Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are the best. Really. I mean it. And for all you other people who want to be recognized for reviewing, try reviewing first! Its fun for me, and free for you! Sorry, was watching that add…anyway… I wrote another chapter. Its ok…anyway, read on!
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"Gin." Hermione said, laying down her cards.
"You always win." Ron complained throwing down his cards.
Harry scooped up the cards, and began to shuffle them. "How long do you think he'll be out? It's been two hours." Harry asked. He looked over at the unconscious Leo. The second Leo had orbed to the manor, he passed out from exhaustion. Ron and heard Leo fall, and went running, quickly calling for Harry and Hermione. They were able to move him onto the couch.
"Hopefully, not long." Hermione said. "Another round?" She asked, taking the cards from Harry.
"Naw." Ron said. He stood up. Out of boredom, he began to open cupboards, and cabinets to see if there was anything else to do besides cards. He opened one up, and gave a small shout. Carefully, he carried a box out. "Hey guys, look what I found." He said, putting the box onto the coffee table. "Muggle Chess!" He said. "Harry, what's the difference between this and Wizard's Chess?"
"None, except you move the pieces yourself. They don't move." Harry said.
"Want to play me?" Ron said, taking the pieces out, and fingering their lifeless bodies. He looked around. "You know, I've never been in a muggle house before. Or America for that matter." He looked a picture on the mantle of the sisters. He smiled at the thought that it didn't move. "It is so still."
"Yeah, I'll play." Harry said, hoping that since this chess was slightly different, that it might throw Ron off, and he might have a chance at winning.
"They're really different." He went on to say.
Harry could relate. He grew up in a muggle house, and had been to a wizard's house once. "They take time to get used to."
"You guys play. I'm going to look through this book." Hermione said, picking up the Book of Shadows.
"I wouldn't if I were you. Leo didn't say directly that he didn't want you to look through it, but it was kind of obvious." Ron said.
"Look who's bossing around who. Rules were meant to be broken." Hermione opened up to the first page. Ron looked to Harry for support. Harry just shrugged his shoulders.
Slowly, Harry began to set up his pieces. Ron, whose pieces always moved to their starting place had some problems setting them up correctly. "This is hard." He complained.
"It's not so bad." Harry said.
"You've been a muggle most your life, I've never played this way." He pointed out.
They heard a groan coming from Leo, and they stopped setting up the pieces, and looked at him. Even Hermione looked up from the book. Leo put one hand out to steady himself as he sat up, and the other to his pounding head. He opened his eyes to see the kids smiling and leaning over. "Hi, could you guys back up a little." He said.
"How are you?" Hermione asked.
"Wiped. No magic left." He looked over at the chess set. "I see you guys found the chess set. That is from around the turn of the century. Survived the great quake."
"The great quake? Huh?" Ron said.
"Never mind." Leo continued to look around. He saw the open book. "Which one of you was looking though the Book of Shadows?" He demanded.
Hermione looked at Leo, and barely squeaked, "Me, but I was only trying to find a way to wake you up. We don't learn sleeping potions until next year. I have all the books, but they are at Hogwarts." She said.
Leo quickly went over, shutting the cover. Before he lifted his hand he thought. The girls did tell them to make the potion. He couldn't. And it was the only way that they would be saved. "The girls need your help with something." He said, reopening the book, and turning to the page with the shields. "We think that this might help them. But with no magic, I can't make this potion. Piper told me to instruct you guys how to do this." He said.
"Ok. Potions would be an easy class if it weren't for Snape." Harry said. He looked over Leo's shoulder at the ingredients. "But I've never heard of those ingredients, except for when Aunt Petunia makes me cook. Not good potion ingredients."
"Different magic, different rules." Leo reminded them. He led the way to the kitchen where he promptly got out the pots and pans. "The big thing to remember is that potions often explode when they are ready, and you'll have to be prepared for that." He said.
"Where's the fire?" Ron asked, looking around the kitchen.
"Honestly Ron, you should take Muggle Studies next year." Hermione said. In the distance, they could hear a doorbell. Leo sighed, and got up to answer it.
"Darrel, what are you doing here?" Leo asked, surprised to see their friendly cop.
"Where is she?" Darrel asked, and charged his way into the kitchen.
"Where is who?" Leo asked.
"Phoebe. She's on a witness list, and was supposed to show up for court today." He said. Darrel stopped cold when he saw Ron, marveling at the stove. "Who are they?" Darrel suspiciously asked.
"Friends. Right now, Phoebe is stuck in a basement, with no way out. We're just trying to help get all three of the girls out of that basement. Save Harry, vanquish Wadwork, and defeat Voldemort."
"You got to be kidding me. Voldemort? Come on Leo. I have known you guys to do some pretty weird things. But vanquishing a guy off the fiction shelf, I find that a little far fetched."
"It's true." Harry said.
"And you are Harry Potter."
"Yeah. You are, who?" Harry asked.
"Funny joke guys. My eight year old daughter, who believes that those characters are real, would even find this a joke."
"Darrel, tell the judge that Phoebe is currently indisposed, in London, and will show up when she returns to the country." Leo said.
"How do I know that she'll come back?"
"Cole is still here." Leo simply said.
Suddenly, a towel caught fire. Before Leo or Darrel could reach the sink, Hermione had her wand out, and put the fire out. Ron watched with anxiety. "Ron! I told you that you shouldn't be playing with the stove. You honestly know nothing about muggles. I wouldn't even trust you dad with those knobs." She said.
"It's magic without magic!" Ron protested.
"That was a wand." Darrel said, pointing to Hermione's still out wand. "You guys don't have wands."
"That's right, you're getting the idea. Now if you excuse us, we need to make this potion." Leo said.
"Could I bring my daughter over here?" Darrel asked, not thinking what he was saying.
"NO!" Leo said. "We can't have more people than absolutely necessary to know about this."
"Yeah, yeah, of course. I'll just tell the judge that she's really sick. When will she be back?"
"We don't know. Darrel?" Leo said. Darrel got the point, and turned around, quickly leaving. Leo returned to the kitchen, where Ron was sulking at the table, and Ron and Hermione were looking at the instructions.
"Where is the wolfsbane?" Hermione asked.
Leo walked over to the cupboard, and saw that they were out. "We're out. I'll have to go get some." He said.
"May I go?" Ron asked, perking up.
Leo looked torn. "Uhhh sure. You guys will want to change. Those robes won't exactly help you fit in." He said, pointing to their black robes. "You guys could take some of our stuff. With safety pins, we can modify the size and stuff."
"No need!" Hermione said, holding up her wand. "I can do that with this!" She exclaimed.
Leo shrugged his shoulders, and lead them to the bedrooms. He gave both Ron and Harry a pair of jeans, and a shirt from his own collection. "This can be reversed." Leo checked.
"Oh yes, I think so." She said. She turned to where the clothing was laying on the hall floor. "Fititus." She said, pointing her wand. The clothing suddenly shrunk to the size of Harry and Ron. The two scrambled to pick them up. They ran into Leo and Piper's room to change, quickly shutting the door. Leo showed Hermione Prue's wardrobe. He would have shown her his wife's, but Harry and Ron had locked him out of their room. Hermione was much more fickle about her outfit than the boys were. She picked out a long skirt, and a blouse. She shrunk it, and changed. Finally, the four were ready to get the wolfsbane. Leo grabbed the keys off the shelf, and showed the way to the car.
"Shotgun!" Ron called, jumping into the left side of the car. "Oh wait." He said, quickly noticing that he was in the driver's seat. He scrambled out, and let Leo sit in the driver's seat, and climbed into the passenger side. After fiddling around with the seat belt for several minutes, Ron asked for help in buckling up.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked from the backseat.
"There is a good store downtown." Leo said. Still wiped from all the orbing, Leo didn't feel like answering more questions. He turned on the radio, hoping that that would help. On the contrary.
"This is muggle music!" Ron exclaimed, pointing happily at the dashboard.
"This is American muggle music!" Hermione corrected.
"What song is this?" Ron asked.
"Uh… I don't know. I don't know a ton of songs." Leo answered. He lied. He knew the song. They played it a lot at P3.
"Do all the songs sound like this?" Ron pushed.
"Depends on the type of music, probably like the music in the UK."
"Oh no. Wizard Radio only has one kind of music."
Leo looked back in the rear view mirror and saw Harry rolling his eyes. It made Leo smile to see that even Ron's best friend get slightly annoyed at all the questions. "Ron, why don't you just listen to the lyrics." Harry suggested. Leo said a silent thank you, as Ron grew quiet. Leo liked the not-so-silent silence. But he cringed as he heard the cell phone rang. Ron watched as he picked it up. Leo put a finger to his lips, signaling Ron to be quiet.
"Hello?.... No, she's not…. Yeah, this is Leo… Slow down…. She's not even in the country… No, she can't take an emergency flight back… Aaron, what's wrong? Maybe I could help…. Ok… yeah… I'll be in that area… ok… just calm down, and if you want, have A drink, just add it to your tab… ok… yes… good bye." Leo said. He sighed. Ron looked at him, gaping. "Hey kids, we have to make a stop by P3. I'm sure Piper won't mind. There is a major problem there." Leo said, he took a sharp turn on the next street. Jumping out of the car at P3, Leo ran inside. It took the kids several minutes after him to get inside. Ron had problems unbuckling. "Aaron?" Leo called out.
Aaron came out with a second guy from near the bathrooms. "Leo! Thank god! I have been trying to reach Piper, or one of her sisters for the past two days! You work. We have a major problem."
"What is it?" Leo asked. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ron admiring the room, and all of the different equipment. Ron was like a five year old, transplanted into a different time.
"There is a huge leak in the women's bathroom. And it will cost almost more than Piper has entrusted me with to fix it. But fixing it means that I cant get more drinks, and we're almost out of several drinks." Aaron said, showing Leo the leak. Aaron was on the underside. It wasn't a huge leak. Someone had ripped the entire sink off.
"Fix it. I'll write you something that gives you more money for drinks, but I want to see all the receipts." Leo said, he walked into the office, and turned on the computer.
"Thanks Leo." Leo didn't say anything back. His thoughts were back at the sink. No woman could do that. And last time he checked, those sinks were still attached. And no guy could have easily done that either. Only a demon could do such a thing. Which one though? Leo tried to think his way through the Book of Shadows, but 'saw' none. Leo didn't linger on that thought for long. He looked over and saw a picture of the sisters, and he quickly remembered why he had come back to San Francisco. He needed to get that potion. Answering the call, and coming to P3 was a mistake.
"Ok, you have enough money now. I have to fly." Leo said, quickly shutting off the computer. "If you need to reach me, or Piper, or any of the others, we're going to be unreachable." Leo began to walk quickly to the door.
"Thanks for coming Leo." Aaron said again. Leo smiled. He motioned for the kids to follow him.
Wadwork shimmered to the empty manor. Frustrated that no one was there, he gave a shout. It gave a lonely echo. He looked around the living room, where the chess set was still out on the table. He picked up the king, and crushed it in his hand. "They were here." He said, also eying the cards, now scattered on the table. He screamed, then overturned the table. The chess set spilled, and the cards went flying. "Anyone for 52 card pick up?" He said, stepping on as many as possible on his way to the kitchen.
"There you are!" A squeaky voice said, making Wadwork turn. "My master sent me to find you. Do you have any idea how hard you are to find?" Wadwork scowled in disgust when he recognized the voice of Wormtail.
"I like it that way." Wadwork said.
"Did you find them?" Wormtail asked, picking up the burnt towel.
"They were here. I'm guessing they'll be back." Wadwork pointed to the Book of Shadows.
"What is it?" Wormtail reached to grab it, but it sent him an energy bolt, and flew to the other side of the room.
"The witches' Book of Shadows. It protects itself from evil. Don't touch it." Wadwork said.
"Should we go then? They're not here." Wormtail suggested. Wadwork opened his mouth to answer, but both fell silent as they heard a car pull into the driveway.