Disclaimer: see chapter 1. I feed on reviews so please don't starve me.
Harry thought about what his father had said, both about his sister and wands and sleeves. He supposed that it was dark times and his father could be forgiven. He was very confused about the wands and sleeves thing though. He discussed it at length with his cousins and they were also perplexed and apologetic about listening in on their conversation.
"But I have a wand and a sleeve, maybe we all just misheard him." Said Galatea as he inspected her wand. Out of the three of them she was the only one with an actual wand. It was eight inches willow with a dragon heart string center carved in an intricate design of dragons fighting. Wands were carved like that for the rich on the island and she displayed hers with an ostentatious pride.
"Maybe it's a special kind of wand." Said Persephone as she brought out her own toy wand. She was the youngest and had just gotten her practice wand but she was afraid to use it too often. As a consequence of inbreeding some Pettigrew's had unstable magic. Persephone was one of them in addition to her light allergy.
"Maybe he doesn't know what he's talking about, I mean he has a wife but only two children." said Harry pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. Lately it had been getting darker but his father said that it happened with age. Something about that answer didn't sit right with Harry nut he dismissed it.
"Or maybe we should be thinking about something else, like the arrival of our cousin?" asked Galatea trying to be the mature one of their group. She felt that it was her duty being the oldest one. Herry was the second oldest at ten and Persephone was the youngest at nine.
"I hear a carriage!" exclaimed Harry as he ran to the window and opened the heavy curtain. Galatea threw the blanket from the bed onto Persephone.
"The sun!" cried Persephone. Harry put the curtain back into place and raced down the hall to see his sister. Galatea and Persephone followed him through the darkened halls. Persephone was angry and wondered if her wand would allow her to hex her cousin. She still loved him but she was angry that he would put her life at risk. Galatea was also angry but knew that there was nothing that being angry could accomplish. Well, she told herself that she felt that way but she really wanted to hex Harry through the wall.
"Is she here? Can I see her?" asked Harry as he ran to the front door by Peter's side. Persephone hung back in the halls because the door was going to be opened. She didn't see what all the excitement was for; this cousin of hers was going to be living there.
"She's here alright and so is you new mother." Said Peter thinking of Addie. He hadn't seen her in years and he was almost as excited to see her as he was to see his daughter. He had seen them at social gatherings but now they would be living under the same roof. They would have done so earlier if not for social constraints with him being on the outside for so long and all.
"New mother?" asked Harry
"Remember, I was telling you about my wife Addie." Said Peter as he straightened Harry hair. It just wouldn't stay down unless it was slicked down with oil. It was going back to its original black because Peter had used the spell for so long Harry was becoming immune to it.
"Right, I remember. Don't call her Heidi." Said Harry not too happy about this Addie person coming. For the longest time he had thought of Margaretta as his mother and he felt that Addie was going to replace her. But maybe because she was his father's wife she was technically his mother.
"Here she comes. Hooray, our house will be a bordello." Said Margaretta glaring at the door. Peter coughed embarrassedly and Harry and Galatea looked confused.
"Mother, what's a bordello?" asked Galatea innocently
"Something that you'll learn about when your aunt Adelheid comes in finally." Said Margaretta spitefully. Harry and Galatea looked at each other and Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Father, what's a bordello?" asked Harry
"A…hotel….where they sell….wand sleeves." Said Peter blushing bright red. Margaretta laughed at her little brother's embarrassment while Harry and Galatea were even more confused. Before they could press the matter further footmen carrying many trunks and suitcases came in followed by maids and then finally Addie and Portia.
"Peter, Margaretta! It's been far too long." Said Addie as she entered. Her hair was light brwn and piled high atop her head under a large hat that seemed to have a rose bush growing out of it. Her dress had a rose patterned where the flowers would grow, bloomed, and then die over and over again. Harry and Galatea were knocked back as her entire dress came through the door. It was wider then Peter Pettigrew himself and he felt trapped in it when she went over to kiss him.
"Who are they?" asked Portia. Portia was a bit taller than Harry and her hair was tangled and loose under a hat which seemed to have a peach tree growing out of it. It was the fashion for wealthy ladies to look like a garden but Harry felt that it was too much as a peach fell and knocked his glasses off. Portia's dress was similar to her mother's but her dress' pattern was a macabre one of a mother bird laying eggs, nurturing her children, and then falling down dead.
"These are you cousins, Harry and Galatea. My how you two have grown! I'm assuming that the shut in is in the darkened upper floors." Said Addie coldly towards Margaretta
"Yes, but it's much less macabre than what you little…offspring it wearing." Spat Margaretta
"It's not my fault that you can't afford nice things. You just couldn't stick with anything, even a husband." Said Addie as she went and sat down in the parlor. Everyone followed suit.
"I don't think they like each other." Said Harry more to himself than anyone. Portia caught this and decided that this boy must be her brother; he dumb brother
"Of course not glasses boy; they love each other very much." Said Portia sarcastically as they all sat down. There was more fighting and the children soon grew bored of watching adults make morons out of themselves.
"Want to go play?" asked Harry hoping to get away from the fighting. At first it was fun and then it was scary but towards the end it was just boring.
"Might as well, if I know my mother this could go on for quite some time." said Portia as they made their way upstairs. They all began to play after Portia had been introduced to Persephone but then they all remembered what they had heard yesterday.
"So, I have a wand and sleeve but we should try this with someone else's." said Portia as she got her wand out
"You have a real wand?" asked Harry in awe. He had been wanting a wand for the longest time but it was tradition that a child get their first wand when they go to magic school at eleven. Harry knew he'd go to the Remordere School of All Things Magical considering that it was Remordere's first and best magic school.
"My mother isn't much for tradition now we'll see what happens!" said Portia as she jumped on a chair and waved the gas lamp around dramatically
"Why are you trying to set a fire?" asked Persephone as she noticed the oil drops falling into her room.
"I'm not, I'm being dramatic! Now, you must have a wand sleeve!" said Portia putting the lamp in front of herself for dramatic effects.
"Yes, what do you want with it?" asked Galatea worried about the amount of oil that was falling everywhere
"This!" said Portia as she pushed the wand into the sleeve like her brother said their father said. She forgot that there was already a wand in there and suddenly sparks began to fly from the wands.
"If it's a girl we'll call it Ruby Gem and if it's a boy we'll call it…Ivan the Dragon Slayer." Said Persephone before her room promptly caught fire. They all ran out of the room and the fire was put out quickly.
"What were you all doing in there?" asked Peter furious that her daughter was only there for five hours and she had already tried to burn the house down.
"We were making a baby!" said Persephone excitedly from the corner she was placed in. the others nodded from their individual corners in Peter and Addie's room.
"What!" yelled every adult at once. Peter's nanny who was now the children's nanny faint and then Addie began to laugh. Peter and Margaretta glared at her
"Oh c'mon! it's in the Pettigrew family spirit after all." Said Addie as she wiped tears from her eyes
"We were just doing what father explained. With wands and sleeves." Said Harry not quite understanding what was going on. Maybe this was one of those mistakes with women that his father was talking about. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if his sister was a woman, she seemed like a little girl to him but then again he didn't know much about women.
"Harry, come with me and I'll explain everything to you." Said Peter as he dismissed everybody. The children were glared at by servants magically repairing Persephone's room.
"You children will get new wands when you can handle them." Said Margaretta angrily. She was being pushed to her breaking point and she didn't like it one bit. She rubbed her temples in exasperation.
"But mother, what about when school starts up again after the summer holidays? They won't let me un school without it and if I don't go to school what will become of me?" asked Galatea worried not just about academics but about her magical abilities
"Fine!" yelled Maragaretta as she stormed off to her room wondering why she even had children. as she left the girls could hear Harry screams of disgust and they looked at eachother.
"Now this is what I call a fire forged friendship." Said Portia. The other's nodded in agreement and Harry could be heard proclaiming disgust.
