Disclaimer: Finances are not equal to what wealth I'd amount to if I owned any of these works of art. Alas, I shall settle for being able to touch its splendor via my imagination.

Contains: HarryP/ArthurK; another pairing another pairing!; sympathy for a lonely little boy really I have no idea how living in an orphanage feels like but it probably isn't all sunshine and rainbows no matter how much I wish it was; we talkin' 'bout the American Revolution in passing my friends fasten your seatbelt for the feels train

In all honesty, I've been using my laptop a lot these past few months, but it wasn't for this fic. Even my sister seemed surprised I was actually still working on this since I seem to have drowned in other forms of work haha. But here it is~

Hope you enjoy!

Secret Affairs (Entry 27)

131. Welcome

There were times that Teddy hated being a dragon tamer.

The pay was good, sure. The adrenaline high, practically every day. And the dragons? The biggest perk there is!

But he wasn't being paid enough nor was it in his job description to keep idiots like Pollock Parkinson from being eaten by their reptilian companions whenever the arrogant newbie did something stupid and willingly placed himself in a position to be eaten.

So to keep his temper in check (which a lot of people argued was so scarily like his godfather's once he exploded), his boss had made him take a paid vacation to Austria of all places. (And no, he didn't know why Austria. It might be because, as much as they wanted him to be away from the source of all his ire, they wanted him close enough if said idiot somehow caused the reservation to implode on itself due to the suicidal moron's actions.)

Not knowing the geography of the country he found himself in, he approached a nearby local and tapped their shoulder.

"Excuse me," Teddy asked in German ('Thank Merlin for translation charms.') "Do you know where the nearest hotel is?"

The man turned to face him, revealing aristocratic features, stylishly arranged brown hair, and violet-colored eyes framed by rectangular glasses.

"Of course, good sir. Are you new here in Austria?"

The half-werewolf gave a small fanged grin. "Yeah, on a vacation actually. The name's Theodore Remus-Lupin." His long hyphenated surname wasn't worth mentioning. "Everybody calls me Teddy."

The other man smiled politely in response. "Mine's Roderich Edelstein. Welcome to Austria, Mr. Lupin."

132. Hug

It wasn't often Orion showed any form of affection.

Growing up in a cold, unfeeling and sometimes cruel environment tends to remove any need or want to do that.

That's why he surprised even himself when, after Mr. Victoire had left, he rushed to give Mr. Potter's waist a tight hug with his good arm the moment the seemingly young café owner came back to the manor after grocery shopping.

"Orion? You okay, pup?" the dark-haired male asked in concern, nearly dropping the bags hung on his arm which he immediately placed down on the floor.

"Mhmm…" said child replied, nodding as he hid his face in the older man's taut stomach, not knowing that his tears that soaked through the café owner's shirt said otherwise.

Instead of pushing him away, Orion felt Mr. Potter's strong arms wrap around his shoulder after the tall male knelt in front of the distressed child.

"It's okay, Orion. Everything's alright."

He didn't know if Mr. Potter knew exactly why he was upset in the first place, but Orion soaked up the warmth and comfort the older wizard naturally emanated anyway. He understood that maybe this was why Mr. Potter was so kind - so that no one else would feel the sadness he felt.

133. Cool

"So… You're the cat that challenges the saying of your kind having 9 lives, right?"

If Scar had any, he would have raised his eyebrows as if to say 'Yes, so what's your point?'.

Shin gave an amused grin. "Nice. Harry has an immortal cat. How fitting."

134. Smile

The Commonwealth loved their 'mum' (blame Kevin for starting that one), not in that way (well, except maybe Alfred - you can't really tell with that boy; oh my Lord, suddenly Oedipus complex comes into mind dear God-) but like children to someone who had given them quite a memorable, loving childhood.

Sure, during their mum's empire days, the Brit wasn't the 'nicest' conqueror to their people (understatement of the century), but he wasn't the tyrant their people accuse him to be underneath the masks he donned to be the reliable leader and not the doting mother-figure he really was. He genuinely loved them like they were his own (some of them would scowl if you said it to their faces but even they wouldn't deny it) and would never dare to lay a harmful hand on them.

That was why it hurt to see their mum (who tried so hard to be the perfect parent to them when he had none) lose his smile - that smile that forgave them when they know they shouldn't have been; that comforted when they were the cause for the pain; that brightened up their days when they darkened it with pettiness. It disappeared when one of them tore away from him so suddenly, like a veil that dropped on what their mum had thought to be his sanctuary from the atrocities of human history. That the family he thought he had fostered was different from the one he was born in.

So afraid he was to love and lose them as he did with Alfred, he drank (to drown out the memory, the possibility, the inevitable) and hid (when they showed him their reassurances that they wouldn't just disappear) and cried (when they eventually grew stronger and had to earn their right to be free).

Oh, he loved them still like they were the most precious things on earth, but it was always tinged with guarded anticipation… That one day, they'd leave him too.

But somehow…that smile was back.

135. Treasure

Jade knew that her mum Iggy and her dad Scar weren't her real parents. It wasn't hard to guess, really. The most obvious hint would be that her parents were cats while she was an honest-to-Circe dragon. But despite their obvious difference in species, Jade loved her parents.

Dragons are a treasure-hoarding species whose obsession could only be rivaled by goblins (who needed to be in the presence of precious metals to grow stronger and healthier) and dwarves (who ate gems as it was part of their diet). Contrary to popular belief, however, treasure doesn't always mean gold and jewelry. It could be ancient artifacts, archaic books or anything of worth. In Jade's case, her treasure was her family, even (as painful as it was to admit it) the annoying chattering yellow bird that kept monopolizing her parents' attention.

Her family may not be dragons like her, but she loved them anyway.

Imma try updating like...1...2? more entries. 'Cos I feel like my well of creativity is slowly draining out of my ears and is being replaced by all this information in my textbooks so I have to write/type them down while there is still something worth sharing. Sigh. (I chose this path, I have no right to complain hahahahuhuhu.) Happy Holidays, everyone!