Soon, it was late July in the Holmes-Watson household of 221B. When Rhys picked up the mail from the front step before breakfast, he sorted it into three piles. One for Mrs. Hudson the landlady, one for his uncle William, and one for his parents. He placed the mail for Mrs. Hudson in the basket by her door, and the other through the mail-slot on his uncle's door.
When he walked up the stairs to the family's flat, he placed a parchment envelope on the bottom of the stack. During breakfast, John would sort through the mail. This morning, William, Sherrinford, and Mycroft were present because it was Waffles Wednesday. Without fail, every Wednesday the three brothers would come join the rest of the family for a muggle-style breakfast.
"I see that the ministry still wants me to take over for whomever is the current idiot that is the head of the Auror department." John growled as he frowned at the contents of the first letter before glaring at Mycroft who shrugged.
"Not my department." the second-eldest stated before eating another bite of his favorite muggle food. Sherrinford snorted as William rolled his eyes at their snobbish brother.
John continued to sort through the mail, occasionally telling Sherlock some of the content "Molly and Tom are getting married next spring, we're invited... Gringotts wrote to tell us that Rhys's school account has activated... Remus sends his love, and hopes to come over to see us before the new school year begins." Remus Lupin had been a friend of John's after they both graduated from Hogwarts as seventh-years. They kept in touch even after John went into hiding as a Muggle before re-appearing, married to Sherlock five years after Voldemort's apparent downfall with an adopted son.
Sherlock smiled "Oh, good. I was hoping to see Moony before Rhys goes to Hogwarts."
John smiled as he saw the last letter "Speaking of going to Hogwarts, here is Rhys's letter." He cleared his throat and held the acceptance letter in front of himself pompously: "Dear Mr. Holmes-Watson, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Everyone at the table cheered, including Mycroft. Rhys beamed proudly as Sherlock looked at the list of required items through reading glasses "We will be getting you an owl. You will need one of your own to get your messages to us faster. And I will be looking through both my and William's and John's books to give you the best of what we had. All we need to do is take you over to a few stores including Madam Malkin's for your supplies." She looked over her reading glasses as she smiled. "Well done, Rhys. I'm so proud of you."
Mycroft cleared his throat "I took the liberty of putting his name down on the enrollment list when you adopted him." He smiled "Dumbledore is frantically trying to find Harry Potter before the deadline. And apparently his eldest cousin Dudley will be going to Hogwarts."
John snorted "I pity that one. Last time I saw that boy's father he called anyone with magic a Freak. I bet it comes from the boy's mother. Her sister was a witch after all."
Sherlock looked at John "Maybe we should visit the Dursleys and invite their son to come with us to Diagon Alley."
John nodded, looking at Rhys "Would you like to go visit them?"
Rhys shrugged "I don't mind at all. But maybe just with Jade. She seems to have more control over her magic than the twins."
Sherrinford clapped his hands together 'Now that that's settled, everyone may go get ready. I will do the dishes."
Everyone laughed and did what they needed to do.
A few hours later, Sherlock held Jade as John and Rhys walked up to the front door of Number Four Privet Drive.
John looked at Rhys and nodded. Rhys took in a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
They braced themselves when they heard heavy footsteps in the hall. They didn't know what to expect when Vernon opened the door angrily. "What do you want?"
Rhys smiled bravely "Hello, Uncle. Would you mind letting us come in?"
Vernon looked at Rhys's face closely "You do not look like my nephew."
"Adoption potion. My wife and I used it in our magical adoption of your nephew. It slightly changes features." John cut in before Rhys would say something to set off the man.
"Ah. Would you like to come in?" Vernon said, as cordially as he possibly could.
John nodded and waved for Sherlock to bring Jade with her. Sherlock smiled at Vernon as she led Jade into the Muggle house. Vernon boomed "Petunia? We have guests! Dudley! Winifred! Come down here!" Vernon ushered the four of them into the sitting room.
There was frantic running as two children ran down the stairs, one slightly plump and the same age as Rhys, the other a small, delicate girl with curly red hair. "Yes, Father?" they both chimed.
"This is an acquaintance of the family, John Watson, his wife Sherlock, and their children. Introduce yourselves."
The boy stepped forward "Hello. I'm Dudley and this is my sister Winnifred."
Rhys cut in "You are eleven and will be going to Hogwarts with me, and your sister can't be older than four, and she already is starting to show signs of aptitude with magic. You care for her and worry what will happen when you can't protect her while you are away."
Dudley stared at Rhys, with his mouth open in amazement. John shared a knowing look with Sherlock, who was trying to not laugh. "That was amazing!" Dudley finally said.
"Was that magic?" the little girl asked, her head turned to one side as she looked at Rhys with curiosity.
"No. That is called a deduction. My husband and I do them all the time for our work." Sherlock said with a smile.
Rhys looked at Dudley with a small smile "No one ever says that."
"What do they normally say?" Dudley asked with a smile, liking the odd, curly-haired boy.
"I can't say it in front of our sisters, but basically they say go away." Rhys smiled as Dudley laughed. Sherlock and John held hands, remembering a very similar conversation when they had taken their first cab ride together.
At that point, Petunia came in, and looked at Sherlock, eyes narrowed. "Sherlock. Nice of you to drop by after all these years."
"Petunia! How nice of you to join us! The children were just getting acquainted." Vernon said with a smile.
"We had heard that your eldest son, Dudley was going to join our son at the school your sister and I attended when we were children. I was hoping to mend a few bridges and volunteer to take you and your family over to Diagon Alley for your son's supplies. And I wanted to talk to you in private for a bit." She looked at Vernon "Would you mind?"
"Not at all."
Once they were outside, Sherlock turned to Petunia "Rhys is your nephew. If you look carefully, he has Lily's eyes and the scar still. But the real reason why I came is to ask you if you wanted me to get you a house-elf to help you around the house. They are very sweet and useful creatures."
Petunia's facade crumbled a little bit. "It's nice to see Dudders getting along with him. And Winnie seems to enjoy the company of your daughter."
"Jade. Rhys named her himself."
Petunia smiled "She seems to be a good girl. And I think I will take you up on that. I explained magic to the best of my ability to Vernon, I hope your John can clarify a few things."
"He should, after all he was an Auror for a while."
"Auror?" Petunia asked, puzzled by the unfamiliar term.
"Wizard policeman. Catches Dark Wizards and brings them to the Ministry for trial. The usual."
"Oh. Must be quite dangerous, then." Petunia said, eyes wide at Sherlock's indifference.
"He's a Healer now. Had to retire after dueling my cousins, the Carrows."
"Your cousins?"
"On my mother's side. She burned me off the family tree tapestry for marrying John."
"Why?"
"Because he's like your children. Muggle-Born." Sherlock looked at Petunia carefully "Although I'm not too sure in your case. I think you might have been a squib sibling, because if both your children are magical, and your sister was as well."
Petunia smiled "Thank you. One thing I could always be sure of was you being able to tell the truth."
Sherlock smiled "Let's go see what our families are up to. And there are two more of mine at home with my eldest brother."
"There are more than two of you?" Petunia asked, faking alarm. The two women laughed as they walked back into the house.
