Whatever Dino's reservations were about Mukuro, he reluctantly admitted his sister had been correct in that the kid was one move away from going on a complete massacre of the famiglia he was in with his minions right next to him.
How the hell did the Serpente famiglia miss the fact that all three of them had PTSD, particularly Mukuro?!
He thanked his lucky stars they caught it in time, even if he wasn't entirely happy that Mukuro managed to harmonize with his sister as her Mist Guardian. Fortunately between Viper and the Varia, they were able to give the murderous little brat a 'healthy' outlet and the training he would need to be an effective Guardian.
The Varia didn't hire untested kids. However an outside contractor, while unusual, was still within acceptable limits. Mukuro could toe the line with his murderous urges, but at least this way he stayed firmly out of Vindicare while getting the treatment they clearly needed.
Dino knew his sister had PTSD from the Dursleys and to a lesser extent the death of their mother. However she had made great leaps in recovering from it simply because he removed her from that house and the country where she only had bad memories.
He couldn't count the number of times she had used him as a shield against her nightmares, both real and imagined. Or the number of times Reborn had let her use him as a teddy bear at night.
Melody had found the perfect outlet for her Mist to heal from his own trauma. Not just the training under Viper (which came complete with small missions for Mukuro to get his murderous urges out), but the fact that every time they found anyone stupid enough to help the Esterneo (either through funding or supplies, it didn't matter) Viper happily taught their apprentice how bankrupt the fools...for a hefty percentage of the money.
Mukuro didn't care about the money as it was just a means to an end for him. All he cared about was revenge, and being able to ruin those who either directly or indirectly participated in what they went through. The Vindice would only get involved if they went in and directly killed those responsible.
They could care less if a famiglia was ruined financially and drove themselves into extinction.
If anything Mukuro and his minions were thriving under Melody's Sky. She understood them in a way the Serpente famiglia simply didn't. Not that they really tried. All they saw was a trio of Flame active kids that needed a home and didn't bother to do a simple background check.
Of course nothing could have prepared Dino for when Melody managed to find her Storm.
Hayato Gokudera was a smart, if headstrong and brash idiot who had more or less cut ties with his famiglia upon learning the truth about his mother. That and the fact his father openly encouraged the boy's older sister (who was the same woman that kept trying to poison him because of a misguided crush on Reborn) to use him as a testing dummy for her poison cooking meant that Hayato had more than a little to prove to himself and to the underworld that he was more than the bastard son of a Japanese pianist.
Dino could understand wanting to prove yourself, and could somewhat relate to the trauma Hayato had of Bianchi.
What he didn't get was how the hell Hayato and Melody could call each other best friends after a few meetings when the rows they had about details that made his head spin could be heard halfway across the house!
He looked between Melody and Hayato with an exasperated expression on his face. He had a headache and it wasn't even a school day.
"So what do you two have to say for yourselves?"
"She/he started it!" they said in unison, pointing at each other.
"I don't care who started it!" said Dino tiredly. "I just want an hour of peace and quiet to finish my paperwork!"
"Big brother, we live with Reborn as your home tutor. Peace and quiet is an illusion and just means that even bigger trouble is about to hit and hit hard," said Melody cheekily.
Reborn snorted at that.
"She has a point," he announced, smirking at her.
"I do not understand how exactly you managed to get him as your Storm when you're always bickering over nothing," said Dino.
"We're not bickering. We're debating on creatures that may or may not exist and the possibility of alien life in the universe," said Melody in confusion. "Besides, Hayato is one of the only other people in the school besides me and Byakuran who reads the Quibbler."
Melody gave Hayato a dark look.
"And I still say that nargles are in no way related to wrackspurts."
"...I do not want to know. Just try to tone down the yelling, please?" begged Dino.
"I make no promises," said Melody with a sniff.
"Fine, then next time you get into a row with him try to limit the yelling and switch to hand to hand. You've been slacking of late and if he's going to be your Storm he might as well pick up on it now. And Hayato, no bombs in the mansion. At least not the explosive kind. Paint bombs are semi-acceptable and if you behave we'll show you how to work a paintball gun or something."
Paintball was an accepted practice in mafia families, as it was highly useful for teaching small children how to actually aim worth a damn and how to dodge without doing more than giving a bit of minor bruising. Nothing emphasized avoiding hits by potentially lethal projectiles than a big paint mess on your person.
"I already know how to shoot a paintball gun, but I never really got into it since the only one who wanted to play was aneki," said Hayato sourly. And he wasn't allowed to properly hit her, which meant he wasn't inclined to mess around with it.
Dino eyed the two of them before sighing.
"I know I'm going to regret this... Melody, introduce him to that old hound and the wolf. If nothing else they can get him started on proper trap placement."
Melody let out a whoop of laughter as she proceeded to drag a very confused Hayato to see the Marauders.
As much as she loathed James Potter, the fact remained that she had inherited the pranking gene. However unlike James she never really used malicious pranks against people who annoyed her. She was far more likely to punch their lights out.
Let it never be said that Dino was one to miss a chance to have his sister learn how to throw a proper punch. Not only did she get lessons from Lussuria (who found the entire idea hilarious, mostly because of why Dino was so quick to jump on the idea), but Fon had come by for a month or two to teach Tai Chi and found a very enthusiastic and respectful student...once she got the urge to hug him out of the way, that is.
Was it her fault that the Arcobaleno were all cute and hug-sized?
Hayato got along terrifyingly well with Remus, who had always been the brains of the Marauders. He openly said that he thought the whole werewolf thing was cool right to the man's face, which earned him Sirius' immediate approval.
Remus found their arguments over the Quibbler articles rather amusing, all told.
Though not as amusing as the expression on Dino's face when they got back from a trip to the local magical alleys...along with an extra.
In the Italian magical district...
Hayato and Melody were cheerfully debating nargles over wrackspurts, when Melody caught sight of a dreamy eyed blond girl with radish earrings and a butterbeer necklace.
She made her way to the younger girl, mostly because she had to know.
"Is that a wrackspurt repellent necklace you're wearing?" asked Melody with hopeful eyes.
"Don't be silly. How many people actually have the sense to make one, much less wear it in public?" said Hayato without thinking.
The blond girl openly beamed at them both.
"It is. You two have far less nargles than most around you...it's quite refreshing," said the girl with a slight English accent.
"Thanks! I convinced Mukuro to purge the mansion of nargles at least once a week, and Ken always has fun trying to find them!" said Melody. "I'm Melody Cavallone."
"Hayato Gokudera."
"I am Luna Lovegood."
The two gaped at her.
"Ohmygosh! Not the same Lovegoods who run the Quibbler!" said Melody with enthusiasm.
Luna's smile could have lit up a room.
"You have to help us settle a debate. I say that the Crumple Horned Snorkack is clearly from the southern hemisphere, but Hayato insists it's more likely to be found in the north!" said Melody with sparkly eyes.
Luna beamed at them both and happily began to join in on the 'argument' that had gotten them kicked out of the mansion for two hours by Dino. Hayato and Melody practically adopted the little blond witch as one of their own.
Remus took one look and tried very, very hard not to laugh.
"Hey Uncle Remus, do you think big brother would mind if Luna came for a sleep over?" asked Melody, eyes wide.
"I think he'd agree to it so long as her parents don't mind and to get some peace for a day or two," said Remus.
Luna perked up at that. She dragged them to one of the bookstores where her father was and it didn't take much to get an agreement for a proper sleepover. Ginny was too busy with her new friends at Hogwarts to remember Luna these days, which she found disappointing.
Dino took one look at Luna and agreed to it...if only so Melody didn't break out the puppy dog eyes.
Melody squealed with happiness. She didn't really have many female friends, since more than a few of them were more interested in her brother and whether he was single or not.
"So Luna, what's Hogwarts like? I'm mostly home schooled like my brother, so I have no idea outside of the wild tales uncle Remus and Sirius give me."
"It's... well to be honest it looks nice on the outside but once you're a student it's very sad."
Melody frowned.
"Sad?"
"The castle is trying, but there's too much bad blood and no one is strong enough to set down the law in the school to bring the entire mess to heel. And the headmaster pretends to care, but he really doesn't. He allows the bullying situation to get entirely out of hand and only hands out token detentions," said Luna sadly. "And if someone were to try and sort out the mess, then the Ministry would likely as not either brand them a dark witch or wizard, or worse idolize them to the point that the invisible chains would choke the life out of them. I think things would be much better if someone were to go in and set off that powder keg early just so we can start off fresh with a clean slate...preferably with
all the knowledge and history left intact."
"Makes me wonder what would happen if someone were to slip how to activate their Dying Will Flames, only to cause the majority of the English enclaves to become active," said Melody shaking her head.
More than ever she was very, very glad that her brother put his foot down and told the English to go hang themselves when they attempted to drag her into that nonsense.
There was nothing the British or Dumbledore could do to force her into going to Hogwarts or being subject to their laws, and all her vaults save for the ancestral Potter one had been moved to Italy. And that lone vault was blood sealed, so even if the Ministry did try to seize it, then they couldn't access it without a Potter because the contents would simply vanish...or in the event of her dying without any heirs would go straight to the goblins clans.
It had been that stipulation that had earned the positively friendly reception from the goblins. That and it would royally screw over the English fools who annoyed them so much, though it really didn't hurt that Dino had made Viper their financial adviser.
The Mist was many things, but a fool was not one of them. Upon being given access to a large store of gold and other precious metals that were being used as currency of all things, Viper had taken to increasing the amount using investments they had themselves.
Reborn had sniffed at the action, but hadn't commented. If Dino wanted to pay that miser the unholy fees that Viper insisted on with his inheritance from his mother, that was his business.
"Do you at least like the school?"
Luna shook her head.
"Most people call me Loony Lovegood and my only friend there has new ones and forgot about me," she said sadly.
Melody swept her up in a hug.
"What are the classes like at least?"
Because in all honesty it was starting to sound like she dodged a major bullet when her brother took full custody of her. Luna's description of the classes made that very clear.
Which was why Melody refused to let her new friend suffer another year of substandard teaching on top of the bullying.
Dino had groaned when he realized his sister had managed to somehow find a Rainy Mist, one that had apparently gone Active very young and was in danger of going into Discord.
Xenophilius had absolutely no problem allowing his daughter to stay in Italy or remove her from the ancient castle. He could see she was much happier here with her potential Sky than she was in England. Especially when Luna became Melody's Rain guardian, since Mukuro was firmly her Mist.
Byakuran found the little Rain openly fascinating, and Melody laughed herself to hiccups when Luna was kidnapped by both her friend and Lussuria and came back dressed in the most outlandish outfits. Luna seemed positively cheerful about the clashing colors and bizarre designs, but it was clear to anyone with eyes she was just happy to have friends who genuinely understood her.