Chapter 12: The Day Before Tomorrow
[September 2012]
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Charlie groggily reached over to silence the annoying buzzing of the alarm. He supposed he only had himself to blame, as he had been the one insisting on staying up late the night before. He knew they could have left for Hogwarts the day before so they wouldn't have to take the Hogwarts Express with the students, but Ryou had never taken the train and Charlie thought it might be a good experience.
After campaigning over the summer to add more electives to the curriculum, the Board of Governors had been successful in adding two new classes: 'Understanding of Magical Beings' and the poorly named 'Introduction to Spirit Energy'. Charlie wondered if the name of the class would change depending on what level a student was at, but he was glad that Ryou had been asked to teach it (and had been blackmailed by Karin into accepting the position). He himself had applied for the position of Charms professor and was accepted.
He noticed that the still sleeping Ryou was in female form again. The demon had caught a cold just a couple days ago, so had been rather miserable with the constant sneezing. Charlie had never realized that demons had their own version of the common cold, but was grateful that it couldn't be transmitted to humans. Not just because he didn't want his six-month-old daughter Sophia to get sick, but because he didn't want to catch a cold, which would be far more likely based off their proximity to one another.
As much as Charlie would have liked to sleep in a bit longer, he could hear Sophia starting to fuss in the other room. A glance to the alarm clock showed that it was about time for her seven o'clock feeding. Tired that he was, he slid out of bed, quickly slipping on a pair of boxers and a bathrobe before heading out to change her and mix up a bottle. She could get rather loud if she had to wait for too long, and he'd rather not wake up Ryou before he had to. The demon was hard to wake under ideal circumstances, but due to how late they'd been up, Ryou would likely wake up irritable. At least Sophia was sleeping through the night now. It had been rather rough when she was waking up every few hours for a change or bottle. Teething had been an absolute nightmare, and he knew there was still more teething in the future.
He cradled Sophia in his arms as she sucked on the bottle. She wasn't quite ready for 'solid' foods like baby cereal yet, but he knew she probably would be soon. She'd been watching them eat as if she wanted what they were having. Charlie thought that she'd have to wait a while before he gave her anything like the spicy curry or greasy pizza that Ryou was so fond of ordering, even once she was able to eat solids.
"Today's the day," he said to Sophia. "Are you ready to see the place we'll be calling home while school's in session?"
Sophia's response was to try to grab the bottle from him, holding it up on her own. He smiled at her, letting her do so. Even at such a young age, he could tell she had an independent streak, just like her mother. He hoped that she would grow up to admit when she had problems that she couldn't deal with by herself instead of bottling things up inside.
"You'll be going to Hogwarts as a student someday," he said. "Not until you're eleven, though. Your cousin Ethan will be in your year. I hope the two of you don't finish the job your cousins Chloe and Jessica started and cause any of your teachers to have a mental breakdown. Especially if it's me or your uncle Ryou. In fact, don't take his class, and focus on those where you might learn something new. I don't know who to feel sorrier for: him for having to deal those hellions his first year teaching because they thought it would be 'easy', or them for underestimating what he'll do to them if they slack off or try to pull anything in his class."
Sophia pulled the bottle out of her mouth to try to blow him the raspberry. Ever since Ryou had entertained her by making silly faces, she'd been trying to imitate him. Charlie chuckled and stuck his tongue out at her in reply. "I agree," he said. "I should probably feel sorriest for Madame Pomfrey for having to deal with all the poor students encased in ice and sent to her." Sophia smiled and brought the bottle back to her mouth.
After Sophia was done with her breakfast, Charlie placed her in her baby bouncer while he worked on cooking breakfast and making coffee. His cooking skills still left a lot to be desired (hence the constant take-out, as Ryou hated to cook and preferred to microwave everything), but he took consolation in knowing that at least he didn't set kitchens on fire like his brother Ron did. Charlie still wondered how Ron could set a kitchen on fire when all he was doing was pouring milk on cereal. Talent, he supposed.
The sausage was almost done cooking when Ryou groggily wandered into the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting at the table, glaring at the mug. Charlie decided it was best not to say anything until she had downed her first cup of the morning.
"You need a new alarm clock," Ryou said after she'd downed half the cup in one swig.
"I hit the snooze instead of turning it off, didn't I?" Charlie asked. At Ryou's nod, he smiled slightly. "Feeling any better this morning?"
Ryou glared at him. "No," she sniffed. "I'm tired, sick, and I'm sore. You never told me I'd be sore the next day."
Charlie chuckled. "I told you it would hurt. I thought soreness afterward was implied." He turned the burner off and started piling food on plates. "And you did tell me you weren't going to sneeze for no good reason. Why not use the opportunity of you being in your female form when we have it?"
She continued to glare at him. "Just because I was curious gives you no right to take advantage of me when I'm sick."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I never took advantage of you. You climbed on top of me, straddled my waist, and told me you wanted to try it."
"And how do you know I wasn't under the influence of that disgusting cold medicine that does nothing to help?" Ryou grumbled.
Charlie brought the plates over to the table, setting one down in front of Ryou. "Whatever." Before walking away, he kissed her. It was still strange to feel Ryou's soft feminine lips turn into more masculine lips mid-kiss. "I'll make it up to you later," he said, pulling away and sitting down at the table.
Ryou stared at him for a few seconds before he grumbled something under his breath and started eating his breakfast. It wasn't long before he sneezed once more, reverting to female form. Charlie chuckled to himself.
Ryou grumbled again. "What time do we have to be at that damn train station again?"
"The train leaves at eleven," Charlie replied. "I'm not sure who's driving, but we're getting a ride with part of Fred or George's brood around nine."
Ryou's eye twitched. "You're only telling me this now?" She sighed and continued to eat her breakfast. "Just so long as that idiot's not driving…"
Charlie shrugged and took a bite of his sausage. "They might have Fred or Hermione drive. I'm not sure how they're designating the drivers."
Ryou shudder. "I take it back. I don't mind if the idiot's driving just so long as that maniac Hermione isn't behind the wheel. That woman drives like she's at a bloody racetrack."
"She's a good driver," Charlie said in his sister-in-law's defense. "She just likes to drive fast. I don't think Tracy would let her drive her kids, though. But you don't have to worry about George driving. He doesn't have his license."
"Never stopped him before," Ryou muttered, but said nothing more about the subject.
After breakfast, they spent the time making sure they had everything packed. Charlie did, at least. Ryou had few belongings, and what she did have had been packed already. Charlie tried to remind her that there would probably be little need for a trunk full of weapons, but the demon still insisted on bringing it.
"I'm not bothering to pay the rent while I'm not here," she had explained. "It just makes sense to bring everything and find somewhere else to stay over the summer holidays."
Charlie looked around at the bare flat before shrinking down his trunks to fit in his pocket. He did the same with Ryou's trunk before casting another spell to make them lighter weight. At around nine, they left the flat for the last time before heading out to the Ogre's Lair, where they would be met by whoever was driving one of the three minivans.
Ryou looked visibly relieved to see that Tracy was the driver of the minivan that would take them to King's Cross. After strapping Sophia into her car seat, Charlie and Ryou climbed inside.
"Eh?" Ryou questioned when she noticed that Dylan was there without the other two triplets. "Where's your brothers?"
"After last year we're not allowed to ride in the same car," he lamented, digging through his knapsack for something. He smiled as he pulled out a partially melted bar of chocolate and unwrapped it.
"They were setting off dung bombs and firecrackers and tossing them out the window," Chloe explained, smirking. "It was pretty funny."
"No, it wasn't," Tracy said as she pulled back into traffic. "It almost caused an accident." The drive continued in silence for a few minutes until she sniffed and made a face. "Either someone's setting off dung bombs, or one of the kids needs their nappy changed."
"Nappy change," Ryou said, holding her nose. "Your kid." She rolled down her window, trying to air out the vehicle.
Tracy sighed and pulled into the nearest parking lot of a gas station. "Nobody gets out," she said as she turned off the engine and climbed into the back to change her youngest son Ethan.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Dylan said.
"She said 'nobody gets out'!" Chloe snapped. "The sooner Stinky there gets changed, the sooner I can get on the train."
Tracy shot her a suspicious look. "Charlie, go with Dylan. Make sure he doesn't buy any candy."
"Mum!" Dylan protested. He made an exasperated sound. "Never mind. I don't really need to go. And Chloe just wants to get there so she can snog her boyfriend."
"Logan's not my boyfriend," Chloe said defensively. "We may fool around every now and then, but we're not dating."
"You shouldn't be fooling around with anyone," Tracy said disapprovingly as she changed Ethan's nappy. "You're too young to date."
Chloe frowned. "I'm thirteen, mum. And that reminds me. You forgot to sign my permission form for Hogsmeade."
"I didn't forget," Tracy said. "You don't need it until the first Hogsmeade weekend, anyway. I'll make sure to send it to Professor McGonagall before then."
"The professors are out to get me, mum!" Chloe complained, throwing her hands into the air dramatically. "I keep telling you that what happened in History of Magic was not my fault! Besides, it woke everybody up, and I've never seen Professor Binns look so lively. He can move pretty fast for a dead guy."
Charlie exchanged a glance with Ryou, who shrugged before a sneezing fit took over. He smiled slightly as the demon grumbled under her breath.
They reached King's Cross Station not long after Tracy finished changing Ethan and restarted the car, thankfully without incident. Not long after that, they'd parked and found their way onto Platform 9 ¾, where Hermione's group was already waiting. Kyle was sitting atop his trunk, reading one of his textbooks. Emma was arguing about something with Jack, who would be in her year when they started Hogwarts two years later. Brandon was making faces at his younger sister Olivia, much to her delight. Luke ran up to Dylan as they approached, no doubt planning what mischief they'd get into once reunited with Adam.
"Have you been waiting long?" Tracy asked as she approached Hermione.
Hermione shook her head. "Not long." She turned to Ryou. "Are you excited about going to Hogwarts?"
Ryou sniffed before sneezing once more. "If I say 'yes', will you leave me alone and find someone else to talk to?"
Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Sociable as always, I see."
Charlie shot her an apologetic look. "She has a cold," he explained. "Bad mood."
"Chloe, get back here," Tracy called as her oldest daughter wandered off toward a group of students that had already gathered.
Chloe ignored her mother, sidling up next to a lanky boy with dark hair that was presumably the infamous Logan Montague, who may or may not be her boyfriend. He glanced nervously around the platform before smiling and sliding his hand into hers.
"Keep an eye on them, will you?" Tracy asked Charlie and Ryou, turning to them. "I do not want to be called into the Headmistress' office again to hear that they were caught doing inappropriate things. Chloe tried to give George a heart attack this morning by telling him that she hadn't menstruated all summer."
Charlie's eyes widened in shock before he glanced to where Chloe was standing with Logan and his friends. "Do you think she's--"
Tracy waved him off. "No, she's not pregnant. She just had her period last week. Of course, George doesn't want to hear about that 'girly' stuff--"
"And neither do we," Ryou interrupted.
"We'll keep an eye on them, though," Charlie said.
Tracy nodded. "Good. And could I ask you to occasionally swing by their compartment on the train? I'm not sure if Jessica is to be believed or not, but I overheard her grumbling about having been kicked out of their compartment on the train home for summer because -- and I quote -- 'Chloe wanted him to pop her cherry'."
"Don't worry, Aunt Tracy," Kyle said as he glanced up from the book he was reading. "I noticed my sister standing outside her compartment looking put out, so I pulled the door open to investigate. As far as I could tell, they hadn't gotten that far yet."
Tracy turned to him. "Why didn't you say anything before? And just how far did they get?"
Kyle shrugged. "I heard you ground her for the summer, so I didn't think it was important enough to give her any more reason to go after me. And they still had their clothes on, although she had her hand down his pants. It was nothing in comparison to when I caught her giving him a blowjob in the Gryffindor common room a week before the end of term. I notified a professor immediately, and presumed you'd been informed about that. I mean, he's a Slytherin, so had absolutely no reason to be in our common room to begin with!"
Tracy's mouth thinned into a line, and she immediately turned to storm over to where Chloe was with Logan and his friends.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. "Isn't she a bit young to be doing things like that?"
Kyle looked back down at his textbook. "Have you ever seen some of the fashions available for children these days? Walk through any department store, and you'll find that seventy-five percent of all outfits for little girls is better suited for a prostitute than a child. Not to mention her upbringing with parents who are quite open about their sex life."
Hermione made a face. "That's a bit harsh, Kyle…"
"Uncle Charlie?" five-year-old Brandon asked, glancing over at him. "What's a 'blow job'?"
Charlie was really glad when Fred's group arrived, if only because it provided a distraction from awkward questions about 'blow jobs' and 'cherry popping' from children who really needed to start asking their parents things like that. He wondered if Fred and George were telling their kids that he was the person to go to with any questions they had regarding sex. He wouldn't put it past them.
George looked over to where Tracy was arguing with Logan's father while Logan looked around nervously and Chloe looked amused by the proceedings. Without a word, George frowned and walked over to join the argument.
"Adam!" Luke called to his brother. "We've had the bestest idea ever! Get over here!"
Adam smiled widely and joined his brothers where they were huddled together. "The bestest idea ever? Count me in!" he proclaimed as he quickly went over to join them.
Charlie didn't want to know what the 'bestest idea ever' was, so he turned to Paige, who was still wearing the goggles and collar from the demon plane, but was looking more or less normal. Her hair was still pulled back in spikes, but they were no longer gravity defying. "Are you excited about going to Hogwarts?"
"The way I see it," she began, pushing the goggles up to rest on top of her head, "I can wait for my grand adventure to begin. I'll study hard to become a curse breaker in some exotic land, just as Uncle Bill had been. At some point of time, I'll befriend a teenaged goblin who is shunned by his or her people for some reason. When the chieftain of their people is either held captive or murdered by the bad guys, they decide to join my quest to stop the villains. Along the way, our traveling party will grow. We'll have the obligatory comic relief, possibly in the role of thief or cleric, and we need the dark anti-hero. I think Teddy Lupin would be good in that role. I'll have to speak to him once we get to Hogwarts. Right now he's not dark enough in temperament, but he's an orphan, and he has that dark background of being the offspring of a werewolf going for him. If Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny get here soon, maybe I'll have the chance to speak with Teddy before we get to Hogwarts. And of course we'll need a villain." She made a thoughtful face. "I wonder if we should have someone who's just plain evil for no good reason, or someone who has tragic and sympathetic reasons for doing evil things."
Charlie blinked after her speech ended. "Er, good luck with that." He glanced to where Tracy and George were both arguing with Logan's father and sighed. "Have you ever thought of letting the adventure come to you?"
Paige shrugged. "Nothing is set in stone. But I will become a curse breaker, because if all else fails I can raid tombs and fight bandits."
Charlie could have pointed out that bandits didn't really exist in the modern era, but decided to let her live with her delusions.
He was glad when they were finally allowed to get onto the train. He leaned back in his seat after carefully placing Sophia's carrying cradle on the floor of the compartment. It was much safer on the floor than on the seat, because he remembered how jerky the train could be at times.
Ryou covered herself in her leather duster, closing her eyes. "Do midgets get to choose where they sit in class, or are there assigned seats?"
Charlie bent down to check on Sophia, who was looking around the compartment in wonder. "It's up to the professor." He sighed heavily as he heard a small explosion a few compartments away. "Sounds like Jessica's not wasting any time." He stood up, resigned to his fate of having to deal with rule breakers before term even started. It would have been nice if they could have at least pulled out of the train station first.
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There were three well-known facts about Weasley children: they had red hair, there tended to be a lot of them, and they were all sorted into Gryffindor. The first was not necessarily fact, as there were noticeable exceptions. Emma, Brandon, and Jack had brown hair, Caitlin and Victoire both had blonde hair (although Victoire's hair was more of a strawberry blonde), and Dominique had black hair. Although her hair was dyed, so probably didn't count. Ginny's son Albus had black hair like his father, although he was technically a Potter so served as an exception to the facts of Weasley children.
As for the second fact, Ron had no children (and didn't want any), and with the exception of Fred and George, most of Charlie's other siblings had three children or less. When taking all twenty-three of the children into consideration, that fact could be taken at face value. But considering how nine of those children were George's, fourteen children amongst six adults averaged out to 2.3 children per adult, which wasn't that bad at all. Taking Fred and his five children out of the equation as well meant nine children amongst five adults, or an average of 1.8 children per adult. So the second fact wasn't really factual, either.
As for the third fact, it might have been true that Weasleys had a tendency to end up in Gryffindor, but it was by no means a guarantee. As Charlie sat at the staff table watching the sorting of the first years, he wasn't surprised in the least when Paige became the first Weasley in several generations to be sorted into Slytherin. Warped that she might be, she was ambitious enough to strive for nothing less than the leading role of the twisted game she viewed real life as. She used her intelligence to plot how to overcome setbacks like having her cherished games taken away from her, and viewed people as supporting characters to help her through her journey.
"What's the deal with all the midgets?" Ryou asked once the sorting ceremony was over. "Why not just open fire and see where they scatter instead of this gratuitous ceremony?"
"Tradition," Charlie said, trying to refrain from laughing as their plates began to fill as the feast began. Before they'd exited the train, he had helped Ryou to take his male form because the demon did not want people to first meet him in female form. Charlie thought it shouldn't really matter, but understood that Ryou still had yet to accept the curse on him. Maybe he was resigned to it, but not accepting of it.
Charlie had asked him once why he didn't go back to see if Shin had found a cure when they went back to the demon plane, but Ryou had explained that researching such things took time, especially since Shin was helping him out of curiosity alone. Ryou also explained that he already knew of a cure, but Charlie doubted that he would ever take the cure of marrying Izuna, no matter how bothered by the curse he might be.
Ryou snorted as he picked at his food. "I don't see why they feel the need to divide the midgets in such an inane and time-consuming manner, even if it is 'tradition'."
Charlie shrugged as he held Sophia in his arms, helping her to hold her bottle. She was at the point where she wanted to eat whenever Charlie did (with a few feedings in between), and she could be quite fussy if she wasn't fed first. He was aware that a number of people (mainly female) were looking over at Sophia, going on about how cute she was. A number of people had gone up to him on the train, wanting to coo over Sophia. A few people had even asked if they could hold her. It annoyed Ryou to the point where he'd welded the door to their compartment shut with ice.
Since Ryou's class was new enough that it was doubtful that many students above third year would take it (since they had to focus on classes they would be taking OWLs or NEWTs for), he would be watching Sophia through most of the day while Charlie taught Charms. Charlie would take her to class with him during the time when Ryou was teaching, and hoped that she wouldn't be too much of a distraction.
"The house a person is sorted into becomes their home for the next seven years," Charlie said. "It's where they'll meet the friends they make. The Sorting Hat places them in the house where it thinks they'll do best."
"Why not draw lots, or figure out some numbering system?" Ryou asked, taking a bite of roast beef. "From what that hat thing sang before it started that sorting thing, it wants people from the houses to unite. Why split them up in the first place? Tradition? I'd say it would be better to just do something completely arbitrary instead of keying in on certain personality traits. I heard you muttering about how George wasn't going to be happy when Paige was placed in that slithering place."
"Slytherin," Charlie corrected. "And he was a Gryffindor back in the day. The two houses have always been rivals. Tracy was a Slytherin, so she'll straighten him out if he tries to show anything less than congratulatory."
Ryou didn't look convinced, but said nothing more about the subject. Charlie did think that maybe he did have a point. When he was a student, it was rare to see people associate with those outside their own house. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was bad, although not as nasty as it was during his brother Ron's years. Maybe it was a step in the right direction for their children to break that division. Chloe was friends (or maybe more) with a Slytherin, and she would always be Paige's sister.
He sighed as Sophia finished her bottle, seeming to content herself in his arms and not wanting to be placed in the carrying cradle. He had mastered the art of eating while holding her, so enjoyed the rest of the feast in silence. Although he did snicker when Ryou sneezed during the middle of the feast and let out a long stream of profanities.
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"Ryou?" Charlie asked as he sat down across from Ryou at their table in the three Broomsticks. They were celebrating the first week of classes drawing to a close by going to the village for drinks. Charlie was also trying to snap himself out of the mood he was in after Chloe 'retaliated' for his refusal to sign her permission form to Hogsmeade by turning his hair a putrid shade of vomit green. "Did you really tell your students that if any of them found a cure for your curse that they would automatically receive top marks in all of their OWLs and NEWTs?"
"Yeah," Ryou said as he ordered himself a glass of Firewhisky from the waitress. "Why?"
"Because that's not up to you," Charlie said as he took Sophia out of her pram and held her in his lap. She looked over at the waitress and smiled. The waitress cooed at her before attempting to flirt with him. After he made it clear he wasn't interested, she walked off to fill their orders. "The OWLs and NEWTs are administered by the Ministry," he said to Ryou.
Ryou shrugged, unconcerned. "Whatever. And why did you tell me I'd probably only be teaching third years?" he asked accusingly. "In addition to the blasted third years, I have half the fourth and fifth years, with some bloody sixth and seventh years thrown in for good measure!"
Ryou's class had apparently been very popular, possibly due to the sheer novelty of it. Interest had been high, and the Ministry was now scrambling to come up with the requirements for receiving one's OWLs and NEWTs in that class, two years sooner than anticipated. Charlie presumed that Hermione, Tracy, and Karin would be helping to determine what students needed to know since it was their combined efforts that brought the class into existence. Meanwhile, Ryou had to bring the older students up to speed on years' worth of classes. It was a daunting task that the demon was not happy about.
"I didn't think that many of the older students would take it," Charlie said apologetically, making a silly face at Sophia, who laughed. He took his Butterbeer from the returning waitress and looked over to Ryou. "But was it really necessary to send three students to the hospital wing on the first day?"
"I released them from the ice at the end of class," Ryou said defensively.
"They had to be treated for hypothermia," Charlie said.
"Fucking midgets need to learn some fucking manners," he muttered as he took a sip of his Firewhisky.
"Let me guess. They made comments when you sneezed in class, didn't they?" Charlie asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"She threw her hat down to the ground again," Ryou said about Sophia, dodging the subject and confirming Charlie's theory. The infant had indeed taken off her hat and thrown it to the ground. Charlie rolled his eyes and picked it up.
"You might want to get used to it," he told her, setting her hat down on the table and checking her forehead. She seemed to be warm enough without it. "The weather's just going to get colder."
Ryou chuckled. "She's overheating a bit. It's warm outside, and even warmer in here." He suddenly glanced to the door, where a tall man with green skin, pointed ears, and an eye patch was walking in. He quirked an eyebrow and turned back to Charlie. "I gotta give him credit. It takes balls to come to a place like this when he's on the Underworld's most wanted list."
Charlie tilted his head. "Who? The demon that just walked in?" It didn't faze him that a demon should walk into the Three Broomsticks. He'd learned that there was a small settlement of demons a few miles away from Hogsmeade, and an unreliable portal to the demon plane somewhere in the forest in between the two villages. Demons would occasionally wander into Hogsmeade, some looking for trouble, while others looking for a place to relax away from prying eyes. Since most humans couldn't recognize demons as such, it came as little surprise that nobody noticed how odd the green-skinned demon looked.
Ryou shot him an incredulous look. "You don't recognize that tosser? The bloke responsible for that stunt last Halloween?"
"That's Vallum?" Charlie asked, glancing back at the demon, who sat down by the bar and ordered a drink. "Should we arrest him?"
"Why?" Ryou asked, calmly leaning back in his chair and downing more of his drink. "You're not the Underworld's puppet anymore, and I could care less about starting a fight right now." He glanced to Sophia, who was looking around the pub. "I know that you heard about the time when I went with Kuroi and the two stooges to arrest Vallum and we ended up switching bodies?"
Charlie nodded. He had heard more about the incident than he really cared to know. "It wouldn't be that bad if we switched bodies. Might be fun, actually."
"Maybe if it was just you and me," Ryou conceded, "but keep in mind your kid's with us. Do you think it would be fun if she were to be trapped in one of our bodies, while one of us was trapped in hers?"
Charlie inwardly shuddered at the thought. That would be disastrous if it were to happen. He supposed that since Vallum hadn't really done anything wrong recently, there was no point in approaching the demon.
"Still…" Ryou said, standing up. "He is the one who designed this curse on me. It'll probably take Shin a while to figure one out, so I might as well get him on it as well. The bastard put it on me, he can take it off me."
Charlie wasn't so sure that was a very good idea, but Ryou started walking toward Vallum before he could protest. He kept a close eye on them as they conversed briefly, protectively holding Sophia closer to himself. "I'm pretty sure Uncle Ryou will be safe," he told her as she looked up to him. He tapped her nose and she smiled at him. He'd never met Vallum before, but had heard of him.
Magic wasn't exclusive to humans. While the methods one practiced magic varied, it was also practiced by creatures not from the human realm. The Underworld, for instance, had its own type of magic that was used. And there were demons that employed sorcery and other forms of magic. Shin, for example, employed the use of magic in coming up with powders and elixirs. Even the magic used by humans was done in varying styles. While working at the dragon reservation in Romania, he'd met wizards and witches who had studied different forms of magic, such as voodoo or alchemy. Magic was one of those things that couldn't easily be labeled and defined.
He knew enough about Vallum to know that he practiced a form of demonic sorcery. While not very strong physically, his intelligence and proliferation of tricks made him a force to contend with. He hoped that Ryou would be fine against him, although their conversation seemed to be going well enough. Nobody was making any sudden movements, at least.
Eventually Ryou came back, sitting down with an unreadable expression on his face. He took a swig of his Firewhisky before saying, "He'll work on it."
"What did you say to him?" Charlie asked, releasing a sigh of relief that he didn't know he'd been holding in.
Ryou smirked. "I made it clear he'll lose his other eye if he doesn't. Along with a few other body parts."
Charlie shot him a look of disbelief. "And you think threats will work? I'm surprised he didn't try anything."
"I can be civil," Ryou said succinctly, taking a drink of his Firewhisky. "I also promised that I'd supply a few test subjects for his next experiment if he helped me out."
While that wasn't too surprising, Charlie frowned in disapproval. "You promised test subjects. Honestly, Ryou--"
"Don't lecture me," he interrupted. "You don't know what he's planning, or who I plan on giving to him. You don't need to worry about anyone you know, though. He doesn't need anyone human."
Charlie didn't think that made it any better, but said nothing more about it. He knew finding a cure was important to Ryou, although he privately believed that it might be better to just accept it. The curse didn't seem to be anything more than inconvenient, really. He knew that Ryou wasn't a woman, even when in female form. Ryou viewed himself as a man, and the curse didn't come with all the pitfalls of being a woman. His female form had no menstrual cycle, so as far as either of them knew, the change was purely cosmetic.
"I think we need to come up with a different system for child care," Charlie said, taking a sip of his Butterbeer. "My students don't want to pay attention in class when Sophia's there."
"It's the novelty," Ryou responded. "It'll wear off after a while. Some people think babies are cute. I'd say make the worst of the bunch change a few stink bombs and get puked on a couple of times. They won't think she's so cute then. If you want, though, I could watch her during my classes. My students already know I don't put up with any crap."
Charlie could have easily pointed out that they were terrified of him, but that wasn't quite true. While there was some level of fear involved, Ryou had a number of students who admired and respected him for his no-nonsense attitude and refusal to play favorites. That, and some students mistakenly believed Ryou was some sort of rock star for his lack of a last name and tendency to sing covers of Muggle rock songs to Sophia when he didn't think anyone else was around. Charlie had heard a group of girls in the hallway refer to the demon as 'cool'. "What will you do if you do find a cure?" he asked.
Ryou shrugged. "Depends on what it is. I already know of one. I just don't feel like giving Izuna the satisfaction of knowing she holds that power over me. I'll find a cure, or I'll continue to live with it."
Charlie understood then just why the curse bothered Ryou so much. Changing gender had nothing to do with it. It was all about the idea that someone else held power and control over him. Ryou liked to be in control of himself, which was why he was reluctant to ask for help a lot of the time. But while Ryou wanted to be in control of himself, he was uncomfortable with the idea of controlling others. He'd made it clear to Charlie on a number of occasions that he wasn't going to help him figure out what he wanted, nor was he going to initiate anything.
"I suppose you might be right about that," Charlie said, finishing his Butterbeer. "Whatever cure you might find has to be on your terms or you won't take it. Although… My brother Bill--"
"Tried it," Ryou interrupted. "He said the curse on me has so many complex layers to it that one mistake in attempting to break it could just make it worse. He said he could only deal with the magical portion of it, but not the demonic aspects of it. Vallum knew what he was doing when he designed it." He glared over to where Vallum was just leaving from his seat at the bar.
Charlie shrugged. "Maybe they should compare notes." He looked down at Sophia and scrunched his nose at the foul stench emitting from her nappy. "You just had to do that, didn't you?" She smiled up at him in response, and he sighed. "Let's get you changed, then."
--- --- ---
"Remind me again why I gave Jessica and Chloe detention at the same time?" Charlie asked as he returned to his quarters for the night. He'd just come back from overseeing a detention where the girls had to clean the bathroom they'd set on fire and flooded.
"You're a closet masochist," Ryou said, not looking up while he fed Sophia.
Charlie rolled his eyes and sat down next to Ryou on the bed. "How's she doing?"
"Tired," Ryou replied. "She was waiting up for you. Then she got hungry."
Charlie chuckled and took her from Ryou. "Is that so?" Sophia smiled as he held her. "I wonder whether we'll still be teaching here when she's old enough to be a student."
"It was your idea to teach here," Ryou said as he stood up and walked over to the chest of drawers where he kept his clothes. He set the bottle on top of it and pulled open one of the drawers. "They start teaching the midgets at eleven, right? It's not that long from now. Less time than I've been in the human realm."
Charlie smiled ruefully. "I know. But I was thinking of maybe taking a year off once she's a student to really take a tour of the demon plane or something."
Ryou sighed heavily as he pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms. "First, you're not a bloody tourist. If you want to go on vacation, go to some place like Los Angeles. I've heard there's plenty of weirdoes there. With all the gang's there, the violence should be a close approximation, too. Second, what possible reason do you have to want to willingly go back to that hellhole?"
"Curiosity," Charlie said, rocking Sophia in his arms as she started to doze off. "I didn't get the chance to see much, and I am curious why you hate the place so much. That, and it should give Shin a bit of time to research a cure for you, right?"
Ryou was silent for a few moments as he took off his shirt. "To a demon, eleven years would be like a week is to humans. Shin's got other things to do. She probably won't come up with any sort of breakthrough during your lifetime."
"It's all the same, though," Charlie said, taking Sophia to her crib in the other room and gently setting her down inside it. He closed the door behind him as he walked back into their bedchamber. "Death isn't the end. Yes, it's sad when a person dies, but that doesn't mean you'll never see them again. Sometimes people move on to the afterlife, and sometimes they choose to stay behind as ghosts or guides or whatever. I think that if I died tomorrow, I'd probably choose to stay behind as a guide. The Underworld's horribly understaffed, and someone needs to guide lost spirits to their proper place. I know I wouldn't get to see those I've lost and those I will lose in the afterlife, but just knowing they'd be happy would be enough, I think."
Ryou shot him a suspicious look. "You still have that elixir, don't you?"
Charlie nodded. "I haven't decided on it yet."
Ryou rubbed his temples. "I don't know just how different it is for demons, but I know death is different for us. I don't think we go to the same places humans do, and we don't get the same choices. If you go that route, just keep that in mind."
"I would lose my memories if I became a guide," Charlie said pensively. "The only thing waiting for me after that would be oblivion. I don't plan on dying for a while, and the elixir can be taken at any time, right?"
Ryou sighed and nodded. "Pretty much. Your life force has to be strong, so it won't work if you're minutes from death or anything like that. Even if you'd had the foresight to offer it then, once Janice was in the hospital it was too late for her. Her life force was too weak."
"I'd wondered about that," Charlie said quietly. "I wonder what she thinks about everything that's happened. If somehow we're betraying her…"
"We're not," Ryou said simply. "People can't help how they feel. You can't force something that's just not there. In the end, you couldn't force yourself to fall in love with her, and she couldn't force herself to fall in love with you. That doesn't mean you didn't love one another, but it wasn't the kind of love that would make either of you happy with one another."
"But she was in love with you," Charlie said. "You told me that she would have taken the elixir if you'd promised to be with her."
"I wasn't in love with her," Ryou replied, changing into his pajama bottoms. "Some things are impossible to get past. She might have been in love with me, but she still saw me as two different people. She loved me as a man, but viewed my female form as a friend. I don't think she was even aware of it."
"Is that why you came up with the whole excuse of you outliving her?" Charlie asked, tilting his head.
Ryou chuckled. "It's a valid reason why demons and humans shouldn't get involved with one another. It can be worked around, but… I didn't need to tell her that. I simply told her I didn't feel the same way about her. But she knew what she wanted. I thought that by jerking you around by coming up with excuses would help you figure out what you wanted."
Charlie frowned. "Thanks. Really."
"Worked, though," Ryou said, tossing his dirty clothes across the room as he walked back to the bed and sat cross-legged on it. "Humans don't live long enough to waste their time agonizing over unimportant things like their love lives. It's selfish and not going to matter one bit when you're dead."
Charlie just looked at him for a few moments before walking over to sit next to him on the bed. "I still want to think about whether or not to take the elixir. I've done a lot of impulsive things in my life, and I can't let that be one of them. I need to know it's for the right reasons."
"So you're actually entertaining the idea," Ryou commented, quirking an eyebrow. "At least you're trying to give it some thought."
"It won't be for you," Charlie said. "There's no way of knowing what the future has in store. Right now, I know I want to be with you. I really can't envision my life without you in it. Whether what we have now is something that will last forever is something I can't say. But I want to make sure that I don't want to become a demon just for that chance to find out."
Ryou was silent for a long time. "You already have that chance," he said slowly. "No excuses, no lines. You don't need to become a demon for that."
"I know," Charlie said. "That's why I want to make certain. I don't want to get ahead of myself. That's why I think if I were able to go to the demon plane and learn just what it means to be a demon… I think I'd be able to decide for myself if that was what I wanted. Not because of any non-promises of some vague future, but because I want to."
Ryou scoffed. "You never could make up your mind," he muttered. "Sometimes I think you just wanted to get me into your bed."
"Technically, it was your bed," Charlie said flatly. "And what do you expect? I'm not going to do something so drastic and permanent just for the sake of someone who admits to jerking me around so I could figure out what I want. I think you're the one who doesn't know what you want."
Ryou frowned. "I know what I want. A life where I'm free to do whatever the hell I want."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, there's this thing called the real world. Maybe you've heard about it."
Ryou glared at him briefly. "Sarcasm doesn't suit you." He sighed. "You understand me. You accept me. I've grown fond of you, although don't expect me to suddenly declare all these warm and fuzzy feelings. Not my style."
Charlie stared at him for a few moments before chuckling and flicking his wand to extinguish the lights. He leaned forward to kiss Ryou, who pulled him down on the bed with him. He supposed he couldn't ask for more from the emotionally stunted demon at that point of time. There were still a number of things they both needed to figure out, and the future might still be uncertain, but they could worry about it tomorrow.