Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Visitors Tower
November 17, 2003
0830 Zulu
"Comm…Harm, get up! We have a class to teach in half an hour!" Bud shook Harm awake, remembering the no rank rule just in time.
"Wha…hmm…Go away, mom…five more minutes…" He rolled over and started to snore again."
"Harmon David Rabb Junior! Get up NOW!" Five minutes later he was shouted awake by an irritated Sarah Mackenzie.
"Well, aren't we a bundle of sunshine this morning!"
"Shut up and get ready, I'm not taking the beginning of your class for you. You have five minutes to get dressed or we're going to breakfast without you."
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
November 17, 2003
0855 Zulu
Hurriedly finishing their breakfasts, the residents of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were heading out to begin a new school day. Mac was filling in for McGonagall, as she was needed at the ministry today. Bud and Harm nervously made their way to the muggle studies classroom, thankful that they had first years this morning. They started with the basics, and before they knew it the end of the day arrived. The last of their fifth years filed out, and Mac poked her head around the door. "Bud, Harriet's waiting for you in Dumbledore's office. I gave her some flowers to leave from me, and we'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to get the information we talked about - I will try and get the rest of the research done today." She turned around and headed out again, towards the library. Thanks to a loan from some of the members of the Order, she had no trouble finding it again. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had figured out how to work the Marauder's Map, and made a similar product for order members to find their way about the Hogwarts grounds, the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Library
November 17, 2003
1450 Zulu
Mac stepped into the library and headed right to the dragon section. She searched through dozens of books, trying to find out everything there was to know about the Soft-scaled American Ridgeback. She found the bulk of her good information in a blue leather-bound volume – one of the few books in the Hogwarts library written by a Muggle. Walt Disney had made many notes and sketches from his dragon for use in film, and he had kept a journal of anecdotes and stories about his own SSAR, Aurora. He had compiled these into a book, which he gave to a wizard friend on the occasion of the friend being given a dragon as the result of a bankruptcy settlement, the friend being a loan agent for Gringotts New York at the time. The wizard had loaned his copy of the book to a business associate, who was a publishing agent for Flourish and Blotts.
Mac was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't sense someone come up before her. "Sarah." She jumped about three feet in the air, then had to bite back a scream when she saw Mic.
"What happened to you? You look like you were hit with every curse in the book." She quickly pulled out her wand and performed various counter-jinxes and hexes, then fixed the various cuts.
"I was, almost. Some death eaters had been tipped off that we were looking for the egg and they set us up. Ironically, the powers that be had no idea that one of their own was selling dragons on the side – they led us right to the egg. I got hit by the Cruciatus curse, but the killing curse went over my shoulder and hit Voldemort's own partner – an annoying little rat that was trying to convince me to join the other side. And they had done their homework. They tried to convince me they had you and would kill you if I didn't let them get away with the egg. If I hadn't seen you this morning, I would have believed them." He came forward and gathered Mac to him, needing reassurance that she was all right. "We lost five good hit wizards today, Sarah – but we have the egg. You better read up on baby dragon care, because hatching is imminent. Come on, before we miss it."
He pulled out his wand and summoned both his and Sarah's cloaks from the coatroom off the main hall, and they walked down to Hagrid's house. Dumbledore had built him a new, larger house of stone when he had married Madame Maxime, who was currently wrapping up some affairs at Beuxbatons. They entered the house to find several members of the Order already there, looking rather worse for wear. Tonks was crying as Madam Pomfrey put cooling gel on her face where she had been hit with the burning flame curse, while Dumbledore placed the small body of a rat into a wooden cigar box.
Mic stopped short. "That wasn't a rat, was it? It was an Animagus." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes" said Dumbledore quietly. "I forgot that you wouldn't be familiar with the British Death eaters as much. You managed to kill, although accidentally, the number two man on the Ministry of Magic most wanted list, Peter Pettigrew. The one who sold out the Potters to Voldemort – Harry's Parents – killed thirteen Muggles with a single curse, and currently his right hand – literally. There's talk of an Order of Merlin for you."
"Wow" was all Mic could mutter. "And to think the guy was sitting on my shoulder…" He broke off suddenly at Hagrid's cry of awe.
A soft lavender and pink dragon nose was poking through a large crack in the egg. They watched in amazement as the baby dragon slowly extricated itself from the pink and lavender spotted shell. As soon as it had worked itself free, it looked around curiously, its eyes settling on Clay. The dragon tried with all its might, flapping its tiny wings to get to him, and fussed mightily when Hagrid picked it up. After a quick look, he announced, " It's a GIRL!"
Much discussion ensued as to what to call it, and they finally settled on Kaida, "little dragon" in Japanese.
As soon as Hagrid set the dragon down, she attempted to get to Clay. He chuckled and picked her up, and she snuggled down in the crook of his arm and went to sleep.
New arrival in tow, they headed back up to the castle for dinner.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster's Office
November 17, 2003
2000 Zulu
Mac reached for the vase of Floo Powder on the mantel, ignoring the snores of the portraits that lined the walls. Trying to calm her wildly beating heart, she said, "The Burrow!"
The Burrow
The Kitchen
November 17, 2003
2015 Zulu
"Go out to the main road, take a right and walk about half a mile. Rosewood cottage will be on your left. Watch out for the dog next door, he likes to chase cars – and pedestrians." Molly said. "I'll have the teapot ready when you come back. Deborah doesn't have a Floo hookup, she uses the public one in the local pub."
Rosewood Cottage
Ottery St-Catchpole, England
November 17, 2003
2025 Zulu
Mac paused on the front step, and was surprised that the door opened just as she raised her hand to knock. She was even more surprised when her father answered the door.
"Hi." He reached forward and gathered her in a hug.
"Hi, Dad. Geez, that sounds weird."
" We'll get used to it. I thought I'd prepare your mother a little so she wasn't completely blindsided. Plus, I didn't want you to have to tell her about Meredith and the fact that we are going to be neighbors… I'll see you back at Molly's, ok?" After Mac nodded he pulled his scarf tighter against the nippy evening air and headed back up the lane towards the Weasley home.
Meanwhile, Mac's mother had stepped into the doorway, tears streaming down her face. "Hello, Sarah." At that moment a enormous sheepdog came around the corner of the house and headed towards her. "Sarah, this is Olive. So named because the day I got her, she knocked over my friend's martini. She didn't drink it, but she scarfed down the olive. She's very friendly."
The dog ambled over to Sarah and sat down, sticking out a paw in greeting. After greeting her and giving her a good sniff, she herded Sarah towards the door. Her mother guided her towards the couch, where a large marmalade cat immediately greeted her, hopping up into her lap. Deanne sat across from her in a large wing chair.
"I've thought about this moment ever since the day I left."
"So have I."
"I thought I was doing the right thing, not telling AJ. He was heading off into a danger zone, the last thing he needed was to have someone to worry about. And Joe stepped in, helping me with things I couldn't do around the base. He offered to marry me so I didn't have to give you up – my parents wanted nothing to do with you, and it was unthinkable for a single woman to raise a child alone in those days. You would have been ridiculed, tormented at school – marrying Joe seemed like the best solution. I got to keep you, and at the time I thought I could learn to love him. The biggest regret of my life is that I took my parents offer of getting out of the marriage – the only proviso was that the offer didn't include you. Your grandmother is gone now, but my father would still disinherit me if he knew I had spoken to you."
"Why do my grandparents hate me so much?"
"They had dreams of marrying me off to someone important in the wizarding world, and I ruined it. They had gone behind my back and arranged a marriage, and when they came to inform me of the fact I was reading a copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting." There was a violent argument, and I accepted Joe's proposal the next day. I didn't speak to my parents again until the day before I left."
They were interrupted by a knock on the front door. Deanne jumped up to look out the door through the spyglass. "It's your grandfather. I knew they would find out I'd seen you, but the only way they could know by now is if they have a snitch. Brace yourself." She opened the door, saying coolly, " Hello, father."
"Hello, Deanne. Are you going to introduce me to my granddaughter?"
The three of them sat down, and Henry opened the conversation. "So, Sarah, I understand that you are going to make me a great-grandfather." At Mac's look of surprise, he added, " I happened to be dining at Porter's last night when the owl arrived from Clayton informing her of impending Grandmahood. She's absolutely over-the-moon about it – and so am I."
Seeing the complete shock on both of their faces, he stepped forward and gathered them both in a hug. He turned and addressed Deanne. "I'm going to be the kind of grandparent to this one that I should have been with Sarah – the kind of parent I should have been with you, Matt and Sarah. I was so worried about the image of the family, keeping up appearances and our place in the wizarding world.. And it cost me my marriage and a relationship with all three of my children. That ends now, at least for the two children I have left."
The three of them sat and talked for hours, until they were interrupted by yet another knock. When Sarah opened the door, her father stood there, looking worried. " I know you're a marine and can take care of yourself, but I was worried." Her mother came up behind her with her cloak. "Let Albert take you home, Sarah. It's late. But come back and visit – soon."