Unexpected Love: The Journey Begins
Written by J.C. Vascardi
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Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relate to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. I'm not profiting on this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books.
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Author's Note: There will be times when I release a chapter that will have no clear forward movement in terms of plot. This is because sometimes I just want to write something that fits in the story's universe but is not directly tied to the plot, but that I still think a majority of my readers will like and enjoy. And sometimes things that may not appear to be tied to the plot are in fact important to the plot or subplots, whether they appear to be so to you or not.
Also, in case it wasn't clear from my penname, I'm male and I'm also gay. My stories will most often focus on the gay relationships because that's what interests me. However, that does not mean that I'm a) sexist, or b) that I hate women. Neither of those is true. If it was, there wouldn't be any women in my story at all and I think if you've read this far, then you know that even if they are in the background, there's still female characters present. I also do not hate heterosexual people, as I, like most people, owe my very existence to a pair of them. My choice to place them in the background doesn't change that or indicate that I hold any ill will towards them, however.
Ultimately, this is my story and I can write whatever I want. I don't expect all of you reading my works to like them or even to agree with everything that I write. Also, I welcome feedback and suggestions. However, if all you're going to do is criticize everything I do, cuss at me, or make assumptions about my character (see the above paragraph) then I can do without hearing from you and really would rather you didn't contact me at all. This message isn't directed at anyone specific who's ever read my works, either in the past or in the future. I've honestly been thinking about this for years now, but I've refrained from saying anything.
So, in short, my story, my choice. I'm writing this story for fun and to give voice to my imagination. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to read this, so go read something else or write your own story. And if you don't like my story and continue to read it, or you like it but decide to ignore everything that I wrote above? Don't expect a response should you opt to review, because you will not get one. And now, on with the story.
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Previously in 'The Journey Begins'…
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To the surprise of everyone at Hogwarts, the Goblet of Fire picks three champions to represent each school and the third Hogwarts Champion is Harry. This comes as a major surprise to Harry since he never entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Of course, Harry's name coming out of the Goblet isn't the only controversy, as one of the Durmstrang Champions, Chandler Delrossi, has a conjoined twin brother, Schuyler, leading many to believe that Durmstrang now has four champions. Minerva insists this isn't the case, however, as only Chandler's name came out of the Goblet. Chandler and Schuyler reveal that they're metamorphmagi and that they can completely merge themselves into a single body, so only Chandler will be competing.
Harry shares the fact that the First Task is dragons in order to eliminate the unfair advantage he'd otherwise possess, since as a Governor of Hogwarts, he knew the details of the task. It's further decided that the Tournament's main three tasks will be turned into team challenges, with all three champions from each school working together to complete them. A number of solo side challenges related to school subjects are then planned to occur throughout the year. To put the Hogwarts Champions on more equal footing, Durmstrang Dark Arts Professor Elsa Thornquist agrees to teach them the Dark Arts in accordance with the Beauxbatons Dark Arts elective's syllabus, which all of the Beauxbatons Champions have taken. Additionally, the Durmstrang Champions are restricted to use only what's taught in the Beauxbatons elective.
Cedric and Harry spend some time getting to know their fellow champion, Cassius Warrington, better. During the course of this conversation, Cassius learns that Cedric and Harry are dating. Harry also decides to try his hand at matchmaking when he finds out that Cassius is gay, since he knows that Edward expressed an interest in Cassius.
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Chapter Seventeen
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Following the champion selection, Minerva and the other trainers agreed that it was time to return to Forest Cottage so that they could continue their mage students' training. This return to the cottage didn't last long, however, as the morning after their return Minerva sensed an attempt to breach the wards around the property.
With help from Pomona, Septima, Rolanda, Asterion, and Regulus the interloper was turned away before they could penetrate them. Unfortunately, they had no way of discerning who it was that had been behind the attempt, which appeared to be a scrying ritual centered upon Edward.
Obviously they suspected Dumbledore and Grindelwald were behind it and Merlin hypothesized that they may have been trying to locate Edward. The Fidelius Charm would usually prevent scrying attempts, but with the power of the Elder Wand on their side, if it was them, the Fidelius or the numerous other wards around the cottage wouldn't keep them out forever. This led to Minerva and the trainers coming to the realization that Forest Cottage was no longer a safe place to carry out their students' training. It was because of this that the mage students found themselves moving from Forest Cottage to Castle Camelot, which with the restored protection of Hestia's Grail, was a lot more secure.
The Grail had entered an almost completely dormant state upon the death of King Charles Pendragon and needed to be reactivated by his successor in order to restore its full protection to the castle. Obviously Grindelwald had never done so, however, because even if he knew that the Grail was in the castle—which was unlikely—he wouldn't have been able to access it since it was stored in the hidden compartment under the Round Table that only a blood member of the Pendragon family could access.
Even the Elder Wand couldn't breach that particular protection, since the power for it was derived from the Grail itself. As powerful as the Elder Wand was, it was no match against Hestia's Grail, as Hestia was quite a bit more powerful than Thanatos.
With Arthur's help, Edward had now activated the Grail and restored its full protections to the castle. Edward also vowed that he wouldn't do what his grandfather had done in regards to the castle wards which had resulted in the deaths of so many people, including Charles himself and Edward's parents.
Merlin then revealed the existence of a magically hidden tower in the family wing of the castle which hadn't been seen by anybody since Merlin died. It housed his private library and the workspace he'd used as the Camelot Court Sorcerer. From his portrait, Merlin instructed the trainers on the necessary spells to override the charms that prevented structural changes to the castle. With this knowledge, the trainers were able to convert the space into training areas that were pretty much identical to what they'd had at Forest Cottage.
As for living quarters for the mage students and the trainers themselves, there unfortunately wasn't room in Merlin's tower as there were limits to just how much space could be added with Wizard Space, and adding all of the necessary training areas, while retaining Merlin's extensive private library in addition to adding the contents of Forest Cottage's library, the books from the students' common room and Minerva's study had prevented the addition of living quarters.
However, this wasn't an insurmountable issue, as there were plenty of unused bedrooms in the family wing of the castle. Granville Barker and a select group of his most trusted guards were let in on the secret of the training by Minerva, after which the Captain changed the guard patrols to make sure that only those who knew would be assigned to guard duty in the family wing.
About a week after the move, after a long day of royal duties and mage classes, Edward was relaxing on the sofa in his private study. Ramesses was seated on the other sofa across from Edward because while he'd prefer to be cuddling with his husband, he also wanted a good view of the doors into the room.
The reason for this was because on the day of the move from Forest Cottage to Castle Camelot, Ramesses was contacted by his younger brother, T.J. with a message regarding Edward from two members of T.J.'s mother's family. Apparently they'd met Edward years ago and wanted to see him again, but they wanted to surprise him. So, with T.J. acting as a go-between, Ramesses made all the necessary arrangements for the surprise visit.
At the appointed time, Ramesses did his best to keep the grin off his face as the doors to the room were opened as quietly and slowly as possible to admit two people. He'd seen pictures before, but this was the first time that he'd actually seen T.J.'s uncles in person.
'Well, they're certainly easy on the eyes,' Ramesses thought, as the two guests quietly snuck up behind Edward and Ramesses continued to act like he didn't see anything out of the ordinary happening. It would totally ruin the surprise after all if he gave Edward any advanced warning.
"What the hell?!" Edward asked, jumping slightly as a pair of hands closed over his eyes. "Who are you? Ram, why didn't you tell me we had company?"
"Oh, relax, Edward," a male voice said. "We mean you no harm."
"We?" Edward asked, noting that the voice wasn't one of his fellow mage students. He hadn't called for the guards because he'd initially assumed that it had to be one of them for them to have made it this far into the castle.
"Yes, we," another slightly different yet very similar male voice said.
"Unhand me at once!"
"He was more fun when we were kids, brother," the first male said.
"Oh I agree completely," the second male said. "That three-way kiss we shared was so hot."
Ramesses's eyes widened at that. "Kiss? I think T.J. forgot to mention something."
"Oh don't get mad at T.J., Ramesses," the first male said. "We didn't tell our nephew why we wanted to surprise Edward, after all."
"Wait, your T.J's uncles?" Edward asked. "And three-way kiss… Charles and Maximilian von Habsburg, is that you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Edward," the second voice said. "You know we prefer Chaz and Maxx."
"And of course it's us, you silly boy," the first voice added. "Just how many three-way kisses have you had?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Ramesses said, as Chaz and Maxx removed their hands from Edward's face and tilted his head backwards so that he could see them standing behind the sofa.
It'd been years since Edward had seen the conjoined twin younger brothers of Iberian King-Emperor Philip von Habsburg, who were obviously also the younger brothers of Patriarch Rodrigo von Habsburg—Philip's twin brother and the Iberian Lord High Priest of Zeus—and T.J.'s mother, Princess-Consort Cleopatra Ptolemy, also known as the former Princess Carlotta von Habsburg.
The last time they'd met, Edward was only ten years old, as the meeting had occurred over the summer of 1981. Chaz and Maxx, meanwhile, were eleven, as all three of them had late birthdays. Edward's being November 12th and the twins' being December 30th.
"Don't just stand there behind the sofa, come around and sit down," Edward said. Once the twins were seated, "What are you even doing in Albion?"
"Careful, or I might think you're not happy to see us," said Chaz, who was the twin on the right and the first one to speak upon entering the room.
"Perhaps he isn't, brother," Maxx added. "It must be a bit disconcerting for him to see us again after all these years." Motioning towards Ramesses, he added, "Especially after he's gone and married our nephew's half-brother."
Chaz grinned. "Yes, I'm sorry we weren't here for your wedding, Edward, but we were off on the official viceroyalty tour on behalf of our brother at the time and couldn't get here."
"Yes, we had a full day of photo ops and meetings with the Viceroy of Peru that day," Maxx added. "Alex and Alexis were supposed to do the tour this year, but they both came down with the stomach flu the morning they were supposed to leave, so Philip had us go instead as last minute replacements."
"We can't really afford to get on Philip's bad side right now," Chaz revealed. "He's none too pleased with us as it is, considering that he's tried to use us for three different marriage alliances in the last three years and we keep putting the brakes on it."
"Didn't like the people he wanted you to marry?" Edward asked.
Shaking his head negatively, Maxx said, "No that wasn't the problem. Grand Duke Andrei of Russia, Prince Valentinian of Byzantium, and Prince Tadashi of the Rising Sun are all very easy on the eyes and normally Chaz and I would have no issues marrying any of them, but what Philip and our father before him doesn't know is that we can't get married."
"Why?" Ramesses asked.
"Because we're already engaged," Chaz answered.
"Without your brother's consent?" Edward asked. "That was a very risky move."
"Yes, well, the engagement happened during our father's reign," Maxx said.
"You still would have needed his permission," Edward said. "And he died four years ago, so what's the hold up? Other than you apparently not telling him or Philip about it?"
Chaz and Maxx were quiet as they looked at each other for a moment, before they looked at Edward and asked, in unison, "You don't remember do you?"
Edward looked confused, as he asked, "Don't remember what?"
Ramesses, meanwhile, cocked his head and asked, "Wait, does this have anything to do with why you said that it would be disconcerting for Edward to see you two after all these years?"
"Yes, it does, Ramesses," Chaz said. "Maybe Maxx and I are wrong, but we figured it would be rather uncomfortable for Edward for us to be in the room when he married you."
Maxx nodded. "Yes, having your fiancés in the room when you're marrying somebody else would be awkward. And that's without the fact that you're our nephew's half-brother."
"Fiancés?!" Edward exclaimed.
Chaz shook his head, a sad look gracing his handsome face, as he looked at his twin and said, "He really has forgotten, brother."
"I'm hurt, Edward, truly," Maxx said. "Here we've remained faithful to you all these years, waiting for us all to grow up so that we could get married as we vowed that summer in Madrid." Shaking his head. "Well, I guess now we know why you never wrote or Floo-called."
Edward shook his head, a look of total confusion on his face, as he thought back to his last meeting with Chaz and Maxx. He'd been in Madrid for some official reason, he forgot what honestly, as his childhood had been full of them. He may not have been making official appearances within Albion and Iwernia itself, but starting when he was six he'd been making foreign trips just about every summer for one reason or another.
He remembered kissing Chaz and Maxx. It was hard to forget your first kiss after all, especially when it happened to be with two people at the same time. After a few minutes of thought, his eyes widened as it came to him. "Oh. Oh."
"I think he remembers, Maxx."
"Remembers what?" Ramesses asked.
Edward blushed bright red, as he said, "Chaz and Maxx were my first kiss. We were only ten and eleven at the time, or we probably would have gone further. Anyway, we kissed and I danced with them at a ball that their late father held in my honor."
Maxx grinned. "That's not all he did, though. After the ball, we spent a few hours walking through the gardens and talking late into the night. That kiss was under a full moon and a starlit sky. Honestly, with the smell from mother's roses in the air it was all very romantic."
Chaz nodded. "Yes, it was," as he looked at Edward and said, "and despite numerous chances since then, Maxx and I have steadfastly sworn off all other romantic entanglements because of what happened after the kiss. You remember, don't you, Edward?"
"Yes, I remember," Edward said in a suddenly timid voice.
"Edward? What did you do?" Ramesses asked.
Turning to look at Ramesses, Edward said, "I sort of asked Chaz and Maxx to marry me. Gave them my signet ring as an engagement gift and swore a royal oath on my honor as a Pendragon that we would be married one day."
Ramesses was quiet for a moment, before he shook his head and said, "Any other old promises to anyone else that you've forgotten about, Edward?" Edward shook his head negatively, prompting Ramesses to sigh and say, "Well, at least I went into this marriage knowing I wouldn't be your only husband." With a grin, he asked, "So, when's the wedding?"
"We could ask the same thing," Maxx said. "We were sure that once Edward turned seventeen he'd send for us. Or at least contact our late father to make arrangements for our wedding. But seventeen came and went. As did eighteen and nineteen. Then our father died the year Edward turned twenty and our brother took the throne. And now here we are four years later and you've gone and married our nephew's half-brother. Meanwhile, we've had to continually put a stop to all Philip's attempts to use us to forge a marriage alliance."
"Yes, as I said, we can't afford to get on Philip's bad side," Chaz said. "I'm afraid we're already close to being there as it is. Going on the viceroyalty tour helped a little, but I know he's going to try to arrange another union and it's not going to be pretty if we put a stop to it again. Eventually, he's just going to pull the absolute monarch card and tell us that we're getting married whether we want to or not."
"That sounds harsh," a new voice said, prompting Edward, Ramesses, Chaz and Maxx to turn towards the doorway. Blaise was standing there, along with Gavin, Oliver, and Terence. It was Blaise who'd spoken.
"Chaz, Maxx, meet Blaise Zabini, Terence Higgs, and Gavin and Oliver Wood," Edward said. "They're my houseguests. Some of them, anyway. Guys, meet Their Imperial and Royal Highnesses Prince-Electors Charles and Maximilian von Habsburg, the younger brothers of King-Emperor Philip of Iberia, and two of the seven members of the Holy Roman Empire's Electoral College."
"It's Chaz and Maxx," Chaz said before the newcomers could say anything, as Maxx nodded and said, "There's no need to be so formal Edward. We're not in court or an official engagement."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highnesses," Terence said, as he and the others bowed ever so slightly.
"I don't recognize any of their names from the Albion peerage," Maxx commented.
"They're not nobility," Ramesses added. "But they're friends of ours, who along with a few others, are living here at the castle. I'm afraid I can't tell you why. Fidelius."
"Ah, well, no matter, any friends of Edward's are friends of ours," Chaz said with a smile. "As for my brother telling Maxx and I that we have to get married whether we want to or not, yes, I suppose it does sound harsh. But that's just the way things are done among royals. Children and younger siblings of the monarch are commodities to be used to broker alliances, trade deals, and occasionally end wars."
Chaz, Maxx, and Edward quickly caught up Blaise, Terence, Oliver, and Gavin on what was going on.
"What I don't understand though is why you two have remained celibate all these years," Ramesses said. "I get that Edward made a royal oath to the two of you, but that only affects him, not the two of you."
"Because after he gave us his oath to marry us," Chaz said, "Maxx and I gave him our oaths to remain forever faithful to him and only him. So, we've kept up our end by remaining celibate and avoiding all romantic entanglements because if we didn't, being a Royal Oath on our honor as Habsburgs, it would affect not only us but the entire House of Habsburg if we broke it."
"Yes, it's a good thing that I only vowed to marry them," Edward said. "And not remain forever faithful, since if I had, the House of Pendragon would have been stripped of their honor since I would have broken the oath on my wedding night to Ram."
"Indeed," Maxx agreed. "Now, while we're speaking of things that we don't understand, what I don't understand, Edward, is just how exactly you completely forgot about our engagement until we reminded you. I would have thought that was something a person would remember. I get that we were young at the time, but we remembered."
"Are we really that forgettable?" Chaz asked, before Edward could answer.
"No, you're not forgettable," Edward said as he grabbed Chaz's hand in his left and Maxx's hand in his right and squeezed. The twins were joined in a similar fashion to Markus and Mateus Eriksson in that they were joined side by side and each only had one arm. Chaz and Maxx were only joined from the shoulders down to their waists, however, and each had two legs. Unlike Markus and Mateus who were joined from their shoulders down to the toes of their shared leg.
"Really? Because you still forgot."
"I know, and I'm sorry about that, Maxx," Edward said. "I really am. I know this is going to sound trite, but I had a lot on my mind."
"Well, I suppose that's understandable," Chaz said. "You are the absolute monarch of one of the largest empires on the globe. I suppose that must keep you pretty busy."
"I wish that was the only reason," Edward said with a sigh. "There's more to it than that. A lot more. And all of it plays a big part in why I married Ramesses to begin with."
"Well that sounds interesting," Maxx said. "I admit there has been some gossip being exchanged in the court back home. The nobles are wondering why you chose an alliance with the Egyptian Empire, as there are other more powerful alliances you could have made instead. Iberia, Russia, and Byzantium come to mind as the three of them are probably the next largest empires after Camelot."
"Well, Edward's and my marriage might not have solidified an official Camelot-Byzantium alliance," Ramesses said, "but it does put Edward firmly in Emperor Justinian's good graces, since he is my mother's twin brother and my godfather."
"Before I say anything else," Edward said, "I have to preface this by saying that what I'm about to tell you is a Camelot state secret and it cannot under any circumstances leave this room. Only a very select group of people know this, Ramesses and his father included, and for the time being it needs to stay that way." Motioning towards Blaise, Gavin, Oliver, and Terence, he added, "They know as well for reasons which I can't share due to the Fidelius."
Chaz and Maxx looked at Edward for a moment, and then at Ramesses and the others, before looking back to Edward. After a moment of silence, they stood, took out their wands and held them over their respective hearts, as they said in unison, "You have my word on my honor as a member of the Imperial and Royal House of Habsburg that I will not share whatever knowledge you're about to share with me with anyone without your explicit consent. So mote it be."
Standing up and pulling out his own wand, Edward said, "And I accept your oath, Chaz and Maxx of the Imperial and Royal House of Habsburg. So mote it be."
Like with most magical oaths, there was a small burst of magic. It was perhaps a little less spectacular in terms of the magical display as something like the Alliance Oath, but no less serious, as failure to carry out a Royal Oath could cost an entire royal family their honor—and literally brand every living member of the family as dishonorable—so they were still taken very seriously.
Once everyone was reseated, Edward said, "I didn't contact the two of you simply because I couldn't. You see, later that same year, on the eve of my birthday, I was kidnapped and imprisoned. There was someone else put on the throne in my place who successfully pretended to be me for over a decade, but he didn't know about the oath I'd made to the two of you, as the subject never came up in the meetings we had in the early days as he sought to perfect his performance."
Chaz and Maxx, obviously, looked shocked and after a moment of silence, they both began asking different questions at the same time to the point that neither Edward nor Ramesses or any of the others were actually sure which one of them was asking what. "Kidnapped? By who?" "Who was the imposter?" and "How did they get away with that?" were just some of the questions.
Holding up his hands to stop them from talking, Edward said, "First of all, you haven't heard about my kidnapping and subsequent imprisonment because as I said this is a state secret. I'm fully aware of the fact that there were whispers of incompetency in other courts after my family was murdered, so I didn't want to add to that by making my kidnapping public knowledge."
The twins nodded in response to that, as they could understand Edward's reasoning. Especially since they'd heard some of those whispers, as they'd been present in the Iberian court when the murders actually happened. Their late father, Philip XVI, had quashed them when he heard them, but Chaz and Maxx knew that they'd persisted afterward, even if the people doing the whispering made sure that they didn't do so in front of the King. Unfortunately, they hadn't always exercised the same level of restraint around the King's younger sons.
Edward launched into the full story at this point, thoroughly shocking Chaz and Maxx, as they could scarcely believe that Albus Dumbledore had kidnapped Edward or that Gellert Grindelwald had been masquerading as him for over a decade. Edward did leave out a few details, of course, as he couldn't tell them about his mage training since he wasn't the Secret Keeper of that particular secret.
When he was done, Edward said, "Well, now you know the whole sordid story. I hope the reason I didn't contact you and forgot about the oath I made until you reminded me makes sense now."
Chaz nodded. "Yes, it makes sense."
Maxx nodded as well, as he said, "After that we're not even angry with you either, as we wouldn't wish that on our worst enemy, let alone the man that is literally our childhood sweetheart."
"And future husband," Chaz added with a grin.
"Well, how long can you stay?" Edward asked. "Tomorrow is my birthday and if you can, I'd be honored if you'd join Ram as my dates for the King's Ball tomorrow night."
"We'd love to," Chaz said as Maxx nodded, before he looked over at Ramesses and asked, "Ram?"
Ramesses grinned. "That or R.J. are my nicknames, which I suppose since we'll soon be sharing a husband, you guys can start using from now on."
"Okay, R.J.," Maxx said. After a moment he asked, "Um, does this mean that Chaz and I will be expected to marry you too? I'm not entirely sure how that would work with the oath we gave Edward."
"No, you won't be expected to marry him," Edward said. "I plan to take a page from his father's book and take multiple husbands since I want to build the family up a bit so that there's people other than me who can undertake royal duties. Obviously children are in the future, but since I prefer men that'll require a surrogate and it'll be nearly two decades before any children I have would be old enough to perform royal duties."
Ramesses nodded. "Yes, Edward told me that I was free to marry any of his other spouses if I so choose to do so. The only restriction is that I can't take my own separate husbands that Edward isn't married to. For the time being, I don't plan on marrying anyone else, but I won't rule it out as that could change in the future."
"As for your oath," Edward said, "I'm not entirely certain how that will affect things to be honest. The wording you used may play a role and it may not, but, Merlin and Arthur may be able to shed some light on it."
"Merlin and Arthur?" Chaz asked. "I assume you're talking about a portrait?"
"Indeed he is, young man," a voice said, as they all turned and saw Merlin and Arthur standing in the frame above the fireplace. It wasn't Merlin's and Arthur's actual frame, but, like the subjects of all wizarding portraits, they could visit other frames.
"Hello Merlin," Edward said, since it was him who'd spoke. "Arthur." Before he proceeded to introductions.
"So what is it that you thought we might be able to shed some light on?" Arthur asked. "We're pleased to help in any way that we can."
After explaining about their childhood meeting, which had actually consisted of two full weeks in which Edward was a guest of their late father, with balls in his honor being held on both the evening of his arrival and the evening before his departure. The royal oaths they'd exchanged had occurred after the second of the two balls, but the three young men had spent almost the entirety of their free time over the previous two weeks getting to know each other.
"Well, full moon, stars, roses, that's very romantic," Merlin said. "I'd say you were way too young for such declarations, but then again in my day, it wasn't uncommon for people to marry young, since life expectancy back then was a lot shorter than it is now."
"Ten and eleven may have been pushing things a little," Arthur added. "But not by much, as another few years, say thirteen, fourteen, would have been about normal. Anyway, do you recall the exact wording of the oaths you gave?"
Chaz nodded and said, "Yes, I remember the exact words. So does Maxx."
Grinning, Maxx said, "Unlike Edward, we committed that night to memory and have never forgotten it for a second since. We've only been reliving that night in our dreams nearly every night for the last fourteen years."
Clearing his throat, Chaz said, "It was the same for both of us. 'I accept your oath to marry me, Edward of the Imperial and Royal House of Pendragon and give you my own oath in return that I will remain forever faithful to you both before and after our wedding. On my honor as a member of the Imperial and Royal House of Habsburg, sic fiat semper.' Obviously when I gave the oath that last part was in English like the rest of it."
"Indeed," Merlin said, knowing that Chaz had said the 'so mote it be' part in Latin instead of English because otherwise it would have counted as giving the oath a second time. The entirety of the wording had to be said in the same language, so either all in English or all in Latin or another language in order to count. Mixing the languages rendered it invalid.
"Because of the wording of that oath," Arthur said after a moment of silence, "the two of you are bound to be faithful only unto Edward. Meaning you can never marry or have sexual relations with anybody but him."
"Well, that's not entirely true," Merlin said. At the questioning looks he elaborated. "Self-pleasure wouldn't count, so you can masturbate and not break the oath. And because you're conjoined and thus your magical cores are connected, you wouldn't be breaking the oath if you opted to masturbate each other. Allow anyone else other than yourselves, each other, or Edward to touch you in a sexual manner, however, and the oath would be broken."
Everyone in the room was blushing at this, because they weren't used to somebody so openly discussing masturbation. Arthur and Merlin weren't blushing, but then that's because they were a portrait and while Merlin had woven a number of extra spells into their depiction that allowed them to do a lot more than a normal wizarding portrait, blushing is not something he'd covered among those spells.
"Well, Merlin, now that you've thoroughly embarrassed them, I think our job here is done," Arthur said, before he grabbed Merlin's arm and dragged him out of the frame.
Gavin recovered first, as he said, "You know, I guess it's a good thing that you guys waited until now to make contact with Edward. Because until a couple of months ago you would have unknowingly broken your oaths if you'd married and had sex with who you thought was Edward but was actually Gellert Grindelwald."
Chaz and Maxx visibly shuddered at this thought, clearly very unhappy about the idea. Not only were they sick to their stomachs at the idea of having sex with a Dark Lord, but they were also sick at the idea of dishonoring their entire family by the action.
"True," Edward said. "Well, anyway, I suppose I should contact your brother. Oath or no oath, I still have to ask his permission to marry the two of you. And the royal solicitors need to get together and draw up the documents for a formal alliance."
"Could we not mention the oath?" Maxx asked. "I mean unless we really have to? I can't imagine Philip saying no to the union, because he's wanted to marry us off for years now and he can't say he's not getting a good alliance out of the deal. But I'd prefer he didn't know about the oath unless we have no choice."
"Yeah, I'd rather Philip didn't know myself," Chaz said. "I'm sure he suspects that there's a reason why we keep turning down suitors, but honestly, I'd rather he didn't know the real reason. He took after our father in that he has a bit of a temper. Thankfully Isabella has made sure that their son Alex is a lot more even tempered. Not that it matters really, as he's not going to be King anytime soon since Philip is only thirty-eight."
"I'll do my best to keep it from him," Edward said, before he walked over to his desk and sat down. Taking out his wand, he tapped the glass of an ornate golden mirror on the edge of the desk, which allowed secure two-way communication between the various monarchs. Ideally Edward would have used this method to contact Seti originally instead of sending Garrick Ollivander with a letter, but then he didn't have access to Castle Camelot at the time.
"Philip von Habsburg," Edward intoned, as the surface of the mirror went from clear to cloudy, as magic swirled over its surface.
After a moment, the cloudiness cleared and coalesced into an image of Philip's face. "Edward Pendragon. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I have a request," Edward answered. "I'm hoping you'll be amenable to it."
"Well, I suppose that would depend upon the nature of the request."
Edward nodded. "I'm offering you an alliance and trade deal, in exchange for the hands of your brothers, Charles and Maximilian."
Philip raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Forgive me, but didn't I just attend your wedding to Pharaoh Seti's son Ramesses a couple of weeks ago?"
"Yes, you did. Although as you know, I'm the last of the Pendragon line. Obviously I'll be having children at some point, via surrogate since I prefer males, but it'll be a couple of decades before they're old enough to carry out royal duties on my behalf. So I figured I'd take a page from Seti's book and take multiple spouses. Ramesses went into the marriage with me knowing this."
"Ah, well, I suppose that does make sense," Philip said. "And I know that Chaz and Maxx," as their brother Philip tended to use their nicknames in all but the most formal settings because he knew how much they detested being called their actual names, "are good at royal duties. As I told them upon their return from the viceroyalty tour, I got nothing but glowing reports about them from my Viceroys. I'll almost be sad to lose them to another kingdom, but then I knew it would happen eventually."
"So you don't have any problems with my request to marry them both? In addition to Ramesses?" Edward asked. "And may I say you're also being more amenable that I expected? You're not even going to attempt to get any concessions out of me?"
Philip smiled. "I grew up watching my father age at an accelerated rate from the stress of being too much of a micromanager. By the time he died, he looked thirty or forty years older than he actually was. So, I'll leave the details of the alliance and the trade deal up to our advisors and the solicitors to hammer out. I'm sure they'll come up with something that's mutually beneficial. As for the multiple spouses, no I can't say that I do have a problem with that. My sister Carlotta—I don't think I'll ever get used to calling her Cleopatra—is one of Seti's wives after all."
Before Edward could respond, Philip grinned and said, "And as I'm sure they told you—yes I know that they came to visit you—I've been trying for the last three years to marry them off. They keep rejecting the attempts, however, but in all three cases I was marrying them both off to the same prince. They think I don't know why they keep saying no to my attempts to marry them off, but I saw that kiss the three of you shared in the gardens. I think my brothers have been carrying a torch for you ever since."
Shaking his head, Philip continued, "Honestly the only reason I didn't contact you first when I was looking to marry them off was because Tsar Nicolas and Emperor Justinian contacted me first. After those unions fell through I was going to contact you to start negotiations but then I heard you'd selected a group of suitors, so I figured you wouldn't be interested and contacted Emperor Hiroshi instead."
Edward laughed. "Well, then, Philip I suppose in that case at some point soon we're going to be brothers-in-law. I'll have my advisors and my solicitor draw up a proposal and send it over. As you said, I'm sure between them and your own people, they can work out something that'll benefit both our kingdoms."
"Yes. Tell my brothers they have my permission to stay on in Albion as long as they're welcome." Philip turned his face away from the mirror for a moment and Edward could see his lips moving but couldn't hear what he was saying, suggesting that he was talking to somebody else in his own office. When he turned back, he said, "Anyway, I have a Privy Council meeting I need to get to, so we'll have to bring this to a close. It was good seeing you, Edward. I wish you good health and look forward to the day I can call you my brother."
Edward said his goodbyes to Philip, before the communication ended and he stood from his desk. "Well, that went better than I expected."
"Looks like you were worried for nothing," Oliver commented. "Seems your brother already knew."
"Well, part of the story, at least," Gavin added.
"I guess so," Chaz said with a shake of his head, as Maxx just nodded.
-o-0-o-
Meanwhile, in his new bedroom, Harry was seated in a chair next to the fireplace, his feet up, as he read a book. Or at least tried to read a book. His mind wasn't really cooperating and thus the words on the page weren't making any sense. Honestly, he'd probably read the same passage about ten times without noticing.
Instead of the book resting in his lap, his mind was instead on the King's Ball tomorrow night. He was nervous. Even though Cedric insisted that he wasn't as bad of a dancer as he believed, he was still worried he'd make a fool of himself. And now it wouldn't just be Cedric and all of the other noble families in attendance that he had to worry about making a fool of himself in front of.
The King would be there, obviously, since the ball was in honor of his birthday. Although to be honest, it wasn't even Edward that had him worried.
No, now he was worried he'd make a fool of himself in front of Jonas and Lukas Cuffe.
Asterion had given him and Cedric a pair of charmed diaries that had allowed them both to communicate with the Cuffe twins in real time. All four had taken advantage of this and had spent the last couple of weeks writing back and forth and getting to know each other better. Tomorrow night, however, would be the first time that Harry or Cedric had seen the twins in person since the Tribunal.
And if that wasn't enough pressure, Harry would be escorting Jonas as his date, while "Evan" escorted Lukas. He was really beginning to regret suggesting that he and Cedric do their first date with Abigail's brothers in such a public forum.
"Why couldn't we have met for a coffee date or something?" Harry asked himself aloud. "Something less formal and with fewer people around."
"Because you don't drink coffee, son," James said with a grin from the portrait above the mantle. James's and Lily's portrait now hung prominently above the fireplace in Harry's bedroom, although the room he was currently in wasn't technically his bedroom, since the bed wasn't in the room he was currently in.
It had taken a few days after the move to Castle Camelot for Harry to adjust to his new living arrangements. With only one living member of the Pendragon family left, there were plenty of empty rooms in the castle and as a result, Harry and all the other mage students, plus the trainers had been given their own suites. Some had obviously doubled up, such as Nick and Dominick, and Terence and Oliver, of course.
Having his own private sitting room attached to his bedroom was not something that Harry was used to. Just as he wasn't used to having a walk-in closet which was in turn attached to a dressing room. He'd had his own private bathroom in his room at Forest Cottage, but the bathroom in his new accommodations put the one at the cottage to shame. Of course, that was probably to be expected, considering that Forest Cottage was just a middle-class Scottish highlands cottage. Castle Camelot on the other hand, was a medieval palace with all the luxurious appointments one would expect in a place that was literally built for royalty.
It was Harry's experience that no matter where one went in the magical world, it often felt like you were stepping backwards in time. And that feeling was no less apparent here at the castle. At Forest Cottage, Minerva had favored a Victorian style in her décor, while Castle Camelot was full of furnishings that had already been antiques for centuries when Queen Victoria's great-great-great-grandfather was on the throne. There were a few modern touches here and there, but not many, as it was clear that the furnishings had been around almost as long as the castle.
Of course, Merlin's spells had prevented structural changes to most of the castle beyond updating the plumbing. And it seemed that Edward's ancestors had in turn not changed much of anything. As proven by the fact that Merlin and Arthur confirmed that the bed in the King's Suite—where Edward and Ramesses now slept—was the same bed they'd slept in over a thousand years ago. The mattress had been changed several times over the years, but the bed frame itself and even the hangings—thanks to good care and Preservation Charms—were the same ones that adorned the room in the eighth century.
"Fine a tea date then," Harry said. "You know what I meant, Dad. Something less formal than the ball to celebrate the King's birthday would have been better for a first date."
"True," Lily said. "And I suppose where the ball is being held doesn't help matters."
Nodding, Harry said, "No, it doesn't. If it wasn't for the fact that my presence is pretty much required since I am the Lord High Chancellor, there's no way I'd ever set foot in Maplecroft Manor."
Maplecroft Manor was the ancestral home of the Lestrange family and the site where the King's Ball had been held for well over a decade. This would be the first time since King Charles died that the King would actually be present at the ball, which had previously been held in June, instead of November. Still, with Arcturus Lestrange and presumably his sister Araminta acting as the hosts for the evening, Harry could think of numerous things he'd rather be doing. To be perfectly honest, kissing a toilet seat, crawling over broken glass, and walking on red hot coals were all among the things he'd rather be doing.
"Well, at least it's just Arcturus and Araminta Lestrange," James said. "It'd be a lot worse if you had to deal with the Lord and Lady Lestrange instead."
"Thank heavens for small favors," Harry said. "I feel sorry for Neville and his gran, having to go into that house."
"True, I can't imagine they're too happy about it," Cedric said, as he walked into the room through the connecting door that connected his sitting room to Harry's.
Harry and Cedric had been a bit stunned on the first day of living at the castle to find out that they'd been given connecting suites, but they weren't going to complain. While they hadn't reached a point where they were comfortable with the idea of actually sharing a bed, they weren't going to complain about the close proximity. It just made snogging sessions a lot more convenient.
As Cedric took a seat in the armchair opposite Harry's own, Lily took hold of James's arm and said, "I think we should go explore the castle."
Grinning, James said, "Have fun, boys," making them both blush, as James and Lily left their frame.
Closing his book and setting it aside, Harry stood up and moved over to the chair Cedric had sat down in before sitting down on the older boy's lap. It was perhaps a little more awkward now than it might have been when Harry was a lot smaller, but he liked his new body. Of course, he wasn't the only one since Cedric liked it too. Wrapping his arms around Harry's waist and pulling the younger teen's head down, the two kissed for a moment, before Cedric said, "It'll be okay, Harry."
"Well, at least I won't have to socialize with Arcturus and Araminta too much. They will have a house full of guests and as the hosts, they can't stick with just one group of their guests."
"Indeed, they can't. It would be seen as very rude."
"I wonder what people will say about us though," Harry said, after a moment as he wrapped one arm around Cedric's shoulders and laced the fingers of his other hand with Cedric's. "Well, not so much you and me—or Evan I suppose—but us and Jonas and Lukas."
"Well, you are a legal adult, Harry. Nobody can say anything about it if you opt to date an older man. Besides, this being the first date, I'm not even sure it'll be all that romantic. Probably more platonic in nature, just a group of friends going out together."
"I guess, although we both know that Abigail is hoping that you and I hit it off with Jonas and Lukas in the romantic sense. So that the two of them can get out of the house more and actually go on dates."
"True," Cedric said. "For now though, let's not worry about it. There's something else I'd much rather be doing."
Harry grinned as he recognized the look on the other boy's face. "I do like the way you think," before he leaned in and started making out with Cedric.
-o-0-o-
"Oh Gods, yes. Fuck me!" twenty-five-year-old Jonas Cuffe exclaimed from his nearly bent over position, the upper half of his body flat against the tiled wall of the shower in the bathroom of his flat, while his lower body was angled outward away from the tiles.
Instead of responding verbally, Jonas's lover—and identical twin brother—Lukas just sped up not only his thrusting hips, but also his hand, which was wrapped tightly around Jonas's manhood.
Leaning forward so that his chest was flush with his brother's back, Lukas captured Jonas's lips in a searing kiss, as the water cascaded over their bodies. It wasn't long after the kiss began that they both felt their balls tightening, signaling that their release was imminent. They kept kissing, however, and thus any moans were silenced by their joined mouths as Lukas began shooting his load deep into his twin's arse, and Jonas began shooting all over the wall and floor of the shower.
The twins kept kissing until the very last spasms of their orgasms faded, before Lukas broke the kiss and whispered, "I love you, Jon."
"I love you, too, Luke."
Pulling his softening cock out of his twin's arse, Lukas said, "Well, I guess we should finish getting cleaned up. Hopefully our little diversion isn't going to make us late."
Grinning as he turned around to face his twin, Jonas said, "If it does, I really don't care. Because it was so worth it."
"True, I'll never complain about making love to you," Lukas admitted. "Or vice versa. But, we do actually have a date tonight, remember. And considering who it's with and where, being late might not be the best idea."
"You have a point," Jonas conceded. Grinning, he asked, "You need me to wash your back?"
"I'll do it myself," Lukas said, shaking his head as Jonas's grin faded. "Oh don't give me the kicked puppy look, bro. I seem to recall me washing your back being what started the last diversion. As pleasurable as it was, there's no way we have time for a repeat."
"Spoilsport."
"Think of it this way," Lukas said. "This way, you'll have something to look forward to when we get home later tonight."
"Oh now you're just being wicked," Jonas complained. "With that in my head, I'm going to have a hard time keeping myself from being uncomfortably hard all night."
"Since I'm the one who will benefit later, I fail to see the problem," Lukas said, as he picked up the abandoned washcloth and began washing his back, as Jonas just rolled his eyes, before he got to work finishing off his own washing up.
About five minutes later, the twins emerged from their bathroom, dry and completely naked. There wasn't much point in wrapping towels around their waists, after all. They lived alone and they'd obviously seen each other naked before, so there was absolutely no need for modesty.
Walking over to the dresser, Jonas pulled open a drawer and grabbed two pairs of hunter grey boxer briefs, one of which he tossed over to Lukas, who deftly caught them. After both twins pulled them on, Lukas walked over to the closet and grabbed the two garment bags, which held everything else they'd be wearing this evening.
Shaking his head as he unzipped the bag, Lukas said, "I can't believe we actually own dress robes from Twillfitt and Tattings."
Jonas nodded. "And made by Master Tailor Johann Tatting himself." Shaking his head, he said, "Not something I ever thought I'd own."
"Considering that they cost more than I make in a year at the hospital, I can understand that."
"Well, I guess if we're going to be dating the Duke of Granston and the Earl of Charwell, we're going to have to get used to it," Jonas said, as he sat down on the bed and pulled on the pair of black acromantula silk dress socks.
"True," Lukas said. "Of course, we can't tell anyone who Cedric is, remember. He's Evan tonight."
Jonas nodded. "I know. Honestly, I'm not sure which one is hotter… Cedric Diggory or Evan Lockwood."
While they hadn't seen each other in person since the Tribunal, Asterion had given the twins a picture of Harry and Cedric and a picture of Harry and Evan when he'd given them their journals. So, they knew what their dates for the evening looked like. It was a good thing too, because they hadn't really paid that much attention to either of them at the Tribunal, and even if they had, they were both trying to put those memories behind them.
"True, they're both hot in their own ways. So is Harry. Not as hot as you, of course, but I can't exactly say that I'd be against getting to know them better."
"If that happens at some point, I wouldn't be against it either," Lukas agreed. "Although I seriously doubt it'll happen tonight."
"Yeah I don't expect that anything will happen tonight, given that they haven't even taken that step with each other yet. But, I have no problems waiting until they're ready, because I've got you to keep me satisfied until then."
"That's assuming of course that anything happens between the four of us," Lukas pointed out. "I know Abby wants the four of us to get together, but we don't really know if that's going to work out yet."
"True. I think we will at least be friends with them though. If more happens, well, I won't complain. I still love you with all my heart and I always will, but I think there's room in my heart for more. I don't think you can ever have too much love. And Harry and Cedric know that we're together, so it's not like they're going to make us choose."
"Just as we'd never make them choose between us and the two of them. Especially since they're soulmates."
Harry and Cedric hadn't been sure if they should tell the Cuffe twins that detail, but in writing back and forth with them over the past couple of weeks, they felt really comfortable with them. And they felt that it would help drive home the fact that Harry and Cedric weren't going to try and come between the twins, as they shared what was arguably an even deeper bond then the twins could claim.
Sitting down on the bed so that he could pull on his own socks, Lukas said, "I've gotta admit, I do feel a tad strange about tonight. What with the age difference and all."
"Yeah, same here," Jonas said, as he cupped Lukas's knee with his hand in a comforting gesture of solidarity. "We've just gotta remember that we're not doing anything wrong. It's just a date and other than dancing together and maybe a kiss later tonight, nothing is going to happen between us and them. And even if it did, again, there'd be nothing wrong with it. Cedric is seventeen and Harry is legally an adult due to his lordship and besides that they're both above the legal age of consent."
Placing his own hand on top of Jonas's, Lukas nodded and said, "I know, it's just if Abby was going to play matchmaker, I just wish she'd done it with a couple closer to us in age, rather than a couple that we're eleven and eight years older than. We're definitely going to get some looks when we show up on their arms."
"Yeah, we probably will, but not as many as if we showed up on each other's arms. It'll be kind of nice to be able to go out in public on a date for once. Not that I'm ashamed of you or us, but due to us being twins, our true relationship will probably always have to be kept to the shadows."
"I suppose that's the advantage to Harry and Cedric and why Abby is pushing so hard for the four of us. They know about our past thanks to the Tribunal and they not only still want to get to know us better, but they don't actually have a problem with us being together. I suppose there's not many that could say the same."
"Probably not. We got really lucky in that Abby's boyfriend can't really say anything about us, considering that he's had sex with his own father." After a moment, Jonas grinned and said, "Oh what I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall during that encounter."
"Or when they were with the Eriksson twins," Lukas added, as he returned his brother's grin. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "Anyway, enough sidetracking. We gotta get dressed or Harry and Evan will get here to pick us up and we're only going to be in our socks and underwear."
"Well, while I guess there's something to be said for letting them see what they're getting, we should probably hold off until after the first official date for that."
The look Lukas gave his twin at this clearly said, 'Really, you think?' with an underlying note of sarcasm that was easily transmitted between them due to their bond as twins.
Standing up, they took the white acromantula silk dress shirts that they'd be wearing under their formal robes from their respective garment bags and pulled them on. Within a few minutes they were both fully dressed and had just finished combing their hair and putting on some cologne when the doorbell rang.
"Just in time," they said in unison, before heading out into the living room to greet their dates.
-o-0-o-
It took a little over a week of daily meetings of ten to twelve hours for the solicitors and advisors to the Habsburg and Pendragon families to hammer out the details of the alliance and trade deal. Finally, Thomas presented the finalized contracts to Edward for his perusal, while his Iberian counterpart presented a copy to Philip. Each copy was charmed so that when Philip or Edward signed them, their signatures would automatically appear on the contracts given to the other monarch.
It was Philip who signed first, after taking about two days to peruse the documents. Edward signed them a couple hours later on the same day. Their combined signatures set a number of things in motion, the biggest being the planning of the wedding between Edward, Chaz, and Maxx.
Edward had announced his engagement to Chaz and Maxx at the King's Ball, with an engagement banquet held one week later at Castle Camelot. Since they'd essentially been engaged for over a decade now, Edward and the twins decided that a short engagement was better than a long one. It certainly raised several eyebrows when they announced the wedding date of the Fourth of December, which was less than a month following the engagement banquet.
As for Philip, while the quick engagement initially caught him by surprise, he wasn't about to complain because he'd been trying to get an alliance and trade deal brokered with one of the other empires for the last three years. Only for nothing to come to fruition because Chaz and Maxx refused to cooperate. Even with the contracts signed, the deal wouldn't actually take effect until the wedding sealed it, so Philip didn't have any issues with a short engagement, and even sent some of his own people to help get everything ready on time.
In the days leading up the wedding, many other things were happening, of course. The mage students continued attending their classes, which were now split into three classes, each three hours long. Minerva and Pomona alternated as the teacher for the first one and Rolanda and Septima for the second. The third class of the day, meanwhile, was usually taught either by Asterion or one of the other four trainers, although Arthur and Merlin also taught the class from time to time. Of course, due to them being a portrait and the trainers nixing the idea of holding classes in the Tribunal Chambers, the third class was strictly theory when Arthur and Merlin taught, as they couldn't really do practical demonstrations.
The Twenty-Fourth of November also saw the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament taking place. Being that it was a Thursday and the trainers feeling that they'd given their students enough time off already, despite some complaints none of the students were allowed to attend the Task, and thus it was Harry's and Cedric's doubles that actually competed. Edward could have overruled the trainers, but he chose not to because while he did have absolute power, he didn't want to abuse it. So instead, Regulus came over to the castle for dinner the night of the task to let everyone know what had happened.
"Team Durmstrang and Team Hogwarts tied with 47 points each," Regulus revealed. "Team Beauxbatons came in at 32 points."
Thinking back to the day the champions had been selected, Cedric asked, "I thought they were going to score the main tasks on a scale of zero to thirty?"
"That was Professor Thornquist's initial suggestion, yes," Minerva answered. "It got changed since then, however. Since there's five judges—Madame Maxime, Professor Karkaroff, Lord Crouch, Ludo Bagman, and myself—it was decided to let each judge award up to ten points in the main tasks, so the maximum score was raised to fifty."
"So which dragons did each school get?" Terence asked.
"Durmstrang got the Chinese Fireball," Regulus answered. "Beauxbatons the Swedish Short-Snout and Hogwarts got the Hungarian Horntail."
"Damn! The biggest and most dangerous," Nick said. Looking over at Harry and Cedric, he grinned and asked, "Still upset you guys weren't allowed to compete personally?"
Before either of them could answer, Pomona said, "Cedric, your double was injured during the task. Poppy had to apply a thick layer of burn cream to almost the entire left side of his face, so he's going to have a foul-smelling orange paste on his face for the next twenty-four hours."
"He'll be okay though, right?" Gavin asked.
"Yes, he'll be fine," Septima confirmed. "The burn paste Poppy used will fix him up. His face might be a bit red for a few days after it comes off, but that'll fade in time."
Harry and Cedric shared a look, before turning to look at Nick and answering in nearly perfect unison, "Not in the slightest."
Everybody was quiet for a few moments, as they ate their dinner, until Dominick asked, "One thing I was wondering about is why those oaths you swore couldn't just be rescinded? I know the Alliance Oath can be with the agreement of both parties."
Edward nodded. "That's true, it can be. The Royal Oath, however, is more akin to the Unbreakable Vow in that it can't be rescinded once given."
"Ah, okay," Dominick said. "Well, I like Chaz and Maxx, they seem cool."
"Yeah, they do," Ramesses said. "Honestly, I'll admit that a part of me is kind of bummed that I'll never be able to do anything with them, since their oath forbids them to have sex with anyone but Edward."
Putting a hand on Ramesses's knee under the table, Edward grinned at him and said, "Well, you still have me. And I can pretty much guarantee that you, Chaz and Maxx won't be my only spouses."
"Any idea how many you're actually going to take?" Roger asked.
"I haven't really decided yet," Edward answered. "I may well end up with the same number as Seti… and I won't rule out more than him." Several eyes widened at this, prompting Edward to add, "I'd say there's a hard limit of ten at the absolute most, however. Preferably less."
"So Chaz and Maxx will be your Prince-Consorts, right?" Oliver asked.
Edward nodded. "Yeah. The agreement is that they'll retain their positions in the HRE's Electoral College, and they'll also retain their Iberian Dukedoms and I can add the corresponding Duke-Consort titles to my collection if I want. Although I probably won't because my official title is long enough as it is. Any children we have together will be able to inherit their Dukedoms, but will be ineligible for the Iberian throne."
As Chancellor, Harry was also familiar with the agreement, so he added, "And should one of Edward's children with Chaz or Maxx inherit the throne of Albion, they're immediately disinherited from being possible inheritors of the Iberian Dukedoms. And since they'd be Pendragons and not Habsburgs, they're all barred from election as Holy Roman Emperor."
"Speaking of Chaz and Maxx, where are they tonight?" Blaise asked, as this was the first time that the twin princes hadn't been at dinner since their arrival in Albion. They hadn't been told about Edward's or the others' mage training since while they were spending time with the group and eating meals with them, they were sleeping in a suite in the guest wing of the castle. Minerva said that she'd consider letting them in on the secret after their wedding to Edward, as it would be much harder to keep it a secret from them after they moved into the family wing.
"The Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria," Edward answered. "Their uncle, Emperor Charles, collapsed this afternoon while he was on his way back to his quarters after an inspection of the Imperial Guard."
"Is he okay?" Ramesses asked.
"I don't know," Edward said. "I haven't heard back from Chaz and Maxx yet, so I don't know what the cause of Charles's collapse was or even if he's still alive. All I know is that Chaz, Maxx, and the other five Imperial Electors have all gone to Vienna to be at his side, but then that's standard procedure when the reigning Emperor has any sort of health scare. They want the Electors close at hand, should it become necessary to elect a new Emperor."
-o-0-o-
On the evening of the First of December, Chaz and Maxx von Habsburg solemnly entered the Electoral Chamber. Their uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Charles, was dead. His initial collapse had been due to a mini stroke, although he'd seemed to rally in the hours following his collapse, joining his family for dinner in the dining room of the Imperial Palace. His good health, however, didn't last long, for as the servants prepared to bring out dessert, he seized and suffered a second stroke, much more serious than the first.
For the next three days, Charles laid in bed, nearly comatose, the entire left side of his body paralyzed. News of the Emperor's condition was kept tightly under wraps, with nobody outside the palace being told. Chaz and Maxx did briefly communicate with Edward that they were okay, but said that they'd have to extend their stay in Vienna by a few days. They made it clear, however, that they would be at their wedding, come hell or high water.
"I can't say I expected to find myself here this soon," Chaz replied, sitting down heavily at the table. "I can scarcely believe that Uncle Charles is gone."
"I know, I can barely believe it either," Maxx said, as he tilted his head sideways so that it touched Chaz's.
"Hello Uncle Chaz, Uncle Maxx," said Iberian Crown Prince Alejandro von Habsburg, as he entered the room and took his seat. At only eighteen years old, he was one of the younger Electors, but not the youngest, as that title belonged to the third of Charles's four sons, Prince-Elector Konstantin von Habsburg, who was only seventeen.
"Hey Alex," the twins said in unison.
"I suppose the others might be a few minutes," Alex said, as he sat down. "Jakob, Gabriel and Konstantin will no doubt want some time to say goodbye to their father."
Chaz nodded. "Yes, they will. Rodrigo is with them at Aunt Victoria's request, but once the children say their goodbyes, they'll be down to help us elect the new emperor."
"It's strange to think that I'm about to cast a vote for who will lead an empire," Alex said. "I knew that I'd probably have to do so eventually, but I didn't expect Granduncle Charles to die this soon."
"None of us did, Alex," Maxx agreed. "He was only fifty years old. I know to some people that probably seems ancient, but considering that many wizards and witches live to be centenarians, it definitely wasn't expected."
"Well, I guess if he had to go and I wish he hadn't," Alex said, "that at least he went now and not on your wedding day in three days. Because that would have sucked."
"Yeah that would definitely have put a damper on the occasion," Chaz said.
Nothing more was said, as the three men fell into thoughtful silence, as they considered their options. None of them had really given any serious thought before today about who they might elect as the new Holy Roman Emperor, as none of them had expected to have to do so for decades.
After a few minutes, Patriarch Rodrigo von Habsburg—Chaz and Maxx's brother and Philip's twin—entered the room, followed shortly afterward by Princes Jakob, Gabriel, and Konstantin.
At thirty-eight years old, Rodrigo was the eldest member of the Electoral College, and thus upon sitting down, he said, "Well, let's get started. I know we're all sad about Charles's passing, but we have a duty to perform. Before the news of Charles's death is released, we must elect a new Emperor."
Jakob, Charles's eldest son, nodded. "Yes. The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor."
-o-0-o-
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts Castle, the double of Minerva McGonagall was on her way up to her office from the Great Hall, following dinner. She had just turned into the corridor that held the gargoyle when she spied Sibyll Trelawney pacing back and forth nearby, shuffling a deck of tarot cards in her hands.
Sighing to herself, as she'd never been a particular fan of Sibyll or the subject she taught, she forced a smile and said, "Good evening, Sibyll."
The Divination professor remained silent, however, as she continued shuffling the cards. McGonagall looked at her for a moment, before nodding at her once more and heading for the gargoyle. She was just about to say her password and go up to her office, when the deck of cards that Sibyll was shuffling went flying as if they'd simply been thrown up in the air.
"Sibyll," Minerva began, but stopped, as the Divination professor's hand grabbed her arm, prompting Minerva to ask, "Sibyll, could you please let go of my arm?"
Trelawney said nothing, however, prompting Minerva to say, "Sibyll," but it was at this point that she turned to face the other woman fully and realized that Sibyll's eyes were glazed over.
Before Minerva could think on that for too long, Sibyll began speaking, but it wasn't in her normal voice.
Instead it was a deep, booming voice that said, "As the seventh month dies the drums of war cease their silence… a beloved Queen lies dead, murdered with the power of Death... Tensions rise between two Great Dynasties as family and people cry out for the Queen's death to be avenged… a secret meeting… an alliance forged… wedding bells ring… a King and another's councilor born to parents who thrice defied evil… the drums of war will cease their silence as the seventh month dies…"
-o-0-o-
To be continued…
And there you have Chapter Seventeen of 'The Journey Begins'. I was planning on releasing two more chapters of my Harry Potter/Smallville crossover story 'The Battle of the Billionaires' followed by a few chapters of my Smallville story, 'Brotherly Love', but then I realized that it had been over a year since I'd last updated this story. I couldn't believe it as to me it really didn't seem anywhere near that long ago. But, I figured I needed to update the story, so, here you go. I hope you enjoyed it.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email (Gmail: jaycolin25), my Yahoo group (storiesbyjayson), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .