In one moment, Jacob had gone from scared, but hopeful man, to scared and frightened boy as he was picked up from the ground, the feeling of a giant hook grabbing him behind his navel and then began to spin around, like he was on the worlds fastest carousel. But just as he was getting to the point of being sick, the spinning stopped, and he found himself falling to the ground inside of a nice house, well it was nice before he threw up all over it.
"Oh no, Jacob, are you alright?" Amelia began, herself falling to her knees, partly from the alcohol and partly due to concern for Jacob. For all the talking they had done before, Jacob could only groan, the desire to throw up again was present and he thought it he began to speak it would happen. Amelia just began to pat his back, using it to keep herself steady at the same time.
Just as Jacob began to feel a little normal, a small creature appeared in front of him, it had large floppy ears and even larger eyes and was dressed in what he thought was a pillow case. Before he could think any more, it began to speak.
"Oh, Lady Boneses, youse be back and youse has brought a man," While she spoke, the creature began to look at said man, a look of disgust on its face, "and it makes a big smelly mess on the floor." With a snap of its fingers, the vomit and associated smell had been removed, like it had never happened, it then popped away, before coming back a moment later with a glass of water. It passed it to Jacob, who managed to grunt out a form of thanks, before it popped away again.
Taking a few small sips of the water, Jacob felt himself ready to at least try to stand up, Amelia saw the motion and began to help, pulling herself up at the same time. Once they were both upright, Amelia turned Jacob towards her and began to apologise for bringing him along.
"Oh Jacob, I am so sorry for this, I had not meant to bring you along, I had not meant to touch the portkey at all, but I guess we both got a little lost in the moment and then it happened." Jacob just nodded, still not sure he could speak in great detail.
"I would offer you a lift back, but the portkey was only set up to come here and I would hate to try to take you side-along." Amelia said as she began to move Jacob towards a couch, though she felt that she could also use a seat.
"Thanks," he managed to get out as he fell into the sofa, "What was that though, it was very unpleasant." A grimace appearing on his face at the thought of all that spinning.
"That was a portkey and yes, it is an acquired taste, but like I said before, less likely to lose pieces of oneself, when using it." Amelia said, her head resting on the back of the sofa.
"Yes, you only have to worry about losing ones' lunch instead," Jacob replied, "I hate to impose, but would it be possible for me to stay the night. If you can't take me home now and I have no idea where we are, the morning would be the best time to work out how to get home."
"Sure, I will get Ruoy to get some blankets, you can stay on the couch. I would offer you the guest bedroom, but with Susan not aware that you are hear, I don't want her scared for no reason." Amelia responded, but before Jacob could asked who Ruoy was, that creature appeared in front of them.
"Ruoy, can you please get some blankets and a pillow for Jacob here, he will be sleeping on the other sofa for the night." As soon as she finished speaking the creature vanished again, with a pop, only to return a few moments later, laden down with bedding. Jacob just looked at the creature quite strangely, seeing the look Amelia explain.
"Ruoy is a house elf, she is bound to serve the house of Bones. In exchange for her service, she is given magic from us, which house elves use as a source, in which to keep themselves alive. It is a symbiotic bonding." As she finished explaining, Ruoy had made up the other sofa, turning it into a bed for the night. Amelia helped Jacob up and over, before she big him a good night, she gave him a small kiss on his cheek, and she left the room. Jacob watched her leave, before he stripped down to his boxers and then crawled into the tiny bed and fell asleep almost right away.
#
When morning came, Jacob found himself waking up and felt like he was inside of a sardine can, but after swinging his legs of the couch and stretching as much as he could, he started to actually wake up, but it was as he back cracked, that he heard an 'eep' and saw a red shadow running from the doorway.
"That might have been Amelia's niece, way to make an impression Jacob," he said to himself, but before he could think upon anything further, the need to answer natures call demanded to be answered. Jacob left the room, walking around the lower floor of, what was an incredibly large house, before he soon found a bathroom. After making use of the facilities, he made his way back to the room with his clothes, only to turn a corner and walk straight into Amelia, he began to apologise right away, but Amelia just stood there.
As Jacob had not put on any clothes, he was walking around in his boxers, a normal thing for him to do at home, but he had forgotten he was not in his house. He looked at Amelia and noticed she was wide eyed and just staring at him, he was about to speak when we suddenly moved her hand out, as if to check to see if it was real.
Amelia was shocked, never before had she seen a man with a body like this, if this is what a gym could do, then she was all for it, but she had to be sure, so she reached out and with the tips of her fingers, she began to press down on his chest, as she did, she felt the skin and then pressed firmly against what felt like stone, it was that firm.
Jacob enjoyed the attention, but felt it was best to get dressed, a small cough had snapped Amelia's hand down before she turned away, stammering out an apology.
"Oh, please forgive me Jacob, I had heard you were up, but I never thought that you," her words failed her at this point, Jacob decided to save her from herself.
"Please, I should be the one to apologise, I began walking around here, like I would if I was home, I completely forgot about the fact that this was not my house. Not to mention there were two women here, who might not take kindly to a half-naked man walking around. I will just run back and get dressed, back in a moment."
Jacob saw Amelia nod, before he made a quick dash for his clothes, he got dressed as quickly as he could and when he went searching for Amelia again, when he found the room she was in, he heard her speaking to her niece through the closed door.
"I am sorry Aunty, I came downstairs for some food and heard snoring, so I went to check it out and I saw him there, all bunched up on the couch. I did watch him for only a moment, but then he work up and I ran." The young girl said, a blush on her cheeks, Amelia understood why the blush, she had her own as well.
"Not to worry Susan, I understand, I never thought a human body could be so firm." Amelia said, before she realised who she was speaking to, but before she could speak any more, Susan questioned her words.
"What do you mean by firm Aunty?" Amelia's face paled at the thought of having to explain, but she was saved when Jacob walked through the door. His actions played up the fact that he had not overheard anything, but Amelia suspected he was doing that to avoid causing any more embarrassment.
"Oh, there you are Amelia, your house if very large, trying to get around it is a might challenging. Oh, and who might this be?" Jacob said, addressing the question to the young girl, who rather than reply, merely 'eeped' again and quickly left the room.
"Well, I have to be honest, that is not the reaction I expected," Jacob said, "but I suppose, not everyone can be a fan." He chuckled at the end, leaving Amelia with a chance to drop the subject, something she took.
"That was my niece, Susan, I am guessing she forgot something, she may come back down before I take you home. In the meantime, can I interest you in some breakfast?" Amelia enquired, seeing Jacob nod, Ruoy popped in with a plate of food, which took Jacob by surprise. He sat down next to Amelia and began to eat, whilst Amelia picked up her paper and continued to read it.
"Jacob, I want to apologise for my actions earlier," Amelia said, placing her paper down on the table and looking directly at Jacob, "It was not my intention to do that, I was looking for you, as I suspected you might be a touch lost." Jacob's face blushed, thinking back to her action, but nodded his thanks.
"Please, again I must apologise to you, had I not been walking around your house half naked, it would have never happened." Jacob replied, pushing his plate away, which vanished right away. "Besides, I can't be upset at your reaction, any man would be quite happy to have a beautiful woman interested in him."
Amelia blushed at his last words, before she pushed the naughty thoughts she had down, "You have a fine body, but please, enough of that talk, before we begin something we are not ready for."
Jacob just nodded, knowing that it was not like him to act so forward and he suspected that Amelia was much the same. Seeing her face still slightly red, he knew she appreciated the thoughts she was likely having, similar to the ones he was having, but he brought up the topic of getting home.
"I must say your house is lovely, the hostess even more so, but I feel I must get back to my house. Would you be able to direct me to the nearest train or bus station?" Jacob asked, happy to see a slight blush to her face, as he complimented her.
"We need not worry about anything so slow, I will be able to take you to your place directly, or at least somewhere close by, given our suspicions. I will go and let Susan know I am taking you and will be right back." Amelia stood and left the room, leaving Jacob alone, before he left, he wanted to thank Ruoy, so he said the name allowed, hoping he could call the little elf. A moment later, it appeared near him, still giving him a shock.
"Oh, thank you for coming Ruoy, I appreciate it and I wanted to tell you that I am really grateful of your help last night and this morning with breakfast. So, thank you." Ruoy just stood on the spot, not used to being singled out for thanks.
"Mister thanks Ruoy, mister not be needing to doose that, Ruoy be doing what needs doing, that is all." The elf responded, shock evident in his voice, Jacob decided not to press the issue and the elf vanished, leaving Jacob alone again.
Only a few minutes later, Amelia had walked back into the room, dressed in proper clothes, at least for her, before asking if he was ready to go, a quick nod and the pair of them walked out to the foyer, before Amelia took his hand in hers. She did not need to hold his hand this way, but she wanted to do it, so she did and after a quick explanation that this would feel even stranger than the portkey, they were off.
#
Moments later, they appeared in the nearby park, Jacob gasping for air as they appeared, clearly the definition of stranger meant something different to magical folks as it was quite a lot worse. Amelia said nothing, giving him the time to gather himself, she took the time to look around at the park they had appeared in.
"This is a nice park that you have near your place, do you come here all that often?" she asked, wanting to keep Jacob as close as possible, for as long as possible, Jacob however could not get over the methods of getting around.
"I try, Harry and I will usually do a run out this way every second weekend, or so, but when it gets cooler, we just stick to the gym." Jacob replied, he led Amelia over to a bench and sat down. "I don't think I will quite get used to magical means of transport, are they also discomforting?"
"Some are, Floo travel is much like travelling by Portkey, the Knight Bus though is quite tame by comparison, though I suspect you might not like that either. There is flying on a broom, but that is only really good for short distances, other wise you may end up with a pain in your bum." She laughed at the end, knowing a few people who had encountered that problem first hand.
"Yes, I suspect they would all not be for me. I think I will need to get home and rest up a little more, before I go and get Harry, a shower would be nice as well, I likely smell of vomit a little." Jacob said, turning to look towards the park exit. Amelia followed the direction he was looking at, a sad smile appearing on her face.
"Yes, I need to get back to Susan," she began, "I do hope we can spend some more time together soon, I had a lot of fun. Perhaps I can take you to Diagon Alley at some point, give you a first-hand look." Jacob turned back to look at Amelia as she spoke and nodded his head, but neither of them wanted to let go of the others hand, but eventually Amelia did just that.
"I really enjoyed my night Jacob, thank you." As she finished speaking, she leaned in and captured his lips in a kiss, which after causing his brain to shutdown for a brief moment, but he rebooted quickly and began responding in kind. After a minute or two, they separated, before Amelia stood up and after a quick look around, vanished without a trace.
Jacob remained on the bench for another minute or so, before he headed back home, smiling the entire way. He ended up passing Mrs Figg who was letting a number of her cats out, he gave a brief wave and continued on, ignoring the shocked look on the cat ladies face. After a few more minutes of walking, he got to number 6 and let himself in, a quick drink of water, he then headed upstairs to get cleaned up and after a nice hot shower, he jumped into the car, to go and get his son.
#
Harry was loving spending the time with the Grangers, whenever he did, he always made sure to keep his morning run happening, sometimes Pol would join him for a small part of it, Hermione it seemed, preferred to sleep in. After completing the run today, he got back, just in time to see Helen serving some breakfast, and thankfully, due to the adult Grangers being dentists, the food was quite healthy, something which Harry was grateful for.
"Good Morning, Mrs Granger," Harry said as he sat down at the bench, "Thank you for the meal, it looks quite nice." Helen simply smiled and patted Harry on the head, something which made him frown, this caused her to laugh.
"Oh Harry, thank you and do lighten up, your hair is not likely to ever settle down, so why bother, besides you still have to have a shower this morning, you might have kept an even pace, but you still have a pungent smell." Helen said as she poured herself a coffee, this was her favourite time of day, because, unless Pol joined Harry for a run, she would always have the house to herself, but the smell of coffee would always draw the others down.
Not 5 minutes later, Pol came down the stairs, Harry could have sworn, he saw Mr Granger sniffing the air, it seems coffee did summon him as the first words from his mouth were about the drink.
"Ah, coffee, nectar of the gods." He quickly poured himself a cup, adding his dash of milk and then sat down to enjoy it. Around 20 minutes later, Hermione came down the stairs, her hair even crazier than normal, she took smelt the coffee and poured herself a cup, something she was only allowed to do, since her birthday.
Helen and Harry both shook their heads at this, the reactions were expected, but still caused them both to laugh, Harry finished his food and then headed towards the bathroom to get ready. Once he was showered and dressed, he headed back downstairs, to find Pol reading the Paper and Helen and Hermione missing, a quick look to Pol, had Pol explaining.
"They have gone upstairs for some girls only chat, something that I am sure we will never learn about, at least through words, actions are another matter, that is for sure." Harry had no idea what that meant, but he thought it best to ask Hermione later. The morning passed without issue and as lunch was approaching, they heard a car pull into the drive, Harry looked out the window to see his Dad's car there, Harry quickly let everyone know.
A knock at the door had Pol answering it, coming back in with Jacob right behind him, Pol himself suspected something had happened last night, given the smile that Jacob was wearing, Harry it seemed had no idea.
"Jacob," Helen said as she moved to interrogate him, "That smile tells me that something happened overnight, what was it?" At this point Helen was quite close and Jacob decided to have a little fun, he placed his hand on her shoulder, leaned into her ear and whispered.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells." As he finished speaking, he stepped around Helen, who had basically shutdown when he whispered in her ear, but as Jacob was getting a hug from his son, Pol was laughing, and Helen finally caught up to what happened.
"Oh, you are a rascal sometimes, you know that Jacob. But I will let you be for now, once the kids are not around, I will get my details." Helen's face showed that she believed it would happen, Jacob just laughed and began to ask Harry how his night was. Once Harry had explained, Jacob insisted that they needed to get home, someone had chores to do still, Harry's face dropped, but as he was given pocket money from doing them, he resigned himself to working a little. Hermione gave Harry another big hug, before she went to complete her own chores, Harry followed her upstairs to get his bags, which left the adults alone.
"So, tell me," Helen began, "did you manage to get a plan sorted for the kids, making sure that they will be safe when they go to school?" Pol sat up a little straighter when Helen had asked her question, Jacob replied back a moment later.
"Yes, we have a plan and Amelia will let me know how her end goes in a week or so, if she gets everything sorted, then we will be ok, but until then, there is little else we can do." As Jacob finished, Harry came back downstairs. "Once I get confirmation, I will give you all the details."
Helen and Pol accepted the explanation, knowing that there was more that was needed, but for now they just had to wait. They both walked Jacob and Harry out to the car and watched them drive away, hoping that whatever plan they had, would keep their daughter safe.