Chapter Ten: Three Weddings and A Funeral
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Disclaimer: I only own what you don't recognize, everything else is JK Rowling.
A/N: Sorry for the long delay... writing brick wall and all... enjoy!!
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"That was a very nice service," Ginny commented to her daughter as they walked along side each other. Reagan dabbed at her eyes and glanced at her mum.
"I guess," she replied.
"Are you on your way home now?" Ginny asked.
Reagan shrugged. "Brent was talking about grabbing something to eat. But since I'm already here...." Reagan's voice trailed off and looked towards the other end of the cemetery.
"You should take Brent around," Ginny said. "There might be some things here that you might want to share with him."
Reagan nodded and managed a weak smile. She gave her mother a quick hug and stopped to wait for Brent.
"Ready to go?" he asked, taking her hand.
"Not just yet," Reagan said. "I want to show you some things."
"In a cemetery?" he asked, looking around. "There's just dead people here."
"And some of those dead people were people I knew," Reagan replied.
"All right, all right," Brent said, giving in to his girlfriend's warning tone. "Lead the way."
Reagan lead him towards the other end of the cemetery, where the Potter and Weasley family plots were. She pointed out both her grandparents, her Uncle Fred, Aunt Emma and her cousin Kate. As they made their way towards the Malfoy plot, Reagan looked up realizing that Brent had stopped walking.
"Whats wrong?" she asked him softly. Brent nodded towards something behind her. She turned and saw Trevor and Cal standing in front of Josie's grave and Reagan swallowed. She hadn't been in the same room with Trevor since the meeting announcing Taryn's kidnapping and McGuyerson's murder. She really wanted to show Brent Josie's grave, but didn't want an scene between Brent and Trevor.
"Lets just wait till they're done," Reagan replied.
"Why is he here?" Brent asked and from his tone Reagan knew he wasn't talking about Cal.
"We were all friends with Josie at school," Reagan explained quietly. "I'm sure they came to pay their respects."
Trevor and Cal soon began to back away from the headstone and passed Reagan and Brent on their way back to the Apparation points. Trevor didn't glance at her, but Cal gave her an encouraging smile and squeezed her arm as he passed.
"Is this her?" Brent asked.
"Well, this is her headstone," Reagan replied.
"Josian Avonioa Malfoy," Brent read. "2004 to 2019, daughter, sister and friend. That seems very accurate."
"Its cold and unloving," Reagan replied, and wiped her eyes. "Her family didn't love her and they didn't know her."
"I'm sure you're just exaggerating a bit," Brent said. "I mean, what family doesn't love their daughter?"
"The Malfoys," Reagan replied.
"Are you still crying?" Brent asked.
Reagan turned her head to look at him, her face wet from tears, but she was no longer actually crying.
"I'm better."
"Good," he replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "I hate it when you cry. I never know what to do."
"I don't cry that often," Reagan said and they began to walk back towards the other side of the cemetery.
"You have the past couple days," Brent replied.
"Well, my boss was murdered, and a good friend of mine was abducted," Reagan said in her defense. "Its been a traumatic week."
"Well, at least its over," he said, taking her arm and steering her towards the Apparation points. "Where do you want to eat?"
Reagan sighed. At the moment, food was the last thing from her mind.
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"Gudirsium Infensus!"
A light blue haze appeared around the room, staying strong and vibrant for a few moments before turning green and fading.
"Gudirsium Infenses!"
The blue light appeared again, blazed for a brief moment, then disappeared.
"GURDIRIUM INFENSUS!!" Reagan roared, tracing a circle in the air, pulling her wand tip across the invisible circle up and to the right. The light blue mist like magic returned to the air around her, hung for a few moments before fading into a deep green and disappearing.
"Oh come on!!!" she yelled, throwing her arms up in defeat. She glared at her empty office, too angry to give in to the tears threatening to spill over.
"You know, screaming that spell won't make it work," Cal said from the doorway.
"Well, I can't make it work when I'm not yelling it," Reagan replied.
"Is this the ward you were working on?" Cal asked.
Reagan nodded. "This is as far as we got. Dad wants this to be a working ward as soon as possible.
"What about your Uncle Ron?" Cal asked. "He's a Charm Master, doesn't he know about this stuff?"
"No," Reagan sighed. "Charm Masters only master certain charms, they are just really strong with a small range of charms. And they can slightly modify some charms. They can't completely create new ones, which, unfortunately, is what we have done here." Reagan turned and pulled a thick file from her desk, slipping it open and staring at it. "I just don't get it. All I get is a blue mist before it disappears. Seven months and I still can't crack it. I just feel like I'm missing something."
"What wand movement are you using?"
"A Saturn formation," Reagan replied. "A circle with a diagonal line through it."
"Those are typical of wards. Used mostly for protection spells. To reverse it, the wand movement is the opposite. A line moving down across from the right to the left, then a circle."
Reagan goggled at him and Cal couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm a curse breaker, Reagan. I know about these things."
"I keep forgetting," Reagan replied. "Maybe you can help me figure out why its not working properly."
Cal shrugged. "I can't make them. I only understand enough to break them. Sa is a powerful thing."
"Wait, what did you say?"
"That I can only break them?"
"No the other part," Reagan said, jumping up and grabbing an enormous book from the shelf.
"About Sa?" Cal asked as Reagan open the heavy text and flipped through the pages. "Its the Egyptian hieroglyphic for protect. Its incredibly powerful--"
"--When used as a suffix," Reagan finished for him. She scribbled something in the file, scanning the book before taking the book and the file and tearing our of her office, yelling "Thanks Cal!" as she left.
"You welcome," he replied to her retreating frame.
Reagan ran through the halls, repeating the incantation to herself over and over. She jumped off the lift as the lift door opened and knocked over a few wizards on her way to her father's office.
"Is he free?" Reagan asked his secretary, hurrying to the desk.
"Yes, Advisor Potter, go right in," the secretary replied.
Reagan smiled at the witch thanking her, and hurried into her father's office.
"Dad, I finished it," Reagan said and he looked up from his desk.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to your elegant entrances," her father replied and leaned back in his chair. "Lets see it then."
"Gudiriumsa Infensa!" Reagan cried and the entire room turned instantly blue. The magic shone bright for a few moments before fading into a deep indigo before dissolving in the air.
"Impressive," Harry said, nodding his satisfaction. "I take it that its complete?"
Reagan nodded. "You could hire the best curse breaker in the world to test it, but it won't falter."
"So after seven months of working it takes you two weeks to crack the final incantation," Harry commented, smiling at his daughter.
"Yeah, well, Taryn's kidnapping was a bit of incentive to finish it," Reagan paused and looked around his office. "How is that going, by the way?"
"Slow and painful," he replied. "No one saw anyone enter, and no one saw anyone leave with Taryn."
Reagan nodded. He hadn't given her much information, but there really wasn't much to give.
"You'll know more when we do," he said. "I promise."
"I know," Reagan sighed. "I just feel responsible."
Harry laughed. "I think its the Potter curse; feeling responsible for bad things when they happen, and being humble about good things we are responsible for. Its not your fault, Reagan. You didn't do anything wrong, and you couldn't have done anything if you had been there. They might have kidnapped you or, even worse, you could have been killed. We'll find Taryn, and we'll find who ever is responsible."
"Thanks Dad," she said and smiled at him, grateful for his understanding.
"Are you coming to dinner tonight?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "And Brent's coming."
Harry nodded but didn't say anything.
"I know your not too fond of him, Dad, but I am," Reagan explained. "But I do appreciate you giving him a try."
"Whatever makes you happy, Reagan," he said. "Now, finish the patent on that charm, and pass it off to Cal for testing. We have another meeting Friday morning, so you have three days to finalize it and present it."
"I guess I'll get back to work then," Reagan replied. "See you tonight, Dad."
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Dinner went well, Reagan thought, looking at her father. He met her gaze and nodded, and then looked at her cousin Caitlin. Reagan rolled her eyes. Caitlin had decided to announce at dinner that she and Nick Finch-Fletchy were engaged and they were going to get married in April.
It should coincide nicely with my birthday, Reagan thought as she took her plate and Brent's plate and followed her father into the kitchen.
"Why is it that you and Caitlin always seem to be in competition with each other?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Reagan replied. "But she makes everything between us a competition. It was always grades or friends or who got Prefect, and now its jobs or boyfriends. And now she's engaged before I am and she rubs it in my face thinking that I care. I do, I mean its great and all that they're going to get married, but I really don't care if it was before or after I did."
Harry laughed. "Well, I think that she's always felt she has to compete with you. You two are so close in age, I guess it was just natural."
"But I don't try to compete with her," Reagan said. "Oh well. I doubt that if it hasn't stopped by now, she'll be competing with me till we die."
Harry laughed and took the plates from Reagan, setting them in the sink where they began to wash themselves.
"Reagan?" Brent asked, coming into the kitchen. "Oh, here you are."
"Sorry, I was just bringing the plates into kitchen," Reagan replied. "Whats up?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk?" Brent asked.
"Sure," Reagan replied. "Let me grab my cloak."
Minutes later, she was walking along the sidewalk, wondering what possessed him to ask her to go on a walk. She glanced at him, and he was looking around, nervously, and seemed to be fumbling something in his pocket.
"It has been really nice seeing you these past couple weeks, since I got back from America," Brent said.
"Mmm'hmm," Reagan agreed.
"And since I met you last June, I've been much happier and I really enjoy spending time with you."
Brent stopped walking, and bent down on one knee in front of her.
"Brent we're in the middle of the street," Reagan whispered.
"Reagan G. Potter," Brent began, and Reagan wondered briefly if he even knew her middle name. "Will you have the honor of being my wife?"
Part of Reagan's brain was asking what kind of proposal that was, while the other part of her brain was screaming and jumping up and down with excitement.
Brent reached into his pockets and out pulled a small black box.
"I'm not very good at this," he mumbled and thrust the box into her hands. She opened it to reveal a gold band with a very large rock of a diamond set on one side of it.
"Oh, Brent," she whispered and smiled at him. There were so many things racing through her mind, but the one thought that was constant was excitement.
"Will you?" he asked again, his eyes pleading with hers.
She slowly nodded and whispered, "Yes."
He jumped up from his kneeling position and threw his arms around her. Reagan laughed and hugged him back, slipping the ring onto her finger.
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Reagan Potter, daughter of Harry Potter and niece of Minister Hermione Weasley, set to marry Quidditch star, Seeker for the Chudley Cannons, Brent Johnson!
He gathered his papers, downed the last of his tea, and set off towards Captain Potter's office.
"Lieutenant," James said as Trevor came into the waiting room.
"Lieutenant," Trevor replied in greeting.
"I take it you've heard the news?" James asked.
Trevor tried to look confused. "News?"
"Of my sister's engagement to that dolt of a Seeker," James replied.
"Oh, that," Trevor said. "I remember something about it in the newspaper this morning."
"Something?" James laughed. "It was on the front page!"
Trevor shrugged and looked around the waiting room, noticing that Reagan was not there yet.
"He did it Tuesday night," James said. "I've still got my money on you, though."
"I doubt Reagan I will ever be again," Trevor replied. "Besides, I do have a girlfriend."
"Yeah, Corporal Simms," James nodded. "How is that going?"
Trevor smiled and nodded. "Its going good."
"Well, look who decided to show up for a meeting," James said, and Trevor turned to see Reagan coming into the room. She didn't seem to notice him or her brother, but seemed to be muttering something under her breath.
"Rumor has it she finished that ward," Trevor said.
James nodded. "Yeah, thats what I heard too. We'll wait and see I guess."
Forty minutes, three glasses of water and one perfect demonstration of a new ward later Trevor hurried out of his Advisor meeting, eager to get away from the Potter family. He used to feel conformable around them, and in the back of his head he had always assume he would be married into the family, eventually. That all seemed a long time ago now, and as he stepped onto the lift, he was eager to get on with his life.
"How was the meeting?" Anne Marie asked as he dumped his files onto his desk. He smiled at her and shrugged.
"Same as usual," he replied. She put her arms around him and kissed his cheek. He shifted uncomfortable under her embrace and she laughed. "Don't worry, the Imperturbable Charm is still intact; no one can see or hear anything. Besides, Trev, your blinds are down."
Trevor sighed and she let go of him.
"I'm sorry, Anne Marie, I really am," he stammered, sitting down behind his desk. "The meeting didn't go as well as I'd hoped, and I have a lot to do. I guess I have a lot on my mind."
Anne Marie crossed her arms, strands of blond hair falling out of her bun framing her delicate face. "The meeting? I heard Reagan Potter finished that ward. What else did you want to happen?"
"I'd like to find Taryn Pagg, for one," Trevor replied. "I'd like to find who did this."
"Well, I'm sure who ever did this will come to justice in the end," Anne Marie replied. "But its not your responsibility to set everything right, Trev."
Trevor groaned inwardly when she called him Trev. It wasn't that he didn't like the name, he had just not been called Trev since he was ten.
"I know, I know," he sighed. "I think I might go back to the scene of the abduction, see if I can find anything else."
"Do you need any help?" she asked.
Trevor shook his head. "My nose is better than yours," he replied and she laughed, agreeing with him. She knew about his animagus ability, she was one also and in his Animagent unit. But her animagus form was a sleek white cat, and his was a deep brown dog.
"You have me there," she said and kissed his briefly. "Are you planning on working through lunch again?"
"Why? What did you have in mind?"
"Anything," she replied. "We could go to that place where you always bring those sandwiches from."
Trevor nodded. "I'll call and make reservations. Besides, we'll be hungry after the Animagent meeting in an hour."
"Probably," Anne Marie said. "If she gives us any more books to read I'll scream."
Trevor laughed, knowing exactly who she was referring to. "But she knows what she's talking about."
"Then I suppose we are grateful to have her," Anne Marie replied. "See you later, Lieutenant."
Trevor smiled and turned back to his paper work, knowing he wouldn't be able to get much work done feeling as restless as he did.
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Later that night, Trevor still felt restless. He couldn't concentrate on his reports or his research, and his magic was unfocused, which was a first for him. He threw down the parchment in frustration, knocking over the bottle of ink.
He swore in a way that would make even Reagan roll her eyes and scold him. He waved his wand to clean away the mess of ink and ended up cleaning the entire room. Glaring at the spotless study, he got up and went into his kitchen. He found what he was looking for in the back of a cabinet and pulled the mostly full bottle of Firewhisky out, setting it on the counter.
This was another thing that didn't happen to Trevor; he rarely had an urge to drink. He could handle his alcohol better than most, and only James was able to out drink him. Trevor chuckled as he pored the maple colored alcohol into a glass. Darenn was another story, he was gone after three drinks and always ended up sleeping on Trevor's couch when he'd drink. Avery didn't like it, and said that as long as he was safe on Trevor's couch, she didn't want to know anything else.
Trevor's muscles unclenched a bit as the fiery whisky ran down his throat.
Darenn and Avery, now they were quite a pair. Avery was the one in charge, without a doubt, but she was supportive, loving and strong in a way Trevor had never thought possible. No matter what stupid thing Darenn did, she's always be there to welcome him home.
James and Erika were another story. Trevor had never seen a husband so attentive to his wife and so involved with his son. James did his fare share of sleeping on Trevor's couch, or in the second bedroom when the couch was occupied by the younger Potter brother, but Erika never said a word.
"Thats what I want," Trevor mumbled to himself, poring another glass. "Someone to stand by me... a marriage... a family... thats what I've been waiting for...."
Crossing the room to the fireplace, he threw a pinch of floo powder into the flames and yelled, "AM Simms!"
Anne Marie's sleepy face came into view, green and framed by flames, and smiled at him.
"What's up?" she asked. "Is everything all right? Its really late, Trev."
"I know," he replied. "I'm sorry, but can I come over?"
"I guess so," she said. "You mean, like right now?"
"Well, as soon as you get your head out of the fire," he replied.
"Okay then," she said and her head disappeared from view. The fiery green flames went out and he threw another pinch of floo powder.
"AM Simms!" he cried and stepped into the fire, spinning and twisting till he recognized her familiar grate and stepped out.
"Trevor, why did you use the Floo?" Anne Marie asked, eyeing him. He Shrugged.
"I didn't think I should Apparate," he replied. "I haven't been feeling well."
"You felt well enough to drink," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What up?"
"I was thinking about stuff," Trevor said, sitting down on her couch. "And I wanted to get your opinion on something."
"Okay," she replied and sat down, pulling her hair back onto her head and securing it with her wand. "About what?"
"About us."
"That doesn't sound good," she replied.
"No, no its actually good," he said quickly and shook his head. "I think we should get married."
"You... you what?" she stammered.
"I think that we should get married," he repeated. "I mean, I really like you, you are great. You're smart and funny and I really enjoy being around you." A voice in Trevor's head was telling him that he had just given the lamest proposal ever, but he didn't care. "I care about you, Anne Marie, and I want you to be happy. I want to make you happy."
A smile crept onto Anne Marie's face and she swallowed the lump of tears that had formed in her throat.
"I care about you too," she whispered.
"Then will you do it?" he asked. "Will you marry me?"
Anne Marie laughed and nodded. Trevor pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, soothing her hair as she cried happy tears onto the from of this uniform.
He smiled to himself, picturing the headline of tomorrow's Prophet: They're Engaged!! Britain's most eligible bachelor nabbed by fellow Auror!
And for once he didn't care about Reagan's reaction.
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A/N: Whoa. That was a lot. Thank you all for reading thus far and for sticking with me. I really appreciate your positive feedback and reviews so please keep them coming!!