Three months later
"My Queen." Silvia bowed in front of Castile.
"What is it?" Castile asked, turning her head to look at her three month old son. He was sleeping in the finest silk, fur and jewels, ready to rule Castile if he had to.
"T-There is unfortunate news." Silvia said. The Queen turned around, her eyes sharply spotting Silvia who looked down to avert the Queen's gaze.
"I have just received news of an arrival in our land." Silvia said. There was no answer. Silvia blinked, waiting to hear something from the Queen but when she didn't answer, Silvia slowly slid her eyes to see the Queen gaping. It was obvious that she was extremely shocked, but why?
"Is something the matter your grace?" Silvia asked quickly. The Queen kept her eyes wide and her dry, pale blue lips quivered.
"That…cannot be possible. W-Who…" the Queen asked, looking lost. Her face turned into a snarl and she whipped around threateningly. "Who are they?" the Queen hissed. Silvia shook from her spot and answered immediately.
"I do not know your highness! They are a band of foreigners, arriving with a Portkey." Silvia said. The Queen went into a fit of rage. She walked over to her son, Henry III.
"This is not possible! How many have my father made without my knowledge?" Castile asked. Silvia looked at little Henry, knowing how astonished the Queen must have felt.
"It is not possible for there to be two Portkeys! If I have the first Portkey…where is the other one?" Castile asked.
"My Queen, there has been no word of the other Portkey. If it were not for Merthin controlling the forest and interfering with my magic, things would have been less difficult to find out." Silvia said.
"Lose one wizard, you gain an idiot. I do not care to know how you do it Silvia, but I want to be informed of the foreigners. I cannot afford to lose everything that I have been waiting for, for 99 years." Castile said. Silvia nodded as the Queen took off her crown and inspected herself.
"If my crown is the second Portkey…" she trailed off, turning towards Silvia who took a few seconds for the realization to register.
"The second Portkey…the…the King's crown!" Silvia gasped. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Castile said. The door opened and a guard stood there with Silvia's youngest daughter standing behind him. She bowed deeply, not looking up.
"You highness…there another Portkey has arrived in Castile. It is sitting in the Oratory." Silvia's youngest daughter said.
"Did you think we had to be prepared for motherhood this early?" Jade asked, helping Helena and Annabelle skin potatoes while Merthin had been out, looking for dry wood for the stove. Annabelle was expected to give birth at any time, keeping Merthin, Jade and Helena ready. Helena giggled and shook her head.
"I had my first child, Annabelle's brother when I was sixteen." Helena said. Annabelle sat against the stone wall, giving up on skinning the potatoes.
"Of course he had died and I had Annabelle four years later." Helena said. Jade smiled and looked down to Jenita who stuck her tongue out and widened her steel grey eyes. She was wrapped up in a sling around Jade's body to keep her close at all times. It was much more convenient to feed as well.
"Jen I fed you a few minutes ago, what do you want now?" Jade asked, rearranging Jenita in her sling. Jenita made an aggressive sound in return and Jade thought she was looking back at Draco.
"You win." Jade said.
Before she could feed Jenita, the crystal stone started glowing, filling up the room with bright lights.
"What does this mean?" Helena asked. Jade got up and picked up the stone.
"Merthin's in some sort of trouble." Jade said. Helena and Annabelle raised their eyebrows at Jade.
"What if it is a trap? What if he is captured by the Queen's men?" Helena asked. Jade shook her head and smiled at Helena.
"Merthin wouldn't put my life in danger. You stay put here with Annabelle and we'll be back." Jade said. She leaned forward and kissed Helena and Annabelle goodbye.
"Make sure Jenita doesn't catch a cold in the snow." Helena said. Jade left her small cottage and wrapped a heavy wool cloak around herself. She looked down at Jenita and pressed her closer to her chest.
"Don't worry love, Mummy will feed you quickly." Jade said. She grabbed a tall wooden stick that Merthin had cut out to track through the snow. In three months the snow fell continuously, making Castile a serene scene out of a painting but Jade knew that was far from the truth. Once in a while, Merthin would get a whiff of the Queen's army traveling through the forest in hopes of capturing them but before that, Merthin would gather Jade, Helena and Annabelle together and wait silently as they heard the armies marching off. Their cottage was hidden from any muggle eye, just like Hogwarts had been hidden. Jenita cooed from underneath the cloak and Jade rubbed her back as she trailed up the snowy path, through the naked trees.
"Merthin?" Jade called out. She walked forward to see a pile of wood stacked together and tied in a bundle. The trees rustled nearby and Jade looked up to see Merthin step out with a limp.
"Merlin, Merthin, are you all right?" Jade asked, hurrying over towards him.
"I've injured myself just a bit." He winced. Jade pulled him over to the stack of wood and sat him down.
"How did this happen?" Jade asked crouching down. She pulled off his leather shoe and touched his swelling ankle.
"I simply lost my balance! To think I am becoming a delicate and fragile old man terrifies me." Merthin said. Jade shook her head grinning and tied Merthin's ankle tightly.
"I'm pretty sure you were dancing with the trees again." Jade said seeing him give her a stiff look.
"The trees were dancing with me! It is never the other way around Jade." He said as Jade helped him up.
He went to turn to pick the stack of wood by himself but it floated weakly by itself. He turned around to see Jade's hand over it, her face in deep concentration to keep it up. He wasn't surprised; in fact he was rather pleased by her obstinacy to practice. Jenita cried and kicked Jade, sending her concentration out of the window. The bundle dropped and Jade looked down at her daughter.
"Someday you're going to give me a premature grey hair." Jade said. Jenita grunted in return and Merthin laughed, clapping his hands together thunderously.
"Children understand better than adults. A truly remarkable gift that one." Merthin said. Jade started to walk with him as they both held the bundle on both sides to take it home.
"Jen's a bit mischievous, I could-" Jade stopped when she heard something rustling against the trees again. She stood there with Merthin who pulled her back in case of any danger.
"Show yourself!" Merthin demanded, raising his hands.
The leaves rustled and parted. A familiar figure stepped out, looking at Merthin and Jade serenely.
"Dumbledore?!" Jade screamed.
"And I have not come alone. Nicolas Flamel, Auror Moody, Auror Tonks, Auror Lupin and Professor Snape!" he said. Jade saw a very short and round man with a flaming red beard and hair stepped out, brushing himself off.
"Dumbledore…it is a great honor to meet you again." Merthin said. Dumbledore smiled and extended his hand for Merthin to shake.
"Likewise, Merthin." Dumbledore said.
