart photographer. But that didn't help the others. With World Cup Quidditch players and an International Singing Sensation all living in the same area, paparazzi viewed their lives fair game.
It was to a point that for any of them to get any privacy outside of their homes, they used Glamour Charms. While the adults all accepted that they had chosen this life, their children had not and sometimes, they felt guilty for it.
"We aren't famous in Europe yet, are we?" Clarice said thoughtfully. "We can go there."
"We are not going there!" Audrina cried. "Forget about it!" She had been jumpy since she had seen the reports of a Death Eater at the World Cup. It had taken Randal over an hour to calm her down and convince her that Death Eaters would not be chasing them to America.
"I don't know what I'm expecting." she admitted to him as she started to leave that day. "Perhaps to come in and find a Death Eater sitting on the couch reading a newspaper." She chuckled at her attempt at humor. Randal smiled and picked his paper back up again and stretched out again on the couch.
"That would be utterly ridiculous." he agreed.
"Doesn't matter." Danni grumped. "They print our pictures there, too, when it's slow." She hated the media attention more than the others. She seemed to take her privacy being invaded as a personal affront. She didn't seem to mind being the center of attention when she wanted to be but when she wanted privacy, she wanted everyone to leave her alone.
Randal squeezed her shoulders again and the family returned to watching as Clark fought for his perfect Christmas.
Out of the corner of his eye, Randal eyed Peter and wondered if he would be insulted if Randal started calling him Cousin Eddie.
* * *
September 19th, 2009 New Orleans, Louisiana
Danielle was engrossed in a book. The others were playing games and chatting with each other but Danielle was ignoring them all, staring instead at her book.
Randal stepped behind his daughter and glanced over her shoulder to see what had captured her attention. His heart almost stopped when he saw Bella laughing up at him from the page.
"What are you reading?" he managed to ask.
"History book." she replied, not looking up.
"She won't put it down." Fred said, flicking a folded piece of paper over P.L.'s fingers. "Score!"
"Fascinating stuff." Danielle murmured. "This woman here, she was really nasty! Look at some of the things that she did!" She jabbed her finger into a paragraph. Randal read a couple of sentences and stopped.
"Just remember that history is written by the victors." he said quietly. Her eyes flickered up to him.
"I will, Daddy." she said, her voice a bit guarded. Then, she went back to the book.
If he had stayed, she would have seen her eyes widen a bit and then lift to the door he had just disappeared through. He would have seen her troubled look and seen how she turned a couple of pages, read a couple of passages and then blink as a realization hit her.
And he would have seen some of the innocence he fought so hard to keep die in her eyes.
* * *
February 17th, 2010 New Orleans, Louisiana
Randal walked into the school administrator's office and blinked.
"Why are you purple?" he blurted, staring at the children.
"Stupid Tommy Harris and his moronic friend, Scott Roberts threw something in my potion in class." Fred snarled. "I frikkin' hate them!"
"The whole class is purple." Danni said quietly, chewing her lip and tapping her skin with her wand. She seemed to be trying to figure out how to at least disguise the color of her skin. "The whole thing blew up and filled the room with this purple foam."
"And why are you six in here?" Randal asked.
"Our whole class is being sent home." P.L. explained.
"But we threatened to jump on Tommy Harris and Scott Roberts and add some black and blue to their purple." Jason shrugged.
"So they put us in here." Clarice sighed. "We're being persecuted for our beliefs!"
"All of you?" Randal frowned. "And what beliefs?"
Fred set her jaw and lifted her chin. She and Danni both shared that expression. "We stick together." She smiled a wicked little smile. "And we believe that Tommy Harris and Scott Roberts need the crap beaten out of them."
"Gotcha." They all turned at the hissed declaration of triumph. Danni was white again. At least, her skin was. Her hair and clothing were purple still. She pointed at the others and they, too, lost the purple tint to their skin. She pulled a lock of her hair around so that she could see it better. "I think I'll leave this as is. I kind of like it." She glanced at her father. "What do you think, Daddy? Purple in my hair?"
Randal lifted a lock. "Purple is the color of royalty." he commented. "Just please do not shave it off. I don't think I could handle a bald daughter. I would still love you." He hurried to add. "But I would have to buy you a hat." He gave them all a rare, true smile. "Shall we? Your parents are all busy until dinner so if you are interested, I will buy lunch."
"I do adore you, Randal." P.L. said with his usual quiet dignity. But there was a smile on his face.
Randal was smiling for them as they walked from the school.
* * *
May 16th, 2011 New Orleans, Louisiana
Danielle was gifted at Charms, Hexes and Jinxes. Her potion work was alright but her Transfiguration... her Transfiguration was awful. She passed her classes but she struggled with it. No one had managed to teach it to her in a way that she understood.
But her Charms...
Even without his careful tutelage, Randal had a feeling that the girl would have been a genius with them.
He had started teaching her to duel at the New Year and she was quite good. She was only 12 but she already thought fast on her feet and used some of the "safe" Charms she had learned in school and from the witches in their family in ways that he would never have thought of. She had actually beat him for the first time by making him hiccup bubbles first and then locked his legs together and stunned him. She had stood over him with a triumphant look on her face and Randal couldn't help the surge of pride.
He had started teaching her these things when the whispers against Purebloods escalated and some Purebloods were attacked. They had only been beaten and not killed but it was enough. Randal could read the writing on the wall and he would be damned if his baby girl was hurt by some Half-Blood with a grudge.
Now if he could just discourage this ridiculous obsession that she had with dragons. The girl was convinced that someday, she would work with the bloody beasts.
He watched as she soaked in another book of Charms, her eyes dancing across the page and her lips lifting in a smile.
"Good book?" he asked. She looked up and nodded.
"Great book." she agreed. Her smile faded a bit and she sucked her lower lip in. "Daddy, I need to ask you some questions and I want you to be honest with me."
"Alright, sweetheart." he agreed, sitting down in front of her. She lifted her wand and cast a privacy charm. His eyebrows lifted.
"Impressive." he said appreciatively.
"Thanks." She folded her hands on her lap, her fingers still caressing her wand. "I found some pictures in my European History book." He got still. "And Daddy, one of the men in one of the pictures, he looks like you." She reached down and plucked a book from a stack sitting beside her. She opened it to a page quickly and he knew that she had been studying it before. He stared a moment before looking back up at her.
"Does anyone else know?" he asked quietly. She quickly shook her head.
"They don't really look at the pictures and I'm taking a more advanced History Class than they are." she said. There was something in her voice that he couldn't place but he discounted it as her nerves.
"I did things in my past that I was not proud of." he said carefully. "And I would like you to promise that what I tell you stays in our family. In our part of the family. Just you and me." He amended quickly. "Can you do that?" She studied him a moment and then nodded slowly. "I was proud of my heritage as a Pureblood. I followed a man that lied and made promises that he could not keep and people were hurt. I regret it all now. If I had not done those things then your mother would still be here with us." He watched her face, looking for signs of anger, disgust or disbelief. He saw a strange, calm expression instead so he continued. He carefully lifted the sleeve on his left arm and removed the glamour. This time, he heard a reaction from her as she gasped softly at the sight of his mark.
"Oh my God." she breathed. He watched her lower jaw tremble before she ground her teeth together. She looked up at him and then lifted a trembling hand toward him. She extended one finger and carefully touched the snake portion of the mark. "Oh my God." She swallowed hard and looked up at him. "You weren't on the same side as Aunt Audrina and Uncle Peter." It wasn't a question but he still shook his head. "They don't know." Again, he answered anyway by shaking his head. "You were on the side that killed Fred's father and Clarice's mother." He nodded slowly. "Were you- were you there when they died?" He shook his head. She closed her eyes briefly and then reopened them. "And my mother?"
"She was, too." he said softly. "Bella. She was amazing but at the end... at the end, she was warped by the man we followed. I loved her so much but she was... she was not the woman I married." He remembered her reaction to reading what his Bella had done and decided to save telling her what her mother's name had been for another day.
Danielle sat quietly, gazing at the curtains. He waited for her to finish thinking. Finally, she looked up at him. "What does this mean for us?" she asked finally.
He shook his head. "Nothing, sweetheart. I am the same man I have always been. I love you. I love our family. I will protect us." He would even protect the two of them from the rest of their family if need be. He thought for a moment that perhaps he had said this aloud but realized that Danielle just knew him. He caressed her face and the look in her eyes made him want to cry. "We have to keep this a secret, sweetheart. A secret between just the two of us. The others won't understand. They can't understand. And they won't forgive. This mark... it's your heritage." he said sadly. "It's your curse." She closed her eyes briefly and then nodded her agreement.
"I found another picture of a woman in a book in the library." she said carefully. "She was involved with a group in Ireland that took people out of England. She was killed."
"Yes?" He cocked his head.
"Her name was Mia Kelley." Danielle continued softly. "Daddy, she looked just like me. When I don't wear my glamours, I mean."
He frowned. "I don't know, sweetheart. I'm sorry." The name was familiar but he couldn't place it.
"Was she... was she related to us?" Danielle pressed.
"If she was Pureblood then there is a very good chance that yes, she was." Randal shrugged. "Most of the families were connected in some way or another."
She nodded slowly, that unreadable expression back on her face.
"Alright, Daddy. I need to think some." she said carefully and stood. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you, too, sweetheart." he replied.
If he had followed her, he would have seen that she barely made it to her room before collapsing on the floor, shaking and crying. He would have seen the disillusioned look on her face as she hugged herself. He would have seen the fear.
And if he had ever looked at their class schedules, he would have realized that Danielle had lied to him for the first time in her life.
She shared a history class with P.L. and Brandon.
For the first time in her life, his baby had lied to him and done it to protect someone else.
* * *
May 18th, 2012 Romania
Charlie sat up in bed, gasping. Sweat poured from his body in rivers. He looked around frantically before realizing where he was. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
He expected the dreams to come on this day of any other on the calendar but that didn't make them any easier. This time, he had been trapped in a fiery inferno, watching a small figure writhing in the flames and unable to come to her rescue or even move. He finally got his arm free and was reaching for his wand when the figure was in front of him. Mia looked at him, her dual eyes reflecting the flames he knew had consumed her body. The sound of a baby crying echoed over the roaring of the flames.
"Open your eyes, Charlie!" she commanded. "Open your bloody eyes and stop running away! Face it! Face it and ask questions! Go back! Ask the questions and open your goddamned eyes!"
He had sat up in bed with her words echoing in his ears.
"Alright, Mia-Mya! Alright!" he yelled to the ceiling. "I will! I bloody well will!"
An hour later, Charlie was on his way to Dublin.
He arrived there late in the afternoon and, after a quick message to the Larkin Family, headed to the place that Mia had died.
He was standing in front of an empty lot where once a building had stood when he heard a throat being cleared behind him.
"Are you alright?" Jack Larkin asked without preamble. "You look like hell."
"I haven't slept." Charlie said, staring at the spot. "I dream about her and she's always telling me to open my eyes. She won't leave me alone about it. She wants me to come back here and to ask questions. She just didn't tell me the questions that I need to ask."
There was silence and he knew that Valentine and Jack were communicating without speaking again. Charlie didn't wait for them to finish. He stalked across the lot to where the building had stood.
He stood there, looking around for something, anything.
"Alright, Charlie. We'll help you." Valentine said. Charlie looked back at her.
"You think I'm insane." he stated.
She shrugged. "Been thinking that for years. It's one of the reasons we like you. But I also think you're in pain and if this will give you peace, so be it."
"Maybe that's what she wants." Jack suggested. "Maybe she wants you to find some peace."
"But you won't find anything here." Valentine added. "Come on. Let's go get a bit to eat and talk. We can decide what to do first."
They passed a coffee shop but when Charlie started to go in, Jack grabbed his arm and shook his head.
"You have your ghosts, we have ours." he said softly. "Not here."
Inside the next coffee shop, Valentine smiled sadly. "Julie worked in that shop. She disappeared the same night Mia and Fiona died."
Charlie nodded slowly. "Can I ask a few questions about... about what happened?"
Valentine nodded. "That's why we're here."
"How did you find out what happened?" Charlie asked the first question that came to mind.
"We were all supposed to meet at Mia's that night. Julie was supposed to take over the lease while she was gone. She was leaving the next morning and we were going to get take-away and keep her company." Valentine explained. "Jack was running late and was going to bring the girls while I went ahead with Ethan. We were late but not as late." She gripped her mug tight and looked down into the liquid inside like she could see the memories there. "I smelled the smoke. I heard the sirens and I knew. I just knew." Tears glimmered on her eyelashes. "I ran. I was holding Ethan to me and he was asking where Mia and Fi-Fi were. I nearly knocked this poor man over when we were running. And I saw it." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "The Mark was fading but the fire... I could feel it. It was so hot."
"Who- who identified them?" Charlie asked.
Jack held up one hand. "I did. Well, as best I could. Daniel and Rikko were in no state and neither was Val. Honestly, if they hadn't found her wand, I wouldn't have been sure." He shook his head. "But Charlie, there was nothing left of Fiona. The people investigating said it was too hot and she was so little." He frowned. "That never made sense to me. She was a person and she had bones, yeah? She should have had remains."
"Wait." Charlie stared at the man. "You're telling me that my daughter's body was never found?"
"It never sat well with me, either." Valentine murmured. "I even asked about it and was told the same thing Jack was. And then we adopted the children and there was so much going on with them that I just-" She shook her head. "I couldn't reopen the wounds by the time that the children were settled."
Charlie stared at a spot on the wall. "How many bodies were found?" he asked, his mind whirling.
"Five." Jack said. "Mia and four of her neighbors. They were all identified. Three men and one old lady... they weren't burned like Mia was. The smoke got them." Understanding suddenly lit his eyes. "Charlie, if the other bodies... I explained it away as Magical Fire. Wait." He blinked a couple of times. "But if it was, why were there still bodies at all? Why was there anything?"
Valentine shot to her feet. "I'll be back. I have a few favors owed to me and I think I'll be callin' them in now." She ran for the door.
She was back in less than thirty minutes. "The investigator in charge of the case was fired a year after Mia was killed. He had a bad habit of covering things up to make his life easier and faster. They've had to reinvestigate all of his cases. They hadn't made it to Mia and Fiona's yet."
"What do you mean 'covering things up'?" Jack demanded.
Valentine licked her lips. "I mean that sometimes, he would falsify documents and come up with insane stories to make it so that he didn't have to investigate." She hesitated. "And he had some dubious connections to some English families that are now either dead or residing in Prison." She hesitated. "Or are presumed dead."
"What are you telling us, Valentine?" There was a roaring in Charlie's ears and his heart was racing.
"He won't know until he investigates but from a glance, my friend thinks that it was a regular fire caused by a rupture in the gas line and that it should not have been hot enough to completely destroy Fiona's body." Charlie stared at her as if through a tunnel. "Charlie, Fiona's body was not in that building."
Charlie stared at her as the words echoed through his head. "My daughter may be alive." he said dumbly. Valentine nodded and then a slow smile spread across her face.
"Aye, Charlie my lad, Fiona may still be alive!"
It was much later that night when Charlie finally saw the mausoleum where Mia's body lay. Valentine had gone ahead home while Jack waited for Charlie. The three had spent hours going over what they knew and what they had thought that they knew, looking for any kind of connection and occasionally stopping to grin like maniacs at each other.
Charlie sank to the ground in front of the stone and pressed his hand against the cold marble beneath her name. `
"I opened my eyes, Mia-Mya." he said. "I'm sorry it took me so long and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to come and see you. I'm sorry for so many things that but those are the main two right now." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the stone. "I'll find her, Mia. I promise I will. If it takes forever, I'll find our girl."
* * *
May 18th, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana
The book fell from Randal's fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud.
He had known the spell was here. He had known it was just a matter of time until he found it. And at long last, he had found it.
He had thought that this day would make him happy. And at first, he had been. The spell was written right there and with it was a list of the properties of the spell. There had also been a clause he had not realized. The spell had to end by the sixteenth anniversary of the day it was cast. Things did not end well if the spell was not ended. His mother's spidery scrawl didn't say exactly what would happen but knowing his mother and her experiments, Randal could guess.
There was a reason that they went through so many house elves.
Sixteen years. That meant that he had 2 years left.
He scooped the book from the floor and frantically flipped through it. The counter wasn't here. He cursed. His mother had a bad habit of scrawling spells all over her personal journals. It could be anywhere. And her handwriting... He shuddered.
Randal looked slowly around the room and at all the books. There was nothing else to be done.
Randal picked up a book and began to read.
Outside of his room, her shoes held in her hand, Danni snuck down the hallway, down the stairs and out the door into the night.
She didn't come back, her legs wobbly, her make-up smeared and her hosiery torn, until dawn.
And, just like every other time, no one but Fred noticed.
* * *
May 19th, 2012 Ministry of Magic, London
Arthur Weasley could count on his hands the number of times that his wife forewent the floo or messages via owls and just showed up at his work.
And every time had been a bit of an emergency or something exciting.
Such as a few times where she marched in and announced she was pregnant.
So when she came flying in the door of his department, hair wild and still untying her apron, his jaw almost hit the floor. He sank into the chair closest to him and stared at his wife.
"You cannot be pregnant." he blurted. She blinked.
"No. I can't." she agreed. "And I'm not."
He stood and, ignoring the looks of his coworkers, ushered her into his office. As he closed the door, he heard one of his staff saying, "You have to admit that the old guy's apparently still got it!" He grinned and closed the door fully. He turned to his wife and lost the grin. "What's wrong?"
She was twisting the apron and he realized that she probably didn't even consciously realize it was on. "Arthur, it's Charlie." He sat down, a coppery taste filling his mouth. Yesterday had been the anniversary of Mia and Fiona's deaths and not only had they not heard from their second eldest, but he had disappeared from the reserve, yelling over his shoulder at his coworkers that he had to go to Ireland.
"What is it?" He almost didn't recognize his own voice. It was quiet and tight.
"Oh! Oh, nothing like that!" Molly took her husband's hands in hers. "Charlie is alive! I promise! Nor is he arrested or anything like that!" Arthur felt the band around his chest loosen and he took a very shaky breath. "Arthur, he called a bit ago and he was just frantic. It's a miracle."
"What?" Arthur asked cautiously.
"The investigator that looked into the fire." There was no need to tell him what fire. "He was corrupt and lazy. He botched it. He actually made up lies to make his life easier and because it was just a blood traitor and some muggles that died! He was let go not long after and they have had to go through every single one of the cases he has ever touched." Arthur frowned hard. "He worked there for thirty years. They hadn't reached Mia and Fiona but Charlie went to Ireland to ask Valentine and Jack some questions. One thing led to another and Valentine called in a couple of favors from some friends in the department and Arthur, Fiona's body wasn't found." Arthur blinked a couple of times.
"They found five bodies in the building. Mia's was burned beyond recognition but she was in the apartment. The other four were in surrounding apartments and were identified as some of her neighbors. But Fiona's body... the story was that it had been so hot and she was so little that her bones were turned to ash. But there are too many questions there." She shook her head. "I don't know everything and some of what I do know is confusing but there it is. Charlie says that there is a very good chance that his daughter is alive."
Arthur sat there, processing everything that his wife had said.
"Is the chance good?" he asked finally.
"I don't know but any chance is better than none." Molly sat down in the chair across from Arthur.
Arthur nodded slowly. "Where will we start searching?" he asked. They would be searching for one girl that had been missing in the world for twelve years. It was quite literally a needle in a haystack.
Molly smiled at him. "We're heading to Ireland in the morning. We'll start from there."
The next morning, Valentine Larkin smiled warmly at all of the new arrivals in her house.
"Plenty of room! Come in! Come in!" she called. "James! Ethan! Sebastien! Henri! Come get luggage!" Immediately, her sons appeared and took bags from the new arrivals. "Well, come on. We have a little command center set up in here." She ushered the new arrivals into the formal dining room. They all stopped and blinked at the various people seated around the large table, papers, parchments and maps spread out before them. A girl with lime green hair and multiple piercings was carefully going over a set of maps. A pale man with studs through his eyebrows and scars up his arms was flipping through a set of papers. Charlie sat beside two women that were literally connected at the hip, discussing whatever papers were in their hands. All around the room, some of the most colorful people any of them had ever seen mixed with regular looking people.
"The circus showed up late last night." Jack explained. "Rikko is making more coffee and Daniel is somewhere around here. And we have tea over here."
Charlie looked up and smiled at them, a real smile. "Hello, all! Grab some maps and come on in! Someone explain what we're doing to my family."
"Cross referencing sightings of Death Eaters after the war and trying to find any abandoned babies in those areas." A brunette announced. She swished across the room, her arms full of papers. "I'm Sheridan Larkin. You're in my group. We're over here." She handed all the papers to Bill and turned. She was obviously a woman that knew how attractive she was and was used to it. She seemed to ooze sex appeal. She also seemed to have gained her mother's ability to take charge because as soon as she was done handing over the papers, she had all of them working industriously.
They all worked together for the next few hours, surprised at how many abandoned children there were in the world. The clock had just chimed 4 in the afternoon when the sound of humming began to penetrate the noise. The sound came closer and closer, growing in volume until it was right outside the door.
They all looked at the door. A ethereal blond stood there, twisting her skirt in her hands. She was gazing at a point across the room and seemed to not even be paying attention to any of them as she hummed. It was hard to place at first but she seemed to be humming "Pop Goes the Weasel".
Valentine stood slowly. "Alessa? Luvie, what are you doing?" Then she stopped short as she got a better look at her daughter. "Ah crap. Jack!" Her husband looked up and cursed. He came to his feet and moved cautiously toward his daughter.
"Ah, Lessy, darlin' what did you do?" he whispered.
The girl began swaying, her voice taking on a sing-song, rasping quality. "All around the mulberry bush, the hunter chased the weasels." Her eyes were blank as she switched the direction she was swaying. "London Bridge was falling down, falling down, falling down, poor Forgotten Lady. Found the key and locked her up, locked her up, locked her up. Found the key and locked her up, poor Forgotten Lady."
"What's wrong with her?" George breathed, staring at the girl.
"She's a Seer." Sheridan replied, her face hard but her eyes worried. "She forced it. She only does this when she forces them. She wanted to help."
The redhead that had been introduced as Noelle looked up as she sorted through a box of belongings. "She was rooting around through here. She and Madeline both. Where is Maddy?"
As if summoned, they heard footsteps coming closer. A girl identical to the first blond stopped beside her sister. She began rocking back and forth, her hands clenched in fists, her nails driving into her palms so hard that drops of blood were beginning to well up around her knuckles.
"Here we go." muttered Arianna.
"Sins of the mothers are paid for by the sons. Sins of the mother are paid for by the sons." the girl chanted, her voice as fast and frantic as her sister's was sing-song. "Hunted them down by the light of the moon. Ran them down. The hidden and the forgotten. Ran them down and stole their lives. The emerald fell into the blood."
As she chanted, the other girl continued to sway, singing. "Last night as I slept on my pillow, last night as I slept on my bed, last night as I slept on my pillow, I dreamed that my Bonnie was dead. Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me." Charlie watched them, goosebumps raising on his arms. "Cry, Baby Bunting, Daddy went a'hunting. Found the little kitty's den, wrapped up the baby and was gone again."
"The Forgotten and the Stolen. The Forgotten and the Stolen. He hunted them down. No matter how far and how fast they ran." the other continued chanting, rocking faster. Blood was dripping from her fists. "Little fox, little fox. The hounds were on you and you never knew. Tear you apart and rebuild you as he wanted. Silly little foxes. The hunter was at your door!" She started laughing, tears pouring down her cheeks. Her humourless laughter was chilling, harsh and mad. "And you let him in!" she screamed. "You let him in! You let him in! Silly stupid foxes! You let the hunter in your den! Blood coats you and you wear it like a cloak!" She pressed her hands onto her face, smearing blood down her forehead, nose and cheeks down to her chin.
"Ladybug ladybug! Fly away home! Your house is on fire and you're whole world is gone!" The singing had raised to a shriek. And then, they both stopped moving or making any noise. Without looking, their hands reached out and clasped together. Their heads tilted together, golden strands of hair mingling together as they spoke in unison.
"In the time of birth, they will return. Into your hands, the greatest treasures return. The dead shall be named. The spirits gain their rest. All shall be reset. The missing piece shall fall into place." The blond with blood covering her face slumped against the other as the final one slowly let her eyes close, her voice barely audible as she began to sing again.
"His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain, Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane. Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave, so Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave." Her eyes flew open while her voice was harsh and very loud suddenly. "Open your eyes!" With that, her eyes rolled back in her head and both girls folded to the ground.
Before they reached the floor, their father and eldest brother had them in their arms.
"Upstairs. Now." Valentine hurried around the table. "Someone got what they were saying?"
"Every word, Mum." James nodded.
"Good lad. You know what to do." Valentine disappeared through the doorway.
"What does she mean? What do we do?" Harry asked.
Sheridan slapped down a heavy stack of books. "Fine those nursery rhymes and where they come from. Find them in their entirety. Sometimes, the answer is in what they didn't say. Damn, I hate it when they use nursery rhymes."
"And folk music." Noelle agreed. "Or how about that time they were predicting things via ABBA?" All of the Larkins' shuddered.
"Those were dark days." the youngest son, Ethan, agreed, looking at the page his brother had scribbled the twins' words on.
"You know they did those on purpose to mess with you, right, Ellie?" Lauren asked.
"Don't call me 'Ellie' and yeah, I know." Noelle muttered.
"The, uh, the last part." Charlie forced himself to look down at the paper. "Mia had a dragon named Puff. He disappeared after she died."
"Mm. You may be finding a dragon then." Sheridan shook her head slowly. "Question is how does it play into Fiona? Or does it at all? Hell, did she mean a literal cave or a figurative one?"
"Does that happen often?" Ron asked, looking toward the door that they had taken the twins through.
"Not really." the youngest redhead, Sebastien said thoughtfully. "Don't bet against them though. But things like that? No. They wanted to help. Saw them whispering earlier. So they decided to do this, I suppose."
"How do they... force a vision?" Hermione asked.
The siblings all shrugged. "Every Seer is different." Sheridan explained carefully. "Their techniques for, well, seeing. How they deliver the prophesies. Everything. Maddy and Lessy have absolutely no training but what was in their mother's old journals and trial and error. They can control it to a degree but they have to, well, release the tension once in awhile. Seers can go mad if they don't. They can also go mad if they do it too often. Hell, we all learned about this through trial and error, too."
"If their mother had lived, she would have taught them." Arianna muttered. "As is, she managed to leave detailed entries in her journals."
"Chances are for this one, they came downstairs and smuggled something that used to belong to Fiona out of the box." The eldest Larkin daughter, Bridget, said.
"Most likely a blanket that she had been wrapped in or a toy." her twin sister, Sylvia agreed.
"They would have meditated for a bit, focusing on it." Lauren Larkin sighed. "Don't know really how they do it but they'll be out of commission for at least a day now."
"I think that they really just wanted to get out of dish duty tonight." Noelle quipped. "Those brats!" The siblings all laughed but their expressions were still tight with worry.
"What you saw only happens when they force it." Sylvia explained. "Normally, if they spout out a prophesy, it's nice and normal and, you know, like what Seers usually do. But they force it and things get a little crazy."
Thirty minutes after the twins made their prophesies, Valentine returned, her face strained.
"They'll be fine. Although Alessa is muttering about how she has to take a trip and wanted me to remind Sheridan to practice her cello some more." She placed a blanket, a pair of baby socks and a photograph on the table. "They went all out for this one." She chuckled and then sobered suddenly. "And Charlie, take a week off work."
"Why?" he asked his friend.
"Because Madeline said to remind you that you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
"Ah, she likes you." laughed Sheridan, poking the redhead in the arm. "She quoted a bumper sticker for you."
"They're livewires at the moment." Valentine explained gently. "I don't completely understand Seers, no one does, I think. But what they did was basically rip a hole in whatever barrier that's in place to keep us from doing that. Usually, they just get peeks through what I guess you would call windows. It'll take a little while until that barrier's back completely in place for them."
"So they're up there just spouting off prophesies?" Everyone in the room looked up, some speculatively.
"No. They're asleep having horrible nightmares that they won't remember when they wake up but that will haunt them for days or even weeks." Sheridan snapped.
"They adore you, Charlie, and wanted to help." Noelle whispered to the stricken man. "Don't feel bad. This was their choice. And they'll be fine."
"I understand who they were talking about when they talked about the Stolen but who is the Forgotten?" Arianna said suddenly. "And I get that they were talking about Mia when Alessa was talking about Bonnie. But the Forgotten... that throws me. Who was forgotten? You didn't forget Mia and you didn't even know about Fiona. And what was that about the emerald falling into blood? What does an emerald have to do with anything? I hate prophetic moments. Why can't a Seer just tell you exactly what they mean?"
"Because they are sadistic?" Noelle suggested.
"Just Maddy." Arianna grumbled.
"The sins of the mother may refer to something that Molly did." Sheridan spoke up, frowning. "Any idea what you could have done that would have angered someone?"
Molly was pale at the thought that any of this was her fault. "I don't know." she murmured. Bill squeezed her shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Mum. Whoever did this is probably not sane."
"Hand me the list of Death Eaters that we never found." Ron said, holding out his hand. He scanned for a moment, before looking up.
"I think I know who it was and why." he announced.
"Who?" Charlie demanded.
"Rodolphus Lestrange was never found." Ron said, putting the papers down. "Mum killed Bellatrix."
"The day after the battle, an Auror was found in a copse of wood near the battlefield." Harry said slowly. "His wand was gone and the clearing showed signs of a magic exploding but the auror was unharmed."
"Mia was talking about a man that she kept seeing at odd moments." Valentine said suddenly. "She said it was weird but she thought it was just some homeless guy and coincidence. She upped her wards and changed most of her habits. She had a lot on her mind though. She thought she was just being paranoid." Valentine chewed her lips. "I should have insisted that she come stay with us. Especially after she changed all her habits and kept seeing him anyway."
"He hunted her." Charlie breathed. "He found out about her and he hunted her."
"According to reports, Rodolphus Lestrange was in charge of paperwork." Hermione said. "He had a habit of going through every piece of paperwork that came through the Ministry. He would have seen her birth certificate. And he would have seen her name listed for Hogwarts."
"Mia died because of me." Charlie said, his voice hollow.
"No." Harry told him. "Mia died because of a madman. This is on him, not you."
"You can't blame yourself for things that are out of your control. You just have to focus on the things that you can control and affect." Sheridan patted his shoulder. "Trust me. This is over a decade of therapy talking."
"One cannot truly control evil nor can a good man truly predict what an evil one will do." Rikko Kelley had her eyes closed and her forehead resting on her fist.
Arianna sighed, tapping a pencil against the paper in front of her. "Why can't they just say 'If you go here on this day, a piano will fall on your head' or something simple like that?" she muttered, still trying to work out the mysteries of Seers.
"Because all the Seers in existence want to irritate you, luv." James teased. She stuck her tongue out at him and then went back to tapping her pencil.
"Emeralds... emeralds..." Noelle leaned back in her seat. "Okay. Emeralds are a green jewel. Green jewels. Green jewe-" She sat up and frowned. "Julie Green? Wasn't that your friend's name? The one that disappeared?"
Valentine sank into her seat, pale. "Julie was supposed to meet us that night. She never showed. Do you think he killed her, too?" Jack put his hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe they were finally telling us what happened to Julie." he said softly. "Maybe we'll finally find Julie."
"What I keep coming back to is how often they both referred to the Forgotten." Arianna said. "Maddy was screaming about her and Lessy was talking about her, too. From what we know, Mia didn't let him in her life or her home but Maddy said this woman did. 'Silly little foxes' she said. If this person wasn't important, they wouldn't have mentioned her. So who is The Forgotten?"
* * *
June 1st, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana
Audrina surged to her feet, clapping and yelling as Danni caught the Snitch.
"They're in the play-off's!" she bellowed and hugged Charlene. "They're in the play-off's!"
Randal beamed as his daughter landed and was mobbed by her teammates. His baby was heading to the National League Play-off's. She yelled triumphantly, her fist held high above her head as she was engulfed in a mob of people. All that was visible was her tiny fist still clutching the Snitch.
That night, as the family and the families of the other people associated with the team celebrated, Peter looked at Randal.
"So where the hell does she get this talent from?" he asked laughingly. "I've never even seen you on a broom!"
Randal remembered the last time he had been on a broom. He had been chasing Harry Bloody Potter and had almost died. That had ended his desire to ever be on a broom again.
"She's just gifted." he said smoothly.
Damned if he knew where she got that gift from but he was alright with that.
His daughter smiled at him and he smiled back. She hadn't been herself for some time now. She had a nose stud now and wore black around her eyes. In fact, she wore black everything these days. Black and tight. Except for her hair. There were purple streaks in it. Sometimes, those streaks of purple were the only thing that wasn't black on his daughter.
Audrina called how she dressed "Goth-Punk".
Randal called it annoying. He had hated it when Bella decided to dress like a mad woman on her way to a funeral.
The thing that frightened him was that it seemed to be contagious. The others had taken to wearing the same things and, God help him, one of them actually had a piercing in his eyebrow. (He was really hoping that P.L. got over that soon. It bothered him a lot.) They had even put different colors in their hair.
As he thought about the fact that his 13 year old daughter had turned herself into some sort of black wearing, angst filled teenager, he heard a shriek.
"Jason! When did you pierce your tongue?!" Charlene howled. Randal flinched. A pierced tongue?! How did he eat?!
Suddenly, Danielle's pierced nose didn't seem too bad.
A month later, when he saw her picture in the paper with her teammates, announcing that the New Orleans Charms would be playing in the National Championship, he had to admit that she didn't look like the girl he had always known. And, to be honest, she did look quite pretty. Surrounded by her friends, their arms around each other, laughing and grinning, his little girl looked more like the woman she would become than the child she had been.
It made him feel an odd mixture of pride and sadness.
And it also made him more determined that ever to find that spell.
* * *
August 23rd, 2012 Dublin, Ireland
"Where are the kids?" Charlie asked Jack, noting the strange silence in the house. Jack groaned.
"Lower your voice." he said, ushering his friend from the floo to Jack's personal parlor. "She'll hear you."
"Who will?" Charlie had just made a series of floo jumps to the Larkin House to speak with an investigator that the Larkin Family had hired.
"Val." Jack groaned. He walked to a small bar and poured himself a drink. Charlie nodded at his lifted eyebrows and Jack poured him one as well. "You know that therapist that advised the kids to work on their... issues through music?" Charlie nodded. "Well, they did. And some of them were really good at it. Sheridan has a cello and I swear to God, I have never heard music like what she plays."
"They have a band, don't they?" Charlie asked.
"Aye. And they've been playing at bars and festivals and the like. Well, they got signed." Jack fell into a seat. "They can go professional."
"That's wonderful!" Charlie smiled. Jack managed a smile in return.
"Aye. Wonderful." Jack said. "And they're opening for some American Singer. It's a great opportunity. And they jumped at the chance."
"And what's the problem?" Charlie frowned.
"They all went."
Charlie blinked. "All of them are in the band?"
"No." Jack shuddered. "God help us when some of them try to make music. Bastien couldn't carry a tune if you handed him a bucket. Sounds like howling no matter what he does. No, the ones that can't play went along to keep the others in line. They even came up with job titles. Head Roadie. Manager. Assistant Manager. Sound Technician. You get the picture."
Charlie nodded slowly.
"Well, they're all gone for at least three months and maybe longer. All of them. Every single child in the house is gone." Jack waited. Charlie stared and then frowned to show his confusion. "Charlie, it's been twenty years since we haven't had a child in the house. Ethan and Sebastien are only sixteen." Understanding was dawning on Charlie. "Val... Val isn't handling it well."
"How bad are we talking?" Charlie asked.
"She wants to have another baby." Charlie's eyebrows lifted. "I know." Jack nodded. "Actually, she wants two because she says that thirteen is an unlucky number. And she's moping. Val does not mope."
Charlie winced and patted his friend on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, mate."
Jack nodded his acceptance of the sympathy. "I figured we would work our way into having an empty house. Not all of them at once." Charlie saw that Valentine was not the only one having a problem with the empty house. "There was just no warning."
Jack exhaled slowly and then forced a smile. "So. Let's go work on getting one into your house. Have you thought about what you're going to do when we find Fiona? Where you're going to live?"
Charlie nodded. "Yeah. I have, actually. I'll probably transfer to Wales again and get a house. Wales is between my family and Daniel and Rikko. That's as far as I've gotten."
Jack clapped him on his shoulder and stood. "It'll be good to have you closer." With that, the two men went to meet the investigator.
* * *
August 26th, 2012 Walt Disney World, Florida
A commentator was belting out a play by play commentary and actually being heard over the yells of the crowd, the pounding of the rain and the booming of the thunder.
Randal watched intently as his baby slammed her shoulder into the opposing Seeker, sending the boy spiraling away. Clarice yelled in triumph as she deflected yet another quaffle and the entire crowd yelled as Fred and P.L. slammed the bludgers back and forth between them before Fred slammed it at a Chaser. Brandon and Jason were in perfect unison in their flying as they sped around the pitch with a girl from their school named Sophie Hollis.
It was the National Championship Game of Quidditch and it had been nasty from the beginning when a Chaser attempted to put Clarice through the hoop she was guarding and then tried to rip Fred from her broom.
The New Orleans Team had lost their patience and begun to retaliate in like.
"Go, Clarice!" bellowed Peter as Clarice caught the Quaffle and threw it with all her might at a passing Chaser.
The other Seeker grabbed Danni's braid and almost pulled her off her broom. She bellowed a few words that Randal pretended that he didn't understand before driving her elbow into the boy's face. Blood spurted from his crushed nose and she yelled at him angrily before giving in to her emotions with an obscene gesture.
"That's your sweet little baby." Audrina chortled as a referee called a time out so that the other seeker could get his nose fixed. Danni sat on her broom, staring down at him with a look of complete and utter disdain.
Randal just smiled. "He started it." he said serenely as a referee insisted that he had not seen what had happened and then continued the game.
Randal watched, his eyes narrowed as the war between the two Seekers continued. Fred and P.L. flanked them, deflecting bludgers as best they could and, when possible, sending them at the other Seeker. Fred bellowed in rage when the other Seeker punched Danni in the face. She flew backwards off her broom. Fred slammed the back of her broom into the Seeker's face, knocking him off of his as she shot down toward her friend.
Danni was falling in a strange way. It almost looked as though she was trying to make herself fall faster, keeping one arm stretched out before her while the other was pressed against her body. Then, she made a fist and changed her body's position so that she was no longer pointing straight at the ground.
The crowd yelled in fear as Randal leapt to his feet, his heart skipping. Fred grabbed Danni, almost coming off her own broom, yelling in pain and exertion. P.L. was suddenly right beside her and grabbed the back of Danni's jersey. The other Seeker was grabbed by a referee. Danni landed lightly, blood streaming from her busted lip, panting. Fred and P.L. landed next to her and a moment later, the other members of the team landed and advanced on the ashen faced Seeker. Fred was shaking the arm that she had used to grab Danni and P.L. watched her, concern in his eyes before turning to face forward again.
Danni stopped right in front of him, held up her left hand, displaying a fluttering Snitch and then, while he gaped at it, drove her fist into the boy's face. He flailed backwards and landed on the ground.
"You little bitch!" she spat, looking down at him.
"You could have killed her, you asshat!" Jason yelled, leaping on top of the boy.
The other team landed and an all-out brawl erupted.
"Mean right hook your girl has, Randal." David commented.
Randal smiled as officials tried in vain to separate the brawling teams. Clarice, shrieking like a banshee, was holding onto the hair of a large Beater with her legs wrapped around his waist as he spun around and around, trying to get her off his back. Brandon and Jason were rolling around on the ground with two Chasers while Fred grappled with a Keeper, P.L. punched a Beater, Sophie was kicking the final Chaser and Danni continued her battle with the Seeker.
The brawl had bled into the stands as parents, fans and everyone in-between got into the spirit of things. Nadine and Audrina scrambled to erect shield charms and keep their spouses from joining in.
"It is the Happiest Place on Earth." Randal beamed, eating a handful of popcorn.
Thirty minutes later, the winning team stood on a platform with a frazzled looking official, accepting the cup. They beamed innocently for the cameras.
The attempt at innocence was wasted since Danni's lip was still swollen and bruised and her jersey was torn, Brandon and Fred had black eyes, P.L.'s cheek was cut and swollen, Clarice was clutching a handful of hair in addition to her bruised nose and Sophie was limping and holding her ribs.
"Dad, can we go ride Space Mountain now?" Danni asked, her eyes sparkling, as soon as they joined their family.
Randal put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Anything for my little girl."
She smiled sweetly at him and then turned to where the other team was. "Hey!" she yelled. They all looked at her. "We're gonna go ride Space Mountain. Wanna go?" The Seeker that she had spent most of the day trying to kill and trying to keep from being killed by blinked and then nodded.
"Yeah. Sounds fun." he replied. He walked over and offered his hand. "Mike Finnley."
Danni accepted his hand and smiled. "Danni Montague. Hey, that dive you did at one point right before I knocked into you and distracted you the second time? That was awesome. Could you teach me to do that?"
He nodded. "Yeah, if you'll teach me how to do that barrel roll thing without getting dizzy. And by the way," He rubbed his jaw and smiled ruefully. "Where'd you learn to throw a punch?"
This was all it took for the other members of the two teams to approach one another and begin discussing sharing different moves.
As they walked away amidst flashing cameras and excited reporters, Randal noticed that the frazzled officials looked dumbfounded and ready to start crying or screaming... or both.
That evening, they all stood together, watching the fireworks with delighted looks on all of their faces. Danni looked at her father with a huge smile on her face.
"I am so happy right now." she announced to him, slipping her hand into his.
Randal smiled down at her. "Me, too, Baby Girl. Me, too."
The next day, his happiness fled when he walked past Brandon, Jason and Fred in the Magic Kingdom. He glanced at Fred when she suddenly whistled very loud and very shrill.
"Do stop that." he requested. She looked very, very nervous.
He narrowed his eyes and ignored that feeling of dread growing in his stomach.
He glanced at Jason. He was frantically hitting keys on his cell phone.
Brandon was edging toward the corner that Randal was about to go around.
That feeling was too intense to be ignored.
He stepped around the corner and almost screamed.
It was the most horrible thing he had ever seen.
In an instant, every moment of Azkaban faded from memory. Everything he had seen as a Death Eater ceased to exist. In an instant, he saw and knew true horror.
His daughter, his pretty teenage daughter, was standing with her back against a wall, one arm crossed beneath her breasts while her other hand twirled a lock of hair, her foot pressed against the wall, even with her knee, a small smile on her glamoured face as she peeked up at, God help him, a teenage boy.
A teenage boy that just screamed "Danger!" to every paternal instinct in him.
Black hair that was hanging negligently over his forehead and was a bit long at the back. He was wearing a black t-shirt proclaiming the name of some band and was wearing dark jeans and what looked like biker boots.
Randal began making choking noises.
Danielle lifted her chin and tossed her hair over her shoulder before pushing away from the wall.
"We'll see about that. But I think I can be persuaded to have dinner with you. Maybe." she said in response to something the boy had said. Her voice was... throaty. Then, she laughed and began strolling away. She stopped short, seeing her father and smiled.
"Hi, Daddy." she said in a perfectly normal voice. Then she frowned. "Are you alright?"
"Gah." Randal managed.
Audrina flew around the corner, red curls flying and her cheeks flushed. "Randal! Hi! What a coincidence finding you here!"
"I think he's choking on his own tongue!" Danielle cried, hurrying toward her father. "He's purple!" She began pounding on his back. The boy looked startled but also looked like he recognized what Randal's problem was. He began backing away, his eyes rather wide.
Audrina stepped in front of Randal. "Randal! Stop it!" She smacked his forehead with her palm. "Don't you pretend to be having a stroke! I know better!" Randal choked once more and then pointed one shaking finger at the boy. Audrina seemed to understand.
"Randal, I would like you to meet Ethan Larkin. He and his band are opening for me on my next tour." Randal choked out another noise. "Yes, Randal. He is sixteen years old." Randal gurgled. "Yes. He is the singer in a band." Randal pointed a trembling finger toward the boy's shoes. Audrina frowned. "Well, I don't know. Hold on." She turned. "Ethan, darling, do you by any chance have a need for those boots?"
Ethan smiled. "I have a motorcycle. You know, like the muggles? My sisters, Sheridan and Noelle, bought it for me as a present for my 16th birthday." He looked at Danni. "You'll like them. The rest of the band is down in Miami getting ready for the show next week. Sheridan, Noelle and I came up here to actually meet Audrina." He grinned. "And because we wanted to go to Disney World. Our brothers, Sebastien and Henri are here, too."
"And I can't wait to meet them all." Audrina turned again. "Why don't you and I go have a spot of tea, Randal?" She began leading him away. "Be good!" she called over her shoulder to the kids.
Over and over, a single thought raged through Randal's head:
His daughter was probably going on a date with a teenage boy that was in a band and drove a motorcycle.
And to make it all worse, that evening, Peter, David and Marcel all looked at him sadly and sympathetically, in one case clapping him on the shoulder and asking if he'd like a beer while the cursed women all giggled like it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen.
Randal started thinking more about that convent idea and wondered if they let fathers deposit their daughters there even if they weren't Catholic.