Harry Potter and the Man of Britannia

Chapter 6

Respectful and Suspicious

Part 1

DeiDeiArtistic: New Chapter! :D Also, this starts off as mostly Alfred's POV. Also, I meant to post this on Arthur's birthday, but FF decided to like crash around 9-10 o'clock! XP Anyway, happy late birthday Arthur!

Chapter Dedication: SilverLunaMoon

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or Harry Potter, likewise any of the preexisting characters or places.
Claimer: I own the plot of this story and any fictional character or idea that is not mentioned in either Hetalia or Harry Potter.

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WARNING: Part IV is rated T for mild innuendos.
Use of personal headcanons.
Possible OOC characters; mentions of OCs.
Unbeta'd.
***

I

It had been some weeks after Alfred's, or anyone's, time with the Boggart, but it was clear Professor Lupin was the school's most favorite teacher. His lessons were fun and entertaining; and despite that every now and then, Alfred caused some sort of trouble, nearly everyone got along well with the lessons. However, the only people who persisted to bad mouth the professor were Malfoy and his gang, as well as the rest of the Slytherins.

While Alfred found Malfoy's antics pathetic and annoying, nobody cared to listen of Malfoy's criticism towards Lupin's attire or appearance. Arthur also chipped in Lupin's defense, claiming "that a man's attire had nothing to do with how much of a splendid professor his was", in which many of the students agreed with him. Still, that never stopped Malfoy or any of the Slytherins bad mouthing Lupin.

Though, weeks from the encounter of the Boggart, Snape has been in a particularly foul mood. It was rumored that the story of the Boggart taking Snape's form and Neville dressing the Boggart into his grandmother's clothes had reached Professor Snape in no time. And predictably, Snape did not found the situation amusing. Whenever Lupin was mentioned, Snape would scowl, and when Neville was near, Snape would bully the boy even worse than before, and Alfred felt bad for that.

From his time there, Alfred was doing well in his classes, despite his occasional slip ups, and nearly all the students and teacher made sure to watch him whenever a vial or potion was near… DADA was entertaining and the spells were handy. Charms, Herbology, and Potions were okay, but Alfred was able to get by, even when his peers were watching his every move. Okay sure, he did drop about some ten Puffapods that sprouted right away as they hit the floor, but it was an accident. He didn't mean to drop them, it just happened. And okay perhaps he did cast some cheering charms on the Slytherins (and Arthur), but in his defense he "needed the practice".

But the classes that interested Alfred the most were what he thought were the more fun courses. Transfiguration was a fun class, a little tricky, but Alfred had fun relearning how to transform one object into another, and Professor McGonagall was a nice woman, even if she was rather strict. But from his stunts every now and then, McGonagall became stricter with Alfred of using transfigurations outside of class. The last thing she wanted was Alfred transfiguring objects without permission. Still, despite Alfred's constant arguments that a "hero doesn't vandalize", McGonagall would simply nod and encourage Alfred to keep to his word.

Then there was the Care of Magical Creatures. At first, Alfred the class would be fun, like taking care of dragons or something, but after something about some Hippogriff attack, the lessons were dull or "so fucking boring" in Alfred's words. When the class wasn't taking care of their flobberworms, they were taking notes or reading chapters from their Monster Book of Monsters. In the book they would read about amazing and cool creatures and Alfred thought when could they take care of those creatures? And much less, how could he make sure his book didn't try to eat his hand every time he went to open it— or rather grab it since all he had to do was stroke the spine to open it.

Ancient Runes was another class he liked, he found it interesting and Arthur actually praised Alfred for taking. He said learning another's runes led to worlds unknown to him. Alfred silently snickered because he'd recognize some of the symbols from what he'd seen in Tonny's lab back home. (Mind you the lab was in his home's basement since technically Tonny* didn't exist to the government… Or any government for a matter of fact.) So because of Tonny, of course Alfred had to take the class. He wanted to see if other aliens like Tonny had been on earth and why! Whenever he asked the alien about others like him, he would answer with broad and vague terms. He wondered why though… But nonetheless, perhaps taking this class he would be able find clues and maybe he might discover something!

And then there was also a History of Magic. The subject itself was interesting, though he was more interested in staring at the professor's ass than at the blackboard. But then again, Arthur taught that class, so if he missed anything, he could always go to him, with or without permission. But then Alfred wondered how exactly old was Arthur if he knew all this. He knew Arthur, or England, lived since back the Medieval Ages, but even further than that? Still, Alfred couldn't help himself when it came to bothering Arthur in class. Whereas he would ask the same questions over and over or make jokes in the class as Arthur taught. However there were times Alfred would push Arthur's buttons too far and he either had chalk pelted at him or suddenly found himself to be mute.

Yet even if staring at Arthur's ass was a nice pass time, Astronomy was his most favorite. He pretty much had that class in a bag. He knew almost all there was about the stars and space. Not to mention, having spent long years cooperating with NASA, Alfred knew all there is to know. He knew the constellations, the names of the stars, the type of stars, and even the planets and their moons. And the class would also bring him to cloud nine whenever he thought back to his adventures in space… However, nobody at Hogwarts knew of this, sans Arthur, and just assumed he was an avid student when it came to space. Still, Alfred couldn't see why kids thought this class was boring. He already knew this stuff already but he still found it amazing. There was so much more about space than bright pretty stars and the old philosophy about them.

So from his time in Hogwarts, Alfred more or less had an amazing time and he made a great friend too! Luna Lovegood. Alfred couldn't figure why people would think she's a little weird, he thought she was pretty fun! If she ever meets Tonny, he thought she would like him. She would probably also like Gilbert and Matthias. Heck! She'll probably like all the other Nations! She seemed interested in that sort of thing, even if magic and science were rather different… But nonetheless Alfred liked Luna (and not just because she agreed to help him win Arthur's heart) — even if she did say odd things.

"Sometimes people don't see eye-to-eye, but that's because they're blind. Professor Kirkland isn't blind, but he's in a dark light. Still…You seem to be blind— and I don't mean by your eyesight." Luna said as she read The Quibbler.

"What do you mean by that? Arthur looks fine to me." Alfred said as he tried reading The Quibbler upside down. He still was trying to figure out how Luna read it. It was beginning to hurt his eyes. If he kept reading it like this, he would surely go blind. "I mean, I can see fine, so…"

Luna shook her head and set aside the odd magazine. "No, no. Heliopaths seemed taken an interest in Professor Kirkland. Despite the cold weather, Professor Kirkland has been making his classrooms very cold, surely you noticed this." She pointed out, crossing her arms.

Alfred thought long and hard for a moment. "True… I started to bring an extra sweater for his class, but Arthur's just weird like that. He's always doing something weird." Alfred said, brushing off what Luna had said. "Also, what's a heliopath?"

"It's a large fire spirit." She answered simply before picking up her copy of The Quibbler.

"Oh…" Alfred said, turning The Quibbler right-side up. However when he looked at the pages, Alfred blinked when he could barely make out the words. Rubbing his eyes, Alfred blinked a couple times. Man, reading upside down was not something he would recommend to anyone. It seriously puts a strain on your eyes…

However, it was now October and Alfred could just see everyone growing excited for Quidditch season, especially Harry. Alfred already knew what Quidditch was, but he wasn't that excited for it as everyone else seemed to be. It wasn't much of a popular sport back in his States, probably because most of his wizard schools were very different from schools like Hogwarts. But then again, Alfred liked to work against the crowd than with it, so that probably added to it as well.

The Gryffindors seemed very keen on winning the Quidditch cup, and so did the Slytherins. The rivalry between them was so thick it was tangible to grab it and twist it like a balloon. The Quidditch teams seemed so riffled up to win, Alfred would watch the Gryffindor team practice with Ron and Hermione. Alfred had to say he was impressed with them— they were as determined as him and baseball season (or football, basketball, and hockey season). They practiced every week for three evenings and Oliver Wood (the Keeper of the team) seemed to want nothing but the best.

Though one evening in the Gryffindor common room, Alfred was leafing through his Black Holes and Baby Universes* as Hermione and Ron where completing their star charts for Astronomy. Hermione was quite surprised of Alfred completing his so quickly, and more so of his chart being very accurate, but Alfred shrugged it off that he's been studying stars for as long as he could remember where the constellations were. As the wizards continued on with their homework and Alfred with his reading, the rest of their housemates seemed to have caught the jitters when Harry came back from practice, patting down his body to warm himself up.

"What's happened?" Harry asked as he walked towards the group near the fireplace.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron pointed out, referring to the notice on the old shabby bulletin board. "End of October. Halloween."

"Excellent," said Fred, appearing behind Harry through the portrait hole. "I need to visit Zonko's. I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets."

Alfred blinked as set aside his books. "Hey, what is Hogsmeade? I've been meaning to ask, but never got around it."

"Hogsmeade is the only all-wizards village in Britain. Hogwarts lets us visit the village, but only third years and up, but they need a guardian's permission to go to Hogsmeade." Hermione explained.

"Guardian permission?" Alfred questioned, sending Hermione an odd look.

"Yes, last year all second years got this form to give to our parents or guardian." Hermione explain, taking out a sheet of paper and handing it to Alfred.

"Well that might explain it then," Alfred said as he looked over the permission slip. "I won't need one of these, would I?"

"Um, yes you do, otherwise Professor McGonagall won't let you go. Perhaps you should go get one now." Hermione advised, causing Alfred to groan.

"What? Ah man that's stupid! I like live on my own! I don't have any guardians, and I totally doubt my boss would sign it." Alfred huffed, burying his face into his hands.

The Golden Trio looked at each other and perked their brows.

"You don't have anyone who's able to sign this?" Ron asked. "Like a family friend or somebody." He suggested.

Alfred shrugged. "Well, my mom can't really write or anything… Maybe Arthur can sign it." Alfred said as he got up and handed Hermione back her permission slip. Stretching out his back, Alfred covered up yawned and hummed lightly to himself.

"Why would Professor Kirkland sign it?" Harry asked, wondering the same thing everyone else was.

"Ah, for a time he… used to watch me when I was younger." Alfred said, lying partly. It was true, just in a broad about way. However, saying this caused an unpleasant mix of emotions in Alfred. "Well, I'm going to get one of those slips then, see ya guys." Alfred said as he waved goodbye and left out through the portrait hole.

As soon as Alfred left, Harry slumped down into Alfred's seat as his liveliness began to fade away, and as expected, Hermione seemed to know what was bringing him down.

"Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time. They're bound to catch Black soon. He's been sighted once already." Hermione said as she tried to lighten up his spirits.

"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," said Ron, joining Hermione in the efforts to cheer up Harry. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry. The next one might not be for ages —"

"Ron!" Hermione chided. "Harry's supposed to stay in school —"

"If Alfred can get himself to go to Hogsmeade, then why not Harry? He can't be the only third year left behind." Ron argued. He did have a point. If Alfred could ask Professor Kirkland to sign his slip signed, than why not Harry? "Ask McGonagall, go on, Harry —"

"Yeah, I think I will," said Harry, making up his mind as he got up from his seat.

Hermione opened her mouth to argue back but Crookshanks thought otherwise as he leapt onto her lap with a fairly large dead spider hanging from his mouth.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" said Ron, scowling…

II

As Alfred left to go see Arthur, turning away the thought of bothering Professor McGonagall during the late hour (he didn't want to annoy her and add another reason for McGonagall to keep a close eye on him), Alfred traveled to through halls, walkways, and stairways as he left to Arthur's room. During his journey though, Alfred sighed as he found himself deeply bothered by the ever-changing layout of Hogwarts. He knew that it was for security purposes, but he always found himself to get lost at some point until he began to see familiar settings. Just once he wished to reach his desired location on the first try and not on the second, fourth, or sixth try. Just once, but that was wishful thinking.

When Alfred finally arrived to Arthur's (he swallowed up his pride by waking up a grumpy portrait to ask for directions), Alfred knocked on Arthur's door. Resting his hands behind his back, Alfred bounced on his heels, humming softly to himself before Arthur's door finally opened. It took a while of waiting though. Perhaps about five minutes before Arthur opened up his door with a less than happy look upon his face.

"What is it Alfred? I'm trying to get ready for bed." Arthur sighed.

"What? How'd you know it was me?" Alfred asked as he bent down to pick up Excalibur when the Scottish Fold appeared before Arthur's legs.

"It's always you— you're the only person whoever dares to bother me during these late hours." Arthur said, shaking his head and he turned back towards his room, allowing Alfred to come inside.

"True," Alfred commented as he followed Arthur, stroking Excalibur's fur and absently listening to the cat's purrs. "So, can I ask you a favor?"

"I'm not letting you sleep in here." Arthur said at once, a weary tone residing in his voice as he left over to his bathroom.

"You say that, but you know I won't listen." Alfred said as he left over to Arthur's bed, kicking off his shoes as he lay down on the covers, rubbing Excalibur's belly as he waited for Arthur's reply.

"When do you ever listen to anyone but yourself?" Arthur retorted back as Alfred made himself comfortable on Arthur's bed. "Anyways, what do you want?"

"Touché," Alfred said, picking up Excalibur to play Airplane. "Ah— well I need you to sign a permission slip."

Arthur stuck his head out from his bathroom, a foamy tooth in hand. "Permission slip?" He asked before disappearing back in the bathroom and a moment later Alfred heard the facet run.

When Arthur came out the bathroom, whipping his mouth with a small hand towel, he tossed the towel on of his wardrobe. "Why do you need me to sign a permission slip? Much less why do you need one and for what?" Arthur asked, feeling confused by what Alfred was asking from him.

"Ah well it turns out all third years need a permission slip to go to Hogsmeade— you know that wizard city at your place." Alfred said, choosing to continue playing with Excalibur than to look at Arthur. "And it has to be signed by a parent or guardian…" He added awkwardly, idly tossing Excalibur in the air.

"I know what and where Hogmeade is!" Arthur snapped before calming down, shifting on his feet as an awkward silence hung between him and Alfred. "So… Where is this slip?"

"I don't have it yet."

"Then why bother coming to here to ask me to sign it if you don't even have it?" Arthur asked, a slight annoyed tone rising in his voice.

"Well I just sort of found out today and I was— am going ask Professor McGonagall to get a slip, and then have you sign it." Alfred said, pouting as Excalibur leapt out of his hold and quickly made the under of Arthur's bed a safe haven. "I just wanted to make sure you, you know, were going to sign it."

Arthur snorted in annoyance. "And what makes you think I'll sign it?"

At that, Alfred shot up and looked at Arthur with an irritated face. "What? You just said you'd sign it!" Alfred accused.

"I never agreed. I simply asked where the slip was. Don't assume that I was going to sign it just because I asked to see the slip." Arthur said, crossing his arms. "So why should I sign it? I'm not your parent or your guardian."

"Well I'm like in your country, province, kingdom, whatever it is, so doesn't that sort of… make you responsible for my wellbeing?" Alfred tried, his eyes trailing after Arthur as the Englishman walked over to his bed.

Taking a seat on his bed, Arthur scoffed and smiled lightly as Excalibur came out of his hiding spot and pounced onto his lap. "Sure, I'll sign it." He said before looking at Alfred.

Alfred's eyes lit up. "What? Really? You're going to sign the slip?" He asked, before making a confused face. "Then what was up with the 'I'm not going to sign it' attitude?"

"Oh I just wanted to hear you say that I was responsible for you." Arthur chuckled, feeling complacent before he found himself face-planting on to the ground.

"Go to hell Arthur!" Alfred shouted from the bed, glaring down at Arthur.

Rolling over to his back, Arthur scowled as he looked up at Alfred, Excalibur residing in Alfred's lap. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"Stop lingering on the past you old man!"

"I am not— that doesn't call for shoving me off my own bed!" Arthur hissed, getting up to his knees and glaring at Alfred when the American began to make himself comfortable in Arthur's bed. "And what do you think you're doing?" He asked as Alfred laid his head down on Arthur's pillow.

"Going to bed."

"Not in my room, you have your own in the Gryffindor tower. Why don't you go back in your own dorm?" Arthur asked, climbing back onto his bed.

"Don't wanna." Alfred said stubbornly, tightening the duvet around him.

"It's 'want to', not 'wanna'." Arthur scowled before realizing something. "Where's Excalibur?" He asked. Wasn't the cat just in Alfred's lap a moment ago? And then the thought hit him. "Alfred you let go of Excalibur this minute!" Arthur demanded, slapping Alfred by the shoulder.

"No! He's too cute!" Alfred whined, holding the cat tightly to his chest under the covers.

"Idiot! Stop holding him hostage!" Arthur said, trying to pull the covers off of Alfred, in which Alfred only continued to resist Arthur.

As the two wrestled on the bed, Arthur trying to pry Excalibur from Alfred's arms and Alfred trying to keep Excalibur to himself, Arthur quickly gave up the fight because trying to forcibly take something from Alfred's hands was a nearly impossible feat.

Arthur frowned. "Alfred, let go of him, I'm afraid you'll smother him to death with all that fat of yours." Arthur said flatly, silently counting in his head. '1…2…3…'

"Fat!? I'm not fat!" Alfred said heatedly as he threw the covers off him to glare at Arthur, puffing out his reddened cheeks as he sulked. Though when he sat up, Excalibur wiggled out from Alfred's loosened grip, causing Alfred to whine.

"Oh shut it you big lug, I can't have you smothering Excal like that, he doesn't like that." Arthur said, watching Excalibur hiss at Alfred every time he reached out to the poor Scottish Fold. "See? You made him angry."

At that, Alfred gave up trying to pet Excalibur and crossed his arms. "Didn't want him anyways," he stubbornly sulked.

Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alfred, do you want a cat?"

"No."

"Alfred."

"…Maybe just a little bit."

"Yes or no."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Alfred gave Arthur a puzzled look. "Uh, what? Yes? I said that clearly, so why? What? You want me to say please with a cherry on top?"

"That would be nice." Arthur said, feeling smug at his efforts of annoying Alfred. It was fun to toy with him, not that he would ever admit it.

"Dude! Quit being an asswad! I don't even know what I'm asking for anymore!" Alfred said, running his hands through his hair.

"What I'm saying is I'll get you one. I'll come with to Hogsmeade with you; I don't believe you have any wizard currency, do you?" Arthur asked, looking at Alfred knowingly.

"Uh, no. I don't have any of the pirate money you wizards use."

"Wizard currency." Arthur corrected, furrowing his brows at Alfred.

Alfred shook his head, tsking at Arthur as he wiggled his finger in a tick-tock motion. "You guys use galleons. Pirate money."

"No, that's just—" Sighing, Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, sure. Wizards use pirate money…"

"So you're going to buy me a pet?" Alfred asked, making sure what he thought Arthur was saying was in fact true.

"Yes so that you won't torment mine anymore." Arthur said, lightly scratching behind Excalibur's ear.

Alfred grinned, flashing his pearly whites at Arthur. "Sweet!" Alfred exclaimed before registering what Arthur had just said, "Hey I don't—"

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say, now go away. I want to sleep peaceful tonight." Arthur said, pointing at his door.

Frowning, Alfred rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said, sounding exasperated as he climbed off the bed. Strolling off to the door, Alfred twisted the doorknob to leave, but just as he did so, he let out an ear-curdling shriek.

Jumping from his bed, Arthur turned to yell at Alfred for his abrupt yelling, when he was suddenly tackled to the floor.

"Alfred! Get off me!" Arthur yelled, trying to shove Alfred off him. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting as if you just saw a gho— oh for the love of God." Arthur groaned, thumping his head against the floor.

Laughing, Peeves skidded through the air, hovering over the two fallen men. "Oh ho ho, Alfie doesn't like me! But why, all I want to do is play, remember? Alfie, let's play!" Peeves purred, snickering as he watched Alfred tremble in fear.

"Oh drop it Peeves, you know very well that he doesn't like you. Now bugger off, I've got to deal with this now." Arthur hissed, trying to push Alfred away.

Giggling, Peeves stuck out his tongue, floating on his back as he swam backstrokes in the air. "One day Alfred, one day you'll play with me." Peeves giggled, somersaulting in the air before diving into the floorboard and disappearing from sight.

As soon as Peeves disappeared, there was a moment of silence as Alfred and Arthur lay on the floor. Alfred was still clinging to Arthur and Arthur was staring hard at the ceiling in irritation. Arthur silently wondered when Alfred was going to stop this silly fear of his. Honestly, Alfred was a nation and a superpower for God's sake and he was scared of ghosts and a poltergeist?

"H-Hey, Arthur, is… Is it oka—"

"Yes, Alfred. You can stay here for the night."

"Thank you."

"Can I go back in my bed now?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes at Alfred as show of his patience for Alfred was wearing down.

"Er, yeah…" Alfred said, releasing Arthur from his hold and getting back to his feet.

"Thanks," Arthur said, patting down his night gown as he left back to bed, Alfred following suit and getting under the covers.

After everything seemed to have calmed down, Arthur blew out the lights in his room and Excalibur tucked himself between his master and Alfred, whom Arthur didn't mind because Excalibur became the sort of barrier separating him and Alfred. This wasn't the first time they've shared a bed before, whenever Alfred read a scary book or was told a spooky story, Alfred would be up in Arthur's room in no time, which became bothersome as no one else knew where Alfred went when he disappeared in the night…

III

When morning came, Alfred had woken up from the mewing of Excalibur. Petting and playing with the cat and simply staying in bed, Alfred giggled as Excalibur nipped at his fingers, but did his best to not wake Arthur. It wasn't until a while after Alfred registered that it was morning and that he had to get ready for class. Having spent the night in Arthur's room, Alfred had to quickly leave over to the Gryffindor portrait hole and leave up the stairs and into the boy's dormitories, to his dorm to change and whatnot. His roommates had asked where he had disappeared off to, which was a given as he did leave and never came back that night, but he simply shrugged as he left to shower.

But in his time in the common room, Alfred noticed that Ron wasn't in the room and the Hermione and Harry were quiet. There seemed to be a stale air between the third years. 'Strange, I wonder if something happened while I was gone…' Alfred had thought during his time in Herbology as Ron seemed to refuse to cooperate or talk to Hermione— which may not have been very smart as he, Harry, and Hermione were in charge of the same Puffapod.

"Hey, is Ron alright?" Alfred whispered to Hermione when Ron hissed at her for asking something about Scabbers and spilling beans all over the floor. "Did something happen to his mouse?"

Hermione shook her head, looking a bit shameful and regretful. "Rat. Scabbers is a rat, not a mouse." She corrected as she and the rest of the class continued peeling apart fat pink pods for brilliant shimmering beans. Alfred was surprised of the tired tone she took with him. "But yes, Crookshanks chased Scabbers around the common room— but it was nothing I could control! Crookshanks was acting out of instinct!" Hermione huffed, popping open a pod and a few beans spilling from it.

Alfred winced. "Oh, well I hope things get sorted out between you two."

"Oh he's just being stubborn is all." Hermione retorted before frowning.

"Alright…" Alfred said, not completely satisfied with the answer, but these were kids, so mundane fights like these would end soon enough. But Ron seemed to hold grudges tightly as he was still in a sour mood with Hermione throughout the class. "Maybe just give him a little air…" He suggested at Ron began to ignore Hermione.

Herbology ended and they had Transfigurations next, which was good for Alfred because he could ask McGonagall for the pink slips everyone seemed to have— except for Neville of course. The lesson went on as usual and Ron continued to hold a cold shoulder over Hermione though out and the end of the class. Professor McGonagall had rounded up everyone in a single line to collect their permission slips, Alfred was just behind Harry.

As he and the trio moved up the line, Harry was asking McGonagall if she could sign his slip, as his "muggle" guardians did not sign it. As Alfred watched Harry trying to convince McGonagall to sign his slip, Alfred felt bad that in the end, Harry could not go to Hogsmeade. Well, all for the best because of that Sirius Black guy lurking around Britain (Alfred was clued in about the man from Arthur, and then Hermione explained that Black was after Harry).

When Alfred stepped up to McGonagall, he was about to speak up had it not been if McGonagall spoken first when she noticed Alfred not handing in a slip right away.

"Your slip Jones?"

"Uh, yeah. About that. I don't have one since I didn't attend Hogwarts last year… and didn't get one." Alfred explained. "So I thought I could get a slip today and have Arth— Professor Kirkland sign it and then hand it to you when I can."

"Why would Professor Kirkland sign it?" McGonagall asked, cocking her head in a warily.

"Well, as you know, I'm not from the UK and whenever I am visiting, Arthur's usually the guy in charge of my wellbeing, so technically his sort of like my guardian while I'm here."

Listening to what Alfred had said, McGonagall thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose that's alright." Professor McGonagall had said, opening a drawer in her desk and pulling out a slip for Alfred. "Return this with Professor Kirkland's signature. Now, go to your next lesson, you don't want to run late." McGonagall advised as she handed Alfred the slip.

Taking the piece of paper, Alfred grinned. "Thanks! — And I sure will! Bye!" He said as he followed the Golden Trio out the door.

Ron and Hermione were doing there awful best to cheer up Harry, Ron calling McGonagall many names the Hermione would not even dare to repeat, but she would insist that it was for the better of Harry's wellbeing given his situation with Black. Even Alfred felt sad for the Gryffindor, but what could he do to help? It not like he or Arthur could sign the slip, or convince someone to. And their efforts of cheering up Harry didn't help either.

"There's always the feast— you know, the Halloween feast, in the evening." Ron tried, hoping the mention of the feast would bright up Harry's spirits. Although there was nothing wrong during their meal times, the food served during the Halloween feast was filling and wonderful with a wide variety of foods to eat— especially the desserts.

"Yeah," said Harry gloomily, "great…"

IV

Later that day, Arthur had signed Alfred's permission slip to Hogsmeade as promised. Alfred was glad and now he couldn't anticipate for the Hogmeade weekend to come. This would an all new experience for him and he was excited. He would be getting a pet! He wondered if he should stick with a cat though. Maybe he should get an owl, or maybe a toad. Toads were cool. This wouldn't be his first met though. He had Whaley, but Whaley wasn't travel sized… And he couldn't bring Tonny anywhere. Oh, maybe when he mastered transfigurations, he could transfigure him to look human! Nonetheless, as Alfred thought and left to go back to McGonagall's, Arthur had stopped and asked Alfred to deliver a message that he and a few others were planning on going to the pub and wanted to know if McGonagall would like to join in— she agreed to come.

So as Arthur, Lupin, McGonagall, Trelawney, Snape, and even Dumbledore sat at the counter of the Three Broomsticks, all were drinking to their delight as well socializing. It was a pleasant evening, there were a few other customers, but the Hogwarts staff paid little attention to them. Instead they had their share of fun and laughed, Snape possibly having cracked a smile at one point. But as they talked, Lupin was poked fun at Arthur being a light weight, enticing laughs from Dumbledore and Trelawney, and muffled chuckles from McGonagall.

"Mm, maybe you should lighten up on the tonic, Arthur, you look as if you're about to tip over." Remus chuckled, grinning at Arthur, who had been ranting about Alfred.

Arthur shook his head. "No, no. I know me limit an' I've yet to… to re'ch it." He hiccupped, waving his finger at Remus. However when he heard chuckles escaping Sybill, he leered at the forecaster. "And wha' d'you think's so funny? Di'I give ye the permission ter laugh?"

Sybill siled and patted Arthur's back. "Oh, you're a funny man Arthur." However with her pats and Arthur's disoriented state, the pissed man suddenly fell from his seat, banging up his back and entangling his legs on the stool he sat upon. At this, McGonagall sat up in her seat.

"Professor Kirkland?" She asked, looking down at Arthur.

"Ca' me A'sur, Minerva." Arthur slurred from the floor. "Hol'on a moment, I can't… I can't feel my legs." Arthur said truthfully. The fall actually causes him to momentarily dislocate his lower back, but they didn't need to know that. However is did sober him up a bit. "Don't mind me—jus' han' me another tonic." It slightly sobered him up.

"Are you sure? You seem sort of..." Minerva trailed off as she looked at Arthur, who was in fact trying to realign his back as he squirmed on the floor.

"Well, you seem quite disoriented, Arthur." Sybill finished as Arthur struggled to get back on his feet much less correct the fallen stool.

"Perhaps you should go home. I think you've had enough." Minerva suggested, looking at Arthur with slight worry.

"Oh I'm sure the man is alright, Remus, I'm sure you've had drinks with Kirkland many times before? He's always like this, isn't he?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

Remus grinned. "That he is. He'll be fine in good time." And with that Arthur sighed as he felt a pop in his lower back and the feeling returned to his legs. "He just knows how to have a good time is all."

Getting up, Arthur staggered a bit before propping the chair back in it's spot and climbing back into it. Normally he tried to be gentlemanly before a lady, but hell after the umpteenth tonic he forgot all about that and grabbed the tonic before him. "As I was saying, befo'e I was rudely interrupted," Arthur started, glaring at Remus. "I need to go ter Hogsheade—meade. 'Ve gotta buy the git a dog er— cat." Arthur said as he licked his lips.

"Who?" Minerva asked, cocking her head.

"I believe he means Alfred." Dumbledore said, smiling as he drank his butterbeer. No alcohol for him tonight.

"Yeah, the prat wants a pet, but the pillock isn't that familiar with the currency wizards use..." Arthur said, scratching the back of his neck with an annoyed look on his face. "Which'll be a good thing, won't bully my Excal anymo'e."

Minerva thought for a moment. "Well, I don't see the harm… Alright, I'll tell the students that you'll be there as well… But do behave appropriately around the children."

"Need not be afraid, I will just fine around the little buggers— I won't be drunk by then." Arthur said lamely as raised his empty glass. "Oh! And what of the… Halloween feast? Jus' a regular feast?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Just a magnificent feast like none other," Dumbledore said. Arthur frowned.

"That's boring, why not a party of sorts? A Halloween party to go along with the feast," Arthur said, crossing his arms. "The kids'll love it; music, dressing up, playing games, sugary sweets to rot their teeth with. A contest too— best dressed and what not. Teachers can participate as well."

At this, Snape furrowed his brows. "Absolutely not. Not only is that not appropriate and ridiculous, the children will become unruly in such a thing, and we'll have no time for that. Having the feast as it is is just fine."

"Says you Snake— Snape. Just because you may not like it, doesn't mean no one else will." Arthur said, scowling at Snape. "A simple feast to celebrate Halloween is just utter bull crap. Normally I attend or host Halloween parties, and I for one know it will not take long to set one up— especially with magic." Arthur sneered.

"Well you may participate in that offensive stereotypic activity on Halloween, but I will not have the students take part in it." Snape retorted back, bumping heads with Arthur.

"Offensive!?" Arthur cried out, climbing out of his seat to face Snape. "It's not offensive! It's all in fun and games!" Arthur shouted, growing irritated at Snape. "It's music, dances, and games! Halloween is a festivity! Not a damn formality!"

But just before anything could happen, both men were interrupted by Dumbledore. "Now gentlemen, calm down. Now Professor Kirkland, I'm sure Snape didn't mean to tread on your own traditions. It's a difference in cultures and many of us are unfamiliar with muggle traditions. And Snape, I'm sure Kirkland does not mean to cause a disturbance in how the feast is normally prepared."

Both the mentioned men stared each other with unamused looks.

"Now Professor Kirkland, how is Halloween normally done in the Muggle world?" Dumbledore asked, a thin smile on his lips.

Arthur rolled his eyes but sighed. "Well, as I said, the children dress up as either magical creatures, but lately also as animals and whatever they can think of. Adults may dress up too, but they tend to just give out sweets.

In the olden times, the reason the children dressed up on Halloween was to scare away bad omens and spirits by dressing up as witches, ghouls, and monsters, but that tradition had morphed over time. Halloween is not meant to offend anyone in the wizard world."

Dumbledore smiled and looked at Snape. "See? There is nothing wrong with Kirkland's idea. Actually, I think it'll be nice. The children will enjoy doing this, I'm sure."

Arthur smirked and felt that he deserved another tonic, or gin, or both. "Ha, that's what I'm talking about."

"Er, Arthur, do you think you're going to be alright? You've already consumed enough alcohol to fill up a liter or two." Minerva asked, looking at the empty cups before Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. "Not at all, I know when I've consumed enouve." Arthur said, ignoring the heated glares he could sense from Snape. Despite that, Arthur busied himself with more drinks and he was lost in the light conversation the Hogwarts staff was having.

Growing bored, Arthur's eyes began to wonder around the room and his eyes settled down on a pair of women. Smiling, Arthur finished his drink and tossed the barista his fair and jumped from his seat, making his way towards the woman.

"Oi, Arthur, what are you doing?" Remus asked, leaning back in his seat and looking at the History of Magics teacher.

Arthur turned back to Remus to smile. "My mood's a little sour, so I'm going to sweeten it up a bit." Arthur said, looking back at the two women. At this, Remus laughed.

"Ah, d'you think that's a good idea?"

"It's prolleh not, but to hell with that m'boy."

"You're rather under the influence— do you even think you have a shot at either of those women?" Remus asked, looking at the mentioned woman.

"It's the weekend and I may be pissed drunk of my ass, but I think I deserve a little fun." Arthur huffed before heading towards the woman.

Watching the Englishman sit at the women's table, the Hogwarts group watched curiously, although Snape watched out of spite to see the drunken man get rejected by the women.

"So who wants to make a bet?" Remus asked, taking a sip of his drink as he watched Arthur talk with the women. For a drunken man, Arthur was very sure of himself. "10 galleons that he gets the brunette woman."

The brunette woman had short curly hair and tanned skin and had curvy body. She was filled out, but she was very pretty… and she also looked annoyed at Arthur. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning against her chair with a scowl upon her face.

"What?" Sybill asked, looking over at Remus. "Absolutely not," she said in disagreement. "10 for the blonde, she doesn't look as annoyed with Arthur."

Said blonde haired woman was actually a strawberry blonde haired woman with long locks of hair and fair skin and a considerably modest yet appealing body figure; she was smiling and leaning over the table with her head in her hands, smiling as she talked with Arthur. She seemed more pleased with Arthur's presence than the other woman was.

At this, Minerva scoffed. "Hardly; five that he gets neither." She huffed, crossing her arms. 'As if,' She thought. 'It's hardly attractive to flirt while obviously drunk.'

"Only five? Come on Minerva, what are you afraid off?" Remus laughed. "Come on, me and Sybill are betting 10. What about you Dumbledore? Snape?"

"I'm only betting five because I'm not losing 10 galleons over a silly bet like this."

"I have no intentions of playing this little game of yours." Snape deadpanned.

"Ah, you're no fun you spoil sport!" Remus laughed, ignoring the fierce look Snape sent him.

"20 galleons that he gets both the aforementioned women," Dumbledore suddenly said, not saying anything more as he took a drink of his butterbeer. At this, Minerva choked on her drink and looked at Dumbledore with surprise, as did Remus and Sybill and surprisingly Snape.

"What? Bollocks! You can't possibly think he'll get both!" Remus said, looking back at Arthur.

Dumbledore simply smiled and Remus, Sybill, and Minerva simply exchanged looks. Snape was unsure of what to think, and thus he said nothing when Arthur and to two ladies sat up from their sat and began making their way out from the pub. At this, Remus began to laugh along with Sybill.

"Well I'll be! That lucky tramp!" He laughed, shaking his head as Arthur left holding the woman closer by their hips.

"Lucky?" Minerva questioned, looking at Remus skeptically.

"What? It's every man's dream. I sure do miss my twenties though," Remus laughed, looking at Dumbledore. "Say Dumbledore, how'd you know he'd get them?"

"This isn't nearly the first time I've drank with him. After a while into his drinks, he becomes… I guess you could say 'scandalous'." Dumbledore informed, chuckling softly to himself.

"Well, if the saying that alcohol makes one acts upon their inner desires, I don't want this man anywhere near the children." Snape scowled as he crossed his arm, his distrust for the History of Magic teacher growing stronger.

"Now, now, Kirkland is a man who does hold high standards for himself. He wouldn't act like this in a rational state of mind." Dumbledore defended, although understanding what Snape was concerned about.

"Trelawney, if you're a 'seer', why did you lose the bet?" Minerva asked, her skepticism of Sybill's "soothsaying" abilities beginning to appear.

Sybill flushed and coughed into her fist. "Ah, well, I wasn't making a prediction, just a mere... guess is all. I wouldn't make a prediction on something so... habitual." Sybil finished as she squirmed around her seat on reflection of her discomfort with the question.

Minerva crossed her arms and perked her lips in the slightest way. "Hmm," she hummed, as if to say "If you say so" in a skeptic manner.

Dumbledore cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Now, I believe you own me some galleons."

"You're a cheat, you know that Dumbledore?" Remus joked, handing Dumbledore his galleons. "But you did earn it fair and square."

Dumbledore smiled. "If you say so, but how about we finish up our drinks for the night? I'm sure Professor Kirkland will be meeting us back at Hogwarts in the morning."

At this, the group nodded or gave some sort of acknowledgment of what Dumbledore had said and continued to finish up their drinks, entertaining each other with small talk. But even then, all were still wondering about Arthur, and Snape for one could not help himself but not trust the man. Arthur was too suspicious and Snape wasn't fond of the idea of Arthur teaching the students of Hogwarts.

Arthur was just odd and his behavior irked him. Arthur Kirkland was a shady man, and therefore he couldn't be trusted. He couldn't understand how many of the student's liked him, even despite his odd behavior.

Arthur meanwhile was heading over to the Ashton's, the blonde haired woman's, home. He was sure he was going to have the most wonderful night out of all the other teachers and he was going to enjoy it with Ashton and Alina.

i

Tonny* — Mr. Tonny, aka Alfred's alien friend.

Black Holes and Baby Universes* — an astronomy book by Stephan Hawking published in 1993.

ii

There are a few things I'd like to say. One is that I'm very, very, very sorry for such a late update; another is that I'm also very sorry if any of the characters are OOC. OTL I feel like this chapter sucks. ;n;

Lastly, for the next chapter, do you my readers want to see the fic start off with a lemon/smut (meaning you will be reading about Arthur's threesome with two lovely ladies, aka hetero and yuri smut), or post sex and Arthur waking up with a hangover? So leave a comment of yay or nay about Arthur's sex life, aka do you want to read hetero + yuri smut?

I don't have much to say about this chapter. I mean, it's not all that interesting and I felt that it was rather short and boring and blah… Hopefully the next chapter will be better and I'm sorry for any typos or grammatical errors you may find in this chapter.

EDIT 6/20/13: I realized that Hagrid prolly wouldn't join Arthur and Remus and the rest to a round of drinks because he's like depressed and shutting himself in his hut, so I did some edits and now you got your favorite soothsayer Sybill Trelawney joining Arthur at the pub! :D

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