"Knut for your thoughts?"
Alexandria was yanked from her thoughts as the voice of her wife, half asleep if the slight slur was an indication, reached her ears and lean but muscled arms wrapped around her waist. Emerald eyes closed as she shook her head and instead offered an opened envelope to Natashas hands. "See for yourself" she said tilting her head to the side so her cheek rested against her own shoulder.
Natasha sighed softly and separated from Alex taking the envelope into her hands. Flicking a wand at the candles on her bedside table so they came to life she dumped the contents onto her lap. For a moment she was confused as a pile of silver coins clinked together. "I don't understand" she said looking as confused as she sounded.
"Count out the pile before you look at whats written on the inside flap and who sent the letter. It'll make more sense to you in a moment love" Alexandria said as she glanced over with one eye open.
Natashas brow furrowed as she turned her gaze solidly to the pile of coins sat upon the blanket. A quick count of the coins brought the total to thirty sickles. That thought alone brought a scowl to her lips as mind connected to the only possible point whoever sent the letter was trying to make of her wife. "You forgot the payment you received for betraying us Judas" she said reading the phrase scrawled on the inside of the sealing flap. Her gaze hardened seeing a scrawled name she was vaguely familiar with as her mind summoned a picture of the brunette girl her raven haired lover had torn open publicly when the year began. Slipping the coins back into the envelope and setting it on the bedside table her mind was already working on a plan to make the girl suffer. "Don't pay it any mind my raven" she said pulling Alex flush to her and laying feather light kisses to the exposed flesh of her neck.
"I'm not." Alexandrias open eye closed as the contact of Natashas lips on her neck brought a small shudder down her spine. "My mind is pondering the best recourse to take. Her stupity to put her name on the envelope and the message constitutes slander against an Ancient House, something I don't think she realizes. Something we can take her to court for" she said as her thumb traced along the long digits of Natashas hand slowly.
"Is that what you want to do? You know I will always support you in any decision you want to make. This is not about me" Natashas eyes briefly cut over to the envelope mockingly sat there looking at them "but aimed at you. If you want to take her to court I'm with you one hundred percent" she said pausing in her light shower of affection upon Alexandrias neck. "You made a point of it with that blonde brat you aren't going to take any slight laying down now that you have me and you are free to be you as you wish & how you wish but it seems they didn't get that lesson through their heads."
"I wouldn't say that my deadly spider" Alexandria said opening her eyes once again though they weren't focused on anything in particular. "You are my wife, my best friend and my better half. Any attack on me no matter its form is an attack on you. Something I will not tolerate in the least." Her gaze focused down on the their hands as she clasped the one pressed to her stomach. For a minute she was silent before tilting her head back claiming the redheads lips in a soft kiss. "So you tell me my love, what would you do? I already intend to speak with a lawyer before we return to school but I want your input as well."
The thoughtful expression in Natashas eyes was sharp as she stroked the tender flesh under her fingers. "Make another puoblic example that neither you or I are to be trifled with. Your true friends support us and if need be we make the distance beween you, me, our friends & the people who look down on you or I completely impossible to bridge. You're finally happy and people want to tear it down. Don't let them and make them suffer for even trying"she said as she gently clenched at Alexandrias hip while her fingers rubbed at the parts of her wifes stomach they could reach.
"And this is part of the reason I love you." There was a certain edge of almost laughter as Alexandria stole another momentary kiss off Natashas lips before turning in her lovers arms so the were face-to-face. "Its like you can read my mind at times and often agree with me" she said as she wrapped her arms around the older womans neck, her hands occupying themselves with the luscious red locks she loved to play with.
"I'm not forgiving of those who put a threat out to what is mine and will protect what is mine with every means at my disposal. You show the same blossoming trait my raven" Natasha said shrugging. "Speaking of whats mine.." her lips pulled into a light playful smirk as she leaned in nibbling at the soft flesh of Alexandrias throat drawling a surprised but not resisted mew of pleasure from the younger woman "I do believe I want a part of you right now."
It took a moment for Alexandria to nod her head mutely before claiming Natashas lips with her own.
By the time that it was time to return to Hogwarts both Natasha and Alexandria were happy with what was set in motion. Their talk with a magical lawyer, the same Black family lawyer who acted in Alexs case against Draco, had been enlightening to say the least. Alexandria had been right that the scrawled note on the inside flap fit into slandering of Ancient House, a hefty enough charge, but also defamation of character of a Noble. Combining those two with the evidence of the thirty sickles and the envelope, along with a secondary writing sample of a previous letter Hermoine had written Alex when she perceived her as 'Harry' at the lawyers request to confirm it was the same persons writing, there was an open and shut case as far as the lawyer saw it. With both Alexandria and Natashas blessing to move forward with the legal proceedings the pair had spent the remainder of the break enjoying their time out & about with family and friends.
Calling some of Natashas friends weird was an understatement. The mild scientist guy who went all green giant monster when angered, the rather odd man who was almost a wizard that called himself Dr. Strange, the former circus performer Hawkeye and even meeting the young woman called Scarlett Witch was an experience unto itself. While the latter three were perfectly fine in her opinion, the arguments aside as she and the Dr. Strange guy had about magic as a whole aside, she was wary of Bruce Banner the angry not so jolly green giant & Hawkeye around her wife. She had been told about Natashas previous relationships with the men before they married and she couldn't help noticing the two men look at the redhead like they still had feelings for her. This of course sparked her instinctst to act up and make a show that the redhead was hers now & she wasn't letting her go.
Once the awkwardness passed, Alexandria would admit only to Natasha in private the first night -after her friends tracked her down in the middle of muggle London where they had been going out for a late lunch- said awkwardness was admittedly her fault, it was pleasant enough. Natasha enjoyed the company of familiar faces and jokes while she made more than her fair non-verbal statement to support Alexs claim of her. Dr. Strange was a curious man utilizing magic in a way that piqued Alexs interest leading to a slew of questions and even asking for a demonstration. When he had tried to say no she baited his pride and predictably it worked as a motion of his hands opened a portal of some sort to a snow covered landscape on the other side.
Natasha laughed at Alexandrias awed expression as her wife reached for the portal like she thought it some sort illusion. She ignored some of the others surprise that she laughed and instead boldly reached through the portal grasping at the snow before tossing the snowball back in Alexs face startling her raven haired wife as Strange closed thed portal. The pout she had gotten in response for the snowball had been too cute on her younger lover that she was unable to resist pecking her lips to get rid of the pout.
Explaining their relationship and marriage without breaking the Statute of Secrecy was a pain in the ass for the pair. Leaving it as ambiguous as Alexandria was part of a secretive coven of witches was a hard sell but it stuck after a minutes. It wasn't a complete lie, British wizards and witches were extremely secretive, and with the knowledge there were those who could manipulate magic & energies beyond scientific explanation the four had accepted it eventually though Bruce had been the hardest to sell out of all of them given his lifelong career as a scientist before bcoming part of the Avengers.
"Hello! Earth to Nat, anyone up there?" Alexandria said snapping her fingers in front of Natashas face. "God above its like talking to a brick wall right now."
"A brick wall with a great set of.."
"Now you choose to say something. I was beginning to think you forgot how to brain like a human" Alexandria said rolling her eyes childishly as she tugged on Natashas hand with her own through the barrier to the platform. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. Whats on your mind love?" she asked while her eyes searched the crowd for their kids, all six of them not just Michael and Jane.
"Just how much we accomplished over the break really. That and when you met some of my former colleagues. Your pout is still too cute to think about after I tossed that snowball in your face from Stephens open portal" Natasha said snickering.
Alexandria growled cutely at the tease and gave Natashas butt a sharp pinch drawing a yelp from the older woman. "Stop teasing me about that. First time seeing is believing does not adaquately prepare for wonders of the world even if you're expecting it" she said pouting as she dropped the redheads hand. Spotting the six first years grouped near a column her eyes lit up and rushed over in the blink of an eye.
Natasha rolled her eyes but smiled slightly. Seeing Alexandrias eyes so bright no matter who or what was responsible, within reasonable explanation of course since there were those who she wouldn't trust with a pet rock let alone her wife, for it was something the redhead thought was a small blessing in disguise. As much as she loved Alex to death her wife did have one glaring flaw and that was her tendency to overthink a lot of things that didn't need to be overthought. When she went overboard on thinking about something that didn't need as much consideration as she gave it then Alex got stressed and when Alex got stressed her temper got extremely short fused. Making her way over tot he group she shook her head in amusement seeing the animated gestures that Jane was making. "Jane, Jane, Jane.. Slow down and breathe" she said rapping her knuckles on the blonde girls head lightly.
Jane whined and pouted up at the older woman as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Sue a girl for missing the people she cares about" she muttered under her breath.
"Jane, what did I say about you pouting like that?" Alexandria asked with a light scolding tone as she embraced the eleven year old to her side. Her eyebrow twitched slightly at the sarcastic 'yes mom, whatever you say mom' she heard Jane reply with before she gave the girl a noogie. "Thats enough back talk from you young lady."
Michael and the triplets snickered at the sight before the sole male of the group came to his sisters aid. "Easy on her now. I forgot to put the fragile sticker on her forehead before we went through the barrier." This drew laughter from all the girls even as Jane extracted herself from Alexandria and punched his arm.
Karen cleared her throat with a slip of a smile on her lips. "I doubt you two care" her finger pointed to Alexandria and Natasha "but we're drawing more attention to ourselves than I'm comfortable with. Can we just get on the train already and find a compartment? I'm sure by the time the train hits the station at school we'll be all caught up with what happened over the break."
"Agreed" the triplets chipped in as the girls subtly cast their eyes around noting the many many curious eyes looking their way and the whispers accompanying the looks.
Alexandria shrugged and wrapped an arm around each of her children to be and squeezed lightly. "Yeah sure, lets go. You guys got your trunks to pull behind?" she asked. The six simultaneous nods made her chuckle before nudging both Jane and Michael to start walking as Natasha started towards the train. "Oh, I forgot something. Go find a compartment with Nat and I'll find you guys." Without giving an explanation to what she forgot she let the two kids go and disappeared into the crowd.
"Did our"
"Big sister"
"Just ditch us?"
Michale, Jane, Karen and Natasha turned their heads to look at the triplets with a raised eyebrow. "I've heard of Twin Speak but Triplet Speak? Thats pushin it a bit" Karen said earning nods from the other three as the triplets pouted.
"No girls, Alex did not ditch us. If shes gone to retrieve what I think she has then she'll find us shortly. I'm surprised its taken her this long to bring it up with you guys" Natasha said ushering the kids into a compartment at the back of the train away from most everyone else
"What is it?" Jane asked as she plopped down on Natashas lap without batting an eye and cuddled into the redhead.
Natasha raised an eyebrow internally as she ran a hand through Janes hair like she'd seen Alexandria do seemingly a million times before. Her mind drew back to the description her wife had given Sirius about Jane and couldn't help in the moment agreeing more with the assertion that Jane was a loveable and sweet puppy of a person. Finding the blonde witch curled up with her brother, 'sisters' or Alex was a given but not so much with herself despite making herself available. "I suspect shes gone to grab someone important to her she wantstyou all to meet. If its who I think it is then I have every confidence to say that you'll like them and see them as family like you do each other in no time" she said as one arm wrapped around the girl while her fingers toyed gently with the blonde locks.
"I wonder why she would wait to introduce someone that important to her to us. I mean, the eight of us bonded like that" Karen said as she snapped her fingers to illustrate her statement. "I mean its not like we're a cannibal cult or anything like that."
The triplets snorted in amusement as Michael merely shoved the asian witches shoulder lightly. "Lay off it Kare, I'm sure Alex had her reasons. Probably wanted to make sure that we all clicked just right before doing this. Our big sister" his eyes cut over to Natasha as he said this and rolled his eyes recalling their conversation after the assault by the blonde boy on Alex "is incredibly smart and doesn't do something without some form of logic behind it. Has she or Natasha let us down yet?" he asked rhetorically.
"Now why would you even ask that question when you know full well Nat nor I never intend to do that if humanly possible?" Alexandria asked, her voice drifting through the door before her head popped in through the doorway. "Did you have to pick the last compartment at the back? We were nearly dragged into unfavorable company looking for you guys."
"We?" Jane asked tilting her head cutely to the side in confusion. "So the thing you forgot is a person?"
"Indeed little one." A second head popped in the doorway with a crooked grin. "Your dear sister here has told me so much about you all. Jane the human love puppy, Michael the young protector of his sisters, Karen the asian little beauty and last but not least" silvery blue eyes cut over to the redhaired triplets "the triple threat sisters."
"Luna, I told you to be nice and not tease them right away" Alexandria said slapping her friends wrist lightly as the entered. While Karen and Jane had a slightly embarrassed blush she was surprised that the triplets almost looked amused by the teasing title & Michaels chest did puff a little making her roll her eyes a little. Sure she bragged to Luna about the six first years being taken under her and Natashas wings but stroking their egos was not the order of the day. "I want you all to meet a dear friend of mine close to my heart, Luna Lovegood. I don't know if the rumors and whispers have reached you all yet about her but whatever you may hear about her thats negative don't pay it heed. Luna is one the most loving, kindest, smartest, understanding and fun people to be around."
"Oh Alex, Alex, Alex.." Luna feigned embarrassment bringing a hand to her forehead "you'll make a girl blush lavishing such praise with a heavy hand. I am but a humble humanitarian and a purveyor of knowledge" she said with a tiny grin.
"Translation: shes fun, funny, smart as a whip and just as reliable as Alex or I am" Natasha said with a chuckle.
"Indeed indeed but I must wonder why you dragged me here Alex. Sure the kids are cute for starry eyed firsties but-"
"Come off it. We both know you've kept an eye on them after you saw me and Nat take a shine to them. I thought you might like an introduction and become part of the little family we got going on here" Alexandria said taking a seat next to Natasha since her wifes lap was occupied.
"Well I wouldn't be opposed. Ever since you became free to be yourself I haven't seen you this free of heart since you came back with Natasha on your arm. If the kids aren't against me scooching my way in and becoming a puzzle piece to this growing puzzle then just call me Auntie Luna" the blonde witch said with a hint of amusement in her eyes as the train began to move and the magic of the train made the compartment a little bigger for Luna to be able to sit.
"Auntie...Luna? But you're the same age as Alex is" the triplets said perfectly in synch and sounded equally confused.
"Actually shes a year younger than me" Alexandria said with a hint of amusement coloring her own tone. "And don't mind if she says anything a little odd sometimes. Her sense of humor doesn't fall on a normal scale but like mine or Nats its harmless. For the most part." Alex chuckled at the kids screwed up looks on their faces before nodding slowly. "Luna is someone I trust implicitly. Shes a good egg even though shes missing a few patches of shell."
Luna pouted at the comparision and crossed her arms across her chest. "I will have you know Alexandria Potter-Black that normal is boying. I prefer to color outside the lines as ths muggles say" she said tapping her foot.
"I think you mean boring, not boying" Jane piped in with a rather content look about her gaze as she had both Alexandria and Natashas hands toying gently with her hair.
"No I mean boying, not boring. Pigheaded swine wizard excuses of 'men', which is ninety nine percent of the wizard population of Britain, dictate that backwards traditions as old as King Arthur & Camelot are still perfectly acceptable. Women are first the property of their fiather and then their husbands-BAH! To hell with that dragon shite" Luna said as her eyes glowed a little.
"Luna Love, you're ranting once again. And corrupting these innocent children to wizarding swears" Alexandria said with a chastising tone as the triplets had somehow produced legal pads and pens in the time it took for her eyes to blink. "And you three" her eyes turned the redheaded girls "do not pick up on Lunas habit of swearing or ranting. If I have to use a mundane comparison Luna is like one of those feminists in America only Luna is right in what shes saying & the American feminists are radicals who want to rail against men as a whole instead of pushing themselves to higher positions through hard work and getting the correct education needed as well as qualificiations."
"Lets not talk politics at the dinner table now" Natasha said cutting in to derail the conversation from its current track.
"Dinner table? There isn't a dinner table in here" Michael said raising an eyebrow.
"Its a figure of speech Michael. Nats trying to switch the conversation topic to something lighter and I agree with her. So how about we go around and give a cliff notes version of our breaks yes?" Alexandrias asked pulling. Jane onto her lap and cuddled the blonde close to her as she wrapped her arms around the eleven year old.
By the time the welcome back feast began Albus Dumbledore had a rather pleased expression on his face as his eyes landed squarely on the two people who were his biggest thorn in his side right now. 'Yes, enjoy yourselves now while you can. You will be under my control again Alexandria Potter and I have just the right plan to ensure you do. The Potter fortune and library WILL be mine even if you have to die in tbe process to see the Greater Good of the world done so Voldemorts reign ends once & for all' he thought as he ignored the food that appeared on his plate. Yes, by the years end the Potter girl would be his puppet once more come hellfire or highwater.
Feeling the weight of the gaze on them Alexandria and Natasha turned their heads to see the headmaster looking genial enough on the surface but there was a gleeful barely restrained malice hiding in his eyes. Are you sure we can't just kill him and be done with his wrinkly ass? Natasha asked through a series of handsigns she had taught to Alex, handsigns that had been taught to her origiballg as a Black Widow trainee for communicating with her fellow agents.
Not yet. If he t hreatens or does anything to endanger us or our kids Triple Tap him and leave his corpse in the most public area for discovery. And don't use your gun, we'd be the first one they'd suspect Alexandria signed back as she popped a piece of chicked into her mouth as her Gryffindor housemates on the quidditch team were talking strategy around her for the first match in a week against Ravenclaw.
Triple Tap? No fun in that raven Natasha signed pouting once her wife looked back over.
We don't need a repeat of No Russian now do we? Alexandria asked signing back with a raised eyebrow.
Natasha scowled and huffed at that being mentioned. So she had to play a role in a situation that turned into a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of innocent people ONE TIME. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been the one to send her in the first place when she objected loudly saying she would rather hammer roofing nails through the raw flesh under her toenails. Still, none of the bullets from her gun had taken an innocent life and no one could trace her back to it since she had fake paperwork done to the nine & her look had been altered to that of a rather notorious female russian extremist. That was ONE TIME and no one died. This old bastard does for SO many things done against you! she signed back quickly.
"We'll talk about it later love" Alexandria said as she leaned over kissing Natashas cheek. "And I know he does but trust me, you go with TT and I would take care of the rest. Forgery is one of few non-magical specialites. The note left with his body would be enough to cause a massive inquiry over the doubts and eyebrows raised to every decision he has ever made. Not just about me but I do me EVERY DECISION he has ever made." The last part was whispered in her wifes ear.
"And you chastised Luna about corrupting our kids" Natasha said with a chuckling smirk.
"You can't corrupt what was not completely pure to begin with" Alexandria said with her own chuckle returning to her drink. "Up the TT to QT, I don't like the look in the old coots eyes."
"Wheres the extra go?" Natasha asked.
"Two to the head, spinal column and crotch. With his history of homosexuality and his near pedophilc obsession with me as a 'boy' its better safe than sorry."