Several hours later

Garcia couldn't believe that Morgan had actually proposed. She had known he was planning something, but had been truly shocked when he had taken a ring box out of his pocket and proposed to her right in the middle of desert. She had been in the daze when she'd accepted, because she figured it would be another few months at least before Morgan was ready to make a commitment to more then dating, but his little speech, had put her fears too rest as he told her that he was ready to commit and make their relationship a permanent one, but that it would have to wait until the weekend, since there was no telling when they'd be called into work.

Garcia could wait, she been waiting two years after all and a few more days hardly meant anything, although the lioness in her violently disagreed.

The lioness within her chest purred in anticipation of what was going to happen in just two days since this was late Wednesday. Morgan said the reason that he didn't want to have sex right this minute was that he wanted to take his time and didn't want their making love to be rushed and Garcia could definitely agree with that idea, as she intended to keep her mate in bed for as long as was feasible.

Garcia sighed happily, as Morgan kissed her on the lips and bid her goodbye, saying that he would see her at work in the morning.

Garcia went to bed, but she was so happy, that it took her forever to actually fall asleep and when she finally did all her dreams were centered around a certain dark-skinned knight, who was indeed her dream man.

"How are you doing this morning, baby girl?" Morgan asked Garcia as soon she had come in for the day. It was the morning after their rather spectacular date and Garcia had woken up sure she had been dreaming about her mate's proposal, but when she had seen the ring on her finger she had known instantly that it hadn't been a dream after all and had squealed happily.

She had gotten ready much faster than she normally did as she wanted to get into work and give her mate a big, slopping kiss on the lips.

"I'm so happy I could burst," Garcia told him kissing Morgan quickly on the lips.

"So am I," Morgan told her with a smile returning the kiss. "I can hardly wait for this weekend, so I really hope we don't get called out of town."

"Believe me, I'm praying that doesn't happen either," Garcia said fervently. "Let's not tempt the fates though and not mention it again."

"I'm not sure I believe in the fates or at least I knew I didn't before you set me straight. I need to call my mama and tell her about the engagement. You know she's going want to plan a big wedding for us."

"Talk her out of it," Garcia told Morgan.

"You don't know my mama if you really believe you can talk her out something like this. She's been wanting me to marry for years, settle down have a few children, and before now I've avoided doing that like the plague."

"That's been obvious ever since I've known you," Garcia teased him causing Morgan to blush because he knew his baby girl was right. "Tell her we're going to go through the Shifter version of the ceremony and that doesn't need an audience. Tell her we'll come up to visit her in Chicago as soon as we can."

"That might just placate her," Morgan said thoughtfully, "but she will probably still insist on at least a small simple ceremony, with her and my sisters and my Aunt Yvonne in attendance. I'm warning you now that once she gets an in idea in her head, it's very hard to persuade her to drop it. She'll pull the mother card and say that she would be so happy to see us tie the knot."

"Well, if that happens I suppose we could do a simple civil ceremony at the courthouse," Garcia said. "It's not like some Shifters don't have two ceremonies, one privately that bonds two True Mates even tighter together and one publicly for family and friends."

"Hotch and Reid didn't," Morgan pointed out.

"Yes, well, it's different for them because they're both male and there's usually no children involved," Garcia said cryptically.

Morgan didn't comment, as he knew there were cameras in Garcia's office and all over the building and so this was not the place to discuss such private things, besides, people could still walk in on them and hear their conversation.

"I had better go, baby," Morgan said kissing her on the forehead. "I'll pick you up for lunch and we can go somewhere just two of us, well, so long as we're not on the jet flying somewhere."

"Sounds good," Garcia agreed. "I'll see you for lunch if you are still here."

Morgan said goodbye and headed for the bullpen in the BAU where he was immediately congratulated on his engagement.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~

The whole team congratulated Morgan and Garcia, but when Hotch heard he looked smug, although he wouldn't tell the others what he was smirking about. What he was smirking about was that Spencer had been absolutely correct and it was only two months later before Morgan and Garcia were officially engaged, although he didn't believe that they had gone through the wedding ritual as of yet, as they just didn't have that afterglow of happiness. Hotch suspected though that so long as the team weren't gone on a case when Friday rolled around it would happen then.

He would be very surprised if Morgan and Garcia didn't come into work Monday looking all lovey-dovey and have trouble concentrating for at least the first few months, just as he and Spencer had back when their relationship had first begun.

At least Garcia looked much happier now, then she had for months actually and that made Hotch happy, as he'd much rather have Garcia her usual, cheerful outrageous and upbeat self, then trying to hide how sad and despondent she was behind a facade of her usual cheerfulness and it had been a facade, although no one that didn't know her very well would have been able to tell. He would also be very surprised if Garcia wasn't pregnant after this week with at least twins. The only sure way to absolutely prevent pregnancy was for Morgan to use a condom and he couldn't see that happening, as either they would get so lost in passion like he and Spencer often did and forget, even if they thought of it beforehand or just not think of it at all. Of course, he and Spencer would never have gotten pregnant if not for those spells, but it was different for Morgan and Garcia because they were a male and female and not two males. Well, it wouldn't be long before he knew if he had been right or not.

"You look like the cat that got the canary," Rossi commented to his friend entering Hotch's office without bothering to knock, "and a bowl of cream as well."

Hotch glared at the older man, but Rossi ignored the look and finally Hotch sighed.

"What do you want, Dave?" Hotch asked in annoyance. "Can't you see I'm busy here trying to keep up with all this paperwork?"

"Actually you look extremely smug at the moment," Rossi said undeterred.

"It's none of your business, Dave," Hotch said firmly.

Rossi simply glared at him saying nothing, but then he didn't have to and Hotch sighed again.

"Alright, fine," Hotch sighed for a third time giving in. "Spencer predicted that it would only be two months at most before Morgan finally got his head out of his ass and proposed to Garcia. You see a couple of months ago Garcia came to me and asked from my help with a Shifter problem and I made an educated guess that Morgan was her True Mate, simply because the two of them are so close and flirt constantly. There was no way that Garcia would have come to me if it wasn't something like that or if she wasn't getting desperate. Once a Shifter finds their True Mate they can only go so long with that bond unacknowledged, and that Garcia held out for two years really is at least a minor miracle. She asked me to help out and really all she wanted was for me to be present when she told him about the bond, because Morgan will listen to me, since I'm his boss when he won't listen to anybody else. All she wanted was for me to stop him from walking away and making a terrible mistake if it came to that."

"Alright, I always thought that Morgan and Garcia belonged together, with the way they act around each other," Rossi admitted. "However, I'm still astonished that she came do you to help help with her problem."

"Well, you have to remember I'm the only other Shifter on the team so I'm the only one that can really understand what she was going through," Hotch said and Rossi nodded. "Garcia was actually telling me that she was planning on leaving the team if Morgan didn't come around soon and I didn't want that to happen so I had to help out. Besides, in a way she is family now as are you or JJ or even Morgan as you are all godparents to at least one of our children."

"Kitten actually talked about leaving?" Rossi sputtered and Hotch nodded solemnly.

"I wouldn't have blamed her in the least if that had occurred, for to continue to be around your True Mate every day with that bond undeclared is torture and there is no way that Garcia could put up with it for who knows how many years. That she put up with being around Morgan for as long as she did and be her usual cheerful self is a testament to her strength of character, although I'm sure it helped that he was gone so much with the team, but eventually everybody reaches the end of what they can take and Garcia had reached hers."

"Well, I'm glad you agreed to help out then," Rossi said, which was the understatement of the decade and probably the century, "as she makes our jobs just a little bit better with her banter and upbeat attitude."

"That she does and she's also the best technical analysis I've ever know and I would have hated to lose her, but would have understood her decision if it had actually happened," Hotch agreed. "However, I suspect that the rest of the team would have had Morgan's head on a pike if it actually happened, particularly JJ, because she and Garcia are pretty close and as for Morgan, well, he probably would have begged her to come back. However, even if he managed to get in contact with her and bring her back there would have been a lot of heartache involved that would've made it even harder for the two of them to actually become a couple, so let's just be glad that Morgan saw sense and didn't dig in his heels and refuse to acknowledge her feelings for him. Actually, it wasn't really that hard to talk Morgan around once we made him realize that he was hurting the person he was closest to on the team. Morgan even admitted that he had started to develop feelings for her, but that he been pushing them down because he figured that Garcia wouldn't be interested in more than a platonic friendship and also because of bureau regulations."

"For such a smart man, Morgan can be incredibly dense," Rossi said and Hotch chuckled in agreement.

"Oh, he had a reason for not acknowledging his feelings, but I'll let Morgan tell you if he feels like it. In any case, I'll be very surprised if they aren't planning on completing the mating bond this weekend, so long as we aren't gone for work and I'll also be astonished if Garcia isn't pregnant after that."

"Because Shifters, for the most part, are incredibly fertile," Rossi quoted and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"Just look at me and Spencer after all, even if I know normally we would be over have children naturally, but really what I mean is we've had one set of sextuplets, and another set of quadruplets."

"I'm still astonished at what you told me about magic," Rossi said. "I can now understand why you have never invited any of the team, even me over to your place."

"Well, actually it's a muggle house," Hotch said, "which basically means it has electricity and other modern conveniences. Really, the only reason we never invited you over for dinner or something is that we've been so happy with just our own company, except at Christmas and in the summer when Spencer's siblings are home from boarding school, well, at least for the ones that are still in school and haven't graduated. It's just that Spencer I enjoy our private time, and we get so little of it with me gone so much and him working that we treasure what we do get, as sometimes alone time is very scarce."

Slowly Rossi nodded, as he could certainly understand where both Hotch and Spencer were coming from.

"Spencer and I will make sure to invite you and the rest of the team over for dinner sometime soon," Hotch promised. "Spencer and I have been together for nearly 4 years as hard, as that is for me to believe, since both of us have been so happy for all that time. Besides, I might point out if you had accepted the dinner invitation, the night we invited the rest of the team over you would have seen the house. Yes, I know you had plans, but my point was that you missed an opportunity."

"I'll try to make sure I'm free next time," Rossi promised.

"You do that," Hotch said smirking at him.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~

Hotch arrived home at 5:30 and when Spencer wasn't there to greet him he knew his lover had probably gotten himself involved in some sort of research project in the library, either that or he was spending time with their pups upstairs in the nursery. His mate tended to lose track of time in both of those situations as he enjoyed burying himself in research, which never took as long as it did for other people since he read so fast or in spending time with the children.

Hotch had made the decision to surprise his mate with dinner out and so he had gotten reservations for 7:30 at a nice place. Personally, Hotch felt that both he and Spencer deserved this evening out, especially his mate because he put up with him being gone so much.

Their lovemaking once he got home after being gone for several days always lasted for hours as most the time Spencer attacked him as soon as he came in the door, which he didn't mind at all because no matter how tired he was he was never too tired for that particular activity and if he ever did get to the point that he would rather sleep instead of make love or to put it more crudely fuck like an animal, because that's basically what Shifters were, with the man he adored then somebody might as well shoot him and bury his body.

Hotch entered the library, which was on the ground level and had thousands of books and had grown considerably in four years that he and Spencer had been together, as his partner was always buying more. Just as Hotch had suspected he found Spencer in the library his head buried in a book, several other books stacked beside him on a table by the couch he was lounging comfortably on.

Spencer looked up at the sound of footsteps and his whole face lit up when he saw who is was.

Spencer immediately put his book aside, and rose to his feet and walked into his mate's arms.

"I had no idea it was so late," Spencer cooed, burying his face in Hotch neck, so he could take in the scent that was emanating from his mate's very skin.

"Of course, you didn't because once you get involved in some sort of research project or are just reading you lose all track of time," Hotch teased him and Spencer blushed knowing it was true.

"Still, I'm glad to have you home," Spencer said hugging Hotch's body close to him.

"Trust me I'm glad to be home since doing paperwork can be very tedious," Hotch said, hugging him back.

"I'm certainly glad I don't have to fill out as much paperwork as you do," Spencer said.

"At least one of us is lucky in that respect," Hotch said kissing the top of his mate's head tenderly. "In any case, you need to go get dressed in something casual, but nice, as I'm taking you out to dinner. I made reservations from the office."

"Alright," Spencer agreed, as he felt that he and Aaron needed some time out of the house and away from their work to just relax. The two of them couldn't stop making plans for a nice evening out just because Aaron was called into work or had to cancel because he was called in.

"What you're not going argue?" Hotch teased him, as that had been known to happen in the past.

"No," Spencer told him shortly. "I probably need this night out as much as you do, because even though I'm normally a very indoor person, I do need to get out of the house to somewhere besides, work occasionally. Besides, I'm starved and a nice dinner out is the perfect solution to get my stomach fed and spend some time with you, away from the possible interruption of the children as much as I love them."

"Yes, I love them too, but you and me do need some time for just ourselves sometimes," Hotch said with a nod. "We can't simply stop trying to go out to dinner or the movies or stop planning an evening out with friends, because we work so much or because we have children. Other people do these things, even if they do have a family or they work a great deal, but we have gotten better about balancing these things."

"It just takes a lot of practice, which we seem to get plenty of," Spencer said with a nod.

"That we do," Hotch to agreed. "In any case, get dressed, I'll do the same our reservations are for 7:30."

"Alright," Spencer said with a smile. "I was sure you'd want to make love as soon as you got home, but this is a rather pleasant surprise."

"As pleasurable as that always is, our relationship is about more then us staying in bed and making love all the time," Hotch told Spencer who nodded for he was in complete agreement. "Yes, I would like nothing more then to fuck you senseless, but you aren't my personal sex slave and we need to do other things, like try to go out for dinner sometimes even if I know our schedules are rather uncertain most of the time, especially mine. I know you love me and that you love having sex with me, but still our relationship is about so much more."

"Yes, I agree," Spencer said, kissing Hotch's cheek by way of agreement.

"Besides, we haven't been out in awhile, because I've been gone so much, so this is something that we both need because I know you're probably tired of being cooped up in the house and going nowhere except to work."

"And the bookstore," Spencer said gesturing at the books on end table.

"Alright, and the bookstore," Hotch said with a roll of his eyes and an amused grin. "You knew what I meant," Hotch accused him and Reid grinned.

"I did, but that was fun," Spencer said, "but you're right I haven't really been going many places except to work or back here, not in at least the last few months anyway."

"And I've been gone for work so much that we haven't been able to make plans to go anywhere, not without a chance of being interrupted anyway," Hotch said.

"I'll go get ready and you need to shower and change clothes to," Spencer said. "I can get back to my research later while you're at work or gone to some city that needs yours and the team's help."

"While you are in the shower I'll go up and see the children," Hotch said. "Once you're out of the shower I'll take mine or maybe I can use one of the other bathrooms for my shower, which might be a better solution."

"Sounds like a plan," Spencer said agreeably giving his mate another kiss on the lips trying his best to not let it get out of hand.

"You had better stop that or all my plans for dinner out are going to go out the window," Hotch mock scolded him with a smile.

"What can I say you're hard to resist," Spencer said with a grin.

What Spencer said was true, as his mate was indeed a man that was hard to resist just ripping the clothes off and dragging him upstairs to fuck senseless.

"So are you," Hotch said with a little laugh pushing Spencer in the direction of the library door. "Go on get your shower, get dressed and I'll do the same."

Spencer kissed his mate one final time before heading for the library doors so he could go upstairs and get ready for a nice dinner out with the man he loved with every fiber of his being.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~

"This is really nice, Aaron," Spencer said, as he looked around the restaurant.

The restaurant that Hotch had a gotten reservation at now had chandeliers on the ceiling, spaced evenly, and they were apparently filled with very low light bulbs, like 30 watt or less, which made the restaurant dim, but also gave it a romantic atmosphere. They were also candles on each table and room for two people as this was a restaurant for couples and not families.

Spencer looked around again and noticed that that was several other couples that were either both men or both women, along with women and men and that the three couple types were being treated equally.

"Yes, it is," said Hotch having noticed the same things about the place that his mate had. "I'll have to thank Dave, as he recommended it. He didn't say so, but I get the impression that he brought one or more of his dates here in years past, maybe even one of his past wives."

"He probably did," Reid said knowing that David Rossi like Morgan was a ladies man, or like Morgan used to be before he and Garcia had finally given into their feelings for each other, Spencer corrected himself smiling mentally.

The two men studied the menu, Spencer having made his choice after reading the menu in less than a minute.

Slowly over the next hour the two of them completely relaxed, and chatted about inconsequential things until their food arrived and then they both devoted themselves to a fine meal.

"You were right," Spencer said, as he took his mate's hand on top of the table, "We did need this evening out."

"Yes, we did," Hotch agreed squeezing Spencer's hand in his own as a way of saying I love you silently.

Spencer immediately squeezed his mate's hands back acknowledging the sentiment and returning the same.

"We'll have to do this again," Hotch said, "the food I superb and so is the atmosphere."

"Yes, we'll definitely have to come here again," Spencer agreed.

"Oh, by the way I meant to tell you but I forgot, Garcia came in the work this morning wearing a brand-new engagement ring."

"So Morgan finally proposed?" asked Spencer in pleased surprise.

"He did," Hotch confirmed smirking

"Have they completed the bond yet?" asked Spencer.

"No, I can tell thy haven't yet," Hotch said calmly, "I suspect they'll do that this weekend so long as Morgan isn't out-of-town with the team. Really they look like two people who are anticipating doing something that they'll both immensely enjoy, but haven't actually done yet. I'll be utterly astonished if Garcia isn't pregnant after that since as you know most Shifters are incredibly fertile, and most methods that Normals use to stop themselves from getting pregnant don't work on Shifters or at least not for very long. The only way I can see Garcia not being pregnant, by Monday is if Morgan remembers to use a condom and somehow I doubt that will occur."

"Probably not," Spencer agreed smirking, as he thought about that. "I still remember quite vividly how it was for you and me during our first time and if I had been female…"

Spencer didn't say anymore, since he didn't want to be overheard, but Hotch immediately understood what wasn't being said.

What Spencer hadn't said was that if he had been female, instead of male he would have been pregnant, by the time the two of them had come up for air because they had probably made love at least 20 or 30 times between Friday evening to very early Monday morning.

"Yes, you would have been pregnant with a whole litter of pups after I got done with you, since we made love from when I got off work on Friday until Monday morning, as you told me you were ready to take our relationship to the next level if you had indeed been female..." Hotch said with a wink and a gleam in his eyes, as he to remembered that time.

Spencer blushed, but agreed.

"It is a decision I have never regretted," Spencer said squeezing his mate's hand again. "Not for a single instance, even though at that point we hadn't known each other for very long. I believe I started falling in love with you that first night when you rescued my sister from her ex-boyfriend and then brought her home. I could see that you were genuinely concerned about her and that you cared about her enough to recommend that she get some pepper spray or mace. You didn't realize at that time that all my siblings were well able to defend themselves thanks to their martial arts training. Liya told me later that if Alex had dared laid another hand on her she would've done more than kick him in the crouch and punch him in the nose. She was planning to use several moves she had learned in her martial arts class on him until you came along and rescued her."

"I'm glad you have never regretted your decision as I certainly never have," Hotch said softly leaning over to kiss his mate on the cheek. "You are everything I could want in a mate, you are intelligent, compassionate, kind, gentle, loving, passionate man and I thank my lucky stars every day that I met you."

"I do the same," Spencer assured him softly with a smile.

The two men fell silent and finished their dinner in comfortable companionship before the waiter appeared and Hotch paid the check, which Spencer didn't bother to protest, as he knew Aaron would insist on paying the tab since he was the one that had invited him to dinner.

"Let's go home for I have plans for us tonight," Hotch said with a lustful gleam in his dark brown eyes. Hotch made sure that Spencer was looking directly at him when he allowed his fangs to drop just a little making his mate gulp a little nervously and lick his bottom lip, which was an incredibly sensual gesture that made the wolf in Hotch want nothing more then to take Spencer home and make love him, for at least the next 24 hours or longer. He knew though that the two of them would have to take breaks in between and spend some time with their pups, as that was the price you paid for having little lives depending on you. If not being able to get as much alone time as you would like was the price of having pups then it was a price he would willingly pay again without hesitation and he knew that Spencer agreed.

"Yes," Spencer said his voice steady taking Hotch hand in his and giving him a passion filled look causing Hotch's cock to stand at attention as desire and shot straight to his groin, "Let's go home."

"Yes, definitely lets go home," Hotch agreed with a rather lecherous smirk. "You and me have an appointment with our nice comfortable bed and I won't be letting you go to sleep anytime in the near future."

Spencer gave his mate a grin that told Hotch all he needed to know about how that had been Spencer's plan all along and one that he would be more than happy to comply with.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~

"Well, you're certainly wearing a smile this morning," JJ told a friend as Garcia knocked on the doorframe of JJ's office.

It was Monday morning and the team have not been called out on case.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Garcia asked her friend as she entered JJ's office. "Derek has finally acknowledged that he does love me and has for a long time, but just would never admit it, until I finally confronted him about it."

"Ah, you and he completed the bond over the weekend then," JJ said.

"We did," Garcia said with a bright smile

"Are you going to be like Hotch now? Always in a good mood?" asked JJ with a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you be if the person that you've loved for two years had finally acknowledged that he loves you too?" asked Garcia. "That the two of us work together is just an added bonus."

"Yeah, I would," JJ admitted.

"Especially when you are afraid that he never would and if it hadn't been for Hotch's interference at my request, I probably would've left the FBI entirely," Garcia said.

"That's true," JJ agreed. "Morgan always was a stubborn man."

"I love him to death, but I agree," Garcia said, giggling.

"So where is Morgan this morning?" asked JJ.

"He just stopped by our favorite coffee place to get our morning pick-me-ups and some pastries. He should be here anytime now," Garcia answered.

"So do you think you're pregnant after this weekend?" asked JJ as the two women sat in her office.

"I'll be very surprised if I'm not, considering," Garcia said with another bright happy smile.

"Considering that Morgan didn't use any protection," JJ suggested with a little smirk.

"We both mutually decided that we wanted children right away since I'm not getting any younger," Garcia told JJ who nodded. "We both know that multiples are common with Shifters, so I won't be surprised if I am carrying at least twins and it'll probably be more."

"Yes, believe me, I'm well aware, that Shifters rarely have single birth, especially not if they're making love to their True Mate," JJ said. "You'll let me know as soon as you know, right?"

"Of course," Garcia agreed patting her tummy, "since you are my best female friend."

The two woman continued to giggle together for awhile longer, before they mutually decided they had better get back to work.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~

Part Two

Five years later

Hotch's office phone rang and he immediately picked it up. "Yes?"

Hotch listened for a moment and then said, "Show her up."

Hotch put down the phone and steepled his fingers, as he thought about what guard at the front desk had told him.

The guard had said that there was this strange woman who said her name was Susan Bones and that she needed to see him right away but refused to give a reason. The guard had also said that she had a very distinct British accent and Hotch wondered what somebody from Britain was doing here, oh, not in the States, but here at Quantico and why she wanted to see him.

Hotch had agreed to see her more out of curiosity than anything else, but if she found out that she was wasting his time she would be thrown out of the building immediately and warned not to come back.

There was a knock on the door and Hotch told whoever was outside to enter.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Agent Hotchner, but this is the young lady that insisted she had to see you."

"You may go now, Gerald. Thank you," Hotch told the man who nodded gratefully, headed towards the elevator at speed.

"Well, Mrs. Bones, why don't you have a seat and tell me why you insisted on seeing me."

The lady in question did so putting her hands in her lap and Hotch immediately knew she was nervous. The young lady now sitting in one of his chairs in front of his desk looked around Spencer's age give or take a year or two. She was a very pretty young lady with strawberry blond hair, that just brushed her shoulders and blue eyes. She was also about average height at 5'5' maybe 5'6' and fairly slender.

"I'm really sorry to disturb Agent Hotchner," Susan told the intimidating man. This is for Harry, Susan told herself silently. You can do this for your husband and your children. "As I told the guard my name is Susan Bones, but what I didn't tell him is my name is also Susan Potter, Bones is my maiden name."

"Can you prove what you say Mrs. Potter?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow and Susan nodded. Susan riffled through her purse for a moment and brought forth several neatly folded papers.

"You see I had a friend of mine do some research into my husband Harry's family tree, because he was the last remaining Potter, until we got married and had children since his parents were murdered when he was a baby."

Hotch read through the papers carefully and realized that if this was correct Harry Potter and his family were related to Spencer, although it was a very distant connection, which was to be expected really, since the family lines had separated at least six hundred years ago according to his mate who had done considerable research on the subject.

"You see our anniversary is coming up, we've been married ten years now and we have three beautiful children, however, Harry knows so little about his family that I had a friend of ours start doing some research into his family tree to see if he had any living relatives. He has none in England, except some who are very distantly related because they married a Potter centuries ago. However, imagine Hermione's and my surprise, when she finished going through all the old records she could find that there was a line of Potters that had moved to America centuries ago. It took quite sometime to trace Harry's family for so long considering that a lot of the files Hermione was going through were mere scraps or so faded that they were nearly impossible to read. It was a slow, time consuming process, but Hermione managed to piece together more of Harry's past then I thought she could."

"How did you even know where to start?" asked Hotch.

"Well…" Susan began then paused.

"Don't worry Mrs. Potter I know all about magic," Hotch told her immediately catching on to what Susan was trying to find a way to tell him. "As it happens Spencer also has magic and since we are mated, I had to know as well."

Susan looked startled for a moment, then grateful. "That makes things easier. Since I wanted to keep this as a surprise for Harry, I had to go through the Potter vault at Gringotts to see if I could find any old diaries that mentioned any possible leads, and since I can't take them out without Harry's permission and Hermione can't enter since she isn't related, at least not without Harry's permission, I had to read through those diaries at a really slow pace, as I had to do it while Harry was away because of his Auror duties. In any case, one of the diaries from about 600 years ago belonging to..."

"Archie Potter?" asked Hotch shrewdly sure he was right.

"Well, yes," Susan admitted. "He mentioned in one of his last diaries about how he had to get away from stuffy old Britain, because everybody treated him like he was an invalid, except his own family, just because he didn't inherit the family magic. Squibs, those without magic, weren't really accepted back then, although it's a little bit better today, so although I know it's hard to understand he wanted to get away from all the people that knew him and his family. Thanks to that diary it gave Hermione a place to start, although I still don't know how Hermione managed to do it. It took her more than a year, but once my friend sinks her teeth into something she doesn't give up until she has the answer she wants and since she loves Harry like a brother she was doubly determined."

That sounds like somebody else I know, Hotch thought.

"Also in the vault was a book, that really didn't look like much as it was way to thin to contain much information, but when I opened it, it turned out it was a magical family tree that automatically updated. How I wished that I had found that first instead of reading all those old dusty diaries, but the stuff in Harry's vault isn't exactly organized in any sort of logical or chronological order, and unless you're into treasure hunting... In any case, that book turned out to be a godsend, since as I said it was magically self-updating."

"It listed Spencer and his siblings, and me, because the two of us are married," Hotch guessed.

Susan nodded. "Yes, it did along with other extinct branches of Harry's family, and even a few that are still active and alive, although that's mostly here in America. The only thing the registry did was give the names, and the dates and so Hermione had to look up all the information on the internet."

"So you looked up Spencer through me," Hotch said and Susan nodded.

"Which is why I am here. I was really hoping you would be receptive to me just showing up, but Hermione warned me that if I phoned you in advance you would likely have me barred from the building, as it was likely you would believe I was some sort of crackpot and I wouldn't have been able to blame you if you had, because I know very well how the story sounds."

"So you're here because you want to meet Spencer?" Hotch asked rhetorically, but Susan nodded anyway.

"I not only want to meet him, I want you and Spencer and your family to come to England to meet my husband and children. Harry has always been so melancholy and sad that he doesn't have any family that he knows besides us, and he would be absolutely ecstatic and over the moon if he discovered he had relatives he never knew about. To Harry family is everything and he's been so badly treated by various people that either look at him as some sort of hero or as someone who just wants attention, when really all Harry wants, is to be left alone to live his life quietly with me and our family and friends."

Hotch studied her for a long minute, but decided she was telling nothing but the truth and so he came to a decision.

"I'll tell you what Mrs. Potter, I'm willing to trust you for the moment as I am a profiler. Do you know what that means?"

"Not really," Susan admitted honestly.

"All it means is I'm good at reading body language, facial expressions and other various forms of signals that the human body tends to give off unconsciously. It is very easy to tell when someone is nervous for example as they tend to fidget because they're uncomfortable. Also people, who don't look you in the eye when they're telling you something and look down at their feet or their lap are usually lying. Profiling is all about studying human behavior, as people tend to act in a certain way depending on the situation. In any case, I know you are being truthful with me and I'm truly astonished that you went to all this trouble, for your husband. You must love him a great deal."

"I do," Susan said softly. "I'll have to tell you sometime, all about the war over there and how he saved the life of my only living family at that time, my Aunt Amelia. Let's just say the war decimated a lot of wizarding families to where quite a few of them are hanging by threads, and some were wiped out entirely. My parents were killed when I was barely 2 and if it hadn't been for my aunt I don't know what would've happened to me. In any case, we started to date after our graduation from Hogwarts and got married about a year later."

Hotch could read in Susan's body language and in her eyes that the loss of her parents was still a very open wound for her and he couldn't blame her for that at all.

"Alright, Mrs. Potter, I will give you our address, and I'll call Spencer to let him know you're coming. Unfortunately, I can't leave just now, but I will see you about 5:30."

"Thank you for listening and believing me," Susan told Hotch. "My Aunt Amelia understood me wanting to find if Harry had any other family, but she warned me if I wouldn't be as easy as I believed."

"How long are you here for?" Hotch asked.

"Well, Harry's on another mission for his job, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be gone, so I might have anywhere from a couple of days to a week," Susan answered.

Hotch wrote down his address and handed it to Susan.

"Will you be able to find it okay?" asked Hotch in sudden concern.

"Yes, I know more about muggles, then most pureblooded magical folks, my Aunt Amelia made sure of that," Susan answered. "My aunt believed that I would be able to go anywhere I wanted and not stick out if I blended in better then the average witch or wizard in the muggle world. I'm afraid the wizarding world of England is really stuck in the past and they're way behind the rest of the world in certain areas. I can tell you more later if you're interested, but I shouldn't interrupt your work any longer."

"I'll call Spencer and let him know you're coming," Hotch said.

"Thank you," Susan said sticking out her hand which Hotch shook politely.

Hotch escorted Susan out of his office and into the elevator before heading back to try to get as much paperwork done as he could.

~~~The Wizard and the Shapeshifter~~~