Disclaimer: The characters that look familiar to you belong to J. K. Rowling. The ones you cannot find in any of her books are mine. I don't intend to make any money out of this. I'm just having some fun.
Conversations
Edvard's laugh made Remus realise his mouth was hanging open. He wasn't the only one, though, most people in the room were looking quite astounded. Lupin chanced a look at Sandrine. She was still pale, but smiled apologetically at him.
"But you are..." Sirius started to say.
"Yes?" Edvard asked amused.
"You are Sandrine's cousin! And she is a dansarine! How do you... er..."
"Stand each other?" Edvard guessed. Sirius nodded.
"Oh, we don't!" Sandrine answered immediately. "I put up with him only because I haven't been able to pry the recipe of his salmon with asparagus sauce out of him yet. But the moment I catch him out of ward and he confesses, I will absolutely deny I have anything to do with him."
There was a roar of laughter around the table. Sandrine's comment wasn't really that funny, but they had all been so tense, that laughter came as a much needed respite.
Edvard put a very comical offended face and then went around the table and took a seat between Sirius and Remus.
While they all laughed, Yamiko brought some food for Edvard and Michel.
"Not for me, thank you," Michel, now seated next to Benjamin, excused himself. "I've just had breakfast. I'll just have some coffee or tea when everybody finishes their desserts."
"What about you, Edvard?" Yamiko asked.
"Hmmm, I've just had breakfast too... so I'll just eat some, maybe," he said, hiding a smile, and took both dishes out of her hands.
Sandrine rolled her eyes. "He eats like a whole family of ten. I can take him nowhere, because he shocks everybody with so much eating."
"Well, what did you expect?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "You can't have everything in life. And I'm a good bargain too, cousin and pet in one."
There was another roar of laughter from the people in the room.
Sandrine rolled her eyes again and attacked the chocolate ice-cream.
When the meal was over, Dumbledore cleared his throat, attracting everybody's attention. "I want to thank once more Mrs..." Yamiko opened her eyes a lot in warning, and Dumbledore corrected himself in time. "Sorry. I want to thank once more Yamiko, for her help and her kindness in having us all here for lunch. I'm afraid I feel obliged to abuse her kindness a little bit more and ask her something..." Yamiko looked expectantly at Dumbledore.
"May my people stay here for a while? Not here in your house. They could live in Black Manor as they have been doing for a time now. The house wasn't safe anymore at Grimmauld Place, as we sadly discovered a few hours ago, but here it would be under your protection, and although Voldemort discovers the house stands here now, he won't be able to attack it so easily in fuocciri territory."
Yamiko didn't think twice. "No problem, you can stay, but we should really move the house a bit, because now it blocks the view over the village, and I like to have an eye there, just in case there is trouble or something. Let me think about it, and then we can try and move it in one piece."
Everybody cheered and some hugged the people sitting closer.
Dumbledore sighed in relieve. "Thanks. You really have no idea what this means to us."
"It's no problem," Yamiko said.
"Won't you be in trouble with your Princess?" Tonks asked.
Yamiko turned suddenly very serious, but then forced a smile. "I've been in trouble with my Princess since I was born. And it's not as if I care that much about her opinion any more. I'm not part of her escort now."
"Why?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.
Yamiko smiled at him. "It's a long story. But let's say... we had some disagreements." Yamiko thought for a moment to choose her words carefully. "The ashanrii laws are very ancient. They probably had a good justification in the beginning, but after so many centuries, it's due time we changed some of them. Not everybody seems to think like that, though. Many ashanriis, specially fuocciris, are afraid of changes. I've been having frequent discussions with other fuocciris about that, trying to explain my point of view, but all I've got so far is a very bad reputation as a disrespectful and troublesome general."
"You are a general?" Ron asked, and then turned very red, surprised at his own daring.
"Yes," Yamiko said, amused at Ron's discomfiture.
"Cool," Fred said, and everybody laughed.
"So what do you do now for a living?" Ginny asked.
"Oh, I didn't work as an escort all of the time, only when the Princess travels around, and she hadn't left the Castle for the last fifteen years. I am a teacher, I work in the fuocciri training centre in the Mountain Castle. That's the main castle of the fuocciris, were Princess Yokiro lives."
"What do you teach?" Bill asked.
"Well, the educational system of the fuocciris is quite different from that of wizards, I think. Usually a teacher takes a group of students of the same age under her wing and teaches them everything they need to know from the age of four until the age of fourteen. And I mean everything: from mathematics to cooking, muggle, wizard and ashanrii history, dancing, fighting... whatever. My girls are seven or eight now, so I'll be teaching them for seven years more. At fourteen, the fuocciris have two years of intensive military training, because we are warriors after all. Then, those who want to go on with their studies ask their mother for permission. If the mother agrees, she will choose a fuocciri she wants to honour and will ask her to take her daughter as an apprentice. The apprentice fuocciri lives with her mentor during the year and basically follows her around all of the time. She assists her in her work, trains with her... When the mentor decides the apprentice has learned everything she could teach her, there is a ceremony, a kind of graduation, and the girl can start working in the field she has studied."
"Wow! And do you have any apprentices now?" Ron asked, less intimidated this time.
"Yes, one of my 'nieces', she is not really my niece, but the daughter of one of my older cousins. As we are a very big family, we just call aunt or niece almost everybody. She is seventeen now. You've met her too. She was serving tea with me when Princess Yokiro visited your house," Yamiko said, looking at Sirius.
"Was she the one to your right or to your left?" Harry asked.
"To my right," Yamiko smiled.
"Yes, I remember her," Harry said. The Weasley men remembered her too, she had been attending them.
"You only have one apprentice?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. Some fuocciris have more than one, but it really depends on the profession and on the person. I have thirty girls in my class of seven years, two children of my own, a younger sister and two younger brothers, so I really don't have much time left for mentoring. And then, I always prefer to concentrate in one person at a time, because thus the girl can learn much more."
"You are always talking about girls," Mrs. Weasley commented. "Don't you have boys in your group?"
"No, boys and girls go to separate schools."
There was a surprised gasp around the room.
"Well," Yamiko said, "there is no other way. Only women inherit the ashanrii magic. Girls are much more powerful than boys, so if they were to study together, there would never be consistency in the group. For instance, ashanriis are animagi. You saw us transform into dragons the other day. Each of us can transform into different animals, not just one. Our transformation supposes no effort at all, unless we try to become an animal we weren't born compatible with. For instance, I was born with a dragon, a panther and an owl inside of me. I can also transform into other animals, say a dog like Sirius, for instance, but that would be much more difficult for me, and it hurts too. Boys can learn to be animagi like some wizards do, but they can only transform into one animal, and it costs them much more effort at the beginning. The only difference with wizards is that the fuocciris encourage their sons to become animagi, because they know it's a very useful resource and it could save their lives in the future."
Everybody was hanging on Yamiko's every word. Young and old were all learning so much!
"What about you?" Bill asked Samako. "Are you a teacher too?"
"Yes, but not like Yamiko. I teach at a muggle university in the United States, Egyptology."
"Oh, really!" Bill exclaimed. "I've been working in Egypt as a curse-breaker for some years. It's a fascinating world."
Samako looked utterly delighted. "Oh, how cool! It must have been an amazing experience. You must tell me all about it," she said, almost jumping in her seat, like a little girl. Fred and George rolled their eyes. Bill always got the best-looking girls.
Before Bill and Samako could get lost talking about their favourite subject though, Tonks asked her what animals she could turn into.
"Oh, well, mostly the same ones as Yamiko. You usually inherit the animal spirits from your parents. Let's see, the animal I feel most comfortable with is the panther. Then I can be a dragon too, you saw that already..." There was some laughter, they remembered Samako as a laughing dragon well enough. "And I can become a goldfish."
"A goldfish?" Sirius asked amused.
"Yeah, Sha-adi's bad influence, I guess."
They all laughed again.
"What about you Sha-adi?" Penelope asked.
"Well, apart from being a mermaid, which I think you probably know by now, I can transform into a dolphin, into an eagle and into a sea snake."
"Wow!"
"Yeah," Sha-adi smiled shyly. "And I have my own kindergarten. Muggle kids from newborn babies to three of four years old children."
Everyone nodded, and then they automatically turned their faces to Sandrine.
"Well, as you know I'm a nurse. Coronary illnesses, muggle hospital. And I can turn into a phoenix..." Many people gaped at her. A phoenix was a very magically powerful animal. "And I can also become a snake and a pegasus."
"Impressive," Dumbledore said, and they all agreed heartily with the old man.
"Well, they are all very useful for healing. I think my vocation in life was already in my genes."
"Do you keep Edvard company then in the nights of the full moon?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, whenever I can."
"Always," Edvard interrupted.
"Well, no, not always..."
"No, not always." Edvard conceded. "A couple of months ago she wasn't there, because there was an emergency from the hospital where she works and she had to leave, but apart from that night and maybe two or three similar ones through the years, you've been there for me most of the time, Sandrine, you know that, stop feeling guilty."
"I don't feel guilty," she pouted, "I didn't bite you, did I?"
There was some scattered laughter, Remus didn't find it funny though. Sandrine and Edvard didn't laugh either.
"She's trying to become a wolf too," Edvard added.
"Well, yes," Sandrine said. "But it's really hard. I don't have much time for practising either. I'm always too tired."
"She makes a nice company as a pegasus, anyway," Edvard said smiling. "The phoenix Sandrine is a little bit boring, although she sings very well. Puts the wolf to sleep in a minute. And the snake... well, that's probably the less convenient of her forms."
"Oh, 'less convenient', what a polite way to put it!" Sandrine mocked Edvard.
"Well, sorry. Snakes make me nervous, I can't help it."
There was some talk about snakes then, from there they changed to Slytherins, and from there to Hogwarts and other subjects. It was in general a very enjoyable reunion, but soon enough some people had to leave.
"I'd better get going," Benjamin said, trying to stifle a yawn, "my shift starts in two hours, and I have a long way to apparate to."
"Why don't you take an astral door?" Yamiko asked while clearing the table.
"Miko, you know I don't like them," Benjamin sounded a bit annoyed.
"It's ok, Ben, I have to leave too, you can come with me," his sister proposed. "I can leave you at St. Mungo's and then I'll walk to the kindergarten. I have time enough, I don't need to be there until 7:30 anyway."
"I'll come too, I need to go back to the hospital," Sandrine said with a sigh.
"Ok, anybody else has to go back to London? You can come with us." Benjamin offered.
The wizards and witches looked at each other.
"What time is it in England anyway?" Bill asked, looking at his watch, which had stopped working when they were sucked into Yamiko's amulet, like everybody else's.
"7:00 a.m." Sha-adi said, "It's eight hours earlier than here."
The muggle clock on the wall said it was 3 p.m. now wherever they where.
"It's a long way to apparate to," Samako said, "if any of you needs to leave soon, better leave now and wait in England, astral doors are much more practical."
Sirius remembered for a moment his experience with astral doors. Not something he was looking forward to repeat. For once, he felt lucky he had to stay at Headquarters.
In the end it was decided that almost everybody would leave, save for Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. The rest of them either had to be back at work or preferred to go back home and have a good rest. Now that Headquarters was under the protection of the Sams, there was no need for them all to remain there. Everybody scattered at once to get their things.
Remus followed Edvard to his study. It seemed he, Sandrine and Michel stayed often at the Sams, and they had each their room and an attached study where they could work.
"I come often during the holidays," Edvard explained, "there is a large quantity of magical dark creatures around here, hidden in the mountains, you know. So I use my holidays to catch some of them for my classes at Beauxbatons. I study them too, and write down anything that gets my attention. Sometimes I try new spells with them too."
"That's very interesting," Remus said, sitting comfortably on an armchair in front of Edvard's bureau table. "When do you teach about dark creatures at Beauxbatons? I mean, in which school year, second, third?"
"Usually third," Edvard answered, "but if I come across an interesting creature I know I might not be able to find again, I usually make an exception class and teach about it to all the students, from first year to seventh."
Remus was very interested in everything Edvard had to say. It wasn't the first time that he had come across another werewolf, but Edvard's job at Beauxbatons, their being more or less the same age, and the fact that Edvard seemed eager to talk to him and share his experiences with Remus -which didn't happen often, because werewolves were usually very reserved about their condition-, made this an exceptional encounter. And Edvard was very nice too. Remus was sure he would have enjoyed his conversation even though he hadn't been a werewolf.
Remus was going to ask Edvard how he felt about his work at Beauxbatons, if he wasn't worried about hurting the children, but a soft knock on the door prevented him from doing so.
"Come in!" Edvard said.
The door opened slowly and Sandrine came in, carrying a tray with tea and pastries. She was walking very slowly, her eyes fixed on the tray, which was quite full. She left the tray on the table and smiled at them.
"Edvard," she said, "Mr. Dumbledore wanted to talk with you before leaving. He is waiting downstairs."
"Right. I'll be back in a moment," Edvard said, glancing at Remus, and closed the door of the study after leaving it.
Sandrine poured some tea on two of the cups -she had brought three.
"Sugar, Mr. Lupin?"
"Yes, please, four spoons."
Sandrine looked at him surprised. "That's not very healthy," she said smiling.
"I know," Remus said sheepishly, "but I can't take sugar for a whole week each month, so the other three weeks I try to compensate for it."
"With four spoons every time? Very well," Sandrine said almost laughing.
"Well, yes... and I like sweet things very much. Specially chocolate. I'm addicted to chocolate."
"Yes, Edvard likes it very much too. He didn't use to before being bitten, but since then he can't go many days without having some. I think the wolf probably consumes a lot of sugar for the transformation."
"Yes, probably. Pity it makes the Wolfsbane Potion useless." Remus commented warily.
Sandrine gave him a sad smile. Then she cleared her throat and said what she really had come to say:
"Mr. Lupin, I... I wanted to apologise about before."
"Before?" Remus wasn't following her.
"Yes, well, when I realised you were a werewolf... I couldn't avoid tensing a bit." She said, biting her lower lip nervously. Remus just looked astounded at her. "I'm really sorry. I should know better than to be scared of a werewolf, specially during the day. And then Edvard is my cousin and we've lived together almost all of the time since he was bitten. It's just... instinct, you know? Werewolves are the worst enemies of my people, and I guess I can't avoid taking a defensive attitude towards a werewolf the first time I see him. I hope you won't think the worse of me for that, and I hope we can become friends, you know? It's nice for Edvard to have someone he can talk to about his condition, share his experiences... And you are Sirius' friend too, and I'm sure we're going to meet often, specially if you are going to stay in the house."
Remus was trying very hard to analyse all of this and not to stare at Sandrine. Not only her reaction had been perfectly normal, but it also had been most pleasing in comparison with the ones he usually got from people when they found out what he was. The girl was looking expectantly at him, waiting for his answer, so Remus forced himself to speak:
"I don't know what to say... It's the first time someone apologises to me for being afraid of the wolf in me. I can assure you that I didn't feel offended at all, if that's what you are worried about, and I can assure you too your reaction was perfectly understandable. I've got much worse, I can tell you." He said with a lopsided smile. "Please, don't feel bad about it." He added, offering her his hand.
"Ok," Sandrine said shyly, and shook Remus' hand firmly.
Lupin smiled and then said: "Could I ask you something?" He said.
"Sure!" Sandrine said, her big green eyes fixed on him.
"Do you think you could call me Remus and not Mr. Lupin?"
Sandrine grinned and nodded. "No problem, Remus."
The door opened and Edvard came back into the room.
"I should be going," Sandrine said. "Pleased to meet you Remus." She then kissed his cousin's cheek. "See you later."
"You are coming back today?" Edvard asked.
"Probably, depends on how the patient develops. I've been up all night anyway. I just want to go back for a couple of hours and check some things. I should be back pretty soon, but I'll probably go straight to bed." She explained.
"Ok, see you later, then, or maybe tomorrow." Edvard said, and Sandrine closed the door behind her.
"Did I miss anything?" Edvard asked, looking at Remus, who seemed lost in thought and was still looking at the spot were Sandrine had been before leaving.
"What? Oh, no, not really. Well, it was kind of weird... Your cousin apologised for having reacted a little bit defensively when she realised I was a werewolf."
Edvard laughed. "I keep telling her, people don't usually just tense a bit, they run as fast as they can in the opposite direction!"
They both laughed. Remus thought this was probably the first time that he found that funny. Talking about his condition with someone who really understood how it felt made it suddenly look much less important.
"What about Dumbledore, did I miss anything?" Remus asked shrewdly.
Edvard took a sip of his tea and chuckled. "You are right, we talked about you."
Remus sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I feared as much."
"Why? Are you afraid that I might be able to convince you?" Edvard asked, looking amused at him.
"I must admit I am. And it's not only you, you know? Dumbledore insists every time he sees me. And Sirius is a very persistent ally too. He is going to be working at Hogwarts this year, you know? He says it would be fun to be back at Hogwarts... together."
"And you don't agree?" Edvard asked.
"Yes, but I'm afraid it would be too much fun. You know, we were quite crazy when we were students there. I'm not sure I could keep my reputation of responsible teacher intact with him around."
They both laughed.
"Well, and apart from that? Would you like to go back to Hogwarts or not?
Remus didn't have to think twice. "Definitely."
"So? What stops you?"
Remus sighed. "You know what. I'm afraid I won't be able to control the wolf."
"But if you took the Wolfsbane..."
"I did take the Wolfsbane the last time," Remus interrupted him, "but still the wolf was out, running free, endangering everybody." Remus shook his head in defeat. "It's too dangerous. I can't risk it."
"Remus, I've been working at Beauxbatons for a very long time now, and nothing has happened, I've hurt nobody, not even before the Wolfsbane was invented. I take the necessary precautions, and that's it."
"Do the staff and the students know?"
"Yes, they do. Not everybody likes it, of course. But not everybody would like me, Edvard, anyway, would they? You can't expect everybody to adore you. Some people are just too narrow-minded."
Remus swirled the contents of his cup, looking at the dark liquid moving around.
"Remus," Edvard insisted, "have you ever wondered that maybe the students would be in a greater danger without you?"
Remus looked up at this, but didn't say a thing.
"They need a good teacher, Remus. Someone who would teach them to defend themselves. We don't know how long this war is going to last, but at least the older generations are going to have to fight it, you know that. And then you would also be there in case Voldemort decides to attack Hogwarts, and you could be a great help then, I'm sure of that. Dumbledore needs a competent wizard and a competent teacher, and you are both."
"How do you know?" Remus asked, and immediately regretted it, because he had sounded very childish.
"I know because Albus Dumbledore wouldn't have asked me to convince you to take the job again if he didn't think you were the best for it. He knows you are a werewolf, Remus. Don't you think he would have thought about the pros and the cons? And after doing so, he still thought he wanted you for the DADA position. And he is going out of his way to try and convince you."
Remus looked defeated. "I really don't deserve this," he said, his voice unsteady.
Edvard turned dead serious. "Remus, you are not a monster. No werewolf is. We are just ill. We take our medicine, stay away from other people when the contagion risk is high, and the rest of the month we live our lives as everybody else. I don't want you to feel forced to take the job if you won't be happy with it, and I'm sure Dumbledore and Sirius don't want you to live in constant distress and fear. If this is really too much for you, then don't do it, but just think about the pros too before taking your decision, ok?"
Remus sniffled and forced himself to look Edvard in the eye before nodding. Edvard smiled encouragingly at him.
"If you want to talk about it, you can come to me any time." Edvard said. "I think I've pressured you enough for now. And there's something else I wanted to talk to you about anyway." He said, and Remus saw his eyes dart to the third empty cup that Sandrine had brought.
"My cousin Michel, Sandrine's brother... he is trying to find a cure for werewolves, or at least to improve the Wolfsbane and reduce the side-effects."
"Oh," Remus forgot in a moment about Hogwarts and the DADA position.
"Yes, well, he started not long ago, and he hasn't made much improvement yet, but he is working hard, and he is really good. Benjamin and his sister Amanda are helping too whenever they can. They are both very talented in potions and herbology. The main problem, apart from the difficulties the Ministry is making, of course," Edvard almost spat the word 'Ministry', "his major handicap is to find volunteers for his research. He needs someone to try the modified recipe of the Wolfsbane, but it's difficult to find werewolves in the first place, and then most of them don't even give it a thought. They are too scared of coming out into the public, and they mistrust anyone who offers them help, they are not used to it." Edvard shook his head sadly. "Michel asked me to tell you about it. If you are interested, he will explain all the details himself. And... well, he would pay you a bit too, for the... possible inconveniences."
"You are doing it too?" Remus asked.
"Of course!" Edvard said, his good humour back. "Sandrine would kill me if I didn't help her dear brother! And then, I'm probably one of the main reasons why Michel decided to take this line of research, you know, he wanted to help me."
Remus thought for a moment. "I will definitely do it." He said firmly. "Any improvement, though small, would mean a lot to me and also to the other werewolves. I want to help if I can."
Edvard smiled. "You are very strange, Remus Lupin," he said jokingly, "you have a lot of misgivings about taking a normal relatively secure job, but jump at once into a possibly dangerous offer."
"That's me," Remus joked.
Edvard laughed heartily. "Very well, then, I think it's time for Michel to join us. He will tell you all about his research."
***
While Edvard, Remus and Michel discussed about werewolves and Wolfsbane, outside Yamiko's house Benjamin was talking with Ginny.
"I'm afraid we are going to have to postpone the cinema," he said.
"It's ok," Ginny said, her cheeks a little bit pink.
"What shift do you have tomorrow?"
"9 to 5."
Benjamin thought for a moment. "Me too. Maybe we could do something tomorrow, after work? Maybe I can arrange it with Sha-adi so that she meets us somewhere in the evening and then we can come back together through an astral door."
Ginny wasn't sure if she wanted Sha-adi knowing she had a date with his brother. What if she didn't approve of it? She would probably think Ginny was too young for Benjamin.
"If you don't want to, I'll understand," Benjamin said, suddenly serious.
"Oh, no, no, it's not that, you misunderstood me," Ginny assured him. "It's not that I don't want to go out with you tomorrow, but I don't know what Sha-adi would think. And I don't want my mother to know just yet, you know."
"Oh, Sha-adi won't say a word. And we don't need to tell her that we are going for a drink or to the cinema anyway. We can tell her that you've decided to stay at St. Mungo's longer so that you can go back in the evening with me. I often stay longer at work than I'm supposed to, she won't think it strange. Still, I insist: she wouldn't say a word."
Ginny thought for a moment. "Very well then," she said smiling.
Benjamin smiled too, obviously relieved that Ginny had finally agreed to go out with him.
***
When Sha-adi left, followed by the people who needed or wanted to go back to London, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went back to Black Manor to take a nap. They were aching all over, although the food had helped them feel a bit better.
Ron and Harry fell asleep immediately, but Ginny and Hermione had a lot to tell each other, so in the end they didn't sleep at all. Hermione told Ginny that Ron and herself were going out together.
"About time!" Ginny exclaimed, and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Ron and herself had been the only two people blind enough to see they were interested in each other.
Then Ginny told her about Benjamin.
"Oh, he is very handsome!" Hermione exclaimed delighted. "But what about Dean?" She added as an afterthought. Ginny shrugged and bit her lower lip nervously. "Oh, Gin, you are terrible!" Hermione exclaimed, and then both girls laughed amused.
***
Sirius and Molly sat comfortably on the sofa. The Dursleys and the Grangers were standing behind them, waiting nervously for Yamiko and Samako.
Both sisters came into the sitting-room and made themselves comfortable too. Samako, the youngest, was the first to speak:
"So, Mr. Dumbledore has agreed with us that you could very well leave. You won't be in danger in China. We doubt very much Voldemort will be so much interested in any of you as to try and pursue you here. You could go back to England too if you want, but we don't think you should go back home just yet, better wait until the first of September. You could also go to another country if you want. We can take you there with magic. It wouldn't be a problem."
"Maybe we could visit a bit of China, since we are here..." Mrs. Granger said hopefully.
"But what about our luggage, or the money? And we don't speak the language either, and don't even have a map or a guide." Mr. Granger objected.
"If you want to travel around China for a while," Samako said, "we could help you. I could take you to a big city if you want, there you could probably contract some trips with a local guide who speaks English or take a train to go somewhere else. Mr. Dumbledore left some money for you, as a small compensation for all this trouble. It's wizard money, but there is a wizarding bank where we can change it for Chinese muggle money. I think it should be enough to let you have a nice holiday."
"You are very welcome to stay too," her older sister interrupted. "It's not that we want to get rid of you. We just thought you'd probably rather travel around a bit. But if you want to stay, it's no problem at all. Both my sister and I are on holidays now, so we can show you the area and the nearby village..."
Mrs. Granger looked at her husband. "I think we would rather travel around... what do you think dear?" She said.
"Yes, I would definitely rather travel around. We are very grateful for your hospitality Yamiko, and also for the protection you are offering our daughter and her friends, but the truth is that my wife and I have always wanted to visit China, only that the plane ticket was too expensive. But now that we are here..." Mr. Granger smiled a little bit sheepishly.
The Sams smiled back. "Very well then," Yamiko said. "My sister can surely lend you some books about muggle China, and we'll be both glad to help you decide the itinerary, depending on what interests you the most. When you finish your travel, you can come back here and we'll be delighted to take you back to your home, it's no problem at all." The Grangers muttered a heartfelt thankyou and immediately started murmuring, trying to decide what they wanted to see. Yamiko turned her attention to the Dursleys.
"What about you? Would you like to travel around too, or would you rather stay here? Or go back to England? To any other country?"
Petunia Dursley looked sideways at her husband while twisting her hands nervously. "I think... maybe we would rather go to another place, somewhere where Dudley can have fun too. Maybe Disney World or some similar place."
"Yes, mum, can we go there?" Dudley cried excited. It was the first time the Sams had heard him speak, they were starting to think he was a little bit retarded.
"That wouldn't be a problem, we can take you there. You can take a plane from there to go back to England, or you can come here first and then we'll take you there." Samiko said.
"I think we'd rather come here first," Mr. Dursley said.
"Of course, you probably want to wish your nephew a happy school year before going back home," Yamiko commented. Mrs. Weasley couldn't help a tiny grunt, but she disguised it quite well with a cough. Sirius just rolled his eyes.
Vernon Dursley forced a smile. The truth was that he had not the smallest wish to be near Harry in some weeks nor in some years, but he knew it wouldn't be wise to say so in front of all these freaks. He had been only thinking that by coming back they wouldn't need to pay for the plane ticket back to England. Yamiko took his smile for a 'Yes', though, and nodded approvingly.
The Grangers and the Dursleys followed Samako into the library of the Sams to look up some travel books and plan their trips. Meanwhile, Sirius, Molly and Yamiko started to discuss what to do with Black Manor.
"I was thinking that maybe we could move the house and place it next to this, as if they were attached. Then we could open a door in a wall so that you could come in and out of my house without going outside. If we are attacked, that will allow us to co-ordinate our defences." Yamiko proposed, drawing everything in a parchment in red ink, as if she was planning a military strategy.
"Sounds good to me," Sirius said nodding, "the only problem I see is that my parents' house is protected by very ancient magic. My ancestors have inhabited the house for many years. I'm not sure we will be able to open a door in a wall. The walls are very thick too."
"We could place it behind Yamiko's house," Molly proposed, "and then we could match the main door in Black Manor with the back door of your house, Yamiko."
"No, that's not possible," Yamiko objected. "I need to keep the backyard clear for different reasons: first, so that I can see the mountains, I like to keep an eye there, just in case the giants quarrel again. And then my dragons use the backyard door to come in and out of the house freely. They wouldn't be very happy if we were to block their entry."
"Dragons come in and out of your house freely?" Molly asked, a little bit worried.
"Well, not any dragons," Yamiko corrected her a little bit offended, "my dragons are very well behaved, I've trained them since they came out of the egg."
Sirius tried not to laugh at Mrs. Weasley's shocked expression, although he had to admit he didn't like much the idea of having dragons walking around either.
"Mmmm, isn't that a little bit dangerous? What about the kids?" Sirius asked. Mrs. Weasley was still too astounded to speak.
"Oh, that's precisely the point. The dragons take care of my sons." Yamiko explained, surprised that Sirius would ask something so evident.
'So! The kids are Yamiko's sons after all.' Sirius thought.
"But they eat humans," Molly whispered, as if afraid the dragons would hear her and attack her.
"No! Of course they don't!" Yamiko protested.
"What about the Death Eater then?" Sirius asked.
"Well, that was an exception, of course," Yamiko said energetically. "They are allowed to eat intruders or enemies."
"But what about us?" Molly insisted. "If we connect both houses and the dragons come into Black Manor, won't they attack the children?"
"Molly," Yamiko said, reaching across the coffee-table to put a comforting hand on Mrs. Weasley's knee and talking in a sweet calming voice, "dragons never attack first, they just defend themselves and what is theirs." She paused to look at Sirius and Molly, they didn't look too convinced. "My dragons won't attack your children nor anybody else, Molly, they will defend them."
Sirius cleared his throat. "Maybe we should let the people get acquitted with the dragons first under your supervision, Yamiko. Just to make sure that the dragons identify everybody as inoffensive and won't feel menaced by anybody's presence."
Yamiko thought for a moment. "Ok, if you'll feel better then, we can do that, although I can assure you there's no need at all. No dragons have attacked you so far, have they?" Sirius shook his head uncomfortably and looked at the floor. "But if you want, we can do that," Yamiko repeated, this time looking at Molly, who forced a smile and nodded with difficulty.
Yamiko straightened again and smiled. "Very well, then. We'll do it this evening."
"What are we going to do this evening, if I may ask?" Lupin was coming downstairs and had only heard Yamiko's last sentence.
"Meet Yamiko's dragons, so that they get used to our presence and there will be no risk that they might attack us by mistake," Sirius explained, a little bit warily.
"Oh," was all that Remus could say. He looked at Molly and Yamiko, none of them looked too happy either, so he thought he'd better change the subject.
"And did you ask Yamiko about the training?" Lupin asked his friend.
Everybody looked very thankful for the opportunity to forget about the dragons for a while.
"No, I haven't had the time yet." Sirius said, and then turned to their hostess. "Yamiko, Remus was going to train some students during the summer. We had planned how to let them come and go without arousing suspicion, but now that we are here... I think most of them are underage, you see, so they cannot apparate. We were wondering if you think we could still go on with our idea or not."
"What kind of classes?" Yamiko asked, turning to Lupin.
"Basically duelling," Remus answered.
"You can use my training room," Yamiko offered immediately.
"Well..." Remus hesitated, he didn't want to abuse Yamiko's hospitality even more, but he didn't want to offend her either by refusing her offer, "we have plenty of room in Black Manor, so it's not really necessary, but if you don't mind..."
"I can show you the room later, and then you decide," Yamiko said, "my sister and I only use it in the morning, after breakfast, the rest of the day it's empty. As for their getting here... Can't they stay for as long as the classes go on?"
"We are not sure about that," Sirius commented. "We still have to contact the students, you know. We had planned to do it before, but things got complicated, everything was delayed, and we haven't been able to start the classes yet. Maybe some of them will be allowed to stay. And maybe others won't be allowed to come. We are only... speculating so far."
"I see..." Yamiko said, thinking hard. "I'm sure we can find a solution. Maybe we should know first how many people are coming and if they will be staying, or coming and going. My sister and I are both on holidays, so we could pick them up and take them back, although it could be a mess to do so everyday. It would be better if they could stay." She turned her head to look at Sirius and then at Remus, they were looking at each other too.
"I'll send the letters now," Remus finally said. "I could tell them the training will start next week, and that I'll send them another letter with instructions as soon as everything is ready."
"That sounds good," Molly said, a little bit more recovered from her worries about the dragons.
Sirius and Yamiko nodded in agreement.
"Ok, then, that's settled too," Yamiko said. "Anything else that you wanted to talk to me about?"
There was a general shake of heads.
"Very well. I suggest you have some rest now. You've been up almost all night. I'll cook a late dinner today. I'll wake you up when it's ready. We can move the house afterwards and then I'll call the dragons in."
Mrs. Weasley swallowed with difficulty, but managed to utter a 'thanks'. Sirius and Remus thanked Yamiko too, and then the three of them went back to Black Manor to have a most deserved rest.
*****
Thanks for the reviews!
Thanks all for reading and reviewing!
Sorry I didn't update sooner. Every time I tried to log in this weekend, FF.net was down or there were problems with the logging in process.
This chapter is kind of weird, I'm not too happy with it, but I had to stop rewriting it someday if I want to go on with the story. Chapters 20 and 21 are almost ready too.
hermionegreen: I'm glad I was able to surprise some of you at least. As you see, Black Manor is going to stay there, at least for the summer. Mrs. Granger definitely wants to leave -although she would like very much to come back-, Petunia will never feel comfortable around magic -but will probably learn to take advantage of it-, and we'll see about Voldemort and the Death Eaters in later chapters. ;-)
hermionita: I'm very happy to hear from you again. This chapter was much more relaxed, and the following probably too, but there will be more surprises in Chapter 21. ;-)
Kadi Rilla Wholi: :D Yes, I enjoyed very much killing Lestrange. :D I know, I know, I shouldn't have, but I can't avoid it. And yes, Edvard is a werewolf, and Lupin is very glad of it.
Lily Skylo: I laughed a lot with your review. Are you sure the chocolate frog didn't have any liquor inside? :D What do you want to know about Edvard? We'll be seeing him now and then, but I wasn't planning on telling much about him, apart from what we already know. As you see, Sandrine's family is quite cool. ;-)
Pothead the Great: Sí, sí, soy española. ¿Cómo estás? :D Thanks for the review. You are right, the story is probably too ambitious. I got carried away by my imagination. This is my first fic, but next time I write one -if I ever do-, I'll try to have less characters, because it's really hard to keep track of all of them. Thanks for your support, though. ;-)
TRF-Chan: Ah, yes, you'll have to trust your intuition a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter. ;-)
angelwings6117: Edvard and Remus asked me to thank you for your support of werewolves. ;-) As for Benjamin getting into Headquarters, I was playing with the idea that he -and the Death Eaters- wouldn't have been able to see the house, but as Ginny was getting in, the house had to appear for a moment to let her in, and then everybody else could see it. The Death Eaters knew the house had to be close, and so they were waiting for someone to come in or out. Once they had already seen it, they could apparate into it.
Makalani Astral: Edvard did, of course! That's why he is so accepting. ;-)
Starfire: You are right about the cliffhanger. I usually try to avoid them, because as a reader, I really hate them, but sometimes I just don't know where to end the chapter. And I always get many more reviews if the chapter ends in an interesting point. ;-) I'll try not to abuse them, though.
amber eyed wolf: Thanks! I'm glad to hear from you again. As you see, the pack is getting bigger. ;-)
sweet-as-padfoot: I'm glad you are enjoying my fic so much. I try to update every two days. Sometimes it takes me a bit longer, because of work or FF.net not working properly, but you shouldn't have to wait too long for an update. ;-)
kt: Hi! Thanks for your review! Well, if you have gone on reading the fic, you'll have probably realised that I have other plans for Ginny. And yes, there is probably going to be some Cho-Harry, but you can go on reading without fear some more chapters yet, I promise I'll warn you in time so that you can skip the chapter where Cho and Harry meet. ;-)
Lupin: Thank you! I'm glad you like my fic so far. I hope you'll enjoy the following chapters too. ;-)
