I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.
"Well?" Ron prodded.
Constance studied the two boys for a long moment, considering her options, then sighed. "Alright, fine." she conceeded. "But you can't laugh."
Harry gave her a reassuring nod. "No laughing." he promised
Ron bobbed his head. "Absolutely none." he agreed. "Let's see then."
Constance didn't like the idea of what she was about to do one bit, but it was something she was going to have to get used to. Harry and Ron had popped into her room not long after she woke up and the first thing they badgered her about was seeing her new glasses. She might as well just bite the bullet and get started now. Pushing herself up from the floor where the three of them were sitting, she headed over to her dresser to retrieve the spectacles she had been prescribed the day before. After returning to her spot, Connie carefully slid them onto her face so they could see what they looked like.
Ron immediately snorted. "You look like a librarian!"
The girl's face twisted up in irritation and she leaned forward to smack his shoulder. "You said you wouldn't laugh!"
She moved to pull off the wretched things, but Harry reached out a hand to stop her. "Don't do that." he told her. "They look nice. I think they suit you."
Constance wasn't so sure. Harry was the sort of person to say something like that just to be nice. "Do you really?" she asked.
"I mean it. They really do." he said sincerely, then frowned. "If wearing glasses bothers you so much, why didn't you just get contacts?"
"I tried." she told him. The memory of the event made her cross her arms over her chest and sniff in dislike. "Sat in that bleeding office for hours trying to keep my eyes pried open for that man to pop them in. It burned like fire and nothing we did could make them stay in for more than a second or two. The doctor said my eyes were too sensitive to bear them and if we kept trying to force it, I would wind up with scratched corneas."
The process alone had caused enough irritation that her eyes had been a watery mess for long after. Constance really didn't want to endure that sort of torture again, so she finally agreed to give up and just do things the easy way. Harry and Ron both winced at the mental image provided to them and she sighed, deciding to move on to some other topic.
"Did anyone say when Hermione and the others would be back?" she asked.
The funerals for all of the casulaties were being held today, and Mr and Mrs. Weasley, along with Ginny, had accompanied Hermione to hers. Harry hadn't been invitied to his uncle's funeral, so he had elected to remain at the manor with the boys and Connie. Since they still weren't sure of who was responsible for the attacks or what other sort of plans they might have, her mother said it was best to have as few people out as possible - for safety's sake. Constance had decided to stay home and give Ginny the opportunity to go, since she didn't get to see the way muggles did things very often. Not that it was the younger girl's primary reason for going of course, but Hermione herself had agreed that it was fair.
Ron frowned thoughtfully and shook his head. "No." he replied. "They left early, but Hermione made it sound like it wouldn't be more than a couple of hours. When it's over, mom and dad are only going to stop here long enough to drop off the girls, then they'll be off again to go to that Ministry meeting."
Oh, right. That was being held today today as well. Constance hadn't been around for the actual planning but it sounded like it was going to take place at the Prime Minister's office, since that was the most 'neutral' ground for either of them. Hopefully, all of the sticky details could be worked out today so they'd be able to move on.
"So it's just you boys here?" she asked. It was more of a comment than an actual question. "What are Fred and George up to?"
Harry shot a look at Ron, then shook his head. "We really don't know." he told her. "They ran off pretty fast, so there's no telling."
"I think they're with your dad." Ron offered. "He mentioned something last night about showing them something or other today. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it sounded cool." he made a face. Like he had been left out of something and didn't appreciate it. "They disappeared as soon as mom was out of sight and we hadn't completely woken up, so we couldn't figure out where they had gone."
Constance blinked at them in bewilderment. Since when did not knowing where someone had gone stop them? "Meaning you didn't know where to start looking, or you couldn't find them and gave up?"
Both boys suddenly looked sheepish, as if they'd been caught.
"A bit of both, I guess." Harry admitted. He jerked a thumb toward Ron. "We looked around for a while, but he started getting nervous about Alucard popping out of nowhere to eat him."
"I did not!" the ginger haired boy exclaimed, affronted. When both Constance and Harry arched brows at his outburst, he simpered down a bit. "Okay, fine. Maybe I was a little worried about it..." he coughed. "Anyway, it didn't feel right, going around in this big house not knowing where anything is. We were lucky to find your room. And... this might sound crazy, but I swear sometimes it feels like things move around here like they do at school."
Connie smiled softly. She had never experienced that problem herself, but she'd heard new staff members complain about the same thing often enough to know that it happened. Her dad and aunt had explained once that the blood seal they had forged over a decade ago had been in place so long that it had begun to develop it's own personality. Hellsing manor tended to play around with new people within it's walls until it got used to them being around. Nothing malicious, but just enough to keep them confused and on their toes. However, she didn't feel it was prudent to tell her friends about that, since they might take it as something else they had to worry about. Things were weird enough as it was without adding to it.
"Hmm..." she said, tapping her chin. "Would you like me to show you the way then? Unless he was planning on showing them something big, they'll most likely be in dad's office."
Both boys eagerly nodded, but Harry paused thoughtfully. "It's not going to be a big deal, is it?" he asked. "I mean, he works on important stuff like weapons, right? If there's something we don't need to get in the middle of..."
Constance stared at him. "Since when do you care about getting into things that are none of your business?" she challenged.
The boy sat back a bit and coughed. "I think this is a little different, seeing as how it's your dad and all."
She conceeded that he had a point. "Well, to be honest, my parents don't work on anything very big this time of year unless they absolutely have to." she told him. "And if Fred and George are with him, then he can't be doing anything too important. He won't mind us popping in. Besides, you guys need to know where the offices are in case you ever need something and no one's around to take you." She pushed herself up off the floor in a smooth motion. "Come on."
It didn't take much more convincing to get the boys to follow her. Whatever her dad talked to the twins about, it had them curious as well. Edmund's office was located on the same floor on the opposite side of the house. There was a fair bit of walking involved, but they got there with no trouble. Connie approached the door and gave a solid rap to announce her presence.
Nothing happened.
The girl frowned and knocked again. When she recieved no answer and couldn't hear anything coming from inside, she twisted the knob and pushed open the door. Her father's office was neat and orderly - aside from a few stray pieces of paper left out on his desk. That was sign enough that he had been there recently, but neither him nor the twins were there now.
"That's odd..." she commented.
Ron and Harry both looked over her shoulders to catch a glimpse for themselves. "This is your dad's office?" Ron asked. "I guess he was showing them something big after all..."
Constance shook her head. "No, I'm sure if he was planning something with them that had to be done outside or in the barracks, he would have said something about it." she told them. "The only thing I remember him specifically offering to show them was..."
Her words trailed off as realization hit. Gunpowder. Of course they wouldn't be in her dad's office. It wasn't set up to handle small-scale experimentation for things like that.
"I know where they are." she announced.
Connie motioned for them to follow, then pulled the door shut before heading further down. Four doors down and on the opposite side of the hall was another office. And this one had very obvious sounds of activity coming from within that all of them could hear.
"So you're saying it's better to just leave magic out of it altogether?" One of the twins asked.
"I wouldn't go that far." Edmund replied. "I just mean that things like this are sensitive to the smallest change and magic might be affecting your results. As a rule, shortcuts almost always reduce quality. So... I would say you should do as much as you can without magic and save the spells for adding the final touches."
"Hmmm... Can't say I've ever heard that one before." Either Fred or George commented. "All the fireworks I've ever seen are made with magic..."
"You're thinking of fireworks made by wizards." Aunt Syn interjected. Harry and Ron both looked surprised by the sound of her voice. "Have you ever seen muggle fireworks?"
"Uh... no." the twins replied together.
"Hellfire and damnnation, tell me you're not serious?" Ed asked, sounding astonished. "That's almost blasphemous! We have to fix this. I expect you'll be here for New Years, so we'll make sure you get to see a proper fireworks show. Magical fireworks can do a lot of things that the muggle sort can't, but on the whole, muggle fireworks are brighter, have more vivid colors, and shoot higher and wider than anything a wizard could come up with."
"Whoa... really? Wicked!"
"Yep." Syn replied. "You have to be careful about where you point the business end, though. Ed fooled around with making fireworks for a while when he was younger, and I wound up getting shot in the back of the head with a Roman Candle."
They heard Edmund scoff. "I maintain that was an accident."
"It was not a bleeding accident, you ass!" the woman exclaimed. "You were aiming to hit me! And when my hair caught fire, you laughed!"
"I wasn't laughing because your hair was on fire." her father countered. "I was laughing because you screamed like a banshee on steroids and ran around making it worse. If you had just rolled around on the ground for a bit, it would have gone right out."
"I was eight years old, Edmund. Eight year old girls tend to stop thinking rationally when a part of their body is on fire. I swear, if my mother hadn't shown up to beat the devil out of you, you would have let me burn alive!"
"I would not. I just would have waited until all your hair was gone, then put out the fire."
Harry and Ron gaped at the door in amusement, trying not to laugh, while Constance rolled her eyes. Her dad and aunt were going at each other like they always did and from the loud laugher, she gathered Fred and George were highly entertained by the story. Deciding that it was probably best to go on and interrupt at that point, she raised a hand to knock on the door. The sounds of laughing and conversation died down and Syn's voice called out in response.
"Come in!"
The girl pushed the door open to reveal her aunt's office. While it was just as orderly as Edmund's was, Syn's office was set up in a completely different way - showing off her personality and the fact that she did a great deal of experimentation and building within it. Though she had never explicitly said so, anyone with experience in magic could tell the room had been modified to be larger than should be possible. Constance and Mihnea both swore that it grew a few feet bigger every year, if not more so. Bookshelves lined every available wall, showing a massive collection of books that ranged from common muggle literature to ancient magical books that were incredibly hard to find due to their rarity. The far left side had shelves that actually jutted out into the room itself, arranged to make it look like a kind of maze one had to navigate through. The few spaces delegated to things other than books were filled with bottles and boxes of ingredients and supplies she often used in her work, along with pictures and doodads she had collected over the years and chose to display. Long strings of what looked like odd shaped pearls - but were actually fangs upon closer inspection - hung from various corners and jutting out edges of furniture. Near her desk and work table there were glass gun cases displaying various weapons from different time periods (a few of the modern ones being those Syn had designed and built herself). The sitting area was set up in an open space on the right side, just in front of the french doors that opened out onto a balcony. It was there that Edmund and Syn were sitting in comfy padded chairs across from the sofa where the twins were. Between them was a large, square table set out with a selection of ingredients they were working with. It looked like all of them had been carefully cutting and grinding things up to be mixed before they were interrupted.
"Good morning." Edmund greeted when he looked up and saw them. "I was wondering when you would show up."
The twins both looked up from their work and turned to peer over the back of the couch. "Oh, hey!" they said in unision. George paused to give Constance a long look, his lips twiching, then pulling into a wide grin. "Aw... the glasses are cute."
Connie wrinkled her nose, though she was secretly thankful he didn't think they were awful. "Shut up, George."
"It's true!" he insisted. He nudged Fred in the ribs. "What do you say, Freddie?"
"Downright adorable." Fred agreed, his smile mirroring his brother's.
The girl just crossed her arms over her chest and huffed at them. She didn't appreciate being given reminders that she looked different now. Her dad just chuckled at her reaction, while Syn smirked knowingly.
"See?" she offered. "And you were so worried about it." she clucked her tongue, then turned her attention to the two boys standing behind her staring at the weird and wonderful contents of the room with astonishment. "I haven't seen you two around very much. Come pull up a chair." she paused and looked back at Fred and George. "You don't mind having an audience, do you?"
They both looked at each other, then shook their heads. "No, we're cool." they said.
Fred shot a serious glance back toward Ron. "Tell mom what we're doing and you'll be sleeping with spiders for weeks." he threatened.
Ron shook himself out of examining the closest strand of vampire teeth, only to stiffen and go several shades white in the face. "Since when do I ever run squealing to mom about the stuff you do?"
"Just giving you fair warning, little brother." Fred replied. "We've had to start from stratch too many times to risk it happening again. One word and you're dead."
Ron still looked offended (and concerned about the threat), but bobbed his head in agreement all the same. The three of them pulled up empty chairs from the collection nearby to join them. Once all of them were comfortable, Connie's dad cleared his throat.
"So is there any particular reason why you're here, or were you just exploring?" he asked.
"Well... actually, we sort of heard you talking to them the other day and it sounded interesting." Ron began slowly, nodding toward the twins. "We weren't snooping around or anything, I swear."
God, he was still acting so nervous. Constance couldn't supress the urge to roll her eyes. "They would have come by themselves, but Ron was afraid of Alucard doing something." she informed them.
Ron's mouth fell open, indignant that she had mentioned that, while her aunt just laughed.
"He's asleep right now, so you don't have anything to worry about." she told him, still looking amused. Her expression shifted to become more sympathetic. "If it makes you feel better, you're completely safe in here. Alucard isn't allowed in my office for the time being."
Connie blinked in surprise. She hadn't heard anything about that. "Since when?" she asked. "Alucard comes in here all the time!"
"Since I started working on something he doesn't need to know about." the woman replied. She went back to carefully breaking a large clump of material into smaller pieces with her tools. "He's been banned from my office since the end of November."
That was strange. Constance couldn't imagine what her aunt could be working on that Alucard couldn't know about unless it had something to do with him. Maybe it was something for Christmas? She decided to drop it rather than prod while her friends were around. She didn't have a problem with standing up to the master vampire and keeping her mouth shut, but if they knew something he didn't, she had no doubt he would try to torture them for information. Best to leave it alone until she could ask in a more secure environment.
Both boys looked a lot more comfortable knowing that Alucard wouldn't be able to pop up where they were to do anything to them. Harry turned his attention toward the table where they were now mixing things together.
"So... what are you doing?" he asked.
George paused in emptying out his mortar and pestle onto a sheet of wax paper. "What, this?" he asked. "We're learning how to make our own gunpowder."
"Yep." Fred said with a nod of agreement. "Never would have thought it would be this easy either. It's just charcoal, sulfur, and saltpetre." he looked back toward Edmund and Syn, as if for confirmation. "That's all, right?"
"That's it." Connie's father said. "Everything else is just proportion."
"Wait..." Ron commented, confused. "Is this for those fireworks you've been working on? I thought you guys had plenty of gunpowder for those things?"
"Well, yeah, we do, but it's not working right." George informed him. "The only ones we can get to fly are the tiny bottle rockets. Everything bigger than that just fizzles out."
Fred pointed at Syn. "She says it's because we bought the gunpowder instead of making it ourselves."
The redhead sat back a bit and held up her hands. "Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with buying gunpowder." she said. "It's just that no two people make it the same way, and what works great for some people doesn't work for others. If you aren't involved in the mixing process, you can't guarantee it'll do what you want." she then gathered all the now-mixed gunpowder into three separate piles and stood to brush her hands off on the front of her pants. "Okie dokie, now the fun part."
The twins both went wide eyed with hopefulness. "Blowing it up?"
"Absolutely." Edmund said with an approving grin. He stood up himself to search out the tools he would need to set up fuses, then waved at them to get up and step back. "Alright you lot, best give it plenty of room since we eyeballed everything instead of using scales."
"Whoa, wait!" Harry exclaimed nervously. "You're going to set it off in here?"
Syn glanced over at him reassuringly. "We do it all the time." she said. "It'll be fine."
Harry and Ron both looked cautiously interested in what was going to happen, while Fred and George were just downright excited. The boys and Connie all got up and stood back while the different piles of gunpowder were set on their own glass plates and rigged with fuses. Aunt Syn then placed a glass topper over each to contain the explosion and stood back herself.
"The far right is Fred's, the far left is George's, and the one in the middle is ours." she announced. "You guys might want to put your fingers in your ears. This is going to be loud." she instructed, then inclined her head to Ed. "We're clear."
"Starting with Fred's then." Connie's dad said. He readied his hand on the switch that would light the fuses from a safe distance. "Fire in the hole!"
Fred's gunpowder gave a nice, loud pop and a bright spark upon lighting, but it wasn't terribly impressive. George's fared much better. It lit faster and gave off an explosion big enough to stain the inside of the glass topper a faint black color. But it was Syn and Edmund's gunpowder that took the prize. When it went off, the sound was loud enough to make the ears pop even with them being covered, and the force of the explosion sent the glass topper covering the plate flying several feet to hit the wall. They all instinctively ducked at the sight of movement and stayed down until they were absolutely certain nothing else was going to blow. Once the dusty smoke began to clear, they carefully raised their heads to peek at the table.
"Sweet mother of Merlin!" the twins shouted in unison, jumping up from the crouch they had dropped into. "That was awesome!"
Constance found it hilarious that her dad and aunt were proud enough of their handiwork to give regal looking bows in response. "Why, thank you!" they said together.
"What was the difference though?" George went on. "We all used the same proportions, didn't we?"
"Consider this a lesson in precision." Edmund replied knowledgably. "Everything we did here was guestimated. Syn and I have been doing this for years, so we've gotten good about judging things by sight, but as you can see, the smallest difference in measurement from batch to batch makes a huge difference. You'll need to invest in a good set of scales and keep accurate notes if you want to get the same result every time."
Fred and George both nodded, appearing to file everything away in their brains for future use. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were looking on with amazement.
"Wow..." Ron breathed. "You guys do this stuff here all the time? That's so cool!"
"It's just part of the job." Aunt Syn replied with a shrug. She looked at the twins and pointed toward their experiment. "You two clear that stuff off and I'll get something to wipe down the table."
"Righto." they agreed, and moved to do as they were told while the redhead disappeared into a small room to fetch cleaning supplies.
Connie's dad helped them get everything off the table and back to their proper places. Syn returned with a spray bottle and roll of paper towels to clean the residue left behind by the miniature explosions. Once everything was back in order, everyone was allowed to return to their seats again. When the twins questions about how to make colors in their fireworks without magic were satiated (different chemicals and metals change the color of fire when they're burned, Edmund explained), Harry and Ron began chiming in with some of their own. It was mostly about the sorts of things they did with their jobs and other 'experiments' they performed that they might be able to see. Constance thought it was nice that they were taking such a huge interest and interacting with her family in such a normal way. Or... as normal as could be expected, anyway.
In the midst of all of this, a knock sounded on the door, making all of them grow quiet. Aunt Syn called out for them to enter and the door swung open to reveal Mihnea standing there. He immediately focused his attention on Fred and George.
"I knew you two had to be involved when I heard all that noise." He commented. He paused to sniff at the air. "Gunpowder?"
Before anyone could respond, a bright, red head popped out from behind him to peer inside.
"Gunpowder?" Ginny asked. "Is that what you're doing? I thought I smelled something familiar when we came in..." her words dropped off and she went still when she saw Harry sitting amongst them. "Oh. I didn't know everyone was in here."
"Ginny?" all of her brothers questioned in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
They must have finally gotten back from the funeral. However, while she wasn't surprised that Ginny had come looking for them, she was a bit taken aback to see her with Mihnea of all people. The girl shuffled her feet and shoved a lock of hair behind one of her ears.
"We just got back." she reported. "No one was in their rooms when I finished changing, so I thought I'd try to find you and... I... sort of got lost."
She seemed embarrassed by the admission, and Mihnea cleared his throat. "We ran into each other on the other side of the house and I was already on my way over here, so I offered to show her the way." he explained. He squared his shoulders and looked at Syn. "Dad and I are finished, so I'm ready for you to start engraving."
It looked like aunt Syn was aware of what he was talking about and didn't need any further explanation. "You know I can't do anything until I have something to engrave on." she pointed out.
Mihnea rolled his eyes and pulled a small white box out of his pocket. "Got that too."
"Oh?" the woman asked, her eyes lighting up. "Let me see!"
Wordlessly, he walked over to hand the box to her while Ginny silently followed him inside. While the younger girl settled down in a chair near Constance, Syn opened the box to peek inside.
"Ooooh... very nice." aunt Syn said approvingly. She gestured for him to give her something else, to which Mihnea responded by pulling a folded scrap of paper from his pocket. The woman examined it as well, then handed both back to him. "Put them on my desk and I'll start working on it when I get back."
Edmund arched a brow. "Guard duty?"
"Yes." the woman said with an irritated huff. She got up to retrieve her coat and gun holsters. "Just pray that God-awful Malfoy person isn't there, or you might have to bail me out of prison for murder."
She didn't leave much room for explanation as she quickly got her things together. Connie's dad leaned sideways to call out as she exited.
"Just don't make too much of a mess! Integra gets moody when blood sprays in her face, and I don't feel like sleeping on the couch tonight!"
"I make no promises!" the woman fired back.
He chuckled as the door snapped shut behind her, then noticed all the weird looks he was getting from his audience. "It's a joke." he assured them. "Everyone in this house has a well developed sense of black humor. It keeps us from going too insane."
Fred and George exchanged a glance. "Actually, if she was talking about Lucius Malfoy, he probably deserves whatever he gets." they said with mutual sniffs of dislike. "We just didn't know the meeting had started already, is all."
Ed shifted in his seat, then waved a hand. "Integra thought it was better to go ahead and get the nasty arguing done before pulling any of you into it." he said, then studied each of them. "Not that there wont be more of it once Syn and your parents show up, but hopefully the worse will be out of the way."
Connie herself figured that there was going to be fighting no matter how much time was spent there or who showed up, but there was little that could be done about it. She shook the idea out of her head and looked at Ginny.
"How was the funeral?" she questioned.
The girl's face fell and she pressed her lips together in a thin line. "It went as well as it could, I suppose." she replied. "Hermione... you know how she is. She doesn't like crying in front of people. The one thing she wanted to do before the whole thing started was to look at her parents one last time to say goodbye. But... the people there said the caskets had to stay closed and she was really torn up about it. It was so awful..."
Everyone sobered and looked down at the floor. Connie wasn't really sure what to say. It had to be terrible, not having any sort of closure, but there was no way give her what she wanted. There were no bodies left for her to look at or say goodbye to.
"Where is she now?" Ron asked.
"In her room." his sister told him. She clasped her hands together in her lap. "When we got back here I tried talking to her, but she said she wanted to be alone for a while. I didn't want to push and make things worse, but... we should be able to do something for her! I can't imagine how awful it must be. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and she doesn't have anything to look forward to!"
That was another facet to the whole situation that made everyone feel worse. Ron carefully looked around and coughed.
"Well, yeah, but what can we do?" he asked. "I mean... we got a few small things to send to her, but nothing that would mean that much. Just the normal stuff we always give each other for Christmas."
"I don't think it would have to be something big." Constance said thoughtfully. "But... maybe we could plan to do something special. I think she needs it right now."
As everyone sat quietly, the gears in their heads turning to work out a solution, Harry suddenly sat upright. "I have an idea."
When he explained what it was he was thinking, everyone agreed that it sounded wonderful. It was absolutely perfect and Hermione would love it. Ginny was the one to point out the problem.
"It sounds great, Harry, but how are we supposed to do that?" she asked, looking around. "Does anyone know how to get there?"
The boys all sobered and shook their heads. However, Mihnea's voice broke through the silence, reminding them of his presence.
"I do." he said, drawing their attention.
Harry turned around in his chair to blink at him in surprise. "You'd help?" he asked. "Not that there's a problem with that, but you don't really have a reason to..."
"You weren't there, Potter." Mihnea said firmly, interrupting him. "I was. I saw what happened with my own two eyes. I have plenty of reasons to help you. Besides, I'd like to see how you intend to get out of this house by yourselves." he gave him a long look, then crossed his arms over his chest and turned his gaze toward Connie's father. "Would you have a problem with us taking a car and sneaking out for a while?"
Edmund had remained relatively silent during the whole thing, choosing to observe rather than participate. Mihnea's question caused him to cock his head to the side thoughtfully.
"Under normal circumstances, I would say 'yes', but I think this situation calls for an exception." he said after a moment. He rubbed his chin and looked around at them seriously. "Be as discrete as possible. Get what you need and come right back. If you haven't returned by the time your parents get back, I have no idea where you've gone or what you're doing, understood?"
Everyone bobbed their heads in understanding. God love her daddy, he was going to let them do it.
"Mihnea, take your gun with you and keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary." Edmund went on, looking specifically at her cousin. "They're still under our protection. Anything that happens while you're out there is your responsibility. Use the tunnels so nothing can follow you out or in."
He nodded and pushed himself up from where he had been leaning against his mother's desk. His eyes lit up hopefully. "Can I take the mustang?"
"As long as you don't get caught." Edmund told him. He paused as if remembering something. "And stay away from the back of the garage. Pip has some guys working on something back there and they don't need anyone getting in their way."
Mihnea replied that he understood and with that, their plan was in place. Ginny and Constance would remain at the manor and to give Hermione some company and keep her distracted while all the boys went out on their mission.
"Do you think they'll be alright with us leaving them like this?" Mrs. Weasley asked, wringing her hands.
Her husband readjusted himself more comfortably in his seat and put an arm around her shoulders. "They'll be fine, Molly." he told her. "They know how to take care themselves."
"I know that." the woman replied. "I'm more worried about them snooping around and getting into something they shouldn't be sticking their noses in."
Syn pulled her gaze away from the view outside the car window to peer at the wizards sitting across from her. "All of your children were in my office with Edmund when I left, so you don't have to worry about them getting into trouble." she informed them. "He's good at keeping people entertained."
"Your office?" Molly demanded, surprised. "What on earth were they doing in there?"
The redhead frowned. "We were talking." she replied emotionlessly. "Otherwise known as 'hanging out' or 'getting to know each other'. And don't worry, I put away all of my torture devices and severed heads so their delicate sensibilities wouldn't be damaged."
The jab caused Mrs. Weasley's brows to furrow and her mouth to snap shut. Her expression was difficult to interpret. Not offended, but rather more guarded and questioning.
"That's not what I was thinking." she said carefully after a long moment. "I just... hope they weren't being bothersome."
The redhead arched a brow, not believing her statement for a minute. But why she suddenly decided to play nice, she had no idea. Still, even with her reservations, there was no point in getting into an unnecessary conflict.
"I don't find the natural curiosity of teenaged boys to be 'bothersome'." she replied, smoothing her hands out on her lap. "From what little I've seen, your children are well mannered and respectful, and they have been a pleasure to have around."
The woman blinked at her with a restrained sense of surprise. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
With that, she turned back to looking out the window again. Her comment had been sincere. The Weasley children, along with Harry and Hermione, were interesting and inquizitive with delightful personalities. It was easy to see why they and Connie were all friends. The twins were right spitfires and could come up with the most amazing ideas she had ever heard before. They were a pair to watch, and she personally thought her niece had picked out a hell of a good boyfriend in George. It was striking that with everything going on, he had been willing to stand up to his own mother for her sake. Not many boys his age were willing to do that. It seemed to her that they must have gotten their good sense and reason from their father. For whatever reason - and Syn couldn't put a finger on exactly why - Molly Weasley put her on the defensive by just being around. Maybe it was her manner, the way she seemed to overlook how lucky she was to blessed with such intelliegent and creative children, or perhaps it was just the irritation of having to share the same breathing air with her. She didn't know. The night after their arrival when she had been sent away by Integra, Alucard had suggested that perhaps it was a matter of their personalities being similar. Strong willed personalities tended to either blend perfectly, or bristle and fight bitterly with one another. Syn had immediately shot the idea down in an angry flourish that filled the No Life King with a twisted sense of glee. The two of them were were not similar in any way shape or form. To even consider the thought was incredibly offensive and made her want to gag. Of course, Alucard had that annoying fetish for pushing her buttons, so that might have been the very reason why he said it.
Outside the window, the scenery shifted from the sight of trees to signs and buildings. They had entered the city limits, and it wouldn't be much longer before they reached their destination. Very little else was said during the ride. It was only when the car slowed and pulled into the parking lot of the building their meeting would be held in that Arthur cleared his throat.
"Is there anything in particular we should or shouldn't say?" he asked.
Syn considered the question carefully. "It's my understanding that Sir Integra was supposed to handle the most difficult subjects before our arrival." she replied. "You're free to answer any questions relating directly to yourselves, the children, or the attack on your house. Anything regarding events that you did not personally witness should be left to us." she studied the pair of them for a moment. "This is supposed to be strictly business. None of us like having to force you into the position of keeping secrets from your own government, but we have children of our own to worry about. Our families are to be completely left out of the conversation. No matter what you think of us, I hope that as parents you'll be able to understand that."
Molly gave her a long look that bordered on being offended. "Surely you don't believe I would do something like that?" she asked.
The gunsmith's eyes narrowed a hair. "I've lived too long and seen too much to take chances when it comes to my family." she told her firmly. She allowed herself to relax a bit and sighed. "We can modify memories if any slip ups happen but personally, I'd personally like to avoid doing that if I can."
Arthur frowned thoughtfully and nodded. "We understand." he glanced sideways at his wife. "I've seen how things like this can go, Molly. Fudge isn't above pushing limits to get people to say what he wants to hear. It might be best to only answer direct questions and leave the rest of it to them."
Mrs. Weasley appeared to listen to him and after a moment, inclined her head in agreement. Syn found herself wondering if perhaps the woman had a smidgen of good sense in her after all. She was willing to admit that her husband having intimate knowledge of how the Ministry worked meant he might know better than her. Interesting.
With the two of them informed about how things would go, they exited the car and Syn led the way into the building. They weren't quite sure how many people Fudge intended to bring with him, but since it was bound to be more than one, the Prime Minister had arranged for them to use a conference room that provided plenty of space. The redhead hadn't been told exactly which one though, so once they reached the appropriate floor they would have to be led to it. Pip had come with Integra to serve as her personal bodyguard - as well as to provide first hand information about the attack he had been in charge of handling - and he was waiting for them when their elevator opened on the third floor. He stepped back to the side, then fell into step with Syn as they walked out.
" 'ave I mentioned lately 'ow much I 'ate doing zhis?" he asked quietly as they walked. "I'm a zoldier, not a politician." he shot a glance back at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "And no offenze, but none of zhis 'ocus pocus ztuff makez a lick of zence to me."
Syn understood the sentiment perfectly. The way wizards did things rarely made sense. "You're preaching to choir." she said with a sniff. "How many are there?"
"Four." the captain replied, looking back at her. He held up his fingers to begin listing them off. "Fudge, Shacklebolt, Scrimgeour, and Malfoy. Dumbledore iz een zhere too, but I don't zhink 'e counts."
That was reassuring at least. They all got along well with Albus Dumbledore and he would be in their corner. The presence of Malfoy wasn't going to be a pleasant thing to endure, but maybe the others would be able to keep him in check so she wouldn't have to whip his sorry ass.
As they approached the conference room, they all could hear a heated conversation going on within. Fudge didn't sound very happy about Hellsing's involvement.
"...comes extremely close to being a breech of contract, Sir Integra. We agreed to stay out of your business if you stayed out of ours. And while this may have turned out to work in our favor, I cannot fathom how the evacuation of a magical household falls within your usual job description." the man was saying.
"I would think you would be grateful, Minister, considering that the head of that magical household is one of your own employees." Integra replied in firm, yet icy tone. "It is common policy for Hellsing to evacuate survivors to a safe location. That they happened to be wizards was entirely coincidental. The reason for our intense security measures in this case is due to the fact that upon our arrival to the scene, we discovered that the attack on the Burrow, as well as the others that occured that night, were aimed at Mr. Potter. Even I am not ignorant of the significance of that name. Young Harry may not be a political figure himself, but he is certainly of great enough importance in your world that any action taken against him would become a political matter."
"The entire situation is highly suspicious." Malfoy's voice chimed in snidely. "You manipulate us into an agreement which gives you jurisdiction over any incidents involving vampires and within a few short months, an attack is made against a well known young wizard who happened to be staying in the home of a Ministry employee. It seems shockingly convenient for you, wouldn't you agree?"
Oh, no he didn't. Syn thought. She could almost see Integra's famous death glare boring into him.
"What I find 'shocking', Mr. Malfoy, is hearing a pure-blooded wizard such as yourself claim to have been manipulated by a mere muggle." the knight said. "And I would be very careful about making unfounded accusations if I were you."
"I don't believe Lucius intended to imply that you were responsible for these events, Sir Integra." Dumbledore's voice deftly commented. "It defies any sense of logic or reason. Despite any personal notions we may have, I believe we all can agree that you are an inherently reasonable and logical woman."
Scrimgeour's rough sounding voice entered into the conversation. "Minister, my personal and professional opinion is that our agreement with the Hellsing Organization was helpful in minimizing the amount of damage that could have taken place." he said. "I've read over these reports many times and there is simply no way that our aurors or law enforcement divisions could have responded so swiftly. We don't have the manpower or the expertise to deal with one attack of this size, much less three occuring simultaneously. We would have the deaths of eight wizards and hundreds of muggles on our hands if they hadn't been involved."
Apparently no one had the common sense to see it that simply because everything grew quiet. Syn noticed both Arthur and Molly wearing shocked expressions - like they hadn't considered the scale of the attacks either.
"We've been worried about something like this happening since Sirius Black escaped." Scrimgeour went on. "Have you found anything tying him to this?"
"All the information we've gathered is the incident reports I sent to you." Integra replied. "We've found no evidence suggesting that Black was a part of it. These vampires were following a chain of command. If Sirius Black had anything to do with these attacks, he wasn't the one handing out orders, and the vampires themselves had no awareness of his involvement."
A short span of silence followed and Syn and Pip exchanged a silent look of agreement that it was probably best to interrupt during the break. The captain lifted a hand to knock on the door. There was a rustle of movement, then the door opened to reveal Kingsely Shacklebolt in his colorful robes.
"Oh good, you've made it." he said. He reached out to take Mr. Weasley's hand in the concerned gesture of a friend. "I was sorry to hear about all this, Arthur." he said sincerely. He did the same for his wife. "And Molly. The children are alright?"
The woman nodded. "They're fine. It gave all of us a good scare, but we'll manage." she told him.
"I don't doubt it." Shacklebolt said. He took Syn's hand in greeting as well, then stepped aside so they could enter the conference room.
The large oval table that took up the majority of the room's space was littered with files and documents which had been laid out for viewing. Fudge and his representatives from the Ministry took up the chairs on the left side, while Sir Integra and the Prime Minister were sitting across from them. Dumbledore, in an almost psychological display of not choosing sides, had taken a seat halfway between the two groups. The gunsmith couldn't help but notice that when Kingsley returned to his seat, he had done the exact same thing himself. The others all looked up from their debate to take in the sight of them.
"Ah!" Fudge said, his expression shifting to a more benign, welcoming one - as if to mask his true feelings. Surely he knew they could hear him from outside? "Excellent! We were beginning to worry about you." he paused noticeably and followed Syn with his eyes as she and Pip went to take seats on either side of Integra. "And Miss Newsom. We... ah, weren't expecting you to be here."
Syn just stared at the man silently while Sir Integra arched a brow. "I thought it was made exceedingly clear during our last encounter that Miss Newsom is always involved when it comes to magical matters." she told him.
Fudge wrinkled his nose slightly at the memory, then cleared his throat and turned to the Weasleys, who were replying to something said quietly to them by Dumbledore. "Arthur and Molly." he said, drawing their attention. "Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I extend to you our sincere condolences at having endured these terrible events. We are currently investigating the matter and I assure you that we will do all within our power to ensure the safety of your family." he glanced at Integra. "Of course, we understand the desire to keep the children out of any intense discussions, but we have many questions - due to your being primary witnesses to one of these attacks, and out of our concern for the present situation you are in. I trust that the Hellsing Organization will not object to our inquiry?"
The knight extended her hands in a wide gesture. "If I didn't intend to cooperate with a joint investigation, I wouldn't have allowed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come here today." she said.
Shacklebolt and Scrimgeour didn't appear terribly concerned by her wording, but it was obvious that Fudge and Malfoy didn't like the implication of her 'allowing' anything. Thus began the rather boring segment of the meeting - the Ministry officials questioning the Weasleys about things they had witnessed during the attack on the Burrow and how they were treated by the Hellsing Organization afterward. The two of them spoke both for themselves and for the children, though it was mostly Arthur that did the talking. It was a bit surprising to see that the man had a talent for engaging in political language. He never lied, but he was careful not to mention anything that suggested that Constance had been at their house. Once the details about the attack were dealt with, he described how Hellsing had explained the situation to them in detail at the first opportunity they were all together and provided the most respectful and gracious treatment they could have asked for. Hermione had recieved medical treatment immediately, and even though Ginny hadn't been treated for her injury, Molly Weasley shocked Syn senseless by jumping in to say that she had used healing spells on her daughter's leg herself and refused muggle medicine when it was offered. However, she firmly maintained that Hellsing extended the offer to them without being asked and she believed that if she had accepted, she would have been given the best possible care. None of them had ever been threatened at any time, and in every situation where something was done they didn't understand, it was explained so they would know it was for their safety and not for any nefarious reasons.
After listening to all the information they provided, Fudge and Scrimgeour exchanged a long, silent look between themselves. The head of Magical Law Enforcement coughed meaningfully and began looking through a stack of papers laying on the table in front of him.
"Arthur, I know you well enough to trust your judgement." he began seriously. "Sir Integra has made it clear that she wants you to remain in her custody until we're able to place protective enchantments on your house. Pulling enough people to build a team for something like that during this time of year is going to be difficult, so it may be a couple of weeks before we're able to do it. Keeping that time frame in mind, do you feel that you and your family are safe where you are?"
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other, then Arthur turned back to Scrimgeour and inclined his head. "I do." he said.
When Fudge began to frown, Shacklebolt shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. "If I may, Minister, I also agree that staying put is the safest option for them." he offered. "I've never been to Hellsing's headquarters myself, but from what I've heard said in this office, they have an excellent reputation when it comes to security."
The Prime Minister himself nodded in agreement and spoke for the first time since Syn and the Weasley's had joined the discussion. "Her Majesty has charged the Hellsing Organization with the protection of her people from the most dangerous of forces, and Sir Integra's people are the most highly skilled in the world." he told them. "You won't find anyone capable of doing better."
Dumbledore was nodding as well. "Vampires are deadly creatures and if the mastermind behind these events is attempting to use them to capture Mr. Potter, then it behooves us to accept assistance from those who are experts in fighting them."
Fudge paused to give the older wizard a long, considering look. "You've always been protective of Harry, Dumbledore." he commented. "You're comfortable with the idea of him staying in such a place?"
"I believe that Harry is just as safe at Hellsing as he would be within the walls of Hogwarts itself." the headmaster replied. He lowered his head to look at him over the tops of his half-moon spectacles. "In fact, I would go so far as to say that he would be safer there, given these new 'security measures' the Ministry has imposed upon my school."
Albus obviously didn't approve of dementors being sent to Hogwarts, and with all the trouble she'd heard about them causing, Syn couldn't blame him. Oddly enough, Fudge balked slightly at the statement - like a child being chided for doing something wrong. It seemed that there was some type of pre-existing relationship between the two men that caused Fudge to respect the older wizard's judgement and see his opinions as having valuable weight. He let out a long sigh of concession.
"Very well." he announced. "The Ministry of Magic will agree to Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, and the Weasley family remaining in Hellsing's custody for the time being." he jerked at the front of his robes like he was uncomfortable with the way the meeting was going and wanted it to be over. "Now, as I understand it, you wished to discuss the matter of Miss Hermione Granger's personal situation before closing?"
Sir Integra inclined her head in assent. "It has been my experience that in cases where a child is orphaned, it is to their benefit to work out the details of their long-term living situation as soon as possible." She gestured toward the Weasleys. "After much discussion, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley offered to become her legal guardians and Miss Granger seemed to favor the idea."
Not surprisingly, Malfoy wrinkled up his nose in a derisive sneer and shot a look toward the pair of wizards on their side of the table. "Arthur already has more children than he can afford." he said snidely. "Placing Miss Granger into an impoverished home would hardly be to her benefit. And considering that Ginevra Weasley was the one responsible for the attacks made against muggleborn students at Hogwarts last year, it may very well be dangerous for her to be with them."
Syn's mouth fell open in shock and it took a great force of will to keep from saying something. What kind of heartless, pretentious bastard said that kind of thing? Openly insulting someone for having little money, and then accusing their daughter of something that wasn't her fault? Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both gave noticeable starts and Arthur actually got so upset that he planted his hands firmly on the table and slowly rose to a stand.
"You leave my daughter out of this." he said coldly. "She was possessed and nearly died because of it!"
"Are you making excuses for her behavior now, Arthur?" Malfoy asked. "Yet another reason why Miss Granger shouldn't be allowed to live under your influence for long. Not a one of your miserable offspring has enough sense to keep themselves out of dangerous situations. One can only assume that such a disturbing lack of insight being present in so many members of one family must stem from the parents themselves."
"Why you dirty...!"
Mr. Weasley was so infuriated, it looked like he was intent on tearing Malfoy's face off and handing it back to him. He got nearly halfway across the table before he was impeeded by his wife and Shacklebolt quickly grabbing his arms to pull him back. As all of the wizards were attempting to get both men to calm down, another insult was hurled - causing wands to be drawn. The threat of magic caused the people on Hellsing's side to rise and jump back. Pip immediately planted himself in front of the Prime Minister to sheild him from any stray spells that might be fired, while Syn did the same for Integra.
"For God's sake..." the lady knight muttered, then thrust a finger out toward the wizards. "Break it up, Syn!"
In response to the order, the redhead called up a set of shadows and directed them across the table. They deftly snatched away every wand that had been drawn. It happened so fast that it took a moment for the wizards to grasp that they were no longer armed. They blinked at their now empty hands, then at her with a mixture of confusion and horror. Lucius' fury at Arthur now redirected itself toward her.
"How dare you!" he exclaimed, eyes blazing. He moved like he was going to jump forward and attack physically. "Filthy, unnatural bi..."
Syn didn't wait for the rest of his words to come out. At the first step he took toward her she leveled a hard glare at him and the dark shadows moved to twine around his ankles - jerking him up to hang upside down in the air. Another set manifested and wrapped around the lower half of his face to keep his deplorable mouth shut. The man wrestled in vain to free himself from the dark tendrils holding him captive while the woman crooked a finger toward the others to bring the wands over so she could gather them up.
With the threat of being hit by stray magic removed, Sir Integra stepped out from behind Syn with a look of icy intent on her face. Platinium hair swirled around her face as she strode forward and slammed her hands down on the table to glare at Fudge in warning.
"I've had enough!" she shouted in a voice that would make the bravest and most battle hardened of men quake in their boots. One of her hands came up to shove a finger into the man's face. "I want you to listen to me and listen well because I am only going to say this once. The childish bickering stops now. I have far more important things to do than sit here wasting my time watching your people try to kill each other. If it's impossible for the men you've brought with you to act like adults instead of unruly children in need of a babysitter, then I suggest you ask them to leave. I have no desire to fight with you but if you don't tighten the reigns and keep Malfoy under control, you're damn well going to get one." Her good eye narrowed. "And seeing as how Dumbledore, Scrimgeour, and Mrs. Weasley are the only ones who haven't been deprived of their wands, I don't think you want to see how horrific it would be for you if you choose to force my hand."
Everything went dead quiet and they all stared at each other. Sir Integra wasn't playing nice anymore, and Fudge could see that she was serious. Without his wand, there was very little he could do about it either. The man took a cautious step back and glanced at the Prime Minister.
"You're going to allow her to act this way?" he asked.
Syn found it almost laughable that he was going to turn to someone he had stabbed in the back for assistance. The man arched an unimpressed brow at the question.
"I have no authority over Sir Integra or her organization." he reminded him. It looked like he found an immense amount of satisfication in being able to say so. "She is a knight of the Round Table Conference and was personally appointed by Her Majesty the Queen. For a lesser ranking government official to knowingly interfere with her actions is the equivilent of committing high treason." he gave Fudge a long, pointed look and squared his shoulders. "I've had enough experience with the way the you treat people who aren't wizards to be put off doing anything for you that could earn me a life sentence in prison."
Apparently, the wizards didn't know how serious treason was because they all looked flabberghasted at his words. Fudge had screwed himself over in a very unpleasant way and he was now beginning to realize just how much. He simpered down and fidgeted anxously.
"I'll have Lucius leave." he said in concession. "Please release him."
Integra inclined her head and waved a finger at Syn without looking back over her shoulder. "Drop him."
Syn had always appreciated how specific the knight was with her orders. She sent a silent command to her shadows and they unwound themselves from around the man dangling in the air. He hit the floor with a solid thump. Malfoy was incredibly unhappy with the way he was so roughly handled and when he pushed himself up and jerked at his robes to readjust them, he had no qualms with pointing it out.
"Minister." he said with a deep hiss. "This is rediculous! You're going to stand there and let a muggle...?"
Fudge's brows knit together in irritation and he pulled the man over to speak quietly, but heatedly to him. In essence, telling him that the situation was precarious enough without him making it worse. Malfoy was pissed beyond belief when their mini-conversation came to a close and jerked at the front of his robes again. He looked like a man trying to regain some dignity after a horrible blow to his ego. He shot a derisive glare toward them and thrust out his hand.
"My wand." he demanded with a snarl.
Syn quirked a brow at him and selected the black wand with the silver snake's head handle she had taken from him. "I didn't hear a 'please'." she prodded. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"
Malfoy's face twisted up with indignant fury. "How dare you? Insufferable..."
"Lucius." Fudge interuppted firmly. "Just do it and be done."
The blonde man glared at him, nostrils flaring, then took a deep breath and shoved a hand back over his hair and looked back at her.
"Please." he spat hatefully. He thrust his hand out again. "My wand."
Syn stared at him for a long moment, then decided she had screwed around with him enough for one day. She held out of the shaft of wood. When his fingers wrapped around the handle, she gave a small tug to get his attention.
"No funny business, Malfoy." she warned. "You cast one tiny little spell before you go slinking back to whatever hole you crawled out of and I will amplify it a hundred fold and turn it back to hit you in the face."
He didn't respond, but only sneered in contempt as he jerked the wand out of her grip and moved to march toward the door. He was about halfway there when Scrimgeour suddenly cleared his throat.
"I believe I'll see Lucius out, Minister." he announced. "Since we're finished with everything applying to my department, there's no reason for me to stay." he studied Fudge for a moment. "Unless you need me for something else?"
The Minister shook his head and waved him off. "No, no, Rufus, no need in keeping you here." he agreed sullenly.
The members of Hellsing all exchanged a small look amongst themselves. While it wasn't overtly done, it certainly seemed that Scrimgeour was only offering to leave with Malfoy to make to sure he didn't do anything stupid on his way out. The blonde haired wizard appeared to view it the same way, but was stopped from making too much of a fuss out of the knowledge that Scrimgeour was in charge of magical law enforcement. He probably wasn't a person you wanted to be on the bad side of. Everyone watched as the two men left the room. When the door was shut again, Fudge let out a deep sigh and returned to his seat.
"Sir Integra, I'll admit that things got a bit out of hand there, but I would appreciate it if you returned everyone's wands to them." he said softly, but seriously. "For my own peace of mind, if nothing else."
The lady knight leveled a hard look at him. "And just how is your being deprived of a wand any different from your insistence on Miss Newsom wearing that restrictive collar during our last meeting?" she challenged.
Fudge met her gaze with one of his own. "I would say there's a great deal of difference." he said. "Miss Newsom's powers obviously weren't affected by our precautions."
"Which you weren't aware of at the time." Integra pointed out. "I suggest, in the future, that you refrain from forcing people who are not enemies into a position you are unwilling to be in yourself. When you so readily draw your wands on each other in my presence, how am I supposed to be assured you wont do the same to me?"
It looked like the Minister desperately wanted to argue with her, but couldn't come up with a good enough rebuttal. Good. Syn thought. Maybe now he understood how it felt. The man sighed heavily and brought up his hands to rub at his temples.
"What do you want, Sir Integra?" he asked.
"I've made it clear what I want." she replied. "Miss Granger requires a permanent home. The Weasleys have offered theirs and the girl herself agreed to it. The matter will be settled and the appropriate documentation filed today. As I understand it, the children will be returning to school in a few short weeks so there's no point in drawing it out."
"Sir Integra, perhaps you aren't aware of how we do things, but there are laws about the adoption of orphans." Fudge said firmly. He looked at Arthur. "I don't have any issues with you taking the girl in, but there is paperwork that has to be filled out, and people bringing forth a claim must be able to show adequate means of support..."
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Actually, Minister, the paperwork is easily taken care of." he announced. "During my last visit to the Ministry, I happened to pick up a full set of such documents quite by accident. Since I knew this would come up in our discussion today, I thought it was only appropriate to bring them along."
The Minister blinked at him in surprise. "You have them with you?"
"Of course." the headmaster replied. He reached into the folds of his robes to retrieve a scroll of parchment. "During my reading, I noticed that the signatures of two character witnesses are required. I'd be more than happy to supply one of them." he glanced at Shacklebolt sideways. "Would you do the honor of acting as the other, Kingsely?"
"Absolutely!" the man proclaimed. "No trouble at all!"
"Well..." Fudge said haltingly. He coughed and shook his head. "Even so, there must still be adequate proof of means of support. Not to say you aren't able, Arthur, but we must keep everything legal..."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley moved to ask him about what was needed, but Sir Integra raised a hand. "In this case, I don't believe that's necessary, Minister." she announced. "After looking at Miss Granger's records, it appears that her parents left a fair sized inheritance for her which would be more than enough to support her."
That caused both Fudge and both Weasleys to stare at her. "Inheritance?" Molly asked. "Hermione's never mentioned anything about having an inheritance."
Fudge glanced at the woman for only a moment before turning back and clearing his throat. "Be that as it may, since Miss Granger's parents were muggles, the matter of her inheritance falls outside the Ministry of Magic's jurisdiction." he stated formally. "We aren't intimately acquainted with muggle laws pertaining to something like this, nor do we have the ability to gather that information for our records in such a short period of time."
"Again, I see no reason why that should keep the matter from moving forward." Sir Integra replied. She sat back in her seat and gestured to the man sitting on the other side of Pip. "It is our great fortune to have a Prime Minister who was an exceptional lawyer and practiced family law for many years before his election into office."
The Prime Minister inclined his head in acknowledgement and reached into the front pocket of his suit jacket to retrieve a pair of reading glasses. Placing them on his face, he picked up a stack of papers he had laying on the table before him.
"Sir Integra brought Miss Granger's situation to my attention immediately and requested that I look into her affairs to make sure everything was in order." he reported. "After reviewing her file, we found no formal Will and Testament - which isn't terribly surprising given her parents' age and good health. Since the girl has no siblings and there is no Will providing instructions on how they wished their assets to be divided, everything they owned now belongs to her. This includes the residential property in Brighton and the joint bank accounts held by her parents." he began sifting through the papers in search of something specific. "There was also a trust fund set up not long after Miss Granger's birth, into which a set amount of money from each paycheck her parents recived was placed and allowed to draw interest. Under normal circumstances, the account would be opened upon her coming of age and the money used to pay for University costs or general living expenses. However, there is a clause which states that a trust may be opened early if there is sufficient cause for it. The sudden death of both parents is more than adequate to have it activated."
The Prime Minister found the document he was looking for and passed it across the table to Fudge. It was lengthy and detailed, so there was no way he could read through all of it right there, but he did flip through to browse the various sections.
"This... 'trust' is enough to provide for Miss Granger until she comes of age?" he questioned as he read.
The Prime Minister lifted his shoulders in a thoughtful shrug. "I don't know how wizarding banks function, but I can say with relative certainty that if the money from this trust is kept in one of our banks with it's current interest rate, it will be enough to allow Miss Granger to live comfortably up until she turns eighteen. If wisely managed, it may even last to provide an accessory source of income into her twenties."
The girl was extraordinarily lucky to have had parents who were thoughtful enough to begin saving early. Not many people thought about it until their children were older. An exact amount was never thrown out, but Fudge seemed content with what he was reading. He hummed thoughtfully and passed the documents to Shacklebolt for his appraisal.
"What do you make of it?" he asked.
Kingsley studied the papers himself, then looked up. "Everything looks above board, sir." he replied. "It certainly fills the requirements..." he paused and turned toward the Prime Minister. "If the Weasleys become Miss Granger's guardians, would they have access to this account?"
The man rubbed his chin. "She would have to sign a document giving permission for them to use the funds." he said. He looked pointedly at Fudge as if to emphasize the seriousness of what he was going to say. "I'm aware you're probably going to say this isn't a 'muggle matter', but I don't particularly care that Miss Granger herself is witch. She may be a member of your world now, but her parents were our people, and she grew up in and has been a part of our society for much longer than she's been in yours. In my eyes, she deserves the protection of our laws as much as anyone else. Before Miss Granger signs anything, she needs to be given proper legal counsel to ensure she is making the best decision. Not someone who is looking out for the interests of muggles or wizards, but someone who is focused on what is best for her. If you can't agree to that, then as Prime Minister, I will bar any access to Miss Granger's muggle assets and accounts regardless of where she's placed."
Fudge looked shocked. "You threaten to do that after claiming to want what's best for her over what's best for muggles?" he challenged.
"It has nothing to do with 'what's best for muggles'." the man replied with a hard look. "I have three children of my own - two of which are very close in age to this girl. If any of them were a witch or wizard and had the misfortune of being in this situation, I would hope someone would do the very same thing to prevent them from being used or manipulated. A child, no matter how bright and intellegent, is still a child - and there is no reason in this world good enough to risk having what rightfully belongs to them stolen out from under their nose because they didn't know any better. Miss Granger recieves legal counsel or her accounts remain closed. End of discussion."
Apparently, the Minister for Magic didn't interact with the Prime Minister often enough to know that the man could be incredibly resilient and forceful when he chose. With that came the matter of just who would provide this 'legal counsel'. None of them particularly trusted anyone the Minister might appoint to do the job, and Fudge himself didn't like getting a muggle lawyer involved for the very same reason. In the end, Dumbledore offered himself as a candidate. He was a high ranking member of the Wizengamot - which sounded like the magical equivalent of a high court mixed with Parliament or something - and was the Headmaster of Hermione's school. He was rather well known for taking a personal interest in his students, he said, and could be trusted to look out for her interests above everyone else's. Fudge and Shacklebolt both agreed that would be acceptable, and the Prime Minister - following Hellsing's lead in trusting the older wizard - took no issue with the appointment. When all was said and done, all of the appropriate documents were given to Dumbledore and he made clear that he would speak personally to Hermione, have everything signed, then bring them back to the Ministry that very day to have them filed. Once all relavent subjects were taken care of, Integra ordered Syn to return the wands she had taken from Fudge and Shacklebolt so they could leave. The Prime Minister also left to go back to his office, leaving them to gather up the things they had brought in preparation for departing back to the manor. Syn handed Mr. Weasley's wand back to him with a sincere apology for having been forced to take it. If it had been her in his shoes, she would have done much worse than threaten the bastard with a spell. But the simple fact of the matter was that it would have looked suspicious for her to take the other wands away while leaving his alone.
"I have to admit, Sir Integra, I have always admired your talent for swiftly diffusing an argument." Dumbledore said in a conversational tone.
The lady knight arched a brow at him. "I can't say I've ever been accused of having such a talent, but the sentiment is appreciated." she told him, inclining her head. She paused for a moment to study him. "For a man who claims to want no power for himself, you appear to hold a great deal of it."
The man only smiled knowingly in response. "I believe the same thing could be said about you, sir."
It wasn't said harshly or threateningly. It sounded more like a friendly tease between two people who understood each other's situation. Since it was the first time they had ever seen them interact with the Headmaster, both Arthur and Molly were watching the exchange with a vieled sense of interest. After witnessing the man go through similar pleasantries with Syn and Pip, Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way," she began carefully, adressing Integra. "But... why are you doing all of this? I understand wanting to keep all of us safe with this being so focused on capturing Harry, but you've gone to all this extra trouble on our account without having a reason to."
The knight looked at her for a long moment, as if pouring over the best way to respond. "Regardless of what you choose to believe, I'm not heartless, Mrs. Weasley. All of the major members of my household - myself included - have been orphaned and have lived through the experience of losing everything and everyone we love most. I won't insult anyone's intelligence by claiming to understand how they feel, but I vividly recall what it was like for me. My daughter considers your children, as well as Harry and Hermione, to be her closest friends. Hermione was the first friend Constance made at school, and they were close before any of the rest came along. True friendship is a rare and precious thing that deserves to be protected. If circumstances were different, I would have offered to take her in myself. As it is, the best I can do is make sure she's placed somewhere she'll be loved and cared for. I believe you'll be able to do that."
Molly appeared taken aback by the statement and thanked her for saying so. Dumbledore shot a small, knowing look in her direction, then cleared his throat.
"Miss Newsom notified me the moment you arrived at the manor and she's been sending me regular updates." he told them. "I've been meaning to come check up on everyone, but I've been kept busy until now. Oh!" he began rummaging through his robes like was was looking for something. "Before I forget, I have everyone's grades. No point in sending them by owl when I could bring them myself."
He passed a series of envelopes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley before handing Integra and Syn the ones that applied to their children. Mihnea had always been a good student, so she was pleased to see a long list of O's. Herbology and History of Magic didn't fall into his areas of interest, so they were the only two E's present. There was also a note reminding her about the OWL's scheduled at the end of the year, after which he would have to meet with Professor Snape to discuss which classes he would continue in his final two years. God, it didn't seem like he should be doing that already...
"A T?" Molly exclaimed. "Do you see this, Arthur? One T each! How did that happen?"
Syn looked up from the parchment expecting to see the woman looking upset, but was flabberghasted to find she wasn't. Molly Weasley appeared to be elated by the news. Arthur himself was reading over the grades in surprise.
"Two D's?" he asked. He pulled one paper out of his wife's hand to glance at the one beneath it. "And George only has one... wait. Is that Potions?" he looked back and forth between the two slips of parchment to make sure he was correct. "They have E's in Potions!"
"Is this an unusual occurance, or am I missing something?" Integra asked, confused by the way they were acting.
"It's Fred and George." Mrs. Weasley replied, looking up from the papers at last. "They... well, they're good boys, but they aren't very serious about school and rarely make good grades. It's a wonder they pass anything at all. And Potions! They've always gotten through Potions by the skin of their teeth!"
Dumbledore coughed pointedly. "If I may, I believe Miss Stryker may have had a hand in that."
"Do what?" Arthur asked.
"Well, I'm not privy to everything they do in the dormitories, of course, but it's my understanding that Miss Stryker has been goading them into studying more often." he told them. "As a matter of fact, there was a particular incident not long after start of term. Understand, the teacher's table is at the very front of the room, so I couldn't make out everything that was said, but from what little I heard, it seemed the twins were discussing how they didn't have to worry about passing anything because they wouldn't 'need' it with what they'd be doing later on. Miss Stryker grew visibly upset by it and threatened to..." he pressed a finger to his lips. "How did she put it? Oh yes. 'Thrash Fred to within an inch of his life, kill George, break up with him, then beat the devil out of him as well' - in that exact order - if they failed anything on purpose. Both myself and Professor McGonagall were of the opinion that she was quite serious. Since then, the pair appears to be taking more care in completing their lessons." he glanced at Integra. "And while Miss Stryker usually appears to take more after her father, I must admit that she looks and sounds a great deal like you when she's angry."
The entire story was delivered in such a deadpan, matter of fact tone that Syn was forced to put a hand to her mouth to hide the amused grin spreading across her face. Unfortunately, Pip, who had been listening, let out a loud snort and began laughing so hard he doubled over.
"Zhat poor kid didn't know what 'e waz getting into wizh 'er!" he said between guffaws. "At leazt she got eet 'onest!"
Integra calmly folded the piece of parchment in her hands and placed it back into the envelope. "Do you want me to shoot you, Captain?" she asked without looking at him.
"Non!" he replied. "Not zhat eet doez anyzhing, but a zilver bullet between zhe eyez hurtz like 'ell no matter 'ow you look at eet."
The knight sniffed. "That's what I thought."
Molly and Arthur exchanged look between themselves, then Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. "Well, serious or not, I suppose I should thank Connie for finding a way to get through to them." she said. "It's something I've never been able to do."
Syn halted in fighting back the urge to laugh to quirk a brow at the woman. Did she really just say something nice? Hell must have frozen over. She halfway wondered if they should book it back to the manor to make sure no other earth shattering events were happening.
As the thought poured through her mind, Dumbledore mentioned something about having to get back to Hogwarts before it got too late, reminding them of his purpose in being there. They were collectively walking out of the conference room to head down to the car when Mrs. Weasley stopped them again. She spoke very briefly to her husband about something - which he nodded in response to - then stepped forward.
"Sir Integra, I was wondering if it would be possible for one of us to make a quick trip back to our house?" she asked.
The knight halted midstep and turned to study her. "Whatever for, Mrs. Weasley?"
"Well... we had to leave rather suddenly, and there are a few things we had to leave behind." Molly replied. "It's Christmas tomorrow and I thought, with Professor Dumbledore being there, the children would be occupied for a while..."
Integra's good eye lit up with understanding and she held up a hand. "No need to explain." she told her. "Of course, that wont be a problem. So long as a guard goes with you. Or..." she paused thoughtfully for a moment. "How many things do you plan on getting?"
"Oh, it's not that much." Mrs. Weasley assured her. "Two could carry it all with no trouble."
The knight hummed. "All the same, a guard with their arms full wont be a very effective one." she said. She made a small hand gesture to Syn and Pip. "Both of you go along."
Arthur blinked in surprise. "Both of them, Sir?"
Integra turned to arch a brow at him in an almost joking manner. "I assure you, Mr. Weasley, you are quite safe with me." she said. "Unlike some others I could speak of, I'm not prone to biting. We're close enough to my house that someone could reach us in an instant if anything should happen." she made a shooing motion at Syn and the Captain again. "Go. And behave."
She just had to go and take the wind out of her sails, didn't she? Syn wasn't particularly planning on doing anything awful, but having Integra expressly forbid it was no fun at all. She watched the three of them leave then turned back to Molly with a deep sigh.
"I suppose if this is going to be a quick trip, we aren't going to use a car?" she asked.
The woman looked at her in befuddlement. "Oh no, driving would take far too long." she said. "I was thinking of apparating."
Pip blinked. "Appa -what?"
Syn wrinkled up her nose in distaste. "It's a kind of magical transportation." she explained. "They think of a place they want to go and... 'pop' there." she looked back at Mrs. Weasley. "And I'd rather not, if you don't mind."
Molly looked even more confused. "Why?" she asked. It looked like she was going to say something else, but stopped herself. Her expression slowly shifting to one of awareness. "You... you can't apparate, can you?"
The redhead twisted up her face and shook her head. This was bringing up very unpleasant memories. "It's not that I can't do it." she insisted. "I just... get extreme motion sickness. I tried it once when I was younger and it took about three days for me to stop throwing up."
"Motion zickness?" the Captain questioned incredulously. "What zhe bloody 'ell? You ride a motorcycle zhat goes nearly four 'undred milez an 'our and can jump to wherever zhe 'ell Alucard 'appenz to be when you want! None of zhose zhings make you zick."
"Excuse me for being a little sensitive to magical travel!" Syn exclaimed. "Apparating isn't the least bit pleasant. It's like being sucked through a tiny rubber tube, internal organs first." she crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed. " 'Jumping' is an innate vampiric ability for mated pairs - not magic. They're two completely different things. And it did make me sick at first, thank you. I just learned how to get over it because it's not nearly as traumatic."
He held up his hands defensively. "Oookay. Whatever you zay, momma hen."
For her part, Mrs. Weasley responded to their little interchange by looking back and forth between the two of them. "Floo, then?" she suggested. "The Ministry should have a connection set up here."
Syn didn't particularly like the idea of travelling by Floo powder either, but it was a much more attractive option than apparation. She slumped in defeat. "Fine, we'll Floo." she said, then thrust a finger toward Pip. "If I throw up, you had better not say a damn thing."
Of course, given that Pip had never done it before, he might wind up in the same boat as her. She just didn't know how flooing affected vampires, so it was best to be prepared.
The boys made it back from their excursion with no trouble whatsoever. It turned out to be just in the nick of time because not fifteen minutes after they returned, Connie's mother and Mr. Weasley showed up with Dumbledore to speak to Hermione about her living with the Weasleys. Once that bit of formality was out of the way, the Headmaster took the time to speak with all of them. It was nice to know that he cared enough to check on them personally. Constance was a bit perplexed as to why Mrs. Weasley hadn't come back with them, but her mom said something about her needing to 'take care of some personal business'. Whatever it was didn't take very long because she, aunt Syn, and Pip got back to the manor a few minutes before Dumbledore had to take his leave. His excuse was that he didn't dare stay away from Hogwarts too long for fear that too many of his teachers would lose their hair - though Syn managed to talk him into taking a platter of her snickerdoodles back with him. The man had a very large sweet tooth and found himself unable to resist.
With that came the waiting. The Weasley children postulated that their mother must have snuck away to their house to get their Christmas presents. This was fueled by the woman's steadfast refusal to talk about what she had been up to. Strangely enough, when they asked Syn about it, she remained tight lipped as well. Hermione, to her credit, put on the airs of a good friend and joined in the usual pondering over what they might get. Though, through everything, she was quieter than usual and it was plain as day that she was feeling left out. No one dared to talk about the funeral - knowing how upset she had been - but when she commented that perhaps she should stay out of the next night's festivites, Connie immediately shushed her and told her not to be silly. They had gone to too much trouble for her to make it more difficult.
Of course, when they all had to separate for the evening and go to their own rooms, Fred happened to think of something they hadn't considered at first. How were they supposed to give Hermione her gift? If they came out and did it while the adults were around, their parents would throw a fit about them leaving the house without an army to keep them safe. Connie herself was pretty sure that her mother wouldn't have that extreme of a reaction, but she would still be upset. Huddling in a small group in the hallway and speaking in soft whispers, they quickly came up with a plan to sneak everything into the girl's room the next day while their parents were occupied with something or other. No one was really sure when this would happen, but it was the best option they had for success.
So the next morning, Constance made a point to wake up earlier than usual to make sure she was awake and ready to move when their 'window' presented itself. Hermione had gone into a state of semi-isolation. She was awake, but while she wasn't forceful about asking them to leave her alone, her mannerisms made it clear that would be her preference. She, Ron, and Harry had to do some convincing for her to let them join her in her room to 'hang out' while Fred, George, and Ginny kept a watchful eye on their parents. To keep the girl from growing suspicious of their actions, they chose to watch a muggle film on the large flatscreen television hidden behind the doors of the entertainment center across from the bed. Ron had never seen a movie before, so he wound up badgering them with all sorts of questions about how muggles managed to put sounds and moving pictures on a 'see dee'. (And who's this 'Dee' person and what's seeing him have to do with that flat round thing?) After listening to their attempts at explanation, he then sat through the rest of The Phantom of the Opera bemoaning how the story didn't make any sense because anyone with half a brain should have been able to tell that the Phantom wasn't really an 'opera ghost' when they saw for themselves he wasn't see-through. Though he probably couldn't help it, the boy's numerous interruptions were downright annoying. The only thing that succeeded in shutting him up was one of Hermione's pointed glares about halfway through the movie.
It was when the credits began rolling and they set about searching for a good title to follow up with that the door cracked open and Fred stuck his head in.
"Hey." he said. "Just making sure you guys were still in here." he held up a finger. "Don't go anywhere."
Hermione's brows knitted together in confusion, but before she could ask why, he pulled his head back through the opening and disappeared. She stared at the door for a moment, then looked back at them.
"Don't go anywhere?" she asked. "What on earth for?"
The boys and Constance looked at each other meaningfully. "I don't know." they all said at the same time.
Hermione studied them all in suspicion. "What's going on?" she demanded. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you up to something?"
Harry's lips twitched. "Maybe."
As she was preparing herself to chastize them for doing something stupid, the door opened again and Fred slipped back inside. He pushed it closed behind him then turned to face them.
"Okie dokie, dad's gone off to do something and Ginny went with mom to help her in the kitchen." he announced. "Don't know how long we've got, but it looks like this is the best chance we're going to get."
Hermione still looked hopelessly confused and upset about not knowing what they were doing. She opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but Harry beat her to it.
"We have a surprise for you." he said.
The girl went still and blinked at him. "Excuse me?"
Constance did her best to hold back her expectation and came up behind her to cover her eyes with her hands. "No peeking." she instructed.
"Oh for God's sake!" Hermione exclaimed. "Will you stop being stupid and just tell me what's going on?"
"Wait and see." Connie told her. "Just play along, would you?"
Once Hermione couldn't see anything, Fred opened the door and Harry and Ron went over to help George bring in the stuff they had gotten. They got everything laid out on the table situated on the far side of the room and Connie carefully manuevered Hermione's head so she was facing in the right direction. In a quick, smooth motion, she pulled her hands away from the girl's face.
"Surprise!" Everyone called out at once.
Hermione looked around at all of them in bewilderment, then focused her attention on the table. A collection of packages wrapped in brightly colored paper had been piled on top of it. She was so struck by the sight that her mouth opened and closed a couple of times soundlessly.
"We know you've been having a hard time." Harry began, not waiting for her to say anything. He glanced around at the others. "All of us have, but you've sort of had it the worst. So we thought we'd do something special."
"Yep." George said with a big grin. He held up a finger when he saw her open her mouth in protest. "And don't try to make out like we shouldn't have done anything, either. You're practically our sister as of yesterday, so we had to do something."
Hermione stared at them in shock as they began relating the story to her. Every present on the table had come from her house. They were the Christmas presents her parents had bought for her and hidden away. It was meant to be a gesture to show that even after everything that had happened, they were still with her in a way. The initial idea had been Harry's, and when they got to her house, Ron was the one who determined where they had been hidden. When they finished explaining, the girl had tears in her eyes.
"Guys..." she breathed, looking like she thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "You really... did all this for me? But... how? I thought none of us were supposed to leave..."
Fred snorted. "Since when do we ever pay attention to silly things like rules?" he challenged. He pointed at Connie. "Her dad was there when we talked about it and he said as long as we careful and got back before mom and dad, he wouldn't stop us."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. And Bassarab was the only one who knew how to get to your house, so he drove us there. We all figured if he could handle a bunch of vampires and get you out by himself, then we'd be fine if anything happened."
"Bassarab?" Hermione repeated, stunned. "Mihnea Bassarab took you to my house? But..." she turned to look at Constance questioningly. "Why?"
She shrugged in response. "He said he wanted to help." she replied. "And it's not like any of them would have been able to get there on their own anyway."
"Yeah, and it's a good thing he was with us too." George offered, drawing their attention back to him. "There were a couple of 'please men' hanging out around your house to make sure no one broke in to steal anything. When they stopped us, Mihnea did some kind of..." he wiggled his fingers. "Freaky vampire mind thing to make them leave us alone and when we left, they forgot we'd ever been there. Someone would have been able to track us down if we had to use a spell for it."
The girl was still absorbing everything and didn't say much else for a while. Fred coughed and said that Ginny really wanted to be there with them, but she had stayed with their mom to make sure she was occupied and didn't interrupt them. Ron then stepped forward and tugged her over to the table so she could open everything. They were the ordinary gifts one would expect to see given by a muggle family. A couple of books, new clothes along with a nice pair of shoes, and a large mug filled with sugar free candy. One small box gave Hermione serious pause and her eyes began watering again. It was an iPod and a card to provide for buying a few pieces of music for it. Constance wasn't really sure why that present would be so moving, then she remembered that the girl had mentioned wanting one, but her parents wouldn't buy it because she wouldn't be able to use it at school. It appeared they had only said it to throw her off the scent.
"Thank you." she murmured, reaching up to rub her nose on the back of her hand. "Really... this is the best thing anyone's ever done for me. It means a lot."
She held out her arms to pull them all into a large group hug in her thankfulness. Words couldn't begin to describe how amazing it was to know how much she appreciated the gesture.
"So..." Connie prodded when they pulled back. "Does this mean you'll stop being silly and join us for Christmas downstairs?"
"Please?" Ron added.
Hermione looked at them and let out a small laugh of concession. "Alright." she said. "I'll come."
The Weasleys normally saved the opening of presents for Christmas day, but the Hellsing family always held their celebrations the night before. It was mostly because that was the tradition begun by Constance's grandfather, but the adults also maintained that the kids wouldn't sleep that night anyway, so there was no point in making them wait. They also said there was no need to segregate everyone, so their guests were invited to join in. When the children came downstairs, Connie led them to the large sitting room where her family normally congregated for the evening. Ginny, Mr. Weasley, and Integra were already there, while the others slowly made their way in. To everyone's surprise, Ginny informed them that Syn and Mrs. Weasley had been baking treats in the kitchen together. You couldn't exactly say they were being friendly with each other (the younger girl claimed that both of them took to correcting the other when they did anything contrary to how they normally worked and forcefully maintained that their way was 'correct') but they hadn't been hurling insults, and neither of them had tried to kill the other yet. They were still going at it when they brought in plates of freshly made tarts and cookies - engaging in a heated debate over whether or not it was 'appropriate' to flour the pan before baking or not. It was kind of funny to watch, but Constance figured that if the two women were going to fight, it was better they argued over something mundane like that than something serious. Seras and Pip then showed up and took up cross-legged positions on the floor like the younger people did instead of sitting on the furniture like the adults. Connie's dad popped in next, followed by Mihnea who appeared to be following the scent of goodies. Alucard came in last, choosing to walk through the wall behind the loveseat Syn was perched upon. Everyone gave a noticeable start at his appearance.
"Bloody hell..." Ron whispered, leaning over toward Constance. "He comes too?"
"He's part of the family." the girl reminded him. "You don't expect us to leave him out, do you?"
Ginny watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye, like she didn't want to get caught staring directly at him. "He looks different." she whispered.
Rather than the short style and goatee he had worn the last time they saw him, Alucard had gone back to the long, waist length hair and clean shaven face he normally had. The black overcoat was replaced by his usual red one. The only thing that remained the same from her friend's first sight of him was the red sunglasses. Constance didn't think much of it because Alucard changed the way he looked whenever a wild hair struck him, but to the others it was incredibly weird.
"He does that." she responded quietly.
Integra waited until the master vampire took a seat next to Syn and comfortably pulled both her legs over his lap to begin handing out presents from under the tree. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did the same with the gifts they had brought, and everyone opened them as they recieved them. The boys all got their usual handknitted sweaters along with hats and gloves, and Ginny got a new coat. Hermione had a present to open from them as well, to which she was delightfully surprised. Once those were out of the way, Mrs. Weasley pulled out two other boxes and moved to pass them to Fred and George. There was a moment of hesitation where she switched them back and forth, trying to determine which should go to which, but the twins finally got irritated and grabbed them.
"Mother!" they exclaimed in unison. "We'll just switch them anyway, so it doesn't matter who gets what!"
The woman frowned, then shook her head. "Oh, fine." she said, relenting and letting go of the boxes. "You'll sort it out yourselves, I expect."
With their new gifts in hand, Fred and George commenced ripping the paper off the boxes, When they got their first view at what they had gotten, they both went very still and looked at each other.
"Whoa..." they said together, their faces lighting up. "Awesome!"
Constance couldn't see what the fuss was about until they pulled the contents out of the boxes to hold them up. They had both recieved a full set of Quiddich pads and a beater's bat in Gryffindor colors. The protective gear itself appeared to have been lightly used, but it was practically brand new compared to the worn looking padding they normally played with. When they saw everything was marked with their initials and number, they immediately switched them so they had the right ones. They both looked thrilled at the gift, but George sobered as he thought of something.
"Wait, how much did you spend on this?" he asked, his voice containing a note of concern. "Quiddich supplies don't come cheap."
His mother responded by putting her hands on her hips. "That's not for you to worry about." she said resolutely. "We had a bit left over from that drawing over the summer and after we saw your report cards, your father and I thought you deserved a little something extra."
On the other side of her, Mr. Weasley was nodding in agreement. "You like them?" he asked.
"Like them?" Fred repeated. "This is the best thing ever! Our old stuff was getting worn out, and the bats had splinters coming off of them. I've been expecting mine to snap in two for a while now."
Ron looked up from the new addition to his sweater collection to stare at Fred and George's presents with envy. He asked when he would get something nice like they did, but his mother shot him down, saying that maybe if he was on the Quiddich team and made a noticable improvement in his grades like the twins had, he would get something extra as well. The boy looked a little downtrodden and upset with that, but chose not to complain any further.
In the midst of all this, Constance was opening her own presents. She had recieved a new set of crystal phials, and a rather stunning collection of stones ranging from mundane to semi-precious for use in her Geomancy class. There were also a few books to add to her growing collection of first edition literature. She also discovered just why Alucard had been banned from aunt Syn's office. His Casull had been causing problems and after needing to be repaired four times over the past year, the gunsmith convinced Integra that it was time for it to be replaced. Connie's mother had commissioned her to design a new gun for the master vampire. All Alucard physically recieved were a detailed set of plans, but he was studying them with interest and approval.
"I briefly entertained the notion of getting you a muzzle, but I thought you'd enjoy it too much." Integra commented when she heard the vampire questioning aunt Syn about her design's potential 'penetration power'.
Alucard glanced up from the plans with a wide grin on his face. "You know me too well, Master." he purred.
Edmund chuckled at his statement, then looked over at Hermione. "We have something for you too." he said. "I don't know if you can really call it a 'present', but we thought it was appropriate to give it to you now."
Hermione sat upright in surprise. "Me?" she asked. "But... you didn't have to..."
"I know that, but this was important." he replied. He reached out and extended a long, thin box to her. "Go on."
The girl took the box from him and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch her unwrap it. When she pulled off the lid, she gasped at what lay inside.
"My wand!" she said, pulling it out to stare at it in astonishment. "But it was broken, wasn't it?"
Syn looked over to smile at her. "It was, but we fixed it."
Mr. Weasley looked amazed. "I've never heard of a wand snapped in two like that that could be fixed." he said. "We had to replace Ron's wand, and it wasn't damaged as badly as Hermione's was."
"Non living magic can't repair a wand, but ours certainly can." Edmund told him. "It's a little complicated, but not impossible." he turned back to Hermione. "We've heard wizards get attached to their wands after using them for a while, so we thought there was no point in forcing you to get a new one when we could repair your original wand and give it back to you. If you want to test it out to make sure it's working right, we can set something up where you can cast a few spells without the Trace picking them up."
Hermione blinked at him in thankfulness and looked back down at her wand. "Thank you." she said sincerely. She brushed her fingers lovingly along the wood. "I know this is going to sound strange, but... it... feels right. It... feels like it used to, so I'm sure it will work. You don't have to go to any trouble..."
Syn shook her head. "It doesn't sound strange at all." she assured her. "You know what your wand feels like better than anyone, so you should be able to recognize it. And it wont be any trouble to let you test it out. If you do it here and anything seems off, we can fix it right then and there. That's better than you finding out later and being stuck with it for God knows how long until we can get to it." she glanced in Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's direction. "Unless you have a problem with that?"
They both looked at each other for a moment, then shook their heads. "No, I don't see how that would be a problem." Mr. Weasley said.
Mrs. Weasley pressed her lips together. "As long as it's safe."
Aunt Syn immediately rolled her eyes, but Connie's dad jumped in before she could say anything. "It's perfectly safe." he told her. "You could be there and watch for yourselves if you like." he waved a hand. "Not a big deal."
Mrs. Weasley looked pleasantly surprised by the offer and agreed that would be acceptable. Everything had been given out and now all that was left was for everyone to enjoy the things they had gotten. However, there was one person who, very noticeably, didn't recieve anything.
"Okay, I've suffered enough." Mihnea proclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest with a resentful sounding huff. "Where are my presents?"
The members of Hellsing all began looking at each other quite mischeviously. Syn and Alucard themselves shared a meaningful look, then the woman cleared her throat innocently.
"I don't know what you're talking about, baby." she said sweetly. "Once I get this new gun made for your father, I'll modify Venom so you'll be able to use the 454 Casull rounds. You've always wanted to use them, so isn't that a present?"
Mihnea stared at her. "That's it?" he asked. "Come off it already!"
"Come off of what?" his mother asked, cocking her head to the side like she didn't know what he was talking about.
The boy gaped at her, then focused his attention on Alucard. "Dad, seriously. Where are the presents?"
The No Life King slowly arched a brow as he slid his sunglasses down his nose. "I don't know of any 'presents'." he replied.
"Present, then." Mihnea ammended, choosing to interpret his words that way. "Please tell me I got something."
"Oh, believe me, you definitely got something." the vampire replied.
"For Christ's sake..." he muttered in irritation. "What is it?"
Alucard's arched brow travelled higher. "You should know better than invoking Christ to elicit a response from me, my son." he chided. "Patience is a virtue. Perhaps you should show some."
Mihnea just sniffed. "Fancy you being the one to give a lecture on 'virtues'." he said.
His father chuckled. "I'll happily admit that I don't have many, but patience is one of the few virtues I do possess."
"You lot are awful." Integra commented. "Torturing my poor nephew over something so trivial." She glanced at Edmund. "How did I get talked into allowing this again?"
"Because Alucard and Syn were very persuasive." Edmund told her with an amused smile. "And it's fun."
"Oh yes. I had quite forgotten." Connie's mother said with a small smile of her own. "Thank you for reminding me. It is fun, isn't it?"
Seras giggled and reached over to poke at Mihnea's shoulder. "You should be thankful." she told him. "I never got anything like this."
Mihnea was so frustrated with all of them that it looked like he was fighting back the urge to pull his hair out. "You're evil!" he exclaimed. "Every last one of you! This is torture!"
Pip held up his hand. "Excusez moi, I 'aven't done anyzhing." he pointed out.
"Tell me what it is then." he challenged.
"Non." he replied with a firm shake of his head. "I 'ave been zworn to zecrecy."
Mihnea huffed again and slumped, his expression becoming thoughtful. He then decided to switch tactics and pulled himself up on his kness and turned to look at his mother with a hopeful, pleading expression akin to a puppydog begging for a treat.
"Please?" he asked sweetly.
Aunt Syn made a face. "Oh God, not the eyes..."
Taking that as an opening, he then blinked and brought his hands up in front of him and stuck out his bottom lip. "Pleeeeaaaase, mom?"
Alucard just watched him. "Are you begging, boy?" he asked pointedly.
"Absolutely not." Mihnea replied, sobering for the moment it took him to answer. "I'm asking very nicely."
"Ah ha."
"I am!" he insisted. "Nothing else is working!"
Something in the redhead shifted and she gave the vampire a look of reproach. "Oh, leave him alone. We've tortured him enough." With that, she reached behind her to retrieve a tiny wrapped box she had kept hidden all this time. "Here." she said. "And be careful, it was very expensive."
After all of that, no one expected the present to be so small. Mihnea himself blinked at the box in bewilderment and took it from her. When he got the paper off, the black box itself looked like the sort meant to hold a small piece of jewelry. But that obviously wasn't what was inside of it because when her cousin took off the lid, he stared at the contents for a long time. He didn't move or react. He just... sat there. It actually looked like he had stopped breathing altogether. Constance couldn't imagine any type of jewelry, no matter how expensive, that could inspire that sort of reaction in her cousin.
"Good Lord, we've finally done it." Edmund exclaimed. "He's gone into shock!"
Connie was getting fed up with not knowing anything. "Well?" she asked, scooting toward him in the hopes of catching a glimpse for herself. "What is it?"
Mihnea blinked and shook himself out of his stupor. He looked at her with the widest, happiest grin she had ever seen him wear before. "It's a key."
Fred and George exchanged a look of confusion. "A key?" they asked. "You've gone all googley eyed over a ke...? OH. Bleeding hell, is that a car key?"
Judging from what Mihnea was holding up, it wasn't just any car key. The keyring bore the emblem of McLaren - widely considered to be the best and fastest sports car in the world. The initial shock of the thing finally seemed to be wearing off and her cousin suddenly began yammering at his parents in exictement.
"Is this for real?" he asked. "What kind is it?"
His reaction had his mother beaming with pride. "It's an F1 Royalty." she told him. "Everything is custom; no standard showroom nonsense. We put in a killer sound system and Ed mighthave played around with the engine a bit."
When Mihnea whirled around to face him, Connie's father coughed. "I didn't do that much." he said. "I just made sure the extra weight wouldn't affect performance."
Syn nodded. "I wasn't really sure what to get, since I know you like motorcycles too..." she admitted, then pointed at Alucard. "But he put his foot down and wouldn't let me argue for once."
"Has anyone driven it yet?"
"Juzt what eet took to get eet 'ere." Pip replied, with a look that wasn't far off from the one the boy wore. Constance imagined he had been the one to drive it home. "She purrz like a wet dream."
Mihnea's eyes went wider, if that were possible, and he suddenly bolted up from the floor, demanding to know exactly where it was so he could see for himself. Everyone else began begging Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to go see it too, since they had never seen a proper sports car before. In all the chaos, Integra raised her voice to get everyone to calm down so she could lay down some ground rules. Mihnea could drive it if he wanted but he wasn't allowed to take the car off the property tonight, and she gave him a stern warning to keep his speed under a hundred. Since the car itself only had two seats (and Mrs. Weasley didn't want her children riding in it if he was going to do any crazy stunts), Connie would get to ride shotgun while the others watched from a safe distance. Her cousin agreed that he didn't have a problem with the others coming to see for themselves, so long as they didn't try to do anything. He hadn't even seen the bloody car yet, and he was already acting protective of it. Mihnea ran off to the garage to have first look, while everyone else gathered up their things to put them in their rooms before joining him. It was then, when things had calmed down and were somewhat quieter, that Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat.
"Connie?" she asked carefully.
Constance paused in adjusting all the presents in her arms more comfortably to look over at her. It was the first time the woman had spoken directly to her since their arrival, and the sound of her name took her by surprise. The others took note as well and stopped what they were doing to watch. Mrs. Weasley glanced at her husband for a small moment, almost like she were looking for reassurance, then turned back to her.
"We had something for you as well." she said. "I meant to give it to you before you left our house, but all of this happened..." she paused to shake her head, then pulled out another wrapped gift. "Anyway, it's not very much, but I wanted you to have it."
Do what? Connie wondered. She was under the impression that Mrs. Weasley didn't like her much anymore, but now she was going to give her a Christmas present? Feeling very awkward and unsure of herself, she set her packages down on an empty spot on the sofa and went over to take it from her.
"Thank you." she said quietly, then untied the twine wrapped around it and pulled off the brown paper.
It was one of her sweaters. The ones she knitted for Harry and all of her children every year. It was a soft, sea-foam green color with a simple gold 'C' in the middle. There was nothing fancy about it, but the fact that she had taken the time to make it by hand was extremely touching. This wasn't something Mrs. Weasley did for everyone. Even Hermione, who was a close friend to Harry and Ron and would be a member of their family from now on, had only gotten a hat and gloves. Maybe she was thinking too much of it, but the fact that she was willing to give her something so special made her heart crawl up into her throat.
"It's beautiful." she said, genuinely meaning it. Connie brushed her fingers across the edges of her initial, then looked up. "I love it."
Mrs. Weasley appeared just as uncomfortable as she felt. "Well, like I said, it's not much, but..."
"No, it's a lot." Constance interrupted, unable to stop herself. She glanced around at everyone else, doing her best not to tear up before turning back to the woman. "Is it okay if I hug you?"
She blinked at her in surprise before her expression shifted - becoming softer and more welcoming. "Of course you can, dear." she told her. "You don't have to ask."
It was something else she hadn't heard for the past several days. She called her 'dear'. When she hugged her, Mrs. Weasley put her arms around her in the same sort of embrace she had given the first time they met.
"I'm sorry if I've done or said anything to make you think I believe you're bad or that I don't want you around." the woman said softly, where only she could hear it. "I don't think that at all. You've been a good friend to my boys and Ginny and you've been good for George. You are not bad." when they pulled apart, Mrs. Weasley looked a bit teary eyed herself. She quickly dabbed at her eyes before her children noticed and spoke louder. "Now, you know if you ever want to come stay at our house for any reason, you're always welcome. Always."
"Thank you." Connie told her. She was being accepted, and there was no greater feeling in the world.
Down on the floor, George looked back and forth between the two of them and coughed. "Finally decided to stop being stupid, hey mom?"
Mr. Weasley was closer to him and he nudged him with his foot. "Be nice to your mother." he chided. "She's had a rough time of it."
"Yeah, like no one else has." Fred chimed in. He was further away, so he was able to avoid being hit or nudged.
Constance's mouth fell open and she quickly balled up the paper that had been wrapped around her sweater and threw at him, hitting him in the face. "You shut your mouth, Fred Weasley, before I find something bigger to throw at you!"
The twins both simpered down, while Mrs. Weasley let out a small laugh at her action. From where she was sitting, Connie's mother arched a brow.
"Just please restrain yourself from throwing anything breakable." she told her. She waved at her with a finger. "What did you get?"
Connie immediately stood and held up the sweater for their appraisal. Seras quickly declared it was very pretty, while Harry commented that she should put it on like the rest of them had done with theirs. The girl thought that was a wonderful idea, so she slipped it on over her head. It was a size too big and the arms extended down over her hands far enough that they had to be rolled up, but otherwise, she thought it was about the most comfortable piece of clothing she'd ever worn.
"Hmm... very nice." her father proclaimed. He looked back toward Mrs. Weasley. "You make all of them yourself?"
When the woman nodded, Syn leaned forward a bit to get a closer look. "I don't know how you manage." she commented. "My mother knitted things for me when I was younger, but I never had the patience to learn."
Mrs. Weasley gaped at her and said something about not being able to understand how she could cook and make those weapon things of hers and not be able to learn how to knit. Aunt Syn sniffed at her and said that cooking was the only 'domestic' talent she had, and even then, Edmund was better at making everything other than desserts. This started up a debate about whether or not it mattered, due to some regular dishes being less complicated and easier to make than the desserts Syn was so good at. Watching them go at each other was really odd because in the midst of their arguing, they both openly admitted that one was better at something than the other - albeit in a very competitive and combative way. Ron finally got sick of listening to it and decided to break it up.
"Okay, well that's all well and good, but can we go now?" he asked, deliberately making a point of showing off the stuff he was carrying. "We've got a car to go see!"
"Yeah!" twins said, joining in. "And we think it's right stupid Connie gets to ride while we have to stand back and watch. If she can do it, why can't we?"
"Because I said so, that's why." their mother proclaimed. "That car is Mihnea's present, not yours. If he wants to let Connie ride with him, that's one thing, but you have no right to go pushing yourselves into it because you think it's fun."
They argued over the matter for a bit longer, but Mrs. Weasley made it clear that she wasn't going to change her mind. The boys were obviously unhappy about it, but got all their things together so they could go on and get downstairs quickly.
Even with her looking forward to getting to ride in a fancy new car, Constance thought it was even nicer that as they left their rooms to go to the garage, she could hold George's hand in front of his mother without feeling the weight of her disapproval on her shoulders.
A.N: Don't ask me how this happened. They just keep getting longer on their own. I had nothing to do with it. .
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